Janet – Our New Church
Inclusion Co-Ordinator
Hi, I’m Janet Eardley, and I live with my husband Graham in Seaton, East Devon. We
have three children (in their 20s) who live in Yorkshire, Cumbria and Derbyshire…
so we are well spread around the UK!
I’m thrilled to join Through the Roof. This is such important work and I look forward
to building on the great foundations already in place. I hope I can serve and
develop the networks of Roofbreakers, and enable this vision to grow, so that many
more disabled people are included in church and in Christian activities and are able
to contribute their own God-given gifts and talents.
All of my working life has been among disabled people, and in recent years I have
had the pleasure of jobs combining this with my faith. I worked for Prospects – for
people with learning disabilities, and am coming to Through the Roof after 5 years
of working for Torch Trust – the Christian charity for people with sight loss. I have
also been part of Churches Inc trips with Through the Roof to Mozambique and
Tanzania.
My heart is that churches and individuals will catch the Roofbreaker vision and that
it will grow and grow. A church without disabled people is an incomplete church.
Jesus instructs us to invite everyone in, so let’s work together and make sure this
happens. I look forward to meeting many of you, and learning from your
experiences too. Please do pray that together we can serve Jesus, and that God will
be glorified by the transformations that will happen.
Janet and Fiona both began at TTR in March
Fiona – Deputy Co-ordinator
I’m excited to have been given this role, and to join
the team and get involved! Thank you TTR for this
fantastic opportunity.
My name’s Fiona Gosden, I’ve been married to
Tim, who is music producer at our church in
Manchester, for 4 years. We met playing the
French Horn in the Suffolk Youth Orchestra. I have
a rare bone condition, which affects my fingers, so
my French Horn was adapted for me. My
background is in Special Education Needs
teaching, accessible travel and coordinating a
project connecting disabled people to their
community across Greater Manchester.
I became a Christian while studying Philosophy at
university. There was a lot of time to think
(sometimes too much!), especially as I recovered
from surgery. During a hospital stay, I began
talking to God, and shortly afterwards, I decided to
give my life to Christ. There has been so much joy,
particularly in my weakest moments, and God has
always pointed me to his promise in Corinthians,
“my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness.”
I’m so excited about
contributing towards
advancing the Christian faith
amongst disabled people. I’m
confident that there are
potential Roofbreakers in
churches across the UK with a
vision waiting to be activated
through prayer,
communication of vision and
ongoing support. I hope to
see an increase in area
networks as these
Roofbreakers are identified
and equipped. I look forward
to seeing changes made to
church activities, where more
disabled people are enriching
Please pray for both our new team
the church as they enjoy
members
contributing to church and
community life.
I’d welcome prayers for peace regarding my health, for an increase in strong
Roofbreaker networks across the UK, involving volunteers who have the
passion for inclusion and salvation of disabled people, as barriers are removed
to access the Gospel and church.
www.throughtheroof.org