Richard Coles

Reverend Richard Coles is a former musician turned Church of England Parish Priest and journalist, currently serving as vicar of Finedon. Former member of band The Communards, Richard experienced the music industry of the 80s gaining multiple top ten hits before trading that life for a life of religion and faith. An openly gay priest, Richard is sought to deliver speeches on LGBT, diversity and inclusion having fell victim to discrimination throughout his life.

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Biography:

Reverend Richard Coles has followed in the footsteps of his ancestors, acting as the vicar of Finedon where two members of his family were vicars during the 17th century. However, Richard has not always led such a serene life having formerly been a member of The Communards in the 1980s. Richard was initially part of Bronski Beat playing the saxophone but left to form The Communards with Jimmy Sommerville. The band were critically successful, gaining three top 10 hits and the biggest selling single of 1986- Don’t Leave Me This Way.

The Communards split in 1988, and Richard moved on to pursue a vocation to God after inspiration struck at a St Alban’s mass. Richard went on to attend Kings College studying a BA in Theology and beginning to practise Roman Catholicism and Anglicanism. By 2003, Richard began to train as a priest, attending the College of Resurrection. After he was ordained in 2005, Richard has acted as a curate at both St Paul’s Church in London and St Botolph’s Church in Boston and is currently the Vicar of Finedon.

Richard has unfortunately been subject to discrimination as a priest, due to his sexuality. Openly gay and one of the most recognisable gay reverends, Richard has faced opposition throughout his career and struggled with adversity throughout his life. Growing up in the 70s, Richard came to the realisation that he was gay during a time when it was very hostile to be. After coming out to his family, Richard found it very hard to cope with the judgement of the 70s society. Unfortunately, due to such exclusion and discrimination, Richard was driven to suicide, attempting a drug overdose which ultimately saw him end up in a psychiatric hospital. Surviving the attempt, Richard now uses the adversity that drove him to depression as fuel to help others who are struggling through hard times, advocating the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Alongside his work as a priest, Richard is now frequently seen on television. He has previously appeared on programs such as Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You and QI. Richard has also dabbled in presenting, acting as the co-presenter of Saturday Live for Radio 4. Other television credits include Celebrity Masterchef, The Big Painting Challenge and Strictly Come Dancing.

Richard has also forged a popular reputation as an after-dinner speaker. With a unique story of pop star turned priest, Richard provides entertaining tales of his life story. Richard is also able to provide a serious address on the importance of diversity and inclusion, campaigning for equality of members of the LGBT community. A prominent figure of the LGBT community, Richard has overcome adversity, discrimination and exclusion to become the successful man he is today and is passionate to ensure that others do not have to experience what he did. Reverend Richard Coles is the perfect speaker to inspire a diverse workforce, and ensure that inclusion is at the top of your agenda.

Videos:

Reverend Richard Coles is a Church of England Parish Priest. Here he is talking at the 2018 Eff Week, discussing the challenges of moving through different personal cultures

Here Reverend Richard is speaking at St Paul's Cathedral, titled Accidental Saints- Finding God in All the Wrong People:

Watch Reverend Richard in this interview- Can We Have Meaning Without God?:

Testimonials:

"We were delighted with Richard Coles’ presentation, it was amusing, well delivered and appropriate for the day. We also appreciated the efforts he made to network with our guests before his presentation"- AXA

"I have had lots of positive feedback about Reverend Richard Coles from our guests. They commented on how usually speakers have a set 5 minutes about their background, another 10 minutes on their current work and then maybe 5 minutes with a tenuous link to the cause of the night, but with Richard he had clearly put much thought into what he was going to say and he threaded in the link between medicine and religion extremely well" - British Medical Association

"On behalf of the M&G Pride Committee, I would like to express our thanks and appreciation to Reverend Richard Coles...for a fantastic event. We really enjoyed the evening, Richard's talk and the really great conversation with everyone" - M&G Investments

"I just wanted to pass on our hugest thank you to Revered Richard Coles. He was an absolutely fantastic host, and our colleagues loved having him host our awards. Everyone has commented on how warm, funny and friendly he was, and he was happy to spend time chatting to people who were delighted he took the time to listen, ask their names and generally just be lovely. Please do tell him how appreciative we are and what a pleasure it was to have him. Thank you for all your help in making it happen" - Home Group Housing Limited

"May I simply say an enormous thank you for taking the time to come and speak to us at our conference dinner in the Celtic Manor Resort. We certainly appreciated your most amusing speech, which undoubtedly contributed to an outstanding dinner for our members and guests. Your after-dinner speech undoubtedly helped contribute to this" - Independent Schools' Bursars Association

"Reverend Richard Coles, as you would expect, produced an excellent start to our morning session at the conference and it quickly became apparent how popular his BBC radio programme is amongst our delegates. His friendly, matter of fact approach was appreciated by everyone. It was a pleasure to host him and I would appreciate your conveying to him my best wishes" - Rotary International

Speaker Topics

LGBT- Reverend Richard Coles is considered to be somewhat of an idol in the LGBT+ community. As an openly gay priest, Richard has continually faced adversity and discrimination himself which allows him to emote and resonate with other members of the LGBT community. Richard also pushes the importance of acceptance of LGBT individuals, on a mission to see equality for all.
Diversity & Inclusion- Having personally experienced the trauma of discrimination, Richard is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion. Growing up in the 70s, an extremely hostile time to be gay, Richard was frightened to admit the way he felt in fear of exclusion from society. Richard advocates the importance of diversity and inclusion to ensure that nobody else feels the same as he did, making the world a safer and more accepting place for all.
Trust & Ethics- As as a member of the clergy, Richard is frequently sought to cover the topics of trust and ethics. As a priest, Richard is viewed as a figure of trust, often bestowed with confidential information that he is vowed to never tell. Recently, Richard has utilised his expertise of trust to engage 2000 AXA insurance brokers on the importance of trust.
From Pop Star To Parson- As an after-dinner speaker, Richard frequently tells his story of Pop Star to Parson. Telling a real, yet unlikely story, Richard engages audience members with his life story of how he went from being a member of The Communards to being a Church of England Parish Priest. Describing the busy lifestyle that came with being at the top of the pop industry in the 80s to the lifestyle change of his current role as a priest, Richard delivers a humourous and captivating speech.

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To book Richard Coles as the speaker for your corporate event, function or conference, contact The Motivational Speakers Agency using the contact details below:

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