Pastor Jim MacKenzie

Jim was born and brought up in a remote glen in Scotland, between Pitlochry and Blairgowrie, but life began again for him in early 1981 when he gave his life to Jesus Christ at a F.G.B.F.I. meeting in Dundee.  At that time he was working as a van-salesman for Ever-Ready Ltd.  Within five months of submitting his life to Jesus he was promoted to position of Sales Area Manager in the Yorkshire/Derbyshire area.  So with wife  Wyn, and three daughters, he moved to Ranskill, in North Nottinghamshire.  Ranskill is two miles from the AOG Bible College at Mattersey, and they joined the Fellowship that met in the grounds of the College.  There he spent many years working as a Deacon and running the Good News Children’s Club.  That Fellowship eventually moved to join with the AOG Pentecostal Church in nearby Retford. 

In 1993 Jim and Wyn moved to live in South Kirkby, a mining town in West Yorkshire.  With good friend Pastor Martin Sullivan, they helped build up the church there.  In 1998 they moved again to New Life Church, Wakefield and came under Pastor Henry Drabble.  New Life was experiencing ‘Renewal’ at that time and seeing God move in wonderful ways.  Jim was made an Elder and served both the church in Wakefield and the Daughter Church in nearby Rothwell for many years.  Unfortunately, tragedy struck during this time and Wyn went to be with the Lord when she suffered a blood clot to the heart after an operation on her hip.

Life can shatter us, but the Lord has a way of picking us up and restoring.  Jim met up again with a family friend, Sue Clayton, and they married in the New Life Church, Retford, in the summer of 2002.  They set up home in Wakefield and in 2004 Jim and Sue began to serve the Lord in a new way.  They were asked to visit and preach in the smaller churches in the East Pennine region.  This led to them being invited to Pastor the Pentecostal Church at Hedon, Nr. Hull, which is now the Christian Life Church.  They moved house to nearby Burstwick and have been serving the Lord in Hedon and area since 2006.