a year in the life of city temple church
2011
insight
MISSION AT HOME AND ABROAD
DEEPER & FORWARD
How City Temple Church is reaching beyond the walls of the building
A year of going deeper into God and forward as a church
CONNECTING THE CHURCH FOR GROWTH
New groups to help people grow in faith
Plus reports: Children Youth Worship
STARTING SUMMER 2012 Be part of the journey ~ Join a small group
First Word 2011 was a challenging year for the people of Wales with unemployment rising; incomes falling and much suffering and hardship. The Church is not immune from times like these and there are many individuals and families in our church that have been affected; but the thing that inspires me about the City Temple is the resilience of the people and their confident trust in God. Times may be difficult, but I believe that now is the time for the people of God to rise and shine for Him. You could say that 2011 started with a real bang! Roy and Melanie Fields from America were scheduled to join us at the end of the first week of January for 4 nights of worship, ministry and prayer. However, such was the hunger for God of the people that gathered and the wonderful moving of the Holy Spirit that the intended stay of 4 nights was extended and extended again and eventually went on for 20 nights over a 6 week period. Over 5,000 people attended from many churches and people often stayed long after midnight as they sought more of God. People were saved, healed and delivered with many more experiencing a deeper move of God and a fresh passion for Him. During this time teams of over 50 people were taking part in street evangelism in Cardiff with many accounts of God touching the lives of unbelievers. It was truly an extra-ordinary time. A year on, as I look back on that time I can understand that some people struggled to engage with what was happening. But like Barnabas of old, I believe that there was much “… evidence of the grace of God.” (Acts 11:23) Through this time of refreshing, I personally believe that God was enlarging our hearts for what He wants to do in this city and this nation in the months and years ahead.
I sense that God is on the move in our nation and that we have a key part to play in this, but we need to be attuned to what the Spirit is saying. I am really excited about what God has been doing among us as a church, particularly the way we are reaching out more and more beyond the walls. Foodbank, Coffee at the Copthorne, Alpha, Homeless Outreach and Night Shelter, The Charity Shop, Street Pastors, Christmas Toy Drop and work with the Women’s Refuge are just some of the ways that we have sought to reach out to others with the good news of the Gospel. Overseas we have also continued to support ongoing projects in India and Kenya as well as seeing many of our people travel to other countries to serve God. This is really exciting. However, to do these things we need to maintain a strong healthy church and my thanks go to all those who serve week by week in any aspect of the life of the church. May God bless you for your faithfulness and may you be encouraged and strengthened in all you do for Him. During the year we were both saddened and excited by the news that Richard Lewis our Worship Pastor would be stepping aside from his paid role in City Temple Church to pursue an itinerant ministry across the UK and overseas. We were saddened because we will miss the incredible way that God used him to lead us in worship week by week, but excited to bare witness in our spirits that God was widening Richard and Joy’s ministry. We are so pleased that City Temple is still very much their home base and that they are still very actively involved. But we also want to pray God’s richest blessing upon them as they step into this new season.
At the end of the year we said goodbye to Jay and Fiona Fallon and Ethan. Pastor Jay’s preaching ministry has been a huge blessing to the church over many years and we thank God for Him. We pray that God will bless them mightily as they move to the Midlands to spearhead the opening of a fantastic, new HQ premises for the expanding ministry of Teen Challenge. Also at the end of the year David Lott stepped down from his position as an elder of City Temple, a role that he has undertaken with real distinction for more than 10 years. We know that David and Jean will remain extremely active in the church and pray that God will bless them wonderfully in this new season, and that it might prove to be a slightly quieter season of life!! As I look ahead to 2012 I am really thrilled about what God is doing and the amazing invitation we have to know Him and make Him known. During the coming year we will be undertaking a forty day church wide campaign entitled “40 Days of Community” where we will look to strengthen the sense of community and fellowship within the church and reach out to the community outside the church. I believe it is vital for everyone associated with City Temple to embrace these two emphases as we seek to become all that God wants us to be. Thank you for allowing me to continue to serve you as Senior Pastor. Helen and I pray that during 2012 you will increasingly know more of the presence, power and promises of God becoming real for you and your family. Steve Ball Senior Pastor
Contents First Word (Senior Pastor)
3
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Church Secretary)
4
The Alpha Course
5
Connecting Lives (Fellowship & Discipleship)
6
City and the World (Mission & Outreach)
10
Children & Youth
12
Worship the Lord
14
City Temple Church, Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF11 9AD Tel: 029 2038 7741 Email: info@citytemple.info An Elim Pentecostal Church. Registered Charity 251549 (England & Wales)
First Word : 03
David Thomas (Church Secretary)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness It hardly seems a year since we presented our report for 2010, but once again it gives me great satisfaction and pleasure to set on record another year of God’s continued favour and blessing on us at City Temple Church. Many changes have taken place during the 80 plus years of our history ~ people have changed, methods of presentation and style of worship may have altered ~ but one thing remains and that is the faithfulness of our God. GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS. And once again we proved that in 2011. The other thing that has not changed is the priority given to preaching of the word of God. Again we have been greatly encouraged and challenged by the faithful preached word of Pastor Steve and the ministry team backed up by many visiting speakers. The Sunday morning ministry has been a great blessing to us all with many different subjects being taught. Two series that readily come to mind were the series on the “I am” titles of Christ. Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life”. He also said “I am the door,” and so on. Then there was the series “The Foursquare Gospel” when we considered the fundamental scriptures on which our Elim Movement was built; Jesus as Saviour, Healer, Baptiser and Coming King. The Sunday morning Bible teaching has been feeding and challenging, and we have to thank Pastor Steve Ball for this. 2011 was Steve’s first complete year as our Senior Pastor and we can thank God that he and Helen have been called to lead us at this time. We can also thank God for all the weekday teaching that has taken place. Band of Brothers, Refresh and Youth services have continued throughout the year supplemented by two Alpha courses. These programmes backed up by our many Connect groups spread around the city offer people who worship with us a wonderful opportunity to grow by studying the Bible. We had quite a number of visitors during the year and it was especially good to have
04 : Secretary’s Report
our former minister Pastor Eric Gaudion and his wife Diane to be our special speakers over Easter. The following were also visitors whose ministries richly blessed the church: Canon Andrew White, Roy & Melanie Fields, David Hamilton, David Peters (NZ), Gavin Calver, Alistair Taylor, Mark Pugh, Chris Eaton, Geoff Feasey and then there were Caminul Fexil Children’s Choir and finally the Teen Challenge group “Living Hope”. Looking at some of the other activities you will be interested to know that during the year the following took place: Water Baptism It is pleasing to note that 23 people, in obedience to the word of God, were baptised in water. New Members Several new member classes were held and as a result 36 people became members of the church. If you are interested in taking this next step, please contact the church office or speak to one of the leaders to find out more information. Infant Dedications It is always a thrill to see parents dedicate their young babies and children to the Lord and over the past twelve months 8 such dedications took place. Marriages 2 weddings were held in the church. Homecalls 2011 saw the home call of 4 of our long term faithful members. They include Grenville Donovan (our Head Steward) and Chris Knight (Church Cleaner) who both, for many years, served the Lord and the church faithfully. There was also Lillian Cartwright and Les Evans. We miss our lovely friends very much but we are comforted to know they have gone to meet the Lord who they loved
and served. Church Building It is pleasing to note for the first time in over fifty years the City Temple premises were extended during 2011. Mid way through the year 5 Lower Cathedral Road (next door to side entrance) came up for sale and with it an opportunity to purchase it. The Elders decided that this would make a very sound investment if we were to buy it and convert part of it into offices. This would save a considerable amount of money previously used in renting offices. By the end of the year this purchase had taken place, and a connecting door was built to allow the house to became part of the church. This is now set up and is running very well. We believe this was a very wise move and the new premises will serve the church well for many years. I started this report by reminding us of God’s faithfulness in past years and I close by encouraging everyone to pray that God will continue to show His favour and blessing on us during 2012. Pray that the City Temple Church will be a place … Where many people will come to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Where we may grow together strong in our Christian faith. Where we will be blessed by belonging to our City Temple family. That we will be a faithful witness to the Riverside area, the city of Cardiff and South Wales. That our praise and worship will be pleasing to our awesome God. “...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 David Thomas Church Secretary
coming to faith & growing in faith City Temple Church has been running the very successful Alpha Course for the last 4 years and during 2011 we ran our 7th and 8th courses starting April and October.
talk about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and we have seen people come to faith, receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and experience real spiritual breakthrough.
The course runs on Wednesday evenings and last 10 weeks. It is designed for those who what to know more about the Christian faith and attracts those who are not yet Christian, have recently come to faith and those who want to grow in their Christian faith. We have now seen well over 300 people attend the course in the last 4 year and during that time have seen many come to know Jesus, grow in faith, and go on to be baptised and become a part of City Temple church life.
We are excited about 2012 as at the time of writing this report we’ve just begun a new style of Alpha course over 7 weeks using Costa Coffee Shop in Leckwith. This is a new addition to our course timetable.
The course has a great team of helpers to enable us to deliver the “Alpha Experience” including a full cooked meal for everyone who attends, group leaders for each group on the course and the team who help deliver the talks each week.
Prayer for 2012 In 2012 those who attend the course would encounter God and that lives would be changed through the power of the Gospel. That church member and attendees would look for opportunities to invite friends, work colleagues and family members to attend this life changing course.
One of the highlights of each course is our Alpha Day that takes place on a Saturday halfway though the course. During the day we
NEW COURSES STARTING: AFTER EASTER 2012 & AUTUMN 2012 Mission & Outreach : 05
Connecting Lives “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35 (New Living Translation) Francis Schaeffer, the Christian philosopher and activist, wrote that “our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful - Christian community is the final apologetic.” For many years we have had a number of different ways to allow people to connect with one another and we wanted to build on the success of the House/Cell Groups, some of which have been running for many years. We want to honour and thank these group leaders for their faithfulness and service in helping many people grow in their faith. During 2011 we relaunched small groups across the church under the banner of ‘Connect Groups’ helping us all to remember that these groups exist to connect us with one another, God and the world. There is a five-fold focus within these groups looking at Welcoming One Another (Fellowship) Worshipping God (Worship) Digging into God’s Word (Discipleship) Releasing people into the Works God has prepared for them (Ministry) Witnessing to those around us (Evangelism) Building from the base of the six existing groups (led by Paul & Sally Carpenter, Barbara Bevan, Gerry & Pam Davies, Sam & Cecilia Konadu, David Lott and David 06 : Connecting Lives
& Ros Oliver), we added six new groups (Adrian & Isabel Allabarton, Bryon & Carolyn Castle, Diana Davies, Alun & Cathy Mathias, Leonie Riley plus a prayer focussed group led by Mike & Jean Bannister). In addition all leaders (existing and new) have gone through a training process to equip them for the role of leading their group. This means that we start 2012 with double the number of Connect Groups as at the start of 2011. Watch out in the Foyer in the first part of 2012 for the ‘Connect Zone’ which will give details of all of the groups and how to join.
We recognise, however, that not everyone wants or is able to be a part of a Connect Group and we want to build multiple ways of connecting people to one another. Therefore, we have brought many of the ‘fellowship’ type groups within the Connect Group structure so that everyone can understand their role and we can build a church which has countless opportunities to build deep and meaningful relationships. These include cultural and language groups and groups for men only and women only. They all have their own flexibility to reach out in their own styles whilst maintaining the heart of connecting people to God and one
another. Student Group A reduction in the number of students at the end of the 2010-11 academic year meant that we needed to rebuild the student group in September 2011. The three highly successful welcome meals in September ensured that new students felt welcome and at home in City Temple Church. This has meant that since September we have had twice the number of students (roughly 25-30) involved than in previous years. The group has developed a real sense of community but has also become involved in the wider life of the church and are serving in various areas including Youth and Sunday Night Church. Prayer: Pray that the students will continue to grow in their relationship with God and will continue to feel part of the wider church.
Connecting @ City Temple
Pray for opportunities to reach out to and evangelise in their student community. Pray that they will have the courage to be salt and light in their universities.
Band Of Brothers Men’s Ministry Now in its seventh year, the Band of Brothers continues to express itself as a weekly ministry for men from all walks of life, mainly from City Temple Church but also from other churches across South Wales. It’s an exciting, challenging and supportive environment where guys discuss real issues in a real way. Throughout 2011 there has been a full programme including the main Monday evening events, weekly ‘Cave Lyfe’ small groups and weekends away and a Wild@Heart boot camp. When the guys involved in the group were surveyed as to the benefits of the group to them, they indicated that fellowship, encouragement and life application of the Bible were the most important (as well as the Coffee and Krispy Kreme doughnuts!).
It has been wonderful to see many of the guys grow and mature in ministry, particularly Martyn Evans who has grown tremendously over the seven years of the group and now regularly helps lead the group. Also thanks go to John Barwell who, in addition to making brilliant coffee, pioneered the Cave Lyfe small group format in the marketplace each week (actually in KFC). As a sign of the blessing of God on the Band of Brothers ministry, Mark LyndonJones was recently appointed as the Wales Director of Christian Vision for Men. CVM is an international network of men’s (Continued on page 8)
Core Connect Groups Paul & Sally Carpenter (Penylan, Wednesday) Adrian & Isabel Allabarton (Fairwater, Thursday) Barbara Bevan (Whitchurch, Thursday) Bryon & Carolyn Castle (Roath/Lakeside, Wednesday) Gerry & Pam Davies (Whitchurch, Thursday) Sam & Cecilia Konadu (Riverside, Thursday) David Lott (City Temple, Thursday) David & Ros Oliver (Danescourt, Thursday) Alun & Kathy Mathias (Llanishen, Thursday) Diana Davies (Cardiff Bay, Wednesday) Leonie Riley (City Temple, Friday daytime)
Beacon Prayer Group Mike & Jean Bannister (Heath)
Student Group Sarah Watkins (City Temple, Tuesday)
Refresh Women’s Group Teresa Madden (City Temple, Tuesday)
Ladies’ Friendship Hour (ex-Sisterhood) Barbara Bevan (City Temple, Wednesday afternoon)
Lydia Singing Group Marjorie Price (Various locations, Monday)
African Fellowship Sam Konadu
Eritrean Fellowship Iseyas Okuba (City Temple, Saturday)
Pastoral Care Team Carolyn Castle (Visiting individuals in home/hospital)
Band of Brothers Ministry Mark Lyndon-Jones/Martyn Evans (City Temple, Monday)
Connecting Lives : 07
(Continued from page 7)
ministries which has the aim of reaching a million men for Christ in the UK. A recent CVM Wales event in Cardiff saw over 200 men enjoying an evening of Ten-Pin Bowling, with Christian brothers and their work colleagues alike enjoying a great evening together. The group has seen many men come to faith over the years within the group and this continues to be a key part of the vision of the group. ‘Refresh’ Women’s Group In September 2011, the group formerly known as Band of Babes was relaunched as ‘Refresh’ under the leadership of Teresa Madden. When the group was relaunched, Teresa was largely unknown to the group of ladies and there was also a completely new group of ladies so much of 2011 has been spent building relationships within the group. The vision of the Refresh group is … To provide a place where women can come aside from their busy lives, experience fellowship and the refreshing of God’s Spirit. To allow God to work in their lives so that they can embrace their value, worth and all the blessings Jesus has for them. To look at God’s word, so that our minds and spirits are renewed and refreshed. To care for and be accountable to one another. To reach out to our communities to bring healing and refreshing to the lives of others using the gifts that God has given us. Many topics have been covered in order to help the women grow in their faith and face the challenges of life, plus guest speakers have come to the group to provide input including Myra Harris, Helen Ball and Joy Lewis. The group has a history of working with the Cardiff Women’s Aid and this continues. They have taken part in the buying, wrapping and delivering of the presents for children at Christmas as part of our Love in Action programme and the group continues to provide ‘emergency packs’ for the women when they leave the refuge as they move into a new property
08 : Connecting Lives
with nothing. This involves regular fundraising with each pack costing around £60. The group is looking to build better links with the other women’s groups in the church to support one another and reach out. The group has seen one lady commit her life to Christ and they are helping her put down roots for her faith. Our thanks go to Teresa, Tracey and Heidi for relaunching this group and providing a valuable place for women to connect with God and one another. Ladies Friendship Hour Formerly known as the Sisterhood, this is the longest established women’s group in the church. Meeting weekly (except Easter, Christmas and August) on a Wednesday afternoon, they enjoy a variety of speakers; some from City Temple Church, others from churches of different denominations in the Cardiff and Vale area. The focus is on bringing God’s word illustrated by personal experience. There are regular ‘musical’ afternoons led by local and visiting soloists and groups. Prayer always forms part of the group as needs and illnesses are given to God. The group has a history of remarkably generous offerings to various missionaries and organisations including John & Val Knox (missionaries in Gerona, Spain), Open Doors (street children), International Justice Mission (anti-human trafficking/sexual slavery ministry). A ‘Ladies Friendship Magazine’ is also produced every couple of months with articles, experiences, poems, prose and ‘funnies’ from the members of the group. Started in 2010, this has built well during 2011 and members regularly pass them to friends and husbands and they provide a good conversation starting point. The vision of the group is that, “in the love of the Lord, we will be drawn together in a closer bond of love and fellowship, supporting each other when necessary and reaching out to forge relationships with younger ladies (‘Refresh’ group) and to develop greater knowledge of and better links with the Youth. Above all, to deepen our relationship with the Lord, see our faith grow and allow the Holy Spirit to move
amongst us in greater freedom and power.” Moving into 2012, we want to see God break through by His Spirit so that every member of the group might grow in love, freedom and power being enabled to reach out to others and draw them in. Women are welcome to come along and visit the group. Check the Bulletin each week for details. ‘Lydia’ Singing Group This group has been a part of City Temple Church for many years and now includes men as well as women. The 15 members of this group meet weekly to practice on a Monday afternoon. Programmes of material are prepared and practiced. The group’s aims are not just musical, although all of the members enjoy singing and they take the material out to other churches and meetings to share the gospel. The other aim is provide a place of fellowship after the rehearsal and to give an opportunity to pray for one another. New members are always welcome, provided you can sing in tune and are available during afternoons for the visits. The reaction of people is always a blessing and it is great to hear comments such as “I felt low until I came and heard the songs you sing.” Eritrean Fellowship As a church we are especially excited about being able to facilitate and release a fellowship for the Eritreans who call Cardiff, and City Temple Church in particular, their home. Giving different groups the ability to worship and encounter God in their own language and culture is a vital part of being a multinational city church. The Eritrean Fellowship are very grateful to the leadership of the church for allowing them to gather and grow over the years since the Fellowship started in 2007. The Fellowship has had an active 2011, including their regular weekly Saturday afternoon meetings, which are passionate meetings full of the presence of God. Beyond these meetings, there are 2 home Bible study groups, one in Grangetown, one in Riverside. Many members of the fellowship benefit greatly from these groups. Newcomers and not-yet-Christians are welcomed and discipled in the basics of the faith. The group has organised a
number of special events during 2011 all of which were well received including, 2 Special Days with Pastor Daniel from the Eritrean Church in London The Half Day seminar with Selam on the basics of Christian families. A special day with Pastor Stephen A worship & thanksgiving day Christmas & Easter programmes. For 2012, the Fellowship is looking to strengthen and encourage the Home Bible Study Groups and to provide stronger follow up for new Christians on the basics of the Christian faith. This is in addition to the ongoing work of supporting individuals and families who have fled from often terrible circumstances. African Fellowship The African Fellowship seeks to provide fellowship, support, teaching and encouragement for all members of the City Temple who originate from the continent of Africa. The group meet on the 2nd Sunday of each month following the 11am service and also host a monthly night of prayer, open to all, which is held on the last Friday of the month. The vision of the ministry is to help create a "home from home" for people coming from Africa and to encourage one another to grow in Christ. The group sees itself very much as a fundamental, valued part
of City Temple and is delighted to see its members actively involved in all areas of the City Temple. Pastoral Care Team Even with all of the groups and connecting possibilities described above, there are some members of the church who are not able to be part of any group and for whom even leaving the house may be impossible at times. As a church, we are committed to living out John 13:34-35 and being known as a church which cares … for everyone. The members of the church who are involved in the ministry of faithfully visiting the housebound and sick, either at their homes or in hospital is God’s love in action and a stepping stone towards the care, love and value of people we as a church family would aspire to. We have committed members who regularly visit people connected to the church who are housebound. These members willingly, and regularly, travel to people’s homes across the city just to spend time with someone who is physically unable to come out to church for fellowship. They simply give of their time; have a chat, maybe pray together, giving fellowship and showing they care. We also have, in the past year, gained a couple who minister to the housebound spiritually by taking communion to them
in their homes. This ministry is so much appreciated by those who are no longer able to come out to the Sunday communion service. Words cannot express how significant and special it is to be able to share the Lord’s Supper in their own home. And, of course, we also have members who often at the ‘drop of a hat’ will go into the local hospitals to visit when members are taken in as in-patients. We want to thank these vital, and often ‘invisible’ pastoral carers who offer a spiritual lifeline to many who served faithfully in the church for many years and now need to receive the love and care of their church. 2011 also saw Carolyn Castle gain official recognition as one of the formal chaplains within the Cardiff & Vale University Health Board, which covers the University Hospital of Wales, University Hospital Llandough and other smaller hospitals across the area. The team can only help those they know of, so if you become aware of someone who is housebound, hospitalised or needs extra support, inform us by contacting the church on 029 2038 7741 or 07787 942 731. If you would like to be part of this ministry, speak to Carolyn or contact the church office.
Connecting Lives : 09
mission & outreach
2011 saw an increased number of individuals embark on short-term overseas missions as well as a team from the church heading out to India to work with Gateway Ministries, and to Kenya to work with Lighthouse of God Ministries. Throughout the year, missionminded people gathered to share vision and pray for those embarking on or returning from overseas trips. The overseas trips were certainly life changing and purpose defining for many who went on them. We welcomed overseas teams from New Life, Colorado Springs, and from Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship. During the year we were able to take up mission offerings for Jackie Griffiths, Elim missionary in Haiti, for the Gateway School in India, and at Christmas for the Lighthouse of God work in Kibera slum, as well as gifts to selected other mission projects. We also saw the return from the Turkey mission field of Phil and Linda Thomas to begin a new season of ministry in Pontypridd. Into 2012, we see Nicki and Chris Tiltman depart for Zambia to serve with OM on Lake Tanganyika. At the start of 2012 we have commenced a training course ‘Reaching the Global Community’ which we hope will equip more and more of our members for reaching the nations. We continue to partner with New Life church, Colorado Springs, and will welcome mission teams from there during the year. Many thanks to Nicki Tiltman and Rose Ball who worked as mission admin volunteers throughout the year.
Contact: Nigel James 07973 780209 10 : Mission & Outreach
Re:new Charity Shop Re:new exists both to make an impact into the local community, and to raise funds to support our ongoing overseas missions projects and respond directly to urgent world needs such as famine or earthquake. Lesley Smith, shop manager, reports that her personal highlight of the year was to visit India as part of our mission team, and to see first -hand the positive impact that funds raised in the shop were making at the Gateway School. The shop has built up a
reputation of trust and dependability in the local community, and shop volunteers consistently report valuable conversations with customers. The most pressing need into 2012 is for more volunteers and that these would become passionate and reliable staff. Re:new will be helping the church give financial support to Nicki and Chris Tiltman in Zamba.
Contact: Lesley Smith 07970 760777 Re:new: 86 Cowbridge Road, Canton. Opening hours: Monday - Saturday 10am to 4.30pm
the city & the world City Temple braved all weathers to provide soup and sandwiches to some of the folk who find themselves sleeping on the streets of our city. The aim is to show the love of God in a practical way, but the team also have many opportunities to share the Gospel message. At the end of 2011 and into the early part of 2012, we have been privileged to accommodate up to 11 homeless people at the church on a Saturday night and Sunday morning to help them avoid some of the coldest weather.
Contact: Steve Ball or Antonio Carvalho 07792 062868
would be crying themselves to sleep or forced to commit crime if it weren’t for the food bag they received.
Cardiff Foodbank Foodbank exists to serve the needs of what are called ‘the hidden hungry’those who may have a roof above their head but find themselves facing a crisis that forces them into hunger. During the period April-December 2011 it was estimated that over 650 were fed as a result of visiting the team of volunteers at City Temple on a Thursday morning. Nearly 6 tons of food was given to City Temple by the Foodbank central warehouse for distribution. Each person with a food voucher receives a bag of food that should last for between 3-5 days. The volunteers have heard stories of those who
Into 2012, the Foodbank wants to broaden a range of signposting services to offer other practical help, and as such will need more team members at the office/warehouse in Ely, or to help with supermarket collections on a Saturday, or with the team on a Thursday morning.
Contact: Ian Purcell 07891 177700
or follow Foodbank on Facebook or Twitter.
city centre
soup run
City Centre Soup Run
Coffee at the Copthorne The primary objective of this new initiative was to connect with individuals who would not normally attend our Sunday meetings. An initial team of 7 couples from the church ran the 5 week pilot scheme from October -December under the leadership of Mark Lyndon Jones, and the weekly attendance over the 5 weeks of the project averaged 30. Invited guests from outside of the church totalled 20 people, and alongside the more formal sessions there were plenty of meaningful conversations, some prayer ministry, and plenty of coffee.
Contact: Mark Lyndon Jones 07886 720032
On thirteen Thursday evenings during 2011, a committed group from
Mission & Outreach : 11
Children & Youth Shrimps (Crèche)
Adventure Zone
by Kate Martin.
by Anne Redman.
We run a crèche at the 11am meeting for 0-3 year olds and can have anywhere between 520 children/babies. We have recently recruited some new volunteers with the aim of having 4 adults per session.
Vision/mission:
We also have some teenagers who help regularly. Our sessions involve free time to play with toys, snack time, as well as topical craft and stories based on 'Easter', 'Mothers Day' etc. All our sessions end with a 'worship' time involving praise songs accompanied by musical instruments & the very popular 'bubble machine'. Prayer points would be we would continue to have a great team who are committed & enthusiastic! Children know they are loved & begin to develop relationship with Jesus Crèche vision for future separate baby room for under 1s with meeting on screen or linked to main church, with microwave, nappy changing facilities etc crèche for Sunday evenings with bouncy castle outdoor area with sandpit & slide etc Bigger vision for future... Large soft play area with cafe open to the public all week!
12 : Children & Youth
To lead the children in our care into an understanding of who Jesus is, how He can be their personal friend and Saviour, and how to live their lives so that Jesus is seen in them and they can reach their friends and family with God’s love. We aim each week in Adventure Zone to follow a structured programme of activities, stories, quizzes and a time of worship to present the Bible themes and messages to them in a fun and interesting way. We are currently following the Scripture Union ‘Light’ material, having previously completed the Hillsong ‘Big’ curriculum. Each week we have a worship time, either as a large group with all the children together, or in separate age departments, as smaller groups. For the first Sunday of each month, the children remain in the service for worship time and communion as we feel it is important for them to participate with the rest of the church and be a part of Sunday morning service. One of the highlights of the year was the Christmas nativity service when the children presented ‘ A Christmas Secret’. The children worked very hard for many weeks to prepare an evening of drama, dance and Christmas songs. Everyone seemed to enjoy it
with plenty of humour and ad-libbing that added to the fun! Please pray for Adventure Zone, pray for the children and the Adventure Zone team. We love to see our children taking part in praise & worship, praying together, loving each other and growing into young people who love Jesus, love this church and their church family, and love to share Jesus with those around them. We also want them to learn verses from the Bible to help them in their daily lives so if you are a parent of an Adventure Zone child, please help them to learn these verses each week! There’s always a prize waiting!! We are always looking for new helpers and if you think you may enjoy helping at either the 9am or 11am service please see Anne Redman or one of the AZ team. Let’s Go Club by Isabel Allabarton For approximately 18 months it has been a privilege to lead the Let’s Go team. It has been very rewarding seeing many children come week after week to have fun and hear about the Bible. They have great enthusiasm and are so willing to listen to the Bible stories and to learn about Jesus. We meet on a Wednesday evening at Fitzalan High
School gym. The range of the children are between 5 years and 10 years, they come from all different social backgrounds, with about half of the children not coming from any Christian background or Christian home. The aim is to primarily show them God’s love via action and then introduce them to a relationship with Jesus Christ. The format comprises of circle time where we sit in a circle and the children talk about their needs and prayer requests, and then we pray. This can be very rewarding, when some children who don’t come from any Christian background volunteer to pray. Obviously we talk about our answers to prayers. We then go on to play games, then into the classes for a Bible quiz (usually going over the previous weeks story) and then on to the Bible story. Each term we have a theme this one being the Easter story with the aim to lead them into a relationship with Jesus and understand the significance of the crucifixion. It is amazing to be part of the young children’s lives and have the privilege to be sowing seeds and direct them in their walk with Jesus. We believe it is important for young children to have a midweek club which encourages them and keeps them focused on God. A few of the children come from broken and sad homes so this midweek club is very important for them. Prayer Request That seeds will be continually sown and will bear fruit as the lives of more & more children are transformed.
Youth by Matt Gregor. As a growing city Church, our youth programme is focused on getting young people on fire for God as well as reaching un-churched young people. We put a lot of effort and energy into helping them become fully devoted followers of Jesus. There is lots to thank God for from 2011, I sense His grace as I reflect on how He has used the team and myself to reach young lives, stir up passion for Him and grow new younger leaders to reach this generation. Our main vehicle for carrying out the vision is through our programmes and activities that we do on Sunday and throughout the week. Reality 11-14 youth group – Wednesday nights. Our main form of outreach and growth in this group has been through a varied social and fun events that we schedule in for every six weeks. We do great fun events and activities so that young people have confidence to bring their friends along which helps to make coming to be part of God’s family a much more accessible process by building relationships with others of similar ages. On Wednesday’s we have been doing lots of discipleship through small groups of 5 or 6 youngsters with each leader. Reality is also exciting because some youth from Boxfresh help us in leading the programme and are key leaders.
Reality Breakfast show 1114’s – Sunday mornings. We have a fabulous team on Sunday mornings at the 11am meeting leading our 11 -14’s and we’re using some material called RS2 which is produced by Youth For Christ and is mainly focused on developing disciples. We have between 20 and 30 teenagers on a Sunday morning and meet in the Lounge, although we are pleased that a few of our youngsters are also regularly helping with the Adventure Zone kids programme. Boxfresh 15 – 18 youth group – Thursday nights. Boxfresh is committed to building disciples, including evangelism and leadership development. Our meetings include worship, teaching, ministry, small groups and lots of great fun. We’ve seen young people become Christians in the last year and believe that young people accept Jesus when they have firstly been accepted into and become a part of a community of believers; some people call it, “belonging before believing”. I am excited about seeing young people won to Jesus. God will use them for His purposes today, they are indeed the future of the church but they are also part of the church today.
Residential Events Our residential events always get young people more in love with Jesus and deeper in friendship with each other. We have done two main residential events this year. They included Soul Survivor in Shepton Mallet during August and in the autumn our own weekend away in Llanmadoc near Swansea. We put a lot of effort and resources into these opportunities because God is so clearly at work when we go away together. A big thank you to all of you who helped and gave of time, cakes and money to help make these things happen. Some of the bigger projects we do remind me of 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about the church as a body with all its different parts working together. Soul Survivor was awesome this year, over 10,000 young people spending major parts of the day worshipping God and open to His word and minstry. Our young people met with God, learned more about Him, worshiped Him with new freedom and passion, got healed and set free, and motivated to go to the nations. When I see the fire of God in young people I find myself thinking things like “this is what I was made for” and “this is what it’s all about”. A first for us this year at Soul Survivor was to see lots of our young people serving on different teams to make it all happen. We have a fantastic and fabulous team helping us with catering.
Thank you to Anne Redman, Gary Reed, Gary Smith, Martyn Evans and Paul Bevan. A group of us younger adults went to “Momentum,” the student focused Soul Survivor event in the summer. It was a joy to serve and to see what God is doing amongst young adults, especially as I feel Him stirring myself and others to reach out to young adults and develop ministries to encourage them, facilitate relationship amongst them and reach them in the name of Jesus. Sunday Night Church has been particularly significant in engaging young adults these last couple of years. We’ve been encouraged to see the developing of our relationship with the Bishop of Llandaff Church In Wales High School, where we are now more formally recognised in the admissions policy. I have personally been continuing my input in the school, leading a devotional time on Tuesday’s with the youngsters from our church, called “parish prayers”. The main other school I regularly visit is Cardiff High
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Worship the Lord
Soul Survivor (Continued from page 13)
for the Christian Union they do on Fridays although I feel challenged to reach out to young people who wouldn’t normally come to our mid weekly clubs as we go into 2012. In conclusion Our strong team of volunteers working together in unity has brought increased effectiveness in ministry and delivered a high quality of care for youth. If you are interested in working with young people please join us in reaching young lives for Jesus. I am constantly reminded that City Temple is God’s church, it’s His youth group and He has promised to build His church (Matt 16:18). I choose to devote myself to Him and am privileged to watch as He does things that I cannot do. I look ahead to 2012 with faith and expectation. I will be walking in the words of Joshua 1 this year being strong and courageous, with the knowledge that God is with us and for us. Studies by the Barna Research Group have shown that the probability of a person accepting Christ as Saviour at age nineteen or older is just 6 percent. In other words, if a person does not accept Christ 14 : Youth & Worship
as Saviour before the age of nineteen the likelihood of them ever doing so is greatly diminished. The great harvest today is our youth. 50% of churches in the UK today have no youth work with 11-14’s, and 60% have nothing for those aged 15-19. Let’s go all out to equip and train our young people to communicate the gospel in a clear and relevant way to their own generation. Sunday Night Church Sunday Night Church has been such an encouragement to see the number of young adults involved with it and buying in to it going well. Research has shown that in a Christian community people in their 20’s love to be around more mature believers so it is exciting to see how that has emerged with Sunday nights. The growth in Sunday Night Church and the emphasis we have put on young people being part of it has been fantastic. We have a great team of young adult leaders who lead most of what happens with young adults in Church and they are developing really well in their skills and maturity.
2011 was an eventful year for the worship department of City Temple. The start of the year was characterised by a fresh desire to seek God which impacted all services, not just the meetings with Roy Fields which contained extended times of seeking God. Later in the year Friday evening “Pressing In…” meetings hosted by the worship team gave people time to linger in God’s presence and seek Him for a fresh touch upon their lives. At the end of August the worship team was saddened to hear that Richard Lewis would be stepping down from his role as Worship Pastor at City Temple. Richard and Joy’s knowledge, leadership and love for all those involved in this department will be really missed. However, the whole team recognised that God was widening Richard’s ministry and feel excited about what God has in store for them as a family in the future. We are delighted that Matthew and Ben remain an integral part of the worship team, and look forward to Richard leading worship when he is in town! September saw Tim Riley taking over coordination of the worship ministry for Sunday morning services. Tim says Since taking over from Richard Lewis in September 2011, it has been a privilege to train and disciple existing members, both spiritually and musically and also to audition and release new worship team members. We have endeavoured to do this by first concentrating on
excellence of heart and attitude in relation to the Kingdom of God and secondly musically. As a team we are each moving into greater intimacy with the Lord and with each other. This is leading to greater unity and commitment to the ministry. We are also encouraged that there is growth within the team in prophetic gifting. Our vision for the coming year is to continue to encourage the team to pursue God's presence and His will with greater zeal both privately, in the worship team and corporately as members of City Temple Church. Philippians 2:1 “Fill up and complete my joy by living in harmony and being of the same mind and one in purpose, having the same love, being in full accord and of one harmonious mind and intention.” Sunday Night Church Worship Sam Payne In April last year, Kim Bruce and I were invited to share the responsibility of leading the worship at City Temple’s evening service Sunday Night Church. Along with our wonderful team of dedicated and talented musicians, we have relished the opportunity to be involved in building an environment of worship; through which we have seen God move in people’s lives on a weekly basis. One of our most encouraging highlights of the year has definitely been seeing the personal growth of all the individuals involved in the team. Certainly, we are fortunate to be in a team where every member
understands the privilege of serving the Kingdom through the gifts they have been given. Going forward, our aspiration is to build further on the culture of worship that we have been cultivating throughout the church. We want to see more passion and encounters with God in the congregation on a Sunday night, but even more importantly we want to emphasise the importance of worship being how we live our lives everyday, not just something we do on a Sunday. Technical Support The worship teams are ably supported by the amazing team of
volunteers who oversee the lighting, PA, projection, video recording and production departments. These departments can be easily overlooked but they are vital in creating the right atmosphere for worship and making it possible for others to listen at a later date via the internet or on a CD or DVD.
Child Sponsorship