Faculty & Staff
Jonathan McClaughlin
Principal
Jonathan McClaughlin
Principal
BA MDiv DMin
Jonathan is married to Jenny and has three children. He has been Pastor at Hamilton Road Baptist Church in Bangor since 2010 and is one of the co-founders of the Irish Men's Convention. He serves the College as Principal and teaches Biblical Theology, Theology of Worship, Homiletics and Pastoral Studies. His desire is to see men and women equipped to serve the Lord with passion in this contemporary world.
Edwin Ewart
Outgoing Principal
Edwin Ewart
Outgoing Principal
BA BD MMin MTh MPhil
Edwin teaches Biblical Theology, Homiletics and Ministry Studies. He has over 20 years of pastoral experience in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. He guest lectured at IBC for 19 years before joining the College staff in 2007 and taking up the role of Principal in September 2010. Edwin has been published in the Journal of the Irish Baptist Historical Society and Semanatorul.
David Luke
Postgraduate Director & Lecturer in Historical Theology
David Luke
Postgraduate Director & Lecturer in Historical Theology
BA BD PhD FHEA
David served as pastor of Gilnahirk Baptist in Belfast for 15 years. He joined the full-time teaching staff in September 2013. David also teaches on Cornhill Belfast. He teaches Historical Theology, Baptist Ecclesiology and Baptist History. David has contributed to Treasures of Irish Christianity (Veritas, 2015), A Collection of Essays on Jonathan Edwards (JE Society Press, 2016), A Jonathan Edwards Encyclopaedia (Eerdmans, 2017), and The Miscellanies Companion (JE Society Press, 2018). He is also published in Journal of the Irish Baptist Historical Society, Reformed Theological Journal, Semanatorul, and Journal of European Baptist Studies.
Sarah Dalrymple
Lecturer in Biblical Studies (Old Testament)
Sarah Dalrymple
Lecturer in Biblical Studies (Old Testament)
BD PhD
Sarah worked as Old Testament Tutor at the College in the early 2000s. She has also worked as a missionary in France, as editor of the Baptist Magazine, and most recently in a church plant with her husband in Scotland. She took up her current post in June 2014. Sarah has contributed an essay to The Seed of Promise: The Sufferings and Glory of the Messiah (GlossaHouse, 2020), a festschrift in honour of T. Desmond Alexander.
Peter Firth
Lecturer in Biblical Studies (New Testament)
Peter Firth
Lecturer in Biblical Studies (New Testament)
BD PhD
After some 25 years of pastoral experience in Ireland and Scotland including a period at Charlotte Chapel Edinburgh, Peter joined the College staff in August 2010. His main responsibilities are teaching New Testament and Biblical Languages. Peter has been published in the Journal of the Irish Baptist Historical Society and Semanatorul.
Davy Ellison
Director of Training
Davy Ellison
Director of Training
BSc BD MTh PhD
Davy graduated with BD, MTh and PhD degrees from the College (in addition to a BSc in Geography from Queen's University, Belfast). Before being appointed Director of Training in 2019 he served as Interim Coordinator for Baptist Youth and ministered in a number of pastoral roles in Association churches. He remains an elder in the Antrim church, where he served as Associate Pastor before commencing his role in the College. Although his passion is the Old Testament, Davy teaches Biblical Studies across both Testaments. He is the author of The Holy One of Israel: Exploring Isaiah (Independent, 2019), Five: The Solas of the Reformation (Tulip Publishing, 2020), Meekness and Majesty (H&E, 2024) and Raised According to the Scriptures: Easter in the Old Testament (Wipf & Stock, 2024). He has also been published in Themelios, Semanatorul and Midwestern Journal of Theology. Additionally, Davy writes for historicaltheology.org, Evangelicals Now, The Gospel Coalition, For The Church, 9 Marks and Servants of Grace.
Lynette Simpson
Registrar
Lynette Simpson
Registrar
BSc
Lynette joined the College staff team as Registrar in June 2018. Originally from Belfast, she moved to Coleraine to study Social Psychology & Sociology and later worked in business for a number of years. She lives in Belfast with her husband Paul. Aside from church and family occupying her free time, Lynette also serves on the Baptist Women's committee.
Claire McNabb
Librarian
Claire McNabb
Librarian
BA
Claire is a Theology and History graduate of Queen's University, Belfast. She joined the College team part-time in February 2019 and spends the rest of her time working with Child Evangelism Fellowship.
Debbie McLaughlin
Academic Administrator
Debbie McLaughlin
Academic Administrator
BSc PGCE
Debbie joined the College part-time in 2023 after previously working as a PE teacher. She also works part-time for Newtownards Baptist as Church Administrator as well as co-ordinating the Children's and Youth work. Debbie is a member of the Baptist Youth Management Committee.