Leadership

Richard and Jill Lawton
Lead Elders

Richard and Jill were both born in the UK. They met as students, got married and had two daughters, Rebecca and Carys, before taking up a work contract in Durban, where their third daughter, Melissa, was born. At the end of Richard’s contract they returned to the UK but could not let go of the passion and calling they felt towards South Africa and they emigrated permanently in 1988. They joined Hillside about a year after it was planted, and were part of the eldership team from 1995, taking over leadership of the team in November 1997.

Richard has a burning desire to see the gospel incarnated in the church and for the church to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. He has a gift for communicating deep truths in both written form and in preaching and teaching. As well as being passionate about the local church, raising up leaders and elders to plant out new churches, he has travelled widely and ministered on six continents. Richard and Jill were part of the New Covenant Ministries Apostolic team from 2004-2009. They continue to minister outside of South Africa and have particularly strong links with a number of churches in Brazil.

Jill has a heart to see freedom and creativity unleashed in the local church. She enjoys preaching, writing and editing and currently takes care of the media and communications functions of Hillside. Trained as an educational psychologist, she loves to find the treasure in the individual and to help them to reach their potential in God. She also spends a fair amount of time scheming to spend family holidays with their three daughters, one son-in-law and two grandchildren who all currently live in London, UK.

 

Tyron and Lidia Akal

Tyron met Jesus through Hillside Church eight years ago. He has been on staff at the church for five years and part of the eldership team for two years. His passion is for Hillcrest, Durban the world to encounter Jesus through Christians in their everyday lives. This is a lifestyle that he increasingly lives in himself and leads the church in through preaching, example and practice.
Tyron met his wife, Lidia at a leadership training conference in her home town, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2005. He never forgot that encounter and, after meeting up with her again in South Africa, he pursued her to her home in Brazil and persuaded her to return to South Africa as his wife. They have been married for almost 18 months and lead an outreach homegroup which is a clear expression of their desire to take people on exciting journeys in God.

Lidia was born in 1987 in Brazil but because of the amazing story that God has written for her, she relocated to South Africa after her wedding in October 2009, becoming a member of Hillside Church and part of the eldership team with Tyron. She is passionate about people, their uniqueness and gifts. She wants to see people discovering treasure in each other and doors being unlocked for them through these encounters. She has a huge heart for hospitality and leads the hosting team in Hillside.

 

Hilton and Janine Mundell

Hilton was born in Zimbabwe, one of five brothers. Hilton has been married to Janine for 18 years and they have 3 amazing daughters, Kate 14, Julia 11 and Roxanne 7. Hilton left the family printing business in 2003 in response to an invitation to serve on the leadership team at Hillside Church. Hilton has a passion for the prophetic and loves to equip the body to do the works of ministry and his favorite thing is to see freedom come into a person’s life.

Janine has served on the leadership team at Hillside for 10 years with Hilton. She has a heart for moms in our community and hosts a “Mainly Music” moms and tots outreach group. Janine also shares Hilton’s passion for freedom and enjoys nothing better that partnering with the Holy Spirit in dismantling the lies in people’s lives and releasing them into the truth!

 

David and Helen Roome

David and Helen met while studying in Johannesburg and were married in 1995. They joined Hillside when they relocated to KZN at the end of 1999. They have been part of Hillside leadership since 2000 and were invited to join the eldership team in 2009.  David and Helen have two children: Melissa (8) and Ethan (5).

David is a pastor at Hillside who desires to see God’s people grow and mature as sons living out their destiny with God. He is particularly passionate about seeing the gospel become central to all we are and do as a church. With this gospel-focus, he oversees the development of new and existing social justice projects Hillside is involved in, such as iThemba lethu and the Embo feeding scheme.

Helen passionately leads the inner healing and counseling ministry of the church. With a professional background in the rehabilitation of adults with physical and psychiatric disabilities, she desires to see people enabled to live in greater freedom, wholeness and intimacy with God and their community through the prophetic ministry, intercession and inner healing.

 

Roger and Tanya Tedder

Roger has been a part of Hillside for 14 years and has been serving as a leader for the past 9 years or so. He is involved in much of the pastoral work in the church. He is passionate about seeing people grow into what God has for them. He loves to see people take what God has gifted them in and use these gifts to spread God’s good news in all aspects of their lives. He has a deep desire to see men in the church mature and take hold of their rightful place in the kingdom as sons and leaders in their homes, the church and their workplace. One outworking of this is ‘Passed Thru Fire’, a rite-of-passage experience which he facilitates in the local schools, enabling young boys to understand and have a clear path to manhood.

Roger and Tanya also have a profound commitment to marriages in Hillside and work well together in ministry, counseling and preparing couples for marriage. They have two awesome kids; Stephen, who is turning 15 this year, and Paige who is 12.

Tanya loves being a wife and mother and says it is a privilege and pleasure to be a part of the eldership team and the Hillside Family. She is also a full time Primary School teacher at St Mary’s Diocesan School for Girls: “I love teaching, and it is a privilege to teach and be a part of the lives of God’s beautiful princesses every day. It reminds me that overarching all that I am and all that I do, I am first and foremost a daughter of our king.”

 

Ashley and Cati Tennant

Ashley is currently the children’s ministry pastor. He is a young, passionate worshipper of Jesus who delights in seeing children of all ages getting caught up in the presence of God and moving powerfully in their giftings and the Spirit. He believes that all children are destined for greatness and are world changers and that the classroom where he leads them on a Sunday is not big enough for them. Prophecy, healing, and the sense of the presence of God are becoming more and more a common place not just in the classrooms but in the playgrounds and the shopping malls. During the week he runs his own architectural company which offers him the flexibility to be on the eldership team and be in the work place. He is passionate about helping people understand who they are and encouraging them to be bold and courageous in pursuing their own destiny.

Cati joined Ashley on the eldership team in 2007and is his passionate partner in running the kids ministry team. Cati desires to be fully sustained and satisfied by Jesus alone. She loves to see people secure in their sonship, calling and authority, and out of that, to release their dreams and gifts to bless the church and the community. She loves hanging out with the kids. Trained in interior design, she is a highly creative person and adds style and flair to Hillside events.