DUNDONALD SENIOR PASTOR ANNOUNCEMENT – 21st APRIL 2024
It is our privilege and joy to share with you that, in answer to our prayers, and following a prayerful and thorough recruitment process involving…
- a board of reference comprised of pastors and leaders from outside and within Dundonald establishing a short-list of applicants; and then…
- successive rounds of due diligence, interviews and consideration of references…
our Senior Elders, John Marland, Julian Plescia and Mark Chambers, have, with the unanimous endorsement of our lay Governing Elders and Trustees, accepted the application of Richard Leadbeater, known to many as Leady, to serve as Senior Pastor for Dundonald Church, from Sept 1st 2024 following Richard’s decision to step aside at the end of August 2024.
Richard Coekin adds, I want to say how delighted I am to hand over to Leady and encourage us all to pray for him. I am 100% behind Leady in what is a demanding role and want to encourage us all to do the same. He is by God’s grace, godly, gifted and gospel focussed which will continue the direction I have tried to steer this church for 29 years. I know Leady is planning evolution rather than revolution, but no doubt he will want to make changes and do things differently and I want everyone to back him wholeheartedly.
In 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul is clear – anyone truly committed to the gospel is wholeheartedly committed to gospel preachers – not just because we like them, but because they are appointed by God to preach the gospel which is the power for salvation for all who believe. So our job now is to pray for Leady and support his leadership and enjoy the ride – for the sake of our God-given mission to make disciples of all nations for Christ, here in south London, to the glory of God alone.
There’ll be lots to say at a later stage but for now we simply ask for your continued prayers:
- thank God for bringing us the Senior Pastor he wants us to have and for all who have served so diligently in the recruitment and selection processes;
- pray for Leady and his wife Libby and his children Hannah, Rosie and Katy as they prepare for this new stage of life, and especially for Leady that God will grant him the godliness, wisdom, strength and knowledge of God’s word to lead us well in our mission to make disciples of all nations for Christ, to the glory of God alone.
John Marland (on behalf of the Governing Elders of Dundonald church and Trustees of the Co-Mission Churches Trust) & Richard Coekin (Senior Pastor of Dundonald Church)