Pastor Abi Ngunga

Pastor Abi joined St Andrews Baptist Church in July 2019 to serve as our pastor.  In addidion to his pastoral role, Abi serves as an elder and deacon(trustee) and leads the ministry team of the church.


Abi has over 25 years’ cross-cultural ministry experience. His greatest passion is unashamedly to introduce people to the Lord Jesus Christ and to facilitate their personal spiritual growth and effective development in their Christian walk for the transformation of their given community, as well as to train the next generation of church leaders.  For he believes that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope for humanity.  To this end, he considers his life worth nothing to him, if only he may faithfully finish his God-given mission.

Abi was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before moving (via Kenya) to Scotland in 2005.  After a career as a teacher of Maths and Physics for three years, he pursued theological studies - earning, by God’s grace, not one but five degrees including a PhD in Old Testament/Hebrew Bible from the University of Aberdeen. He enjoys serving and encouraging others, exercising faith, networking, socializing, and walking.

He and his wife, Elisée (from the DRC), have children (Pistis, Elpis, and Isaac)!  

Ministry Staff Team

From left  Abi Ngunga, Clay Rowe, Tiny de Jong, Paulus de Jong, Chris Walker, Holly Scott-Riddell. Becky Keating.

Ethan & Tamara Knudson

Hello, we are Tamara and Ethan Knudson. We moved to St Andrews in 2016 for postgraduate studies and have had the pleasure of serving as Student and Youth Workers for St Andrews Baptist Church since August 2020. We are passionate about mentorship and accessible biblical teaching within the local church and both of us are completing PhDs in Old Testament to help equip us to do this more effectively.


We met in an undergraduate Hebrew module at Multnomah University in Portland, Oregon, USA (it was love at first het). Ethan was born and grew up in Renton, Washington, USA (near Seattle). Tamara grew up in Zambia, but was born in Stirling, so moving to Scotland has felt like a return home in many ways. We have a wonderful daughter named Eilidh, who is a daily source of joy, hilarity, and surprise and we dearly love our church family here at the Baptist Church.


Paulus & Tiny de JonG

Hi everyone, we are Paulus and Tiny (pronounced Teeny). Originally we are from Urk, a small fishing town in the Netherlands. In the summer of 2016 we moved to Scotland for Paulus’ postgraduate studies at the University of St Andrews. The following summer we were appointed as youth- and children’s workers at St Andrews Baptist Church.

Before we moved to St Andrews we were involved in the youth- and children’s ministry of our home church for several years. Meanwhile, Tiny worked as a primary school teacher while Paulus studied theology at the Vrije Universiteit and the Dutch Baptist Seminary. 

Tiny loves to work with children of all ages. As a children’s worker she coordinates Beacon Kids and the crèche. She is also involved in organising the toddler group and MishMash. Paulus coordinates the staff team, is involved in organising the youth work and you might occasionally see him preaching or being part of the worship team.

Becky Keating

Hi, I’m Becky. Since 2017 I've worked as international outreach worker for the church, and I currently help lead the Eastern European Team ministry. I really love getting to know people from different countries who live in and around St Andrews.

I studied English Literature at St Andrews University and then I worked as a pastoral apprentice for two years at the Baptist Church. During this time I especially loved spending time with people we met at the fruit farm, and when I finished the apprenticeship I moved to Poland with the hope of continuing to serve people from the farm and the countries they come from. I taught English to all ages in a language school in Katowice.

In September 2017, I moved back to Scotland and started working for the church again, while completing my Masters in Early Childhood Education. I'm married to Gideon and we live in Balmullo. I currently work in the Early Years sector, and continue to work with Central and Eastern European families.

Clay Rowe

I was born in Texas, raised in Georgia, and educated in Lousiana and Scotland. Carmen and I were married on May 29, 2010. We originally came from the States so I could pursue a postgraduate degree at the Uni and found the experience exciting as well as petrifying. The transition was made easier for us thanks to the warm welcome of St Andrews Baptist Church. Since then Carmen and I have been involved in the leadership of the postgraduate ministry of the church, which aims to offer not just a community for postgrads who are here for 1-5 years, but a home away from home.

I also serve as the Area Director for Young Life International in North East Fife. Our mission is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. Along with this comes training and mentoring volunteer leaders to join in the work in reaching the teens or North East Fife with the Gospel through relational evangelism.


Helen Willis

My name is Helen Willis and I’m the church administrator. On Thursday afternoons I am in the church office where I format and print the weekly bulletin, newsletters, home group notes and anything else required (within reason!).

Weekly notices for the bulletin should be submitted before 6pm on Wednesdays!