Gerald Coates Pioneer: A Biography

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Jesus goes on to speak about tribulation, apostasy, persecution, betrayal, false christs and falseprophets, lawlessness, false signs and wonders ,great tribulation culminating inthe appearance of the man of sin and the abomination of desolation. Pioneer Trust and CSS are committed to following the evidence and considering any information that comes to light. We recognise that the wellbeing and safety of everyone who engages with Pioneer Trust is critical to our ability to serve our relational network. We are also committed to being accountable for any harm done and transparent about the review and any actions taken as a result. The appeal for information relevant to this safeguarding review will run until mid-November, and the trustees will publish the results when the report is ready (updates will be given in that regard). Mr Coates, who has been married for 46 years, was a deputy head boy in Cobham and attended Epsom and Ewell Art School which went on to become the University of the Creative Arts. That was Gerald and this first encounter with him made a great impression on me. Throughout my upbringing in a church environment, I had never known visiting preachers who displayed such a willingness to do something as mundane as putting out the chairs. The Learning Community is a group of eight local churches who meet every six months for prayer and planning for vision and growth." {7}

The bridleway was so obviously a public right of way, but Gerald must have thought he was doing everyone a favour by converting what was a muddy, narrow slope, into what it became Allan Anderson An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity (Cambridge: CUP, 2004) 157There is a difference between Christianity and religion, and Gerald was hot on this. Spotting religious pretence at a hundred paces, he dealt with it ruthlessly. The largest streams, with five thousand or more in attendance, were in 2005: Newfrontiers had 34,600 people attending, Association of Vineyard Churches had 11,600, Salt and Light had 10,700, Ground Level had 8,100, Pioneer had 7,000 and Ichthus Christian Fellowship had 6,800. Their strength is still largely in the southeast of England and along the southern coast. One leader in seven (fourteen percent) is female. The numbers attending House Churches grew rapidly in the 1970s; the two hundred operational in 1980 were attended collectively by some ten thousand people. THE founder of the Pioneer network of churches and March for Jesus, Gerald Coates, has died, aged 78, it was announced last weekend. He was an author and speaker, and well known in Evangelical circles. His books include What On Earth Is This Kingdom?, Divided We Stand, and Non-Religious Christianity .

I don't know how many have signed the Campaign for Marriage petition but on Monday this week there were over 100,000 signatures. And a letter has just gone out to every Roman Catholic church in the country. Outspoken and abounding in energy, Gerald was one of the UK’s best-known church leaders in the 80s and 90s. It seemed that almost every other Christian book published in Britain during those decades sought (and gained) an endorsement from Gerald Coates! Noel Richards, the worship leader and Gerald’s travelling companion for many years, recalls a meeting in New Zealand. The Saturday night had been glorious. The Holy Spirit moved, lives were changed. But come Sunday morning, things got very religious. Smart dress, whispered greetings and a Lord’s Table ornate in its arrangement. A conference called by Wallis in 1971 was a catalyst in identifying seven key leaders, subsequently augmented to fourteen, who were considered to have apostolic authority. Humanly speaking, it is these fourteen who were the engine behind the growth seen in the 1970s. Eschatologically, the movement sought the emergence of a spotless bride ready to welcome the returning king. In practice, the leaders were bound together in covenant relationships, joined together in a way which would supersede the broken state of the old denominational churches. The fourteen charismatically gifted and proven men were called “apostles.” Concerns about activities in which Pioneer Trust co-delivers with other charities in a partnership arrangement (whether network churches or other charities and regardless of the formality / informality or the partnership) and where Pioneer Trust therefore has shared or full responsibility and authority are included in the scope of this review.

The opening shots showed many people seated prayerfully with their hands clasped – not together but around their jaws. The prayer of the pastor at the front could be heard filling the auditorium – ‘In the name of Jesus – fill teeth Lord – replace amalgam fillings with gold and with platinum’. Who were these people, what was the location and who was the pastor/prospector praying for an infilling, not of the Holy Spirit, but of precious metals? We were in TORONTO – birthplace of the 1994 so-called ‘BLESSING’. Same fellowship and same pastor – John Arnott. Restoration 1 diverged into three groups, under the leadership of Bryn Jones, Terry Virgo and Tony Morton. Eventually, Bryn Jones' group has diversified into five identifiable parts: churches led by Alan Scotland, Keri Jones (Bryn's brother), Gareth Duffty, Andrew Owen and Paul Scanlon. Restoration 2 had originally had at least three groups: that led by Gerald Coates, John Noble, and George Tarleton. Tarleton left the movement quite soon after the split; in the 90s John Noble joined Gerald Coates' movement, with some of his churches following. During this time, Dave Tomlinson started as an Apostle within R1, moved to R2 and then also left the movement, becoming an Anglican vicar. Barney Coombs churches have developed alongside R1 throughout the period. Thirty years after the first division, it appears that churches connected with R1 have generally maintained their impetus (with the exception of Tony Morton's churches, whose association has dissolved after he left the movement also). On the other hand, churches within R2 have had a much more difficult history.

The British New Church Movement numbered roughly 400,000 people in the year 2000. [3] It has two major aspects: those who believe in the role of apostles, where churches relate together in "streams", and independent charismatic churches, where they generally do not. Those in streams represent about 40% of the BNCM. Since its origins, it has grown to include many networks of churches, with individual congregations found throughout the world. There are times when watching ‘things Christian’ on TV that I cringe and think to myself ‘what must the unsaved think as they watch this’? Such an occasion occurred whilst watching ‘Tonight’ broadcast by ITV on 15th July 1999. For almost 15 minutes the latest ‘charismatic craze’ was exposed and examined in front of millions of viewers. The division was caused by a number of factors: differences of opinion about the priority of apostles and prophets; different views of grace and law, women in ministry, and relating to contemporary culture; and a discussion about appropriate discipline for an early leader. It was finally catalysed by a letter setting out the problems sent by Arthur Wallis to the other early leaders. A number of attempts to repair this breach were made, and within a few years there was some dialogue again. However, the shared vision of earlier times was never regained. Gerald was part of a small group of dreamers and schemers in the 1960s who set out to ‘restore the church’ in the wake of charismatic renewal. He challenged the existing status-quo, the formal traditionalism of the mainstream evangelical church and preached a brand of non-religious Christianity that offended and delighted in equal measure. It involved Tricia and I together with 50 other friends, moving 200 miles to Cobham, just outside London, to be a part of Cobham Christian Fellowship which Gerald had planted in that town. This would be our home for the next 30 years.John McGinley quotes Isaiah 43:18-19: Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it? "He (God) is teaching them about continuity and change. 'You need to forget what I did in the past because I am going to do it in a new way.' We need to be willing to let go of how we have done it in the past and to seek the new things that God is calling us to. ..hold together these values of continuity and change." {6} A key element in New Church practice was the importance of discipling Christian people. Members were relationally linked to others, within which each one was “covered” by someone else, and these then went on to cover another member. Those thus covered shared their daily lives, jobs, friendships and recreations and found much freedom and joy in so doing. However, there was the constant danger of authoritarianism or legalism creeping in, and sometimes the covering simply went too far. He went on to start the Cobham Christian Fellowship, which grew into the evangelical Pioneer Network.