Team

Dai Hankey (Pastor) Dai is 33 years old and was born and raised in Pontypool. He went to UWIC in 1995 and after graduating with a degree in Leisure, he started working for Highfields Church (Cardiff) doing stuff like working with local youth off the streets and running Bible studies in Cardiff Prison.
In 2001 he moved to the St. Mellons estate to serve the local Beacon Church, again working with youth and young offenders, as well as getting stuck into preaching, discipleship and setting up the EZ36 team. Soon after, he married Michelle and they've been loving the adventure of mission together ever since!
In 2005 Dai also started working for Ignite as their evangelism and discipleship co-ordinator, encouraging young Christians to live all-out for Jesus and it was with Ignite that he wrote and continues to run the Offensive Evangelism Training Course too.
Dai was officially released by Highfields Church in 2007 to lead Hill City Church and he's well up for it!
Dai's hobbies include walking his hefty dog (Boaz), munching hot curries, reading, DJ-ing, Drums and Bass, writing songs/lyrics, playing football, and he's a loyal Cardiff City fan!

Michelle Hankey (Worship)
Michelle is 29 years old, was born in Swansea, but grew up in Cardiff. She studied English at Cardiff University and later qualified as a Further Education Teacher.
She is currently a full-time mum and seeks to serve God in various other ways too - including ministry to women, children and young people. She loves singing, playing the guitar and the drums (though not all together!) and has a heart for worship.
Michelle fell in love with the South Wales valleys after a teaching placement in the Rhondda several years ago, and like Dai, she's seriously excited about what God wants to do in Trevethin through Hill City Church.
Michelle's hobbies include music, family adventures and watching decent films.

James & Naomi Richards (Mission And Evangelism)
James and Naomi live in Trevethin with their beautiful son, Benjamin. James is originally a Cardiff boy, a former Marine and knows how to make fish tanks out of old television sets. He works part-time at Shop Rugby in Cardiff. Naomi hails from Abertillery and worked as a lab assistant before becoming a full-time mum.
James and Naomi are responsible for Hill City's Mission and Evangelism strategy, which is right up their street, as sharing the good news of Jesus is something very close to their hearts. For several years now James has worked with Cardiff-based Banah ministries, which has involved sharing the gospel on the streets and with inmates in HMP Cardiff. He has also written and recorded several songs (available for free on this website) and runs Truth Expressions, a Christian clothing company.
Amongst other things, their hobbies include various sports, watching films, listening to good sermons and playing with Benjamin.

Jeff & Jen Taylor (Compassion And Social Justice)
Jeff and Jen live in Glascoed Village and have been married for 41 years. They have two sons and four grandsons. They were both born in the Pontypool area. Jeff is chairman of a building company and Jen is a retired Finance Director. Jeff is also a former chairman and player of Pontypool Rugby Club.
Jeff and Jen have agreed to head up the social action ministry of Hill City Church and are both excited by the opportunity of spreading the gospel to the community of Pontypool. They have a great passion for helping to release children from poverty throughout the world and are sponsors and advocates for Compassion, a Christian child sponsorship programme, which operates in the world's poorest countries. They also run a foundation in Fiji which offers educational opportunities to young people who would otherwise be unable to achieve their ambitions, with the aim of creating Christian leaders within the communities.
Their hobbies include watching rugby, walking and travelling, especially to visit their son and two of their grandsons in Australia and also visiting various countries where Compassion works.

Pete Evans (Ministry Apprentice)
Pete is 23 and graduated from Cardiff Uni in 2008. He is working for Hill City and Highfields Evangelical Church, Cardiff as a Ministry Apprentice. For three years before joining Hill City and Highfields, he was involved with 'Revive', a student youth ministry in the valleys, and has a massive passion to see God's Word change lives (including his!) through the Church in South Wales.
He helps run Trevolution, the church youth work in the Cold Barn and is also doing a wide range of other stuff like preaching, praying, admin and hanging out with people on the estate!
He loves football, rugby and spending time with his mates. Along with his fiance Hannah, he is enjoying getting stuck in at Hill City Church.