David Pytches, the evangelical former Anglican Bishop of Chile, Bolivia and Peru, and vicar at St Andrews, Chorleywood, has died aged 92. He leaves behind his wife Mary and their four daughters.
Ordained as a vicar in 1955, David and Mary became missionaries and moved to South America in 1959. Having started their work in Chile, David was ordained as the Bishop of Chile, Bolivia and Peru, and served in that role before returning to the UK in 1977.
David then served as the vicar of St Andrews Church, Chorleywood, where his ministry prompted renewal in the area, and saw the church grow markedly, and gain a widely-known reputation in Evangelical circles.
David was also a co-founder of New Wine in 1989, and he and Mary served there until 2001. New Wine exists to train and encourage church leaders and has made a big impact on many of them over the more-than- 30 years since its launch.
David and Mary continued to attend and speak at New Wine conferences after they stepped away from the leadership positions they had held, and continued to share the gospel widely well into old age.
Tributes have poured in amongst Evangelical circles for a godly man held in very high esteem by many. He may have served as an Anglican bishop, but David was not particularly denominational in his outlook on the faith, and many regard him as a key figure in bringing charismatic Christianity into the mainstream of the Christian faith in the UK.
Greg Downes, Director of Kingfisher Ministries, described him as a ‘pioneer of charismatic renewal within the Anglican church,’ and said that he was ‘perhaps the most significant figure in British charismatic Christianity in the past half century.’
