Richard Underwood is the General Secretary of the FIEC. Richard is the public face of FIEC. He exercises a preaching and visitation ministry and supports pastors and pastorless churches.
Richard took up this post on 1st November 2004, in succession to Bev Savage, who has joined the staff of Arlington Heights Free Church in Chcago, USA. Prior to his appointment as General Secretary, Richard was for 11 years the pastor of Soham Baptist Church where he helped to provide pastoral support to the local community in the wake of the highly-publicised child murders. A native of Suffolk, Richard came to faith in Christ in 1967 and was baptised in 1970. He is married to Pippa, and they have two adult children.
Before his call to the ministry Richard worked in personnel and industrial relations with Eastern Electricity following a graduate traineeship. He studied politics and history at the University of Kent in Canterbury and was president of the Chri
stian Union there.
Richard is one of the authors of the FIEC's training programme Learn2Lead. He has also been a member of the editorial board of Praise! hymnbook and of Grace Magazine, and has been actively involved with Newmarket and District Youth for Christ.
Richard is based in the FIEC's office in Market Harborough.