Meet the Staff

  • A man smiling outdoors in a park, wearing a light blue blazer over a white shirt, with trees and a hedge in the background.

    Dr Jonathan McClaughlin

    PRINCIPAL

    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.

  • A young man with short gray hair smiling, wearing a black button-up shirt with a small logo on the chest, standing outdoors on a grassy area with trees and shrubs in the background.

    Dr Davy Ellison

    DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND LECTURER IN BIBLICAL STUDIES (OLD TESTAMENT)

    Davy holds BD, MTh and PhD degrees from the College, along with a BSc from Queen’s University. Before becoming Director of Training in 2019, he served with Baptist Youth and in several pastoral roles, and is now an elder in Antrim. He teaches Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament, writes extensively on Old Testament themes, and contributes to journals and platforms such as The Gospel Coalition, For The Church and 9Marks.

  • A man with glasses and a shaved head smiling outdoors with a grassy area and trees in the background, wearing a blue polo shirt.

    David Ball

    COLLEGE MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR

    David is married to Liz and has three children. He is an elder in Ballykeel Baptist Church and is also on the Child Evangelism Fellowship European Education Advisory Committee. Before joining the Irish Baptist College in the summer of 2025 David was a primary school principal.

  • A middle-aged man with short brown hair wearing a light blue button-up shirt standing outdoors on a grassy area with a background of trees and bushes.

    Dr David Luke

    POSTGRADUATE DIRECTOR & LECTURER IN HISTORICAL THEOLOGY

    David pastored Gilnahirk Baptist in Belfast for 15 years before joining the College’s full-time teaching staff in 2013. He also teaches on Cornhill Belfast, specialising in Historical Theology, Apologetics, Baptist Ecclesiology and Baptist History. He has contributed to several works on Jonathan Edwards and Irish Christianity, and authored Meeting Christ at His Table (2023). His articles appear in Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, Journal of European Baptist Studies and other theological journals.

  • A middle-aged man with gray hair and light skin standing outdoors in a park, holding a blue and white mug with a community center logo, wearing a plaid shirt, with trees and greenery in the background.

    Dr Peter Firth

    LECTURER IN BIBLICAL STUDIES (NEW TESTAMENT)

    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.

  • A woman with short brown hair, glasses, and a necklace, smiling in a garden with green grass, bushes, and trees in the background.

    Lynette Simpson

    REGISTRAR

    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. Church, family, friends & travel keep Lynette busy outside of IBC.

  • Smiling woman with shoulder-length gray hair, glasses, and a red plaid shirt standing outdoors on a grassy field with blurry trees in the background.

    Debbie McLaughlin

    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.

  • A woman with long, curly dark hair smiling outdoors on a grassy area with trees and shrubs in the background.

    Claire McNabb

    LIBRARIAN

    Claire is married to Andrew and 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.