Leadership & Lecturers
The genius of London Seminary is simply this: pastors training pastors.
London Seminary lecturers provide not only excellent intellectual content but also the kind of wisdom and maturity that is only developed through years of first-hand pastoral experience in local churches.
Leadership

Bill James
Principal
After studying chemical engineering at Cambridge and working in the pharmaceutical industry, Bill trained for pastoral ministry at Toronto Baptist Seminary (M.Div).
He served as pastor of Emmanuel Church, Leamington Spa, for 26 years, before his appointment as Principal of London Seminary.
Bill is a trustee of the FIEC and a member of the advisory council for Affinity.

Dr David Green
Vice Principal
David has a doctorate in the History of Art and taught in further and higher education before training for the ministry at London Seminary.
He was minister of Bishopdown Baptist Church in Salisbury for ten years before his appointment as Vice-Principal of the Seminary.
David has spoken widely on contemporary culture, postmodernism and consumerism, and has written journal articles and published conference papers.

Revd Dr Garry Williams
Lecturer; Director of Pastors’ Academy
As well as lecturing on London Seminary courses, Garry oversees the Pastors’ Academy and teaches on the ThM program. He is the Minister of Ebenezer Chapel, Luton, an IPC church.
Garry holds a bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate in theology from Oxford. His master’s was in Reformation theology, and his doctorate, supervised by Oliver O’Donovan, was on Hugo Grotius’s defence of the catholic doctrine of the atonement. He is Adjunct Professor of Historical Theology (doctoral program) at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (Michigan).
Garry has published numerous book chapters and journal articles, and two popular-level books. His long-term project (God willing) is to publish a multi-volume organic study of penal substitutionary atonement formed by the way in which the Gospels use the figures, types, and covenant of the Old Testament to interpret the person and work of Christ, taking the historical proponents of the doctrine as teachers, and exploring pertinent dogmatic questions at the points where they naturally arise within that covenantally-shaped framework.

Dr Matthew Mason
Lecturer; Assistant Director of Pastors’ Academy
Matthew has served as a pastor of churches in the UK and USA. In addition to teaching on the Pastoral Training Course, he is the Assistant Director of the Pastors’ Academy and an associate fellow of the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology.
With a PhD in Divinity from the University of Aberdeen, Matthew has published many journal articles and book chapters. He is particularly interested in the intersection of ethics and doctrine, and his longer-term writing project is in theological anthropology.
Main Lecturers

Bill James
New Testament; Biblical Theology; Preaching; Pastoral Studies
After studying chemical engineering at Cambridge and working in the pharmaceutical industry, Bill trained for pastoral ministry at Toronto Baptist Seminary (M.Div).
He served as pastor of Emmanuel Church, Leamington Spa, for 26 years, before his appointment as Principal of London Seminary.
Bill is a trustee of the FIEC and a member of the advisory council for Affinity.

Dr David Green
Biblical Hebrew; Old Testament; Biblical Theology; Preaching; Contemporary Studies
David has a doctorate in the History of Art and taught in further and higher education before training for the ministry at London Seminary.
He was minister of Bishopdown Baptist Church in Salisbury for ten years before his appointment as Vice-Principal of the Seminary.
David has spoken widely on contemporary culture, postmodernism and consumerism, and has written journal articles and published conference papers.

Rev Dr Garry Williams
Systematic Theology; Contemporary Studies
As well as lecturing on London Seminary courses, Garry oversees the Pastors’ Academy and teaches on the ThM program. He is the Minister of Ebenezer Chapel, Luton (IPC).

Paul Mallard
Systematic Theology; Pastoral Studies
Paul served as pastor in three churches from 1982 to 2022. For three years he was the President of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. In 2022 he retired from full-time ministry at Widcombe Baptist Church in Bath, starting a new role with the FIEC.
Paul has been involved in a variety of ministerial training schemes and has also been engaged in pastoring pastors.
He has written two books: Invest Your Suffering and Staying Fresh.

Stéphane Simonnin
New Testament Greek; Church History
With law degrees from the University of Kent and the University of Grenoble (France) and a ThM in historical theology from Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia), Stéphane worked as a solicitor in London before training for the pastorate at London Seminary.
Stéphane is pastor of a Baptist church in Brentford, having served in baptist churches in Italy for a number of years.

Dr Matthew Mason
Ethics; Contemporary Studies
Matthew has served as a pastor of churches in the UK and USA. In addition to teaching on the Pastoral Training Course, he is the Assistant Director of the Pastors’ Academy and an associate fellow of the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology.
With a PhD in Divinity from the University of Aberdeen, Matthew has published many journal articles and book chapters. He is particularly interested in the intersection of ethics and doctrine, and his longer-term writing project is in theological anthropology.

Dr Robert Strivens
Church History
Robert Strivens is pastor of Bradford-on-Avon Baptist Church. He teaches church history on the Pastoral Training Course, and writes and speaks on current and historical matters concerning the life of the church and the Christian faith.
His PhD was on Philip Doddridge and he has a particular interest in Puritanism and Dissent.
Robert is married to Sarah and they have three sons and a growing number of grandchildren.

Mike Gilbart-Smith
New Testament; Church Government
Mike has been the pastor of Twynholm Baptist Church in Fulham since 2008. Before that, Mike served as Assistant Pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, Washington DC (2005–2008) and at Farnham Baptist Church, Surrey (2002–2005).
Mike holds a degree in Theological and Pastoral Studies from Oak Hill College, and in Mathematics from Cambridge University.

Michael Prest
Mission & Evangelism
After starting his working life in pharmacy management, Michael served in pastoral ministry at Beeston Free Church in Nottingham and as a missionary in SE Asia, before starting in his current role as Director of UFM Worldwide in 2017.
Michael holds an MTh in Missiology from Edinburgh Theological Seminary and teaches mission and evangelism on the Pastoral Training Course.
Michael is married to Rachel, with 4 children, and serves as an elder at Emmanuel Church, Marlborough.

Luke Jenner
New Testament; Old Testament
Luke has been pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Halifax, West Yorkshire, since 2010.
He teaches part of the New Testament and Old Testament subjects on the Pastoral Training Course.

Revd David Pfeiffer
Old Testament
David has been a minister and elder at Whaddon Road Evangelical Church since 2014, and teaches part of the Old Testament subject on the Pastoral Training Course.
David studied his Masters at Cambridge, and completed his theology study at London Seminary.
David is married to Bethan and they have four children. He enjoys reading biography, playing football and cricket, watching sport, holidaying with his family, and studying the Old Testament.