Equipping others for
Christ-centred
thinking, living, and serving
ABOUT PAUL
Paul is a medic, pastor and theologian who equips others for Christ-centred thinking, living and serving
Based in Northern Ireland, Paul is a Christian
author, evangelist, teacher and consultant
offering services in four areas of expertise:​
Paul serves as Executive Director of the Centre for Christianity in Society, which connects Christ with contemporary culture in Ireland and online.
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This is a voluntary role he is able to fulfil because of the support of others.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
PASTOR, COUNTY CORK
both biblically clear and pastorally sensitive, engaging with current trends and helping us to engage with society in a way that is full of truth, grace and hope.
YOUTH WORKER, BELFAST
careful application of Biblical truth to significant cultural issues [...] ability to communicate in warm, winsome manner, which promotes healthy dialogue and understanding.
ELDER, COUNTY ANTRIM
I was particularly pleased that when addressing a live, sensitive and possibly volatile subject he kept the good news of Jesus Christ central.
PAUL'S STORY & EXPERIENCE
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain
Philippians 1 verse 21
Beginnings and faith
Paul was born in 1970s Northern Ireland to Brian and Sylvia Coulter. He first heard the gospel from them and learned the Bible from many others, responding with child-like faith around the age of seven. His faith grew through each stage of life despite, or perhaps because of, challenges and questions. He continues to be captivated and compelled by the ability of the gospel of Jesus Christ to diagnose the problems of his heart and to revolutionise his thinking.
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Challenges and focus
Paul has had some tough experiences in life, including a period of several years of intense suffering with a chonric illness that changed him profoundly, but he testifies to God's faithfulness through them all. He describes being captivated by the beautiful character of Jesus Christ, His revelation of the grace and truth of God, and His death for his sins and resurrection in victory over death. His life verse - which he seeks to follow in everything - is Philippians 1 verse 21: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain".
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Work and experience
Paul has worked in medicine, in cross-cultural pastoral ministry, as a member of a staff team with a large church responsible for youth and equipping ministries, as a lecturer in practical theology, and as a mentor, trainer and manager in a Christian charity (see details below). He has been privileged to speak and provide training in numerous countries, from Sweden to Turkey and Switzerland to India, but his heart is especially for Ireland, Eastern Europe and Malaysia. He has also served churches of various denominations and traditions. These wide-ranging experiences enrich his current ministry as a mentor, trainer, author and speaker.
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Family and recreation
While he was a studying medicine in Belfast, Paul met Gar-Ling, a Chinese Malaysian girl who shared his Christian faith. They married in 2002 and have been partners and friends through every experience since. Gar-Ling and Paul live in Lisburn city, Northern Ireland with their two children. For recreation, Paul enjoys reading popular history and science, watching historical dramas, listening to podcasts, writing poetry, and walking hills and fields.
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Employment history
Centre for Christianity in Society - Executive Director, October 2019 to present [voluntary]
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Speaking, writing and training in cultural engagement, ethics, apologetics, leadership and pastoral care
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​Mentoring, advice and consultancy for churches and organisations in leadership, ethics, theology and pastoral cae
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Developing organisational infrastructure and development plan​​​
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Living Leadership - Head of Ministry Operations, 2019-2025
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Taught and trained in leadership and pastoral care across UK and Ireland and in other countries
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Mentored church and organisational leaders in UK, Ireland and Poland in groups and individually, online and in person
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Developed consultancy surveys and systems for churches
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Developed organisational infrastructure, policies, strategic plan and systems
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Recruited, oversaw and developed ministry and ministry support staff
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Created and oversaw network of almost 40 Associates across UK and Ireland
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Belfast Bible College [now Belfast School of Theology] - Lecturer in Practical Theology and Missiology, 2013-2019
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​Taught undergraduate, evening class and Women's Study Fellowship modules in various subjects including leadership, apologetics, pastoral care, discipleship, evangelism, mission, communication for ministry, Bible books and hermeneutics
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Taught practical theology modules at Master's level and oversaw Masters dissertations
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Oversaw and developed College courses (evening classes, Women's Study Fellowship and Pastoral Care Course)
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Patient and Client Council for Health and Social Care NI - Non-Executive Director, 2009-2013
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Collective governance of organisation and oversight of strategic direction
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Chair of research committee
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Glenabbey Church - Director of Youth and Equipping Ministries, 2007-2009
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Oversaw and developed youth ministries, inclkuding line managing staff and interns
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Oversaw, developed and contributed to training courses
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Led and delivered Christianity Explored courses
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Contributed to preaching
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Belfast Chinese Christian Church - Associate Pastor, 2003-2007
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Collective oversight of Church as part of Pastoral Team with lay elders
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Teaching, pastoral care and leadership in English language congregation
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Overseeing international student ministries, including evangelism and discipleship
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Overseeing and developing youth ministry, including mentoring of youth leaders
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Developing training and discipleship courses
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Leading overseas mission teams
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NHS Hospitals and NI Hospice - medical officer, 2000-2003
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Academic qualifications​​​
​2017 Post-Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching (PGCHET), Queen's University Belfast​
2016 Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Divinity, University of Aberdeen​
2007 Master of Arts (MA) in Theology, with distinction, University of Wales​
2000 Medical degrees (MB, BCh, BAO), with distinction, Queen's University Belfast​
1997 Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Medical Genetics, with first class honours, Queen's University Belfast
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PAUL'S BELIEFS & VALUES
Paul's values
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Faithfulness - to glorify Christ in every opportunity He gives and to be true to the divinely inspired Scriptures.​​
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Love - to serve others sincerely with the love Christ has shown me so I convey grace as well as truth.​
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Unity - to promote unity under Christ's Lordship, in the gospel by the Spirit’s power.
These values are worked out in the ethical principles and commitments in Paul's Code of Conduct in Ministry.
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Paul's core beliefs
Paul holds to the core historic beliefs of the Christian faith derived from Scripture and summarised in statements like the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed and the Statement of Faith of the World Evangelical Alliance. His own summary of these beliefs follows:
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God is three in one, Father, Son, and Spirit, eternally existent creator of all, sovereign over all, and ultimate restorer of all things, glorious in truth and holiness, love and faithfulness.
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Human beings are descended from Adam, created male and female in God’s image and loved by God, but fallen in sin, facing God's wrath and justice, deserving condemnation to death and the punishment of Hell, and hopeless without God's salvation.
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Holy Scripture comprises the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, God’s self-revelation breathed out and recorded by people in words as the Spirit guided them through which God rules and guides God's people, entirely true and trustworthy and authoritative for our beliefs and behaviour.
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Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary, the fulfilment of God's promises to Abraham, fully human and fully God, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sins, rose from the dead in a glorified body, ascended to His Father's side, where He is enthroned as Lord over all, and will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead.
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Salvation is God’s gracious gift to human beings of forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death, inclusion among God's people, the empowerment for a transformed life, and participation in God's glorious future on the sole basis of Christ’s atoning death as our substitute, bearing God's wrath in our place, received through faith alone.
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The Holy Spirit is fully God, sent to regenerate all who trust in Christ and to make a permanent home in their lives, to form them into one people of God, to equip and empower them to do God's work and serve together in for God’s mission in the world, and to produce Christ-like character in them individually and corporately.
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The Church is the body of Christ, one in the Spirit and called to grow towards Christ-like unity in the faith entrusted to all God's people by Christ's apostles who are its foundation, to continue Jesus’ mission of demonstrating and declaring the good news of God’s rule made present in Jesus Christ, and to be the present manifestation of God's new creation.
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The end of this age will come about when Jesus Christ returns in glory, when he will judge the living and the dead, defeat all the remaining enemies of God, bring God's people to live in resurrected bodies like his own in the a renewed heavens and earth, and consign those who have rejected him eternally to the second death.
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Paul also finds the five classic solae of the Reformation a powerful summary of the most important theological principles:
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Solus Christus (Christ alone) - the Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect revelation of God, the only Saviour for sinful human beings and Lord over all.
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Sola gratia (grace alone) - every good thing we possess is a gift of God's grace and salvation from our sins is all by the grace of God, not through our merit, but because of what Christ achieved in His life, death and resurrection
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Sola fide (faith alone) - the grace of God in salvation and sanctification becomes effective in our lives through faith in Him not because of our efforts, but simply by humble dependence upon God.
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Soli Deo gloria (God's glory alone) - all that we say and do should be pleasing to God, motivated by reverence and love for Him, and for His glory alone.
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Sola scriptura (Scripture alone) - the Bible has authority over all other sources of knowledge or understanding iand can make us wise for salvation through Christ and guide us in knowing what it means to live for God's glory alone.
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In summary, these solas say that we are saved by Christ alone, because of grace alone, received through faith alone, for God's glory alone, according to the Scriptures alone.
These principles underpin Paul's approach to ministry: Christ-centred, gospel-shaped and Bible-based.