Director & Core Team
Glyn Barrett, Director
Manchester, UK
Glyn Barrett is the director of Audacious and Youth Alive UK. He and his wife, Sophia, are the Senior Pastors of Audacious City Church.
A powerful and sought-after communicator, Glyn's messages and motivational teachings have impacted the lives of thousands of young people around the world.
Glyn was born in Manchester in 1972, the son of a Pastor. At the age of 2, he moved with his family to Australia. During that time he was a part of a growing church, and thriving youth group. At the age of 15, he moved back to Manchester with his family and pioneered his first youth group.
After five years of successfully leading a drama and evangelism team - as well as the youth ministry - Glyn moved back to Australia to attend Bible College.
In his three years in Sydney, he pioneered a youth group and led teams inter-state on ministry weekends. After graduating in December 1995, Glyn married Sophia & moved to Sheffield to pioneer the youth ministry in Hope City Church under the leadership of Pastors Dave and Jenny Gilpin.
In 2007 Pator Dave Gilpin released Glyn and Sophia, after serving as part of his core team for 12 years, to plant Audacious City Church(ACC) in Manchester. ACC is now a thriving, passionate church, raising up a generation of bold, daring, cheeky leaders, who are unrestrained by convention.
Glyn and Sophia have two children, Georgia and Jaedon. As far as passions go, Glyn is fanatical about Manchester City Football Club. He also loves golf, his family and did we mention Manchester City Football Club?
Derek Smith, Core Team
Bolton, UK
Derek was born and raised in Bolton. After finishing his secondary education he went to Lancashire College of Horticulture in Preston with the intention of pursuing a career in Landscape Design. After finishing college he went to work for a large garden centre and nursery in Manchester to develop his knowledge in his chosen area. During this time Derek's life took a sudden turn in direction.
Derek had been a voluntary youth worker at the church he attended. This desire to work with young people in helping them to develop and achieve became a growing passion in his life, culminating in 1986 when he resigned from his job and went to be trained at a Christian College, specialising in Youth and Community Studies. After travelling for three years developing Youth and Community projects all over the UK he relocated in 1990 to his hometown and became part of the ministry team at a local church.
Since 1990 Derek has been involved in conferences, seminars and leadership training all over the world, inspiring young people to live passionate lives for God. He is now the Senior Pastor of Kings Church Bolton and has a vision to see Bolton transformed for God.
Derek is married to Georgina and they have two children, Abigail and Oliver. Derek relaxes by watching his other passion in life, the Bolton Wanderers.
Stuart Keir, Core Team
London, UK
Stuart is a core member of the vision team at Audacious and the Assistant Director of Youth Alive UK.
Stuart attended Mattersey Hall, AOG’s Bible College. While attending he met Julie whom he later married.
Following graduation Stuart and Julie joined a Church in Leicester as Youth Pastors. They built a vibrant youth ministry, reaching into the local schools and discipling young people to live passionate lives for God. They became involved with Youth Alive UK through regional leadership and the short-term leadership training programme, ACE Teams.
In 1997 Stuart & Julie moved to Dagenham, East London, and became the Youth Pastors of Bethel – the Church on the Avenue. This youth group grew phenomenally, seeing hundreds of young people touched by God’s love and power over the seven years of Stuart and Julie’s leadership.
Stuart later became the Associate Pastor at Bethel, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of Creative Arts in the church as well as carrying leadership and preaching roles.
In 2006 Stuart, Julie and their three children relocated to the heart of London to plant London City Life - a revolutionary Church for the 21st Century.
Michael Homer, Core Team
Doncaster, UK
Michael works within the Oil and Gas industry as an area sales manager for Africa and the Middle East. His business experience has enabled him to input into many of the more practical sides of Audacious. Part Michael's role is to oversee all of the contacts, policies and finacial aspects of Audacious.
In true Audacious style he has become a connoisseur of curry which means that he blends well with the rest of the core team.
Michael is apart of International City Church Doncaster with his wife Sheila and thier two children.