Dick Lucas, The Rector Emeritus,
St Helen's Bishopsgate, London.

Dick Lucas became the rector of St Helen's when it
was a moribund church in the early 1960's. Located in
the heart of the financial district in London the church
established a ministry reaching out to those who
worked in "The Square Mile". Over the following
decades the congregation grew and now has a sizeable
student work. In recent years St Helen's has started to
plant a number of churches in the London area and
continues to support Gospel work in the UK and
overseas. Founded on the conviction that when the
Bible is taught God's Word is heard, Dick was instrumental
in reviving the concept of "expository preaching"; in
fact the satirical website "Ship of Fools" described Dick
as 'the Pope of evangelical preachers"! I have benefitted
enormously from the ministry of the St Helen's team
over the 15 years I've been a member there.

Dick, who turned 80 last year, retired as rector a few
years ago but continues to do work for "Proclamation
Trust" and is a guest preacher at a number of evangelical
events around the world.
I heard a story about Dick: after he retired he started
attending an independent evangelical church near his home
(no doubt to give the new rector some elbow room). One
morning at this church one of the deacons, trying to suss
out where this Anglican clergyman fitted into the grand
scheme of things, quizzed him on the conferences he had
attended recently to gauge just how "sound" he was. [In some
circles the term 'anglican' and 'apostate' are virtually
synonymous!] Dick clearly impressed the deacon with the
range of "reformed" conferences he had been to and the
deacon was mightily reassured about the newcomer as a
result. Dick commented afterwards, "I didn't have the heart
to tell him that I hadn't just attended these conferences but
preached at them!"

This August - while our current rector takes a well earned
Summer holiday - Dick will be preaching each Sunday
morning on the theme of "Words of Comfort on Knowing
God". If you want to hear him in person our church is a
'stones throw' from "The Gherkin" in the heart of The City
in London and our morning service starts at 10:15am
[though as of September this will change to 10:30am].
Details can be found at http://www.st-helens.org.uk/ not just
for our Sunday services but also all the mid-week meetings
including the lunchtime services.
Alternatively talks can be obtained or downloaded from
St Helen's Media at http://www.shmedia.org.uk/