Meet the leaders - Dennis Fancett

Where do you live?
In Bedlington, on Front Street.

Where were you born and brought up?
A place called Sidcup in South East London

Your age range?
Just the wrong side of 50

Do you have any family?
Yes. I have been married for over 30 years to a lovely lady called Kay and we have two grown-up daughters, one living outside Paris, France and the other in Aberdeen.

So how did you meet your wife?
When I was about 15 our Church ran a coffee bar outreach in an empty shop in the High Street that was waiting to be demolished (this was all the vogue in the 70s). She walked in off the street one day and gave her life to Jesus. But no-one told her about Church so we didn’t see her at our meetings until about a year later. 2 years or so after that we were asked to lead a small group of young people together. That’s when I really started to notice Kay. We found we shared the same values about all the really important things in life. We started going out when I was 19, got engaged a month later and married a year after that.

Do you have any hobbies?
I’m learning French at a daytime class in Morpeth. I have a saxophone, which I was learning at one point but I don’t pick it up as much as I would like. The bike is the embarrassing bit. It hasn’t come out of the shed since we’ve been living in Bedlington (well we are at the top of a huge hill and I just can’t face the ride home). And I am Chairman of a pro-rail campaign group called SENRUG.

What is your favourite TV programme?
I like all the murders: Frost, Taggart, Rebus, Lindley, Prime Suspect, Trial & Retribution – the lot. Morse and Lewis are favourites.

When did you become a Christian?
My parents were Methodists and brought me up to go to Church. It was when I was 11 things clicked in to place for me and I would say that was when I really became a Christian. At 15, I was baptised in the Holy Spirit. That was a profound moment for me that had a big impact on the rest of my life.

What Churches have you been part of up till now?
As I said, I was brought up in the Methodist Church. But from 11 on I started going to a local evangelical church which was actually an Open Brethren Assembly, though they kept fairly quite about that. Around age 18, I and a group of others left to form a new Church of our own. This grew into what is now known as New Generation Church in Sidcup. It was originally part of a group called Team Spirit and then Pioneer. I was on the leadership team there for many years. But in the mid 90s we shared with our fellow leaders that we felt it was time for us to leave. They released us with their blessing and we joined New Community Church also in Sidcup which is part of Newfrontiers, and from there to County Church here in Northumberland, also part of the Newfrontiers family.

How did you come to be part of County Church?
We felt God had told us to be involved with Churchplanting, but he hadn’t given us a specific place where we should go. But I did begin to realise we would primarily be called to a relationship – to serve someone else, rather than start something new on our own. John Wilthew was one of the elders of New Community Church at the time and we were getting to know him quite well. So when he and Liz told us they were moving to Northumberland to launch a Churchplanting initiative here, it didn’t take much thought for us to decide to join them.

Do you work for the Church?
I spend about half my time on Church staff and this is on a voluntary basis. I’m open to part time jobs with the right sort of flexibility for the other half of my time and have had a couple of assignments so far; some paid and some voluntary.

What would you say are your strongest gifts and abilities in the context of the church?
Really this is for others to judge. But for what it’s worth I think my strength is in the prophetic area though this is primarily expressed in a small setting like when sitting down with someone over coffee, rather than in public gatherings. I’m also good at administration and strategy and probably a good “behind the scenes” guy.

Favourite book of the Bible?
I love the gospels, the minor prophets (who are really quite important people – minor just refers to the length of their recorded writings) – and the book of Ruth. Overall favourite is probably Mark’s gospel. It’s short and you get this impression of speed and urgency. Everything in Mark seems to happen “suddenly”!

Is there anything about the Christian Church that upsets or annoys you?
I don’t like religious talk when we use phrases and terminology that is meaningless to non-believers. I don’t like things being “talked up” and like to face things exactly as they are. For instance I am a great believer in spiritual healing but I also want to be earthed in the reality that not everyone is healed and we all die sometime.

And what do you get really excited about?
There is no greater privilege or excitement than seeing someone who is seeking God find him. This is what I live for. I want to share the good news of Jesus with people who don’t yet know him, and make the introductions where I can.

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