PaulBeasleymurray.com

Rev Dr Paul Beasley-Murray

PRESENT MINISTRY

As Senior Minister of Central Baptist Church, Chelmsford (1993- ) he transformed a traditional and declining town-centre church into a strong, vibrant and growing fellowship. The premises have undergone a £2 million redevelopment with the result that the church is now a seven-day-a-week operation.

Chelmsford is the county town of Essex, 35 miles North-East of London, with a population of around 180,000.

For further details see www.centralbaptistchelmsford.org.uk

As part of his wider ministry Paul is also Chairman of Ministry Today, an interdenominational organisation, whose aim is ‘to provide a supportive resource for all in pastoral leadership, so that they may not only survive, but also grow and develop, becoming more effective’ in their ministry, and General Editor of its journal, Ministry Today, which appears three times a year. For further details see www.ministrytoday.org.uk (in process of being updated)

PRESENT PUBLICATIONS

Paul is a prolific author.

With over 300 articles to his credit, he is a regular contributor to Ministry Today and since November 2003 has been writing a weekly column in the Baptist Times -‘The Final Word’.

PRESENT INTERESTS

In Who’s Who? Paul lists as his interests cooking, travel and parties! His grand-daughter, Jemima, is also another major interest! Married to Caroline, HM Coroner for the County of Essex and Thurrock, he has four grown-up children: Jonathan, who teaches Latin American studies at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada married to fellow academic Susan; Timothy, who teaches Slovak at London University, married to Charlotte, a lawyer; Susannah, a senior social worker in East London, the mother of Jemima, who is married to Rob, an artist; and Benjamin, a free lance journalist who ‘subs’ the financial pages of the London Times. Paul is also a member of Rotary (Rivermead, Chelmsford).

PAST APPOINTMENTS

As Principal of Spurgeon’s College, London (1986-1993) he doubled the student enrolment, increased the faculty by one-third, and developed new patterns of ministerial training

As Pastor of Altrincham Baptist Church, Cheshire (1973-1986) he enabled a small declining church to develop into a strong virile church, quadrupled in size (from 83 to 300+ members). .

As a BMS Missionary in Congo/Zaire (1990-1992) he taught Greek and New Testament in the Protestant Theological Faculty of the National University.

Prior to going up to Cambridge Paul served as a ‘Time for God’ worker with the German Baptists (1962-63), helping with Baptist youth work in Southern Germany.

PAST PUBLICATIONS

Turning the Tide: An Assessment of Baptist Church Growth in England (Bible Society, 1980) co-authored with Alan Wilkinson
Pastors under Pressure
(Kingsway 1989) Buy this book
Dynamic Leadership: Making it work for you and your Church
(Monarch 1990) - also translated into Swedish Buy this book
Faith & Festivity: A Guide For Today's Worship Leaders
(Monarch 1991) Buy this book
A Call To Excellence: An Essential Guide To Christian Leadership
(Hodder & Stoughton 1995) Buy this book
Power For God's Sake? Power & Abuse In The Local Church (Paternoster 1998)
Fearless for Truth: A Personal Portrait of the Life of George Beasley-Murray (Paternoster 2002) Buy this book

He edited Mission To the World (Baptist Historical Society, 1991); Anyone For Ordination? (Monarch 1993); and along with others co-edited Prayers For All Peoples (Oncken 1993).

PAST EDUCATION

Paul read Modern Languages (German & French: Part 1 of the Tripos) & Theology (Parts 2 & 3 of the Tripos) at Jesus College, Cambridge (1963-1967).

He then trained for the Baptist ministry, first at the Northern Baptist College, Manchester (1967-1969) and then at the International Baptist Theological Seminary, Ruschlikon-Zurich in Switzerland.

In 1970 he was awarded a PhD in New Testament studies (“The Lordship of Christ over the World in the Corpus Paulinum”) from Manchester University, having spent the final year of his doctoral studies at Zurich University.

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