David and Bobbie in 2002
David and Bobbie Shearer
The Coton Centre
Coton Green Village, Tamworth
David and Bobbie were invaluable helpers in the early days of the Grange Fellowship when we were all living in Chiswick. When we first met them, Bobbie had just had her first child and so she was not able to be as involved as David but was extremely supportive, especially in praying for us all. David and Bill Cowie, friends since Bible Training Institute (BTI) days, in Glasgow, were working in a Chiswick engineering facility where rolling stock for the London Transport Underground train service was built. Both had felt the call of God on their lives but not sure at that time where they would finally end up. After some time, Bill and Jean left Chiswick to go back to Scotland to serve the Lord. They rented a furniture van to transport all their belongings and Dave, Bobbie, Martin and I accompanied Bill and Jean to help them move to Scotland. It was a lot of fun; I remember Bobbie, Jean and I had the pleasure of sitting in the back of the van with the furniture but we were not able to see much of the scenery.
Some time later, David and Bobbie felt the Lord telling them they were to move north; amazingly a job became available in Birmingham to test and inspect the trains being built for London Transport. The job, however, was expected to last only six months. Everyone thought it was crazy to move from London to a job only available for that amount of time. However, they believed the hand of the Lord was in this for them and in obedience they looked for a house in the surrounding areas. Although never having heard of Tamworth before, they felt strongly this was the area the Lord wanted them to live. The work in Birmingham did not finish in six months and only closed down in recent years. We were sad to see David and Bobbie go but we knew that they were sure it was God’s will. As the days and years passed it became absolutely obvious that the Lord had great things in store for them. They were totally committed Christians with a deep hunger to serve the Lord full time.
The house they bought was located in a new housing estate in Coton Green Village on the edge of Tamworth. There was no evangelical church at that end of town and with their family increasing they decided to start a Sunday school in their own home and invited other neighbourhood children to attend. This was similar in a way to the beginning of the Grange Fellowship. The work grew and adults started coming so a Bible study and prayer meeting was held for them. This growth continued, resulting in the establishment of a church for which a local school was rented to use for church services on Sundays. As the number of adults grew they moved to a bigger school nearby and then had to move again to yet another school further away when the one they were using became no longer available. All time the Fellowship was praying for some land on which to build a church.
One day David was driving along with one of the Deacons and, away in the distance, they saw “For Sale” sign in a field. They drove to the field, jumped over the gate and stood praying together and felt the Lord was saying to them that, “They would see His Glory in this place.”
The story of the growth and development of the new church is an amazing record of God’s faithfulness and provision, and the commitment of David and Bobbie to the vision the Lord had given them. The land was obtained and a marvellous multi-purpose facility was designed and built. The church was named the Coton Centre and David became, and remains to this day, the full time pastor there.
There were lots of amazing miracles along the way. Bobbie was spring cleaning the kitchen cupboards and, as she put things back, David came and cleaned the outside of the cupboards. The phone went and a man from another church said wanted to come and see them. It was 9 pm and he had never asked to come before, so David agreed. While Bobbie was making a cup of tea the man said “You know why I have come?” David assured him that he did not know. The man reached into his jacket and laid a cheque on the coffee table. When David looked at it, he saw that it was made out for £33,000!!!! They were both so stunned that they filled up because of the incredible generosity and more than that, this was the exact amount the church had been praying for to have the first part of the car park done in front of the new building.
In 1999, I was over in the UK for reunions both at my college and school. Martin stayed in Canada. It was then that I first had the privilege of visiting Dave and Bobbie and seeing their new church. I was so thrilled to hear how the Lord brought everything together and I was able to see for myself some of the wonderful things that the Lord had done through his faithful servants. I attended a Sunday service in this new church and there were still many things unfinished but it was so exciting to be shown around the church as Dave enthusiastically told me the story of God’s accurate provision. It is not a building which is only used on Sundays but so many things take place there; there is a gym which has many functions as well as the regular use of a gym. Mums and little children meet there and yes, David the pastor is there in the kitchen to make lunches for them to continue fellowshipping together. Of course, it is excellent for the young people to enjoy too.
David has so many talents and is at heart an entrepreneur and seizes every opportunity to use the building and thus earn some money. At election times, a part of the church is used for casting and counting votes and they receive a well appreciated cheque for the services provided. Then David again sees the chance to earn some more money for the church and he arranges food to be provided for the workers as they count the votes. As regards the construction of the church, David supervised and did the plastering, painting as well as much of the construction itself. He rolled up his sleeves and encouraged his men as they built the church and enjoyed fellowship together. David told me the story about sand that they needed, at one point, to continue work on the church. They had run out of both sand and funds to buy more. They had hardly finished praying when a huge lorry (truck) turned into the front of their church which had not been yet paved. The driver came into the office of the church saying that he had a truck load of sand and saw that there was a building under construction. He wondered if they could use it as he had no more need of it. Praise the Lord!! It reminds me of the wonderful work accomplished by Muller in the orphanage which he ran, just how the Lord always provided exactly what they needed and at a specific time. There is no place for the word ‘coincidence’ in the believer’s vocabulary, especially when the people of God are involved in God’s work.
They have quite a large group of instrumentalists who play every Sunday morning at their very lively worship service. Anyone who can play an instrument is encouraged to participate. It was such a rich blessing to be part of the service. They have also written and performed a musical play and made all their costumes, scenery and props. This has been a real success and an evangelistic outreach. Almost everyone is involved in one way or the other. There is little opportunity for passengers in Coton Green Church. Do you know of any church where there are three very large freezers just inside the main entrance to the sanctuary? Coton Green has just that and at the end of the Sunday service David encourages each family to take a loaf of bread home with them. I’m not sure exactly who donates all this bread, cheese bread, currant bread, pasties, sausage rolls, croissants to name just some. He goes to the bakery and stacks up all these goodies and fills the back of his car with them, the odour of which always seems to permeate his car. Then the first thing he does is visit his neighbours offering them these delicious goodies. What a terrific evangelistic tool!! Then the rest he deposits in the freezers for use at weekly events taking place at the church. There is still an ample amount for the Sunday worshippers. It reminds me of the feeding of the 5,000.
Another wonderful addition to their church materialized when a school was started. Qualified teachers of Coton Green Church became volunteers to start this school. They built classrooms which were very appropriately and colourfully decorated. Once it was established and in progress, the Government recognized it as a bona fide church school and then the staff were able to receive wages as those who taught in the regular Government schools. This often happen in North America but I think this is not so in Europe as a whole. This is another example of the multi faceted Coton Green Church.
Space here does not permit the full telling of the truly effective ministry, peppered with miraculous events along the way but I hope this will whet your appetite, encourage you as you serve the Lord and challenge you wherever you worship. I would like to say that in spite of a long history of very painful medical problems, Bobbie has supported David completely and I can’t think of any couple who have been and continue to be such a hospitable couple. In fact, I feel exhausted every time I hear from Bobbie about the unbelievable amount of guests they host. Further, many don’t just come for a week, often for months. As well as raising 4 children, being a pastor’s wife, Bobbie has also worked as a nurse for most of her life. These two servants of God are such an inspiration and we feel so blessed to have worked with them in the past and to be in constant touch with them. I know without any shadow of doubt that David and Bobbie only want to see the Lord uplifted and glorified. Knowing the Lord and serving Him is little compared for what He has done for us and it is always humbling to know that the Lord wants to use us in spite of our weaknesses.
All their children are married and love and serve the Lord too. They have many grandchildren and I hope to be adding some photos of them in the near future. May the Lord continue to bless them in this exciting ministry.
“To God be the glory great things He has done”
Grace Gouldthorpe
October, 2009
