Hugh Osgood
| Hugh Osgood | |
|---|---|
 Hugh Osgood | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
21 April 1947 London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Spouse | Marion Osgood |
| Children | 3 |
Hugh Osgood is a British church leader, conference speaker, author and modern church historian. He serves as the Moderator of the Free Churches Group[1] and Free Churches President of Churches Together in England, the Co-Chair of the UK Charismatic and Pentecostal Leaders’ Conference and the founding President of Churches in Communities International. He serves on the Councils of Reference of numerous organisations either as Free Churches Moderator or in his own right.
Early life and education
Osgood was born in 1947 into a Salvation Army family in England. Osgood attended The Knoll School for Boys. He studied at the Trinity School of Music in London for a teaching diploma and then at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School and the London School of Dentistry (The Royal Dental Hospital), receiving a Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree in 1970. Subsequently, he received a Master of Divinity degree through the Full Gospel Assembly Bible College' Lahore, Pakistan in 2001 and then received his PhD through The School of African and Oriental Studies at London University in 2006.[2]
Career
In 1970/71, Osgood occupied the role of House Surgeon at St. George's Hospital in Tooting, The Royal Dental Hospital, London and then at The Middlesex Hospital, London. He spent nineteen years in general dental practice (mostly part-time) in Bexleyheath. In summer 1965 he read C.S. Lewis’ ‘Mere Christianity’ and discovered his vocation as an evangelical Christian leader, which he pursued full-time from 1990.[3]
Osgood was accepted to serve as a medical missionary with the African Evangelical Fellowship in 1971 but his intentions were frustrated by Zambia's then President Kaunda's decision at that time to cut aid to medical projects.[4] Osgood joined forces with a small congregation in Forest Hill in London that was linked to the ministry of George North before planting a congregation in Bromley. This house church birthed Bromley North Free Church which he led until 1991. Osgood gave up dentistry incrementally while pastoring the Bromley fellowship.
In 1984-89, Osgood assisted George Verwer's Operation Mobilization International Co-ordinating team in Bromley as honorary team pastor whilst serving on the board of OM's Send The Light publishing and distribution arm. The elders of Bromley Christian Centre Assemblies of God in Great Britain approached Osgood in 1989 and it was decided to combine their church's ministry with that of Bromley North Free Church.
Osgood then planted Cornerstone Christian Centre in 1991 as a resource centre church where he pioneered a TV department in (which was to become Charis Communications), the staff of which, including Howard Conder and Rory and Wendy Alec, went on to establish Revelation TV and GOD TV. Broadcasting began in 1994 on London Cable Network.
Having worked for Billy Graham's Mission '89 from 1988, Osgood established the Council of Reference for Morris Cerullo's Mission to London in 1992. He assumed the role of London Co-ordinator for the Evangelical Alliance for the period 1997-99. His work continued with the Evangelical Alliance by serving on the board of the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance and the Hope for London Steering Group between 2003 and 2008.
From 2011-2014, Osgood served as Vice-Chair and then Mission Consultant for Crossing London. In 1997, he founded the global church network, Churches in Communities International, and went on to initiate the UK Advisory Board for Christian Studies in 2001 with its School of Biblical Studies, School of Biblical Studies for Leaders and master's degree programme.
Personal life
Osgood is married to Marion and they have three children and ten grandchildren.
Bibliography
Journal articles
- 'Pentecostalism: global trends and local adjustments' Journal of European Pentecostal Theological Association, 28:1 (2008) [5]
Book chapters
- 'The Rise of Black Churches' in D. Goodhew (Ed), Church growth in Britain – 1980 to the present, (Farnham: Ashgate, 2012)
- 'A biblical theology for engaging with society' in D.Singleton (Ed), Faith with its sleeves rolled up - a collection of essays on the role of faith in society,(London: Faith Action, 2013)
Books
- Blessing the nations - discovering your part in God's plan, (Croydon: Sophos Books, 2007)
- Fulfilling your ministry - communication, identification and partnership, (Croydon: Sophos Books, 2009)
- The Power of Purity - Maintaining a Christian testimony in a compromising world, (Charis House Books, 2016)[6]
- Understanding God - Disclosing the plan of salvation, (Charis House Books, 2016) [7]
- with Glenn Myers, The Failure File, (London: Scripture Union, 1991) [8]
References
- ↑ Osgood, Hugh. "Free Churches Group names new moderator". Premier. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ↑ Osgood, Hugh. "African neo-pentecostal churches and British Evangelicalism 1985-2005 : balancing principles and practicalities.". https://catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk. University of London. Retrieved 30 November 2016. External link in
|website=(help) - ↑ Kay, William (2007). Apostolic Networks in Britain (1 ed.). Milton Keynes: Paternoster. p. 182.
- ↑ Kay, William (2007). Apostolic Networks in Britain (1 ed.). Milton Keynes: Paternoster. p. 182.
- ↑ Osgood, Hugh (2008). "Pentecostalism: global trends and local adjustments" (PDF). Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association (28).
- ↑ Osgood, Hugh (2016). The Power of Purity (1 ed.). Bromley: Charis House Publishing.
- ↑ Osgood, Hugh (2016). Understanding God (1 ed.). Bromley: Charis House Publishing.
- ↑ Osgood, Hugh; Myers, Glenn (1991). The Failure File. Scripture Union.