-
Basecamp 2011
Photo credits:
Basecamp is a weekend training event for those who would like to investigate whether they are called to lead a church plant. Here potential church planters will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with those who have gone before, to be encouraged by their stories and to learn valuable skills. Each delegate will go through an application process before coming on the weekend that will include references from the elders of their church.
The weekend itself, 28-30th October 2011, will provide an opportunity to think more deeply about what lies ahead & to reflect further on whether God is calling you to become a church planter. It will involve teaching on how to determine what God is saying, how to work out where you should go & what needs to be done before you get going.
Church planting is one of the most demanding leadership challenges you will ever face; therefore we want to properly assess and train potential leaders so they are equipped for the task. We have put in place a process to help you find out whether Basecamp is appropriate for you.
Applicants are welcome whether you are already part of a Newfrontiers church or not.
All applications received will be considered for 2011.
Step One
Register your interest with the online form.Step Two
You’ll be sent a full application form, which you’ll then have time to think about, complete & return.Step Three
One of our church plant coaches will then give you a follow-up phone call to chat through your suitability for attending the training weekend.Step Four
Assuming successful completion of the first three steps you’ll be invited to attend Basecamp. As well as training sessions, you’ll also be able to discuss opportunities for church planting face to face with a church plant coach.Basecamp 2011 costs:
£250 - double (married couple)
£140 - singleEvent Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. http://newfrontiersplanting.org/basecamp
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
A New Adventure
Photo credits: Jon Armstrong
I have recently returned from the Together for the Nation conference in Nottingham at which we had some great teaching and worship. I shared some news there which I want to share with you, too.
Around seven or eight years ago, Dave Holden stepped down from leadership of the team that had been ministering in the UK, in order to work more broadly around the world, and I was invited to take his place. It has been a joy and a privilege to serve in this role.
For quite some time now, one of our main focuses in the UK has been the multiplying of apostolic ministry, and this culminated in the time of prayer at the final Together on a Mission conference in Brighton last summer when Terry led us in prayer for various apostolic figures who have emerged in the UK (as well as across the world). As that multiplication has happened, I have begun to wonder whether I am functioning in the best role either for the movement or for myself. After a great deal of thought, prayer and discussion with the other leaders I have therefore decided to step down from the role of leading the team in the UK, although I will continue to meet with the other UK-based apostles. There are a number of reasons why I am confident that this is the right move at this time:
Firstly, we have now moved to a decentralised structure and consequently the type of leadership role that is required is that of a pastor, administrator and conference host: not a role that really fits my gifts.
Secondly, I am by nature an innovator not a conserver. However, more recently I have found myself taking on the role of a conserver, reacting with care rather than excitement towards innovative ideas. This has led me to conclude that I was in danger of ‘playing out of position’, of trying to fulfil a role for which God has not fitted me.
Going forward, we feel that the future of Newfrontiers will be shaped by the calling on the various leaders. In my case there are a few things I feel called to do which I am looking forward to devoting more time, energy and attention to. I don’t know all of what that looks like, but I do know three things:
- I feel called to lead a church in the centre of our capital city that serves the city in many innovative & creative ways, helping many people find faith along the way.
- I want to be involved in encouraging churches and individual believers to consider how best to serve their communities and to think through how they can make their world a place that reflects God’s coming kingdom.
- With the explosion of life in cities around the world we need to do what we can to aid the starting of many new churches to serve those cities, and I’m very keen to play my part in that.
We do not feel that anyone else should take on the overall leadership role at this time, and this will naturally mean that some changes will take place in the way in which we do things. David Devenish did a very good job of clearly outlining those changes after I had shared this at the conference, and he has summarised these below.
Although it means changes in some of the processes, however, I do want to emphasise that this move is entirely consistent with the further working out of the release and recognition of the apostolic spheres, and thus what we do will not change – we will remain a family of churches committed to advancing the Kingdom through restoring the church, making disciples, training leaders, starting churches and reaching the nations.
As for how we carry out our vision, the key things David Devenish shared with us are as follows:
When David told us of his decision to step down from leading the team, we were on the one hand disappointed because we had hoped that David would continue to lead us in what we do together; on the other hand we encouraged David and support his determination to fulfil the particular call God has upon his life.
We have met as a team twice since David shared his news with us last December, and have made a number of decisions about the future of Newfrontiers UK, which are as follows:
1. Going forward, there will be five spheres based in the UK, headed by Jeremy Simpkins, Guy Miller, David Holden, Mike Betts and myself. We also recognise that Ray Lowe has cared for and is continuing to oversee and develop some churches relating to him.
2. From January 2013, each sphere will be responsible for raising their own finances from their churches:
- To support their own apostolic work.
- To contribute to what we agree to continue to do together.
- To bless one another if there are particular needs.
- To be similarly free to support other poorer apostolic spheres around the world.
3. We will also develop our own websites in our spheres as is happening internationally. These will be linked through one main Newfrontiers page.
4. We will continue to help churches find out where they belong in this process.
5. Those of us I mentioned earlier who have been functioning as a team will continue to meet together not only in 2012 to make further decisions but after that as we affirm our commitment to working together.
6. The Fulham office, in which David Stroud’s team has been based, managing the finances, organising conferences and developing media resources, will close by the end of 2012, though some of its staff may be redeployed to serve what we continue to do together.We have not yet made decisions on how the legal charity will continue into the future, what events we will continue to do together and who will be responsible for each, or how we handle other ongoing developments we share together, such as training. We will continue to make decisions on these through 2012.
As a team we still believe in the principle that “we can do more together than we can apart”, and we look forward with a sense of great hope and anticipation to what the Lord has for us in his next phase of our journey together. We remain committed to recognising spiritual fathers with an apostolic call and releasing them into autonomous but interdependent apostolic spheres, thus multiplying apostles and their teams. -
Whose Earth?
Photo credits: Whose Earth?
Some time ago I was asked to write a paper on the environment for the Theology Forum at Newfrontiers. That paper is now available on the What You Think Matters website. It sparked a lot of interest in environmental issues within our movement and gave me a number of opportunities to speak about climate change and also climate justice.
Subsequently, Tearfund expressed an interest in working with us on this subject and David Devenish hosted a seminar at the Together on a Mission conference in 2011 at which Helen Heather of Tearfund joined me as we explained the significant and drastic impacts of climate change on the developing world in particular. This is an important issue for Christians and very much part of the Everything Conference focus within Newfrontiers.
Climate change is on the agenda again because in June there is a major United Nations worldwide conference taking place in Rio de Janeiro. This conference marks twenty years since the first ‘Earth Summit’ took place in Rio. This was a watershed in bringing environmental issues to the centre of the political debate throughout the world. Since that time Christians have been actively involved in conservation issues, climate change policies, lifestyle changes and campaigning on behalf of the ever increasing numbers of victims of climate change in the developing world.
Tearfund are marking the forthcoming conference in Rio with a national tour to equip and encourage Christians in engaging with this issue. They have asked Newfrontiers to be partners with them (along with A Rocha). We have gladly agreed to do that and I’m privileged to be one of the speakers on this tour in mid-June. I would encourage you to engage with the issues and to consider attending one of these meetings if you live near one of the venues listed below. Also have a look at the Tearfund website to find out why this is such an important issue for us.
In every generation there are key social and political questions that face the church and we are foolish to ignore them. Climate change and climate justice is one such issue for our generation and it would be great for Newfrontiers to play a part along with many other Christian groups in bringing positive change in this important area.
For more details of when and where I will be speaking, visit the Tearfund website or download the flyer below.Copies of the flyer to advertise the event in your church are available from .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) at Tearfund, and there is a video online that you can show in your church to promote the event.
-
Live On The BBC!
Photo credits: Songs Of Praise Logo From BBC Website
On Pentecost Sunday in 2009 Kingsgate Church in Peterborough (the home for the last few years of our regular Prayer & Fasting events) was featured live on BBC1. A million or so viewers tuned in to watch, but most fascinatingly the service was mentioned the following week by Chris Moyles on BBC Radio 1’s Breakfast Show.
This year, the BBC are again broadcasting a live service on Pentecost Sunday (27 May) but this time from the Newfrontiers church in Brighton - Church of Christ the King.
The programme will be just under an hour long and will feature Simon Brading (worship leader at newday) and other CCK musicians with Joel Virgo (Senior Pastor at CCK) speaking.
Final timings are still to be confirmed but it seems the show will be on BBC One at 10am, followed by the Monaco Grand Prix!
Songs of Praise Recordings
The BBC will also be recording two Songs of Praise episodes with Church of Christ the King which will be recorded on the Sunday afternoon (3pm till 6pm) and Monday evening (7pm till 10pm) of the same weekend.
These programmes will both feature CCK worship leaders & musicians including Stuart Townend and Lou Fellingham & Phatfish. The programmes will most likely be broadcast later in 2012 and 2013.
You can apply to the BBC directly for tickets, more information about this is on their website. -
Movement
-638x479.jpg)
Photo credits:
Movement is an annual men's event to inspire and train godly men for influence and leadership in their homes, churches and wider culture.
Movement was first held in May 2011 at Fontwell Racecourse in Sussex. You can watch/listen to talks from that event here.
In 2012 Movement is back, this time at the Clarendon Centre, home of Church of Christ the King’s New England site in Brighton. The 2012 event will feature PJ Smyth (Lead Pastor of Godfirst Church Johannesburg), Joel Virgo (Lead Pastor of Church of Christ the King Brighton) and worship led by Simon Brading.
The event will start at 10.30am (for registration) on Friday 13th July and conclude at 5pm on Saturday 14th July.
Bookings are now being taken for this event here.You can also visit the Movement Website.
Event Booking & Contact Information
Location: 47 New England Street Brighton, East Sussex BN1 4GQ
Booking Link. http://www.movementevent.com/welcome -
FP at Bishops Stortford?
Photo credits: The Youth Cafe Venue
In April 2010 Julian Adams came to speak at a Conference we as a Church were hosting. As part of the conference the staff had a morning with Julian so that he could pray and prophesy over us. When Julian prayed over me and my wife he said these words:
I believe the Lord is going to give you a strategy and insight in terms of gathering many young people in this town and there’s going to be a sense of hundreds of young people coming together where you will be able to teach and pray not just nice words, not just nice sermons, but something of the very power of God is going to break out and capture hearts of people. It will be like a Joel army…it’s time to dream big and see if there will be outside investors, financially for this. I even feel like there’s something of an anointing for a building, I see a house or a place where young people will come, it’s going to be really cool and funky and I see people coming in and receiving something of the very purposes of God. You will have much influence in this town and beyond.
These words hit my wife and me like a freight train and tugged on our heart strings. What made it even more extraordinary was that in 2007 Julian had prophesied an almost identical word over the then youth leader. Clearly God wanted to do something in our town that would gather hundreds of young people in a new style of ministry.
Our journey since then has been a remarkable one and the opportunity that now stands before us is one that we could have only dreamed about this time last year.
We have now been offered a building right in the middle of the high street in our town centre in Bishops Stortford by the local council at just 10% of the commercial rent. This means a saving of over £18,000 a year. Our vision is to launch a youth café for those aged 11-17; a venue that creates a safe environment where young people can ‘just be themselves’ and that aids the building of relationships with each other and a place where we as a church and youth workers of the town can connect with these young people. A place that is raw and real, that is funky and cool and a place where we can have a real impact in this town.
So why am I telling you this? Well for two reasons.
Firstly to give glory to God - He spoke, we responded and now today we are just a few weeks away from signing a lease on a property that could change the makeup of our town. We have seen tremendous favour throughout the process: through being offered reduced rent and business rates; through funding (we currently have £40,000 ready to invest in the project); and through people willing to serve and offer their time.
Secondly to ask you to join us - This year at Bishops Stortford Community Church we are looking for two full time FP students to come and help us launch this project.
We are a Church of several hundred in a town of about 40,000 people. We’re passionate about reaching out into the community and meeting the needs of the town and that is why we are looking to launch a £100K project right in the middle of the High Street.
You will have the opportunity to come and work alongside our Youth Team and learn what it means to be on the frontline, receive first class leadership and theology training and have the opportunity to serve on an oversees mission trip. We’re looking for committed, hardworking people who have a passion for evangelism and young people.
For more information please email me directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or visit our website http://www.thecommunitychurch.org.uk—————————
This is just one of many exciting opportunities for young people who want to give a year to the local church to serve and receive great training. If you’re interested in doing an FP year in Bishops Stortford or anywhere else around the country, check out our Facebook page for opportunities advertised there. And if you’re running an FP programme at your church, please mention it and how people can get more information in the comments below or on Facebook.
Opportunities listed so far include:
Honiton, Devon
Lowestoft Community Church
Solent Community Church, Portsmouth
Junction 13 Eastleigh, Hants
Kings, Darlington -
Heroes of the Faith: Amy Carmichael
Photo credits: Untitled By Jennifer
“You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.”
– Amy Carmichael
Amy Wilson Carmichael was a Protestant Christian missionary born on 16 December 1867 in the small village of Millisle, Northern Island. She opened an orphanage, founded a mission and served in Dohnavur, India for a total of 55 years. She was also a prolific writer and composer, producing thirty-five books and hundreds of hymns and poems.
Amy was an unlikely candidate for missionary work as she suffered from neuralgia, a disease that would often put her in bed for weeks at a time. However at the Keswick Convention of 1887 she heard Hudson Taylor speak about missionary life and soon became convinced that her calling was to missionary work.
She applied to the China Inland Mission (CIM) while living in London at a training house for women, where she met an author and missionary to China, Mary Guinness, who encouraged her to pursue missionary work. However in 1892 the CIM decided that her health made her unfit for work, so she joined the Church Missionary Society and travelled to Japan to start her missionary work in 1894.
Amy’s work on the north coast of Japan was fruitful but she could not grasp the language and had to resign herself to forever using an interpreter. After only a year her health began to fail as Japan’s climate took its toll and she was forced to travel to China so that the CIM doctors could care for her. After her recovery she headed to India and it is there that she realised her life’s work: taking in refugees and caring for, feeding and educating them.
In March 1901 she helped Preena, her first ‘Temple child’ (young girls who are initially taught to sing and dance for the temple gods but are later forced into prostitution to raise money to the temple priests). Her first meeting with Preena, who escaped from a Hindu temple, is recorded in Frank Houghton’s book Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur (1953):“Come up here with me,” said Amy in Tamil, lifting the girl onto her lap.
“Why, your tiny hands are scarred!”
“From burns,” said the convert. “She was punished after an earlier escape.”
“What a brave little soul you have, Preena.” Amy hugged and kissed her. The girl melted.
“How desperately Preena wants that affection from her own mother,” said the convert. “But the first time Preena escaped from the temple and ran back to her mother - her ‘Amma’ - she was delivered right back to her pursuers.”
To care for those who she rescued she founded an orphanage that would later turn into the ‘Dohnavur Fellowship’, an organisation that became a place of sanctuary for more than a thousand children and still continues to this day, now led by those who have been brought up in the community. It now provides a home and family to children in moral and/or physical danger who have no one to care for them.
In an effort to respect Indian culture, members of the organization wore Indian dress and the children were given Indian names. Amy herself dressed in Indian clothes, dyed her skin with coffee, and often travelled long distances on India’s hot, dusty roads to save just one child from suffering. In addition she and her co-workers, primarily converted Indian women, voluntarily forsook marriage for the sake of their work.
As she continued her work in India, the guardians of a five-year-old girl, Kohila, brought charges against Amy accusing her of kidnapping when she refused to return the child to certain abuse. She faced a seven-year sentence but in February 1914 she received a telegram saying, “Criminal case dismissed” with no explanation ever provided.
From 1931 until her death on 18 January 1951 Amy was bedridden for much of her time after being badly injured in a fall. During this time she wrote seven of her books and she often had small birds from her aviary released in her room, which was a habit that annoyed her nurses who would have to clean up the mess they would leave.
She died in India at the age of 83, having never returned to Ireland, and asked that no stone be put over her grave; instead the children she cared for placed a bird bath over it, inscribed with the word “Amma”, which means mother in Tamil.
Amy Carmichael was an inspiration in her time and her life’s story, books, poems and songs still speak of the love of the Lord that she spoke of when she wrote Mountain Breezes.For love—for love my Lord was crucified;
With cords of love He bound me to His side
Pour through me now; I yield myself to Thee,
O Love that led my Lord to Calvary.
- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes -
Together at North Price Break
Book in for North 2012 before the price break on 30th April 2012!
I’d like to invite you to join us this summer for North 2012 and what promises to be a great weekend of being friends together, encountering God, hearing gifted apostolic teaching and receiving God’s empowering presence for all He is calling us to.
We are really looking forward to North 2012 (23rd -27th August) which this year hosts’ speakers including David Devenish, Dave Holden, Adrian Holloway and Jeremy Simpkins. Excitement is growing as we consider what God may do amongst us this year, as we gather in North Yorkshire for this increasingly significant event in the North of the UK. David Devenish will expand our vision for the nations and Dave Holden will bring a fatherly word to us in this time of transition within Newfrontiers. Adrian Holloway will be preaching the gospel and training us in praying for the sick whilst Jeremy Simpkins will be leading us in encountering God and stirring us to go for all that God has called us to. Adrian will also be the main speaker in the Amplify (youth) venue.
Let me encourage you – don’t miss it! Get booked in before the 30th April to ensure you get the Early Bird prices and save up to £30. Book online today!
Graham Pyman
Newfrontiers North UK Team -
Just Start Something
Photo credits: Manchester Cathedral By Pimlico Badger
Manchester is a fascinating place to live and like many towns and cities around the world it is made up of lots of villages pushed tightly together to form an urban sprawl with a vast array of different cultures and identities. It amazing to look out over the city from one of the surrounding hills, and realize that God has called us to make a difference to the lives of the millions who live in this great city.
My conviction is that the United Kingdom needs armies of entrepreneurs who are willing to go to some of the most challenging places and make a difference.
Often these churches take time to grow and therefore we need to define pace and success appropriately to the context. For many young people these kingdom and church planting initiatives can be a great opportunity to be on the front line. Helping develop leadership faith and perseverance before their life circumstances make it to difficult for them.
At Christ Church Manchester we have started praying for at least one new “site” or church plant to start every year. This year we started a brand new site at a coffee bar in Withington (CCM:CitySouth) with a young couple who have time, energy and enthusiasm. We are believing God for salvation, growth and that a community of missionaries would emerge and be established.
We want to help create a culture in our nation that allows young entrepreneurs the freedom and opportunity to just start something. Over the next year we are working towards setting up a network of church planting training centers with the aim of supporting catalytic church planters who gather and train a new army of creative kingdom entrepreneurs.
For more information on what Colin Baron is doing please go to his leadership blog -
Review of Newfrontiers North UK “Norway Day”
Photo credits:
Spennende Nyheter! Jesus is building his church in Norway!
There’s something about learning the intricacies of a nation’s culture in the context of church planting that is simultaneously daunting and energizing. At least that is how I felt as I listened to John Ifeanyi lift the lid on the peculiar challenges that he, his wife and family and a growing community of believers face in carving out a new church in post-Christian Scandinavia.
On 17 March 2012, York City Church along with Jeremy Simpkins hosted a day of listening and engaging with John, quizzing him about Norway’s culture and praying for New Life church in Lillestrom, which lies just outside Norway’s capital, Oslo.
The mission: plant a church that goes on to reproduce itself by planting other churches throughout Norway, Scandinavia and Northern Europe.
The challenge: Norway is cynical about established church, fiercely independent and resistant to the gospel.
The promise: “Go and make disciples…I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Daunting. Energizing. Exciting.
The first step, John told us, is to establish a church community in Lillestrom, to work out on the ground what it looks like to build a church in Norway and then to go for the big boy, Norway’s capital, Oslo and from there into the nation and the nations. This isn’t popcorn church planting (snap, crackle, pop and there’s your church); this is long-term, deeply ingrained and culture transforming work.
I so appreciated hearing stories of John’s fearless commitment to talking to people about Jesus, his tenacity in the face of challenges and his commitment to build churches – you know that feeling you get when you listen to someone and it’s just obvious that God’s grace is on them for this thing, and you catch yourself thinking, “This is happening!” despite the pressures and the challenges?
Jubilee Church in Hull, Hope Church in Harrogate and York City Church are partnering together with John and New Life Church in Lillestrom.
To find out more or to get involved, please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Visit: www.newlifeoslo.com -
Rendezvous Bible Week
Photo credits: KJV Bible By David Campbell
We are pleased to announce the relaunch of Rendezvous (RDV) this year from 21-27 July. This is a French Bible Week held in southern France and run by Newfrontiers. If you have a heart for France and want to come and encourage our French Churches then this is an event for you.
Speakers include Terry Virgo, Dave Holden, Julian Adams, Phil Moore, Joel Trefcon, Gordon Neal and Paul Hayter. There will be a variety seminars and plenty of time to have fun (and eat French style). We are trusting God for an amazing time in His presence and that this week will launch a new phase in the future of all that we are doing in this great nation.
For booking details and more information about the conference go to www.rdv2012.com. (NB: Site is in French. There is an option to change the language to English when you click ‘inscriptions)
Event Booking & Contact Information
Location: 500 Chemin du Moulin GAGNIÈRES Gard 30160 France
Booking Link. http://www.rdv2012.com -
Into The Highways And Byways
Photo credits: A Community Group flying kites with young families.
“Don’t look behind you; someone’s being sick in a bowl!” I was sitting in an inflatable chair at a Friday night café for under-18s when the leader of the group issued this warning. A teenage girl had come into the café knowing it was a safe place where she could be sick before going back outside with her friends.
The café is run by one of the Community Groups at King’s Church Hastings. Following a pilot scheme towards the end of 2010, the church closed down all of its small groups and moved to a Community Group model whereby different groups reach out to particular sections of the local community.
From raucous coffee mornings for those who have retired to over 100 visitors at one group’s Pancake Day event for families, literally hundreds of people who would have never set foot in our building for a Sunday morning service have visited Community Groups or been visited by them in the last 18 months.
Lead elder Paul Mann explains, “The vision is to reach out to as many people as we can with the love of God, in as many diverse ways as we can, using all the passions, interests, talents and gifting that God has given us. We know that not everyone is going to come to us on a Sunday without getting to know us first, so we’re going out to them, where they are, to serve and bless in whatever ways possible.”
Nine Community Groups are currently up-and-running: some reach out to particular geographical areas; others serve specific groups of people, such as teenagers hanging around in the town centre late at night, residents from other countries, families or those who find themselves in crisis.
Scores of church members have rallied to specific visions, empowered to take God’s kingdom out into the community and make a difference. Sunday mornings, too, are going from strength-to-strength, as we not only go out to the community, but also invite them in.
——-
To learn more about Community Groups at Kings Church Hastings, contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), the Community Group Project Leader. -
Everyone, Everywhere in Everything
Photo credits: Os Guinness by Jon Armstrong
Speaking at the Everything Conference last weekend, Os Guinness (yes, a descendant of that Guinness family) told the assembled crowd not to sit around waiting for a 'special calling', or to think that those who are employed full time by churches or missions organisations are more involved in God's work than those in so-called 'secular' employment. "Jesus," he explained, "never had part-time disciples. It's everyone, everywhere in everything."
Little did Dr Guinness know, but that weekend was a great example of Newfrontiers members putting that call into practice.
Not only was the Everything Conference taking place, encouraging Christians to work for the good of society, through their work, social or community involvement, but three other events were also taking place which embodied the message in their own ways.
On Friday, the Jubilee+ team held an event for those interested or involved in Social Enterprise. Entitled Doing Business, Doing Good, the afternoon conference sought to envision and equip those who desired to put their business skills to work in the field of social enterprise - businesses which are set up with the specific goal of creating a ‘double bottom line’ - making a financial profit and benefitting the community. Many social enterprises employ former prisoners, or others who are working to leave behind destructive life-patterns and take their place back in the world of work. Others seek to raise funds for projects which help the needy in other countries. All of them are concerned with giving something back to society at the same time as being viable and sustainable businesses.
The conference heard inspiring talks from a number of speakers, including Martin Charlesworth and Lord Nat Wei, and the audio from two of the messages can be heard on the Jubilee+ website.
On the Saturday evening, newday held two separate ‘On the Road’ events. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the newday delegates are some of the most prolific users of social media throughout the year. From barely a few hours after the summer event, they are on twitter and Facebook telling us what an amazing time they had, how much they miss it, and how they can’t wait for the next year to roll around. By November, when you’d have expected the excitement to have tailed off, they’re still raving, and many are talking about what God did in their lives all those months ago. How encouraging it is to hear that the event isn’t just a time of fun, sports and hanging out with friends, but is a time when they meet with God and carry the lessons they learn from Him back to their homes, schools and friendships throughout the year.
Now they don’t have to wait so long to meet with Him again. newday is holding a series of ‘On the Road’ events in different towns around the country, to bring the young people back together and nurture the seeds that are growing in their lives. All the events so far have been a huge success, and what is most encouraging is that the young people bring friends with them, many of whom hear the gospel and begin their own walk with the Lord as a result. As Adrian Holloway commented after 33 people made first-time commitments at the event he spoke at last Saturday, “It’s not that people are rejecting the message, but simply that they are not hearing it. When they are brought to events and hear the message, they accept it and believe.”
They wouldn’t come if the young people were not living out their faith in authentic attitudes and actions throughout the year. We should be proud of our young people, and the parents, church leaders and youth leaders who work so hard to model Christian living to them, and to keep them active in the church when so many young people are leaving Britain’s churches.
Are you called to full-time Christian work? Absolutely. We all are. Whether you’re a 12-year-old ‘working out your faith’ in a challenging and often-hostile school environment, a businessperson seeking to use the gifts God has given you to benefit society, a parent building relationships at the school gate and in your local corner shop, or a scientist closing in on the latest medical breakthrough, God wants to use the skills and gifts He has given you for His purposes and His glory.
If you need inspiration and ideas, check out the Everything website, where we are gradually posting videos of all the talks and other elements of the day; or the Jubilee+ website to hear talks from Friday’s event and sign up for the conference in October; or the newday site to find out where ‘On the Road’ is going next – and maybe get inspired to host one in your town. If you’re on twitter, follow Everything, Jubilee+ and newday to keep the inspiration coming all year round.
Whoever you are and whatever you do, keep up the great work of being salt and light to those around you. -
Connect Magazine Spring 2012
Photo credits:
All the articles from the latest edition of Connect Magazine are now available online via the links below.
Waves of Influence editorial by David Stroud
The Way, the Truth and the Life - Church planting in Paris by Gordon Neal
International Support by David Holden
Seeking God’s Presence by Mike Betts
‘We are Yours’ Album Review by Sam Cox
Launching a Rescue - the need for Mobilise by Matt Hogg
Reaching the Unreached by David Devenish
Time to go Global. David and Jude May speak about leading a short-term team to Turkey
Plant Urban by Colin Baron
Growing Big by Steve Tibbert
Building Churches that Change Communities. A review of the Jubilee+ year by Peter Lyndon
Committed to Cross-Bracing by Jeremy Simpkins
Take your Place, What You Think Matters by Ruth Preston
Westpoint and Beyond by Guy Miller
Recovering the ‘Can Do’ Spirit. An Interview with Os Guinness by Jennie Pollock -
Committed to Cross-Bracing
Photo credits: Structured Star By Jimmy Changa
In 1999, Jeremy and Ann Simpkins moved from the South Coast, where Jeremy had been an Elder at Kings Church Eastbourne, to the North East of England where Jeremy began to lead Jubilee Church Teesside.
So began the story of what has developed into one of the new Newfrontiers apostolic spheres.
Not long after their move, Jeremy started to serve other local churches in the growing North East region. In 2004 these eight churches decided to have a weekend away together called “North”, where 450 people camped and raised £4,000 towards mission.
Since then, more and more churches across the North of the UK have begun looking to Jeremy for apostolic leadership, giving birth to the North region of Newfrontiers UK. This currently comprises churches in the north of England, the Midlands, North Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada and Norway. In the summer of 2011 around 2,500 people attended the annual camp for a fantastic time of enjoying God, receiving apostolic teaching and being caught up in world mission. Over £132,000 was given in a tremendous offering to support apostolic extension, church planting and reaching nations.
Jeremy has always been very keen to work in team and regularly meets with others involved in trans-local ministry in the North. He has also formed a Core Team to work alongside him in giving shape to and leading the work across the North. This team currently consists of: Tony Smith (Gateway Church, Leeds); Roger Bye (King’s Church, Cockermouth); Steve Hurd (Huddersfield Church Plant); Matt Hatch (Mosaic Church, Leeds); Graham Pyman (Jubilee Church, Derby) and Graham Anns (Christ Central, Manchester).
At a meeting in 2011, the team discussed what values shaped their ministry in the North – what it was particularly that God was highlighting as important. Out of this discussion came the North Distinctives which were presented at the North camp that summer.
Increasingly the team are stirred about reaching nations and church planting across the globe. This is illustrated by the work in Canada. Only three years ago they were serving just one church in Canada – now there are four churches working together and another four church plants. Although there are others working into this nation, the team feels led to take responsibility for Canada and to see new churches established right across this great country. Opportunities are opening up in other countries too and God is enlarging the vision to see many more nations impacted.
In this time of transition within Newfrontiers, Jeremy has been speaking a great deal about “cross-bracing”. He explains why:
“At a recent time of prayer with our North Team, God spoke to us about ‘cross-bracing’. This is a technical term used for structures which help to support horizontal and vertical beams in a building. God was encouraging us to support one another in this way, both in our team and in our sphere of churches. He reminded us that no one person has all the gifts or all the answers to the challenges we face. We need one another, and there is strength to working in team that you don’t get from working alone.
Whilst this applied immediately to us as a team, it also has wider applications. In this time of transition within Newfrontiers as new apostolic leaders are recognised, we also have an opportunity to cross-brace across the different apostolic spheres”.
This commitment to cross-bracing is demonstrated by Jeremy’s openness to having other UK-based Newfrontiers apostles working into churches in the North, and his invitation to David Devenish and Dave Holden to be the main speakers at North 2012 (book online now).
Currently, the North Team are working with nearly 80 churches and church plants in various countries around the world and are excited to see what God may do next!
To contact the North team or to find out more, please email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Take Your Place
Photo credits: Bible By Mark Lehigh
I was sitting near the back of a 5,000-seat auditorium at the 2009 Leadership Conference in Brighton, listening to Mark Driscoll.
He exhorted us to continue to pursue and build a spirit-filled, biblically-submitted church. He spoke of how often church movements fail or go astray in their second and third generation. As part of the second generation in Newfrontiers, this cut me to the heart. I left that place, heart racing with adrenaline, realising that I could not sit back and simply inherit a Word and Spirit community without being as courageous for God as members of my parents’ generation. The tasks God has for us may be different, but He intends us to be just as passionate about our battles as our forerunners were about theirs.
Since that time I have carried this in my heart: That I, and my brothers and sisters, would ‘take our place’ in God’s church and purposes in this age. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us” (Romans 12:6), and God wants us to use our gifts and interests with His enabling. What an incredibly freeing and motivating thought!
One thing God has initiated within me is a desire for his Word. In the early days of my faith, I was very affected by the Indian evangelist Ram Babu, who encouraged us to read ten chapters of the Bible a day. I excitedly set about following his instructions, and quickly became reasonably well-versed in Scripture. This led me to start thinking about certain theological themes, such as predestination, faith vs. science and the relationship between grace and works.
Later, during University, I was confronted with many conflicting world-views. In such a clamour, if Christians are not able to defend their faith, they are made to feel foolish and have their views rejected out-of-hand. I found apologists Michael Ramsden and Ravi Zacharias extremely helpful at this time. They thought about their faith in a way that enabled them to answer contemporary objections. But it was more than this; as I listened to their expositions of the Bible, and their thoughts on theology, philosophy and anthropology, I became aware that they had a deep love for Christ. It also became evident that academic study was, for them, a form of worship. I soon found myself engaging in my studies in a similar way, praising God with my mind and my ideas.
I am increasingly persuaded that thinking about faith is not only what God wants me to do, but also what he wants the church at large to become practised in. Society is increasingly hostile to God and ‘organised religion’, and as such we will need more and more people who are able to answer the objections of our generation.
I am delighted that Newfrontiers has such a commitment to the importance of thinking about our faith, and have found the theology blog, What You Think Matters, to be a great resource. It provides short, accessible, comprehensive and some- times humorous articles on all aspects of theology, apologetics and general ‘Christian thought’, as well as longer papers exploring key themes in greater depth and detail.
As we take our place in the battle, it is vital that we arm ourselves with the sword of the Spirit and get all the training we can in how to use it. Let us keep thinking about our faith, and engaging critically with current and historical reflection on it.
This year we have published two papers: “Why we might not be as Reformed as we think we are”, a paper by Matthew Hosier discussing Covenant Theology, and “What do we do in the Face of Suffering?”, by Mike Frisby.
Both can be found, along with all our past papers on issues ranging from Personhood to Politics and Atonement to the Authority of Scripture, on the theology blog.
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Together at Plumpton 2012
Photo credits: Plumpton Racecourse By Ronnie Macdonald
Join us for 'Six Sunny Days In Sussex' which will take place at Plumpton Racecourse between 6 and 10 June 2012. David Devenish is our main speaker and Julian Adams will be with us also. There will be worship, teaching, seminars, sport, recreaction, fellowship and fun. All for the bargain price of £45 per adult, £15 for students and youth. Children in Year 6 and under go FREE!
David Devenish is based at Woodside Church, Bedford, UK and has relationships with many churches in Russia and Ukraine, and is encouraging church planting in unreached parts of the world. He has written several books including Demolishing Strongholds and What on Earth is the Church For? and developed several training courses. He is married to Scilla and they have grown-up children.
Julian Adams is originally from Bay Community Church, Cape Town, South Africa, where he was an elder. He moved to the UK in response to God’s leading. Julian has an amazing prophetic gift and has travelled widely serving the Newfrontiers churches in the UK.
We are looking forward to a time of apostolic and prophetic ministry to challenge us to move into all that God has for us in this new season in growing the church.
Booking forms can be downloaded from the Christ Church Hailsham website and sent to
Malcolm Richards,
Unit 1,
Wentworth House,5a,
George Street,Hailsham,
East Sussex.BN27 1AD
Tel: 01323 844428
Cheques payable to KCC Heathfield. -
Plant Urban
Photo credits:
In 2007 I returned to Manchester having spent two years in America. At that point Christ Church Manchester consisted of 15 people with big dreams, lots of energy and few resources.
We prayed hard about reaching the deprived parts of our city, believing God to see churches planted across Manchester in the wide variety of areas, ethnic groups, social classes and communities that make up this great city.
There is a great need for members of city churches to make deep commitments to live and work in the inner-city areas where the church is based. Reaching out and building into these urban communities is one of the major challenges facing the church in our generation.
We feel a strong conviction to meet this challenge head on.
We now meet on Sunday mornings in a very deprived area on the east of Manchester, and are seeing people from the local area find us and find Jesus. Recently we rented a shop in Gorton which will offer training, job preparation, mentoring and other community activities.
We also wanted to reach into the centre of Manchester. Manchester is a youthful city with a strong entrepreneurial spirit as well as growing arts, music, literature and social media scenes. To reach this crowd we started an evening meeting two years ago with eight people in a vodka bar. We now have 60 people most weeks and a growing community.
In addition to my commitment to the church and our city, I spend a portion of my time travelling to Newfrontiers churches around the UK and Internationally equipping church planters, coaching leaders and developing teams in established churches.
For further information, please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Seeking God’s Presence
Photo credits:
My wife, Sue, and I live in Lowestoft, where I am on the eldership team of Lowestoft Community Church. My work with Newfrontiers in the UK is predominantly among churches in the East of England from Peterborough down into Kent. It has been great to build relationships and serve a number of new churches in this area who have recently connected with us. In 2012 we are looking to undertake a tour focusing on ‘the Presence of God’ that will serve our main clusters of churches in the UK, as well as internationally.
In Europe we are looking at potential church plants in France (Lille), Belgium & Luxembourg. Foundations for church plants in two key capital cities in Scandinavia - Stockholm & Helsinki - are being laid, with a UK vision day for people interested in these cities taking place in the first half of 2012. This is not forgetting our support of other plants in Riga (Latvia) & Gdansk (Poland) and ongoing support to churches such as Good News Church, in Nis (Serbia).
Wider afield, we are looking at opportunities in North West Asia and we continue to work and connect with three churches in Alberta, Canada as well as helping and serving other spheres such as our dear friend Edward Buria in Kenya.
Until now the above has been facilitated by a relatively small team and in the new year we are looking to expand the team to multiply ministry and take advantage of the opportunities God has laid before us. It’s exciting looking ahead at what we are doing together.For more information about my team or any of these opportunities, please contact us.
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Extending the Kingdom
Photo credits: Dave and Liz Holden
In the UK
My wife, Liz, and I attend New Community Church in SE London, and I work with several churches scattered around the nation. This is based on both history and relationship, and the support I receive from these churches often proves invaluable to the wider international sphere that seems to be ever increasing.London
From January 2012 I have been asked to head up the Newfrontiers work in London. Steve Tibbert has done an outstanding job here over many years and I count it a privilege to continue where he left off. We have many excellent churches and highly gifted leaders in London. I trust we will be able to work together apostolically, planting numerous new churches as well as raising up growing and healthy ones.
Into Europe
At present I am working with a number of people into churches across France, Holland, Germany and Romania with fresh contacts into new nations such as Italy. This will result in ‘families of churches’ in each of these nations being served by teams relating to me. It’s a big task and apostolic men are beginning to emerge.
Across spheres, I am called to work alongside already existing spheres and so I work into other nations across the globe. Specifically I am helping Steve Oliver in Dubai, PJ Smyth and co. in South Africa and Scott Marques in Zimbabwe. I shall be visiting them all in 2012.
I hope to be of help to some of the apostolic spheres also in the UK and have begun to sit in on some of their team meetings.
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Newfrontiers in India
Recently I had the pleasure of Inder Pawar coming to visit me. Inder is at the core of what is going on among Newfrontiers churches in India being lead elder of Grace Church, Nassik, heading up the training initiatives for Newfrontiers in India, chair of the Management Team of the FMC in Bangalore and also serving the local churches on behalf of Guy Miller.
I took the opportunity of interviewing him. I think you will enjoy the update.
The map shows some of the places he refers to.
Inder also mentions the Karuna Ministry to leprosy sufferers in Mumbai and the HIV/AIDS Ministry in Mumbai. The links will give you more detail.
Please pray for India at this very exciting time.
——-
This article has been copied from Nigel’s blog which can be found here. -
Growing Big
Photo credits: You Must Be This Tall By Marshall-Wythe School of Law
It has been our privilege to see considerable growth at King’s Church, London over the last fifteen years – God has been good!
Along with a developing staff team we have moved to become a multi-site church and continue to deal with the joys and challenges of serving the communities around our three sites for the sake of Jesus Christ. I count it an amazing privilege to lead such a church and to serve the vision for the Kingdom with a team who are giving their time and incredible energy in a setting that demands more and more from us.
However, my vision has always extended beyond the area of influence of our own church and, partly as a result of the growth with which God has blessed us, I am now involved in coaching other lead elders on how to provide optimal conditions for growth in their own churches. I find myself in various settings answering questions about all we are learning at King’s and sharing from our experience.
At the same time I continue to pro- vide coaching for 30 – 40 leaders of larger churches within our movement, playing a part in providing leadership to our growing network of churches in a context of increasing scale and complexity. I also oversee many of the larger Newfrontiers churches and apostolic bases across this nation.
I am excited about all I am seeing God do among us and I believe it is my call to continue to see King’s Church grow and break into new territory so that many can follow in our slipstream.
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Going Platinum
Photo credits: Platinum Eagle '99 reverse By Eric Golub
“‘If you think forgiveness is hard, let me tell you, that’s going to be elementary by the time I’m done with this message!”
American pastor, writer and broadcaster Dr. David Anderson has spent a lifetime building bridges across the divides of race, gender, economic status and more. Author of several books, including the award-winning Gracism, the resource manual Multicultural Ministry Handbook and, most recently, I Forgrace You, he’s now working on a project to discover the universal principles of bridge-building around the world. His ideas are simple and easy to reproduce in a variety of situations, but far from easy to carry out.
They require what he calls ‘forgraceness’.
Jennie Pollock met up with him in London to find out more.
You say in Gracism that you became convinced at a very early age that God had called you to a ministry of reconciliation. How did that come about?
I grew up in a Christian home. My dad was a pastor, but there comes a time when you have to find your own faith as opposed to just riding on your dad’s ‘Amens’ and your mom’s ‘Hallelujahs’. When I surrendered my life to the Lord at age 18, I pretty much knew what he wanted me to do with the rest of my life. I received my conversion and calling at the same time. I wanted to reach as many people for Christ as possible, and that meant not just through the traditional black church that I had grown up in, but my ministry would be broader than that.
I ended up going to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and then was an inner city pastor for a couple of years, and an intern at Willow Creek Community Church. That gave me great experience of being in a large, white church and a small, poor, inner city church. Having one of those two years overlapping was the best education ever.
I started Bridgeway Community Church when I was twenty-five years old, twenty years ago. Now it is a church of about 3000 with over 42 different nationalities, and they’re doing life together. That enriches one’s life to such a degree that it’s just absolutely beautiful. But it takes ‘gracism’ as I call it to be able to create and sustain an environment like that.
What do you mean by gracism?
Gracism is: positively extending favour and kindness to people, regardless of their colour, class or culture, or sometimes because of it. Grace is extending what someone doesn’t deserve, and oftentimes we don’t extend grace when it comes to race relations or when it comes to economic justice; we don’t extend grace, we extend fairness and justice. If you get a job, you work hard and you earn money then I respect you, but what if you don’t work hard? What if you’re lazy? What if you’re irresponsible or immoral or whatever? If I give you what you deserve then, I’m not going to be giving you grace that’s for sure. And what if God treated us that way?
How do you answer the charge that ‘extending favour…because of colour, class or culture’ is just another kind of discrimination? Isn’t the goal to be blind to those distinctions?
There is a difference between favour and favouritism. If you look at the book of James, when it talks about ‘the wealthy popular person comes into the church and you bring them all the way to the front and have them sit at the front’, that’s favouritism. Gracism and favour is not based on bringing those who already have to the front, it’s taking those who don’t have and including them in the greater circle of honour that they would never get on their own.
God is the biggest gracist of us all. None of us deserve to be at the table, we don’t deserve to be at the front, we don’t deserve to be at the head and not the tail, we don’t deserve any of that and yet God just ushers us right there, not because of anything we’ve done just because of His merit. If we keep focusing on God’s grace to us then we extend that to other people and we don’t hold them accountable in the same way based on their actions.
All too often, what happens is we receive grace and mercy from God and we don’t extend it to other people; we demand fairness, we demand justice, we demand rightful exchange. I think that nauseates God because what we receive from Him we’re supposed to pass on to others.
Jesus gives the example of a king who forgives a man a huge debt. He’s merciful to him and lets the guy go. Then the man finds someone in the street who owes him a fraction of what he has just been forgiven, and he starts choking the guy because he didn’t have it. Somebody witnesses this and goes back and tells the king, so the guy that was forgiven is dragged before the king, and the king says “I’d forgiven you, I’d been merciful to you, how are you not merciful to him?” It’s in Matthew 18:33, and here’s exactly what the verse says: “Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”
I talk about the ‘Just As principle’ as opposed to ‘justice’. I think that is really powerful because now I’m relating to you not the way you relate to me, but the way God relates to me. I call it the Platinum Rule, and that is what I wrote about in the book I Forgrace You: Doing Good to Those who Hurt You.
The Platinum Rule?
There’s the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. All the major religions have something like that, but Jesus actually kicks it up from gold to platinum.
I didn’t know platinum was so much better than gold until I started buying jewellery for my wife. She’d say, ‘Could you get me platinum?’ and I’d think, ‘That’s just like silver, sure!’ Then I find out, no it’s not. In music, you used to get gold awards and now you get platinum. Platinum is higher than gold, so Jesus gave us this golden rule, but then said, ‘even pagans do that’. Anyone can do unto those who will pay you back, do good to those who do good to you. Jesus’ whole point was ‘love your enemies’. Now that’s platinum. ‘Do good to those who persecute you’, that’s platinum. ‘Give and don’t expect repayment’, that’s platinum.
Going platinum means I am no longer going to do for you what you would do for me, it’s no longer a fair exchange. It’s ‘even though you do wrong to me, I will do good to you’. Forgiveness is golden, but ‘forgraceness’ is platinum.
Forgiveness says ‘I release you from what you did to me. It really, really hurt, but now I forgive you, and we’re good.’ Now that is a good call and it’s golden, but forgracing goes another step and says ‘I’m going to be kind to you even though it hurts. I’m going to be kind to you even though you hurt me. I’m going to figure out a way where I can not only release you, but also be nice to you.’ That’s forgracing.
That’s not a message you hear very often, even in churches, is it?
No, it’s hard enough for people to grasp forgiveness, so I say, “if you think forgiveness is hard, let me tell you, that’s going to be elementary by the time I’m done with this message! You’re going to be saying ‘Just let me forgive, just let me forgive!’ By the time this message is over you’re going to be crying out for forgiveness because forgraceness requires the power of God to actually be kind to those who have hurt you, and realise that God has called you to the platinum rule.”
He’s always calling us to something higher and it’s not easy. But when you have a forgracist mentality and a gracist methodology, I think this is what is going to bring solutions to the great problems of our world. It takes the power of God to do it. To be able to grasp these kind of truths takes us out of ourselves, takes us out of our own need for justice and revenge and fairness, into something that’s so much deeper and so much more God-empowered because there is no way we could do it on our own.
A lot of your work is with secular organisations, too, isn’t it? If this kind of forgraceness can only be achieved by the power of God, how does that play out in an organisation that doesn’t acknowledge or know how to access that power?
It depends who I’m talking to. If I’m consulting a multi million dollar corporation, these principles have to be packaged in a different way, and I have to understand the limitation of these same principles in those contexts. God’s principles work pretty much anywhere, though. It may not have the exact same power but the practises work.
What we try to tell people is, if you do diversity the old way, you’re going to be frustrated in a couple of years. It happens all around the world, and it just makes people more angry. At first they’re buzzed by it and they try some things and before you know it they’re in the same place they were in one, two, three or five years ago. It never fails; I’ve watched it over twenty years. I say “If you take the fresh approach and you grasp hold of the principles you can actually do some damage in this company for good. You can keep your minorities, you can keep your women, and you can make lots of money doing it, but you’ve got to latch on to the principles not the practises.” So I teach godly principles without chapter and verse and it works.
That’s called the BridgeLeader Network, isn’t it?
Yes, that’s right. I only deal with the leadership of companies; I don’t deal with the employees. I tell them “You guys are the top level leaders, you’re the brains of the company. I’m going to train you, and what I want you to do is train the trainers, the guys that are under you, your senior vice presidents. You train them the way I’m training you and then you put on them the need to train the people who report to them.” I tell them to think of it as brain training, because the brain can then connect all the other body parts, because we all have one body.
The brain is broken into two hemispheres, right? So you’ve got the corpus-callosum, which bridges the divide between the hemispheres, and you’ve got nerve endings that communicate from the left brain to right brain. So while one side of the brain is communicating verbally, the other one is communicating non-verbally and you need the bridges between the two halves to help interpret for each other. Once you get the bridges working, then what you say and what you portray are going to match. The problem in our companies is that often what we say and what we portray don’t match; we say we’re unified, and yet we’re not portraying unity. How can we make a match? You need bridge-builders, right? So that’s what the nerve endings are, they’re communicating back and forth and when you get the brain working right then the body parts work right, and now you’re not disabled and dysfunctional, now you’re working together.
What am I doing? I’m teaching them 1 Corinthians 12 ‘We are one body, many parts’; I’m teaching them Jesus’ process of discipleship, ‘call those that you trust, commit the message to them and they commit it to others’. It’s nothing but discipleship. It’s amazing how God’s Word works, regardless of the language you put it in.
How many companies and organisations have you worked though this programme with?
Scores of organisations and companies, in several cities, several states, a few countries. And I couldn’t even count how many churches. I’d have to go back in our files and count how many engagements and appointments and consulting gigs we’ve had since we started the BridgeLeader Network in 2001.
At the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington in February 2012*, we’re going to do something that’s never been done before: we’ve never had a leadership seminar on bridging the racial divide, and we’ve been asked to facilitate one for the first time ever. Congressman and Ambassador Tony Hall read my book I Forgrace You, and was blown away by it. So we proposed the idea to him and Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, who is a long standing leader in the area of racial reconciliation in our country, for a seminar called ‘Breaking Down Walls: God’s Call to Unity for our Nation’ to be held after the Prayer Breakfast.
The National Prayer Breakfast is a major deal in the States. They fly in Presidents and leaders from around the world, and it is their 60th one this February. For the first time ever they are going to address diversity in our nation, and I have the privilege of facilitating that discussion. This book is breaking ground, and people are asking ‘Why haven’t we done it in our nation? Why haven’t we had this discussion in the United States of America at that level?’ We’re going to have some of the most influential people - not just in America but in the world - in that room; it’s going to be about 75 people and we’re bringing in former Prime Ministers and Presidents, and we’re going to sit around the table, and Dr. Williams-Skinner and I are going to facilitate a conversation on these issues of forgiveness and unity.
I have great expectations for it, prayerful expectations, that God would do an amazing work.
It may sound like a tall order, but with his track record, his passion, and his powerful, engaging personality, he’s certainly well-placed for the job. If you’re looking for someone to broker peace at both a local and an international level, David Anderson just might be your man.
You can see the full range of David’s books and publications on his website and they are available for purchase online or through major retailers.
* NOTE: This interview was conducted in late 2011. The National Prayer Breakfast has now taken place. -
Reaching the Unreached
Photo credits: Globes and Maps By Caruba
Over the last ten years or so, my ministry has primarily involved serving in other parts of the world.
Previously I had been involved in church planting and serving churches in the Midlands regions of the UK, but at the end of the year 2000, I felt that God was calling me on to serve churches in the Russian speaking world and the Muslim world and was released to serve internationally. Part of the vision for the Midlands was that churches would be planted which would also be involved in world mission.
Since 2000 I have worked in a number of regions of the world, particularly having in mind the apostle Paul’s calling to “preach the gospel where Christ was not known” i.e. to reach unreached people groups. Within the sphere I lead, a number of regions and teams have developed to serve churches and enable those churches to reach the unreached. In this I have worked very closely with Martyn Dunsford from Kings Community Church, Southampton who also has a real passion to see the gospel go to the unreached regions of the world. We have formed teams which have supported us in this mission.
We are now working with seven potential apostolic teams in the Russian speaking world, supporting around 140 churches and church plants. These include churches in Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia. Some of those teams are now actively planting churches among unreached people groups in their regions.
I have also been leading a team which serves into Muslim majority countries ranging from North Africa through the Middle East and Central Asia to Pakistan. God has been with us in this and we have seen a number of churches planted and growing.
Martyn Dunsford has been leading a team that is serving churches within the Balkans region, in Albania, Serbia, Croatia and Bulgaria with plans to plant churches elsewhere in the Balkans.
We recently agreed as a team of apostles that it would be good for me to again build relationships with many of the churches in the Midlands, in order to serve them with apostolic fathering and involve those churches in the apostolic mission to which we are called.
During this past autumn term, I have also been inviting a number of churches who are not connected elsewhere to join with my team. A number of the churches in the regions I used to work in have joined with me again, where they had not already got connections with other apostolic spheres. I have also renewed relationships with churches in the Peak District, Manchester and Newcastle, as well as Kings Community Church, Southampton which Martyn leads.
Among the purposes of apostolic ministry is to provide a fathering relationship to churches and to involve those churches in our wider mission. This is what the team have been seeking to rebuild during these last few months and will continue to do in 2012. I am very excited about the possibilities.
We will be seeking to gather leaders and churches together in different contexts during the course of this next year. The churches that I am working with south of London will be gathering for “Together at Plumpton” in June. This was an initiative already taken by the Sussex churches with whom I will be working and I look forward to being part of this “Together” event. We are also planning to have a “Together” event in May 2013 where we will be seeking to gather the churches from the entire sphere for which we as a team are responsible.
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Westpoint and Beyond
Photo credits: Malcolm Kayes, Guy Miller, Andrew Lawrence and John Groves (Left to Right)
With my apostolic team, I serve a sphere of 70 churches across the South and West of the UK, India and the Iberian Peninsula.
My wife Heather and I were called to move our family to Bournemouth from Winchester Family Church in 1999 when I took on leadership of Citygate. Outside my family, Citygate is my first love. An amazing grace-filled community of diverse age, background and cultures.
The Team
I have a great team of three who form the hub of the sphere, working into the various regions and nations: Malcolm Kayes, who has been leading The Coign Church, Woking since 1991; Andrew Lawrence, who alongside his involvement in the sphere, serves as a key part of the eldership team at Citygate; and John Groves, previously the lead elder of Winchester Family Church, who has been involved with Newfrontiers for over 20 years.
The Sphere UK
The sphere’s UK scene is active with a rapidly growing “Together At” event and a number of church plants planned and in process. Currently there are 27 established churches in the region which span from Newquay in Cornwall to Hook in North East Hampshire. In addition, there are ten active church plants, three that started meeting in 2011, and a further three which are due to begin meeting in the coming year. I am ambitious to see churches of thousands in our major cities and planting new churches right across the region and nation. The churches from across the region, along with those in the Iberian Peninsula, gather together each August for a weekend of camping to meet with God and hear apostolic teaching. Together at Westpoint is in its third year and continues to see God’s hand of bless- ing. 2012 will see our largest gathering so far with an expected attendance of 2250 from over 37 churches. Speakers include Vinu Paul from India and PJ Smyth from South Africa. The event is open to all and not to be missed.
Iberian Peninsula
Spain and Portugal are strongly Catholic countries in which you can travel for miles across counties without finding an evangelical church, let alone a charismatic one. Into this setting we are currently working with six churches across the Iberian Peninsula. Four of these are established churches, two in Portugal, the others in Spain and Gibraltar. There are also two church plants in the area: Porto which has already seen its first salvation and baptism, and Madrid where a team is currently gathering. 2011 saw the first Iberian Peninsula gathering, attended by 200 people from Madrid, Valencia, the South of Spain, Algarve, Porto and Penefiel and churches in the North of Portugal. It was an exceptional time, beyond anything I had imagined. We heard supernatural stories of God’s great unfolding purposes in these nations, and were moved to tears at the faithfulness and courage of previous generations (and now new foot soldiers from the UK). We look forward in faith to seeing God’s hand moving in a new way.
India
India is totally amazing, truly a jewel in the Newfrontiers crown. The nation is thriving and buzzing with energy and life as well as economic prosperity. In the last few years we have seen massive steps in church planting (nine churches) including a church in the capital city Delhi led by Samir. This has recently had over 150 gathering. Training younger leaders is of massive importance and in the last year 201 have been trained in seven programmes across the nation. Many churches have projects to help the poor. At last year’s TOAM India conference Ram Babu talked of tens of thousands gathering for the gospel with many saved. It feels like a page has turned in India and we are in a ‘Joseph-like’ seven years of plenty.
For any more information about this sphere, please email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Waves of Influence
Photo credits: Waves Crashing On Lumaha'i Beach By The Shifted Librarian
The most effective moves of God never end after a single generation. The Wesleyan Revival in eighteenth century Britain is a great example of this: John and Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and others dug the foundations and formed the identity of the movement, but it was the generation that came after them that saw exponential growth in people finding faith. The third generation – including the likes of Lord Shaftesbury and William Wilberforce – then worked to bring about lasting change through social and political action.
Like waves on a beach, these generations overlap and intermingle, the one taking its place while the other is still in evidence. Newfrontiers is currently in a similar context. The first wave is on the shore and the second is rising up behind it. The first generation laid firm foundations and gathered over 230 churches. In the second, we are already beginning to see significant numerical growth, with five churches now seeing around 1000 attendees each Sunday, and other churches holding multiple services, often on different sites, as numbers grow.
On top of this, many people are seeking to contribute to overcoming issues of poverty, family breakdown and social justice. As a team of apostles, we are also moving into the second generation, with each of us bringing our own passions and gifts, but committed to working together to serve and support the churches and individuals in our movement. As we have talked and prayed together at various times over the last year, we have found that our passions align more closely than we had imagined, and five important themes have emerged.
First, we are committed to a broad understanding of the mission of God. The story of the Bible, when read from start to finish, is that God intends to renew all of creation, and He invites us to be partners in His great plan. This means that our mission is not simply to help people find faith, but also to live fully alive in every area of life in which God has placed us – our homes, our workplaces, our leisure activities and our communities.
Second, we want to build churches that are shaped by their desire to express this whole mission of God to the community they are part of. This mission should shape every part of church life. Amongst other things, this will involve thinking carefully about our language so that we speak in a way that is understandable and compelling to those outside the church, while not compromising the orthodoxy of our message.
Third, we want our churches to be places which are equally affirming for both genders. We believe that men and women are equal but different, and we want to ensure that we put as much emphasis on the former as we do the latter.
Fourth, we want to play our role as mainstream evangelicals. We honour the whole body of Christ, not just our own part of it. This does not mean that we get involved with every project that is proposed (though on occasion we may choose to engage simply for the relational benefit it provides), but it does mean that we continue to honour and pray for God’s blessing on others who follow Him.
Finally, we are committed to building churches which move in the power of the Spirit, but do so in a way that is very natural and accessible. With these five core principles in place, we will honour the generation which has gone before us, and build on the foundations they laid, as we continue to serve our nation for Christ’s sake. Over the next few weeks we will be featuring articles across this site from each of the apostolic leaders in the UK and the different ministry areas we are working in. These articles first appeared in the Newfrontiers Connect magazine in Spring 2012. As you read them, you will see how God has drawn together different individuals with complementary passions and gifts who can, I believe, lead many to make a great impact in this nation and around the world.
——-
Reproduced from Connect Magazine, Spring 2012. -
Going Multi-site
Photo credits: One church, three sites
King's Church London currently holds five services in three locations. I am often asked what are some of the lessons we have learned through the process of having one church on multiple sites.
I recently posted the following paper on my blog, and hope you will find it a helpful tool.Before outlining some of the lessons we are learning at King’s about our transition to being a multi site church, it is probably helpful to place our journey in context. Following a period of growth that has lasted for over a decade, two major building projects on our Catford site and the establishment of three Sunday meetings (two in the morning and one in the evening), our morning meetings became full again. We considered starting a third meeting on a Sunday morning on the Catford site and concluded the logistics would be very challenging. Such a step would not have been ideal on many counts.
So the impetus to become a multi-site church was initially driven by a lack of space to contain the growth we were seeing - not primarily as a strategy to stimulate further growth. Ideally, as with the move to multiple meetings, multisite initiatives should rise from the need to manage current growth rather than as a means to start growth from a static position.
It was interesting to see that six months after launching two sites, our overall attendance was up 30%, but further, to note that 50% of our new people still came to our Catford 11.30 meeting first - confirming that particular meeting as our current major growth point. At the same time the other two sites also showed encouraging growth signs as they were established. If King’s Church has growth momentum, then becoming a multi-site church has increased the rate of that growth. By launching two new locations 15 minutes’ drive from our existing site, we have opened up a sphere of operation to reach thousands more people.
It would also be helpful to read alongside this the Move to Multiple Meetings paper as many of the principles included in the move to becoming a multi-site church are similar. For example, we aimed to have 140/180 people on the ground in both our Lee and Downham sites at launch just as we had when we began our second and third meetings at Catford.
To see our three sites, take a look at this short video clip from our website.
Why multi-site – why not a church plant?This is a good question and one which needs a good answer! During my sabbatical I had the privilege of shadowing Nicky Gumbel of Holy Trinity Brompton for the day. He took me round his nine meetings on three sites (soon to become four sites) all within cycling distance of each other in West London. Known around the world as the birthplace of the Alpha course; this is an impressive church. It was fun to cycle between the sites in Nicky’s wake and to discuss at length with him the reasoning around going multi-site. While totally committed to church planting, Nicky Gumbel has concluded, as I have, that particularly in urban centres, where appropriate property is so rare and so expensive, the multi-site concept provides a large church with the opportunity to continue to grow, and therefore to build a resource base for its wider vision for reaching the nation and those nations beyond our borders.
Quote from Good to Grow by Steve Tibbert with Val Taylor – published in July 2011 by Authentic Media.
What is the ideal location for a multi-site?
All our reading and research, plus the advice of others with experience in this area, tells us that the ideal location for a further site is 15 minutes’ drive away from the sending church. The new site should have about 140 people attending and ideally living in the area - on the ground as it were - who will carry your DNA into the new site. This gives a core of people to work with, who can provide the care and support for all the new people coming in.
The key issues to consider were:
- distance from the sending/’mother’ church
- critical mass (around 140 people)
- a group of people who know your ways in Christ.
Multi-site: what is the most important decision you will make?
The most important decision is - who is going to be the site leader/ campus pastor. This person needs to own the whole Vision, Values and Philosophy of Ministry of the one church and should be a good team player. This should not be someone who is looking for space to carve out their own thing, i.e. a church planter - or even a frustrated preacher!
What are the critical components that make a new Sunday meeting in a different location work?
As you are encouraging existing attenders/members to relocate from your existing facility to another one, the greatest appeal for them is a location which is close to their home address. This should not be underestimated in urban centres, where travel time is major factor of life. However, the four key components that require attention are:
- Worship
- Preaching
- Kids’ and youth work
- Welcome!
If any of the above do not compare positively to the experience within the sending church context, people will quickly revert back to attending the sending site.
Lastly, don’t forget the appearance of the venue itself. It’s a very important factor - we spent over £200,000 getting both new sites refurbished.
Multi-site: a word about preaching - live or DVD/ live streaming?
At Kings we decided at this first stage to do all the preaching ‘live’ on a Sunday – yes, that’s five times on one day! We stagger the start times for the five meetings so the preacher is able to travel by car between the sites. These cars are driven by trusted helpers so that parking time is not an issue! We are now in the process of installing cameras, recording and projection equipment and our view is that we will move to a combination of live and video preaching when we move to a fourth site or a multiple meeting on our Lee or Downham sites, whichever comes first!
We operate with a preaching team of 4 people, who speak at 42 of the Sundays in a year; on the other 10 Sundays the site-leaders preach. We believe a preaching team provides a more balanced and sustainable teaching experience.
Multi-site: team development
One of the areas we underestimated in the move to multi-site was the impact on our full-time staff and how they operated. As a large church we had transitioned to a place where most of our staff members were specialists. Moving to being a multi-site church has required us to redefine every single role on the pastoral team, and each site is now run by a team who have to operate once more as generalists – at least in the site context. This is a massive change for all involved. It has also meant we have had to review our weekly leadership meeting structure and clarify our lines of authority.
Multi-site: We Are Kings Church…
We are one church, with 3 sites and 5 meetings.
We have one name
We have one vision
We have one set of doctrines and values
We have one eldership
We have one staff team
We have one budget
We have one legal identity
We have one philosophy of ministry
We have one website
Multi-site: where to go for practical help and advice!
On our multi-site journey Jim Tomberlin from Scottsdale, Arizona has been extremely helpful. He is a recognised expert in this area having seen Willow Creek Community Church successfully through its own multi-site strategy. Look at this link – there’s even a free e-book!
FAST FACTS ABOUT MULTISITE – from Jim Tomberlin
• Multi-site churches outnumber megachurches.
• Two-thirds of multi-site churches are denominational.
• Multi-sites reach more people and mobilize more volunteers.
• One in three multi-sites added a campus through a merger.
• One in four multi-sites has a campus in another language.
• One in five multi-sites birthed a “grandchild” campus.
• One in 10 has an Internet campus.
• In-person teaching is utilized more than video.
• Average size of a church going multisite: 850.
• Eighty-five percent of multi-site churches have three or fewer geographic locations.
• Average attendance of a multi-site church: 1,300.
• Multi-site campuses have a 90 percent success rate
———————-
The full version of this paper, including reflections from the leaders of each of our sites, can be found on my blog. -
Trusting God in Turbulent Times
Photo credits: Coast Guard 47' Motor Lifeboat in Morro Bay, CA 04 Dec 2007 By Mike Baird
A glance at the news this week reminds us of the power of the ocean. On the one hand, a sixteen-year-old girl has become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the earth single-handed. On the other, a cruise liner lies wrecked off the Tuscan coast. As I write, the death toll stands at sixteen, with more still unaccounted for.
To some the sea is a challenge to overcome. To others, a dangerous enemy.
Other news stories describe various storms and shakings; terrorist attacks in Nigeria, and the IMF’s warning that the world’s economy is ‘deep into the danger zone.’ In the face of such challenges, Christians must draw strength and comfort from their faith in God. The Psalmist writes, ‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging’ (Psalm 46:1-3). As the Psalm continues, the writer contrasts the violent sea with a stream that makes glad the City of God (v4).
Even in the midst of storms, God provides comfort.
Many people in our society have no belief in a personal deity who offers peace or intervenes in history. When they find themselves shaken by the storms of life, we must be able to offer them a glimpse of the peace that can only come from hope in the Christian God.
On one occasion, the disciples were on a boat in a storm, terrified for their lives. They woke Jesus, who uttered two words, “be still” and the sea turned calm. It’s this kind of God that the world needs to know right now; a caring, powerful God who immersed himself into our experience, faced the storms head on, and in an instant calmed them. As we introduce people to the storm-stilling Jesus they ought to wonder, as the disciples did, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him!” (Mk 4:41)
The message of Christianity, however, is not simply comfort now, but hope for the future. In Scripture the sea is a symbol of evil, chaos, or hostile powers1, so when John writes ‘I saw “a new heaven and a new earth” […] and there was no longer any sea’ (Rev 21:1) he anticipates a day when all elements that currently stand against God’s purposes will be banished forever. With language echoing Psalm 46, John describes a river of life that makes glad the City of God (Rev 22:1-3). In this New Creation, world economies will no longer collapse, for in it will be the wealth of nations (Is 60:11). There will be no suffering, sickness or death; God will wipe away every tear (Rev 21:4).
The Christian hope is not that God will evacuate us from Earth to a disembodied existence elsewhere; a dramatic rescue from a sinking ship. Rather, God will renew Creation, undoing the brokenness once and for all. The storms of life are like birth pains, anticipating the day when God will make everything new (Rom 8:18-25). Until then, we are to proclaim the gospel message of hope. We should seek to alleviate suffering, care for the poor, and give people a taste of what life will be like in God’s New Creation.
Whatever storms you may be facing, take comfort from the promise of hope, and seek to extend His peace to those around you. The same God who said ‘be still’ to a raging sea, encourages us likewise; ‘be still and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10).
————-
This article originally appeared here in Friday Night Theology.
————-Footnotes
1 Job 26:7–13; Isa. 17:12,13; 51:9–10; 27:1; 57:20; Jer. 46:7–12; Rev. 17:8 -
North 2012 - an invitation from Jeremy Simpkins
I want to invite you to join us from 23-27 August this year for North 2012!
This year, we have invited our good friends David Devenish, Dave Holden and Adrian Holloway to be our main speakers. Having David and Dave with us demonstrates our commitment to working together with other Newfrontiers UK based apostles. We are confident that David Devenish will raise our sights to the nations and God’s heart for unreached people groups. Dave Holden will bring a fatherly word to us, particularly as he is playing such a key role in this time of transition which Newfrontiers is undergoing currently.
Adrian Holloway is the main speaker in our Amplify venue (for 12 – 18 year olds) and many of that age group would be familiar with him from newday. However, we have also given over the Saturday evening meeting to Adrian, asking him to give a clear Gospel presentation and to lead us in praying for the sick in a faith-filled, God-honouring way. We are excited as to what God may do among us as this is the first time we have given a main session such an evangelistic focus!
Once again, Matt Weedall and band will be leading us in worship. These times of corporate worship at North have been marked by great celebration, incredible intimacy and a wonderful sense of the presence of God.
Please do try to make North 2012 a priority this summer. Join us for what promises to be a great weekend encountering God, hearing gifted apostolic teaching and receiving God’s empowering presence for all He is calling us to together.
Book online today!
See you there! -
Together at North 2012
Photo credits:
We are delighted to be returning to Coul Beck Farm in North Yorkshire this summer for our gathering, North 2012.
We’ve never seen “North” as just a conference - but as a great gathering of our family of Churches - to give God glory and to celebrate all that He is doing amongst us! This year will be no exception as we once again seek to cultivate an atmosphere for Him to meet us with His wonderful presence.
Main speakers this year will be David Devenish, Dave Holden, Adrian Holloway and Jeremy Simpkins. As well as great celebration meetings for adults, children and young people have an excellent programme, with Adrian Holloway being the main speaker in the Amplify (youth) venue. This year, children and young people can be booked in completely free of charge!
Good camping facilities are provided, although there are various hotels and bed & breakfasts in the area if you prefer that.
For further details, or to book online, please visit www.northevent.org
If you’re not convinced yet, read your personal invitation from Jeremy Simpkins, then sign up! -
Jubilee+ Autumn Conference 2012
Photo credits:
The second Jubilee+ conference has been announced and we're excited for all that it represents in bringing a strong social and community focus to all our churches.
Join us as we look at what it means to be a people passionate about the communities in which we live, being a blessing and reaching out to those in need.
With a varied programme, it’s certainly not just a conference for the social action enthusiast… we would love many church leaders and those who feel a call to get involved to know this is for you too!
There is a lot on offer - worship, teaching, prophetic input, hands-on seminars, prayer for impartation, networking time, practical information and more!
Venue
Saturday 6 October 2012
King’s House, Bedford (Map)For more details, including costs and seminar information, visit theJubilee+ website.
Event Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. http://guestli.st/89094
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Beer and Comedy - Everything 2012
Photo credits:
Who ever would have thought of caring for the poor by brewing beer?
Arthur Guinness would. The water in Dublin in the eighteenth century was so unhealthy that the poor were drinking gin as a cheap alternative. Disturbed by the ill-health and poverty this caused, Guinness used his knowledge and business-skills to brew up something that was more drinkable than the water, more healthy than gin and hugely profitable.
Meanwhile, other members of the family were sending people out across the world, planting churches and winning the lost in many other nations. What a great family! And what a great summary of the heart of the Everything conference.We are thrilled to be welcoming Dr Os Guinness, a direct descendent of this family, as our keynote speaker in 2012. Os will be giving us some practical ways in which believers can connect with and influence their world, and through interviews and short videos we will hear the fascinating stories of others putting this into action, including:
- Award-winning comedian Paul Kerensa, a script-writer of the hit comedy show Miranda, explaining how a Christian can bring something of God into a secular comedy-writing team;
- Three businessman-brothers telling us about the really innovative way they are fighting the sex-trade;
- Finding out why a small group of people have committed to live in an inner-city community for a number of decades and how they are seeking to bring about change within that community;
And much more!I will also be speaking, and we will complete the package with Spirit-filled worship, prayer and ministry. It’s shaping up to be an amazing day.
Whatever you are passionate about, Everything 2012 has inspiration, ideas and tools you can put into practice in your world – you don’t want to miss it. Advance tickets are on sale now for just £20 (tickets on the door will cost £25), so click here to book, then spread the word.
-
Review: Good To Grow
Photo credits: Cover Image: Good to Grow by Authentic Media
This time five years ago, I moved to Catford in south-east London to spend six months on an internship with Steve Tibbert, the leader of King’s Church. I’m so grateful to Steve for investing in me (getting next to nothing in return) as this was a key moment in my life. I grew up considerably as a result of being outside of my comfort zone for the first time in years, and I learnt a lot about church and leadership – some of which I had instinctively thought before but couldn’t articulate because of my inexperience. I continue to lead and think in ways that were shaped by this time, and expect that I always will.
Many of the stories I heard and saw, and the leadership values I watched Steve live by, are now contained in a book, Good To Grow, which describes the fifteen years in which he has led King’s from a dispirited group of 200 to a church that well over a thousand attend every week, and had 2,700 at its carol services this Christmas. It is a remarkable story of a remarkable leader’s co-operation with God.
The complexity of church leadership is highlighted by the large number of issues Steve addresses as the story goes on: everything from the leader’s relationship with God and his family, to building and rebuilding teams, to financing multi-million pound property deals. It is both daunting and exciting: I really enjoyed reading the story to see what God would do next, and wondering how I would have coped with it!
Co-writer Val Taylor has managed to retain Steve’s personal style: honest, self-deprecating but confident, passionate about God and His purposes. The book is easy to read but is full of big challenges, and hard questions. Steve’s conviction that church growth is hindered primarily by wrong priorities among leaders will be unsettling to many. He repeatedly tries to demonstrate principles rather than prescribe practice, acknowledging the diversity in God’s methods, but his convictions have borne fruit. King’s Church is ‘ahead’ of many churches, experiencing God’s favour in ways that others of us long for; Good To Grow is a great encouragement and tool to help us get there. -
A Passion for the Nations
Photo credits: One World by Genista
Last Christmas I wasn't even thinking about going to LOVE:NATIONS. This year, to save me from fear (and to save myself a fiver) I've booked myself a weekend pass already.
But the early bird saving really isn’t the main reason I was so eager to book my place. LOVE:NATIONS has been such an encouragement to me since it was first held, now almost four years ago.
In 2009 I was in my first year at university and had just started to settle into community life at Mosaic Church in Leeds. I had heard that we were going to be hosting a conference that was about catching God’s heart for the nations, so I went along. For me it was a time of learning about the Newfrontiers family, and about church planting as a concept. I also remember praying about where I should go for my year abroad and having a (reluctant!) sense that it should be Berlin – rather than the other, smaller places I would rather have gone to!
One of the speakers announced that there would soon be a Newfrontiers church plant in a major European city, which could not yet be publicly revealed, but he encouraged us to come and ask him if we were interested. I nervously found him afterwards and asked him which city he had meant, hoping he would not say Berlin. He said Berlin. This was the first Godly prod overt enough to end my indecision, and it started the ball rolling for finding a placement in Berlin.
A year later, Andrew Wilson was our guest speaker, and I remember him speaking provocatively about the kind of people it takes to reach the nations. The most memorable category was ‘dead people’ – we must die to the things we hold sacred (which are often good things). You can listen to the podcasts; they are still on the ‘Resources’ section of Mosaic’s website.
In December 2010, I was on my year abroad in Berlin, teaching secondary school pupils about the joys of roast parsnips, flaming puddings, crackers, Boxing Day and the 12 days of Christmas – I hadn’t even thought about going back to Leeds for LOVE:NATIONS. A few months before last year’s conference, however, I received a phone call from a friend from Mosaic inviting me and saying that they wanted to fund my flight over for it.
This totally blew me away. I had known already that my family at Mosaic was supporting me and my ministry in prayer, but this practical gesture showed me just how serious they are about encouraging those who’ve been sent out. Needless to say I accepted the invitation and represented the lovely Newfrontiers Berlin bunch with pride. As well as being challenged, I was refreshed and encouraged, returning to Berlin with a fresh wind.
I’m now back in the UK continuing my studies, but my heart for the nations has in no way diminished. As part of that I’m helping to put together a dedicated prayer space for this year’s conference. This time round we will be joined by guest speaker Chris Taylor, who is currently planting a church in The Hague. I am excited about having the opportunity to set aside time to hear stories about how God’s Kingdom is coming, to catch His heart for the world around me, to hear from Him about where I fit in, and to battle in prayer for the nations. Teams at Mosaic are busy making preparations, and we would love to welcome people from other churches locally, nationally and internationally!
This year’s conference runs from 10 to 12 February. For more information about and booking details (as well as talks and music from previous years), visit the website. -
Hungry for More
Photo credits: 10.20 by dtcchc
Christmas found many people across our nation ‘wanting’ lots of things. This new year will see many people longing for ‘change’ expressed through New Year resolutions.
For us as God’s church, we need to cultivate the same chief desire and longing as Moses when he said to God “If you do not go with us, we are not going”. The presence of God was to Moses the defining ingredient for his life and ministry.
Graciously we do not have to be unsure about whether God will be with us. Jesus made a promise to his fledgling church “I will never leave you nor forsake you” and even more encouraging he said “I have appointed you to bear much fruit”.
Thankfully, assuring ourselves of God’s presence with us, his redeemed people, is not the main issue. Rather our task is to cultivate life and service with a developed sense of his presence.
Jesus was able to say “I only do what I see the Father doing”. By saying this at the same time as being in perfect communion with his Father, he is also modelling to us as man that ‘presence’ shaped life is possible, desirable, fruitful and sensible.
This year instead of a putting on one large Together @-style event, the apostolic team I lead is hoping to stimulate more and more hunger for God’s presence by undertaking a series of events across the churches and nations we work in.
The rather grand sounding ‘Presence of God’ tour, aims to teach principles, spend time in worship and further invigorate through ministry a ‘presence aware’ culture across our churches.
How great would it be to find large numbers of Christians more readily tuned into and responding to the presence of God, both in their personal devotion to God in their daily routines and in mission through local church life?
This year it is my hope that through this tour many of us will be helped just that little bit more, to savour the Lord in all his glory and be increasingly aware that he is really willing to use even us in his purposes!
I am sure we would all acknowledge that none of us have a fully mature experience concerning the presence of God. What we can all have is an ever-increasing appetite and a longing to fully know Him, hear Him, be guided and strengthened by Him. This surely is our chief pursuit in life from which all fruitfulness will flow.
In recent times there has been a multiplication of stories being observed amongst our churches; more healings, more conversions, more ‘on the street’ prophetic encounters. We are beginning to hear ‘whispers’. Let’s pray such things become ‘a shout’. The answer is His presence. Let’s be hungry for more!
For more information on the Presence of God Tour, visit this website. -
Oaks of Righteousness
Photo credits: Ritzy Cinema, Brixton By D G
You don’t have to spend long at Beacon Church before you begin to feel that this is somewhere quite unusual – in a good way. Jennie Pollock interviewed its leader, Owen Hylton, towards the end of last year to find out what makes it tick.
Visit Beacon on a Sunday and someone will soon come and sit with you, welcome you in, and help you feel at home. Watch in the ministry time and you’ll see people from diverse backgrounds praying for and extending love to one another. Chat to people over coffee after the service, and you’ll notice that many of them are deeply committed to caring for their neighbours, their community and their world.
The church is a plant from Kings Church, London, and is currently based in Brixton. It will be appointing its first elders in January. I asked Owen to explain something of the vision of the church:
“Our mission is to serve the community through building the local church to the glory of Jesus,” Owen told me. “What we mean by that is that the best way we can serve our community is to build a healthy, Bible-based, Spirit-filled church that glorifies Jesus.”
This word ‘community’ cropped up time and time again throughout our conversation. Owen told me that the church had moved several times before reaching its current location, but each meeting place had been in the heart of a diverse community:Where I came from in Catford [Owen attended Kings Church in Catford for most of his life, and had been an elder there for a few years before moving to Beacon] there were high levels of diversity but it was predominantly ethnic diversity. In Herne Hill, West Norwood and Brixton, however, there was ethnic diversity but more apparent economic and educational diversity. Those parts of London are quite mixed in that there are some very wealthy parts but they are literally next door to some quite large deprived estates. We feel called to be a church which reaches into every part of our community. We’re not interested in what I would call superficial diversity; we’re not interested in the church looking diverse - we are interested in relationships which are genuinely diverse.
Like many Newfrontiers churches, Beacon doesn’t own its own building but rents space each Sunday. Its first two meeting places were schools, both central to their communities, but which were somewhat hidden away. Then, in December 2009, Julian Adams visited the church and prophesied that God would give them a place to meet that would be ‘a gem in the city’. It was not until about six months later that Owen first came across The Ritzy Cinema in Brixton, and this prophecy began to be fulfilled.“We went to visit the cinema which is in a really prominent location and is well-known in the area. As we drove down the long road approaching it, I could see The Ritzy in the distance. It was a sunny day and the square in front of the cinema was absolutely rammed with people. My first reaction was ‘I can’t do church there!’ As I analysed that, I realised that I had come to quite like being hidden.”
Owen faced the challenge though – perhaps having a name like ‘Beacon’ suggested that a more prominent position would be appropriate – and approached The Ritzy management. After some initial hesitation, the cinema allowed the church to begin worshipping there in July 2010.
The Ritzy staff and the church quickly built good working relationships. Owen and the team are committed to being authentic witnesses within the cinema, just as much as outside its walls.“We began to pray quite specifically about our relationship with The Ritzy when we realised that this was not just a venue to meet in, but part of the community we were trying to reach.”
In March of last year Owen and his wife, Pauline, were invited to The Ritzy’s centenary celebrations. Owen is keen that his meetings with the Ritzy management don’t just include updates on their hire contract but also include discussions on how the church and cinema can work together for the benefit of the local area.
Whether it’s ministering to the area where the church is located, meeting needs in the areas where the church members live and work, or helping those inside the church to find and grow in faith, Owen has a very positive vision drawn from Isaiah 61:1-4. While many people focus on the first part, carrying out God’s mandate to preach the gospel, minister to the poor and serve those in prisons, Owen’s attention was caught by the second part:They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendour.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
He explained:“The outcome of this is that they will - the people that you have ministered to will become oaks of righteousness. They will become restorers and rebuilders of the city. Part of what God has called us to do is to help restore people who will themselves become restorers; to help see transformation in people’s lives that will help them become transformers; to help rebuild people who will then become rebuilders.”
The effect of this broader vision is powerful, meaning that people whose paths cross that of Beacon church are seen not in the need they currently face, but in the light of the effective men and women they could become. The goal is not only to help them find a way out of their current problems, but to help them get to a place where they are able to help others.
This attitude is surely at least a partial contributor to the sense of acceptance people feel when they come into the church. Whoever you are, whatever your background, whatever struggles you are facing, Beacon is a place of safety:“I was speaking to someone recently who has had a really difficult past, and is struggling to break out, but he said to me, ‘I trust you, I trust you’. People come to us who are broken. They’re not broken because they are necessarily unbelievers; they are just broken. But they feel accepted by us because they know that many of us have also felt damaged and broken at times in our lives!”
With the appointment of elders in January, the church feels it has got to the end of the first phase in becoming established. It also launches a new leadership structure - the leadership pod:
In the 21st century church leadership ought to have slightly more flexible models that allow for the complexities and changes in the world in which we live. We have developed three guiding principles to help us:
• Faithful to scripture (hence the importance of elders);
• Awareness of the world around us (acknowledges the increasingly important role trustees have in churches);
• Embracing diversity (creating a model that allows ethnic and gender diversity to have a seat at the leadership table).
Our leadership pod enables us to achieve these things.When you’re following a big vision, the road is guaranteed to be fraught with challenges, but a church which doesn’t face such challenges regularly is most likely not engaging with the reality of the world in which it lives. As Owen puts it: “the reality is that the world is not full of sorted believers, it’s full of broken people who, through Christ, can be transformed into oaks of righteousness.”
To learn more, find out meeting times, and listen to past sermons, visit the Beacon Church website. -
Carols in the Community
A magnificently merry cohort of ChristChurch London members recently braved the mid-December temperatures to take part in some carol singing on a housing estate in south London. Singing in unison (well near enough) and backed by trumpet and drum we spent the evening belting out the classics, mingling with local residents and offering some Christmas treats in the form of mince pies and chocolates. We also had a fabulous ‘Fat Santa’ who shall remain nameless, but brought with him football and accompanying goal net which kept children of all ages entertained!
The Vauxhall Estate was far from a random location chosen for this festive event. Over the past couple of years God has inspired ChristChurch driven projects that have sprouted and grown in this eclectic community. These include a Food Bank and Community Football Ministry which have impacted people’s lives and met needs on a local level. We are seeing God move powerfully in Vauxhall and members of the church are increasingly choosing to put down roots in the area.
But back to the night of carolling! What a pleasure and privilege to meet those who ventured out and see their surprise at what was happening on their patch! Ok the standard of singing was variable but the enthusiasm and commitment could not be questioned! It was great to explain a little about why we were out, where we were from and why Christmas is important to us. We were also able to pray with an agoraphobic lady who stayed to watch all evening as a result. Praise God!
Please pray for 2012 and the work to be done on the Vauxhall Estate. God has begun something special in this area and is looking for willing servants to carry this further. Who knows what is around the corner, but we can be sure that God will guide our steps in finding out. -
-
Carol Service CCM:City style
Photo credits:
We haven’t been in existence very long; in fact you could probably argue that we are still fighting to drag ourselves into existence such is the nature of church planting. So we nervously approached the idea of doing a carol service because this always seemed like something big churches did.
Christ Church Manchester has been around for roughly five years and the CCM:City site started in September 2009. We had 8 people, a vodka bar, a few sketchy ideas and a whole bundle of energy. In those early days you cannot quite see further than the next Sunday meeting or the next new person to join so “big” events like a carol service seemed like something other churches did. Other churches that had things like people or musicians!
Time moved on, we moved out of the vodka bar, people kept joining and we felt that a carol service may be a way of getting non-Christians in the room. This was beginning to happen already so we took the opportunity.
Over the last year we had had a number of very talented musicians join us. A few of them are studying music at Manchester University, a couple studying musical theatre, one is a professional drummer and another a music tech genius/nerd – not bad for a community of 50 people! Throw into the mix a few people who are passionate about drama and we had ourselves a ball game.
At CCM:City we have a fair few students so we set our carol service at the beginning of December and began planning. When I say, “we began planning” what I mean is I asked people who are much more talented than me to plan the evening. This brings me to Mike and Harriet who joined us about a year ago. Mike leads worship and is our music tech genius as well a very talented multi-instrumentalist. Harriet has preached a couple of times and has a background in drama and theatre productions. Winner.
Before I knew it we had a couple of dramas, a brass section, an indie rock version of “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and the loudest drummer to ever walk the earth.
Our idea for the evening was simple really; we wanted to talk about Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less. We didn’t want to do a cheesy ‘real meaning of Christmas’ type thing, and we didn’t want to beat people up for liking presents. We just wanted to tell people that we believed in Jesus and that he is a big deal.
On the night we had one of our biggest nights so far (nearly 60 I think) and most importantly there were a whole bunch of non-Christians in the room. The band sounded fantastic (drum solo anyone?) and the dramas did a really good job of pointing people towards Jesus. I spoke for a few minutes to explain why we wanted to do a carol service and why we think Jesus is so important.
We had a lot of fun, we told people about Jesus, and our community learnt that you can never have too much mulled wine and people are already sick of mince pies. I didn’t ever think that a carol service would be a milestone in the life of Christ Church Manchester but I think in a few years we will look back at Sunday night as one of the important “firsts” in our life together.
-
iPads, Blu-ray players and Christmas lists
Photo credits: iPod Video by Alexandre Van de Sande
Have you written your Christmas list already?
I have mine; it had a blu-ray player on it until Jennie, my wife, told me we didn’t need one! Jennie has a point though – I don’t need the blu-ray player or the iPad or whatever it is you might have your list. What I do need is something that will last with me for eternity. As Paul encourages us to ‘fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ 2 Cor 4:18
Here’s a challenge for this year, why not re-write your Christmas list and put something different at the top. The one thing you definitely want for Christmas? A ticket to Mobilise 2012, our four day gathering for students and twenties!We now have gift vouchers available to help towards the cost of the ticket - the perfect suggestion for your mum, dad, aunty or youth group leader.
Point your friends and family in the right direction – and join us next April where, by faith, God has incredible things stored up for you that will last for eternity. -
Community Fund Initiative
In the last couple of months we have been having some fun at the Crown finding creative ways in which to bless our communities.
For a while our small groups had been following the infamous 4 W’s from the Cell Church model. We were finding the W for Witness had become a little tired and would more often than not drop off the agenda of a small group meeting. Introducing the ‘Community Fund Initiative’ has provided some fresh vision and heart to make a difference in our communities. We have established a budget to allow small groups to apply for finance to assist with their projects where it is needed.
The launch of the Community Fund Initiative coincided with Hillingdon Borough’s ‘Feel Proud’ campaign which aimed to engage local residents in making a difference in the community. At their launch event it felt like everyone in the room was there to moan about the problem in their street or neighbourhood. Can you imagine the team of Councillor’s shock when they realised we were there to offer our support and ask how we could help? I was able to approach one set of disgruntled residents who were there to moan about the amount of litter in a particular park in the Borough… it became the first project that one of our small groups tackled.
Some of the projects that have happened so far have included:- Luxury food hampers to families in need on a housing estate
- Clearing litter in local parks
- Hosting an alternative Halloween party for a local primary school
- Making Christmas Hampers for use by the Council’s floating support service
- Preparing take-away English breakfast to give to the local bin men as they pass through early in the morning
- Spending time with residents in an Old People’s Home
One resident who received a hamper wrote to one of the group members saying “You are amazing, the food hamper is wonderful…we are very touched by this. As we regain our financial dignity and financial strength we will remember your help.”
Eph2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -
-
Review: “Embracing the Poor”
Photo credits:
Reaching out to the poor is a Gospel imperative. But who are the poor? How should the Church respond to the overwhelming needs in the world today? And how important is it for local churches to engage in social action?
All of these questions and many more are answered in Embracing the Poor, a collection of chapters edited by David Adams, which combine to form an incredibly comprehensive exploration of the biblical mandate for preaching the Good News to the poor.
Starting with a chapter about God’s heart for the poor, authors such as Nigel Ring, Steven Oliver and John Hosier proceed to take us through the Law, the Prophets, the Gospels, Acts and the Epistles, highlighting at every turn that our God has always delighted to take “those who are broken, those who are poor, those who are captive, and […make] them instruments of excellence in his kingdom purposes”.
Many who pick up Embracing the Poor will need no convincing that the Church must care for the vulnerable and needy, but the authors delve much deeper than this, with sections expounding the role of apostles, the local church and the poor, the importance of eldership authority, and our duty to the poor among us as well as those outside.
This thorough look at the theological framework for ministering to the poor is coupled with practical examples and advice, an outline of the key indicators for measuring success and a number of inspiring stories of lives transformed.
The overarching theme of Embracing the Poor is that God’s plan is not just that his Church should meet the material needs of the poor, but that we are co-workers with Christ in lifting the needy from the ash heaps so that they can be seated with princes (Psalm 113) and, as the book’s tagline says, “Releasing, resourcing and equipping the poor for world mission”.
This is not a book for the faint-hearted or comfortable; one to be read and then put back on the shelf. If you’re eager to hear about God’s particular affection for the poor and to understand how it applies to local churches today, it will inspire and provoke you – and, be warned, require you to do something in response. -
A Celebration of the Word
Photo credits: King James Bible By bookchen
What would they have thought, those men who gathered in Westminster Abbey’s Jerusalem Chamber to wrestle with tricky passages of translation, arguing about a verb here and an adjective there, what would they have thought of the notion that four centuries after the completion of their labours, the Abbey would be filled with people singing the praise of the book they were to produce?
Could they have imagined that hymns would be written about it, plays inspired by it and anthems composed around it? Did they know that their work would be praised by atheist and Archbishop alike? Did they dream in their wildest dreams that their words would become known and loved by people from every nation on the earth? Did they know, and would they have been pleased?
Yesterday’s service in Westminster Abbey, in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and HRH the Prince of Wales, was the culmination of a year-long celebration of this epic work. Throughout 2011 books have been published, lectures given, articles written, plays produced, readings performed and music played the length and breadth of the nation, all celebrating this one translation of God’s Word. Even Richard Dawkins, not known for praising anything concerning Christianity, went on record saying that “not to know the King James Bible is to be, in some small way, barbarian”.
It is indeed a great work of scholarship, whose language has permeated every area of life and is visible in the richest poetry and prose that the English language has produced. Yet the message of many of the celebrations of the past eleven months has been that you can enjoy, appreciate and be enriched by these words and stories without for a moment having to believe in the God to whom they point. The scholars who penned this new translation would surely have shrunk from such a message. Translation was not undertaken to make the words more literary or more memorable, but to make their meaning and intention more readily available:Translation it is that openeth the window, to let in the light; that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernel; that putteth aside the curtain, that we may look into the most Holy place; that removeth the cover of the well, that we may come by the water.1
Throughout this year, Westminster Abbey has trod firmly on the right side of this fine line, and yesterday’s service was no exception. While celebrating the work and its impact, the hymns, readings and message were careful not to exalt the Bible above the God of the Bible. The opening hymn, written by Geoffrey Rowell for the occasion, made a particular point of saying that the words, beautiful, powerful and poetic as they are, point us to the Word, to God himself.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, in his address picked up the theme. Asking “What makes a translation a good translation?” he rejected the idea that it was about achieving perfection in beauty and interpretation, but said that “Every created word, even the words we use to speak of this eternal truth, will be struggling breathlessly to keep up with the Word itself, himself.” More than this, he said “a good translation will be an invitation to read again, and to probe, and reflect, and imagine with the text. Rather than letting me say: ‘Now I understand,’ it prompts the response: ‘Now the work begins.’” The Bible was given, not that we might read it as a great work of literature, but that through it we might find “Words setting forth salvation”… “calling us in love/To grow into [His] likeness”2.
Now that’s something worth celebrating.
2 - http://europe.anglican.org/homepage/downloads/Bishop%20Geoffreys%20400%20KJV%20hymn.pdf
-
Together at Westpoint 2012
Photo credits:
We're going international for Westpoint 2012!
PJ Smyth (Johannesburg, South Africa) and Vinu Paul (Mumbai, India) will be with us. Vinu is at the vanguard of what Newfrontiers is doing in India and moves powerfully in the Spirit. As a family of churches we are deeply committed to seeing the gospel advance in India, and having Vinu with us will be inspiring! PJ started Godfirst Church in 2005 and following phenomenal growth the church now gathers thousands of people every week. PJ has an incredible gift of leadership and teaching and a passion to see local churches pumping with the goodness and grace of Jesus Christ.
Event Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. http://www.regonline.co.uk/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=993728
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
We Are Yours
Photo credits: Newday Album Cover
Copies of the live worship album recorded at this year's Newday are whirring in CD players across the land, as it lands on doormats and in shops today, and early indications are that it's a good one!
Produced by Kingsway, and featuring ten songs, seven of which are original to the worship leaders Simon Brading, Jules Burt, Sam Cox and Jordan Dillon, the album is, in the words of the Christian Today review, ‘stronger than ever’.Comments on Twitter and Facebook include:
This @newdayevent album is just bringing me to an awesome place of worship and adoration for our God and King!! #totallyinawe
Just downloaded the new @newdayevent album “We are Yours”. Always one of the highlights of my year! Standout so far; ‘Father Like No Other’.
I think @newdayevent cd 2011 may just be the best Newday cd…not a single song I won’t listen to on repeat
Freelance journalist Sam Hailes writes of it:This Newday album stands out above the rest. The uniqueness of [the event] has been captured on the album…..When you listen to We Are Yours, you are listening to the true sound of Newday.
[And then there’s] the song that combines football chants of “Who are ya?’ with latin, theology and…more football imagery. ‘Christus Victor’ is without doubt Simon Brading’s biggest song since 2007′s ‘Our God He Reigns’.
Hard copies of the album are available here or you can download the songs via iTunes.
Why not leave a review on iTunes and let the world know what you think of the album?
-
Cross-Bracing
Photo credits: Cross Brace
Newfrontiers is undergoing a transition at the moment and we are right in the middle of working out what this means for us, particularly in the UK. If you were at the Together on a Mission conference in Brighton in July you would have heard some of this and seen new apostolic spheres recognised and prayed for.
At a recent time of prayer with our North Team, God spoke to us about “cross-bracing”. This is a technical term used for support structures which help to support horizontal and vertical beams in a building. God was encouraging us to support one another in this way, both in our team and in our sphere of churches. It reminded us that no one person has all the gifts, or indeed, all the answers to the challenges we face. We recognised again the fact that we need one another, and that there is strength to working in team that you don’t get from working alone.
Whilst this applied immediately to us as a team, it also has wider applications. In this time of transition within Newfrontiers as new apostolic leaders are recognised, we have an opportunity to cross-brace across the different spheres and indeed other church networks outside Newfrontiers.
Theologically, we know it will take more than one church, sphere or network to fulfil God’s promise to Abraham about being a blessing to the nations – we are inheritors together of these promises. Pragmatically, we know we can’t do it alone! Even to reach the UK effectively, we need one-another. We need others’ strengths, gifts and passions to complement what God has given to us. We should also look to bless what God is doing through others, outside of our immediate context.
As new leaders emerge it is a great opportunity to express our unity and commitment to one another. Cross-bracing is about being generous with our resources, open to others bringing their gifts and experience to us, and positive in the way we speak of others. We experienced something of this at North 2011 this summer as Guy Miller spoke from our main stage and brought his gifts and passion for God, to stir and encourage us. Jeremy Simpkins also spoke at Guy’s event, Westpoint and they both enjoyed working with each other. (Next year at North 2012, we are looking forward to having David Devenish and Dave Holden join us for the same reasons.)
Whilst this “cross-bracing” applies to churches and apostolic spheres, it can also be applied to local church life. If we are not careful, we can get so caught up in our own area of service that we forget the bigger picture. Let’s look to support what God is doing through others as well as focus on what He has called us to. We need to keep our eye on the big picture, the mission that God has called us to, that He might be glorified in the earth.
Times of transition are not just times of challenge; they bring fresh opportunities to recommit ourselves to what is really important: loving God, honouring one another and playing our part in the mission God has called us to together. “We can do more together than we can apart” came the prophetic word to us some years ago. It’s still true now; internationally, nationally and in your local church.
-
Book now for Everything 2012
Photo credits:
“Find out the will of God for your day and generation, and then, as quickly as possible, get into line.”
This dictum, attributed to Prince Albert, characterises the lives of many of the famous Guinness family.
This is what Arthur Guinness did when he claimed the highest purpose for his wealth and his beer. It is what Guinness heirs did as they built on their legacy of good and achieved astonishing prosperity through their craft while also doing massive good through their generosity. (Relevant Magazine, Mar/Apr 2010 )
The Everything conference next year is delighted to welcome Os Guinness, descendant of the famous beer-brewer and internationally-known speaker, author and apologist, as our key note speaker. The conference takes place on Saturday, 17 March 2012 in Central London, and Dr Guinness will be speaking throughout the day. As well as hearing his inspiring message, we’ll be telling the story of the Guinness family and the ways they worked to bring out God’s best in the community and the world He had placed them in.
The conference is not just about looking back, though; we’ll also be featuring videos and interviews highlighting the ways that groups and individuals are putting the same principles into practice today. For as the quote above goes on, finding out what God wants to do in our time and our generation is not just a thing of the past: “it is what is possible today for those who are willing to go outside the four walls of the church and apply a fiery Christian faith to the needs of their times.”
Booking for the conference is now open, with early-bird tickets available for just £20. Click here for more details and to buy your ticket.
Wherever you are and whatever you do, the Everything conference will equip and inspire you to create, cultivate and collaborate to the glory of God. -
Healing Testimony from Newday
This healing testimony video was recorded at Newday 2011 at the Norfolk Showground, near Norwich.
Following this interview, and a prayer for healing, 338 people filled in a card to say that they had been immediately healed. Later on in the same meeting, 365 people made a first-time commitment to follow Christ.
You can also watch this video on Vimeo.
-
Refreshing Reading
Photo credits: Serenity by Adriane Dizon
The summer is often a great time for me to get away, relax and catch up on some reading, and this year was no exception. I've just returned from a really great break with the family, during which I was able to refresh my mind with some good books.
They covered a range of topics and genres, but these, in no particular order, were my top four:
1) Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation by James K.A. Smith
This is a super book on how the world around us shapes our lives unwittingly, in a way that makes us less than disciples. It argues that though our minds might be fed with information, our hearts are shaped by desire. The author uses an enlightening illustration of shopping centres to demonstrate this, explaining that these are not ‘neutral spaces’ but deliberately shape our hearts, enticing us away from desiring Kingdom values and towards far more ‘this worldly’ ones. “We are what we love,” Smith argues, and are not primarily “brains on sticks, receptacles for information”. The implication of this for the process of making – and becoming – disciples is the understanding that we don’t acquire new habits or ways of living though information; our lives are changed when our hearts are captivated.
The book is intelligent and at times demanding – which in itself tells you that Smith’s philosophy is not anti-intellectual; engaging hearts does not imply bypassing minds. Overall I found this an insightful book, which gives a very different take on what it means to be Salt and Light.
A podcast of James speaking on the themes of the book is available to download free from the Redeemer Presbyterian Church website.
2) Rage Against God by Peter Hitchens
Brought up in a culturally-Anglican home, brothers Christopher and Peter Hitchens rejected Christianity, and the ‘English-gentleman culture’ that accompanied it, in their teens. Christopher is now one of the world’s best-known ‘angry atheists’, while Peter came back to Christ in his thirties and is a worthy opponent of those who seek to attack religion and people of faith. Rage Against God tells the story of his own raging, then examines the raging of Western culture which he now seeks to counter and to combat. With his customary clarity and wit, he explains why he is convinced that strong societies can only be built on Christian values, and why he believes that everyone needs God. A fascinating read.
3) Rumours of God by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson
“Does God still do great things today? Is it possible to really experience Him?” Jon Tyson leads Trinity Grace Church in New York, and has planted five more churches in that city in the last five years or so, and he and I are becoming good friends. Along with fellow Australian Darren Whitehead, himself a Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek, he has written a book packed with stories seeking to answer the above questions (taken from the back-cover text). In the introduction, they explain: “We believe God is writing an epic, global, redemptive story that every single one of us has been invited into.” The book is ideal for those seeking more evidence for the faith we possess.
4) Mental Toughness in Sports by Jim Loehr
England cricket coach Andy Flower and captain Andy Strauss recently took their team to the Number One spot in the world. How did they do it? Some clues may be found in this book, which they both read and credit with at least part of their inspiration. Its basic message is that a player plays his best when he is totally focused on the moment, is enjoying himself (having ‘fun’) and is playing instinctively. This instinctive playing results in a much higher level of performance than over analysis or being in a negative state.
Such insights are of course applicable not only to the world of sports, but to many other spheres of life; whether you want to be a better player, preacher or parent, managing your mental and emotional state will be key to your success. The processes Loehr describes reminded me of what Paul tells us in the New Testament about the importance of renewing your mind. An absorbing read for any sports person with lots of wider application. -
Do not Grow Weary in Doing Good
“When I first met Karen, she was staying in someone’s attic. When we walked in, she was howling like a wild animal, filled with alcohol and despair.”
I had asked the Christians Against Poverty (CAP) staff member, Stuart, to tell me a story to illustrate why he does what he does, and how lives are changed by CAP’s ministry.
“Five years later,” Stuart told me, “Karen is renting her own home, working, going to church and even helping with the church’s ministry to the elderly. The turning point for her was when she went on a women’s retreat run by CAP and attended a pampering session. I don’t know what happened, but she suddenly saw herself as lovely and worth something for the first time.” Stuart’s eyes filled with tears as he related that up to that point she had always worn her hair in a curtain over her face because she was so ashamed of herself. “She’d been abused as a child,” he explained.
CAP was one of more than a dozen charities which had brought literature stands to the Jubilee+ Churches that Change Communities conference in Milton Keynes. Four hundred people had eschewed the glorious sunshine and gathered instead to focus on the deeper needs in their communities.
The keynote message, seminars, worship and ministry combined to paint an inspiring, and very hopeful, picture of the opportunities for churches to make a difference in their communities.
The various projects represented by the literature exhibition gave an insight into both the range and variety of the needs and the range and variety of the possibilities for addressing those needs. From financial advice to work with ex-offenders, and from emergency food provision to ministry during the Olympics, a common thread ran through the diversity: these ministries did not focus simply on meeting people’s physical needs, but sought – where it was appropriate – to also minister to their spiritual needs.
This was a key focus of the conference – that meeting physical, financial and social needs, without addressing the spiritual aspect of the whole person will only bring limited success. As Christians we are called to share the love and the grace of God “that knows no limit to where it could be applied”.
In his keynote message, Martin Charlesworth, leader of the Jubilee+ team, highlighted three reasons why social and community action are especially important right now:
Firstly, the political tide and mood are changing. The competence of any Government to resolve social and economic problems has been called into question, at a time when the resources of the Government are undeniably diminished. Those in the corridors of power are more open than ever to accepting the help of organisations on the ground, and are quick to acknowledge that churches are far and away the best-placed to meet many of the social needs.
Secondly, our social fabric is crumbling. Although the recent riots were for the most part carried out by those on the lower end of the social scale, many commentators put the blame on the upper echelons of society; while banks, politicians and billionaires are exposed for their greed and recklessness, how can they criticise the poor for following suit?
Thirdly, despite some fierce opponents, and much negative press, the influence of the church is growing. With social capital at an all-time low, and little moral leadership from anywhere else, many people are looking to the church for guidance on how to build strong and stable communities.
This is, in short, a time of great opportunity, when what the world needs and what the church has to offer are undeniably matched. “Many people are worried,” Martin concluded, “But we have the key. We have the mandate.”
Of course, stories like Karen’s above, while real and encouraging, are not always the daily reality for volunteers working with society’s most vulnerable and broken people. These are the ‘splashes of joy’ that sometimes seem few and far between. For every person whose life gets turned around, there are countless others with whom we see no fruit for many years. In those circumstances even more than in the successes, the right focus can make all the difference. If our goal is to solve all the problems, or even to serve all the needy, we will quickly be disappointed and discouraged. Our focus needs to be on serving the Lord, and seeking to honour Him. When we do that, Martin assured the delegates, “At Christ’s coming, he will remember your compassion and will commend you, even if no-one else does. So don’t grow weary in doing good.” Whatever we do for the least of these, we do it for the Lord.
To learn more about Jubilee+, visit their website, or read this post by Martin Charlesworth giving his reflections on the conference. -
-
North 2011 Offering - Thank You!
We came back from North absolutely thrilled at the things God has been doing. The worship was so intimate, God's presence was with us, and the word so passionately preached. It was a wonderful time together.
We were completely blown away by your generosity at this year’s event. Here’s a short video giving some feedback on the offering that was taken.
-
Always on God’s Heart
Photo credits: So Complicated Was the Fall Stephan Geyer
In his book Generous Justice, Tim Keller states: “From ancient times, the God of the Bible stood out from the gods of all other religions as a God on the side of the powerless, and of justice for the poor.”
Hearing Martin Charlesworth, leader of Jubilee+, speak on mercy and justice for the first time, I was struck by the fact that God has always had a heart for the poor and vulnerable. Not that I’d previously thought God had one day suddenly noticed the poor and cared about them, but rather I’d always looked solely to the New Testament to see God’s compassion for the poor worked out. Without meaning to, I’d held the view that caring for the poor was a New Covenant matter.
But at the Newfrontiers Together On A Mission conference this year, Martin took us on a journey through the whole of Scripture, showing us that the poor have always been on God’s heart and that He has always asked His people to care for them and meet their needs.
This whistle-stop tour took us through the Law (e.g. Deut. 14:28-29; Exodus 23:10-11; Lev. 19:9-10), the poetic and wisdom books (e.g. Psalm 12:5; Proverbs 19:17, 31:8-9), the major prophets (e.g. Isaiah 58:1-6) and the minor prophets (e.g. Micah 6:8; Hosea 6:6). Moving into the New Testament, Martin led us through the gospels (e.g. Luke 4:14-21), the Acts of the Apostles (e.g. Acts 4:34-35) and the epistles (e.g. Galatians 6:9-10; James 2:5-6). (You can download Martin’s seminar here.)
Some of us might have inadvertently thought of ministry to the poor as something we ‘add on’ to our Christian life or to church life once we’ve got ‘the essentials’ sorted, but reading through the Bible we see that it’s not an optional extra: caring for the poor and marginalised should be at the very heart of who we are as God’s people.
Jesus spoke about this very strongly, saying that when we feed, clothe, invite in, or visit prisoners or the sick, even “the least of these”, we are doing this for Him, and if we fail to act in this way, we are failing to do this for Him.
Referring to Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan, Tim Keller writes in his book Ministries of Mercy: “Jesus commands us to provide shelter, finances, medical care, and friendship to people who lack them. We have nothing less than an order from our Lord in the most categorical of terms… Are we as Christians obeying this command personally? Are we as churches obeying this command corporately?”
If you want to know more about how you and your church can engage with your community and its needs, or share with others how you’re doing this already, book into the Jubilee+ Churches that Change Communities conference. You’ll come away inspired, equipped and empowered to reach out more effectively to the poor in your area. -
Turkey, and God’s Transforming Power
This August I had the joy of being part of a Mobilise Worldwide team, a group of eleven students and 20s from Oxford and London, touching down in Istanbul and taking a ferry to our final destination. So here we were, at the height of the sweltering Turkish summer, and in the middle of Ramadan… Mobilise had landed in Yalova, Turkey.
We found ourselves immersed in an incredibly rich culture, and among an exceptionally welcoming and friendly people, where family and community relationships are strong, where hospitality is celebrated, and where the breathtaking power of Jesus to save and change lives was clearly on display.
We were very quickly enjoying fellowship with our ‘Lighthouse Church’ family in Yalova. The whole team were blessed greatly in our time with the church, and as we spent time with the church leader Michael Feulner, who moved to Yalova 7 years ago with his family to plant the church, we spent many times enjoying ‘story time with uncle Michael’, hearing of how:
• God supernaturally provided the church community with a great building to meet in on Sundays and during the week
• They have been reaching out to the people of Yalova through starting Alpha courses and hosting many other events
• God has amazingly built a growing church of around 40 people, many of whom a few years ago didn’t know Jesus
It was a privilege to be able to serve the Yalova church for ten days through some very practical service – from painting fence posts to digging huge rocks out of the ground. There were opportunities to go out onto the streets to pray for the sick and practice the Turkish we had learnt, and we found God gave us some great openings to share about Jesus with locals (with a bit of help from wi-fi and a good translation app). Another highlight was our visit to a nearby restaurant where an Alpha course will soon start with a Turkish family, who are open to hear more about Jesus.
On one particularly memorable evening, we sat around the camp fire under the stars and shared songs and stories with some of the core members in the church. We had the joy of hearing how they came to faith, and saw the power of God to completely transform lives. Experiencing tangibly how God was responding to people’s hunger and seeing the effect this had in their communities, was a reminder of the life and liberation that Jesus brings through the gospel.
Some of the girls on the team met a group of Turkish women one day, and invited them to a BBQ we were having with the church in the evening. Not only did one of the women join us at the church and bring a couple of her friends, she came again the following day, bringing ten other friends to the church building, for late night chai and conversation about Jesus. This is just one of many occasions when we saw God’s hand at work in this nation.
The whole team came away from the ten days profoundly impacted and desperate for more of God’s transforming power in our situations in the UK. I am confident that Oxford and London will benefit hugely from the way God spoke to each member of the team whilst out in Yalova.
And finally…Before returning I had the joy of spending the last few days with a family in Istanbul who, along with their church planting team, are completing preparations to start meeting publicly as a church – I know they would hugely value your prayers that God’s power would be displayed and that He would establish a great church there.
I may be biased, but I honestly think that there are few cities that match London; but from the short time I spent in Istanbul, I would say this is one place that does!
I absolutely loved Istanbul as a city, and found its history and diversity utterly intoxicating.
I have come away with a fresh awareness of the significance that Turkey holds, understanding that what God does here will have an impact across the Middle East, and throughout Europe.
If you have an interest in hearing more about what is happening in Turkey, do check out the website of the Yalova church and Life Church in Istanbul, which is launching as I write. -
-
From Big Society to your society
Photo credits: Gavin Poole c/o http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk
The Big Society has been the subject of much discussion since the government heralded the concept as a flag ship policy. What has this meant to local communities and how does it manifest community action?
Gavin Poole, Executive Director of the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), will be answering this question in his seminar at the Jubilee+ Churches that Change Communities conference on 1 October.
How can the local church rise to the opportunity afforded by David Cameron’s policy, and what actions can be taken to simplify programmes? What are local and national government looking for in terms of good programmes and should the local church build programmes around a government agenda? This seminar will look at a range of issues that paint a national picture of opportunity for well run, effectively, social action projects. The seminar will start with a strategic overview of how social action programmes are regarded and the role that government (both national and local) sees them in helping ‘mend a broken society’.
The second part of the seminar will show how an effective social action project can be grown, fast, through the local church enabling church communities to support some of the hardest to reach in our society and allow the church to work out its own vision for serving others. Ed Walker from Hope into Action (a Centre for Social Justice Alliance member) will support this second part of the seminar.
Gavin joined the CSJ having completed 23 years of military service in the Royal Air Force where his final appointment was as a Ministerial Private Secretary within the MoD. Gavin has commanded at squadron and wing level in times of peace and during operations and has experience of global operations both on land and at sea. He brings experience in strategic planning, organisational reform, change management and implementation of policy. Academically he holds a BEng(Hons) and an MBA from Cranfield and gained an MA in War Studies from KCL during his year at the Joint Command and Staff College which prepares senior leaders from across 50 countries.
Gavin completes the line-up of outstanding seminar speakers for this year’s conference, joining Angela Kemm, Peter Lyndon and Martin Charlesworth in Milton Keynes for the one-day event.
For more details, and to book your place, click here, then start trying to decide which seminar you want to attend. -
Counting the cost at Westpoint 2011
Photo credits:
When God rescued me back in ‘92 he turned my life upside down.
All my priorities changed, everything was different.
20 years down the line I am still amazed at how God has not only rescued me, but has also been at work unbolting me and rebuilding me according to his blueprint.
Westpoint was another opportunity for God to be at work in my life, and in the other 1900 delegates. So much more than just a camp, it is becoming a crucible in which God is heating up his people, cleaning off the dross; purifying them and sending them back out on his mission with fresh zeal.
Sometimes it is the worship on a scale beyond the local church that catches us up in a taste of a better day. Both Phatfish and Jon Clark led us so well.
Sometimes it’s the fellowship that strengthens the bonds both in and across our churches. We feel more like a family when we see one another in wellies and pyjamas. It’s real church not dead religion, and many glimpse that first at Westpoint.
Sometimes it’s the Word that fans in to flame a new desire to serve and give our all to Jesus and his mission. I was more convinced than ever of the need to live like an exile, leaving Babylon behind and with fresh gratitude for all I have survived plough my energies into God’s preferred future – giving my all as an offering to the one who gave it all for me. Terry Virgo’s messages from Ezra were like a brand that left a mark on us, declaring clearly our distinctive call.
Guy Miller so effectively caught us up with the apostolic priorities to remember the poor, and to keep the gospel at our heart. Much fruit will come from such provocation, of that I am utterly convinced.
Visiting us for the first time were Jeremy and Ann Simpkins. I enjoyed a glass of wine with them, and was thrilled to see lights coming on as Jeremy preached so succinctly on our status in Christ. It was like being pummelled with bullets of truth.
For many, the children’s meetings at Westpoint are the highlight. Once again our children were hugely blessed by a dedicated and dynamic team. There surely can be no higher thrill than hearing that these young lives are being caught up in this adventure. To hear of many being baptised in the Spirit, and coming to personal faith in Jesus is just so cool.
So - great preaching, powerful worship, real fellowship and awesome children’s sessions - the ingredients of a superb Bible week. I will be there again in 2012, and I’d encourage anyone in the South to join us.
But it’s not always easy or convenient…....
Before God saved me, ‘things’ were important. You know, ‘stuff’, ‘possessions’. As we set off for Westpoint the wheel fell off our caravan and needed fixing, so we gulped, paid the bill, but missed the first evening where I’m told John Groves preached up a storm. Once fixed we were on the road, when two hours into the journey the car blew up. With 7 of us in the car, it took two gallant Westpoint delegates to come to our rescue. We arrived at about half one in the morning. Tired, but grateful. Another friend rallied to help with his recovery vehicle, and the next day our car was recovered to the site. Unfortunately it was major and the car’s final resting place is a breakers yard in Exeter. All the family were given lifts home in different vehicles, with one brave couple offering to tow our caravan home.
So – It was a costly excursion in every sense of the word. Would I have missed it? No way! What other family on earth demonstrates such love and compassion and care as the church of Jesus Christ? A radical family of exiles and visionaries with more adventures than Indiana Jones.
I’m thrilled to be included.—-
If you missed it, you can listen to the audio of the main sessions here, and why not book in for next year’s conference while you’re at it - maybe just get your car serviced before you set off…
-
North 2011… wow what a weekend!
We are thrilled to report that nearly 2,500 people gathered over the August Bank Holiday weekend in North Yorkshire for North 2011. Despite generous amounts of rain and mud, the weekend was a resounding success. Such a powerful sense of God’s presence and power; outstanding preaching from Terry Virgo, Guy Miller and our own Jeremy Simpkins; inspiring worship; excellent kids and youth events and a great time away with friends, old and new. Once again, Paul Mogford (Jubilee Church Teesside) and his amazing team served us outstandingly well, by turning a working farm into a venue fit for such a momentous gathering.
In addition to the powerful preaching, God also spoke to us through some very significant prophetic words. Including, being shaped like clay in the potters hands, with North no longer being a holiday camp, but a boot camp where God was raising up an apostolic army!
On the first evening, Jeremy set the tone for the weekend by setting out the key distinctives of the North team and our sphere:
• Being Friends enjoying God together
• Building Churches empowered by Word and Spirit
• Advancing The Kingdom, transforming the world
• Reaching Nations, making disciples
You can see a short video about this below:
Terry wonderfully served us, with 3 morning preaches from Ezra, which culminated in taking an offering which currently stands at £132,000! A very tangible example of how North was moving.
Guy Miller brought a challenging word to us, to believe God for significant growth, and he could see us becoming like a runway at an international airport with many thousands of people coming and going. He felt God challenge us to have the nations firmly in our sights and to dream bigger dreams. Guy’s presence and chemistry with us was also a very tangible foretaste of how the new emerging apostolic teams can and would work together in the future.
North 2011 was so much more than just a weekend conference – it felt like God was fashioning us together, building an Apostolic people, an army who can advance His church and His Kingdom across the nations of the world!
You can download all the main sessions and the videos shown over the weekend from www.north2011.comEzra - No.3 Monday Morning, Terry Virgo
Ezra - No.2 Sunday Morning, Terry Virgo
Joshua - Sunday Evening, Jeremy Simpkins
Being Friends - Restoration of the presence of God, David Campbell
Building Churches, Roger Bye & Chris McClean
-
-
Social Action and Evangelism
Photo credits:
A focus on social justice does not require, or even imply, a drift away from preaching the gospel.
In the third of our ‘speaker profiles’ leading up to the 1 October Jubilee+ conference, Angela Kemm explains:
Social Action and Evangelism are often separated into “those who do good” and “those who preach the good news”. My seminar will look at how we can be equipped to bring these two aspects of the gospel together. Together we will lift our expectation to see the Lord come in power in all the situations he planned in advance for us to do. Silver & gold we may not have, but what we do have, let’s give to those in need.
The one-day conference is entitled Churches that Change Communities. Through worship, teaching, prophetic input, prayer, networking time and practical information it will look at what it means to be a blessing in our communities. How can we be a people passionate about the communities in which we live, and reach out to those in need?
Angela is very well placed to speak into such themes, having spent twenty years building relationships in the Townships of Cape Town, resisting Apartheid, fighting for proper housing for people in shacks, leading many people to God & starting two church plants from scratch. She is passionate to see the church do social action, signs & wonders, evangelism & justice as one package. Angela is married to Greg & they have three married daughters.
Along with the four seminars profiled in these posts, the conference will include a keynote message by Jubilee+ team leader Martin Charlesworth.
The conference is less than a month away, and places are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment. -
Worship in Wellies (North 2011)
I’m rather proud of my northern roots. I was blessed to grow up surrounded by the beautiful countryside of Northumberland and then to study for four years in the lively, quirky city of Manchester. So moving to Derby in the East Midlands almost three years ago felt like a step south for me. Fortunately, Derby is classed as being in the north by Newfrontiers standards, enabling me to set out on an annual trip to the North Yorkshire Dales to attend Together at North with other Newfrontiers churches in the “north” of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Norway, Canada…
Whilst getting my pre-North2011 hair cut my hairdresser asked if I had any plans for the weekend. I told him that I’d be going camping in North Yorkshire with several churches for a big conference. “Oh… more than just a few friends then?” was his reply. Indeed it was more than just a few friends; I was there with around two and half thousand of them.
Borrowing a phrase from the Newfrontiers North “distinctives”, the whole weekend was very much a group of many friends enjoying God together. This was evident throughout the entire site. From the Thursday evening barn dance, to meandering around the campsite listening to acoustic guitars and youthful games of “Big Booty”, to seeing your church elders chipping in with mop and bucket to help clean the toilets, the sense of fellowship was obvious. The aptly named “Hub” was a nucleus of activity during the free times providing an opportunity to gather, share food, and generally avoid the rain. And God was certainly enjoyed together with times of worship that were difficult to bring to an end, thought-provoking and encouraging biblical teaching, and relevant seminars.
This year, I had the privilege of popping my head in on the various kids’ and youth activities going on around the site. I have to admit, I am incredibly jealous of these children receiving such great education as this is a part of my life that seemingly passed me by. I am also very excited about the generations that will one day become the leaders, preachers, prophets, and worship leaders of the church. In MiniKidz I saw children being taught biblical foundations. In Going Bananas I witnessed great times of worship and heard inspiring testimonies of children responding to God’s Word. We were even informed that the 8-10 year olds had raised £120 in offerings to go towards the Vancouver church plant. In Amplify I was impressed with the boldness of some solid gospel preaching that confronted some challenging and significant topics that youth are faced with today. Testimonies of healing and the passionate worship left me in awe of God and how He is working in the younger generations.
As I have alluded to, the weather this year was typically northern (or is rain a Britain-wide trait?), presenting the opportunity to don all kinds of marvellous wellies. Never before have I seen such an array of wellington boot designs. Yet despite the rain and squelchy mud that ensued, the atmosphere around the site was never “dampened”. In fact, the conditions only seemed to fuel the mood that North2011 had turned from a holiday camp into a boot camp, preparing us all for a battle looming. This was another theme throughout the weekend and came across through many of the preaches and prophetic visions. “From the North to the Nations” is a well-heard prophesy and amongst other visions shared this week (of which my favourite has to be “God is invading the baked beans of life”) one that stood out for me was a vision that the campsite would become a massive international airport, transporting Christians in the north all around the world to reach nations and advance the Kingdom. As an engineer in the aerospace industry, this vision particularly excited me – it appears I have a job for eternity! But seriously, a heart for the nations and overseas church planting really was a major theme of the weekend with even many of the youth feeling God’s call to the nations. This theme was reflected in the fantastic times of looking into God’s Word brought excellently by Jeremy Simpkins, Guy Miller, and Terry Virgo, whom we were very blessed to have with us.
On the final evening Jeremy shared with us from the book of Joshua and taught that we must be aligned with God, with worship before mission, and be unified together to go into battle. The trumpet is most certainly sounding here in the north. Can you hear it?Read Graham Pyman’s report from North 2011 including downloads of talks & videos
-
-
Getting Equipped for the Practicalities
Photo credits:
In the second in our series of Seminar Speaker Profiles for the forthcoming Jubilee+ conference in Milton Keynes, we meet Jubilee+ team member Peter Lyndon.
Peter is currently an Elder of Christ Central Church, Manchester. With his wife Sue, Peter has overseen the development and growth of a number of local church based community and social action ministries. His passion is for ministry to the poor to be an integral part of the life of every local church, whilst ensuring the gospel remains central to all we do. Peter and Sue have three children and four grandchildren.
The conference is entitled Churches that Change Communities, and is designed to help leaders, activists, and any interested persons look at what it means to be a blessing in our communities. How can we be a people passionate about the communities in which we live, and reach out to those in need?
The day will be packed with worship, teaching, prophetic input, prayer, networking time and practical information, and will include a keynote message by Martin Charlesworth and a choice of seminars. Peter will be leading one of these, and we asked him to tell us about it.What are the core skills needed to establish social action ministries and build churches that change their communities?
Clarifying vision? Building a team? Project management? Training? Fundraising?
These words can be pretty scary both for church leaders and activists seeking to impact their communities.
Help is at hand! In our session, Getting Equipped for the Practicalities, my wife Sue and I will explore these vital questions with some invited friends, and provide some practical suggestions about how to get started and how to grow your projects.
Places at the conference are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment. -
Camping for Jesus
Photo credits:
I am something of a Bible Week veteran. My first taste of ‘camping for Jesus’ was at the Dales Bible Week in 1978, and since then I have been present throughout the years of Downs, Stoneleigh and Newday. (And have even made the odd foray to Soul Survivor.)
In Newfrontiers we have made something of a habit of closing our conferences down just as they get really successful. To be honest, although I have regretted the passing of events that have had a huge impact on my life, there has always been something of a sense of relief about it – both because I like to keep moving on to new things, and also because it means that we won’t be camping anymore!
However, we just don’t seem to be able to get away from camping – and those people who at the end of a Downs or Stoneleigh have said “Thank goodness for that” and sold off their tents and caravans have had opportunity to repent of such reckless behaviour a few years down the line.
So it is that we now find ourselves fully back into the swing of a week’s camping for Jesus near Exeter each August. This was the second year of Together at Westpoint, and it felt so successful I’m slightly worried we will have to shut it down and do something different in a couple of years time! I loved every minute of it and remembered just why it is that Bible Weeks have been so significant for over 30 years of my life.
As a local church this was a tremendous event. We managed to get 140 people there, and worked hard at making our site work well, with a big marquee and lots of cake! And we had a fantastic time together. In a few days on site we achieved more in terms of building friendships and having fun together than is often achieved in weeks of normal church life. A number of our older members (and less keen campers) stayed off site, but because we were geared up to host them while they were on site there wasn’t any sense of division among us. Young and old, all together, and all having a great time. Priceless.
And as an event itself, Westpoint was a dynamic success. I love being with a big crowd worshipping Jesus, and we were brilliantly led in this by Phatfish and Jon Clark (from Gateway Church). John Groves, Guy Miller, Jeremy Simpkins and Terry Virgo served us wonderfully in their preaching. We had an incredible, faith-inspired offering, raising £101,000. The whole thing felt soaked in the grace of God.
There is a tendency for those of us who have been around a few years to continually look backwards; we tend often to speak of “the Stoneleigh days” and in comparison with Stoneleigh, Westpoint is still a small event. But one of the things I felt God speak to me was that we were not simply doing what we had done in the past, on a smaller scale. Rather, we are about something new. Hundreds of people at Westpoint never went to Stoneleigh – like Mike from my church. Mike is in his 60s, but has only come to faith in the last 18 months. After the first meeting at Westpoint he told me how he had never experienced anything like it, and had been in tears as he experienced the power and grace of God as we worshipped. My conviction is that the current smallness of Westpoint (about 1,900 of us were there) is in relation to the size it will be in the future, not to events we have run in the past.
Booking for next year’s Westpoint is already open. I’d encourage you to get on the website and book yourself in. Then dust off that old camping equipment, and look forward to a week in August that could be the highlight of your year. -
The Vital Role of Leadership in Social Action
Photo credits:
On 1 October Martin Charlesworth will be hosting the Jubilee+ conference in Milton Keynes. Entitled Churches that Change Communities, the conference will look at what it means to be a people passionate about the communities in which we live, being a blessing and reaching out to those in need.
The day will be packed with worship, teaching, prophetic input, prayer for impartation, networking time and practical information, and will include a keynote message by Martin Charlesworth and a choice of seminars. Over the next few weeks, we will be profiling each of the seminars and their speakers to give you a flavour of some of the great things in store. This week: Martin Charlesworth.
Martin has served as pastor of Barnabas Community Church in Shrewsbury for over fifteen years and leads the Newfrontiers UK Social Action Team. He also serves on the Newfrontiers Theology Forum. Martin is married to Jane, and they have three daughters. He enjoys politics, travelling, mountain walking, and various sports - especially squash.
Martin’s keynote talk will set the scene for us to take big strides forward together in social and community engagement.
He will then give a seminar on the role of leadership in social action. Speaking about the seminar, Martin said, “Leadership is so often the key issue in making social action projects work in local churches. All the research indicates that churches can only be successful in running social action projects with effective leadership in place - both the church leaders and also the project leaders.”
The seminar will identify how these two types of leadership can be developed effectively. It will seek to answer the questions “How should church leaders manage social activism within their churches?” and “How do project leaders work most effectively to develop their work whilst working alongside church leaders?”
Places at the conference are limited, so book now to avoid disappointment. -
Front Edge South & West 2011
Photo credits:
Front Edge is so much more than a conference. The weekend will be an opportunity to see thousands hear the gospel, and to see many respond to its message with faith.
Front Edge is a day of evangelistic training followed by multiple guest services in various churches held across the South West on the Sunday.
On Saturday 22nd October Citygate Church in Bournemouth is hosting a day of inspiring training and instruction for every believer to help them to be effective in the way they reach out to their friends, families, neighbours and at work.
Speakers on the day will include Lex Loizides, Adrian Holloway, Chris Kilby, Paul Brown and Steve Hurd. There will be main sessions and seminars to raise faith for all our evangelistic endeavours, and equip us for seeing many more people saved and healed.
On the following Sunday, the 23rd October, churches participating throughout our region will host Sunday morning celebrations. A guest preacher, with a gift for evangelism, will be proclaiming the gospel and praying for the sick - all you’ll need to do is invite some friends and show up!
The full day costs £10, or £5 if you are under 18, a student, or pensioner.
Book in for the training day online by following this link: Book in to Front Edge.
Alternatively you can book in by filling out one of the booking forms which will be available from participating churches.
You can find additional information about the speakers and seminars, as well as the full program for Saturday by clicking here: More Info
Refreshments will be provided throughout the day but please bring a packed lunch. Details will be provided on the day for local shops if you wish to buy some lunch.
For any additional enquiries please contact the Front Edge Team (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)).
What: Front Edge 2011
Date: Saturday 22nd October, then Gospel & Healing Celebrations at various churches on Sunday 23rd October
Time: 9:30 arrival on Saturday, varying times on Sunday
Venue: St Swithun’s Centre, Gervis Road, Bournemouth BH1 3EDEvent Booking & Contact Information
Location: St Swithun's Centre, Gervis Road, Bournemouth, BH1 3ED, UK
Booking Link. http://www.lifesouthampton.org/fe/book.html
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Newday songbook: Free download
Photo credits: Photo: Chris Johnson
This year was a Newday like no other, with thousands of teenagers throwing themselves into passionate worship with some of the strongest songs yet.
After many requests for the music, we decided to put together a PDF of the new songs as a FREE DOWNLOAD to accompany the live album We Are Yours coming out 14th November.
Our aim is to resource worshippers around the globe with fresh new songs that capture the heart of God, and help us express our devotion to Him. With a variety of prophetic themes that God’s been stirring in us, each song comes with guitar chords and song lyrics for your projection software. We hope these songs inspire and lead you to worship God both on your own and as a local church.Our first ever Songbook contains the chord charts for 9 new songs from this year’s event, plus song projection lyrics, all for FREE.
Songs List
We Are Yours
Christus Victor
No One Better
Devotion
10,000 Reasons
Our God is Holy
Father Like No Other
Thank the Lord
Here For You
BIG thank you to Jules Burt for designing & laying out the songbook.
Don’t forget to pre-order your copy of We Are Yours, the Newday 2011 CD album, from the online shop NOW! -
Newday 2011 Highlights
The peace of the Norfolk countryside was shattered as the roar of 6500 voices lifted in praise and worship in a tent somewhere outside of Norwich earlier this month. Young people, their leaders, and a small army of volunteers had gathered at the Royal Norfolk Showground for a week of worship, teaching, service and fun. The first meeting was underway, and the celebration carried for miles in the still, clear air. This was Newday 2011.
The sun beat down for most of the week as the young people attended main meetings and seminars on topics as diverse as ‘How to Change the World’, ‘How to Answer Tough Questions’ and ‘Making Choices’, while in their free time taking part in sports tournaments, learning new creative skills, showcasing their musical talents and holding impromptu water fights.
The great disappointment of the week, for many of them, was the day it rained – not because the football tournament was abandoned (it wasn’t), nor because the creative activities were disrupted (they weren’t), but because some of the community service projects were cancelled. Clearing gardens and painting fences were simply not possible in the rain, and many of the young people deeply regretted not being able to participate in what was for them a key feature of the week’s activities.
As the delegates and their leaders returned home, it was to the breaking news of riots and looting taking place across the UK. The nation descended into head-scratching and soul-searching over the state of its young people, and two rival articles appeared on The Guardian’s Comment is Free blog discussing Christian youth camps. Thomas Prosser, the ‘anti’ author, felt that such camps are ‘wicked’, because beneath the veneer of“proceedings finish[ing] by a godly hour and the Babylonian substances that lubricate secular teen gatherings [being] surplus to requirements,”
such camps have taught that
“witch doctors can maim children by cursing them [and that] God judges us on death for our deeds and thoughts”.
To top it all, he pointed out that
“teens were…encouraged to practise physical healings”.
Steve Clifford of the Evangelical Alliance wrote the ‘pro’ article the following day, stating that“part of what makes [such camps] essentially good things is how the personal decision [to follow Christ] plays out in the bettering of communities.”
As for Thomas Prosser’s point about physical healings, Adrian Holloway gave the following report from the meeting he led on the Thursday night:“We started with the testimony of a young woman born totally deaf in one ear, who was instantly and totally healed on the equivalent night at Newday 2010. It was 17 years of total deafness, followed, 15 minutes later, after prayer in the name of Jesus, by 100 per cent hearing. It’s a healing that has been verified by two audiologists, after tests. So we were off to a great start! The good news is that after the prayer which followed her testimony, we had 338 people healed on Thursday night, and then following a sermon on Galatians 4:1-7, we had 365 first-time commitments. So we are all very grateful to God. Thanks for praying! Praise God!”
Youth camps such as Newday play a vital role in helping young people from a range of backgrounds to discover who God has made them to be, and to find something to live for that is bigger than themselves and the immediate gratification of their desires. Were we offering them false hope, perhaps Thomas Prosser would have a point, but Newday 2011, like so many Christian youth camps taking place this summer, was a celebration of life, service and hope.
Writing to church leaders in the wake of the riots across our nation, David Stroud said“The church has a unique role in providing hope and a model of community life. We have an excellent opportunity – if not an imperative – to be salt and light in our towns and cities at this difficult time.”
Let us join our young people in living out the faith we profess, not just in the extreme times, but in our daily life, too.
-
-
Newday 2012
Photo credits:
Are you aged 12-19? Don’t miss our week long summer youth event Newday.
Newday 2011 takes place from Monday 13 – Saturday 18 August at the Norfolk Showground, just outside of Norwich (delegates go home on morning of Sunday 19 August).Newday is primarily for young people, from all walks of life and backgrounds. Many come from church groups which are part of the Newfrontiers family of churches. However, you don’t have to belong to a particular denomination, or be a Christian, to come!
Newday is primarily aimed at 12-19 year olds, which means those currently in school year 7 upwards. (We also have a Mobilise teaching stream for students and those in their 20s).For more information please visit the Newday website.
Here’s the review video from Newday 2011… -
A Century of Church Planting in Iberia
Photo credits: Portugal Olé by Miguel Tavares Cardoso
In 1920, aged just 21 and with £5 in his pocket, Eric Harold Barker stepped from the boat onto Portuguese soil as one of the first pioneer missionaries in that nation.
With no foreign language skills, he moved into a Portuguese home and read only a Portuguese Bible. Within six months he was preaching in Portuguese. One of his first challenges was to take the funeral of an ailing evangelical in a remote area in the north of the country. On arrival, he prayed and anointed him with oil and he was wonderfully healed. This was the beginning of the first evangelical church in northern Portugal. Week after week on a covered wagon pulled by a mule, Eric would travel from fair to fair preaching the gospel, selling Bibles and distributing tracts. Persecution was intense, with many new believers losing their jobs, being stoned, beaten up and sometimes imprisoned. But Eric’s love for the gospel saw him plant five churches in and around Porto as well as others in the northern counties.
In 1942 the Consul instructed all English inhabitants to leave Portugal because of the war, and whilst Eric stayed, his wife and seven children were evacuated on a ship. This was torpedoed on its way to England and his family perished. The following Sunday morning Eric received the tragic news but amazingly went to church and announced that his family had all arrived safely ‘home’.
In 1946 he married Beryl and had five more children. One of his daughters married an Englishman named Mike, and in 1983 they set off from England with two very small children to plant a church in the city of Penefiel (North Portugal). Today this is a thriving church in the heart of the conurbation. It is one of the most beautiful churches I have been to – full of the Holy Spirit and joy and passionate about reaching the nation with the gospel.
Mike and Jessica raised three pioneering children. Andrew and his wife Lucy, are currently planting a church in the city of Porto. September 2011 sees the official public launch of the church in the city, coinciding with another two families moving from the UK to Porto.
In January, Heather and I spoke at a church weekend for the Lagos church, led by Dave Chester, located in the South of Portugal. This weekend also drew in leaders from our growing church in Gibraltar. There is a clear prophetic sense of opportunities in these nations opening up, and more recently I hosted the first Together for the Iberian Peninsula leaders’ conference. Leaders of churches and emerging teams on the Iberian Peninsula joined together with other churches and movements.
Kevin and Vanessa Bartlett from Madrid attended the conference. Kevin planted a church in Salisbury in 2003 and recently felt God lead him to uproot his family to live in this influential capital city. The whole family are learning Spanish and a handful of people are already showing interest in building a Spanish speaking Newfrontiers church in Madrid.
Eric Barker died in Portugal in 1989, aged 90, leaving behind a rich heritage for those coming after him. Jesus said ‘the harvest is plentiful, the labourers few’, I believe it is God’s time for the Iberian Peninsula. He also reminded his disciples that others had done the hard work, provoking us to remember that we today stand on the shoulders of great heroes of faith whose lives and bravery bid us to take the same risks for our Saviour.
-
Together at Westpoint 2011
Photo credits:
Westpoint is a fantastic summer event - a place to come into the presence of God and learn, love and go alongside hundreds of his people.
There’s so much happening at Westpoint this year. Whether you’re looking forward to worship or winning the football competition, there’s so much in store.
The morning and evening meetings are at the heart of what Westpoint is about. We’ve got some great speakers lined up as well as an exciting programme for the children. We’re looking forward to joining with thousands of God’s people to come into his presence and learn, love and go together.
Terry Virgo is together with us at Westpoint this year, preaching twice and generally bringing apostolic input and wisdom to the weekend! Alongside Terry and Guy, Jeremy Simpkins from Manchester will be with us. Jeremy leads the Together North Bible weekend, and leads an apostolic team that serves churches in the north of England and beyond.
Lou Fellingham and Phatfish will be with us, leading worship on the Friday of Westpoint. Worship will also be led by Jon Clark from Gateway Church, Poole, and Matt Giles from Frontiers Church, Exeter.Event Booking & Contact Information
Location: Westpoint Arena, Clyst St., Mary, Exeter, Devon, EX5 1DJ, UK
Booking Link. http://www.regonline.co.uk/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=947817
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Together at North 2011
Photo credits:
Amazingly this year will be our 8th year together @ “North” and once again we are calling everyone to come to the beautiful North Yorkshire countryside @ Coulbeck Farm over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
We’ve never seen “North” as just a conference - but as a great gathering of our family of Churches - to give God glory and to celebrate all that He is doing amongst us! This year will be no exception as we once again seek to cultivate an atmosphere for Him to meet us with His wonderful presence.
North 2011 is an opportunity for over fifty churches in the North of England to gather over the August bank holiday weekend at Coulbeck Farm in the North Yorkshire countryside. It will be an opportunity to enjoy being with each other, to give God glory and to celebrate all that He is doing amongst us.
Terry Virgo, the founder of Newfrontiers and Guy Miller from CityGate Church in Bournemouth will be speaking this year and as great children’s work is also provided, the weekend is suitable for everyone!
Good camping facilities are provided although there are various hotels and bed & breakfasts in the area.
For more information please visit: http://www.north2011.com/Event Booking & Contact Information
Location: Coul Beck Farm, Sexhow, North Yorkshire, TS15 0ER, uk
Booking Link. https://newfrontiersevents.org/nf1141/general/home.asp
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
More than a medal
Photo credits: quench by digs86
Around 8,500 runners, 1200 stewards and crowds of over 80,000 all gathered for the second annual Brighton Marathon on 10 April 2011. The event raised an estimated six million pounds for charity and bought the city to a literal standstill with most major thoroughfares closed.
For the last two years Brighton’s Church of Christ the King (CCK) decided to cancel its Sunday morning meetings and throw all its resources into serving and supporting the Marathon through a number of practical steps.
Firstly through the donation of their church building, free of charge, to the Marathon team for the day itself where it serves as one their ‘zone bases’ and for several training days for volunteers in the build up.
Over 200 volunteers were provided from CCK (the largest number from any single organisation), including 40 who manned the first water station on the route and many others who stewarded at various points around the track, most of whom had a 6am start and worked through into the early part of the afternoon.
A small team from CCK was also able to serve by running the Marathon’s social media presence on Race Day. On Twitter, followers were encouraged to use the #brightonmarathon hash tag which attracted over 1800 users on the day and was the number one ‘trend’ in Brighton and in the top 10 trends nationally for most of the morning.
Tracey Allen, Volunteer Coordinator for the Brighton Marathon, wrote: For a second year running the team at Church of Christ the King excelled themselves with their support of the Brighton Marathon 2011.
We are hugely grateful for the support of the 242 volunteers on the day and also throughout the year. Particularly the use of The Clarendon Centre as a meeting place and training venue for 2000 volunteers in the lead up.
A community group with a real and full sense of community and I am humbled and delighted to work with you. Long may it continue. Thank you from the whole Brighton Marathon team.
Over 30 CCK members ran the race in blistering temperatures on the warmest day of the year so far. Jo Simmonds started training for the race in June 2010 with a short jog around a local park and ran three times a week through the autumn and winter whilst juggling church commitments and three small children (not literally).
Jo said; “Running up to six or seven hours a week is by no means an easy task for anybody and fitting this in alongside the everyday pandemonium that is life with three kids under the age of 5 doesn’t help! However quite early in my training God spoke to us that preparing for this marathon would be not solely of physical benefit but also a spiritual blessing and to the whole family too.So for me running was more about outworking God’s plan than it was about fulfilling my own personal ambition. It was often difficult to see that whilst pounding the streets on a cold January evening but long distance running is often about aiming for the next lamp post, and then the next, etc… Through that God has really taught me how to keep pressing on through the sometimes monotonous grind of motherhood. Wonderfully we’re working towards a greater prize (and one already assured) than just the finishing tape and a shiny medal.”
-
Moving to bigger places - The Hague
Photo credits: de 1166 op het Tournooiveld by Gerard Stolk en route
Eleven months ago Chris Taylor and his family moved from Sidcup to The Hague.
When we started meeting in June 2010, we gathered in homes on Sundays with our focus being on community building and prayer. These were great times of fellowship and enjoying the presence of God, but by September the entire non-Dutch core group had arrived in Holland and our focus shifted to forming and unifying around the vision and values of the church-to-be. By this point we had started meeting on Wednesdays and Sundays and through this God increased our number from the 20 adults that initially began to meet. We quickly outgrew the available living rooms and as a result, needed a venue.
So, in November, we began meeting in the hall of the Anglican Church in The Hague. The shift from people’s homes to a hall was a little strange at the beginning, but it didn’t take us long to feel comfortable. Our regular Sunday meetings were a chance to talk and teach on the vision and values we wanted to hold as a church. They were also an opportunity for people outside of the church to visit us. Over the four months that we’ve been meeting there, we have grown to around 42 committed adults, with more people (including some non-Christians) regularly coming along too. We’ve also seen a huge amount of God’s material blessings for example, many of those who came for the plant were trusting God for jobs, houses and finances and these prayers have been answered in an amazing way! In addition, we’ve had prayers for healing and pregnancy answered too!
At the beginning of March, we had our first meeting in our new venue, which is a really great meeting space in the centre of the The Hague. It has always been our desire to be somewhere in the ‘beating heart’ of the city from which we could influence, and have a vision for the whole surrounding area.
On 13 March we held what we called our “under the radar” launch. Dave and Liz Holden were with us along with a team from New Community Church, Sidcup in London. We had 93 people attend (including kids), with a number expressing a wish to come back. The time together was fantastic and there was a strong sense of God commissioning us into all that He has for us. Probably around the autumn we will have a big ‘public’ launch of Redeemer International Church, seeking to really raise its profile in the city.
It has been an amazing journey so far, full of the blessings and the grace of God. In under a year we have doubled in size and we now have serving teams, a public central venue, a band, and this month we will be starting our first preaching series through the book of Ephesians. God has been so good to us and we are massively excited for the future!
-
Crisis Relief
Photo credits: Kenya Famine by Zoriah
From time to time we launch appeals to meet the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering a crisis. Whether it's famine, flood, drought or persecution, we want to support churches and individuals in practical ways.
Currently there are needs in the places listed below…
How you can give
Give by cheque
If you are able to help, you can give through your local church or by sending a cheque made payable to Newfrontiers to the address below.Newfrontiers Finance Team
The Matrix Complex
91 Peterborough Rd
London SW6 3BU
Mark all gifts
Please mark all gifts ‘Crisis Fund’, unless you have a preference for where your gift should be directed, in which case please state the country.
Give online
In order to serve you better, we have also enabled an online giving facility for individuals to use. Please follow the links below to direct your gift.
Funds you can give toGeneral Crisis
This is a general fund to enable us to quickly meet needs around the world as they arise.Give online to the General Crisis Fund.
Kenya
Edward Buria is once again facing crisis among his churches due to severe drought in Kenya. Extracts from text messages and phone calls in the early months of 2010 revealed the following:
1.6million Kenyans were receiving food aid to compensate for the drought, but the government expected that could rise to five million by March. Samburu is particularly badly affected.
Two members of a Newfrontiers church in Samburu died of starvation.
It was estimated that 27m livestock were at risk, and food prices had risen by up to 50%
Edward met with senior leaders from many churches, and together they have planned to work towards sustainable solutions, as well as meeting the immediate crisis needs.
December 2011 Update
Allow me to once again most sincerely thank all our dear friends from Kenya, and from the International Community who have stood with us this year. Your support has been expressed through much love and amazing generosity. Thank you so much! Together we have made so many people to survive the worst of all droughts ever witnessed and experienced in this country in over 60 years. Through the initiative and vehicle that God has been using for many years now, dubbed Together Against Famine (TAF) so many lives have been saved from death and much hope reborn among the affected.Since my last report on the crisis that our country has been battling with since the beginning of the year, causing rivers and vegetation to dry up, and which has claimed a number of human lives and those of thousands of animals, things have changed a lot, giving us a reason to celebrate especially with the arrival of the much awaited rain. In some parts of the country, we have had excessive rain that has swept away the lives of people and brought much destruction especially to infrastructure and road network. In the last month I have had the chance of traversing many parts where we are still assisting (and we will maintain the relief supplies until March/April 2012 when we are expecting a harvest from the crops that are being planted at the moment) and I have noticed most of these places have received a significant amount of rainfall.
We have been so encouraged by the testimonies and good news stories from the beneficiaries that our media team has been able to capture each time they have been in all the places we are targeting in the past 10 months. It is not possible to write down all the hundreds of wonderful stories from people who have sincerely shared how our efforts have saved their lives and given them hope when hope was not in their horizons.
The next few months (until April 2012) remain critical in both making sure all the good work achieved in the last 10 months does not waste away, and in making sure those that we have been assisting stand on their own and move on with their lives. This being the case, our plan of action is as follows:
Continued relief supplies in small quantities
We plan to continue supplying relief supplies in small reduced quantities to the most venerable (i.e. children, sick, elderly and pregnant mothers) in the following places Samburu, Turkana, Tharaka and Mbeere and very few cases in other places where we have been targeting. Relief supplies include the following:- Unimix, (this is a very rich and concentrated with minerals and vitamins children meal which has amazing nutritious benefits to children, sick and elderly) Maize, Beans, in small quantities Sugar and Cooking fat.
Increased sustainable projects and programmes
Our plan is to increase our efforts on sustainable programmes for a more permanent solution. The pastoralist communities depend on livestock as a way of livelihood and during the crisis most of these animals succumbed. We therefore plan to issue them with a few cows, goats, sheep and camels.
Alongside this we plan to give capital for small business start-ups to those that lost their businesses during the crisis to start all over again.
By the end of April 2012, we hope to have completed 2 more sand dams in Samburu and Mbeere to provide water for domestic use and animals.
Training & skills impartation programmes:
- We will be training local committees in the management and how to sustain sand dams, pan dams and boreholes
- Training on basic business management skills, fish farming and animal keeping management etc
To this point, a very generous £230,000 has been raised through Newfrontiers churches. Thank you for your support! However, a further £160,000 is needed to fulfil the programme.
Give online to the Kenya Crisis Relief Fund
-
Pray for the Sick, Preach the Gospel
Photo credits:
Adrian Holloway (ChristChurch London) travels widely, serving churches around the UK. He has witnessed many incredible healings and sees responses to the gospel regularly. Louisa Collington asked him about his experiences and what he is learning whilst travelling the UK, visiting Newfrontiers churches.
Tell us a bit about what you are doing at the moment.
There are six things that I am focusing on; equipping the saints in the area of evangelism, teaching believers, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, defending the faith and writing. Defending the faith is all about apologetics. I have debated with two quite high profile atheists publicly, and am also involved in training Christians to handle the strongest objections that unbelievers raise with us.What are some of the ways in which churches are stepping out in faith for healings?
People are regularly healed in churches around the UK. It’s not the case that there are only a few people in the world who have the gift of healing, and that they see all the healings. On the contrary, there are many in the UK who preach at our Front Edge Sunday healing and evangelistic meetings who consistently see people healed. At ChristChurch London, we have developed a healing team, who regularly pray for people after the service. Anyone can come to the front and be prayed for, so healing is not restricted to a few gifted individuals.
What have been the significant moments over the last six months?
It was a great privilege to preach at Newday 2010, where we saw 350 people make a first-time commitment to become a Christian, and we saw 300 people come to the front to fill out a card to report a physical healing. When I visited Frontiers Church, Exeter, in October I met Hannah Simm, who explained to me that she was healed at Newday in August 2010 after I had prayed for the sick. What’s unusual is that she was healed of two conditions at the same time. She was born without hearing in one ear and without a ball and socket joint in one of her hips, making one leg shorter than the other. After healing ministry at Newday she could hear out of her deaf ear, and she felt her leg grow! On visiting the specialists, there was no apparent medical explanation. Praise God!Why do you think people are sceptical of healing?
People are attracted to authenticity and integrity. So one of the reasons why Jesus was attractive to people was because of his authenticity. The healings he did added credibility to his extraordinary claims. Now of course for us, one of the hallmarks of British society today is that there is a high level of scepticism. However, if you can present something that is real, and even be a bit understated about it, then people are open to being persuaded. In some ways, healing is in the same category as the evidence for the resurrection. We have some bold claims that we want to make about the importance and uniqueness of Christ. We are able to support those claims by pointing to signs and evidence.The last Front Edge weekend saw over 70 respond for salvation. Why do you think it is important for Newfrontiers to do these kind of events?
What is interesting about healing is that it is generally considered to be somewhat elusive and outside our grasp, even though the thrust of the Bible’s teaching on the subject seems to suggest the opposite. I will often pray for the sick first, and then preach the gospel. I find that often it is non-Christians who are healed, and that they are then first to respond to the gospel appeal later in the meeting. This is a huge open door for us to walk through. I work quite hard to go back to those who have reported immediate healings and get the medical verdict after they’ve been back to see the consultant or specialist. Happily, I have many reports from dumbfounded doctors, who can find no obvious medical reason for immediate healings. I want to know that people really are being healed, and the big news is . . . THEY ARE! -
Windows of Hope for Young Offenders
Photo credits: Image © Caleb Simmons
In 2008, Caleb Simmons, an illustrator and designer from Canterbury was commissioned to create artwork for an interfaith chapel in a secure centre for young offenders.
‘The more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people’ - Vincent van Gogh
Art has the potential to be powerful, provocative, educational and captivating and if Van Gogh is correct, then it is at its most powerful when coupled with a deep love for people.
In 2008, Caleb Simmons, an illustrator and designer from Canterbury was commissioned to create artwork for an interfaith chapel in a secure centre for young offenders.
‘I was asked to create four stained glass windows,’ he explained ‘which would be printed on metre-squared transparent stickers, and stuck on the chapel windows. This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, making art that spoke of God’s love to people in a troubled place.’
The windows were to serve as teaching aids in a religious space used by both Christians and Muslims. This raised challenges on many levels; cultural, logistical and theological. Stained glass windows are a feature of Christian tradition, but don’t easily translate for a Muslim context. The content therefore needed to be strong enough to cross this cultural divide. The second challenge was a logistical one. When the chapel was used for Muslim worship, the Imam would draw a curtain to cover up the altar, the cross and two of the four windows. This variable layout meant that the first two windows had to be applicable to both faiths, whilst the third and fourth could be explicitly Christian in content.
This provided the third challenge; a theological one. ‘I wanted to create a series of images that held together as a whole,’ explained Caleb, ‘but which could also stand alone in their own right. I wanted to respect everyone, but without compromising on my own belief in the exclusivity of Jesus. As I researched, I found certain shared foundational stories upon which I could draw: an affirmation of creation and the stories of Moses and David. I decided the first two windows should depict these shared elements in a way that respected Muslims, but provoked curiosity about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.’
By way of various artistic techniques and recurring themes weaved through the windows, Caleb sought to narrate a story that reached its climax in Christ. For example, he featured characters to whom the young offenders would be able to relate. David; a youngster from an obscure background who struggled with rejection, fear, lust, deception and violence. Mary; a neglected woman in need of a saviour, who Jesus delivered from torment. Each of these characters served as a teaching aid for how God’s love can restore broken people.
I am drawn to Caleb’s story as a great example of a Christian taking their art and their faith seriously, employing both in an effort to educate, as well as offer love and hope for the marginalised in society. His work demonstrates commitment to portraying how all human longings are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, whilst also displaying great respect for others. It’s a wonderful example of thoughtful, provocative, but winsome, cultural engagement.
Caleb is a member of The City Church Canterbury. See more of his work at calebsimmons.co.uk
-
What You Think Matters!
Photo credits: istock - © RichVintage
One of the theological debates currently swirling around is to what extent ‘worldview’ is significant in seeing culture change. In essence, what this means is, “To what extent does how people think affect the way that culture operates?” This question then generates further ones, like, “If we can change the thinking of enough people, can we change culture?” Or, “Why does it sometimes seem that most people think about things one way, but culture operates in a different way?”
These are big questions, and we want to contribute to the debate by launching a new website entitled “Whatyouthinkmatters.org” We think our thinking does matter, for several reasons, and it is these reasons that will inform the content of the blog.
For instance, what we think does matter because Scripture calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2) and to take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5). Our worship is not simply in word or action – the very way that we think forms part of our worship of Jesus.
That should get us thinking!
It means that our thinking has greater significance than simply our personal take on the world, or even than on how our thinking plays out in the way that the world works. It means that God has designs on our thinking, just as he does on every aspect of our being. If we are to worship him fully we need to worship with our heart, and soul, and mind (Mt 22:37).
What we think also matters because Scripture tells us that we are to be always ready to give a reason for the hope that we have (1 Pet 3:15). It is difficult to give a reasoned defence of what we believe if we have never thought about it.
We are also exhorted to unite in the same mind and the same judgment (1 Cor 1:10). Again, if we have not, together, worked through what it is that we believe, we will not be in a position to be united in our thoughts.
The extent to which we are called to ‘transform society’ is itself a matter of debate amongst us at the moment. Perhaps we shouldn’t use language like ‘transform’? Perhaps, as influential author James Davison Hunter urges we should instead aim to live as a ‘faithful presence’ in our culture. Or, as Andy Crouch puts it, perhaps our objective should be to ‘create culture’. These things take some thought!
In the Newfrontiers family of churches we have many people who spend a lot of time thinking. We want to un-bottle some of their thoughts, and share them with a wider world. Our hope is that this will assist us all as we seek to live with Christian clarity in a confusing and messy world – that it will help us in our thinking about the things that matter.Matthew Hosier (Gateway Church, Poole) is one of several regular contributors to the new website. For more articles and resources visit whatyouthinkmatters.org
-
Social Action - Where Next?
Photo credits: Image © 303db
Martin Charlesworth (Barnabas Community Church, Shrewsbury) shares his heart for social action and unpacks some of the plans for 2011.
‘Twelve years ago, the late Simon Pettit gave a seminal, passionate and prophetic message at the Newfrontiers Leadership conference in Brighton. It was entitled ‘Remember the Poor’ from Galatians 2:10. He made a call for response at the end and I was one of the hundreds who flooded to the front of the hall. I really hadn’t expected such a message and I hadn’t expected to be rushing down from my seat at the end of the session! However, we each dedicated ourselves to playing a part in enabling the church to develop a more robust and significant social action agenda. It was an unforgettable moment – but it was quite a long time ago!
In the intervening years there has been increasing commitment and action within our churches to embrace the call to local social action as a distinct and important part of our mission. There have been literally hundreds of exciting local initiatives developing in such areas as homelessness, debt advice, pregnancy counselling, support of asylum seekers, working with the elderly etc. However, perhaps there has not yet been a sense of collective vision and prioritisation of social action across our churches. Also, some churches have struggled with issues of resourcing and support for the work they have undertaken.
David Stroud and his apostolic team have recently re-emphasised the importance of social action affecting our society. David made this very clear in one of his messages at the Together on a Mission conference last July. Linked to this, David has asked me to lead a new Social Action task team which started work in January. There are a number of things we intend to do, including: visiting all the UK regions to meet with groups of pastors and other leaders; re-establishing an annual Social Action conference (coming in Autumn 2011 – details coming soon to newfrontiersuk.org); consulting with the churches to help assess what the needs and opportunities are, and setting up training and networking opportunities where possible. We shall also be thinking how our concern for disadvantaged groups in society may lead to us engaging with the political and public policy world.
We shall also be starting a blog in the first half of 2011, which will give an opportunity to update people on recent happenings, to reflect biblically and to hear about what’s going on around the UK. ‘
If you want to be in touch or find out more then please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
-
Teaching, Training and time with the Trinity
Photo credits:
FP-Impacters gathered at Center Parcs in Elveden Forest, Suffolk for a week of fellowship, training and ministry. Those doing projects all over the country kicked off the New Year by learning more about God and more about themselves. Simon Holley, Jenni Dalziel, Neal Glanville and Daniel Partington describe their experiences…
The training week saw Simon Holley, who leads the King’s Arms Church, Bedford, teach for two days on Freedom in Christ with Wendy Mann and the church ministry team helping FP-Impacters to grow in prophecy and words of knowledge. Andrew Wilson, an elder at King’s Church, Eastbourne, spoke on joy and self-pity, whilst Steve Tibbert, lead elder at King’s Church, Catford, trained them in confidence and leadership.
Simon Holley said: “Over the two days that I teach we try to give the students a strong foundation on which to build the rest of their lives. We model and develop an authentic culture, teaching them the power of genuine community where the masks are off and you can receive the love of the Father and other people without having to pretend you’re someone you’re not. We expect to see the power of the Holy Spirit bring massive freedom to lives and this year we had a phenomenal time with so many stories of healing and freedom that we ran out of time to tell them all. It really is a special week and one of the highlights of my year - it’s a huge privilege to be there.”
Currently, 140 people are undertaking FP-Impact at numerous stages of life. Some have taken a gap year between A Levels and university, some are in transition between jobs, and others have taken time out of work to devote their lives to God. For most, this church-oriented project is a time to discover what God wants them to do next, and can be both challenging and exciting!
Jenni Dalziel is currently serving the worship team and community groups at her home church, The Community Church, Putney. She is taking a gap year after university to study and serve God: “My brother did FP-Impact a few years ago and it completely changed his life! His experience had always been in the back of my mind but, having just graduated with a teaching degree and plenty of work experience, I never thought I would take another year out from the profession I loved. After some timely conversations with friends, I realised that I was too quickly being shaped by the world’s expectation of careers and that serving God and learning more about Him for a year would give my life an amazing foundation.“
Jenni found Center Parcs to be a highlight: “Center Parcs was an amazing time of fellowship, worship, teaching and connection with God. Being able to learn and be challenged by Simon Holley and his team from The Kings Arms, Bedford, was an amazing opportunity. Their honesty and boldness was so admirable and something I would love to reflect in my own life. Seeing so many FP-Impacters healed emotionally and physically was amazing and allowed me to be refreshed again in the power of God.”
Neal Glanville is currently serving the worship and youth teams at his home church, King’s Church, Catford, after leaving college last year. He said that the week at Center Parcs was the best week of his life: “God started to fine tune a lot of things in my life. He released me from strongholds that had been holding me back for years; He brought freedom into my worship and spoke into my future. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that week!”
Although most FP-Impacters join the team in their home church, some transfer to a new area and a new church. Daniel Partington from Norfolk moved to London to work for Beacon Church, Brixton at the start of the term last September: “I had been in the same church for four years and really felt I needed to move on from it and experience a different expression of church in a different culture. I had just finished my A Levels but had found the atmosphere of sixth form really draining and my relationship with God had suffered. I was quite burnt out from learning, so I decided to take a gap year and focus on God. I wanted to get some character issues straightened out and lay foundations for disciplines in my life.”
Daniel is one of the few FP-Impacters working in a church plant so he does anything from youth and children’s work to design and media, which he finds stretches him in every direction. He said the week of teaching at Center Parcs was invaluable: “It was so refreshing to meet with God in a new way. Being with all the other FP-Impacters was also brilliant as it strengthened the friendships I had already made and allowed me to make new ones too. People came so open for God, which meant He moved amazingly. The openness in the room and the lack of judgement and condemnation was incredible and is something I think we should each seek to bring back to our individual churches and church as a whole.”
All those currently on the FP-Impact course at bases across the country are continuing to deepen their walk with God and, through monthly training blocks, strengthen their knowledge in all areas of doctrine. The course provides a systematic theological framework and also includes training sessions on church planting, working with the disadvantaged, children, young people and students.
Daniel is now looking forward to his future and how he can keep growing in faith: “I hope this year will allow me to grow into a stronger, more confident man in God, making me put disciplines in my life that will stay with me forever like daily devotions and heart-led worship. I have given this year over to God so that He can openly change me and mould me into the man He wants me to be and He has already started that process. I pray it continues on throughout the rest of my life.”
If you are interested to learn more about this exciting year for God, visit training.newfrontiersuk.org/ for more details.
-
Leave a Legacy to Newfrontiers
Photo credits: Clare Glen by DTP David Thompson Photography
We believe that God has called us to play our part in changing the expression of Christianity around the world. Primarily, we want to do this by starting churches, leading people to Christ, caring for the poor around the world and reaching the nations with the gospel.
Your regular giving to the local church, and to the work of Newfrontiers, helps to bring more of God’s kingdom to local communities, and over the years we have seen tangible effects of this faithful giving.
Perhaps you’ve never considered the far-reaching impact of your gifts. Every gift generously donated helps us fulfil the vision that God has given us, and this impact could extend even beyond your lifetime. Leaving a legacy gift could be one way of doing this.
Once you have provided for your family, please do think about leaving a gift, no matter how small, to the work of Newfrontiers. This gift will help us to further God’s Kingdom by equipping churches, helping the disadvantaged, and reaching people groups who are yet to hear the gospel.
New Will
Making a will is an opportunity to help others and express your Christian commitment. It need not be complex or expensive. However, we strongly recommend you go to a Solicitor to do this. Although you will have to pay a fee, you will receive sound professional advice and can be sure that your wishes will be achieved.
When you leave a legacy to us, the amount is subtracted from the gross value of your estate when it is assessed for inheritance tax. This will reduce the amount payable to the Exchequer and allow that money to support the good work of Newfrontiers instead.
There are three ways to give in your Will:
1. Residual Legacy: the remains of an estate after all other bequests & expenses have been deducted.
2. Specific Legacy: when a particular item is bequeathed e.g. stocks or shares.
3. Pecuniary Legacy: a specified sum of money. However, please bear in mind that inflation changes the value of money dramatically in the future.
Codicil
If you already have a will and would now like to include a gift to ‘New Frontiers International Trust Ltd’, this can be done using a Codicil. A Codicil need not change the terms of your current will, but can simply add a new instruction.
Making a will could cost you nothing when you use “Will Aid”. This is a free will service every year in November with participating Solicitors. You can find out more information at http://www.willaid.org.uk/ High. demand for this service means some solicitors may soon be booked out, so we recommend arranging your November appointment as soon as possible.
Thank you
To help us plan ahead and thank you properly, please do let us know if you have left a gift to Newfrontiers in your will.
With thanks,
Ross Bull for the Newfrontiers Team
Please contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with any queries. -
We’re all going on a Short Term Team
Photo credits: St.-Petersburg. Vitebsky Railway Station by Oleg Mirabo
Do you want to be involved in global mission around the world? Can you see yourself living overseas and working in a foreign land? This month we take a look at short term mission which can be an important step for those who want to explore the possibility of moving into a new season with God…
Venturing into the unknown can be daunting, so working with church planters in a different country for a couple of weeks can be a great way of experiencing what it’s like to do God’s work in a new culture.
Short term mission teams are helping Newfrontiers to be a family of churches spanning international cities and small villages. This happens through living alongside people of another culture, serving the leadership of the church and being involved with their communities.
Jo Wells (ChristChurch London) co-ordinates cross-cultural mission teams for Newfrontiers in the UK and finds seeking God abroad with others to be an eye-opening experience: “It’s a chance to step out of what you’re familiar with, and move in faith and gifts in new ways. You can learn more about who God is and what He has for you. It’s an ongoing part of your journey and if you sense that God is calling you to a church plant, it’s a great opportunity.”
Newfrontiers in the UK runs three types of cross cultural mission teams for a broad age range. The Newday Global Teams are for 16 to 19 year olds and are hosted by church plants in European cities for seven to ten days. Those on the team serve the church, and do an assortment of activities such as prayer walking and worshipping on the streets. Mobilise Worldwide is for students and twenties who wish to explore what God might have for them in the future. Over a similar timeframe, the trips include on-location training, seminars and teaching about leading and living by faith. The Life Change teams go further afield and are for anyone over 18. Recent teams have had the opportunity to get involved with community building projects and support medical outreach teams.
Jo said: “When the Life Change Team went to Zimbabwe, they attended a Foundations for Farming Conference which is currently helping to transform the farming yields in the country. One girl on the team was a physiotherapist so she did some physiotherapy with those who needed it and others went out and prayed with people and communities.
“In my experience the team dynamic has a real family feel. Everyone comes with their own expectations but everyone wants the best for one another. We have specific times to pray and encourage people in their gifts.”
Although many of the teams go to English speaking countries, the Life Change Teams have visited Africa, Mexico, Turkey and India where the language presents its challenges. Jo thinks it’s a great way to highlight the commitment that is involved in making a new country your home: “In some situations the language barrier allows people to grasp the task that is ahead. It is advised that you commit two years to learning the language so it gives you a feel for what it might be like and makes you realise that God speaks in many languages!”
This coming April, Mobilise Worldwide is going to The Hague in The Netherlands and St. Petersburg in Russia and a Life Change team will be heading to the Middle East. Perhaps you are sensing that God has plans for you in these places? If so, you can visit the sites listed below or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) before the application deadline on 21 February.
Visit newfrontierstogether.org/nations, mobiliseuk.org/worldwide or newday.generation.org/global for more information.
-
Everything Dinner with Andy Crouch
Photo credits:
We would like to invite you to join us for our very first Everything Dinner.
Taking place on Fri 25 March 2011, it’s your opportunity to hear Andy Crouch speak in a small setting, ask questions, & connect with others who want to make a difference in their worlds.Hosted by David Stroud, leader of the Newfrontiers UK team, the event will take place on 25 March 2011 at Chez Gerard on London’s Southbank, from 19.00-22.00. Tickets cost £39 each, and include a drinks reception followed by a three course dinner. As part of the evening, Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making and keynote speaker at the Everything Conference 2011 will speak and take questions.
This is an unique opportunity for people who want to explore in more detail what it means to be Salt and Light in society. It will be a chance to connect with others, share stories, be inspired and see what might be possible as we seek to make a difference together in our nation.Event Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. http://everythingconference.org/articles/article/everything_dinner_with_andy_crouch/
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Mobilise 2011
Photo credits:
God is raising up a new generation of men and women passionate about advancing the gospel.
Taking place over the week 12-15 July 2011 in Brighton, gathering upto 1600 students and twenties to encounter God and be equipped for the mission ahead.As well as providing great teaching and worship, Mobilise offers the unique opportunity for you to stand alongside thousands of international church leaders as part of the Together on a Mission conference held at the same time.
Mobilise is unashamedly about helping you to see the bigger picture and equipping you for leadership in order to advance the gospel and find God’s call on your life.
Join us for Mobilise at the Brighton Centre, 12-15 July 2011.Event Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. https://booking.event-connections.co.uk/nf1120/general/home.asp
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Together On A Mission 2011
Photo credits:
God is revealing much to us about our future as a family of churches. Words such as ‘Multiplication’ and ‘Expansion’ are on our lips and in our hearts.
Together on a Mission 2011, combining Leadership from around the world with Mobilise, the upcoming generation of Students and Twenties, will be a launch pad for a new season. We shall be sharing much about the future and how we believe God wants us to continue to work together while seeking to bless the wider body of Christ.What will I leave with?
During the conference we believe you will receive fresh vision and be equipped to lead your church into greater effectiveness.What will the programme include?
• Main sessions with well-known speakers
• Training Tracks and Seminars to strengthen you in your gifts and skills
• An evening of Prayer for the World
• Presentations from many nations on church planting and other activitiesWhen?
July 12th-15th 2011Where?
Brighton, UK.When can I book?
Bookings are now open. View Bookings page here.How much will it cost?
See our Conference Costs here.Is it open to all Church Leaders, Students (tertiary education) and Twenties?
Yes! All are welcome.Will it be fully booked?
Yes! This is the last in our series of Leadership and Mobilise Conferences and we anticipate it will fill quickly. You are advised to book early.Event Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. https://newfrontiersevents.org/NF1120/general/home.asp
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Everything Conference 2012
Photo credits:
From the very start, our call as people made in the image of God has been to cultivate, protect, take care of, and bring order to God’s creation. We have been tasked with bringing out the beauty in all God has made, working together for the common good.
The outworking of this call will look different for each of us, as we learn to engage with the specific setting in which we find ourselves.
It begins with understanding that God is interested in all that we do. He does not simply have an agenda for our church life, but for our work, our relationships, and our involvement in our neighbourhoods.
We are thrilled to be welcoming Dr Os Guinness, a direct descendent of the famous Dublin brewery family, as our keynote speaker in 2012. Os will be giving us some practical ways in which believers can connect with and influence their world, and through interviews and short videos we will hear the fascinating stories of others putting this into action, including:
- Award-winning comedian Paul Kerensa, a script-writer of the hit comedy show Miranda, explaining how a Christian can bring something of God into a secular comedy-writing team;
- Three businessman-brothers telling us about the really innovative way they are fighting the sex-trade;
- Finding out why a small group of people have committed to live in an inner-city community for a number of decades and how they are seeking to bring about change within that community;
And much more!I will also be speaking, and we will complete the package with Spirit-filled worship, prayer and ministry. It’s shaping up to be an amazing day.
Whatever you are passionate about, Everything 2012 has inspiration, ideas and tools you can put into practice in your world – you don’t want to miss it. Advance tickets are on sale now for just £20 (tickets on the door will cost £25), so click here to book, then spread the word.
Event Booking & Contact Information
Location: Mermaid Conference Centre, 2 Puddle Dock, London, EC4V 3DB
Booking Link. http://guestlistapp.com/events/70734
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Evangelists’ Summit
Photo credits:
The Evangelists’ Summit is open to ANYONE who is on the leadership team of their local church, who is carrying responsibility for evangelism. As a result, we would encourage lead elders to attend, and many do. The above criteria exists so that the Q&A sessions with visiting speakers, and also the small group discussions we occasionally have, can be conducted at a leadership team level (as opposed to a Frontier Project level, for example).
David Smith (who leads Kingsgate Community Church, Peterborough) is amongst the speakers at our up-coming Newfrontiers Evangelists’ Summit from 2-4 March 2011. We are delighted that David has agreed to come and tell us the full and in depth story of his church’s remarkable growth from 20 to 1,600 people in 20 years, and to answer our questions. We expect this will prove to be valuable listening for anyone seeking to grow a large church outside London!
Richard Cunningham (Director of UCCF) and Greg Haslam (Pastor of Westminster Chapel) are also amongst our guest speakers at Milton Keynes. Richard will be training us in apologetics and will also do an additional session of Q&A about how University CUs and Newfrontiers churches can work together on campus and off it. Greg will be teaching on the doctrine of hell, which will be the main theological training at the event.
In addition there will be various seminars related to saved and added growth.
For the sake of clarity, let me repeat that The Evangelists’ Summit is open to ANYONE who is on the leadership team of their local church, who is carrying responsibility for evangelism. As a result, we would encourage lead elders to attend, and many do. The above criteria exists so that the Q&A sessions with visiting speakers, and also the small group discussions we occasionally have, can be conducted at a leadership team level (as opposed to a Frontier Project level, for example).
The online booking has now gone LIVE. Anyone who fits the criteria is welcome to book in online immediately at newfrontiersuk.org/evangelistssummit.
The Evangelists’ Summit exists to:
* inspire, encourage and up-skill those doing the work of an evangelist across our UK churches.
* share ideas that have actually worked in Britain
* explore, refine and develop evangelistic gifting
* focus on saved and added growth and how to achieve it in the local church
* have fellowship with others at a similar stage of life and ministryHotel accommodation is provided.
If you have any questions regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact Phill Gray, who is administrating the Evangelists’ Summit, at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Event Booking & Contact Information
Booking Link. http://newfrontiersevents.org/nf1004/general/home.asp
Contact Email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) -
Introducing Mission Training Tracks
As a family of churches on a global mission together, we believe we are called to play our part in reaching every nation with the gospel; and a great way to get more involved is through our Missions Training Track...
We invite you to come along to our mission awareness day, developing your call day, Islamic world day or to one of our residential training weekends to help prepare you for church planting and mission in other cultures.
These events can help you with how to discern your call, give you training on cross cultural evangelism and the key problems you may face in other cultures.
There will be opportunity for group and personal discussion with other leaders and those that have been ‘in the field.’ Whether you feel ready to go or are just exploring God’s call, come along, get trained, find out information and start to play your part in reaching every nation with the gospel!
Should you wish to attend any of these events, please can you respond by e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or drop me a call on 01234 353312, letting us know if you have any dietary requirements. Also check out our NEW website at www.newfrontierstogether.org/nations
-
Hello from The Hague!
Earlier this year, Chris and Karin Taylor took their two sons to start a new life in The Hague, with the vision of planting and growing an exciting church in the political capital of The Netherlands. Seven months on, Redeemer International Church is now meeting regularly with over 45 people from different nations attending. Do watch this inspiring video...
-
Heal the Sick, Raise the Dead!
Photo credits:
The Crown Church, Hillingdon recently hosted an outreach week, inviting Cape Town based speaker Lex Loizides to encourage the church to step out in healing. Seven days of tireless advertising and leafleting saw over 80 new people through the church doors and amazing healings were witnessed.
In November, The Crown Church, Hillingdon, spent a week on the streets in Uxbridge, Ruislip, Hayes and West Drayton inviting local people to a healing-focused church service. Lex Loizides joined the team from the Thursday and preached at the Sunday meeting.
Staff and volunteers from the Crown Church, and members of London based FP Impact teams helped with leafleting and street outreach throughout the week. A 30ft billboard advert was also placed at a central location in Uxbridge.
Lex gave great encouragement to the outreach team before they took to the streets on the Friday and Saturday mornings. Some team members engaged in encouraging conversations where testimonies were shared and some shoppers in Uxbridge accepted prayer for illness.
Lex considers healing a normal part of New Testament evangelism: “Healing is evidently part and parcel of the presentation of the gospel. The text of scripture itself is so laden with examples of supernatural power accompanying the presentation of the Christian message that I’ve become convinced that those two things belong together.”
“I think what we are trying to exercise is a biblically based model of Christian ministry. We look at Jesus and see that healing was very much part of his ministry, that’s an example for all of us. Jesus said: “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.” If we then look at disciples in the gospels and the apostles and others in the book of Acts we see that healing was a normal part of the church’s witness.”
After a week of spreading the word, Lex preached on the ‘Value of your Soul’ from Matthew 16 to a congregation with 80 more people than usually attend.
Over 30 came forward for prayer and there were some clear testimonies of healing during the meeting. Lex had specifically mentioned someone who had pain in their left side and neck, and a visitor responded for prayer. The look of amazement on his face when he realised the pain in his neck had gone, was one of the highlights of the morning.
Lex wants to encourage Christians to gain confidence in their faith. He said he has seen more healings in the UK and Europe than anywhere else: “I think part of being disciples of Christ is learning to recognise what we have, and growing in confidence so we might be able to say with Peter: ‘What I have, I give to you in the name of Jesus!’ That would be a wonderfully biblical way to serve!”
“This biblical combination of convincing proclamation and trusting God for demonstrations of his power is giving us gains in secular Europe and we would do well to ask: “Is God doing something amongst us?” Whilst I’m not at all against a rational apologetic approach, I’m encouraged that we are seeing an increase of responses for salvation when the gospel message is accompanied by demonstrations of the Spirit’s power.”
James Hunting, who leads the Crown Church said: “It has been great to get the message out into the community. The week has really helped us not get introspective but keep looking outwards and focusing on those not yet in the church”.
This article was originally published in eConnect magazine December 2010. -
Helping the Homeless this Christmas
Photo credits: Homless by ~Erez
Homelessness in the UK is an ongoing problem that affects thousands of people every day. With the harsh weather that is upon us around the festive season, rough sleepers are in urgent need of help to get them off the streets and safely on the road to recovery. Newfrontiers churches around the country are making an impact with various projects that provide for those in need, giving the homeless a happier Christmas in 2010.
According to the National Statistics on Statutory Homelessness for April to June this year, over 10,000 people in England were recognised as needing assistance for being unintentionally homeless, and 6,040 of those involved children. In London, 3673 people were seen rough sleeping in 2009/10, of which, one in ten were women.
The Mayor of London pledged that these staggering numbers would be reduced to zero by 2012. Many of our churches across the UK are working together with their local communities, and praying that this can also be achieved across the whole country.
The King’s Arms Project, which was founded by King’s Arms Church, Bedford in 1989, has grown so significantly that it is now a registered charity, employing 20 people to make provision to help the homeless. A 14-bed hostel and 18-bed night shelter cater for rough sleepers, in addition to a Friday night meeting, which feeds 40-60 people each week with a hot meal and warm conversation.
There are many passages in the Bible that call and encourage us as Christians to social action. Matthew 25:35 reads: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” as well as Isaiah 61 and Luke 6:20-21 amongst others.
Zoe Joy is the manager of Barton House, Bedford, a move-on hostel for those suffering with mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction. She also used to manage the night shelter, which is open 365 days a year. She cites Isaiah 61 as encouragement: “It’s awesome to see God bring to life his promises of ‘oaks of righteousness’. There are many people in the church who have been brought through the King’s Arms Project by God and are now totally changed. We often see God break in and heal people. Just last week one of our residents was in our daily staff prayer meeting and met with God powerfully and was aware of God talking to him for the first time.”
As Christmas draws near, church initiatives around the country are gearing up to make Christmas special. At King’s Church, Catford, Simon Allen heads up the Jericho Road Project, a social action scheme to help rough sleepers, homeless and ex-offenders. He said: “I think it presents a massive challenge to the church to help the homeless. We are housing people as fast as we can, but there are still people sleeping out in the snow tonight.” In Catford, over 70 volunteers help to house 26 people in low support accommodation and to run a weekly meal entitled ‘The Feast’, feeding between 80 and 90 people each week.
A special Christmas Feast is taking place this year to provide around 150 people with a full Christmas dinner. Presents, games, karaoke and a choir will also feature at the event that is being funded by Barclays. Those attending decided exactly how the money is spent as part of a money training day hosted by the bank.
With presents, a full Christmas dinner, stockings, quizzes, DVD days and lots of socialising, the King’s Arm’s Project’s Chief Executive Officer Ali Green said: “I can’t imagine Christmas without the Project: demonstrating God’s heart and love to people when they are most acutely aware of their loss and need is an incredible privilege.”
As a month of snow is forecast for the festive season, let us remember Isaiah 61, and work together to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.This article was originally published in eConnect Magazine December 2010
-
Everything Conference - A photo essay
A visual summary of the 2010 everything conference
-
-
Going Global
The Global Zone was a highlight of this year's Together on a Mission conference. It was a great opportunity to hear about what God is doing around the world, and to get a glimpse into the life of a church planter. Interviews about church planting in the UK and overseas, and short term mission can be seen here. Watch the videos…
Global Zone 2010 - Base Camp from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.
Global Zone 2010 - European Cities from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.
Global Zone 2010 - UK Church Planting from Newfrontiers on Vimeo.
-
To do God or not to do God. The question.
Photo credits: eM by a shadow of my future self
Andrew Wilson (King's Church Eastbourne) enters the science and religion debate with this piece originally published as a guest post for Articles of Faith on The Times Online on Tuesday 28 September 2010.
‘So the science versus God debate is back. And just like last time, it’s left me feeling I must be missing something.Reading the exchange of articles over the last few days, I feel a bit like someone who has walked into a fierce debate over whether Hamlet is a character created by Shakespeare, or whether on the other hand he is merely the son of Gertrude.’ Read on…
-
‘The Best Day of my Life!’
The past few months have been something of a rollercoaster for Louisa Collington. Long-time friend and ChristChurch London member Naomi Bedford invited her to church and this invitation led to a complete life change for Louisa. We asked her to share her story with us.
‘I’d been casually attending church with Naomi over a number of months, whenever I visited her in London. I really enjoyed going, but wasn’t sure how it affected me. She invited me to a week-long student conference in July, and I went along, not really knowing what to expect. Friday 9 July was, without a shadow of a doubt, the best day of my life. I was at the Mobilise conference for the first time as a semi-believer, with my friend Naomi, who had been a Christian for most of her life.
In the first session of the final day at Mobilise the most incredible thing happened to me. I was listening to a sermon by Julian Adams with my friend and it was really speaking to me. When he had finished preaching, some people shared prophetic words about injuries that they thought God wanted to heal; inviting those who felt it applied to them to the front. One person said they thought God wanted to heal someone with whiplash injuries and another described jaw pains. This made me feel rather emotional because of what I was suffering with at the time.
It was three years prior to this that I was in a car crash resulting in a number of injuries. I suffered a gross displacement of my mandible (lower jaw), which meant my jaw broke on both sides and the front section ‘dropped out’. I needed surgery to insert mini metal plates to re-align and reconstruct my jaw, I was unable to eat for two weeks, couldn’t eat tough or chewy foods for months and had struggled with uncomfortable pain ever since. I also suffered severe whiplash to my neck, shoulders and back and developed travel anxiety as a passenger in cars. This anxiety got so extreme that on one occasion I had a panic attack in the back seat of a car. Psychological treatment had helped somewhat, but I would still always sit in the front seat of the car when travelling as a passenger in order to keep my own watch on the road. One thing I was never able to do was relax enough to shut my eyes or fall asleep whilst travelling in a car.
In addition, my neck and back often became stiff when travelling, watching TV or using a computer. I had been really struggling for the two weeks before Mobilise as I had been working at a desk. My shoulders had been almost unbearably painful.
When I heard those prophetic words, I went to the front and the most amazing thing happened to me. I was completely overcome by the Holy Spirit, my whole body started to vibrate and buzz loudly. The sounds in the hall around me dulled and I was struggling to stand up. Tears were streaming down my face and my jaw was moving uncontrollably. I particularly felt one hand on my left wrist but I realised that no one had a hand on my left wrist, which made me believe that God had touched me and He had healed my jaw!
My jaw felt new! The pain was completely absent and I was so ecstatic that I shared my testimony with everyone else from the front!
My friend Naomi, who had been involved in the car crash that affected me so badly, started praying immediately for my travel anxiety to also be healed and seconds later a random guy approached us and said he thought God had told him to give me a Bible verse. It was 2 Timothy 1:7 ‘God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control’. He then asked if I was dealing with anxiety or fear and he thought God wanted to tell me that He didn’t want me to be fearful and should be filled with confidence. So the three of us prayed and I couldn’t stop laughing at how amazing and loving God is and the wonderful things He has and is still doing for me! This was a turning point for me. I decided I wanted to live my life for Jesus, so prayed with my friend, and soon after we went outside to Brighton beach so I could be baptised in the sea; I was just on top of the world!
On the return journey from Mobilise I sat in the back seat of the car and fell asleep! I didn’t fear for my safety and didn’t feel I should be watching the road all the time. Also, I was in the car for six hours and usually even a 20-minute bus journey would cause my shoulders to stiffen and ache. I felt nothing.
Since knowing Jesus my life has completely changed. I’ve become so much more peaceful about things that used to cause me unnecessary stress and I’ve found freedom in things that used to trap me completely. I’ve moved to London to volunteer on the FP Impact programme at ChristChurch London for a year and I am constantly astounded at God’s amazing love and grace. I can’t wait to get to church each week!’
Louisa’s baptism was recorded, and the short video can be watched below.
This article was originally published in eConnect November 2010 -
All to the Glory of God
Photo credits: Image © Scott Ableman
Connect September 2010
News and stories from around the UK churches, including:
Church Planting - It's who we are!
The Gospel and Government
Everything Conference 2010In this issue…
- How do you eat to the glory of God?
- Church Planting - It’s who we are!
- Everything Conference 2010
- The Gospel and Work
- The Gospel and the Community
- The Gospel and the Mind
- The Gospel and the Arts
- The Gospel and Government
- Exploring a call to Church Planting
-
The Gospel and Work
Photo credits: Image © TheRogue
‘One of the next great moves of God will come from Christians in the workplace.’
Billy Graham
Like it or not, we’ll spend the majority of our lifetimes at work. No one can escape the stress, sweat and tears that are part and parcel of working life. Rather than enduring it until retirement though, why not ask what could happen if you gave your next few decades to making your work sphere the most God-glorifying it could be?
How would business practices change or news stories be reported? How would marriage be portrayed in film, or education?
The truth is, work is worship. Work, in various forms, is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible. That’s more than all the words used to express worship, praise and singing combined!
Jesus chose working men and women, not clergy to change the world, and He’s still wanting people to leave their mark on their particular career today; be it government, psychiatry or finance.
Change won’t come easily; quick fixes are hard to find – but the future stories of grace, provision and breakthrough will be well worth it, and in the same way that the likes of Wilberforce motivated generations to follow, we might even do that too.
Andy Tilsley led the Gospel and Work seminar at Everything Conference South. He is married to Joy and he is part of the leadership team at ChristChurch London.
Testimony: Jeremy Turner
After completing a music degree in 1987 and not really knowing what to do next, I embarked on a PGCE course as a ‘back up plan’ but then caught God’s heart and the real buzz and excitement of ‘making a difference in the classroom’. So my journey in education began, and September 2006 saw me taking over the headship of Friern Barnet School in North London - a school that was failing in many respects.With 110 staff, 800 students (40 per cent with special educational needs, 60 per cent with English as an additional language and a third on free school meals) and only 37 per cent of students achieving five or more good GCSE grades, as well as a £250,000 budget deficit, there were clearly some major challenges but also so much capacity to improve.
The last four years can only be described as a roller coaster journey – real highs, real lows, loads of prayer and lots of adrenalin!
There is still much to do, but the transformation has been striking. Teaching and learning is at the heart of the school, the curriculum is much more relevant to the students’ needs and aspirations, data has been used powerfully to track progress and engage parents in helping all students succeed, the school environment has been improved and children feel safer, happy, are proud of their school and they want to learn. Last year 72 per cent of students achieved five or more A* - C grades at GCSE.
Staff have made comments such as ‘It is like a cloud has been lifted from the place’ and ‘I can’t believe the difference one person can make.’ With the King of Kings all things are possible and it has been great to passionately lead and transform a school along Godly principles and as a result to seriously increase the life chances for thousands of students.
Jeremy shared his testimony at Everything Conference North. He is part of Northwest Church in London.
This article was first published in Connect September 2010 -
Church Planting - it’s who we are!
Photo credits: Image © Mike Mertz
Our promises in God
God instructed Adam to fill the earth, promised Abraham that all the nations would be blessed through him, and Jesus commanded his followers to go into all the nations preaching the gospel of the kingdom.
As followers of Christ, these promises are our inheritance. And as I take hold of these imperatives I am convinced that they will only be fulfilled as we plant healthy local churches right across the UK and in so doing equip the saints to be salt and light in every community!
I am aware that this is a huge mission and I thank God that we are not alone in this - many other believers across the UK are hearing the same call.
God has spoken to us prophetically about fulfilling this call to start churches in stages:
Firstly, to climb the ‘hill’ of 400 churches and then to move to conquer the ‘mountain’ of a thousand churches. This is not to be our final destination as we continually explore the Himalayas of God’s purposes in the UK – only God knows what Everest we will scale in this generation!
Looking back to propel us forward
Sometimes it’s good to stop and see where you’ve come from:Almost 20 years ago Ann and I moved to Eastbourne to serve one of only two Newfrontiers church plants in the whole of the UK! As the 20th Century drew to a close we were propelled North where one region in the North East was planting two new churches – one in York (with Steve and Ruth Hurd) and one in Teesside which we came to lead.
Now a decade later…and Jubilee Church, Teesside has grown to over 300 and has successfully planted new churches in Hartlepool and Hull. Ann and I have just moved to Manchester to help the re–launch of a church, while Steve and Ruth are moving to plant a new church in Huddersfield!
In fact our North UK team is now actively working with 16 new plants – it’s amazing the acceleration God has enabled in a few years.
I honestly believe that God has placed church planting in our spiritual genes – it’s who we are and it’s what we are called to do.
Planting churches in Northern Ireland
One our most strategic churches is in Belfast; the capital of Northern Ireland. With 65 per cent of the population under 35, this is the youngest and fastest growing population in Europe – but also has some of its most deprived and divided communities.Redeemer Central was birthed over a year ago when four people started to meet in David and Trish Capener’s living room. It now gathers up to 60 on a Sunday!
David Capener reports; ‘it has been so exciting to watch as God has gathered people from different walks of life to join together in community and on mission to this great city. We have seen God do remarkable things amongst us – people have connected again with Jesus, experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, found new purpose in life and become better disciples and disciple makers. Our church planting vision is to see multiple expressions of “Redeemer” right across the city and new churches established in each of the major cities and towns of Northern Ireland’
Part of this vision is to regularly gather with other church leaders from across the nation for worship, prayer and teaching. We have experienced a hunger for new expressions of church right across the land.
Our next major event is the church planting conference Redeem:Cities with speakers including David Stroud (ChristChurch, London) and Mark Driscoll (Mars Hill, Seattle).
So why not come and join us in Belfast and experience the exciting journey that we are on!
Jeremy Simpkins leads Christ Central Manchester and also supports David Stroud’s UK Team by overseeing churches in the north UK.
This article was first published in Connect Vol 3 Issue 10, September 2010
-
Exploring a Call to Church Planting
Photo credits:
Tony Thompson (Hope Church, Luton) shares the vision behind Base Camp and our goal of a thousand churches in the UK.
‘God has encouraged us to ask Him for a thousand churches in the UK and we have an interim goal of 400 churches. We believe God is calling numbers of people to lead church plants. Base Camp helps us identify those whom God is calling as well as supporting and equipping them in their church planting endeavours. How God calls people to church planting varies.
If you are wondering if this is something you may be called to now or in the future I would strongly encourage you to apply to Base Camp as a way of testing the calling.'Testimony: Andy and Sue Baimbridge
We attended Base Camp in October 2009 as part of exploring whether God had called us to plant a church. There was a great mix of inspirational and practical teaching over the weekend and we were able to talk to experienced church planters as well as those who were about to plant. This helped to ‘debunk’ the mysteries and myths about planting churches.As part of the process, we had a thorough interview and were subsequently asked by our regional leaders to lead an existing church rather than plant a new one, which we believe is right for us, so we are moving to Yeovil this autumn! Base Camp definitely helped to decipher where God was leading us. We may plant in the future, but if not, we can send others to plant. One way or another, we can play a part in planting churches!
Andy and Sue Baimbridge are currently based at Gateway Church, Poole
This article was first published in Connect September 2010 -
The Gospel and Government
Photo credits: Seat of power by .craig
Many Christians are ‘good Samaritans’ and help the victims of injustice and those in need. Some, however, want to improve security on the Jericho Road and reduce the threat of future attacks on unsuspecting travellers. This is politics.
After many decades of disengagement from politics amongst evangelicals there is now a growing conviction that we can and should be involved in the political process. There are many good reasons for this growing conviction – here are two of them.
Firstly, politics can be a means by which we love our neighbours by seeking to improve their lives. Secondly, a democratic political system gives us an opportunity to work for the good of society. Can we really afford to turn our back on this opportunity? Many possibilities exist including prayer, involvement in political parties, becoming elected representatives, supporting pressure groups, befriending MPs…. The Everything agenda will be seeking to develop these possibilities soon – watch this space!
Martin Charlesworth leads Barnabas Community Church, Shrewsbury. Martin is married to Jane and they have three daughters.
Testimony: Rebecca Smith
Since graduating, I have had the privilege of working in the European Parliament in Brussels, local government in Plymouth, Conservative Party Campaign Headquarters, and the House of Commons. And have loved it all! Yet when I first did work experience with a local MP after my A-levels and decided I wanted to work in Parliament one day, I couldn’t have imagined the opportunities that have since opened up for me.It would have been easy to assume that only elected politicians have a role to play in politics. However, over the last eight years, I have met many different people seeking to play their part in the wide arena that is ‘politics’. I thank God for the amazing opportunity I have had to influence British politics, working for an MP and helping to shape policy on issues such as youth justice and prison reform.
I am leaving Westminster later this year. At this stage I am not sure whether or not I will return in the future. What I do know though is that I will never lose my fascination with politics or my deep-rooted conviction that engaging in politics at all levels is vital if we are to see our nation changed.
Rebecca Smith is currently Senior Parliamentary Assistant to David Burrowes MP. She is part of ChristChurch, London, where she leads the vocals team.
-
The Gospel and the Arts
Photo credits: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green by .michael.newman.
From beginning to end, the biblical narrative portrays the ultimate artist, the great creator God making creative people in His image who will join Him in His plans to restore the world.
From the first temple (Eden), to the Tabernacle, and then to Solomon’s temple, we see God using the best materials from the best places, with the best artists to bring Him glory and reflect His creative nature. Wonderfully, this mandate and God’s creative passion doesn’t change in the new, living temple (1 Peter 2:9-12).
But instead of being limited to just the temple or a church building, our lives and our artistry should display to the world how glorious He is.
Each act of creativity has the opportunity to bring God glory and reflect His nature. Every photo, composition, drawing and design can be an act of worship that brings Him glory. Every design studio or architects firm that looks to influence industry and culture is playing its part in God’s mandate to renew and restore the earth.
Local churches therefore can value creativity and the arts because God does!
Matt Hatch is married to Philippa and they have three children. They live in Leeds, where Matt leads Mosaic Church. Matt led the Gospel and the Arts seminars at the Everything Conference.Testimony: Tom Helyar Cardwell
I am a visual artist working in painting and sculpture based in London. I moved here in 2006 to study for an MA in Fine Art, and since I arrived have felt increasingly called by God to pursue a career as an artist who is also a Christian. This is challenging because making any money from art is difficult (I currently make my living through lecturing at an Arts University), and the Art world can be a pretty dark place at times. There is also a pressure as an artist to be very self-focussed and proud.In response to this, I am trying to live differently, to create work that communicates something of the reality that the universe is founded on Christ as God’s creative Word. This doesn’t necessarily mean making work with an overt Christian message, but rather setting up foundations for creating righteous culture that is engaged with contemporary debates and is of a high technical standard. That perhaps sums up my working criteria – the pursuit of truth and excellence.
Tom is married to Vicki and they live in south London. They are members of ChristChurch London.
-
The Gospel and the Mind
Photo credits: Jumping Brain by Emilio Garcia by "lapolab"
Have you ever been made to feel that your Christian faith automatically relegates you to an intellectual slum? Agnostics like John Humphreys recognise this and drive the point home. Yet as Christians we have excellent historical, theological, philosophical and other reasons to say that the mind - in all its rational, moral, and psychological fullness - is authentically our territory.
What would happen if thousands of Christians became songwriters of the calibre of Isaac Watts, novelists like Dostoyevsky, poets like Milton, or scientists like Kepler? One of the important things about these heroes of history is that they used their minds to connect what they were doing with God’s great story. You don’t need a degree to do all that they did. If you stretch your mind and your gifting you can follow in their footsteps.
I am passionate about the Christian mind. The encouragement to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ (Mark 12:30) refers not to specialists but to all of us. As charismatics who love the Holy Spirit, let us not set up an artificial distinction between the need for spirit and mind. God is both spirit and mind. It is my deep conviction that the mind is vital to Christian discipleship and evangelism.
As Christians we must play a significant role in our nation’s intellectual life, be it academia, wider education, politics, business, the arts or elsewhere. Whether you are a sales manager or a teacher, a nurse or a refuse collector, an academic or an administrator, you already use your mind regularly. So consider doing all you can to stretch your mind to the glory of God.
Nick Chatrath is an Elder at Emmanuel Church, Oxford. He is studying for a doctorate in Islamic History at The University of Oxford and is married to Tanja. Nick led the Gospel and the Mind seminar at Everything South.
-
The Gospel and Community
Photo credits: People-Watching by left-hand
Many of our churches have well-developed methods of reaching the communities surrounding our meeting places. We tend to focus on group activities for sections of the community. But what about the communities that we inhabit as individuals?
As we discovered at the Everything Conference, we all have many different touch points with widely differing communities. Our working lives bring us into contact with trade unions, staff rooms and social clubs to mention a few.
For others it might be the squash club or golf club or even a motorcycle group. I was fascinated to hear one couple share at the conference that they have a ministry to disability scooter users!Many of us have virtual communities - LinkedIn , Friends Reunited, Facebook, Twitter or Bebo. Our challenge here is how we make the gospel relational in virtual communities. But transformation is possible – even vital – in every community that we reach.
Roger Smith is currently planting Richmond Borough Church with his wife Elizabeth. Roger led the Gospel and the Community seminars at the Everything Conference.
Testimony: Community Money Advice
During the last recession my husband and I found ourselves in a position where in quick succession we lost a child, our business collapsed and our house sale fell through.Circumstances far beyond our control left us with huge debts, yet God was able to use this situation to open our eyes to those suffering likewise in our community.
As a result, early in 1997 Burgess Hill Community Church opened a debt advice centre for anyone who needed help, which ranged from form filling through to personal insolvency. Soon demand far outstripped supply and another centre was set up at Kings Church a few miles up the road in Haywards Heath. The vision for this work began to spread, initially through support from Newfrontiers, establishing a model to help churches set up money advice centres.
Numbers grew and in 2003 Community Money Advice (CMA), an umbrella charity, was established to provide help, advice and support for both existing centres and those looking to start up.
In 2010 CMA continues to see growing demand for its services. With 95 centres currently across England and Wales it is making a real difference in thousands of individuals’ lives which in turn impacts local communities, increasing access to quality face to face money advice across this nation.
Heather Keates is a member of Barnabas Community Church in Shrewsbury. She is married to Andy and she is currently involved in advising Parliament on policy and changes to banking and credit regulations.
This article was first published in Connect September 2010 -
Everything Conference 2010
Photo credits:
This year’s Everything Conference, held both in London and in Leeds, was an exciting new development in our desire to become more culturally engaged. We feel like we are taking baby steps in this, but know it is hugely important.
Everything connects (did you see what I did there?!) and we want to help people join the dots. Often our churches have been very good at helping followers of Jesus understand what it means to be born again, and we have worked hard at building churches where the gospel is clear and spiritual gifts exercised. However, we have perhaps not been so good at helping church members understand how the gospel connects with their normal, everyday life.
What does it mean to be a Christian in the workplace? And in what ways are believers meant to be involved in culture? We have just come through a hotly contested general election – but in what ways should Christians be engaged politically?
It is these kinds of questions that the Everything Conference sought to express and answer. With over a thousand people attending there is clearly a hunger in our churches to gain a larger appreciation of what it means to be a culturally engaged Christian. Whether you are an MP, a graphic designer, or a busy mum, the fact that you are a Christian must have a bearing on how you do your work as an MP, designer or mum. Our hope is that the Everything Conference helped people to think about these things with greater clarity, and receive a fresh commission as servants of the Lord, who is Lord of everything, in whatever sphere they have been placed.
Next year the conference is taking place in central London with Andy Crouch, author of the influential book Culture Making, as our main speaker. This will help push what we are doing to a deeper level. Meanwhile, the following pages should help you get a snapshot of the topics covered at the conference and a flavour of the things that are making us buzz. In a nation that is increasingly secular, the way in which we live as disciples of Christ becomes increasingly important. Our faith must not simply be one segment of our overstretched lives, but the connecting thread that pulls all the other parts together. If the Everything Conference helps us achieve this in some measure, then glory to God!
Matthew Hosier leads Gateway Church, Poole. He is married to Grace and they have four daughters and a menagerie of animals.
This article was originally published in Connect Vol 3 Issue 10, September 2010 -
How do you eat to the glory of God?
Photo credits: Image © Jeremy Brooks
How do you eat to the glory of God? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself that? I must confess that I rarely consider my lunchtime a God-glorifying occasion! For that matter, how do you drink to the glory of God? Paul tells us we should. In fact, he says ‘Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Whatever else this verse may have to teach us, I think it illuminates one simple, yet easily forgotten truth: Everything matters to God.
God is not simply concerned with so-called spiritual things: prayer, prophecy, evangelism, church planting, though He cares very much about each of those. ‘Whatever you do’ covers the broad span of life, from housework to leisure activities, childcare to office work. God wants to, and deserves to, be glorified in everything.
From the very beginning of Genesis, our call as people made in the image of God has been to cultivate, protect, take care of and bring order to God’s creation. We have been tasked with bringing out the beauty in all He has made.
This was the theme of our recent Everything Conference. Held at two locations, London and Leeds, we gathered over 1,000 people for a day of equipping, building relationships, and teaching on how to be salt and light wherever God has placed us. We had a great time, and I was thrilled by the palpable sense of energy and excitement that characterised the day.
It was great to meet people involved in all areas of society; caring for the needy in their communities, serving God diligently in shops, offices and public services across the nation, striving to glorify Him through the arts, or operating at a high level within the legal and healthcare professions. Each had their own stories of challenges faced, battles won, and work achieved to God’s glory.
This conviction that everything matters to God should mark us out increasingly in the coming years. It needs to become part of our ‘DNA’. As we plant churches and preach the gospel, we must also care for the poor, and equip people to shine in every part of life. We must be as diligent in our raising up of leaders in commerce, as we are church planters. We must invest in our artists as well as our elders. We must hold together, what many would seek to pull apart; God has called us to plant churches and be salt and light in the wider world.
It is our hope that the Everything Conference will continue to be a great encouragement to many to give themselves to work for the common good, and to develop the best in everything God has created. So, I am delighted to announce that Everything 2011 will be held at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster opposite Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament on 26 March 2011. Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making, has agreed to join us as our keynote speaker. Andy is an extremely engaging communicator, and his book has been formative for many of us as we’ve thought through our call to renew culture.
I am excited by the potential of this combination of a deep commitment to church planting and serving our communities and the surrounding culture. This edition of Connect explores both aspects of that calling. As you read it, I hope you will be encouraged by the stories of people making a difference wherever God has placed them. I hope you will feel stirred about how you can personally get involved.
Originally published in Connect Vol 3 Ed 10 - September 2010
Event Location
About the author
David leads ChristChurch London & the work of Newfrontiers in the UK. He is passionate about building churches that engage effectively with the surrounding culture and equipping Christians to have a positive influence in shaping society. He is the author of Planting Churches, Changing Communities.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Martin lives in Shrewsbury with his wife Jane and has three daughters, one is at home and two are married. As well as leading Barnabas Community Church, Martin oversees Social Action on behalf of the Newfrontiers UK Team and also serves on the Theology Forum. Martin plays a lot of squash, and is known for his love of cycling in all weathers. He also enjoys walking the hills of Shropshire and North Wales. He is an enthusiastic traveller, having lived in Pakistan and South Africa.
More from Martin in News & Events
About the author
Matt is based in Brighton and has four daughters and one wife. He runs the Communications team at Church of Christ the King in Brighton. In his spare time he edits a music blog, supports too many football teams and excels in dangerous sliding tackles.
More from Matt in News & Events
Event Location
About the author
Nicholas Lines is 28, has been married to Amy for four years and is father to Joash who is six months old. He is the Youth Leader at Bishops Stortford Community Church.
More from Nicholas in News & Events
About the author
Graham is currently working for the newfrontiers media team and is doing the Frontier Project. For the last 3 and a half years he's been going to ChristChurch London and before that was at New Life Church in Milton Keynes. He has a passion to serve God in everything. He enjoys: Writing, working, maths, badminton and all things geek.
More from Graham in News & Events
About the author
Graham grew up in South East London, but moved to Derby to respond to God’s call to church plant there. He now leads Jubilee Church Derby and also serves on the Newfrontiers North UK Core Team. He is married to Sarah and they have 3 children.
More from Graham in News & Events
About the author
Colin leads Christ Church Manchester (CCM), a new church on the east side of the city birthed out of a passion to see significant churches planted in each of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. Colin also travels internationally for the Newfrontiers team, encouraging and equipping church planters as well as coaching leaders and developing teams in established churches.
More from Colin in News & Events
About the author
Alan and Susanna Rose moved to York from Brighton in 2008. They are about to become parents for the first time and Alan leads the eldership team at York City Church. Alan is passionate about God, Susanna, geeky theology books, guitars, golf and good food (in roughly that order!)
More from Alan in News & Events
Event Location
About the author
Natalie Williams works for King's Church Hastings, with responsibility for community groups, communications and investigating how the church can effectively serve the poor in the community. She is part of the Newfrontiers Social Action Team and is also studying for her Masters in Political Communications. She is passionate about churches engaging with their communities and good grammar!
More from Natalie in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
About the author
Graham is currently working for the newfrontiers media team and is doing the Frontier Project. For the last 3 and a half years he's been going to ChristChurch London and before that was at New Life Church in Milton Keynes. He has a passion to serve God in everything. He enjoys: Writing, working, maths, badminton and all things geek.
More from Graham in News & Events
About the author
Jeremy has been involved in church planting for over 20 years, and was part of Newfrontiers’ very first church plant in Eastbourne. He and his wife Ann moved from Teesside to Manchester in 2009, where Jeremy now leads ChristCentral Manchester. He oversees our churches in the north of the UK, as well as in parts of Canada.
More from Jeremy in News & Events
About the author
Ruth loves watching films and reading books. Unusually for a 24 year old woman, Star Wars is her all-time favourite saga (she wrote a 60 page book based on Star Wars when she was 12!). Having studied Fine Art and History for her BA, Ruth also likes to watch independent films, ‘Skeletons’ being a good example. Ruth also loves theology and apologetics, for which she developed an appetite during her undergraduate study. She currently works in financial admin, but has recently enrolled on an MA in interfaith relations.
More from Ruth in News & Events
Event Location
About the author
Colin leads Christ Church Manchester (CCM), a new church on the east side of the city birthed out of a passion to see significant churches planted in each of the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester. Colin also travels internationally for the Newfrontiers team, encouraging and equipping church planters as well as coaching leaders and developing teams in established churches.
More from Colin in News & Events
About the author
Mike is married to Sue and they have a grown-up son. Mike and Sue were born and brought up in Lowestoft and married in 1985. Mike is part of the Eldership team at Lowestoft Community Church and has an apostolic ministry working with churches in the UK and internationally across Europe and into Canada.
More from Mike in News & Events
About the author
David is lead elder at New Community Church, SE London, UK. He also travels internationally for the Newfrontiers team, particularly helping national team leaders. David is married to Liz and they have four grown-up children and five grandchildren.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Nigel has been in full time ministry for nearly thirty years. In that time he has served Terry Virgo as his Administrator, which has included many administrative responsibilities in the Newfrontiers family of churches. Nigel has also been very involved in ministry with the Poor.
More from Nigel in News & Events
About the author
Steve is the senior pastor of King’s Church in Catford, South East London, UK. Steve started to lead King’s in 1995 and since that time the church has seen continued growth in both size and diversity. He has led the church through two major building projects and they started a second Sunday morning meeting in 2005. As part of the UK team, Steve oversees training and many of the larger Newfrontiers churches in the UK. Steve and his wife Deb have three sons.
More from Steve in News & Events
About the author
Dr. David Anderson, founder and President of the BridgeLeader Network (BLN), is one of the world’s leading authorities on building bridges across the deep divides of race, faith, culture and wealth. His work has brought hope and healing to communities, families and people in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. Dr. Anderson and his wife, Amber, reside in Ellicott City, Maryland, with their three children.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
David is based at Woodside Church, Bedford, UK and is developing relationships with many churches in Russia and Ukraine, and encouraging church planting in unreached parts of the world. He has written several books including Demolishing Strongholds and What on Earth is the Church for? and developed several training courses. He is married to Scilla and they have grown-up children.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Guy leads Citygate Church Bournemouth, where he has been since 1999. He oversees a group of churches in the South West of England, as well as across India, Spain and Portugal. Guy is married to Heather and they have four children.
More from Guy in News & Events
About the author
David leads ChristChurch London & the work of Newfrontiers in the UK. He is passionate about building churches that engage effectively with the surrounding culture and equipping Christians to have a positive influence in shaping society. He is the author of Planting Churches, Changing Communities.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Steve is the senior pastor of King’s Church in Catford, South East London, UK. Steve started to lead King’s in 1995 and since that time the church has seen continued growth in both size and diversity. He has led the church through two major building projects and they started a second Sunday morning meeting in 2005. As part of the UK team, Steve oversees training and many of the larger Newfrontiers churches in the UK. Steve and his wife Deb have three sons.
More from Steve in News & Events
About the author
David leads ChristChurch London & the work of Newfrontiers in the UK. He is passionate about building churches that engage effectively with the surrounding culture and equipping Christians to have a positive influence in shaping society. He is the author of Planting Churches, Changing Communities.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Jeremy has been involved in church planting for over 20 years, and was part of Newfrontiers’ very first church plant in Eastbourne. He and his wife Ann moved from Teesside to Manchester in 2009, where Jeremy now leads ChristCentral Manchester. He oversees our churches in the north of the UK, as well as in parts of Canada.
More from Jeremy in News & Events
Event Location
Event Location
About the author
David leads ChristChurch London & the work of Newfrontiers in the UK. He is passionate about building churches that engage effectively with the surrounding culture and equipping Christians to have a positive influence in shaping society. He is the author of Planting Churches, Changing Communities.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Luke is married to Debbie and lives in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, where he leads the student team at King's Church. He spends a lot of time reading, writing and taking photos, and trying to understand Scottish accents.
More from Luke in News & Events
About the author
Claire is a final year student and has been a member of Mosaic Church since she started university in Leeds. A self-confessed Germanophile, she is also passionate about youth work and cycling.
More from Claire in News & Events
About the author
Mike is married to Sue and they have a grown-up son. Mike and Sue were born and brought up in Lowestoft and married in 1985. Mike is part of the Eldership team at Lowestoft Community Church and has an apostolic ministry working with churches in the UK and internationally across Europe and into Canada.
More from Mike in News & Events
About the author
Owen Hylton serves as the full-time pastor of Beacon Church. He is married to Pauline and they have three daughters. Before leading Beacon, Owen was on the full time staff team of Kings Church in Catford. Prior to that, he worked for fourteen years in the civil service. Owen is the author of the book ‘Crossing the Divide – a call to embrace diversity.'
More from Owen in News & Events
About the author
Chris currently co-ordinates ChristChurch London’s Community Football Project and lives on a local estate with his wife Laura.
More from Chris in News & Events
About the author
Tim is an elder of CCM and leads CCM:City. He loves Manchester, mountain bikes, blogging, Woking FC and his family.
More from Tim in News & Events
About the author
Matt coordinates Mobilise & student work on behalf of Newfrontiers in the UK.
More from Matt in News & Events
About the author
James lives in Uxbridge with his wife Lucy and four children. He has been leading the Crown church for the past 20 months prior to which he spent 15 years managing health clubs, leisure centres and conference facilities.
More from James in News & Events
About the author
Natalie Williams works for King's Church Hastings, with responsibility for community groups, communications and investigating how the church can effectively serve the poor in the community. She is part of the Newfrontiers Social Action Team and is also studying for her Masters in Political Communications. She is passionate about churches engaging with their communities and good grammar!
More from Natalie in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
Event Location
About the author
Graham is currently working for the newfrontiers media team and is doing the Frontier Project. For the last 3 and a half years he's been going to ChristChurch London and before that was at New Life Church in Milton Keynes. He has a passion to serve God in everything. He enjoys: Writing, working, maths, badminton and all things geek.
More from Graham in News & Events
About the author
Graham grew up in South East London, but moved to Derby to respond to God’s call to church plant there. He now leads Jubilee Church Derby and also serves on the Newfrontiers North UK Core Team. He is married to Sarah and they have 3 children.
More from Graham in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
About the author
Adrian is based at ChristChurch, London, which meets at the Mermaid Theatre. He is married to Julia and they have four children. He is the author of best-selling novels The Shock Of Your Life and Aftershock.
More from Adrian in News & Events
About the author
David leads ChristChurch London & the work of Newfrontiers in the UK. He is passionate about building churches that engage effectively with the surrounding culture and equipping Christians to have a positive influence in shaping society. He is the author of Planting Churches, Changing Communities.
More from David in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
About the author
Jeremy has been involved in church planting for over 20 years, and was part of Newfrontiers’ very first church plant in Eastbourne. He and his wife Ann moved from Teesside to Manchester in 2009, where Jeremy now leads ChristCentral Manchester. He oversees our churches in the north of the UK, as well as in parts of Canada.
More from Jeremy in News & Events
About the author
Natalie Williams works for King's Church Hastings, with responsibility for community groups, communications and investigating how the church can effectively serve the poor in the community. She is part of the Newfrontiers Social Action Team and is also studying for her Masters in Political Communications. She is passionate about churches engaging with their communities and good grammar!
More from Natalie in News & Events
About the author
Joel leads the student work at ChristChurch London, serving a growing student population of around 150. He is passionate about the church and seeing Jesus transform cities, in every nation of the world. He also enjoys playing football, quoting Winston Churchill and eating Percy Pigs!
More from Joel in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
About the author
Chris leads Life Church Southampton, which was planted in April 2007. He was formerly an elder at Winchester Family Church.
More from Chris in News & Events
About the author
Graham grew up in South East London, but moved to Derby to respond to God’s call to church plant there. He now leads Jubilee Church Derby and also serves on the Newfrontiers North UK Core Team. He is married to Sarah and they have 3 children.
More from Graham in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
About the author
Adam grew up in Northumberland before studying at uni in Manchester. After graduating in 2008, he was called to work as an engineer in Derby, which was handy since Jesus had plans for him there. He has a heart to serve, eat custard, and refer to himself in the third person. Adam is part of Jubilee Church Derby.
More from Adam in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
About the author
Matthew is based in Poole, Dorset, where he shares a house with one tarantula, an indeterminate number of giant African snails, two snakes, two bearded dragons, two ferrets, two dogs, four children, and one wife, and leads Gateway Church. He studied zoology at university before entering church work (and now just has a zoo), and has an MA in Christian Ethics from King’s College, London.
More from Matthew in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
Event Location
About the author
Simon Brading is married to Anna, lives in Brighton and leads the CCK Worship Team. Simon is also involved in leading worship at the Newfrontiers conferences Newday and Mobilise. Simon's songs include Our God He Reigns, Let The Rain Come and You Reign.
More from Simon in News & Events
About the author
Jennie Pollock is editor of UK communications for Newfrontiers and is studying for an MA in Philosophical Studies. She attends ChristChurch London, where she’s learning and growing all the time, and loves London above almost anything else. She reads voraciously to learn lessons from the past and drink deep of the wisdom of today, and longs to see words and the creative arts used to bring about a shift in the norms and assumptions underpinning Western culture.
More from Jennie in News & Events
Event Location
About the author
Guy leads Citygate Church Bournemouth, where he has been since 1999. He oversees a group of churches in the South West of England, as well as across India, Spain and Portugal. Guy is married to Heather and they have four children.
More from Guy in News & Events
Event Location
Event Location
About the author
Matt is based in Brighton and has four daughters and one wife. He runs the Communications team at Church of Christ the King in Brighton. In his spare time he edits a music blog, supports too many football teams and excels in dangerous sliding tackles.
More from Matt in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Ross is a Director for Newfrontiers and supports David Stroud in his oversight of the UK Churches. He has particular oversight of finance, many of our publications and the administration and organization of the Newday youth event. Previously he worked as a Chartered Accountant for Deloitte for 28 years, during which time he spent 18 years as a partner. He is an elder at ChristChurch London, where he and his wife Joy oversee many aspects of church life including children’s ministry, youth ministry, overseas mission and the marriage preparation course. Ross also oversees the church’s finance and governance.
More from Ross in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Liam and his wife Helen are currently based in London where Liam works as assistant and researcher to David Stroud. As a Drama and Philosophy graduate with a passion for theology, he spends his free time studying commentaries, writing plays, cultivating a philosopher's beard, and drinking good coffee.
More from Liam in News & Events
About the author
Matthew is based in Poole, Dorset, where he shares a house with one tarantula, an indeterminate number of giant African snails, two snakes, two bearded dragons, two ferrets, two dogs, four children, and one wife, and leads Gateway Church. He studied zoology at university before entering church work (and now just has a zoo), and has an MA in Christian Ethics from King’s College, London.
More from Matthew in News & Events
About the author
Martin lives in Shrewsbury with his wife Jane and has three daughters, one is at home and two are married. As well as leading Barnabas Community Church, Martin oversees Social Action on behalf of the Newfrontiers UK Team and also serves on the Theology Forum. Martin plays a lot of squash, and is known for his love of cycling in all weathers. He also enjoys walking the hills of Shropshire and North Wales. He is an enthusiastic traveller, having lived in Pakistan and South Africa.
More from Martin in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Ross is a Director for Newfrontiers and supports David Stroud in his oversight of the UK Churches. He has particular oversight of finance, many of our publications and the administration and organization of the Newday youth event. Previously he worked as a Chartered Accountant for Deloitte for 28 years, during which time he spent 18 years as a partner. He is an elder at ChristChurch London, where he and his wife Joy oversee many aspects of church life including children’s ministry, youth ministry, overseas mission and the marriage preparation course. Ross also oversees the church’s finance and governance.
More from Ross in News & Events
About the author
Jo works for Newfrontiers coordinating the Short Term Mission teams.
More from Jo in News & Events
Event Location
Event Location
Event Location
Event Location
Event Location
About the author
Dan works for Newfrontiers helping to co-ordinate & administrate overseas missions.
More from Dan in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Helen lives in Clapham, London with her husband Liam. They are members of ChristChurch London. Helen works for Newfrontiers, and is responsible for communication to the UK churches.
More from Helen in News & Events
About the author
Helen lives in Clapham, London with her husband Liam. They are members of ChristChurch London. Helen works for Newfrontiers, and is responsible for communication to the UK churches.
More from Helen in News & Events
About the author
Andrew is an elder at Kings Church in Eastbourne. He has theology degrees from Cambridge (MA) and London School of Theology (MTh), and is currently studying for a PhD at Kings College London. Andrew is the author of Deluded by Dawkins, Incomparable and GodStories, and has written articles for The Times and Christianity. Andrew's next book, If God Then What? Wondering Aloud about Truth, Origins and Redemption, will be released in April, published by IVP. He is married to Rachel and they have two children, Zeke and Anna.
More from Andrew in News & Events
About the author
Louisa recently graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a degree in Journalism. She is doing an internship with the Newfrontiers Media and Comms team, collating, writing and researching articles for the UK websites and publications. Louisa lives in Vauxhall and attends ChristChurch London.
More from Louisa in News & Events
About the author
Helen lives in Clapham, London with her husband Liam. They are members of ChristChurch London. Helen works for Newfrontiers, and is responsible for communication to the UK churches.
More from Helen in News & Events
About the author
Andy became part of the Leadership Team at ChristChurch London after spending seven years with the BBC as a news and sports journalist, primarily in radio. He’s married to Joy and they live in Putney.
More from Andy in News & Events
About the author
Jeremy has been involved in church planting for over 20 years, and was part of Newfrontiers’ very first church plant in Eastbourne. He and his wife Ann moved from Teesside to Manchester in 2009, where Jeremy now leads ChristCentral Manchester. He oversees our churches in the north of the UK, as well as in parts of Canada.
More from Jeremy in News & Events
About the author
Tony Thompson leads Hope Church in Luton, which he planted. He has been involved in church plant leadership for many years, in leading church plants and coaching and training church planters.
More from Tony in News & Events
About the author
Martin lives in Shrewsbury with his wife Jane and has three daughters, one is at home and two are married. As well as leading Barnabas Community Church, Martin oversees Social Action on behalf of the Newfrontiers UK Team and also serves on the Theology Forum. Martin plays a lot of squash, and is known for his love of cycling in all weathers. He also enjoys walking the hills of Shropshire and North Wales. He is an enthusiastic traveller, having lived in Pakistan and South Africa.
More from Martin in News & Events
About the author
Matt works full time for Mosaic Church, Leeds as lead Elder. He is married to Philippa and they have three children.
More from Matt in News & Events
About the author
Part of the leadership team at Emmanuel Church, Oxford, Nick is a Cambridge graduate, a McKinsey alum and a gifted evangelist. Having recently completed a Masters at Wadham College Oxford, he began a DPhil in September 2009.
More from Nick in News & Events
About the author
Currently leading a church plant in Richmond. With four children and four grandchildren, he's a birdwatcher, Magistrate and Spurs supporter! Previously Head of Public Policy at CARE and Vice-Chair of the Centre for Bioethics & Public Policy.
More from Roger in News & Events
About the author
Matthew is based in Poole, Dorset, where he shares a house with one tarantula, an indeterminate number of giant African snails, two snakes, two bearded dragons, two ferrets, two dogs, four children, and one wife, and leads Gateway Church. He studied zoology at university before entering church work (and now just has a zoo), and has an MA in Christian Ethics from King’s College, London.
More from Matthew in News & Events
About the author
David leads ChristChurch London & the work of Newfrontiers in the UK. He is passionate about building churches that engage effectively with the surrounding culture and equipping Christians to have a positive influence in shaping society. He is the author of Planting Churches, Changing Communities.
Comments