Our Senior Pastors
Dave was born in Barking, Essex, in 1963 but spent most of his childhood roaming around the Lee Abbey estate in Devon, where his father, the retired Bishop of Hertford, was chaplain. Later, his family moved to the Home Counties, where he continued his education and eventually gained a place at Oxford to study Modern History.
Karen, meanwhile, also grew up in the West Country, and spent most of her youth sunning herself on Devon’s beaches and riding across Dartmoor on the back of her best friend’s motorbike. Their worlds converged when they met in a baggage queue at Heathrow airport in 1982 and discovered they were travelling to the same Kibbutz in Israel to soak up more sun, sea and sand.
On their return, Dave went to university and Karen moved to London. In 1983, independently yet simultaneously, their journey to faith in Jesus Christ began. As a student, Dave attended St Aldates Church, Oxford, and Karen went to Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), London, where she also participated in one of their first Alpha courses.
Their lives were radically transformed as they sought to put God first in everything. They were married in 1985 and settled in Oxford, while Dave started his postgraduate doctoral thesis on the 18th Century evangelist George Whitefield. They became part of a small and lively house church, which eventually led to them being invited to Peterborough in 1988 to start a church – which is now KingsGate Community Church.
They have two daughters – Emily, who studied History and Art History at Durham and is currently the Communications and Projects Worker at KingsGate, and Annabel who is studying Theology at Cambridge.
 It has been an incredible journey of faith – with some scary moments along the way, fun – mingled with tears, challenge – with great rewards, and lots of hard work! We are so grateful to have an amazing team of men and women around us who help make KingsGate Community Church what it is today.
Dave and Karen Smith, Senior Pastors
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