Moderator
Dionne Gravesande (top left) has over twenty-five years of experience working with churches, national and international non-governmental organisations. Currently she is a senior manager at Christian Aid with a corporate remit for global ecumenical partnerships and expressions of ecumenical collaboration and co-operation in the areas of inequalities, peacebuilding, gender and climate. Prior to this she led Christian Aid’s church advocacy team, and before that spent ten years leading the organisation’s churches and young people’s work. Her education and training embraces theology, international relations, community development and business administration.
Dionne has been a member of the New Testament Church of God for twenty-six years and has served on its National Youth and Christian Education Board, and as local youth and Christian education director. She is Secretary for the National Church Leaders Forum, an organisation committed to facilitating a Black Christian Voice in the UK. She is a regular columnist for Keep the Faith magazine and a contributing author to The Black Church in the 21st Century book published by Darton, Longman and Todd in 2010.
Deputy Moderator
Anton Muller (centre top) is the County Ecumenical Officer for Lancashire. He brings to the role of Deputy Moderator a wide range of experience of Church and Society. A graduate in Theology from Durham University with an MA in Education, Anton first trained as a teacher of Religious Education, Music and Drama, moving on to become Education Officer and Head of Visits at Rochester Cathedral to promote a mission based approach to visits by schools and tourists and then to take up the post of Education Officer for the Church Mission Society with responsibility for the national team for mission education working with children, young people and adults. From there Anton trained for the ministry and has been a parish priest, a hospital and hospice chaplain, a lecturer in theological studies and a supply teacher from reception to Year 13! He continues to enjoy playing a range of musical instruments across all styles, although he is principally a flautist.
CTE Trustee
Victoria Turner (bottom left) is the CTE Trustee with a particular focus on young people. She is a PhD Candidate in World Christianity, University of Edinburgh. Her thesis is looking at practical responses to changing theologies of mission through the case studies of the Council for World Mission and the Iona Community. She was brought up in a church built on a five denominational Local Ecumenical Partnership but is grounded in the United Reformed Church. She has worked extensively with the Council for World Mission, including helping to organise their Global Youth Forum in 2017 and is now working with the World Communion of Reformed Churches, specifically to help create the Global Youth Summit. Victoria is also a Trustee for the Society for Ecumenical Studies and is a Tearfund Young Theologian.
CTE staff
Paul Goodliff is CTE’s General Secretary and Jenny Bond (left in group photo) is CTE’s Principal Officer for Intermediate Ecumenism, Governance Support and Resources. More recently, Mike Royal, CTE’s incoming General Secretary (not pictured), has joined the planning team. Lorraine Shannon (centre in group photo), CTE’s Operations Manager, works closely with the planning group and is responsible for the practicalities of the Forum. View their contact information on our staff page.
