Dick Lucas (minister)

For other people named Dick Lucas, see Dick Lucas (disambiguation).

The Reverend Prebendary Dick Lucas
Born	Richard Charles Lucas (1925-09-10) 10 September 1925 (age 100)
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge Ridley Hall, Cambridge
Religion	Anglicanism
Church	Church of England
Ordained	1951 (deacon) 1952 (priest)
Congregations served	St Nicholas' Church, Sevenoaks Church Pastoral Aid Society St Helen's Bishopsgate
Offices held	Rector of St Helen's Bishopsgate (1961–1998)

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

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 until 1998. 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. Today, his former church has an archive of over 1,800 talks and sermons from him. ^[3]

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 remained a trustee for many years. ^{[4] [5]}

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.

Well into his 90's, Lucas continued to have 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 frequently returned each summer to preach. His last formal talk was on 5 October 2024; and it is expected this will be his last public speaking event. ^[6]

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. ^[7]

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:

• Lucas, R. C. (1980). The Message of Colossians & Philemon (The Bible Speaks Today Series), Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN   0-85111-521-7
• Lucas & Green (Dec 1995). The Message of 2 Peter and Jude (The Bible Speaks Today Series), Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. ISBN   978-0-8308-1238-7

Keswick paperbacks:

• Lucas, et al. (1978). The Gospel, the Spirit, the Church: Keswick ministry from John Stott, Dick Lucas, Ken Prior, Gilbert Kirby and others, UK: STL Books [for] Keswick Convention Council. ISBN   978-0-903843-02-7
• Lucas, et al. (Nov 1981). Purity and Power: Keswick Convention Ministry, 1981, UK: Send the Light Trust. ISBN   978-0-903843-59-1
• Lucas, et al. (Nov 1986). Rebuilding the Foundations (1986 Keswick Convention), UK: Send the Light. ISBN   978-1-85078-013-7

Other works:

• Lucas & Philip (1980). Teaching John: Unlocking the Gospel of John for the Expositor (Proclamation Trust Media), UK: Christian Focus Publications. ISBN   978-1-85792-790-0
• Jackopson & Lucas (April 1992). Good Morning, Disciple, UK: Zondervan. ISBN   978-0-551-02584-4
• Peter Adam (foreword by Lucas) (30 May 2004). Speaking God's Words: A Practical Theology of Preaching, UK: Regent College Publishing. ISBN   978-1-57383-322-6
• Green and Jackman (1995). When God's Voice is Heard: Essays on preaching presented to Dick Lucas (Leicester: IVP) ISBN   0-85110-656-0

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. "St Helen's Bishopsgate". www.st-helens.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
4. "Salvation is of the Lord (MP3 Sermon Series)". California State University Monergism. 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
5. "Proclamation Trust: Our Team". Proclamation Trust. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
6. "The believer's assurance | Romans 8:1-39 | Talks | Resources". www.st-helens.org.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2025.
7. D. W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, 1989, London: Routledge pp. 258, 269

External links

• St Helen Bishopsgate
• The Proclamation Trust