Nicholls gets top role at new Gospel Coalition UK

Graham Nicholls has been appointed as Honorary Director of The Gospel Coalition UK (TGC-UK).

The decision was taken through a “unanimous vote in favour” at the TGC-UK Forum, the organisation’s inaugural consultation and decision-making group.

Nicholls – who is currently Director of the evangelical network Affinity – said: “I am honoured to be serving in this role to help facilitate the development of TGC-UK as a means of bringing people together to proclaim the gospel, for providing great resources and a forum for grace-filled discussion and debate on things that matter.”

When asked about the appointments process for his new role, including whether it had been advertised, Nicholls replied: “As the organisation becomes a charity there will of course be procedures for this and for any staff appointments.” He added: “It’s an honorary role for now.”

The TGC-UK Forum currently consists of 34 men and eight women. According to Nicholls, these were individuals who expressed interest, were willing to sign up to the TGC confessional statement and aims, were willing to serve on the Forum, and either got in touch directly or were “recommended” by “someone who was in favour of TGC-UK”.

He added: “By definition there was no formal way to appoint anyone [to the Forum] because there was no formal organisation and process.”

The idea of a TGC-UK has been well received by some. But several others have raised reservations and questions, including Dave Williams, the blogger behind faithroot.com, who recently asked in an article for en: “Will it help to introduce new people and fresh ideas, or will it be another platform for those already known in the UK?” He added: “At times TGC [in the USA] has been hit by scandal and controversy. Will TGC-UK learn from these examples and have appropriate processes that balance editorial wisdom with pastoral care for those involved?”

Graham Nicholls responded: "Regarding the TGC brand, we are of course closely associated with it by name and value the fellowship connections across the world. TGC in the US by their own admission have taken some missteps but are very well structured these days and remain a trusted source that many of your readers still use. It is an important distinction to underline however, that TGC-UK will be organisationally independent..."

Read Graham's full response here.