In Memory of Francis Peter Cotterell (1930-2021)

In Memory of Francis Peter Cotterell (1930-2021)

It is with great sadness that LST announces the death of a former Lecturer and Principal, Dr Peter Cotterell, although we celebrate the fact that there is now much rejoicing in heaven as Peter is united with the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he served so faithfully.

He joined the College in 1976, having been a missionary in Ethiopia for 19 years. He taught missiology, world religions and Islam over many years and was much loved by students, faculty and staff colleagues. Peter brought significant challenges to established Evangelical ways of thinking and invited students to ‘think outside the box’. He believed passionately in good communication and often stated that in order to communicate simply one must understand profoundly.

We asked Dr Cotterell about his time at LST during this interview conducted in 2019.

His scholarship was exemplified in books such as Mission and Meaninglessness (SPCK, 1990), Linguistics and Biblical Interpretation (with Max Turner, IVP 1989), Islam in Context: past, present and future (Baker Academic, 2003); and Muhammad: the man who transformed Arabia (Acorn, 2011). He became Principal in 1990 and under his leadership the College flourished, especially with an increasing number of postgraduate research students. Following retirement in 1995, he returned to Ethiopia for three years to help start the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology becoming its Founding Director in 1997. In his later years he found fulfilment in ministering to local care homes and was much appreciated. He was married to Geraldine and together they had two daughters, Anne and Jae (Janet). We remember this remarkable man with great fondness and invite you to pray for his family and friends at this sad time.

If you have any particular memories of Peter that you would like to share, please send them to joan.cartledge@lst.ac.uk. Thanks so much.

The Revd Professor Mark J. Cartledge
Principal