Riccarton Community Church Staff

Phil Stedman

Pastor

Phil has been attending Riccarton Community Church since birth, with the exception of two five-year periods working in Wellington and Sydney. Phil and Cath have three children: William, Luke and Isabelle. Phil worked as a civil engineer for eight years and then, after completing post-graduate business studies, worked in the areas of organizational improvement and strategic planning. He has been involved in setting up and running community ministries and believes in, and is passionate about, the importance of the local church. He has been serving as pastor since late 2005. He loves being outdoors, including running, climbing, diving and skiing with his family.

Peter Perumalla

Associate Pastor

Peter has been in ministry for 9 years. Originally from Hyderabad India, where he was in ministry after studying accounting, he came to New Zealand to study at Faith Bible College where he became a staff member. He has been at Riccarton Community Church since the end of 2008. Peter is passionate about seeing people grow closer to God and raising strong disciples of Christ. Peter married Cara (from Wellington) in 2003. They have a daughter, Sylvana, and a son, Brock. Peter and Cara enjoy travelling, visiting new places and leaning about other cultures. Peter is a huge cricket fan and supports India and New Zealand equally.

Mark Wells

Youth Pastor

Originally from Nelson, Mark's story includes lots of random jobs, study at Lincoln and Otago Uni's and Laidlaw College, time spent at summer camp in the USA, and a short stints living in such exotic locations as Melbourne and Reefton. He and Denise (from Victoria) met and married in Hamilton, where she was working for AgResearch as a social researcher, and she transferred to their Lincoln site when Mark took up the RCC Youth Pastor role at the end of 2005. Mark and Denise enjoy working as a team encouraging and challenging the young people of RCC, helping them to realise who God says they are, and releasing them to do great things.

Auriole Cattermole

Church Administrator

Born in Invercargill, Auriole has lived her adult life in Christchurch, apart from 14 months exploring the UK and Europe in 2008. She, and her husband Wal, have 2 children, Josh and Abby. Josh and his partner Aimee have provided a loved baby granddaughter, Paityn. She and Wal spent two years at Bible College before Wal worked as a Youth Pastor for 5 years. Originally a hairdresser, Auriole also worked as an Activities Coordinator before God called her into church administration in the late 1990s. Auriole has been involved in a wide variety of ministries, and at RCC has been in prayer ministry, and running Alpha. Her vision is to see all the people of Riccarton have a vibrant relationship with Christ.

Christy Parry-Jennings

Children's Worker

Christy is our Children’s Worker, and she also heads up Affinity Trust, which includes working with the children and their families at Wharenui School and coordinating Unleashed Kids Club. Christy was born in the Waikato and grew up on a farm. She moved to the South Island when she was 10 and attended Geraldine High School. In 2002 Christy became a Christian and later that year attended a Discipleship Training School in Fiji for 6 months, which gave her a good, solid foundation for her faith. She then worked as a Nanny before joining the Affinity team in 2005. Christy loves working with children and has been involved in RCC’s children’s ministry for 6 years. She is married to Jonny, who is a videographer for his own business PJ Productions. They have three dogs and enjoy playing tennis, watching movies and going out for coffee.

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