Tributes have been paid to highly-respected Medway cleric Peter Marchand, who travelled the world preaching the word of God.

The Rev Marchand, who was chairman of Churches Together in Medway, was 69.

He was head of religious education at four schools in the the UK, including Chatham Boys Grammar, now Holcombe Grammar School, between 1980 and 1983. He also taught in the Solomon Islands.

As chairman of Churches Together in Medway he was the driving force and organiser of numerous inter-church missions and initiatives, including the Global Days of Prayer and the recent Just One gathering at Priestfield Stadium in Gillingham.

He was also a regular contributor to the Messenger’s weekly church column.

He gained his Masters degree in theology from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and a teaching qualification from Bristol University before entering full-time Christian ministry in 1983.

For 17 years he was the pastor of Beulah Christian Fellowship, an independent Pentecostal church in Gillingham.

He also founded his own charity, Inn Christian Ministries, in 1991 travelling to five continents. The organisation continues to work and support orphans and widows in Uganda and India.

Mr Marchand also served as a missionary in Egypt with wife Gillian between 1983 and 1986.

In 2005 he established a church to cater for overseas students who were arriving with the creation of Universities at Medway. It was called VOICE, Victory Outreach International Church, England. When he handed over the leadership in 2013 it merged with King’s Church, Chatham, to become King’s Church, Gillingham.

The couple settled in Gillingham, have three sons and in May this year welcomed their first granddaughter.

In 2016 he was the chaplain to the mayor of Medway.

He was initially diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, but continued to work until the last few weeks of his life, writing a weekly Facebook post even when confined to bed.

A short burial service will be held at Woodlands Cemetery, Woodlands Road, Gillingham at noon on Wednesday, October 24.

It will be followed by a thanksgiving service at 2pm at King’s Church, New Road Avenue, Chatham.

Donations are invited to the Wisdom Hospice or Prostate Cancer UK via John Weir funeral directors, Gillingham, on 01634 855558.

The Rev Marchand, who was chairman of Churches Together in Medway, was 69.

In tribute, his family said: "Peter was passionate, funny and loving. He leaves an unfillable gap in our family.

"We have been so touched by all the messages and tributes."

He was head of religious education at four schools in the the UK, including Chatham Boys Grammar, now Holcombe Grammar School, between 1980 and 1983. He also taught in the Solomon Islands.

As chairman of Churches Together in Medway he was the driving force and organiser of numerous inter-church missions and initiatives, including the Global Days of Prayer and the recent Just One gathering at Priestfield Stadium in Gillingham.

He was also a regular contributor to the Messenger’s weekly church column.

Paster Stephen Bello, acting chairman of Churches Together in Medway, said: "His passion for the church in Medway was contagious.

"Peter's energy seemed boundless, he always had a heart to reach out to more people and bring them into a place of unit of the 'body of Christ'."

Mr Marchand gained his Masters degree in theology from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and a teaching qualification from Bristol University before entering full-time Christian ministry in 1983.

For 17 years he was the pastor of Beulah Christian Fellowship, an independent Pentecostal church in Gillingham.

He also founded his own charity, Inn Christian Ministries, in 1991 travelling to five continents. The organisation continues to work and support orphans and widows in Uganda and India.

Mr Marchand also served as a missionary in Egypt with wife Gillian between 1983 and 1986.

In 2005 he established a church to cater for overseas students who were arriving with the creation of Universities at Medway. It was called VOICE, Victory Outreach International Church, England. When he handed over the leadership in 2013 it merged with King’s Church, Chatham, to become King’s Church, Gillingham.

The couple settled in Gillingham, have three sons and in May this year welcomed their first granddaughter.

In 2016 he was the chaplain to the mayor of Medway.

He was initially diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2007, but continued to work until the last few weeks of his life, writing a weekly Facebook post even when confined to bed.

A short burial service will be held at Woodlands Cemetery, Woodlands Road, Gillingham at noon on Wednesday, October 24.

It will be followed by a thanksgiving service at 2pm at King’s Church, New Road Avenue, Chatham.

Donations are invited to the Wisdom Hospice or Prostate Cancer UK via John Weir funeral directors, Gillingham, on 01634 855558.