Ron Finlay, Ian & Vicky Munroe (1968 to 1971)
The student ministry in Southampton began when I with Ian Munroe moved to
Several names – Vernon Blackmore, now an Anglican Clergyman, Trevor Barnett and Chris Appleby (now a Trustee of The Navigators). The ministry was fruitful and joined in with some women’s work in Soton led by Celia Goshawk (now Nicholson) and Jean Douglas (now a Trustee of The Navigators). Ian married and moved to
Mike & Chris Treneer (1971 to 1975)
The ministry at
Martin & Marion Cooper (1975 to 1982)
Marion & I arrived to lead the Soton student ministry in the summer of 1975. We came from
Over the next 7 years, during which time we had the privilege of leading the ministry, God did an amazing work of grace. Scores of young people committed their lives to Christ, most of them University students. We consistently had over 100 in Bible study with us, some of whom met in our home, with others elsewhere in the city. There were focused evangelistic & discipling ministries in most Halls of Residence, each with its own team of leaders, and we held regular times of corporate worship, teaching & celebration. From 1975 - 1979 these were weekly events, held on Sun nights (after church) in our home, and from 1979 – 1982 they took place elsewhere in the city.
As well as these grass-root ministries, there were significant opportunities for training & equipping, as young disciples matured into disciple-makers. Several remained in Soton after graduation and became labourers in the ongoing ministry. Around 1980, an overseas student ministry was also begun, with two teams reaching out to African & Chinese students respectively.
Today, many of those touched by God while here in the late 70s are serving him in various contexts. Most are seeking to do so through their spheres of employment & local church involvement. Several are in full-time Christian service, either as overseas missionaries or church leaders in the
In 1982 Marion & I handed the ministry over to Nav reps Rob & Maggie Wilson, enabling us to pioneer a new national church-related ministry for The Navs, in which one of our greatest thrills was to re-connect with some of those who had earlier graduated from
“The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest one a small nation. I am the Lord. In its time I will do this swiftly.” Isaiah 60 v 22
Rob & Maggie Wilson (1982 to 1984)
The ministry was at the start of this time still over 100 but the days of easy evangelism were numbered. From this time the ministry began to shrink. There were a number of complications, not least ill health.
During this time Mags … joined the team to take over the women’s side of the ministry and to help out with Chinese students.
The Wilsons left Southampton to move to the Midlands.
Steve Davie (1984 – 1991)
Mags ... left to go to the ‘far east’ as a missionary, and she still serves in this role.
In Steve’s later years he changed the ministry style quite a bit. It started off with a focus on one ministry with ministry nights and Bible Study. The first change was to split off the Chinese ministry. This had existed as a separate identity from the main ministry. He then supported the Chinese leadership. Those in this ministry eventually became key to the starting of the Chinese church in Southampton.
The second key change was to focus on a few key men and let them take the lead in ministry. He thus developed a style of many satellite groups serviced by a central group of leaders. Those in the satellite group didn’t know much about the Navigators.
The third major change was to introduce the idea of bringing recent graduates into the Navs for a year. This idea has now been adopted by the Navigators, first as the Student Worker Program, later as Connect. The first of these were Gez Perry and Andy Coombe.
Derek & Eva Leaf (1990 - 1996)
In 1990 we moved from working in London to Southampton to join Steve and Cathie Davie. Steve led the ministry until going off to become an Anglican Vicar in 1991, when we took over the ministry.
From the beginning we had great support from interns (Connectors). Gez Perry and Andy Coombe had been with Steve the year before, Graham Beynon and John Smuts (both now pastors) were there the year we arrived. This continued with Luke Webster, James White,
The ministry at that point was split into many different groups each with its own identity and a great training ground for the respective leaders. We changed things around to make our home the centre. One student commented that he was persuaded to come along in order to do Bible study, but what impacted him the most was seeing a healthy family in action.
These were years where the declining level of Christianity in the country really began to show. The group declined slightly, but the numbers of people clearly becoming Christians shrank considerably. Many who came were helped to engage with the Word and went on to serve in their contexts. The initial thrust of the ministry was one of training labourers for the harvest. There were a number who went out into ministry, and it has been a pleasure to see the way God has carried on working through them over the years.
In the last years I, Derek, went through a bit of a crisis with a realization that in terms of ministry, I had been trying to pressurize people into obedience to Christ, and that the Lord was far from pleased with this. In the last year we shifted emphasis to focus on Jesus for His own sake, looking at Jesus the man and how he expressed faith. Vicky who had gone to New Zealand as an intern on returning expressed how when she left Navs was all about training people, but a year later it had become about worshipping God.
Around this time it became evident that Gez Perry needed his own ministry to run, and that the best place for him was Southampton. We began to explore where we could move to and Portugal came up on the Radar, so in the beginning of 1996 we handed the ministry, over to him and moved to Portugal in the May.
Gez & Alison Perry (1997 to 2004)
From 1997-2004 we led the student group in Southampon following on from Derek & Eva Leaf who left to go to Portugal as Navigator missionaries. Gez had been a student at Southampton (1985-89) and Alison had just finished her studies in Sheffield and we were helped by a series of student workers including, Alison & David Cave, Justin Kirby, Suzanne & Pieter van Leeuwen, Sarah Dodd, David Reynaga, Ugbana & Claire Oyet, Mike Spencer, Steve & Debs McClure, Jim Grady, Kelly Smith, Heather Dearing, Dave Watkins & Dave Callaghan.
What we really enjoyed about the ministry were the friendships that grew out of meeting students one-to-one and small group Bible studies.
We'd learned a lot from Steve & Cathy Davie and Derek & Eva Leaf about the way God uses the seed of His Word to change hearts & lives and to produce ongoing fruitfulness. It was very encouraging to see God at work through a growing network of small groups and to have the opportunity to help support and train leaders for the CU.
We also experienced first-hand the benefit of using courses like Alpha & Christianity Explored with students and there were a handful of people who became Christians and others who grew in their faith through these groups. Organising weekends away and summer conferences was another feature of student ministry which gave opportunities for serving and training a new generation of leaders.
The lessons we learned and the help we received during our years in Southampton have been a huge blessing to us. In Philippians chapter 3 Paul encourages his friends to follow his example and to take note of those who live according to the pattern he gave them. Following the example of others and passing on what we have found helpful ourselves has been an important part of ministry for us. We are very grateful to God for those who have invested their time and energy in helping us to know and follow Christ. We are also thankful to God for his faithfulness in continuing to raise up and send workers into his harvest field, which is a great encouragement and a helpful reminder of what is important to God.