For everything there is a season

Everything that Rural Ministries does is underpinned by our wonderful Board of Trustees. At the end of last year, we said goodbye to our Chair, Stephen Spurgeon and to longstanding Trustee Elaine Fisher and welcomed Paul Susans to the position of Acting Chair. Editor Ruth Leigh caught up with them for a chat about the changes they’ve seen, the lessons they’ve learned and their vision for the future.

Elaine’s Rural Ministries story began twenty-five years ago when the then RM CEO visited her church. Two years later she joined the Board. She has seen a huge change in communications through advances in technology, watched as some churches closed but rejoiced as others came on board and thrived.

“My happiest memories are of the Annual Conferences where many members worshipped together for the weekend, listened to speakers, played games, quizzed and went on walks. It gave us such good opportunities to develop relationships with the RM churches. Over the years, we have developed links with lots of Christian organisations and I pray that this will continue. The Board owes a great debt to Stephen who has guided us for two decades. As I step down, my prayer is for staff to continue the good work, churches to grow with God at the helm and trustees to stay close to God and seek His plan for RM.”

Stephen Spurgeon met RM’s original founder in the nineteen sixties, when the charity was called the Datchet Evangelical Fellowship. In 2000, he was approached by the General Secretary and asked to join the Board of Trustees. Five years later, he became Chair.

“When I joined, RM was a collection of assets, but under Simon Mattholie’s astute guidance, it has grown into a network of people, pastors, pioneers and missional listeners. I have extremely happy memories of the friendships I made and I will miss that. My prayer for the future is that other people will catch the vision of what RM is all about and feel led to come on to the Board. It is a responsibility, but a great privilege.”

As Stephen vacates the position of Chair, Trustee Paul Susans has agreed to step into the post until someone else volunteers to take it on.

“The previous RM CEO, Declan Flanagan, gave a presentation at my church in 2012. I made the mistake of looking interested and found myself chatting to my friend Chris Hughes, who at that time was on the Board. He encouraged me to think about becoming a trustee, which I duly did the next year. My first Board meeting was Simon’s interview!”

Paul’s main takeaway so far has been that RM supports a number of different churches, groups and denominations whose common feature is that they want to spread the Good News of Jesus.

“It’s broadened my horizons,” he says. “People can get together and worship, but it doesn’t have to be within four walls. After all, Jesus went out to the people. He didn’t stay in the temple and wait for them to come to Him. That’s what I think is so great about RM. All the projects are taking the word to the people and following the guidance of Jesus.”

I am sure readers will wish to join me in thanking Stephen and Elaine for their years of service and looking forward to working with Paul as he takes on the role of Acting Chair.

 First published in MOSAIC Issue 18, January - April 2026