Gerald Coates, founder of the Pioneer network of churches, passed away last weekend, aged 78. Something of a pioneer, Gerald had long carried a vision to revitalise the Church in the wake of charismatic renewal.
Challenging evangelical traditionalism
Alongside Terry Virgo, Roger Forster and John Noble1, Gerald was one of the most prominent ‘house church’ leaders of the 1970s, each going on to form institutions that became small denominations in their own right. Pioneer Network has become an international concern.
Gerald was a radical, regularly challenging the status quo, and taking mischievous delight in overturning what he saw as unbiblical and unhelpful evangelical church traditions.
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!
Gerald’s passion was the Church and the kingdom of God. His longing was to see the Church become all that Christ intended it to be – a Church that leads, that speaks out, that heals, that reaches out. A triumphant, pioneering Church, demonstrating the supernatural, life-changing King of Kings.
Outspoken and abounding in energy, Gerald was one of the UK’s best-known church leaders in the 80s and 90s.
A 'Gerald word'
Gerald acted as a magnet to celebrities on a personal spiritual quest. He became a close confidant of Sir Cliff Richard from the late 1970s; he drew alongside Rick Parfitt of Status Quo and Simon Thomas of Blue Peter; he led pop-star Alvin Stardust to Christ. He even developed close links with the royal family of Romania.
Many have testified over the years to Gerald’s prophetic gifting – being called out in a meeting or receiving a ‘word’ in a church foyer that significantly altered the course of their lives. Among those whose lives were shaped by a ‘Gerald word’ were Noel Richards (prominent worship leader with Pioneer for many years) and Steve Clifford (former leader of the Evangelical Alliance).
But on a wider level, Gerald’s spiritual discernment was more questionable. While travelling in New Zealand in 1991, he predicted a major imminent earthquake in that nation. Sometime later, in April 1995, he publicly prophesied the coming of revival to Westminster Chapel. Neither prophecy came to pass.
Charismatic deception
Perhaps more significantly, he welcomed with open arms the Kansas City Prophets into the UK Church at the turn of the 1990s. Along with many other national church leaders, he signed a statement saying that Bob Jones, Paul Cain and others constituted “true servants of God, men of sound character”, and that he had “no doubt about the validity of their ministry”. In so doing, Coates completely ignored the warnings of church leaders like Clifford Hill, David Noakes and Peter Fenwick, who strongly sounded the alarm, carefully exposing the KCPs' false prophecies and controlling influence.
Coates completely ignored the warnings of church leaders like Clifford Hill, David Noakes and Peter Fenwick, who carefully exposed the KCPs false prophecies and controlling influence.
Gerald made a similar crucial error a few years later, when he endorsed with great enthusiasm the Toronto Blessing and all its attending phenomena, such as drunk-like states, trances, contorted laughter, jerking, and animal noises, all of which he sought to defend on biblical grounds. Coates was quick to draw comparisons to the manifestations experienced in many former revivals, such as those attending the preaching of Wesley and Whitefield – seemingly unaware that the falling down, weeping and heart-felt repentance of those scenes came as a result of deep conviction of sin under uncompromising hell-fire preaching (hardly prominent features of the TB!). Coates was comparing chalk to cheese.
Having opened wide the doors to such deception, potentially leading countless others into the same, it was almost inevitable that Coates would embrace the ‘gold-filling’ craze of the late ‘90s, as well as the false Lakeland ‘revival’ under the highly dubious and since-disgraced Todd Bentley.
Strengths & achievements
Gerald was an eternal optimist. He tended to see revival where it wasn’t. He was ever hopeful, ever seeing the Spirit of God moving. He succeeded in building ecumenical bridges, regularly speaking at both denominational and inter-denominational conferences, and even becoming a friend and confidant to a number of Archbishops of Canterbury.
Among his achievements was the organisation of the March for Jesus events that gained worldwide traction and became major annual occurrences.
Unquestionably, there were strengths to his leadership. Among his achievements was the organisation of the March for Jesus events that gained worldwide traction and became major annual occurrences.
My own estimation of Gerald Coates as a man increased significantly one day in 1999, when I called the Pioneer office, hoping to talk with the author of an article in their periodical Compass, with which I strongly disagreed! Inadvertently, I was put through to Gerald’s office, where I left a short voicemail. Minutes later, my phone rang; this was Gerald, returning my call, even though he didn’t recognise my name. After explaining to him that I was looking to speak to someone else, Gerald proceeded to converse with me for the following 40 minutes, listening to all I had to say (not everyone does!), and engaging in constructive dialogue.
Gerald Coates was universally known as a witty, gregarious and warm-hearted guy. Greatly loved, he will be sorely missed by all who knew him, and by a great many who didn’t.
Endnotes
1 Sadly, John Noble’s wife, Christine also passed away earlier this week. Apart from her devotion to her beloved family, Christine faithfully ministered to thousands of individuals and churches in the UK and around the world with her straight talk, prophetic insights, creativity, writing and humour.