INSIGHT
2014
CITYTEMPLECHURCH TH 85 ANNIVERSARY
Selected highlights from 85 years of City Temple Church
1929 George Jeffreys holds powerful crusades in Cardiff. Tens of thousands attend, filling the largest halls in the city. Thousands are saved and hundreds healed. City Temple Church born! 1933 Foundation stone laid for current City Temple Church building.
1978 Alex Tee returns to City Temple Church as Senior Pastor having already served as Assistant Pastor to PS Brewster for 5 years from 1947. His fine evangelistic preaching and love for God’s Word had an impact on many lives.
Contents 1915 The Elim Pentecostal Church is birthed under the ministry of George Jeffreys
1939 Rev PS Brewster becomes Pastor of the church. He will remain as Pastor until 1974, the longest term of any Senior Pastor and one marked by significant growth and evangelistic fervour.
1997 Chris Cartwright is appointed as Senior Pastor, having served as Associate Pastor at Kensington Temple in London. City Temple Church undergoes a period of transformation both spiritually and physically as the building and church is renewed. The congregation sees significant growth.
First Word (Senior Pastor)
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Community Groups
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Creative Ministries
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Children
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Youth
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Finance Report
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Renew Charity Shop
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Llanishen Community Shop
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Vale Village Church (Wenvoe)
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Alpha
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Outreach (Local)
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Missions (Global)
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Final Word (Church Secretary)
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CITYTEMPLECHURCH Address:
Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF11 9AD
Tel:
029 2038 7741
Email:
info@citytemple.info
Web:
www.citytemple.info
Facebook: facebook.com/cardiffcitytemple Twitter:
@citytemple
An Elim Pentecostal Church. Registered Charity: 251549 (England & Wales)
2010 Steve Ball, who had served as Associate Pastor of City Temple Church for the previous 14 years takes on the role of Senior Pastor when Chris moved on to a role as Regional Leader. Once again there is a sense of renewal of vision and the congregation continues to grow in depth as well as numerically as we seek to impact a nation and care for each individual.
The latter days will
2014 marked the 85th Anniversary of this fantastic church of which we are privileged to be a part. In 1929 George Jeffreys, the founder of the Elim denomination, arrived in Cardiff and commenced meetings in the Cory Hall in the centre of the city. The Evangelistic campaign started slowly but soon crowds were flocking to the meetings. Over the course of 51 days, 3000 people were converted to Christ; hundreds were healed and 150,000 people attended from all over South Wales and South West England. Independent observers commented that it was the most significant move of the Holy Spirit in Wales since the Welsh Revival 25 years before. Revival As I read those reports again in the autumn of last year and saw the pictures of the vast crowds queuing outside to gain entrance to the meetings I felt a stirring in my heart. I felt God impress upon my spirit that there were plenty of churches in Cardiff in 1929. What God birthed then was a revival centre and that's what He is calling us to be today. Growing Throughout 2014 we sensed faith growing in the congregation and an increased sense of anticipation of what God is going to do in the church, in the city and in the nation. During the year attendance at our Sunday services increased; lots of people signed up to be a part of a Community Group and 51 people were baptised (including the first 2 candidates in our Wenvoe congregation, Vale Village Church.) Army of Volunteers The following pages outline the great things that God is doing among us and I am sure that you will join me in giving praise to our awesome God. However, I am also reminded that God chooses to
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be greater than the former
First Word From Steve Ball (Senior Pastor)
work through ordinary people like you and me and that all the activities we are involved with are only possible because of a dedicated army of committed volunteers. There are far too many for me to name but may I take this opportunity to thank everyone for their service, prayers, financial giving and support - Helen and I feel so blessed and honoured to lead such a committed and passionate group of Christ followers! Pastoral Team Changes At the end of the year we said an emotional farewell to Matt, Hannah and ChloĂŠ Gregor. Matt had served with distinction as our Youth Pastor for more than 11 years and was instrumental in developing a youth ministry that impacted the lives of hundreds of young people both within the church and in Cardiff Secondary Schools. We will really miss Matt (church announcements may not be quite as entertaining in the future!), Hannah and Chloe, but we are excited at the new opportunity God has opened up for them in Selly Oak, Birmingham and feel that they will continue to flourish and grow in ministry there. During the year we were delighted to hear that Alun Mathias was appointed to the new role of Executive Director of the Elim Movement. He is definitely the right man for the job and it's brilliant for the church to have friends in high places! I would like to thank Lesley Smith for the great leadership she gave to the Re:New charity shop during the first 5 years of its existence. Lesley's hard work and creativity along with that of all the volunteers has established it as the best charity shop in Cardiff (I may be a little biased) and has helped raise thousands of pounds for great causes. Gail Duffy was appointed the new manager early in 2014 and has already proven to be an excellent replacement. Thank-you I would like to give thanks to my colleagues on the Pastoral team, to staff and to the church Elders for their support and encouragement throughout the year. Your passion for Jesus and desire to see a fresh move of the Holy Spirit in this city and this nation continuously pushes me to live wholeheartedly for His Kingdom. Finally and most especially, I would like to thank the City Temple congregation for the privilege of allowing me to be your Pastor - I cannot think of a better group of people to serve God with! The Bible declares that the "latter days will be greater than the former". May that be true of our church and this great land of Wales. May God bless you mightily!
Steve 5
COMMU We have been hearing the word community a lot in City Temple Church recently and especially during 2014 in connection with the phrase “Community Groups”. We are familiar with the idea that the church refers to the actual people rather than to a building but our particular challenge last year was … how do we ensure that people are in relational community fulfilling both the Great Commandment and the Great Commission? There were many examples of excellent work already being done in this area and our desire was to facilitate and multiply this across the whole church, to include the whole church. Thus, feeling the stirring of God to begin this process of change, we formed a core leadership team in 2013 (David Oliver, Stephen and Rachel Gibson, Alun and Kathy Mathias) to dig deeper into this idea.
40, would be drawn together by geography, gender, interest, age and culture - or indeed a mixture of all of them! They would be open to everyone including people who were on their journey towards salvation. We wanted groups to meet on different evenings in various venues around the city to ensure that there would be plenty of choice for people to engage. Each group would have its own unique “flavour” but the focus of the groups, would be the same:
The model we used was based on that of missional communities. Each would be …
With great excitement and gratitude to God we launched 18 Community Groups in early October. There were five brand new groups launched alongside the existing groups that had been incorporated into the new structure.
…a community of Christ followers on mission with God in obedience to the Holy Spirit that demonstrates tangibly and declares creatively the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a specific pocket (i.e. group) of people. (Todd Engstrom) We called this new organisational structure Community Groups. These were to be groups of people meeting together with the purpose of growing deeper in their faith and knowledge of God, building each other up by strengthening relationships and with a conscious outward focus towards reaching those not yet Christians. Thus, these intentional communities of peoples, ranging in size from 106
Up – Growing spiritually through worship, prayer and learning from God’s Word In – Growing in relationship with each other Out – Serving the world by finding creative ways to share our faith.
We wanted each group to be led by trained leaders so we planned, and delivered a 9 session leadership training programme called Accelerate. These evenings equipped present and new leaders. We also commissioned a video series called “The Pursuit” to spark interest in the congregation and this was played from the spring onwards. This was followed by a summer preaching series where the values and vision of this new structure was communicated to the whole church entitled – Community, Heart, Mission and
UNITY
@CITYTEMPLECHURCH “Within the community group I was able to be myself, ask questions, share experiences, read the Bible and unpack what we read in a friendly and open environment. I really don't know what I would've done without it.”
Fire. A brand new Community Group Guide was designed and printed. This served as a handy directory of these groups so that it was easy for new comers and regular attendees to find a group that they could become a part of. By the end of 2014, in just 3 months, over 4O% of the church had signed up and were attending one of the groups. One member has really understood the need to connect at a personal level in our large church remarking, “My community group is a vital link to me. In a large vibrant church it’s great to have a smaller group to belong to.” Another described their group as, “an important life line” and an “anchor”. Someone else has loved the fact that the community group has “ put me with like-minded people pursuing God’s heart.” Emphasising the flexibility that the groups have to also focus outward someone commented, “I have loved the social gatherings where we have invited people who are not yet Christians.” And one of these not yet Christians has told their leaders that they had enjoyed their time at the group when they had been invited and had attended. Finally, a new Christian found them invaluable. This is their first experience of church and fellowship. This is what they said, “Within the community group I was able to be myself, ask questions, share experiences, read the Bible and unpack what we read in a friendly and open environment. I really don't know what I would've done, without it.”
Meeting on a Saturday afternoon in the function room at City Temple, the Berhan Fellowship (Eritrean/Ethiopian) continues to grow and provides an excellent environment where many fleeing religious persecution in Eritrea can find a safe sanctuary and a place to grow in their faith. As a team we are amazed at God’s provision during all of this process. We are so thankful to the new leaders who have stepped up and into their new roles with such enthusiasm and commitment. We also want to acknowledge the faithful servant heart of the leaders who were already working hard and have embraced this new direction wholeheartedly. It’s not finished yet – new groups are in the pipeline and more leaders will be trained in 2015. The Community Core team has decreased as Alun and Rachel responded to new work commitments, but we are pleased that Kathy has now started serving in the church office during the week as our Community Coordinator. If you are not yet part of a Community Group, we would love to help you get connected. Get Involved!
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Hear God’s Voice, Sing His Worship Him by “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…” – Psalm 139:14 Our praise has power. It has an impact. We are not merely throwing platitudes into the void or laying compliments at the feet of our God in an attempt to gain favour or access the Father’s good graces. No; praise is much, much more than this. We praise God because He is worthy of honour and glory. We praise Him because He is unchanging. We praise Him because He is faithful, just, righteous, loving, merciful and slow to anger. We praise Him because even when times are tough, God is still good. We praise Him for the abundance of blessing he has poured out on us all and the good work He has begun in us. We praise Him because even if all God ever did for us was send Jesus to take our punishment, He has still done more than we could ever deserve. Praise is a decision to acknowledge the truth of our salvation in the face of life’s difficulties. As Jon Egan – Worship Pastor of New Life Church in Colorado says – “We address pain by declaring a greater truth.” Praise is telling your soul how to feel and not submitting to circumstance. Praise has power. Praise has an impact, and as we so often see in our Sunday services; praise can be the start of an incredible journey. This past year we have seen on a number of occasions God move amongst us in our sung worship. As we move from PRAISE to WORSHIP to ENCOUNTER; time and time again we have been blessed to meet with the living God and receive a fresh word. These whispers from Heaven have been a great encouragement to the church and our leaders. One stand out prophetic word from visiting speaker David Peters had particular resonance with the leadership; “Get ready. PREPARE. A visitation of the Spirit is coming. You can have it if you want it…..You have been in a rhythm of blessing. Good things have been happening. DON’T SETTLE FOR THIS. Lay hold of God in prayer and faith. Be earnest. HUNGER FOR MORE…” – David Peters, 11th May 2014 We want to be a church that makes room in our corporate worship times for God to speak and to be a people who respond to what He is saying. 8
Praise…and Any Means Possible! The launch of Community Groups in the autumn had a profound effect on how we meet as a worship team. 2014 saw our City Temple Church worship team transition into a “Creative Community” group structure. What was originally a group of musicians and techies has blossomed into a thriving community for all the creative expressions. Our numbers now contain not just musicians and techies but writers, actors, painters, designers, dancers, cooks and countless others that are creative in their own inimitable way. We have seen the roots of a true community take hold and look forward to growing together in 2015. Out of this community came a number of successes this year; the performances of an Easter Drama and a Christmas Pantomime being particular landmarks. Both great productions were written by Steve Quantick, a script writer and part of our Creative Community. There is a real sense that we have only scratched the surface so far and we are really excited about what the future may hold. We have been blessed to have a number of new members join the team this year but we are always looking for more! If you are interested in getting involved as a musician, techie or have other creative gifts that you’d like to bring please do get in touch or even better come along to our Creative Community nights and get to know us. See the Community Groups Guide for more information.
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Let the children come to me 10
Crèche Report It seems 2014 has been a baby boom time in our Sunday Crèche ministry! We regularly have 15 - 25 children in our 11am service and this number has even been known to peak to 35! This has highlighted our definite need of greater space. We have recently begun a 9am crèche service and we would love to see more volunteers to establish a strong team for this service. We have also established a mums and babies feeding room which provides a quiet space and is TV linked up to the main hall. Please continue to pray for team and children and a big thanks to all those who faithfully served in the past year. Let’s Go Club Children meet each Wednesday to grow in their relationship with God through games, prayer and worship. There is a good mix of Church and non-Church children attending. Our all age prayer events went well with a good number of adults and children praying together, and the children really seem to be growing in confidence in prayer. Our children love hearing the stories of the Bible too and it is a privilege to invest knowledge in them. Most of all, it is exciting to see them know God personally. Please pray for our children to know God more through personal encounter and pray for more boys to attend! Adventure Zone We continue to see our Kids Ministry grow in numbers and we are so thankful for all those who serve on our team. 2014 saw a number of encouragements: The children took the Mother’s Day service in March with a theme of “She is worth far more than rubies.” We performed songs, drama, video clips and heard great words of encouragement from Isabel Allabarton and Rachel Gibson. In May, we had an “Encounter” weekend at Hebron Hall with Olly Goldenberg. Olly is a fantastic Children’s Pastor running a Ministry called “Children Can”. We took 12 of our year 5/6 children. It was a great time of meeting with God – lives were changed. In July, our Holiday Bible Club was called “Landlubbers”. Forty-five to fifty children came each day with many from non-Church families. In October, we held our Hallelujah! Party as an alternative to Halloween. Our theme was “Night of Hope” and we prayed for the children of Syria. In December, we performed our Christmas Nativity Play, “A Midwife Crisis”. Our children prepare throughout the autumn and the results are always worth it. They grow in confidence, perform on stage, are reminded of the Christmas story and it is a great outreach opportunity to invite people to Church for the performance. Thank you to everyone involved in putting on such a great event.
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Youth Report As I reflect on 2014, I also reflect on the last 12 years on pastoral team at City Temple Church. I have really sensed the grace of God on our youth ministry over the years and my prayer for the future is that it will grow to continue. Our mid-week and Sunday groups are a combination of small groups, teaching, worship, games and social activities. It’s encouraging to see our Sunday Youth programmes develop, especially the year 10+ group. It’s also been great to see many of our young people serving in other church ministries. I continued my input in schools, leading a devotional time on Tuesdays in Bishop of Llandaff High School, called “parish prayers”. I have also spent quite a lot of time in St Teilo’s Church in Wales High School doing mentoring and assemblies which has been really fruitful. We welcomed the Youth for Christ “nomad” football team in June during the Football World Cup to help us with schools outreach in Bishop of Llandaff High School where a lot of our young people attend. It was really good to connect with new and existing young people in the school through football. The team of leaders we have are fabulous; I’m so proud of you and want to honour and thank you. Thank you parents for all your encouragement and support in bringing your kids to Church and all you do to grow their relationship with God. Thank you to all who have prayed and contributed so that our young people come to know God better. Looking ahead, I am confident that Ricardo Erasmus will be a well-loved youth pastor in City Temple Church and that our young people will catch his passion for God. There are great days ahead!
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Financial Matters 2014
We want to say a big thank you to all who give regularly to the on going life of City Temple. The work we do would not be possible without the generous, sometimes sacrificial giving of many across the church. City Temple is a church full of activity and to make the wheels run smoothly part of the process is finance. In 2014 we saw an increase in both general giving (up just under 11%) and an increase in giving to the building fund. The Gift Aid continues to be a real source of blessing with 11% of our income being received through gift aid refunds. We thank God for a large number who have recently signed up for the gift aid scheme so if you pay tax please consider this method of giving to the church. Many now give direct through their bank accounts (40% of general giving) and this is a great way to ensure you can give regularly to the life of the church. Tithing envelopes are also available for those who wish to give in this way or giving online is available through our website. By the end of 2014, after this year’s building fund offerings and transfers from our general account we have £164,000 (65%) towards our building fund target of £250,000. Detailed copies of the church accounts will be available for members at the AGM and in advance at the welcome desk.
Re:new charity shop Early in 2014 Gail Duffy was appointed as the new manager of the Re:New Charity Shop. Lesley Smith had worked hard for many years to establish the shop as an outreach of the church in the heart of Canton. Gail has continued to build on these foundations and worked at digging even deeper roots into the community and further engagement of volunteers in the activity of the shop. The shop has seen a continuous increase in the number of people volunteering throughout the year, and the volunteer team has increased from 13 to 28. Many projects locally, nationally and internationally received funding from our shop profits. Locally we have developed a good relationship with the Riverside Festival, Cardiff Women’s Refuge, and the Huggard Centre for the Homeless. Nationally we were able to donate a financial gift to 2 Foodbanks in Wales, whilst internationally we have consistently given into the church’s overseas ministries in Macedonia and India, as well as the Elim International Missions Dept. We have received donations in abundance this year with really good quality stock available. A huge thanks to our loyal customers for your regular supply of amazing clothes and treasures, and to all our hard working volunteers! We thank God for the favour over the shop and will endeavour to be good stewards of all that passes through our hands.
Llanishen Community Shop We had a busy year in 2014. We started the year with alpha that was well attended. We hosted around 15 people and saw a number come to faith and plug in to the local church and also gained a couple of extra workers for the Community Shop! We would like to thank the team of volunteers who have consistently worked hard at the shop in so many ways. They have been faithful in their service. We received high quality donations and these were a double blessing - to the people buying and to the charities we were supporting. The shop continued to raise funds for the 3 projects. We sent money to feed the children in St Stephen’s School in Kenya and a one off gift to the work with children who had lost family members to AIDS in Thailand. We also supported Gateway School in India . In June, we were pleased to host Pastor Prasad and his family at a special evening at The Community Shop. He talked to a mixed group of workers and customers about how the money we raised was used in the school. He showed photographs and shared touching stories. It was a lovely evening and many of the customers talked about it all year!
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A Generous People
The beginning of 2014 was significant to Vale Village Church in two main areas. Firstly, with the help of Pastor Steve Harris, we were able to run our first ever Alpha Course in the Wenvoe Arms. Following on from an excellent dessert, the “main course” was the alpha talks and then the discussions. We witnessed the Lord move and challenge people and during this period, we saw a number of people make a first time commitment to Jesus. The other area of significance was we felt God ask us to ensure we had showed evidence that we were a generous people. To this end we supported a number of projects locally and abroad including Bird and Bat Boxes for the Community Orchard, Weekly food donations for Vale Food Bank, Christmas gifts to needy teenagers in the Vale of Glamorgan, financial gifts to missionaries and mission projects such as Freedom Project – Cambodia. Our biggest commitment was organising the Vale Village Fun Day in August. Over two hours we saw more than 600 people join us at a free event with bouncy castles, BBQ, ice creams, games, crafts, live music and much more. This has become a highlight event in the calendar for the Wenvoe community. We also ensured that the police officers billeted in Wenvoe for the NATO summit were all given a bar of chocolate. At the end of the conference we received this message from a senior police officer: “We plant those seeds and wonder about fruition… (I) spoke to some Scottish search cops in the service station at Cardiff Gate who have been staying over in Wenvoe. Very complimentary about local amenities but overwhelmed with (the) warmth of welcome and even had a chocolate bar from the local church! Gave me 5 minutes to witness….to cops who I have never met before and am likely never to see again. Wenvoe now planting cocoa seeds! God has a sense of humour and a plan” As part of the commemoration of World War 1, we ensured all the residents of Wenvoe and every child and member of staff at Gwenfo Primary School received a special WW1 St John’s gospel.
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For many, the highlight was our first baptism where two people were baptised and we believe 2015 will be even more significant as the Lord seeks to build His church.
Jesus said: “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:10 2014 saw City Temple Church run another four Alpha courses. The first two courses of the year were with the Llanishen City Temple North Congregation and midweek Alpha with our Wenvoe Vale Village Church Congregation in a function room of the Wenvoe Arms – quite literally an upper room! Two further courses were held in the central church in May and October. Over the four courses we saw many people attend and as a result a number were baptised. It has been exciting seeing some of those who attend the course not only being baptised but added to the life of the church and get involved in a number of ministries across the church, including worship, serving, Impact Outreach. In January 2015, three out of the eight Macedonian mission team members had attended Alpha during 2013 and 2014. Alpha is always a team effort and could not be delivered without a great team of helpers, cooks, servers, dishwashers, and table leaders. Thank you to all who helped. About 100 people attend the courses during 2014 followed by 15 being baptised. 2015 has started with a course running in Torre Coffee on a Sunday evening and we are looking at plans to do an Alpha course based in a hotel later in the year. We would really encourage you to pray for Alpha and ask God whom you could invite to this great opportunity to introduce people to Jesus in 2015. 15
When I needed a were you there?
© Media Wales Photos
IMPACT OUTREACH “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” (Mark 6:34) During 2014 each Saturday night City Temple Church Impact Outreach has become a haven to many in our city who are “like sheep without a shepherd.” Some are homeless, others in hostels and other in low-income accommodation. Some struggle with addiction, others have lost a job or gone through a broken relationship, others are drifting from town to town or are refugees and asylum seekers. Some are highly educated other have learning difficulties but all are welcomed! This would not have happened without the vision of a number of key people. We thank God for our incredible team of volunteers led by Antonio Carvalho and Brenda Wee but supported by a large team of helpers who set up, serve, cook, provide support, clothing and encouragement to those who attend. Pastoral support is provided to the team by Pastor Steve Harris. What happens? Each week there is short testimony, word of encouragement or challenge and always a hot meal but most of all there is a place of love and acceptance. It is a haven for all those who want to attend. No register is taken, no one is excluded because they are too poor or too rich (occasionally we have excluded people because they are too intoxicated but even then they are welcome to return the next week when they have sobered up!)
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neighbour, Key team members try and support those who request help by meeting with them, praying with them, helping them get on their feet and find houses and jobs and move forward but most important of all, help them discover Jesus. Every few months the team organise a special event with a visiting speaker or special meal and music. The team have created links with Teen Challenge and Victory Outreach and also a number of rehabilitation centres across the UK. Sleep Over During the winter season the team also work with churches from across Cardiff working on a rota to provide overnight accommodation for up to 12 people and to try and maximise the impact of the work done with the homeless and disadvantaged. This years “sleep over” team (running up to March 2015) is headed up by Mandy Powell and Declan Duffy and they are doing a great job each week. Attenders become volunteers become disciples This work is not without its challenges but also its blessing. It has been great to see some who were once Impact Outreach attenders becoming regular church attenders. Some now also serve at Impact Outreach and others attend Alpha, become Christians and get baptised! We thank God for the commitment of those on the team to those in this city who have fallen on hard times and thank God for lives changed and people coming to know Jesus. FOODBANK “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in..” Matt. 25.35 Cardiff Foodbank continues to run in City Temple Church on a Thursday morning, and during 2014 the volunteer team on a Thursday gave out 894 parcels, helping 1165 adults and 551 children! Close to 800kg of foodstuffs were donated by or through our church! The volunteer team includes members of City Temple, who provide a listening ear, a friendly face, a hot drink, and demonstrate the practical love of Jesus with each food parcel given. CARDIFF STREET PASTORS City Temple Church continues to actively support the work of Cardiff Street Pastors, headed up by our very own Gary Smith, reaching out to the many thousands of people in need on Friday and Saturday evenings in the city centre. Being tangible and practical examples of Jesus’ love is central to the ministry.
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&
Pioneering
Building In The Nations
Our overseas involvement kicked off as early as the 3rd January, with Steve Harris leading a team to Macedonia, and Nigel James visiting Pastor Prasad and Gateway Ministries in Rajahmundry, India. The Macedonia team, helped Oasis church in Stip celebrate their Christmas with visits to an old people’s home, carol singing in the town square, food distribution to a Roma traveller community, and focused on Christmas day outreach services where over 100 visitors to Oasis church were welcomed and given Christmas food gifts. An Alpha course was established as a result of the Christmas outreach. The relationship with Pastors Angel and Zoki have become important to City Temple Church, not least to support Zoki as he began to pioneer a new church plant in the capital city, Skopje. Prasad reciprocated Nigel’s visit by travelling with his wife and daughter to Cardiff in June, and rattled through a busy schedule trying to visit everyone who has contributed over the years to the success of the Gateway School in Rajahmundry. Only a few weeks later, Gary Smith led a team from City Temple Church and Vale Village Church out to India with a mixture of evangelism, pastors training, Gateway School visits and village church services on the agenda. Gary reported ‘an unprecedented experience of salvations, deliverance and healings’ on this trip! Early in 2014, Nicky and Chris Tiltman had to return home from their ministry with Operation Mobilisation on Lake Tanganyika, Zambia, due to Chris’s ill health. Both are now based at OM’s UK headquarters in Oswestry, with specific ministry responsibilities, but hope to return to the overseas mission field in the future. Exploratory trips were undertaken by Nigel James to Pakistan and by Steve Ball to Russia. Nigel’s trip to Lahore, Pakistan, saw 200 new believers come to faith across 4 open-air church meetings, as well as several documented healings, and the beginnings of a new project to educate children forced to work at a brick factory. Expect to hear in 2015 how we step more into Russia as a result of Steve Ball’s visit. During the year, the church was able to offer financial support to a number of young adults travelling overseas for mission or training, and through the Re:new charity shop we have been supporting the Gateway School in India, the Elim International Mission Dept., Elim’s Be Free project to release young girls from the sex industry in Cambodia, as well as an Ebola awareness and prevention campaign in Liberia. Our 2014 Christmas LOVE IN ACTION giving programme, saw us generously sow into the churches in Macedonia, the families of children in the brick factory in Pakistan, and increase our support of the Ebola prevention programme in Liberia. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of 2014 has been introducing 3 of our members to Elim’s International Mission Department, as they respond to the call they believe the Lord has placed on their lives to serve overseas!
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Building Our House
Final Word From Richard Culff (Church Secretary)
As I reflect on the past 12 months I am truly thankful for what God continues to do through the life and ministry of the church and especially so for the people that make it what it is – you! A year ago I wrote that it takes sacrifice and love to reach the lost and to make disciples and we can only do this when we become true servants of Jesus with our time, our prayers, our energies, our finances and most of all our hearts given over to love. A year on I am humbled by the way so many of you give of yourselves in such a servant-hearted manner, not seeking reward but doing it all out of a love and devotion for Christ and for His kingdom’s sake. Therefore may I personally thank you for demonstrating that we are indeed “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). May God continue to strengthen and bless you in this coming year as you contribute to the life and community of the City Temple Church. The rich history of the church was celebrated in the autumn with the 85th anniversary ‘Our House’ series of messages and whilst it was amazing to revisit all that God has done we were challenged by Pastor Steve Ball and an accompanying prophetic word that it is time to wake up and to get excited about what God continues to do today in us and through us. Paul says to a young church in Corinth “my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:4,5). Corinth was immersed in a philosophy which centred on indulgence, sensuality, entertainment, intellect and knowledge. It was a place where there were no inhibitions driven by a perpetual lust to satisfy the flesh. The wisdom of the day was based on man’s best thoughts and a denial of the one true God - much like today! This is the reason why Paul emphasized the need for the Spirit’s power to be demonstrated in our lives rather than trying to argue against the knowledge and culture of the day. It is the Holy Spirit who brings God’s truth to life. He does that through transforming lives and that’s still His business today. And that’s our business too! I pray that His power might be demonstrated through healing, through deliverance, through salvation, through provision, through peace and reconciliation and I pray that you will resolve to play your part in the walk of faith and servitude to Christ! If you are not yet involved in some form of service in the church then please prayerfully consider what you could do to help. Peter, in his first letter encourages us “you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. (1 Peter 4:10). Similarly if you’re not involved in a Community Group then please do find a place where you can connect with a smaller group of friends and like minded people and do life together and live out the “…one anothers” listed in God’s perfect Word. We need each other and were never called to do it alone. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Galatians 6:9-10) Thank you once again for all your support and commitment and may the Lord bless you and keep you as you trust in Him.
Richard 19
Two Events in 2015 not to be missed
with David & Greta Peters Friday 8th May 20 15 ~ 7pm Saturday 9th May 2015 ~ 9.30am3.15pm Cost: £10
in 1915 under the Beginning in Ireland , list George Jeffreys leadership of evange l sta a dynamic Penteco Elim was birthed as , lism ge to pioneer evan movement dedicated e On . try ly Spirit minis church planting and Ho m has hundreds of Eli er, hundred years lat ns and communities churches in cities, tow d works in over 40 throughout the UK an world. At the heart of countries around the ds of ordinary people Elim, there are thousan inary ways. serving God in extraord
ing gatherings in re marked by outstand we rs yea rly ea m’s Eli . Elim are calling iconic halls in the nation the largest and most urches to come Ch from all our Elim thousands of people discover what to s ion rat national celeb together at one of six this next century. God requires of us for
Our local Centenary Celebration is...
ber Saturday 14th Novem iff St David’s Hall, Card in Tickets available later
2015
nary year and we are 2015 is Elim’s cente or ment to a moment – calling the Elim move ite un n ca we where a series of moments to: ily fam a together as e what God has done CELEBRATE: Celebrat ars through the past 100 ye ecrate and seek Him CONSECRATE: Cons s and for our churches afresh for our own live to Spirit empowered COMMIT: Commit the years to come mission and ministry for