Staff and Leadership

Please find below an introduction to our church leaders and members of staff.


Minister: Rev Gavin Hancocks		Minister: Deacon Sarah Pitkeathly
My journey in ministry began back in 1980 when I became Youth Pastor in my home church, Newton Park Methodist Church, Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Three years later I candidated from Fish Hoek in Cape Town and went directly to college to complete my training as a Presbyter. I began my Circuit Ministry in 1986 in Durban and served in three Circuits in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa before relocating to the Methodist Church of Great Britain in August 2002. Since coming to this country, I have served as a Presbyter in the Medway region, Bognor Regis, and Torbay before coming to Horsham in 2016. I am passionate about encouraging and supporting others to become leaders in the Church and seek to work alongside others in its ministry. I am married to Angela and have two children, Desre and Richard who is married to Nikki and a grandson Jake.		Sarah came to faith as a teenager, growing up in the Church of England. She joined a Methodist church in 2004 and was accredited as a Local Preacher in 2015. From 2015 to 2018 she worked as a lay pastor in the Fens, before offering for the Methodist Diaconal Order. She serves Cornerstone Methodist Church as a diaconal minister and bridges the gap between the church and the community. Sarah is very involved in outward-facing projects within the church and is grateful to all those who are willing to join her in “having a go” when she has fresh inspirations! Sarah is committed to diaconal ministry and loves to talk about it! We need more deacons…. She also enjoys baking, knitting, watching crime series (Vera, Silent Witness etc) and good films. Sarah’s love for the flatlands of East Anglia is only matched by her love of the mountains of Scotland. She really enjoyed having a go at driving a lorry in the summer of 2023 and has her eye on a double-decker bus now!
Email: revd@cornerstone-mc.org.uk		Email: deacon@dhcircuit.org

Church Steward: Teresa Thomson		Church Steward: Peter Bramhill
Teresa has been a Christian for most of her life, growing up in a local village where she attended the Parish Church. She first attended a Methodist United Reformed church whilst at college. She started attending the London Road Chapel 22 years ago after moving back to Horsham, as this was where her grandparents worshipped. During this time, she has served as a Church steward at the London Road Chapel and as a Circuit steward. Teresa is excited to be involved with Cornerstone Methodist church and loves going to all the chapels and joining in with their Sunday worship. Teresa has two grown up children Joshua & Rosie, both of whom are at university. Some of the things she enjoys doing are working in the garden, knitting, and doing the daily Wordle.		Peter has been a member of the Methodist Church for over 40 years, ever since a Minister invited him to “come along and find out what it’s all about”. During that time he has undertaken a variety of roles including, but not limited to, preaching, teaching young people, leadership, and supporting worship. He describes his churchmanship as middle-of-the-road, explaining how his Christian faith is shaped by the so-called ‘Methodist Quadrilateral’ of scripture, tradition, reason and experience. Peter believes that the formation of Cornerstone Methodist Church from the constituent chapels at Partridge Green, St Andrew’s at Roffey, and London Road in central Horsham, offers a good opportunity to create a vibrant Methodist presence in the area. He is mindful of the different characteristics of the three locations but hopes that his new leadership role moving around the chapels can contribute to a growing collaboration between them as Cornerstone takes shape. Peter is a retired company director, having spent his career in IT. He is married to Angela with a grown-up family and is a proud grandfather of two boys, and step-great grandfather of three girls. His interests include family history, artisan glass making and he is President of a local Probus Club.

Leadership Team and Church Council Secretary: John Dale		Church Steward: Denise Sillett
My introduction to Methodism was when I was married to Christine by her uncle in Royal Wootton Bassett in 1982. Since then, we have been fortunate always to live within a stone’s throw of St Andrew’s and unsurprisingly our four children have all been happily baptised in the chapel. We have been enthusiastically involved in the life of St Andrew’s over many years and our four grandchildren now enjoy Messy Church and Bright Stars Toddlers. After completing an Alpha course in 2019, I affirmed my faith, becoming a church member and more recently a trustee. Most of my career has been in publishing management in the voluntary sector, including Action for Children, Help the Aged, Diabetes UK and Childline. Now at the NSPCC, I develop and publish online safeguarding training courses for organisations working with children, young people and adults at risk across the UK – and I passionately champion equality, diversity and inclusion. As Cornerstone Methodist Church seeks to follow Jesus in community, love and service, I look forward to playing a role in helping to shape and to deliver the church’s mission and vision.		Denise as been a member of the Methodist Church for over 75 years.Her parents took her to Oldham Methodist Church when she was five years old and she has been a Christian from that time onwards. When she married Bob in 1965 she moved to Christ's Hospital school and she joined London Road Methodist Church. After having her two daughters and a son she became a regular attender and the children grew up in the crèche and Sunday School until the time when they moved to university. She has been a church steward several times and she now has become a steward for Cornerstone. She looks forward to meeting new people and helping promote the Christian mission in the local community. Her hobbies are reading, the Arts and looking after her ten grandchildren.

If you need to contact the Church then please visit the Contact Us page.

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A warm welcome

We are one Church in three locations and we will be pleased to welcome you. Although we are

different on the outside, inside you will find communities of believers gathering to praise and

worship God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and trying to live out our faith by serving others as best we can.

How to find us

Choose the chapel which is convenient for you, a map can be found on each chapel’s homepage.

For those arriving by car, there is a small car park at the London Road chapel, and nearby parking on the road and in public car parks. At St Andrew’s and Partridge Green there is parking in the roads nearby. If coming by train, St Andrew’s chapel is a 15 minute walk from Littlehaven station and London Road chapel about ten minutes from Horsham station.

Planning your visit

For your first visit, we suggest arriving about 10-15 minutes early. You will be greeted by a Welcome Steward who will be able to answer any questions you may have. All our chapels are wheelchair-accessible and have accessible toilets. There is also a hearing loop for those who need it. At all chapels hymn words are displayed on a screen, but hymn books are available if you prefer.

Our Services

The Sunday services in all our chapels is at 10.30am. For more information see our Sunday Services page (link). The service lasts for 60-75 minutes, and includes hymns and songs, prayer, Bible readings and a talk, usually based around the readings. The service is led by one of own ministers or by a lay person who has been trained in leading worship. Once a month in each chapel we celebrate the Sacrament of Holy Communion, to which all are welcome. Gluten-free bread and alcohol-free wine are used at this service. At the end of the service, tea, coffee and biscuits are served and there is the opportunity to chat informally. Please do introduce yourself, we will be pleased to get to know you.

Midweek worship

We realise that Sunday worship is not convenient for everyone. At our London Road chapel we have a fortnightly service on a Thursday, which is held either in the afternoon at 2.30pm or in the evening at 7.30pm. Please see our calendar for the dates. This is a shorter, more informal act of worship, accompanied by tea/coffee and cake, and held in the ‘Meeting Place’, a new space at the front of the chapel.

Can I bring my children?

Messy Church, which is especially for parents, carers and children, takes place at St Andrew’s on the 3rd Sunday of the month from 2-30 to 5pm and at Partridge Green during the school holidays (see our calendars for dates).

If you would like to talk to one of our ministers, please use our Contact Us page . We look forward to welcoming you soon.