Gerald Coates Pioneer: A Biography

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Pioneer Trust, a charity which runs a network of evangelical charismatic churches, has commissioned a safeguarding review, following a complaint made against its founder and leader Gerald Coates, who died in 2022. It will hear concerns from people who have been harmed within Pioneer or who have concerns about the culture or safeguarding practice. In a statement, the Trust says it is not an investigation into particular actions of any specific individuals, but if it identifies a need for this it will initiate it. The Trust has not given details of the nature of the complaint, which was made in July this year, but it does say that the concerns “do not meet the threshold for referral to statutory services (e.g., the police or social care)”. It confirms “there is no indication that any person engaging with Pioneer is currently at risk, nor are the trustees aware of any concerns about the conduct of current staff or members of its leadership team”.

Terry Virgo and New Frontiers, based in Brighton, has been one of the streams most prodigious in planting new congregations. Wright describes Virgo as having “pastoral concern, teaching ability and wise counsel plus (an) ability to gather and maintain a strong team of leaders around himself.” According to Religious Trends No. 7, Newfrontiers (with the two words now joined together) is by far the largest stream with 27,300 members across 191 congregations in the UK in 2006. In the early 1970s the "Magnificent Seven" (later becoming the "Fabulous Fourteen") came together; a group of leaders who recognised each other as apostles and prophets, and who sought to develop a theology and ecclesiology that would guide the restoration of the Church. In 1976, however, these leaders diverged into two separate streams:The extent to which these subjective factors may have impacted the effectiveness of senior leaders and the effectiveness of accountability structures. As of August 2023 the Pioneer Network has instigated a safeguarding review in response to a complaint made against Coates. “The current concerns relate to approaches to ministry and pastoral practice and do not meet the threshold for referral to statutory services (e.g., the police or social care).” https://pioneer.org.uk/independent-review/ Personal life [ edit ] As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. (Matthew 24:3-9). 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 “Basingstoke” group called “Salt and Light,” led by Barney Coombs. This group developed the shepherding or discipling process already described.

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. Remembering that criticism is only noise is a great way to keep the main thing the main thing, avoid hurt and bitterness and maintain a clean heart. Understand the scope and prevalence of past or current harmful experiences, or poor safeguarding or ministry practice, resulting from the activities of Pioneer Trust or individuals who have acted on their behalf. 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). The review will also consider the effectiveness of Pioneer’s responses when concerns were raised, the extent to which policies, procedures and best practice were followed, and the extent to which the safeguarding arrangements currently in place minimise the risk of recurrence of such concerns.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. Initially, it was known theologically as “The Restoration Movement”; however, in the 1970s the more popular term was “The House Churches.” As the different fellowships grew and meeting in houses became physically impossible, in the 1980s the then-apostolic leadership changed their name to “The New Churches.” However, old habits die hard, and the mental picture that many outside the movement have is still “House Churches.” It was in this atmosphere of change and challenge that the “House Churches”—now named by the Apostolic Brotherhood as “New Churches”—grew rapidly. In numerical terms, they increased almost eightfold, from ten thousand members in 1970 to 76,500 collectively by 1980, and in number of churches from two hundred to 1,100. They saw substantial growth in the Midlands and Southeast of England, and especially in the counties along the southern coast.

Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction, p. 82, Stephen Hunt, 2003: "Restorationism and the house church movement: Restorationism denounced the historical churches as 'the abomination of the denominations'." THE deputy chair of the Archbishops’ Council’s Finance Committee, Carl Hughes, has resigned from the board of En+, a mining company part-owned by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian oligarch, The Guardian reported last week. Mr Hughes, who is a lay General Synod member for Southwark diocese, had been an independent director on EN+’s board since January 2019, the newspaper reported. Do you have Any more details due to the heartfelt News? Do you know him or have close relations? Are you a fan? Please help us write a better, more reliable article by sharing your information with us.I think he has has been lobbied very strongly for a long time to legalise same sex marriage and probably thought public opinion would allow it through. Interviewer: ‘So you think this is a modern equivalent of that – that this is a bona fide miracle?’ The scene then shifted to England where similar ‘miracles’ were being claimed and once again we were re-tracing the 1994 TORONTO TRAIL. Now we were in the company of Gerald Coates and his Pioneer Church. Listen to this extract of the interview with Mr Coates Billy Kennedy, Pioneer International Leader There will be a public celebration of the life and ministry of Gerald Coates on Saturday 23rd July. Those evenings more than 40 years ago marked the start of a friendship with Gerald that changed our lives completely.