Vicar – The Revd Dr Catriona Laing
Revd Dr Catriona Laing, was installed as the Vicar of Emmanuel in September 2023. Full bio coming soon!
Please contact Reverend Trin at [email protected]
Assistant Priest SSM – The Reverend Annette Fritze-Shanks
Mother Annette Fritze-Shanks, has been a self-supporting Assistant Priest at Emmanuel since 2009 and since 2021 serves also as the Bishop of London’s adviser for self-supporting ministry.
Her early life and education was in Australia where she trained in education and then in law at the University of Sydney, moving to London to practice as a lawyer over twenty years ago.
Annette received her formation for ordination on the South East Institute of Theological Education based in Southwark. She was ordained deacon in St Paul’s Cathedral in 2004 and priest in 2005.
She served as curate of our neighbouring parishes of St James’, West Hampstead and St Mary’s with All Souls’, Kilburn, before moving to Emmanuel, where she gave pastoral and sacramental cover during much of the vacancy before Fr Jonathan arrived.
Annette’s other interests in ministry include marriage preparation and hospital chaplaincy, including an extended placement at Great Ormond Street Hospital for sick children during her training.
Here at Emmanuel Church, she plays a full role in the sacramental life, ministry and outreach of the parish and in our Christian education and pastoral care. Annette is a self-supporting priest and works full-time during the week as a solicitor in the City of London.
Assistant Curate – The Reverend Helen Sims-Williams
Mother Helen Sims-Williams has been full time Assistant Curate at Emmanuel since her ordination deacon in 2021 and priest by the Bishop of Edmonton in 2022.
Originally from Guernsey, Helen, graduated from the University of Durham and later received her formation for ordination at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. Before this she ran a theological education programme for Paddington Deanery.
She swims in the sea (but more often at the Lido), practices yoga (with an emphasis on practice) and cooks (with varying degrees of success). Her secret passions are religious kitsch and terrible actions films.
Please contact Mother Helen at [email protected].
Churchwardens – Carrie Reiners and Lydia
The Churchwardens at Emmanuel are Carrie Reiners (pictured) and Lydia (picture coming soon!) elected at the Annual Parochial Church Meeting, not only to be the people’s representatives, but also to serve in a lay capacity as Bishop’s Officers.
They have a particular brief for the fabric and buildings of the Church, but also share in the pastoral care of all the parishioners, as well as keeping the clergy under control! They co-ordinate the ministry of welcome and hospitality on the main door of the Church and are always available to answer any queries or to give further information about the diversity and breadth of life at Emmanuel.
Operations Manager – Emma Clark
Emma Clark is Emmanuel’s Operations Manager and keeps our Church and community running smoothly.
Please contact Emma for all matters to do with hiring the rooms in the Community Space at the west end of the Church or indeed the whole Church building and for general parish matters.
She can be contacted via the main Church number on 020 7435 1911 or by email [email protected]
PCC Treasurer- Mark Hyoms
Mark Hyoms is Emmanuel’s Treasurer.
He has responsibility for all the financial matters of Emmanuel, preparing the accounts for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting in April each year and liaising with our independent financial examiner, Patricia Nicholson.
Rob also ensures that the annual Charity Commission returns are submitted on line each year by the due date and that we are compliant with all charity legislation and requirements.
On a day to day basis he is ably assisted by our parish book-keeper and assistant treasurer, Diana Malzer, who ensures that all our bills are paid on time and that we are up to date financially as good stewards of all that God has given us.
Mark would be happy to talk to you about any matter of Emmanuel’s finance, both in our day to day housekeeping and in our major building development project to make Emmanuel Church a resource for the whole local community in all its diversity.
PCC Secretary – Clare Fuller
Clare Fuller is Emmanuel’s Parochial Church Council Secretary.
She takes the minutes at all meetings of the Parochial Church Council, the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and handles correspondence between meetings.
This is made up of the ex-officio members – the licensed clergy of the parish, the churchwardens and five members of the North Camden Deanery Synod and up to twelve elected members of Emmanuel Church.
Electoral Roll Officer – Diana Malzer
Diana Malzer is Emmanuel’s Electoral Roll Officer.
The Electoral Roll is the formal membership list of all members of Emmanuel Church who are sixteen years of age and over.
The Electoral Roll is fully revised every six years, but each year it is updated in time for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting in April, with new members being added and those who have moved away or deceased removed.
To serve as Churchwarden or on the Parochial Church Council (PCC) a member has to be on the electoral roll of a parish, which also gives members voting rights at the Annual Meeting.
Emmanuel’s Electoral Roll currently stands at 271. If you are not yet on our electoral roll, Diana would love to hear from you.
Safeguarding Officer – Mother Annette Fritze-Shanks
Annette Fritze-Shanks is Emmanuel’s Safeguarding Officer.
Her role is to ensure that we are compliant and up to date with all aspects of safeguarding in the parish.
Her work includes the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, keeping the PCC and wider congregation up to date with changes in Safeguarding legislation, that all safeguarding training is undertaken and that best practice is observed in ensuring that all are safe in the church family here..
She oversees the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks on those with roles of particular responsibility within the parish as the evidence checker for the documentation.
For all matters of Safeguarding at Emmanuel, please do not hesitate to speak to Annette.
For the parish Safeguarding policy and procedures please go to our dedicated safeguarding page by clicking here.
Children’s Champion – Casey Hammett
Casey Hammett is Emmanuel’s Children’s Champion.
The role of the Children’s Champion is to ensure that the voice of children and young people are heard within the parish and that their perspectives and wishes are reflected as full and valued members of the congregation.
Children are encouraged to talk to the Children’s Champion about any matters of concern to them in the life of the Church.
The Children’s Champion works actively with the Safeguarding Officer and the parish clergy to inform and report of concerns and to see that they are appropriately discussed, seeking support and advice where necessary.
At Emmanuel children are very much the church of the present as well as being our bright hope for the future and equal stakeholders in determining the life, ministry and outreach of our parish.
Children’s Church Coordinator – Claire Hammett
Claire Hammett is our Children’s Church Co-ordinator.
She co-ordinates the team of volunteer leaders and helpers of our growing work with children in the parish on Sunday mornings.
She also co-ordinates our periodic “Messy Church” which takes place on several occasions throughout the year, such as on Shrove Tuesday, Easter, during the summer or at All Saints-tide.
In a Church with such a large number of children among the congregation, this work is central to our ministry since children are not just the church of tomorrow, but fully part of the church of today.
We are always in search of new volunteers in this crucial work.
If you would like to help in this area please speak to Claire or Fr Jonathan after the Sunday morning Eucharist or contact us via the “Contact us” section of this website.
Honorary Director – Concert Series – Maria Garzon
International concert pianist Maria Garzon keeps her concert grand piano at Emmanuel. Maria is Spanish, but spent much of her childhood in Africa. She went to school at the French Lycée and later studied music in Spain, at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Universities of Lubeck and Cologne, before moving to London.
Maria has performed all over the world in such venues as the Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Athenaeum in Madrid, the Athenaeum in Athens and the Mozarteum in Salzburg to name but a few. She has also taken part in a number of music festivals including Salzburg, Granada, the Canary Islands, Thessaloniki, Buxton and Malvern. When not travelling, Maria lives locally in West Hampstead and she oversees the new Emmanuel Church concert series as we aspire for Emmanuel Church to be a venue for music and the arts at the heart of the local community.
Emmanuel Trustees
| Name | Role | Date of Appointment | Role |
| Rev Catriona Laing | Chair | 7 September 2023 | Clergy |
| Sofia Radaelli | Trustee | 23 May 2023 | |
| Isabel Clare Hood Collins | Trustee | 23 April 2023 | |
| Lydia Parker | Trustee | 23 April 2023 | Warden |
| Tijana Urosevic | Trustee | 23 May 2022 | |
| Caroline Namujji-Nicodemo | Trustee | 23 May 2022 | |
| Rev Helen Sims-Williams | Trustee | 3 July 2021 | Clergy |
| Rev Annette Fritze-Shanks | Trustee | 16 May 2021 | Clergy |
| Sarah Watts | Trustee | 16 May 2021 | |
| Antony Edwards | Trustee | 16 May 2021 | |
| Claire Hammett | Trustee | 16 May 2021 | |
| Clare Fuller | Trustee | 9 May 2021 | Secretary |
| Mark Hyoms | Trustee | 26 November 2020 | Treasurer |
| Nishi Shirley | Trustee | ||
| Carrie Ann Reiners | Trustee | Warden | |
| Casey Eileen Marie Hammett | Trustee | ||
| Diana Mathleen Malzer | Trustee |