Pastor Calvin Young is married to Pauline and they are blessed with two children. His unwavering commitment to family principles is rooted in God’s Word. Before answering God’s call to take up his role as Senior Pastor of ACC - now Mount Zion Community Church in June 1994, Pastor Young functioned as a pastor in a number of UK churches.
His capacity to lead, to inspire and to birth vision in others has set him in good stead as an influential leader within the Aston community. His previous appointment as Regional Superintendent for the Central Region within the Assemblies of God Fellowship (Great Britain) is evidence of his leadership qualities. Pastor Young is also the former Chair of the Council of Black Led Churches (CBLC) within Birmingham. Mount Zion was founded in 1954 by Mr and Mrs Hadley. What began in very humble beginnings in Aston nearly 60 years ago, is now a thriving city church in the heart of Aston. The church has grown from a handful of people to hundreds of worshipping believers.
From the ages of 18-22, Andre spent his time writing and self-publishing six books. Those books (mostly about the power of creativity and it’s effects on society) opened up the door for him to begin a career in writing, design, speaking, and workshop facilitation.
Andre has worked with the likes of Adidas, Starbucks, Yale, Nintendo, O2, Red Bull and The Guardian. He's also been spotlighted by publications as such as Creative Review, Dazed & Confused, iD, BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service and London Live.
Creativity is problem solving, and admittedly, the world has a lot of problems. Andre's goal is to teach how creativity can be applied to the local problems we see in our day to day. From inner city youths to corporate CEOs, we all have the capacity to be designers, and redesign the world around us. He teaches this philosophy to various ages through workshop facilitation.
Andre is currently facilitating workshops in youth clubs in Islington, North London.
Bishop Jonathan Jackson is a powerful passionate preacher with his finger on the pulse of the move of the Holy Spirit who preaches with depth of biblical knowledge. Born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1969, the fourth child of six children; born to Isaiah and Eulaee Jackson. In the mid-seventies the family moved to Bradford, where Jonathan committed his life to Jesus Christ. He was baptised and received into the church by Bishop C.L.Scott in 1986 and immediately began ministry in youth ministry, vocation bible school and Sunday school.
In November 2002, Bishop and Mrs Jackson assumed the pastorate at NTCG Brookfield, in 2004 Bishop Jackson moved the growing congregation into the new worship centre “The Rock” a regular attendance of over 300. In 2009 Bishop Jackson was elected to serve on the national executive council which makes him the youngest and only local minister serving presently on the NEC. Bishop Jackson does not take lightly the confidence given by his colleagues to entrust him with this responsibility His preaching ministry has taken him across the nation and internationally ministering in Canada USA and India.
Neil became a Christian in 1988 whilst a student in London. After working for St. Helen’s Bishopsgate between 1992-3, he returned to Birmingham where he was raised to work for UCCF as a staff worker. Since then, he has served as Pastor of City Church, Birmingham which he co-founded in August 1999.
His passions include Aston Villa, Welsh Rugby, swimming, and theology, both academic and applied.
He serves as the co-ordinator of 2020birmingham, a church-planting catalyst for the city which aims to see 20 churches planted in the city by the year 2020 and on the steering committee of the Midlands Gospel Partnership.
Bishop Melvin Alphonso Brooks is the Senior Pastor of New Jerusalem Apostolic Church, and the Presiding Bishop of Jabula Europe and Asia.
He is also an author, international speaker, mentor and Overseer of Churches.
Bishop Brooks served for many years as Deacon, Minister and ordained Elder for the Mount Peniel Church in Stafford, before taking up the Pastorate for the Birmingham branch in 1981 with only eight members, (including children). In 1997, not deterred by the low numbers (and now with 30 members) he followed the Lord’s leading and decided to enter the ministry full-time. Today with a new name, New Jerusalem Apostolic Church has a membership in excess of 200.
Bishop Brooks sincerely believes that the church has much to offer to both its congregation and the wider community. He has particular interests in reaching minority groups, single parents and juvenile ethnic youths, especially those who have been excluded from mainstream education.
Happily married since 1978, Bishop Brooks and his wife Yvonne (the Associate Pastor of NJAC) have co-authored a pre-marital counselling manual entitled “Prepared For The Future”. He has also prepared books entitled “Parenting in The 21st Century” (Parenting Tool Kit) “Seven Steps to Purposeful Leadership” and “Community Transformation.” He and his wife Yvonne have assisted numerous couples through counselling and marriage seminars, presented throughout the UK and other countries world-wide.
They are the proud parents of three children, Rebecca, Adam, Matthew and Patrick their son-in-law. They are all active in ministry and play pivotal roles in the ministry and life of their church ‘New Jerusalem’.
Lee Jackson Motivational speaker, Powerpoint Surgeon, Presentation Coach.
Born in the North East of England, now residing in Leeds. ‘Lee from Leeds’ is a multi-generational and creative communicator, with 20 years of experience. Lee has spent his life and work researching and speaking in many different settings such as prisons, schools, a cruise ship (just the once – no sea legs!), organisations and businesses.
He isn’t a “celebrity” speaker, he’s never bungee jumped (while playing the nose flute!) from the summit of Everest, he doesn’t have an Olympic gold medal – in fact he doesn’t even like camping very much.
However, you’ll be glad to know that people say he is a great speaker with original content based on solid research, not random or fluffy ideas. He’s a “common sense” speaker (which is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.”)
People warm to him, laugh with him and understand his messages. But more importantly if they put it into action the content Lee brings, it does make a big difference to their lives and their workplace.
Lee happily divides his time between working with both adults and young people. After all with 20 years experience in this field it will always be a part of his life. His creative, funny and truly multi-media presentations are a welcome break from ‘flip chart overload’ and ‘death by power point’. His stories make people say “Yeah, that’s me as well!”.
He is a Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association and it’s President in the Yorkshire region.
Lee is also the author of six books and loves circuit training, boxercise and playing/watching basketball. He lives with his wife and twin daughters in West Yorkshire.
Dr Kofi Osei-Kusi is a life coach, a speaker and a consultant. He is deeply passionate about the youth. He serves as Executive President of the Osei-Kusi Foundation, which is a development and resource organisation providing mentoring, coaching, scholarships, leadership and rural outreaches to support the youth population. He has a spontaneous gift and flair with young people, which together always create an unforgettable experience for his young audience, whom he encourages to rise to their full potential.
For two decades, he has been involved in training and raising hundreds of young leaders through leadership seminars, training programmes and one-on-one coaching, as well as through his personal development books. Many of his mentees are now business owners, middle- to senior-level managers, leading thinkers and church leaders.
Dr Osei-Kusi brings his experience from leading international firms to strengthen the performance of corporate bodies, groups and churches in areas such as Wisdom, Leadership, Teamwork, Human Resource Development, Money and Finances. His proprietary team-building technique, which has been used by a number of local firms, is fast becoming the tool of choice for corporate bodies who want to gel their teams for peak performance.
Dr Osei-Kusi has authored 12 books. He is a weekly columnist for the Business & Financial Times newspaper in Ghana and a regular guest on television talk shows, including ‘WISDOM FILLA’, which is a weekly TV broadcast produced by the Osei-Kusi Foundation for the youth. Until December 2011, he worked with the Australian High Commission as Consular, Passports & Administrative Manager.
Dr Osei-Kusi serves on the Boards of a number of organisations. He is happily married to Jackie, and they are blessed with two lively children.