Mission Sunday - April 2025

We have a guest speaker with us for the whole day - Richard Coekin. This is his biography:

A sinner saved by God's grace, Richard is married to Sian, a beautiful Welsh GP, and blessed with five children, one grandchild and a permanently moulting dog. After briefly practising as a commercial lawyer in London, Richard trained at Moore College, Sydney and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, before a training 'curacy' at St. Mary's Cheadle, Manchester and then 29 years as Senior Pastor of Dundonald Church in South London. During those years, he witnessed God growing Dundonald from 35 adults and a few kids through various stages to become a larger church of 800+ adults and 350 kids with nine church plants, through two building projects and despite constant friction with a Liberal Church of England Diocese. God also used Richard to help develop the Co-Mission church-planting network of 30+ churches in London and to launch a variety of gospel ministries (including 9:38, London Men's Convention, The Planting Collective, a Parliamentary Bible Study) and some books (e.g. Gospel DNA, Our Father, Ephesians for You and The Reluctant Evangelist).

Richard has enjoyed mentoring pastors in the UK and abroad for many years and is regularly invited to speak at ministry training events in the UK and internationally.

Richard is now Director of Reach Ministries UK, Pastor Emeritus at Dundonald Church and Mission Director Emeritus of Co-Mission.

Richard says, "The joy of preaching and pastoral ministry in the local church at different stages of growth and the privilege of serving diverse Co-Mission churches has introduced me to how God can work in variety of church stages and contexts through different leadership patterns. I love mentoring and encouraging Pastors and Network leaders and their leadership teams in effective gospel ministries, especially in preaching and strategic planning. I'm not as confident as I used to be. I don't have all the answers. But I know the Lord who does! And I'm loving now being available to offer bespoke help and encouragement to leaders on the front-line of gospel work – for the salvation of many and the glory of God in Christ."

---o0o---

Mission Sunday Events at Highfields: