Elders

Chandi Chirwa
The Lord Saved me in November 2003 just before my 19th birthday, I was a troubled alcohol and drug dependent teenager, whose life was spiralling downwards.
The Lord didn’t just rescue me from the pit of hell but from a lifestyle that was very problematic.
 
From the moment the Lord saved me, I have had a burning desire to Preach Christ and see the lost saved. That desire led myself and my wife Milena to Birmingham, where we led a church plant for four years. Then we moved back to Southend and eventually joined Providence.
 
After six years of serving at Providence and completing my first year at “Cornhill Bible College”, I took on the fulltime eldership role, and my vision to see Christ preached and the lost saved, remains the same.
 
Myself, my wife and our three children are highly honoured and blessed to be part of the Providence Story. 
Duncan Briant
Duncan is married with two grown up children and has lived in Essex all his life apart from a period at university in the 1970s. Following a conversion experience at 16, Duncan did most of his growing at university and most of his maturing at Providence where he has been a member for the last 30- years.

Duncan currently acts as a member of the eldership for the church and has the privilege of providing the Sunday morning children's talk.

Deacons

John Serjeant
I have enjoyed being at Providence for about 13 years with my wife and two grown up children and am a Deacon, particularly looking after the buildings. It is a privilege to be able to serve God and be a part of this caring, praying fellowship of welcoming believers where the whole Bible is held to be God's inspired word and a clear gospel message is preached. It is this clear emphasis and priority placed on teaching and understanding God's living word that brings real joy and a greater trust in God, that keeps me walking by faith and not by sight.

I believe God first gave me a simple faith and trust in Him when I was just 7 years old but, my journey and understanding of the great mystery of why Jesus, God's only Son should die instead of me to take my sin which separated me from a holy God has been ongoing and is a continuing one. In the Bible book called Ephesians, Chapter 2, it reminds me that I am saved from God's righteous judgement against sinful man: the unimaginable terror of living without God for eternity. All because of His amazing grace alone, through faith alone, nothing that I do is good enough to please God or helps, it is (the free gift) of Jesus Christ whom, because of God's great love he gave to die instead of me. Wow, that is good news, in a day when we surely need it.

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Nelson Kachoka
John 3 v 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” NIV
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I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist church. I was in my late teens, whilst living in Zambia when I became a Christian having heard the gospel according to John at a youth camp. Having accepted Christ into my life, I was later baptised.
 
 When I moved to the UK as a young Christian to further my studies, I  struggled to find a church having visited several.  In God's providential leading, I met Harriet who introduced me to the Metropolitan Tabernacle Church and immediately, I knew in my heart that this where the Lord wanted me. Over the years and under sound, reformed biblical teaching, the Lord was gradually moulding and maturing my faith. For years I served the Lord by helping out with the Sunday school and various other duties in the Church.
 
Harriet and I married in 2007 and that year moved to Southend where we bought our first home, the Lord has blessed our marriage with four beautiful children . For some time we continued to commute to the Metropolitan Tabernacle, but a year later joined Providence Baptist Church. Here we have felt at home since, taking up membership in the church. We continue to serve the Lord here in many ways as He leads and I am currently serving as a deacon looking after the Health and safety of the church family. 
Jason Henry
I was involved in drink and drugs as a teenager and after a divorce became an alcoholic for many years. Through the grace of God, I got help through an organisation called Teen Challenge and after completing the programme I carried on working there, helping the ministry save others from addiction through the good news of the gospel. It has been a joy to serve in ministry and the church. My wife, Liz, and I have been blessed with five children and have been a part of Providence since 2016. ​