Lucy Peppiatt: “My parents were laid-back about faith, which helped us feel held, not pushed”

President of Westminster Theological Centre, Lucy Peppiatt, counsels Christian parents to not sweat the small stuff

Lucy Peppiatt is the President of WTC. She holds a PhD in Theology from the University of Otago, New Zealand. She writes and speaks on a wide range of issues in the church, in particular, charismatic theology and women in the Bible. She lives in Bristol with her husband Nick, they have four grown up sons.

Lucy, tell us a bit about your life

Well, I was brought up in Wimbledon until I was 12 with four siblings. At 12, we all moved to America for four years. In America, I was at a huge high school. It was very loose—no real discipline, people smoked outside, and you could cut class without any consequences. It was super fun, but I don’t think I learnt very much! Returning to England aged 16 was hard, including adapting to the school system again. I went to boarding school for two years—having only been in state schools before, so that was a shock. Then I went to Birmingham University, did an English degree, and worked in London with the homeless afterwards.

I ended up marrying a vicar. We lived in Twickenham, then moved to Harare, Zimbabwe, for six years, which we loved. We had two children when we left the UK and two out there. Then we came back to inner-city Sheffield for five years and eventually to Bristol, where we planted a fresh expression of church in 2004 and have been for 21 years. In those years, from Harare to Bristol, I did my second degree in Divinity, a Masters in Systematic Theology, and then a PhD in Bristol.

Had you gone to the US because of a job for one of your parents?

Yes, my dad’s job. He was a lawyer for a City of London firm expanding internationally. They needed someone to start the New York office. My mum was half-American, and my dad loved America, so they agreed to go. I was furious about moving, but we did the same to our own kids later so…

What was it like growing up in that family? What was the culture like?

My parents were both pretty libertarian. Neither really disciplined us. I think they thought we’d just kind of ……