Pastor Peter Hadden of the Christian Centre Ministries Rhema Church at Dean Bridge has died at the age of 59.
Tributes have been paid to Reverend Dr Peter Hadden, the co-founder, with wife Sherrie, of the Christian Centre Ministries Rhema Church at Dean Bridge, which was established in 1982.
Born in Kirkcaldy in 1949, Rev Dr Hadden and his two brothers, H
ugh and Sandy, were brought up by their parents, Hugh and Isabella.
He trained as a bricklayer and ran a series of building businesses until he moved into the ministry.
He met Sherrie at a young age and the couple were married when she was just 16 and he was 18. Their son, Peter, was born in 1971.
In 1976, they emigrated to South Africa, settling in Johannesburg.
Mrs Hadden said: "We emigrated because we were a young family looking for a new life in the land of sunshine, and an opportunity to prosper. We loved it, we never ever thought we would return to Scotland."
However, in 1981, the couple became born-again Christians and studied at the Rhema Bible College in Randburg, South Africa. The following year they decided to return to Scotland to set up their own church.
They poured their own money into the project, and Rev Dr Hadden restored the church at Dean Bridge himself. The couple settled in Colinton in 1987 and stayed there for 14 years.
An enthusiastic long distance runner, Rev Dr Hadden completed the New York Marathon 14 times. He also ran in the 56-mile Comrades Marathon in Africa and the 36-mile Bridge to Bridge Run in San Francisco.
He used his runs to raise money for the charity Feed the Hungry, of which he was UK international director. On one occasion, he had a C120 plane chartered from Edinburgh to Russia, carrying food and medical supplies.
Mrs Hadden described him as "a very determined man, very strong in what he believed and very single minded".
She added: "He had a lot of fight in him, and having faith meant there was an even greater strength there. He fought even until he took his last breath on the sixth of November – he had the attitude that 'I'm not giving up, I'm not quitting'.
"He would stand up for what was right and he could reach out to one person to help them, or to a thousand."
Among the congregation at the Christian Centre Ministries was boxer Alex Arthur, who said: "He was an amazing man, he really was. No challenge was big enough for him. He loved running marathons and was even challenged one time to run a 56-mile marathon in the African heat and he did it. Someone said that he'd done it the easy way from Johannesburg to Durban and the next year was more difficult because it was going the other way round, so he did it again.
"He really was a remarkable man. I looked at him as my spiritual dad. He would be in the dressing room and ringside for all my fights."
Mrs Hadden will continue her late husband's work at the church, which also has a branch in Kirkcaldy.
