Clergy at SJTL
Revd. Lis Goddard (Vicar)
Lis has been Vicar of St James the Less since September 2010. This follows a year spent as Associate Vicar at St Mary’s Stoke Bishop in Bristol; a short-term appointment to provide consultancy on leadership structures. She trained for ordination alongside her husband, Andrew, being ordained in 1996 and job-sharing a curacy with him in Oxfordshire.
In the last fourteen years, she has also been a university chaplain and worked as Tutor for Ministerial Formation at Wycliffe Hall and Assistant Minister at St Andrew’s Church in North Oxford. She leads missions and does a lot of mentoring and spiritual direction, as well as being the current Chair of Awesome, a network of ordained women evangelicals. Her first book, The Gender Agenda, co-written with Clare Hendry, was published in November 2010. She is passionate about seeing people come to Jesus and growing in their faith, and loves spending time with her husband and two teenage children. She also enjoys real ales, curries and walking the family dog, Bramble.
Revd. Dr. Andrew Goddard (Assistant Minister)
Andrew is Assistant Minister at St James the Less. He is a Senior Research Fellow of the Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics and teaches for Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena and Westminster Theological Centre. He previously taught Christian Ethics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and then at Trinity College, Bristol.
He has written on a number of areas in ethics and on Anglicanism (his study of Rowan Williams’ time as Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams: His Legacy, was published by Lion in January 2013) and is currently researching and writing a book about Christian sexual ethics. He is also an Honorary Canon of Winchester Cathedral. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys walking the family dog, reading and spending time with his family.
Revd. Fung Lau (Assistant Minister)
Fung’s favourite verse in scripture:「自從造天地以來，上帝的永恆和神聖是明明可知的，雖是眼不能見，但藉着所造之物就可以曉得，叫人無可推諉。」羅馬書一章20節（和合本）
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20 NIV
My role is to support the ministry of the church; this can include assisting with Open Door Meal or giving sermons at the Holy Communion Service. I’m also a member of the PCC at Saint James the Less. During the week, I work at a community centre; my favourite hobbies are gardening, games and movies. I also loves chatting with people – if you catch me at our zoom service or in-person, feel free to say hello!
Revd. Ruwani Gunawardene (Curate)
I joined SJtL in September 2022 as a part time, self-supporting Curate. You can find me at PCC and other leadership meetings, Thursday home groups and all of Sunday at church. My favourite time at SJtL is the Thursday evening Life Group sessions where we eat together and dive deeper into the Sunday teachings of the week. In my spare time, I am studying for a Masters in Theology, Ministry and Mission. When the weather gets better you can find me in the garden, usually tidying up the space to enjoy with my friends. I love visiting churches in other parts of the country and the world, cooking, and socialising to relax, and am usually curious about people and their stories – especially their ‘come from’ related ones. Next time you see me, do tell me about yourself, where you come from and how you see God involved in your life.
Leadership & SJTL
Ben Ealovega (Worship Leader)
Ben and Amabel are longstanding members of the church family and are the Prayer Coordinators for St. James the Less. Ben is one of our worship leaders.
Amabel Ealovega (Prayer Leader)
Ben and Amabel are longstanding members of the church family and are the Prayer Coordinators for St. James the Less. Amabel leads our monthly ‘Revive’ prayer meeting.
Staff at SJTL
Samantha McCarthy (Operations Manager)
The Parochial Church Council (PCC)
The PCC meets 6 times a year and is elected from the congregation to cast vision and make decisions affecting the whole church in the year ahead.
Vicar and Chair
The Revd. Elisabeth Goddard
Ex Officio
Revd. Dr. Andrew Goddard
Revd. Fung Lau
Revd. Ruwani Gunawardene
Churchwarden
Dorothea Gopaul
Lay Vice-Chair
Anthony Metcalfe-Gibson
Treasurer
Andrew Brown
Deanery Synod Representative
Veronica Garbutt
Members 2024/2025
Eunice Komakech (Secretary)
Amabel Ealovega
Denise Barnett
Sinead Aylward
