Barney Coombs (1937– 22 July 2018) was a British religious leader,
Early life
Coombs was born in 1937 in
Whitstable, England. After leaving school he entered the
police force before becoming a
Christians and responding to a call to full-time Christian ministry. He studied at
Capernwray Hall, where he graduated with honours.
Career
Pastoral ministry
Coombs was ordained as
pastor of Basingstoke Baptist Church (later becoming Basingstoke Community Churches) in 1966. He later moved to Canada to be based at West Coast Christian Fellowship in Vancouver. Coombs has written a number of books including
A Guide to Practical Pastoring,
Apostles Today,
God’s Plan for Himself,
Finding Your Purpose in God's Plan and
Dealing with What Life Throws At You: How Life's Ups and Downs Can Lead Us to a Greater Intimacy with Jesus.
British New Church Movement
In the mid-late 1960s Coombs became involved in the restoration movement that grew around key charismatic figures such as Arthur Wallis,
David Lillie and
Cecil Cousen. The main thrust of this group was that a return of the 'charismatic gifts' (i.e. prophecy and speaking in tongues) to the traditional denominations was not sufficient, and that the church needed to be restored to the
New Testament forms of church government as described in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians -
apostle,
Prophet,
Evangelism and
Pastor/Teacher (). This became known as the fivefold ministries, and the group saw the fulfillment of these offices as essential to the reviving of the worldwide Christian Church. In
Finding Your Purpose In God's Plan Coombs credits
DeVern Fromke as a significant influence on the theology he and the wider group were developing at this time.
In the early 1970s Coombs became part of the "fabulous fourteen",
Salt and Light Ministries
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Theology
Central to the
theology of Coombs was that the body of Christ is essentially relational and will eventually come to fullness of stature. The priesthood of all believers, the cross-centred gospel, the Kingdom of God, a victorious
eschatology, and the summing up of all things in Christ are all important doctrines to Coombs and the Salt and Light network.
Death
After struggling with
dementia since around 2016, Coombs suffered a serious brain haemorrhage in 2018, and died on Sunday 22 July 2018.
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Bibliography
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A Guide to Practical Pastoring, Sovereign World, Ltd., June 1999 ()
-
Apostles Today, Sovereign World, Ltd., October 2000 ()
-
Finding Your Purpose in God's Plan, Destiny Image Publishers Ltd., 2003 ()
-
Dealing with What Life Throws At You: How Life's Ups and Downs Can Lead Us to a Greater Intimacy with Jesus, Sovereign World, Ltd., January 2006 ()
Notes
External links
