Ten questions with Chris Sugden
en staff
Date posted: 12 Oct 2025
Chris Sugden has been married for 52 years to Elaine, a retired consultant cancer doctor, with three married children and nine grandchildren. He leads the PhD Programme of the Oxford Centre for Mission and Public Life with Stellenbosch University and is an associate minister at St Andrew’s Dean Court, Oxford.
1. How did you become a Christian?
My father was a vicar, as was my maternal great grandfather in Ireland, and I was a choirboy. So I grew up in the Christian community. I committed my life to Christ in the Sixth Form through the work of VPS camps at Lymington.
2. What lessons have you learnt since that you would want to pass on to a younger Christian version of yourself?
Do not be afraid to stand up for what you know is right. You may lose (a role or post) in the short term, but God will use it to open new and wider fields of ministry.
3. How would you describe your prayer life?
Based on a daily reading of the Bible, focused on family and ministry needs and tasks, and shared with and helped by my wife.
4. Which two or three Christian books apart from the Bible have most influenced your faith?
Shadow of the Almighty by Elizabeth Elliot which I read as a student, to dare great things for God and expect great things from God. Theology of Liberation by Gustavo Gutierrez challenged me to take the Bible seriously on its teachings about the poor.
5. Who or what have been your biggest Christian influences?
My senior colleagues Vinay and Colleen Samuel with whom we worked in Bangalore for six years, and their family, and have continued to work with in a variety of ministries since then. They combine global vision, high academic standards, and grassroots involvement among poor people.
6. What are the main challenges you believe Christians face today?
To maintain the Biblical and Christian teaching and practice of man/woman marriage as taught in the Bible against the pressure to conform to passing preferences in the culture.
7. What encourages and what discourages you?
I am encouraged when someone steps forward and takes up a task as part of a team. I am discouraged when I see clergy trying to be one-man bands.
8. What makes you laugh?
Morecambe and Wise, Yes Minister, Dad’s Army, Private Eye, and jokes our grandchildren send us.
9. What would you want to say to the wider evangelical world?
Do not give up on the Anglican Communion around the world, whatever some noisy people in the CofE might do. Christians in Africa and Asia have a lot to teach us about keeping faith and passing it on.
10. Which Biblical person (other than Jesus) do you most look forward to meeting in glory and why?
The apostle Thomas. Did he really travel through West and South Asia and establish churches there, including the churches in India which are thus far older and have a deeper history going right back to Jesus than many Western churches?
Ten questions with David Yeghnazar
David Yeghnazar has served with Elam Ministries (elam.com) for nearly 25 years and currently serves as the Executive Director. Elam’s mission is to strengthen and expand the church in the Iran region and beyond by: training Persian-speaking leaders for fruitful, effective ministry; equipping the Persian-speaking church with Bibles and resources for evangelism and discipleship; and sending the gospel through trained evangelists, church planters and the media into the Persian-speaking world. David was born in Iran, and his family has been serving the Iranian church for three generations.
I was born into a faithful Christian family in Iran, so Jesus was always part of my life. When I was nine, my family was living in Lebanon for my dad’s work but we were preparing to relocate to the UK. On our last Sunday before leaving, during a small group prayer time at church, I was with my older brother and his friend when they asked what I wanted prayer for. My only desire was for Jesus to be in my heart. In that moment, I clearly sensed God saying, “David, you belong to me”. It was a profound, grace-filled encounter that anchored me before such a monumental life change.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Take Jesus seriously, but not yourself.
I enjoy my prayer life and have been blessed to see faithful prayer modelled throughout my life – especially by my parents and grandparents. In the 1950s, they hosted a nightly prayer meeting in their Tehran home for four years, crying out for the salvation of Iran. I believe those fervent gatherings planted the seeds for the great turning to Christ we are seeing in these days in Iran. While I certainly haven’t “mastered” prayer and still have much room to grow, seeing God’s work in Iran continually reinforces for me the power and joy found in prayer.
I have been deeply impacted by Discipleship on the Edge by Darrell Johnson and Every Believer a Disciple by David Bjork. Our vision for the Iranian church is that every new believer receives effective discipleship to grow in faith and live fully for Christ. With many Iranians coming to faith every day amid intense persecution, discipleship is both critical and challenging. These books have sharpened my understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, and the importance of equipping every believer to disciple others.
Many men and women have impacted my life, but my grandfather’s walk with the Lord has marked me significantly. He came to faith in Iran in the 1930s, and everyone he met he would simply ask: “Do you love Jesus?” As a child, I wondered when he’d move on to a more “important” question, but as I grew, I realised it was the most important one of all. Seeing that genuine love for Christ was beautiful, attractive, and made me want to know Him more.
I think it comes back to discipleship. We know we ought to both be disciples and disciple others, yet so many of us don’t really know how to actually do that. Yet the more we prioritise deep discipleship, the richer in Christ we will become and the brighter the church will shine as a witness to the world.
I’m privileged to hear daily stories from the Iranian church of Christ transforming broken lives, healing relationships, and bringing hope into hopeless situations. God is moving – that continually encourages me. As for discouragement, the last few seasons as a Manchester United supporter have been tough! More seriously, I feel most discouraged when I fail as a parent.
My children say I laugh at my own jokes. Maybe that’s bad, but I see it as a gift– at least I can keep myself entertained!
We must remember that God is writing the story. This truth anchors us at Elam: amid the persecution of the Iranian church, we hold fast to the reality that God is in charge, even when we can’t see the whole picture. Another core value is that “everyone gets to play” – every believer has a role in God’s kingdom, regardless of skillset or credentials. I believe Christian leaders should focus more on equipping the whole church to do the work of ministry, as Ephesians 4v12 commands.
It’s a hard choice, but I’d really like to ask James what it was like growing up with Jesus as his older brother.