The review into the behaviour of Gerald Coates is disturbing reading. And, it raises a number of questions for Pioneer, the organisation he founded.
1. Did the Pioneer Leaders give up stopping Coates after 2015?
2. Did they warn the Monkton Combe School about Coates?
3. Did the Pioneer Leaders warn Wildfires Festival about Coates?
The people in charge
Gerald Coates was the founder of Pioneer and led the organisation for over 20 years. As such, it's likely that safeguarding concerns about him required intervention from the leaders of the charity. Who were they?
Billy Kennedy led Pioneer from 2009. He also led New Community Church in Southampton at the same time. It was, and still is, a large church. New Community had a turnover of £1,100,000 - £1,500,000 in the 2010s. Interestingly, it was never a Pioneer church before Kennedy became leader of the movement.
He became involved in Pioneer in a consultancy capacity in the mid-2000s. Kennedy and his wife Caroline began transitioning to become leaders of the charity in 2008. The offices of Pioneer were moved to their church in Southampton that year, and in 2009 Coates resigned.
At some point this shared leadership arrangement changed. But it's unclear when that happened. Archives of the Pioneer website describe Caroline Kennedy as a joint leader until 2017:
"Billy & Caroline Kennedy, Senior Leaders of New Community, Southampton, lead the network of more than 80 partnership churches of various sizes and with varying structures, that can be found across the UK – with many more associate churches in mainland Europe, Africa, India, Asia, Australia and the USA."
However, Caroline Kennedy is never mentioned in the filings of the charity after 2014. When Billy Kennedy is mentioned in 2015 and 2016 filings, it's implied he's the sole leader of Pioneer. Here's an example:
"Billy Kennedy, leader of Pioneer, has launched a second Apostolic Learning Community in Northern Ireland"
(Source: Total exemption full accounts made up to 31 August 2015, page 4)
I'm going to assume that the filings are more reliable than the Pioneer website, as they are reported to the regulator, The Charity Commission.
In September 2019, Ness Wilson became the new 'National Director' of Pioneer. But Kennedy didn't hand over leadership of the charity. Rather, at that point he moved sideways to become International Director. Both Kennedy and Wilson are listed in the annual reports as Executive Directors. This is illustrated in a section of the 2020-2021 filings for Pioneer:
Pioneer International has a separate website, and a separate director (Kennedy), but both areas of work are part of the same charity: Pioneer Trust. As joint Executive Directors they are both responsible for the operation of Pioneer, with the trustees holding them accountable.
Ness Wilson was, and still is, leader of Open Heaven Church in Loughborough. Open Heaven was a smaller church than Kennedy's church in the 2010s, with a turnover between £250,000 and £450,000.
1. Did the Pioneer leaders give up stopping Coates after 2015?
Let's turn our attention to the Independent Review that Pioneer commissioned Christian Safeguarding Services (CSS) to do. Note that 'independent' doesn't necessarily mean balanced.
The authors of the review give an account of Billy Kennedy, and other Pioneer staff, grappling with the behaviour of Gerald Coates in the 2010s. They began to take formal steps in 2014:
"By 2014, there was a growing concern amongst PT leaders that some of GC’s ministry practices fell short of the standards that they expected. The leaders began to address these concerns with him. Throughout the process of addressing these concerns, which extended over a number of years, PT leaders sought, and followed, advice from Thirtyone:eight (formerly CCPAS) who are their external independent safeguarding advisors."
(Source: CSS Pioneer Trust Review, page 9)
Something seems to have happened at the 2014 Pioneer Leaders' Conference, because in 2015 we read that:
"The security team’s understanding was that there were concerns about some of GC’s ministry practices. The team were aware of concerns from the 2014 conference. "
(Source: CSS Pioneer Trust Review, page 26)
In 2015 it sounds like Gerald Coates may have been ejected from the conference! If so, that would have been memorable for everyone there.
It seems from the report that there was some confusion about the situation, and a lack of following a formal process. Coates earned an apology afterwards, albeit with a restatement of acceptable behaviours from the Pioneer leader at that time: Billy Kennedy.
There are no mentions in the report of complaints in 2016 or 2017. Then, in 2018:
"Following the Pioneer Leaders Conference, a concern was raised with PT that GC had approached a young man, shared a prophetic word with him, followed this up with Facebook messages and a subsequent phone call. This call quickly and predominantly turned to unsolicited questions about pornography and masturbation. This was reported to PT and was dealt with as a complaint. "
(Source: CSS Pioneer Trust Review, page 27)
There are no details about what action was taken as part of that complaint. Was there any?
In 2019 he was at the conference again, and Coates says in a Facebook post that he was asked to pray and prophesy for the incoming National Leader, Ness Wilson:
A photo on the Pioneer Twitter account captures the moment (I believe he's on the right with his back to us):
The report doesn't mention any complaints from that year. Were there any?
In 2020 Coates says he attended the conference:
(He calls it 'Pioneer International Leaders' Conference'. From the dates, I believe he's talking about the usual Pioneer Leaders' Conference.)
And again, a complaint was made about him:
"Pioneer Leaders Conference: GC shares a word with a young man (20yrs), hugged him and tried to maintain contact. The young man felt GC was gaining some form of sexual benefit from the contact. A Safeguarding report raised the concern about GCs conduct at the conference in March 2020. The complainant shared their concerns with the Safeguarding Lead, both in relation to their own experience and more generally regarding GC’s relationships with young men and his use of the holy kiss. There is also a record of GC approaching another young man at the same conference."
(Source: CSS Pioneer Trust Review, page 29)
What did the Pioneer Leaders do about this complaint? It was from the National Conference, but given it involved the founder of the charity, surely it was the responsibility of both Executive Directors to handle.
Did they do anything? Nothing is recorded in the report to suggest they acted. In fact, after 2015 no interventions are recorded. Did the leaders give up stopping Coates?
2. Did they warn the Monkton Combe School about Coates?
Throughout this period Coates talked about having a relationship with Monkton Combe School, a private school near Bath with a 'Christian ethos'. Coates described himself as a 'patron/ambassador' of the school in Library of Lives (the Pioneer magazine he edited):
"Some people have asked, ‘When you hand over to Billy and Caroline, what are you going to do?’ Well, I continue with my ministry in speaking, writing and mentoring. I am pulling a team together to lead a local church in Leatherhead, Surrey. And I will be at major things like Pioneer’s National Churches Forum, the annual conference, the Round Table, OFCOM/CRAC, patron/ambassador of Monkton Combe School and so on."
(Source: Issue 14, page 9)
He also made Facebook posts about a number of visits. In 2016:
In 2017:
In 2018, on two separate occasions:
In 2019 he posted a photo of him speaking somewhere:
In the comments he states the photo is from Monkton Combe School:
There may have been more visits that he didn't post about.
Coates even mentions Monkton Combe in the Acknowledgements section of his second biography, Pioneer:
"I should also record those who opened significant doors and provided platforms for me, some recorded in this book and others not already mentioned. Clive Calver and Peter Meadows, Spring Harvest; Roger and Faith Forster, Ichthus/Revive/MFJ; Barney Coombs, Basingstoke Baptist Church/Salt and Light; Dave Tomlinson, Festival; Stuart Bell, Grapevine/One/Ground Level Network; Mike Pusey, Farnborough Baptist Church; Don Double, Good News Crusade; Danny Smith, Jubilee Campaign; Alan Kirbey, Monkton Combe School; Andrew Owen, Destiny; Stuart Brunton, The Gate; Sandy Millar, HTB/Focus; John Coles, New Wine."
(Source: page 240)
Given the behaviour reported about Coates at the time, these visits should have raised concerns for Kennedy, then leader of Pioneer. How would he behave towards male teenagers at the school?
Kennedy had previously been chair of governors of an Oasis academy from 2008-2013. In 2016 he got involved in setting up Hope Community School, a free school with values 'underpinned by a Christian ethos' in Southampton. The school met in his church building for a number of years.
I imagine both of these roles would have involved exposure to the practicalities of safeguarding in the school context. He was more likely than most to know the appropriate routes to handle the risks posed by Gerald Coates.
Did Kennedy warn the Monkton Combe School about Coates? Perhaps he did.
It's possible he didn't see these Facebook posts, and missed the mention in Library of Lives, and that no one brought them to his attention.
3. Did the Pioneer Leaders warn Wildfires Festival about Coates?
The CSS report gives multiple accounts of Coates approaching young men at the Pioneer Leaders' Conference. With that in mind, Facebook posts like this one from 2018 raise concerns:
Why? Well, Wildfires was a new all-age Christian festival that began in 2018. At the time it described itself like this:
"Wildfires is a three day festival at the Wiston Estate, West Sussex, UK. It was launched in 2018 as a joint adventure between 24-7 Prayer, Worship Central, Pioneer, Fusion, Big Church Day Out and Tearfund.
Over the course of 3 days, thousands gather from different church expressions and communities to unite in prayer and worship, to deepen friendships and community, to learn, to party and to encounter God."
I can't find numbers for the scale of the 2018 Wildfires. Subsequent events attracted about 3,000 attendees. It's likely there would have been more young men at this event than the Pioneer Leaders' Conference.
Did Coates approach young men, and invade their personal boundaries, at Wildfires?
In a video update six months before the festival, Kennedy described Pioneer's role in Wildfires:
"Now we are going to be partnering together with 24/7 Prayer, Fusion, Worship Central, Gas Street Church and many others to put on an event on the Wiston estate in West Sussex from the 28th to the 30th of May. It's called Wildfires. An opportunity for us to be together, partying together, praying together, worshiping together and building community together. Details are on our website, Facebook pages and Twitter, but we are so excited by what the Wildfires could do as we come together as friends to see what the Holy Spirit will do among us. So check out the website and look forward to seeing you there."
It seems like there was a village concept to the physical layout of Wildfires. A tweet from Pioneer at the time said:
"Join us at Wildfires! We have our own Pioneer Village where we camp as a network together. Join us as we seek God and fan into flame the next Great Awakening with friends from different streams, churches and communities."
By the 2018 Wildfires, there had been at least 4 years of concerns about Coates' behaviour. Did Kennedy warn his fellow partners about the safeguarding issues connected with Coates?
As it happened Kennedy would have probably known the lead event organiser. That person was Mike Andrea, CEO of 24-7 Prayer and leader of Global Generation Church in Kent. Wildfires posted a tweet with him talking about the festival:
Side note: Mike Andrea has since been since resigned from both roles after allegations about his behaviour.
An archive of the Pioneer website from 2012 shows Global Generation Church as a pin on their map. As a Pioneer church at that stage, it's likely that Kennedy would have met Andrea at one of the Pioneer Leader's Conferences.
Alternatively, did Billy Kennedy report the risks posed by Coates to the person responsible for safeguarding at Wildfires 2018?
I should say, it's possible the Coates booked without Kennedy's knowledge. The post above makes it sound like he may have attended for a day rather than the whole event.
Did Coates also attend Wildfires in 2019 or 2021? Similar questions would apply if so.
If he attended in 2021, these questions could be asked of Wilson as well, as she became National Director of Pioneer in September 2019.
In conclusion
Let's hope that the Pioneer Leaders acted appropriately in all of these circumstances and protected the children and young men involved. It is possible they did.
However, it's valid to ask these questions; the CSS review may have missed these elements. Or, the authors of the review may have considered them out of scope, as they did with Pioneer Engage Church, because several of them relate to connections with other charities.
Did the Pioneer Leaders do enough to protect young people?
More Gerald Coates blogs
The Gerald Coates report is only half the story
The troubling behaviour of Gerald Coates… did it also happen at Waverley Abbey?
