Ian Brew

Ian Brew

Ian Brew is headteacher (Principal) at Trinity Academy, one of the three Vardy schools. According to the Times Educational Supplement, Brew is a creationist (see below for reference).

He is a graduate of Aberystwyth University and began teaching in 1997 at Highfield Comprehensive School in Liverpool. He taught history and religious education. He subsequently taught at Broadgreen Community Comprehensive school in Liverpool. In 1996 he had a complete change of career direction, joining the commercial sector as business manager for a Liverpool company that manufactures communications devices for PCs, Brainboxes. Brew then worked for six years for that company before joining the Vardy schools as Vice Principle of Emmanuel College and then Principal of Trinity in 2004, a year before it opened.

Brew appears to have had connections with the fundamentalist movement in Liverpool. Brainboxes (http://www.brainboxes.com) was founded by Eamonn Walsh who is now chairman of it. By all accounts this is a successful business. He graduated from Liverpool University with a degree in Physics and a Masters in Electronics Engineering and Electronics.

Eamonn Walsh is an elder of the Belvidere Road Church in Liverpool (we can find no evidence that Ian Brew was connected with the same church.).

This is an independent Reformed Baptist church. It is also a serious creationist organisation as can be seen by a sample of a video on its web site at http://www.belvidere.org.uk/DVD.html. It’s called "Exclusive Truth in a World of Conspiracy”. It’s basically an advert of the Belvidere Road Church that, amongst other things, claims that science is utter rubbish. It’s presenter is Pastor Ali McLachlan of the same church (there are two pastors, the other being Ian Higham).

However, there is another connection between Brainboxes and the same church – the Managing Director of Brainboxes is Stephen Evans who just happens to be a deacon of the church.

Just to make sure we have our facts right, we have checked photographs of both Walsh and Evans on the Belvidere Churches web site at http://www.belvidere.org.uk/staff.html and Brainboxes’ site at http://www.brainboxes.com/content/newsresources/mainnews/article_4_254.aspx

However, there appears to be another connection between the Belvidere Road Church and the creationist movement,

Stuart Olyott (b. 1942) became pastor of Belvidere Road Church in Liverpool after training at London Bible College and receiving his first degree from the University of London. The Liverpool pastorates occupied the periods 1967 to 1982 and 1991 to 1999. The intervening years were spent preaching the gospel in French in Lausanne, Switzerland, and pioneering new churches in both France and Switzerland. He is currently listed as on the Council of Reference of Biblical Creation Ministries alongside such luminaries as Andy McIntosh, Stuart Burgess, David Rosevear, Edgar Andrews, David Watts and Sylvia Baker – all signatories to the 2002 Estelle Morris letter. (see http://www.biblicalcreation.org.uk/talks/BCM_ministries.htm.)

The full list also includes Bill Bygroves (Liverpool), Geoff Chapman (Creation Resources Trust), Rev Martin Down (Ashill), Rev Philip H Eveson (London Theological Seminary), Rev Graham Harrison (Newport), Ranald Macaulay (Cambridge), Rev Jonathan Stephen (President of FIEC; Reading), Dr Keith Stokes (Oxford) and Rev Geoff Thomas (Aberystwyth). Bill Bygroves is believed to be Chaplain to Liverpool Football Club. He is pastor of Bridge Chapel in Liverpool.

http://www.doncastertoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=766&ArticleID=759205 gives some background on Brew. http://www.johnblanchard.org/newsline/NewslineMay04.pdf#search=%22%20creation%20%22Belvidere%20Road%20Church%22%22 – shows fundamentalist John Blanchard speaking at the church. http://www.rbc.org.nz/library/olyott.html shows Stuart Olyott was a pastor there. http://www.doncastertoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=2167&ArticleID=1130603%20 provides more information on Brew. http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1310802 – further reference about strict rules at Trinity Academy. http://www.creationism.co.uk/index.php/Main/CourierNov04ToJuly05 – more background from the BCSE group. http://www.tes.co.uk/section/story/?story_id=2056951&window_type=print states that Brew is a creationist. http://uk.msnusers.com/ThorneGrammarSchool/thetrinityacademy.msnw shows a photograph of Brew.