Karen Smith

Senior Pastor

Choir girl, disco diva, rock chick, political protester, born-again believer, blushing bride, not-quite-yummy-mummy, church pioneer…in that order, gives some insight into the metamorphosis of a girl who grew up with her four siblings within a single parent family in a small Devon market town.

Similarly, her career path took many twists and turns - sweeping up hair from the swirly 1970s carpet of a local salon, through to working in the more sedate surroundings of the local history collections in an Oxford library. A shoe shop, pottery, care home and the civil service also feature in the time-line, not forgetting the assembling of electrical coils in a factory on Israeli Kibbutz. Despite her many changes of persona, (and jobs) she has always had a strong sense of her own identity, now firmly rooted in her love for Jesus, who she met when she was 21. Since moving to Peterborough in 1988 she has devoted her life to raising two daughters, Emily and Annabel, and alongside Dave, helping to establish and lead KingsGate Community Church.