Dick Lucas (minister)

Last updated

Richard Charles Lucas (born 10 September 1925) is an Anglican evangelical cleric, best known for his long ministry at St Helen's Bishopsgate in London, England, and for his work as founder of the Proclamation Trust and the Cornhill Training Course.

Contents

Early life

Lucas was born on 10 September 1925 in Lewes, Sussex. He attended Radley College. [1] He was converted to evangelical Christianity in 1941 under the Iwerne camps ministry of E. J. H. Nash. [2] :31 Lucas began university studies at Oxford, but left to serve in the Royal Navy during World War II. After the war, he continued his undergraduate studies at Trinity College, Cambridge (BA 1949, MA 1957).

Ordained ministry

Lucas completed ordination training at Ridley Hall, and was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1951, and then as a priest in 1952. Lucas' first curacy was served as at St Nicholas' Church, Sevenoaks, from 1951 to 1955, before he joined the staff of the Church Pastoral Aid Society from 1955 until 1961.

Lucas became Rector of St. Helen's Bishopsgate in 1961, and served the church as its Rector for thirty-seven years. Under his leadership, St. Helen's grew from a small congregation of a few individuals to a large thriving church with a ministry to city workers, families, students and young professionals. He developed a reputation for strong Bible teaching and preaching. He emerged as a widely respected evangelical speaker, particularly at the Keswick Convention. He was outspoken among his generation of evangelical ministers in encouraging systematic expositional preaching. With this in mind, Lucas was among those who established a popular and widely duplicated programme of training workshops for preachers.

In May 1986 Lucas founded the Proclamation Trust, the aim of which is to encourage ministry that seeks to "expound the Bible as God's Word for today", and remains active as a trustee.[ citation needed ]

In 1991, in partnership with David Jackman, Lucas helped to form the Cornhill Training Course. The course originally met for training in St Peter upon Cornhill, before moving to Borough to meet in office space on Borough High Street. Lucas is no longer part of the leadership team there.

Now in his nineties, Lucas still has an active and influential ministry, preaching and speaking at conferences in the UK and further afield. He is Rector Emeritus of St Helen's, where he returns each summer to preach.

Although prioritising preaching and teaching, Lucas is the author of a number of evangelical books and commentaries. With John Stott, J. I. Packer and others, Lucas was a key figure in shaping the conservative evangelical movement in the United Kingdom during the 20th century. [3]

In 1995, a Festschrift was published in his honour. When God's Voice is Heard: The Power of Preaching included contributions from Peter Adam, D. A. Carson, John Chapman, Edmund Clowney, Peter Jensen, Phillip Jensen and J. I. Packer.

Bibliography

Commentaries:

Keswick paperbacks:

Other works:

Related Research Articles

The Holiness movement is a Christian movement that emerged chiefly within 19th-century Methodism, and to a lesser extent influenced other traditions such as Quakerism, Anabaptism, and Restorationism. The movement is historically distinguished by its emphasis on the doctrine of a second work of grace, generally called entire sanctification or Christian perfection and by the belief that the Christian life should be free of sin. For the Holiness movement, "the term 'perfection' signifies completeness of Christian character; its freedom from all sin, and possession of all the graces of the Spirit, complete in kind." A number of evangelical Christian denominations, parachurch organizations, and movements emphasize those beliefs as central doctrine.

Expository preaching, also known as expositional preaching, is a form of preaching that details the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. It explains what the Bible means by what it says. Exegesis is technical and grammatical exposition, a careful drawing out of the exact meaning of a passage in its original context. While the term exposition could be used in connection with any verbal informative teaching on any subject, the term is also used in relation to Bible preaching and teaching. The practice originated from the Jewish tradition of the rabbi giving a "Dvar Torah", explaining a passage from the Torah, during the prayer services. Expository preaching differs from topical preaching in that the former concentrates on a specific text and discusses topics covered therein; whereas, the latter concentrates on a specific topic and references texts covering the topic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Stott</span> English Anglican presbyter and theologian (1921–2011)

John Robert Walmsley Stott was an English Anglican priest and theologian who was noted as a leader of the worldwide evangelical movement. He was one of the principal authors of the Lausanne Covenant in 1974. In 2005, Time magazine ranked Stott among the 100 most influential people in the world.

Edward Michael Bankes Green was a British theologian, Anglican priest, Christian apologist and author of more than 50 books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martyn Lloyd-Jones</span> Welsh pastor, author, and physician (1899 – 1981)

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh Congregationalist minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Calvinist wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Higher Life movement</span> Movement devoted to Christian holiness in England

The Higher Life movement, also known as deeper Christian life, the Keswick movement or Keswickianism, is a Protestant theological tradition within evangelical Christianity that espouses a distinct teaching on the doctrine of entire sanctification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keswick Convention</span>

The Keswick Convention is an annual gathering of conservative evangelical Christians in Keswick, in the English county of Cumbria.

Vaughan Edward Roberts is a Church of England clergyman. Since 1998, he has been the rector of St Ebbe's, Oxford. In 2009, he became Director of the Proclamation Trust.

John Charles Chapman, affectionately known as "Chappo", was an Australian preacher, Bible teacher and evangelist associated with the Sydney Anglican diocese. He wrote several books, including A Fresh Start; Know and Tell the Gospel; Setting Hearts on Fire, A Sinner's Guide to Holiness; and Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life, all published by Matthias Media. The Australian edition of A Fresh Start has sold nearly 40,000 copies since 1999.

Terry Virgo is a prominent leader in the British New Church Movement, formerly known as the House Church Movement. He is the founder of the Newfrontiers family of neocharismatic evangelical churches, which has grown into an international apostolic network of over 1500 churches in more than 70 nations. He is a leading Calvinist Charismatic. He has five grown up children and twelve grandchildren.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oak Hill College</span> Evangelical theological college

Oak Hill College is a conservative evangelical theological college located on Chase Side in Southgate, London, England. Its aim is to prepare men and women from the Church of England and Independent churches for ministry in the real world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate</span> Church in London, England

St Helen's Bishopsgate is an Anglican church in London. It is located in Great St Helen's, off Bishopsgate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beth Moore</span> American evangelical leader

Wanda Elizabeth "Beth" Moore is an American Anglican evangelist, author, and Bible teacher. She is president of Living Proof Ministries, a Christian organization she founded in 1994 to teach women to know and love Jesus through the study of Scripture. Living Proof Ministries is based in Houston, Texas. Moore, who is "arguably the most prominent white evangelical woman in America," speaks at arena events and has sold millions of books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter upon Cornhill</span> Church in London, England

St Peter upon Cornhill is an Anglican church on the corner of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street in the City of London of medieval, or possibly Roman origin. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It lies in the ward of Cornhill.

Andrew Sach is a contemporary evangelical Christian pastor, speaker and author. He is an ordained Church of England minister and holds a doctorate in neuroscience. He has written several Christian books and is a regular speaker at Word Alive and other conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jackman (minister)</span> English cleric

David Jackman is a British evangelical speaker, and former president of The Proclamation Trust. He founded the Cornhill Training Course in 1991 and was previously Minister of Above Bar Church, Southampton from 1976 to 1991.

Conservative evangelicalism is a term used in the United Kingdom to describe a theological movement found within evangelical Protestantism and is sometimes simply synonymous with evangelical within the United Kingdom. The term is used more often in the first sense, but conservative evangelicals themselves tend to use it in the second. Conservative evangelicals are sometimes called fundamentalists, but typically reject that label and are keen to maintain their distinct identity, which is more Reformed. Reformed fundamentalism shares many of the characteristics of conservative evangelicalism. In this sense, conservative evangelicalism can be thought of as distinct from liberal evangelicalism, open evangelicalism, and charismatic evangelicalism. Some conservative evangelical groups oppose women ministers or women preachers in mixed congregations.

Christopher J. H. Wright is a missiologist, an Anglican clergyman and an Old Testament scholar. He is currently the International Ministries Director of Langham Partnership International. He was the principal of All Nations Christian College. He is an honorary member of All Souls Church, Langham Place in London, UK.

Philip Henry Hacking is a retired Anglican priest, itinerant evangelical speaker, Bible teacher and occasional author.

David G. Peterson, is a scholar of the New Testament. He was senior research fellow and lecturer in New Testament at Moore Theological College in Sydney and is an ordained minister of the Anglican Church of Australia. He now lectures at the college part-time.

References

  1. His Greatest Work. st-helens.org.uk. 22 November 1977.
  2. Eddison, John, ed. (1992). A Study in Spiritual Power, An Appreciation of E J H Nash (Bash). Crowborough: Highland. ISBN   0-946616-84-1.
  3. D. W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, 1989, London: Routledge pp. 258, 269