Revd Doug Williams
The East-end of London has always been seen as the home of some pretty ‘dodgy geezers’, thankfully, Doug Williams is not one of them!
As the Senior Pastor of Emmanuel Christian Centre, a large and thriving inner-city church, Doug has to have a clear head and a heart for challenge.
“All the diversity that our church deals with is a constant source of… creative challenge,” Doug quips, “but I love every minute!” Training at Spurgeon’s College was a major part of his academic preparation for the task, but learning is a lifelong pursuit for this minister.
Local church work is part of the big picture of Christian leadership for Doug as previously he served his denomination, the AOG (Assemblies of God), as part of their overall National Leadership Team. He is also former Superintendent for Greater London region as part of the same denomination.
“I love the opportunity to serve in a wider context that our local church and the national and international invitations are a wonderful opportunity for me, but my heart is never far from home. The local church really is the hope of the world. Our Church seeks to be a safe place for kids, a supportive place for parents, a welcoming place for visitors, an exciting place for teenagers, a friendly place for Senior Citizens and a home for the Community. We believe that, real life is worth celebrating, so we do! With excellent music, passionate and relevant preaching, great social gatherings for food and friendship and all kinds of activity, church has never looked so good….
Doug is a well respected and much sought after Christian motivational speaker, with strong teaching gifts and an apostolic calling to leaders.
He travels widely internationally, to conduct leadership training sessions, church retreats and men's conferences. He is a singer/ songwriter and has played with numerous gospel artistes and singers, and his own band called "Raize". They have also recorded several CD's.
“My musical focus now,” says Doug, “is all about worship that is truly God-centred, and how to find and develop the ‘voice’ of our church in declaring that. Each church I know has a unique blend of people and preferences, seeing how all that gets expressed in worship is an exciting journey.”
Doug is married to Joan and they have four children.