It’s been an incredibly busy summer of recruitment at ECS. We’re seeking to make accessible our Christ-centred legal expertise wherever it will be fruitful. And the growth of our legal and support teams is key to working towards this vision.
And God has been so good in bringing people forward to fill these roles with an amazing array of backgrounds, experience and skills.
We sat down with all our new starters to find out more about them, their journeys to ECS, and what they’re most excited about as they begin. So, without further ado, we’re delighted to welcome and introduce…
Amy Hall – Charity Solicitor
Amy Hall
Our first recruit of the autumn, Amy, joined towards the end of September. Amy joins our largest team – the Charities Team – who specialise in advising churches and Christian organisations on governance and constitutional matters, trustee duties and how churches can become Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs).
ECS: Amy, what’s been your journey to ECS, and why did you decide to take up this role?
Amy: I trained with Kennedys Law LLP and spent a further 8 years with the firm, practising in insurance litigation with an aviation specialism. I’ve been excited by the work ECS is undertaking for many years and have been drawn to its mission.
ECS: What most excites you about your work here?
Amy: It is such a joy to be able to use my legal training for the benefit of the Church.
ECS: And what can we be praying for you as you start?
Amy: Please be praying that I adapt quickly to a new area of law and practice. That I would be able to serve clients and the firm well.
Lindsey Davies – Head of Communications
Lindsey Davies
At the beginning of October we welcomed Lindsey into a new role at ECS, Head of Communications. Lindsey will be responsible for delivering our communication strategy, facilitating both internal and external communications to increase our effectiveness.
ECS: Hi Lindsey! What’s been your journey to ECS, and why did you decide to take up this role?
Lindsey: My older brother is a solicitor (working for a different firm!) and when I finished my degree (Politics BA from the University of Nottingham) I considered taking a law conversion course and becoming a solicitor myself. Back then I decided that I couldn’t face any more academia, and embarked on a sales and marketing career, initially in construction and then in the charity sector with Africa Inland Mission. Joining ECS gives me the opportunity to work in the legal sector, but also to use the experience I have in communications, hopefully meaning that I can help ECS be even more effective in their work with churches and Christian organisations.
ECS: What most excites you about your work here?
Lindsey: I’m excited by the opportunity to be a part of helping and supporting the local church, to see legal complexities dealt with, so that gospel work can continue unhindered.
ECS: What can we be praying for you as you start?
Lindsey: I feel like I’ve got an awful lot to learn, from systems and processes, to legal jargon, and organisational culture. Please pray that I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed but that I would tackle one thing at a time, and remain calm and methodical.
Debs Hunt – Legal Support Team Manager
Debs Hunt
The week after Lindsey, we welcomed Debs to our team. Also filling a newly created role, Debs will be leading the Legal Support Team as well as finding creative solutions to the support needs of other staff.
ECS: So Debs. what’s been your journey to ECS, and why did you decide to take up this role?
Debs: For the last 8 years, I have been managing the Nottingham branch of the national charity Crossteach. Crossteach is a Christian schools work charity, so I spent a lot of time teaching about the Christian faith in schools, which I loved, and helping young people consider the truths and person of Jesus. In the last year or so, however, I started feeling like now was the right time for a change, and I started looking for a new challenge. I studied Law at University, and have always been interested in going back into a legal environment, so was really excited to join ECS and to get involved serving the local church in this way.
ECS: What most excites you about your work here?
Debs: Lots of things! I am excited about getting to meet the wider team, and getting to know everyone. I am excited about taking on the new challenge of managing a new team. But most of all, I am excited about getting stuck in with the support team, helping them to see how valuable they are and working with them to think about creative ways of making sure we can offer the support that ECS needs.
ECS: And what can we be praying for you as you start?
Debs: I’d love prayer that in everything I do, I would do it for God’s glory and not my own, and that I would be able to quickly get to grips with the systems and processes used at ECS, so I can start to offer support and understand how everything works.
Steve Wright – Head of Property
Our most recent new starter, Steve, is a familiar face at ECS, having recently served as a trustee on our Board. Having previously worked as Head of Legal at John Lewis and operations manager at Eden Baptist Church in Cambridge, Steve brings a wealth of relevant and insightful experience to this role.
ECS: Steve, why did you decide to take on this role, and what most excites you about it?
Steve: I’ve become really convinced over the last few years that churches need Christian lawyers and professionals to help them think well about property projects. Many churches don’t have experts on their diaconates and Pastors end up wrestling with knotty issues, distracting them from their core missions of prayer, preaching and pastoral care. But they need lawyers and other specialists who understand their gospel ambitions and priorities, who really get the specific challenges of church life, to help them reach good outcomes. Serving on the board, as a non-exec director, got me excited about ECS, and now I’m excited to be a part of that work in a more hands-on way.
ECS: And what can we be praying for you as you start?
Steve: Please pray for me! There are lots of systems and processes to get my head around. But more importantly, I really want to serve my team well. This is the first time I’ve led a remote-working team, so I’m especially aware of my need for the Lord’s help to build good working relationships.
