{"id":1527,"date":"2026-07-19T18:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T18:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/?page_id=1527"},"modified":"2026-10-15T17:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T17:22:23","slug":"international-council","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/about\/who\/international-council\/","title":{"rendered":"The International Council"},"content":{"rendered":"
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International Council<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The Rooftop International Council is an international group of Christian Leaders who are there to support, guide and advise The Rooftop Pioneers in Joining Jesus in His Mission. Meeting twice a year they plan and discuss the work of The Rooftop Ministry across the world.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Chairman<\/small> Rev Stephen Gaukroger<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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His ministry began in a local church context, after gaining a degree in business and then a theological degree and pastoral diploma from Spurgeon\u2019s College. For 14 years he oversaw remarkable church growth as Senior Pastor of Stopsley Baptist Church, Luton, before spending 12 years as Senior Minister of Gold Hill Baptist Church in Buckinghamshire \u2013 one of the largest Baptist churches in England. During his years as a local church leader Stephen was also President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain (1994-1995), which enabled him to engage with leaders of other denominations as well as those in the political and business arenas.This role opened up a number of strategic opportunities that grew Stephen\u2019s passion for preaching and teaching internationally and laid the groundwork for the ministry of Clarion.<\/p>

Alongside this ministry, Stephen is also hugely involved in a wide variety of Christian initiatives, both in the UK and internationally. He is a Vice-President of the Bible Society and an Ambassador for the Haggai Institute. He holds positions on a number of Councils of Reference, both as a member and as Chair, including Open Doors, Jews for Jesus and The Rooftop International Ministries. He works closely with Agape Europe in an advisory capacity. He\u2019s also Patron of Viva \u2013 an international organisation that works with vulnerable children round the world.A prolific author, Stephen has written more than 20\u00a0books<\/strong><\/span><\/a>,\u00a0edited a variety of Bible study series and small group resources and authored numerous\u00a0articles and blogs<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. His first book,\u00a0It Makes Sense, an accessible, humorous and compelling intro to Christian faith<\/em>, has been translated into several different languages and sold more than 100,000 copies. He has recently written and recorded seven DVDs entitled \u2018God\u2019s Amazing Book\u2019 for Community Bible Study International. These have been translated into over 25 languages and distributed around the world!Stephen is also a keen Man Utd supporter, loves Boxfit (!) and is an avid reader of political biographies. He enjoys spending time with his family \u2013 his wife Janet, their three adult children and their four grandchildren.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Phil Hart<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I grew up in the southeastern United States attending large Baptist churches, surrounded by followers of Christ and spiritual teachers and good examples from birth.\u00a0 Nearly a decade in the US Army exposed me on a large scale for the first time to much of the world that did not know Jesus or know anything good about churches.Over the last 33 years, I have worked in the music business, the financial services industry, the petroleum industry, the rail transportation industry, and the defense management consulting business, concurrently serving as a lay servant and leader wherever needed in my church.<\/p>

I have also served with The Rooftop for over 5 years now as part of the US Board of Directors and the International Advisory Council in various roles. My focus is bringing a business and strategic planning perspective to these organizations to expand and diversify the organizational strategy as informed by the vision of our many ministerial members.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Executive Pioneer and Senior North American Pioneer<\/small> John Whaley<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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John Whaley serves as the Executive Pioneer and North American Pioneer for The Rooftop. Prior to serving with The Rooftop, he served for 21 years as a pastor in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and North Carolina. Over the years, God has opened doors for John to preach throughout the United States and across the globe in Romania, France, Poland, Austria, South Africa, and South Korea.In addition to a passion for teaching the Word, God has also given John a passion for prayer.\u00a0 While pastoring in Alabama, he led a Pastors Prayer Movement across the county through which God brought pastors together across denominational lines to pray and pastor the city together.<\/p>

John\u2019s passion is to see every local church awakened to the Priority of Prayer, the Passion of the Father, and the Power of the Gospel.\u00a0 To see pastors in a city come together as one, praying with and for each other as they pastor the city together.\u00a0 To see Christians move beyond the walls of their church buildings, homes, cultures, and comfort zones transforming their city with the Gospel, making disciples who make disciples. John is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.\u00a0 He and his wife, Susan, live in Hickory, North Carolina.\u00a0 They have two children and two grandchildren.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Rooftop UK Board Chairman<\/small> Mike Burgess<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mike grew up in a Christian family & made a commitment to follow Christ in his youth. Having studied & worked in engineering for nearly 40 years until 2025, he now has more time to support charities & his local church.<\/p>

He lives in south-east England with his wife andhas 2 adult daughters who live away from home. His links to The Rooftop and Dennis Pethers came from serving on the Mission Team at his church. He has served as Chair of the UK Board since 2016 and has been part of the International Council since 2017. He describes himself as a \u2018details person\u2019 & hopes to be able to contribute to the team alongside others who are gifted in seeing the \u2018big picture vision\u2019. When not busy with charities, church & family, he likes to enjoy the outdoors, gardens, cycling, photography & listening to music.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Dr Debra Wolfrey<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dr. Debra Wolfrey is an adjunct professor for Gateway Seminary and a retired Education minister for an association of 75 churches, where she has led more than 25 international mission trips. She and her husband, Dr. Jeff Wolfrey, live in both Arizona and Virginia in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cI love seeing God change the lives of believers as they seek His face and feel blessed to be a part of\u00a0 a ministry like The Rooftop Int. that shares this passion.\u00a0 Life Verse:\u00a0 Here am I send me.\u00a0 Isaiah 6:8b.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Brian Ragan<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Brian Ragan lives in middle Tennessee in the United States with his wife of over 29 years.\u00a0 Together they have two boys, ages 25 & 21.\u00a0 Two years ago, their older son Bryson married Jessica, adding a daughter to the family.\u00a0 Bryson and Jessica live in nearby Nashville, where Bryson is a Financial Analyst and Jessica is a nurse.\u00a0 Spencer, their older son, is currently finishing his bachelor\u2019s degree at Middle Tennessee State University, and he is planning to go into the Journeymen program with the International Mission Board in the summer of 2021.<\/p>

Andrea is a preschool music teacher, and Brian is currently developing a private consulting practice focused on pricing strategy and execution after leaving a 25-year plus career in April 2020 with a large global manufacturer.\u00a0 Brian, Andrea, and Spencer have attended Northside Baptist Church locally, where they have served in various roles over the past 16 plus years of membership.\u00a0 Brian\u2019s favorite passage in this time of transition has been Psalm 37:7a, \u201cBe still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Web & Communications Strategies<\/small> J. Boe Ellis<\/h1><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Boe is a pastor and missionary based in Tampa, FL. He is executive director for\u00a0Great Commission Partnerships<\/a>\u00a0which focuses on connecting churches to meet needs for church planters and missionaries around the world. Boe has served in other catalytic roles; as a missions pastor, as the church planting catalyst for the Tampa Bay Baptist Association; as a NAMB-supported intern in Boston, MA; and as a missions communications strategist.\u00a0He holds an M.Div and a Th.M from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is currently working on his D.Miss at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. His is married to Connie. They live in Tampa and have six kids, and three grand kids.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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International Council The Rooftop International Council is an international group of Christian Leaders who are there to support, guide and advise The Rooftop Pioneers in Joining Jesus in His Mission. Meeting twice a year they plan and discuss the work of The Rooftop Ministry across the world. Chairman Rev Stephen Gaukroger His ministry began in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":941,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1527","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1527"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13309,"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1527\/revisions\/13309"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therooftop.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}