Appointment of the next Principal of Cliff College

Cliff College is pleased to announce that the Methodist Councilhas approved the appointment of the Revd Ashley Cooper as the nextPrincipal of Cliff College and invited the President of theMethodist Conference to exercise the powers of clause 29(b) of theDeed of Union to station Mr Cooper to Cliff College.

Ashley is currently the SeniorMinister at Swan Bank Methodist Church in Stoke-on-Trent and theSuperintendent of the Burslem Mission Circuit. Having trained forordained ministry in the Methodist Church at Hartley VictoriaCollege Manchester, Ashley has previously served in the DelamereForest Circuit, as the District Evangelism Enabler in the Chesterand Stoke District and as the Coordinator of District EvangelismEnablers in the Methodist Church.

Ashley is an inspirational leaderwith vision and energy, and a passion to see lives transformed bythe Gospel. His commitment to mission and evangelism, the key ethosof the College, is evident in the leadership he has exercisedthroughout his varied ministry - leading churches of differentsizes to see transformation and ongoing growth.

He brings a broad knowledge and experience of mission, evangelismand church planting and has spoken on these themes locally,nationally and internationally. Ashley has a broad experience andunderstanding of the Methodist Church and is a member of the WorldMethodist Council, as well as having a proven ability to buildcreative partnerships with others beyond Methodism.

Ashley brings the experience of leading a very large churchthrough a time of transition and change. A key part of his ministryhas been to implement significant organisational leadership andstructural change, and he is committed to investing in layleadership. He helped create the ECG conference and has been partof its leadership team over the last 10 years, and established the'Navigating Change' conference hosted at Swan Bank MethodistChurch, now in its third year.

Revd Rachel Deigh, the Chair of the Cliff College Committee, said:"The Cliff College Committee is excited with this appointment andbelieves that Ashley is the right person to lead the college intothe future. We assure him of our prayers as he prepares to take upthis post."