Eric Delve
Eric was born in 1942 in the leafy suburb of Wimbledon, London. He is married to Pat. After 49 years, six children and nine grandchildren later, they are very much together, which is “a miracle of grace on her part”, according to Eric. They are looking forward to celebrating their golden wedding anniversary in 2013, coinciding with their first year of reassessment after leaving church leadership.
He loves reading, listening to music, crossword puzzles, walking the dogs and books about the World Wars. Eric is also an avid ‘Goon Show’ fan and enjoys an odd glass of good red wine.
He became a full-time evangelist in 1972, leading many missions with the title, ‘Down to Earth’. With hundreds of conversions over the years, Eric answered the call to ministry and in 1988, studied at Trinity College, Bristol; in January 1993 he entered Parish Ministry, at St Lawrence, Kirkdale, in inner city Liverpool “the place where I re-learnt the power of the Gospel.”
Eric became vicar of St Luke’s Church, Maidstone, with a parish exceeding 10,000 people in May 1996. Whilst there he founded ‘People Without Limits’, the company behind the Detling Summer Celebration, he is responsible for the overall vision and spiritual oversight of the organisation.
Eric’s latest publication, ‘Live Like You Mean It’ explores working out who you are and what really matters, and never letting go of that vision. Eric digs deep into the humanity of both David, the shepherd boy and Jesus, the odd-job man who became Saviour of the world. He has recently been working with Nick Battle producing ‘The Billy Fidget Letters’, a funny, wittily poignant book where we see the harsh reality of what happens when things really go wrong.
Alongside his involvement with the Detling Summer Celebration, Eric has become well known for running men’s conferences entitled ‘Echoes in Eternity’ where he challenges men to embrace their destiny and explores how to become warriors that are dangerous to the enemy, prophets and men of insight, priests that are powerful in prayer and kings, reigning in life.
He loves reading, listening to music, crossword puzzles, walking the dogs and books about the World Wars. Eric is also an avid ‘Goon Show’ fan and enjoys an odd glass of good red wine.
He became a full-time evangelist in 1972, leading many missions with the title, ‘Down to Earth’. With hundreds of conversions over the years, Eric answered the call to ministry and in 1988, studied at Trinity College, Bristol; in January 1993 he entered Parish Ministry, at St Lawrence, Kirkdale, in inner city Liverpool “the place where I re-learnt the power of the Gospel.”
Eric became vicar of St Luke’s Church, Maidstone, with a parish exceeding 10,000 people in May 1996. Whilst there he founded ‘People Without Limits’, the company behind the Detling Summer Celebration, he is responsible for the overall vision and spiritual oversight of the organisation.
Eric’s latest publication, ‘Live Like You Mean It’ explores working out who you are and what really matters, and never letting go of that vision. Eric digs deep into the humanity of both David, the shepherd boy and Jesus, the odd-job man who became Saviour of the world. He has recently been working with Nick Battle producing ‘The Billy Fidget Letters’, a funny, wittily poignant book where we see the harsh reality of what happens when things really go wrong.
Alongside his involvement with the Detling Summer Celebration, Eric has become well known for running men’s conferences entitled ‘Echoes in Eternity’ where he challenges men to embrace their destiny and explores how to become warriors that are dangerous to the enemy, prophets and men of insight, priests that are powerful in prayer and kings, reigning in life.
Ray Veira
Ray has been Senior Pastor & Regional Overseer of the Church of God of Prophecy UK (COGOP) in Bristol for some 20 years, having taken up the role in September 1993. He bases his leadership of the local congregation on biblical principles, with a strong focus on individual, couples and family counseling through prayer to ensure spiritual growth and awareness. He is also actively involved in the development and discipleship of young up and coming leaders, helping young people to realise their potential.
As Regional Overseer one of Ray’s key roles is to co-ordinate 9 churches within the South West and South Wales region, in church discipleship, church growth, church planting and church evangelism supporting and bringing fresh ideas to assist and mitigate any highlighted gaps through liaising with key Pastors and Leaders of these churches. He is an active member of the Board of Executive to the Church of God of Prophecy, helping in the decision making process and leadership development within the Church of God of Prophecy in UK.
In addition to these responsibilities he became an Executive Board member of the HCT GROUP in January 2012 and Chairperson of the Management Community Nilaari Agency in 2001 where he has a leading role in the decision making process of the sustainability and future development of the agency, planning the strategy and forecasting and managing the annual budget.Ray is senior Pastor at Church of God of Prophecy UK in Bristol.
As Regional Overseer one of Ray’s key roles is to co-ordinate 9 churches within the South West and South Wales region, in church discipleship, church growth, church planting and church evangelism supporting and bringing fresh ideas to assist and mitigate any highlighted gaps through liaising with key Pastors and Leaders of these churches. He is an active member of the Board of Executive to the Church of God of Prophecy, helping in the decision making process and leadership development within the Church of God of Prophecy in UK.
In addition to these responsibilities he became an Executive Board member of the HCT GROUP in January 2012 and Chairperson of the Management Community Nilaari Agency in 2001 where he has a leading role in the decision making process of the sustainability and future development of the agency, planning the strategy and forecasting and managing the annual budget.Ray is senior Pastor at Church of God of Prophecy UK in Bristol.
Andy Biddlecombe ('Bidds')
Andy's seminar last year was so well received that he is, quite literally, back by popular demand to be one of our main speakers this year.
Andy lives in Bristol, he has 4 children aged between 17 and 26 and is a Lawyer working for Bath and North East Somerset Council, he loves running, football, good curry, coffee with friends, and bouncing on his trampoline in the Garden in the morning whilst talking to God. “Gets me in the mood for the day!!!” His spiritual hero is the evangelist Smith Wigglesworth.
Andy is founder of the Wildfire Church (“Christianity Untamed .. church, but not as you know it!”), which meets in Bristol every other Friday for the Holy Spirit Jamboree, a time of “Holy Spirit power and fun, Family and growing together in relationship with Father God!” attracting Christians from Bath and Bristol, and a wide range of national and international speakers. The idea came from the Burning Bush, a time when Moses saw God and His power, authority and realised his own destiny. Wildfire seeks to help people understand their own identity in God, without knowing that we cannot fully know our own destiny. The church is also involved in Healing on the Streets (HOTS) in East Bristol every Saturday.
“God does not put us in a box and neither does he tame us. We were born to be Wild, On Fire and Free for Him”
His talk will focus on people in scripture who have been severely tempted to compromise their faith through the pressures of others at the hand of Satan, how they have withstood that temptation (or not in some cases) and how this teaches us to stand up victoriously to temptation in our own lives. Particularly looking at how this ability flows directly out of understanding and living out, day by day, our son ship identity with Father God and also with Jesus Holy Spirit.
There will be some practical exercises to help people encounter God in a real way and facilitate Him speaking directly to us (in a way that makes sense to us in our uniqueness) through the power of Holy Spirit. These encounters are aimed at enlightening and helping us overcome the consequences of not being able to resist the temptations.
Andy lives in Bristol, he has 4 children aged between 17 and 26 and is a Lawyer working for Bath and North East Somerset Council, he loves running, football, good curry, coffee with friends, and bouncing on his trampoline in the Garden in the morning whilst talking to God. “Gets me in the mood for the day!!!” His spiritual hero is the evangelist Smith Wigglesworth.
Andy is founder of the Wildfire Church (“Christianity Untamed .. church, but not as you know it!”), which meets in Bristol every other Friday for the Holy Spirit Jamboree, a time of “Holy Spirit power and fun, Family and growing together in relationship with Father God!” attracting Christians from Bath and Bristol, and a wide range of national and international speakers. The idea came from the Burning Bush, a time when Moses saw God and His power, authority and realised his own destiny. Wildfire seeks to help people understand their own identity in God, without knowing that we cannot fully know our own destiny. The church is also involved in Healing on the Streets (HOTS) in East Bristol every Saturday.
“God does not put us in a box and neither does he tame us. We were born to be Wild, On Fire and Free for Him”
His talk will focus on people in scripture who have been severely tempted to compromise their faith through the pressures of others at the hand of Satan, how they have withstood that temptation (or not in some cases) and how this teaches us to stand up victoriously to temptation in our own lives. Particularly looking at how this ability flows directly out of understanding and living out, day by day, our son ship identity with Father God and also with Jesus Holy Spirit.
There will be some practical exercises to help people encounter God in a real way and facilitate Him speaking directly to us (in a way that makes sense to us in our uniqueness) through the power of Holy Spirit. These encounters are aimed at enlightening and helping us overcome the consequences of not being able to resist the temptations.
