Together (Spring 2017)

together SPRING 2017

our gospel task

ALSO INSIDE An update on our prayer cards News from FIEC churches Revitalising your church

WELCOME...

Our front cover features Grace Church Wakefield, a new plant in one of our 50 places of gospel need.

Together is published by FIEC, 39 The Point, Market Harborough, LE16 7QU. 01858 434540 fiec.org.uk admin@fiec.org.uk fb.com/theFIEC @theFIEC Editor: Phil Topham 01858 411553 phil.topham@fiec.org.uk Designed by: AH Graphic Design www.ahgraphicdesign.co.uk ah@ahgraphicdesign.co.uk 07500 465753 Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Got a story?

We’d love to hear stories from your church – why not get in touch with us? The deadline for submissions for the Autumn 2017 edition is Friday 5 May.

Our Leaders’ Conference back in November was all about evangelism.

During our time together we considered lots of ways we can reach different communities in our nation with the good news of the Lord Jesus.

Whilst it was a really encouraging time, it also reminded me of the scale of our gospel task. FIEC is probably the largest national grouping of unashamedly Bible-believing churches in Great Britain – but there are only 46,000 people regularly attending our churches.

That’s the reason we need to work together to share Christ with our gospel-needy nation, partnering with others who share our biblical convictions. Put simply: we can do more together than we can on our own.

This great gospel desire for our nation is the reason we launched our Go Into prayer cards back in 2015. Over the past two years, we’ve been praying for 50 places where – relative to population size – there was little or no gospel witness; asking God to raise up workers for those harvest fields.

Well, in this edition of Together we report back on that project, praising God for the work that has now begun in more than 20% of those 50 places. While these stories are really encouraging, we need to remember than almost 80% still have little or no gospel witness. So we pray on.

I hope Together continues to demonstrate to you how FIEC’s family of churches is working to advance the gospel in our nation. May this edition once again fuel your praise and prayers.

Phil Topham FIEC Head of Communication

CONTENTS 3

Have you signed up yet?

18 News in brief

4

5o places: gospel work begins

24 Revitalising your church

12 Our gospel task

26 Book reviews

15 Your legal experts

28 New church affiliations and church plants

16 Introducing a new Training Director

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ROBIN HAM AND HIS FAMILY IN BARROW

GRACE CHURCH, WAKEFIELD

CHURCH PLANTING IN FIFE

STUDYING GOD’S WORD IN WAKEFIELD

50 PLACES: GOSPEL WORK BEGINS In March 2015 we launched our Go Into prayer cards. Designed like a deck of cards, they were highlighting 50 places where – relative to population size – there was little or no gospel witness.

We weren’t saying there were no good churches in these areas (although that was true for some of them) but rather we need more gospel witness in places like this if we are to see our nation reached for Christ.

The packs are now sold out and people have been praying for almost two years. So what’s been going on? It’s a great joy to be able to report back on the work that has started in some of these places. By our calculations, gospel work is underway or is being planned in more than 20% of the 50 places. Praise God! Of course, not all of the work is being carried out by FIEC churches and this was always about the gospel rather than FIEC. So it is great to be able to report work by evangelical Anglicans, Acts 29 and Assemblies of God. Here is a summary of the work we know about that has started in some of our 50 places for your encouragement and prayers.

housing estate of 6,000 people where there is no church. Robin said: “We moved here in June 2015, after three years at Oak Hill College, to work under a church minister and explore starting a new church. We

BARROW With a population of 70,000, Barrow-in-Furness is the second largest urban area in Cumbria.

Robin Ham is an evangelical Anglican and is working to see a gospel witness start on a fiec.org.uk

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are very much ‘off comers’, to use local speak, and so it’s been important for us to take time to ‘get our bearings’. And whilst there’s great spiritual need across the town, we’ve also sensed a developing confidence in the gospel amongst a number of churches.

“In autumn 2016, we trialled a fortnightly Sunday afternoon gathering, imaginatively called Sundays @4 (www. sundayat4barrow.co.uk).

“Wonderfully a local primary school let us rent their premises, and we’ve tried to create a family-friendly space where people – in particular unchurched folk we’ve got to know – can explore why Christianity is good news. We do a fun ‘all together’ activity, before the kids go out to their group, and the adults engage with a talk from Mark’s gospel. We then all enjoy a meal together. The trial has been positive, with a few new families coming, so the consensus is to keep running it for the first half of 2017.

“Alongside this we began a fortnightly home group, aimed at the handful of Christians involved, and it’s been a joy to look at Philippians and be built up together as we engage in mission.

“In all this we’re very aware that the ‘harvest is plentiful but the workers are few’. Just a handful of ‘partners’ gripped by the gospel would make a

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huge difference to launching Sundays @4 into a gospelshaped church, perhaps in September 2017. So perhaps you know someone moving to work in Barrow, e.g. with BAE, or maybe you know folk in the South Cumbria area who would be interested in playing a part? Please get in touch – even if you’d just like to pray and support the work.” robinpeterham@gmail.com or 07828 333 106.

IT’S A GREAT JOY TO BE ABLE TO REPORT BACK ON THE WORK THAT HAS STARTED IN SOME OF THESE PLACES. BICESTER Dan Steel from Magdalen Road, an FIEC church in Oxford, says that Bicester is very much on their agenda as a church.

He is hoping they might be able to plant there in 2017, so please pray for them. Dan said: “Monthly prayer meetings have already started in Bicester and we held two Christmas events put on by local homegroup members. We are increasing the frequency of our gatherings there with tentative plans in place for the launch of a church plant over the next 12 months.

“We have about 12 people based in Bicester, attending Magdalen Road but know of many other Christians commuting into Oxford who may be interested as and when more regular meetings are established.”

BURNLEY Matthew Clay from Great Harwood Christian Fellowship is a member of the FIEC Pastors’ Network and has been involved with Keswick in East Lancashire (KiEL). They hold meetings in and around Burnley to encourage good Bible teaching and evangelism.

He would like us to pray that this will lead to a church plant in future and said: “KiEL was started by Philip Elson, a local minister. In October 2016 we invited local churches to host an outreach event with the evangelist Gus Eyre. Six churches replied which resulted in seven events being organised in and around Burnley and Blackburn. At each event the gospel was clearly presented in word and song.

“For 2017, we have organised two Bible teaching conventions and have invited Peter Maiden and Jonathan Lamb from Keswick Ministries to share God’s word with us. Please pray that these conventions will equip the Lord’s people to be faithful servants and also that a gospel-centred church will

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CHURCH PLANTING IN BARROW

soon be established.

“If you would like more information, you can find us on Facebook.” www.facebook.com/ keswickeastlancs

CLACTON-ON-SEA Guy Thorburn is Vicar of St John’s Church in Great Clacton. They are an evangelical Anglican group of parishes and are planning to plant onto a housing estate in Clacton-on-Sea with a population of 7,000 people where there is no gospel witness. Guy said: “We have two congregations in Great Clacton – St John’s and St Mark’s – and have been holding a monthly service on the Cann Hall estate. We continue to seek, by God’s grace, to establish a visible Christian presence on this estate. Quite a number of our church family live there and one of our members is Chairman of the Governing Body at the school.

“Scripture teaches us to pray without ceasing – and so we pray for a Great Awakening in Great

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Clacton, an Awakening which will transform our society and which will bring glory to the Father and the Son in the power of the Spirit.”

FIFE Peter Carr planted Buckhaven Community Church (BCC), a plant recognised by FIEC, in Fife in 2015. He says there are some great encouragements as this new work continues to become established. He said: “As Buckhaven Community Church approaches its second anniversary, we are now meeting in the community centre at 4pm on a Sunday. At the time of writing (December 2016) the church is running the Life Explored course, and continues with a café-style approach.

“We had a very exciting sea baptism at the beginning of September with about 70 people in attendance. Probably about half of the crowd were not church-goers. Please continue to pray for wisdom as we seek to be salt and light amidst the darkness.”

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GRACE CHURCH, HARTLEPOOL

In 2016 BCC hosted a delegation from the Avery Baptist Association (USA) and some of the visitors are pictured on page 4 outside the church building in Buckhaven.

FOLKESTONE Richard Hagan from Emmanuel Church, an FIEC church in Canterbury, says they were really pleased to see Folkestone in the 50 places project. A number of the church family already live there and now there are plans for a church plant. Richard said: “Emmanuel Church already has a Growth Group meeting in Folkestone and some unbelievers there have done Christianity Explored with us.

Following them up has been harder without a church to recommend in Folkestone that puts the gospel of Christ front and centre, and that is willing

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to be flexible on cultural matters to see sinners saved.

“The elders of Emmanuel Church have been praying for a church planter to come and lead this work. The planter would move straight to Folkestone, and be on the Emmanuel Church staff team for the first year before planting after that. £3,000 a year for three years has been pledged by an individual and we are confident that much more would be raised if someone is interested in coming. Please will you pray with us that someone will be found?”

HARTLEPOOL Ben Parker is a church planter with Acts 29 and planted Grace Church Hartlepool in September 2015 with 12 adults and eight children. They have seen people come to faith and had four baptisms. Ben said:

“The church exists to share the good news of Jesus with people in Hartlepool largely through the establishment of small Christian communities who share life with each other and through that seek to share the gospel with each other and with others in Hartlepool.

“We are full of thanks to our great God and over the first 18 months we are specifically giving thanks for:  Those people who have come to know and accept the good news of Jesus for the first time  Those who were not attending churches who have become a part of our Life Groups  The growing diversity (specifically in age) of our church  Four baptisms (in the pretty cold North Sea). fiec.org.uk

“As we look forward to the next 12 months we are specifically praying for:  Growth in our Life Groups both in numbers and depth of relationships  Practical ways we can begin to meet some of the physical and emotional needs in Hartlepool  Grace Church to grow in love and familiarity with the gospel and understanding of the Bible  Wisdom to know how we work with the resources/people we have and continue to grow these.

“Thanks for your prayers.” Find out more at www.gracechurchhartlepool.co.uk

PENRITH Influence Church – part of Assemblies of God

(AoG) – has started a congregation in Penrith led

by Ben and Gale Dowding. They began meeting together in September 2016 and Ben said: “We’re one church that meets in three locations in the North of England. Back in 2011 Influence Church met in Richmond in North Yorkshire and in 2012 launched a campus in Barnard Castle. Three years later God spoke to us about Penrith in Cumbria.

“Logically it didn’t make sense, but often the call of God is beyond our understanding! The heart and vision for the church is not just to reach people in Penrith, but to be God’s light, shining across the whole area to see people come into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

“75 different people have attended Sunday services so far, with a number of them becoming committed members of the church, while several

THE LAUNCH OF INFLUENCE CHURCH, PENRITH

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have started brand new relationships with God. The church has also launched a ‘Connect Group’ in Penrith to help develop and disciple the church body.”

PETERBOROUGH Jonathan Wood leads Cardea Community Church, a plant recognised by FIEC which is reaching a new housing estate in the south-east of Peterborough. The church actually started just before we launched the prayer cards and things have developed at pace as Jonathan explained:

WE SEEK TO MAKE MORE AND MORE CONTACTS AND GET A FOOTHOLD INTO THIS VERY NEW COMMUNITY. “In November 2016 we moved on Sundays to a brand new community centre/sports pavilion and we have loved meeting in a great room that has wi-fi and a sound system available to us. Those who run the centre could not be more thrilled that we are there on a Sunday and are part of the community.

“God has given some lovely encouragements, including a young man from Barcelona coming to the city

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to work at the huge Amazon depot – his dad works for the Spanish Evangelical Alliance and has been involved in church planting for several years! Please pray for our efforts to reach right into the heart of the community over the coming months as we seek to make more and more contacts and get a foothold into this very new community.”

ST AUSTELL Nick Fuller is Pastor of Truro Evangelical Church, an FIEC church in Cornwall, which has a few members living in St Austell. He said: “It has been on our heart (their’s especially) to begin some evangelical work, centred upon preaching that unpacks the Bible and builds up disciples, and evangelism into the town that clearly presents the gospel. A small prayer group began in October to pray for this, meeting in a home in St Austell once a month, led by our other elder, Geraint Richards. So it is very early days.

“Please pray that if a church is to begin in St Austell, Truro Evangelical Church might grow sufficiently to be able to send folk off for this new work.”

WAKEFIELD Ian Goodson leads Grace Church Wakefield which was planted in 2016 out of Dewsbury Evangelical Church.

He said: “We were hit at the start of

September with two families deciding to leave the church plant but in God’s goodness a soon-to-be-married couple have moved to Wakefield through work and have agreed to join us from February. They will no doubt be a real asset to our team.

“So we remain very small – 15 committed adults which is just about on the edge of viability – and really need some others to come and join us. There are a few others who are sometimes around on a Sunday morning.

“We’re trying to raise our profile in the area and we recently ran a bonfire night event that was a real encouragement to us all, with close to 50 people in total coming along. We are planning on running some other low-key events in early 2017, such as a pie and quiz night. Dewsbury Evangelical continue to bank-roll us very generously indeed.”

For more info: Do you know of work that is underway in any of the 50 places we haven’t featured here? (For a full list of the 50 places please go to fiec. org.uk and search “To Reach the Unreached”.) Or would you like us to put you in touch with any of churches listed here? Please contact us so that we can continue to report back on how God is answering our prayers. admin@fiec.org.uk or 01858 434540.

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“...this is a resource that all pastors in the UK should consider getting hold of.

It really is a superb guide to the most pressing and controversial pastoral question of our time.”

Review of issue 03 by Andrew Wilson on thinktheology.co.uk, November 2016

Primer issue 03 ‘True to Form’ (Gender & Sexuality) is now available. Find out more at PrimerHQ.com

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OUR GOSPEL TASK

Churches Church Plants Find a church online at fiec.org.uk/churches

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We all know that we face a massive challenge to bring the good news of the gospel to Great Britain.

Of the 64 million people in our nation, best estimates suggest just John Stevens 3% are bornagain believers. And despite having 565 churches, FIEC is tiny compared with the scale of the task that faces us.

But we should not lose heart. We serve a great God for whom nothing is impossible, and who has worked powerfully in past generations. While we need to pray earnestly for revival, there are simple steps we can take to help us start sharing the gospel more effectively with our communities.

This was the inspiring message of the FIEC Leaders’ Conference in November which focused on evangelism.

There were several key themes that stood out to me which we need to take on board as a family of churches:

1. Confidence in the gospel We were reminded that the gospel message is the power of God for salvation. It is through the gospel that God fiec.org.uk

reveals himself to lost people and brings them to repentance and new life in Christ.

It is so encouraging at this time of year to receive our church membership renewal forms – the majority of our churches have seen conversions and baptisms in the last year. God is at work to gather a people for himself.

CHURCH MEMBERS SHOULD ALLOW THEIR PASTOR TO PRIORITISE HIS RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE LOST 2. Prioritising evangelism The greatest single challenge of the conference was the reminder to prioritise evangelism as the central task of the church. We too easily retreat into organising church for the comfort and care of the saints, rather than to reach the lost people who are all around us in our communities.

Main speaker Ed Stetzer from the USA challenged us

to pray for our immediate neighbours and seek opportunities to share Christ with them. If every member of an FIEC church were to commit to do that with their eight immediate neighbours in the coming year, this could have a significant gospel impact. Even more importantly church members should allow their pastor to prioritise his relationships with the lost, and to lead the church in evangelism.

3. Be welcoming to visitors If we genuinely want our churches to grow we will make every effort to change those things that might be an obstacle to visitors. Jim Ramsay (FIEC Australia) gave an excellent seminar highlighting the need for the church to be welcoming from the very moment people arrive outside the door.

We need warm and friendly people ready to meet and greet; and to eliminate as much unnecessary jargon as possible from our services. Our overriding objective must be to enable people to hear the gospel, and for nothing else to get in the way of this or deter them from coming back to hear it again.

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4. Reaching our communities Not only do we need to make our churches as accessible to visitors as possible, but we need to make efforts to go out to connect with our community. The vast majority of the lost will never come into church unless we first go to them, and our church members only know a small proportion of the population to invite. Rob Pickering from Selhurst Evangelical Church picks up this theme in an article on page 21.

5. Reach every type of community It ought to be a scandal to us that the majority of the evangelical church in Great Britain is middle class and suburban. Mez McConnell and his team from 20schemes in Scotland shared their experience of planting churches on council estates. Andy Constable spoke of how it is possible for someone from a middle-class background to serve in a more deprived area and the 20schemes team challenged us to be willing to go to difficult places.

Overall the conference was a timely reminder to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and the early church by seeking and saving the lost. Ed Stetzer warned of the danger of withdrawing from evangelism and instead discipling converts who came to faith in churches and movements that are less theologically precise but more passionate in their outreach. That is a message we need to hear.

The challenge we face in Britain today is huge, but it is not impossible. Under the sovereignty of God the seemingly small and simple steps that we can take can have a tremendous cumulative impact in advancing his kingdom.

Why not take the Ed Stetzer challenge and commit to praying for and speaking about the gospel to your eight immediate neighbours during 2017?

John Stevens, FIEC National Director For more info The main talks and seminars from our Leaders’ Conference are all online at fiec.org.uk. Just search for Leaders’ Conference 2016.

conferences for women in 2017 Thrive

FIEC’s annual conference for women set apart to serve in pastoral or word ministry amongst women.

Dates: Mon 22 May to Wed 24 May Speaker: Sarah Allen, Hope Church Huddersfield

Ministry Wives

A conference for the wives of men in active pastoral ministry in FIEC churches.

Dates: Wed 24 May to Fri 26 May Speaker: Jane McNabb, The Slade Church Both take place at Holland House, Worcestershire.

Email elisabeth@fiec.org.uk for more info.

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YOUR LEGAL EXPERTS FIEC Practical Services has been helping churches to think through their legal responsibilities for years, but now the team can offer your church even more help and support.

In the past 12 months, three new members of staff have joined the team. It means we now have experts in Human Resources (HR) and Residential Conveyancing (buying and selling property).

On top of that, we are still the best place for churches to come to for help with their charity governance – particularly in the area of forming Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs).

Nick Conway – HR Expert A member of Knighton Free Church in Leicester, Nick’s HR experience is extensive. Until recently he was HR Director for one of the largest IT companies in the world providing HR support to 17,000 employees across 173 countries.

He now works part-time for FIEC Practical Services and can help churches think through employment law, hiring new members of staff and issues surrounding the management fiec.org.uk

of people. Nick is an expert in the contracts you need to consider for either paid staff or volunteers and he can help churches to tackle difficult behaviour in staff teams.

Ganine Eshun – Property Expert Ganine is part of the Hayes Christian Centre in London and a graduate member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. She has worked in the legal sector for 16 years – 13 of those as a conveyancer, dealing with residential property sales and purchases.

This means that FIEC Practical Services now has a lawyer solely focused on helping churches with their residential conveyancing needs.

Ganine can help with buying and selling houses, flats and land on behalf of churches. She can also help with short or long-term leases as well as the first registration of unregistered land.

Gillian Lazonby – CIO Expert Gillian has picked up the baton from Kevin Allard who left his role with FIEC Practical Services in August 2016 to serve with evangelist Glen Scrivener in Eastbourne.

Gillian is part of St Dionis Church in Parsons Green.

London. In her work for Practical Services, she will be assisting churches with charity governance – especially focusing on helping churches to set up as CIOs, dealing with Charity Commission applications, Land Registry applications and closing down the previous church charity (if desired). She will also help churches with existing governing documentation.

Please pray for all the new members of the team as they settle into their roles and support Independent churches.

For more info: Every FIEC church gets 30 minutes of free legal advice on any new enquiry every year, so if you need help and support from the team, please call us on 01858 411 569 or use the website contact form.

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INTRODUCING A NEW TRAINING DIRECTOR Adrian Reynolds will join us after Easter as the new FIEC Training Director.

He will take over from Trevor Archer who will move to a role as our first London Director which you can read about on page 19. Adrian officially starts with us in April 2017 and we wanted to ask him a few questions about this new role.

First of all Adrian, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Faith, family and church life?

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I have all three: and a rather mischievous sense of humour!

I was converted from a nonChristian family background at a Crusader camp in 1981, aged 12. I ended up marrying the Crusader leader’s daughter, Celia, and we have three children, Alice, Bethan and Isabel. Alice and Bethan are both married and Isabel (aged 12) is now ‘home alone’ with Mum and Dad. We live

in the East End of London and are both serving at East London Tabernacle, where I am Associate Minister (and look after music and a small group). Celia runs the toddler group, helps with a midweek Bible study and – in her spare time – volunteers with a local charity supporting vulnerable new mums.

What about your current work and ministry?

I am currently working for The Proclamation Trust, where I

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have been for eight years. I do some training, tutoring, writing, editing and online publication as well as leading the office team. It’s been a fruitful and enjoyable time, and this new role with FIEC will help me to focus on the things I seem to be better at and also working within my ‘home’ constituency for the first time. My 10+ years of secular employment included being professionally trained as a trainer, so perhaps even back then God was preparing me for this role!

any other. This applies as much to training as it does to every other area of ministry. So we need to work out how we can support one another in training men and women for ministry – and not just for the role of pastor, but for the great range of tasks we value in church – youth workers; senior workers (a particular passion for me); women’s workers, evangelists, elders and so on.

Moreover, we need to ensure that we nurture a culture of continuing to grow and learn.

So, picking up on this new role, what advantage is there in being Independent when it comes to training?

WE NEED TO TRAIN ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS.

Our chief advantage, I believe, is to be delivered from any one-size-fits-all approach to training.

I think the Bible gives us a clear steer as to the elements that we incorporate into training (derived in part from the ‘job description’ and ‘character’ of ministry that God’s word presents).

However, quite how this development should be delivered (and continue to be delivered) is not stipulated. I think we have rediscovered in recent times the enormous value of full-time training to give a start-up boost to those entering ministry, but the reality is that we need to train all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. We still need to grasp this and our Independency actually counts for us. So, we can train a middle-aged nonuniversity educated prospective evangelist in a different way that we might, say, train a young university graduate for women’s ministry.

What does the Independent church need to do better when it comes to training? Or what have we got wrong?

I can only speak in generalities; with every weakness we identify, we could always find a church that has worked hard to combat it. And therein lies our greatest challenge: managing the balance between Independence and gospel inter-dependence. Independence does not mean every church doing its own thing irrespective of

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What would you like to see God do through your role with FIEC? My passion is to see God work through local churches. So, my greatest prayer is that my role might function in some way to empower that.

Broadly, that is in two ways: first, representing churches to training providers, making sure, for example, that we can access the kind of training we need; second, helping churches think through these issues and getting on with the business of training. We need to keep the end in mind in doing this: the goal is not well trained men and women, but churches taking the gospel out to their communities.

How can we pray for you and your family ahead of this transition?

Thank you! This is a big move for us. New house, new church, new friends, new role, new everything. We feel that pressure, and it is multiplied for our daughter Isabel. We want to be godly and end the current role well, and begin the new one enthusiastically. Please also pray for local friendships. Ministry can be a lonely business and we are only too aware that the Devil may take this opportunity to attack and undermine.

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NEWS IN BRIEF BRINGING NATIONS TOGETHER With 20 different nationalities in the church family, Amyand Park Chapel (APC) in Twickenham has plenty of opportunities to reach people from around the world who live on their doorstep, writes Mark Long.

The whole church came together at APC in 2016 to host an International Food Evening. We wanted to celebrate the global love of God by sharing that good news with family, friends and our local community.

We decorated the chapel buildings with international flags and the main hall was transformed into a festival of food from around the world. The nations in the church family, from Malawi to Iran, from Lithuania to South Africa, from Wales to Ethiopia, had prepared wonderful dishes to be enjoyed by everybody.

Recipe cards with testimonies on the back were given to the guests as they mingled and ate together, while younger children were able to watch DVDs on the big screen in the chapel and enjoy eating popcorn.

The atmosphere was

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friendly, easy and informal.

After folk had finished eating they were invited to watch a short video put together especially for the evening called What Brings Nations Together before guests were invited to discover Jesus for themselves.

Ahead of the event, we distributed thousands of invitations through our church magazine as well as handing out invitations in a local High Street, along with free tea and coffee. As a church we made sure we gave ourselves to prayer.

The Lord blessed the evening. Our chief desire was to see him glorified.

There was an excellent turn out with a significant number of ‘non-church’ people. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive and there were calls for it to become an annual event.

In a world where there is so much hatred and division, terrorism and fear and where there continues to be anxiety over the impact of Brexit, the gospel can shine brightly through a celebration of Christian unity in diversity. fiec.org.uk

LONDON CALLING Trevor Archer will take up a new role as FIEC’s first London Director in April once Adrian Reynolds joins as our new Training Director (see page 16).

An elder at The Globe Church on London’s South Bank, Trevor will work with the 75 FIEC churches inside the M25, helping them to partner in the gospel with each other and with other networks that share our biblical convictions.

Trevor said he is really excited about the task: “Many of the FIEC churches in London are growing and display an increasing heart to work more closely together – and with other evangelicals – in the massive need and challenge which London presents. At the same time some of those churches – like others around Great Britain – are kept going by a faithful but ageing congregation.

“We need to get to know one another better and thereby seek to bring some coherency and cohesiveness to our identity as FIEC churches in the city.

“One way of aiding this will be to gather pastors and leaders together in central London three times a year for an early evening gathering over food. Most of all we need to pray, which must be at the heart of any such regular gathering.”

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JOSIAH BAPTISED IN SWINDON

SIX BAPTISMS IN SWINDON On Sunday 4 December we had the joy of baptising six friends with six different stories of how they have responded to the love and salvation of Jesus, writes Fraser Kay, pastor of North Swindon Baptist Church.

As we don’t have a building we were very grateful to Swindon Evangelical Church for the use of theirs. Let me tell you briefly about each of these precious lives.

Shayne and Lisa, a couple who have recently joined the church, shared about how, through the trials of Shayne’s poor health, God had made himself very real to them. Harry and Eloise both shared how Christ had saved them in their early years and now they desire as teens to live for him.

Josiah, also a teen, has Down Syndrome. He loves Jesus and clearly spoke of his faith in him. Hayley, who a year or so ago was suffering from severe mental health struggles, shared of how the Lord had drawn her near to himself. Now she is not only healing well over time but also has a fervent desire to share him with others.

These lives are all very different and yet have one precious Saviour whose name is Jesus and they are growing in him. We thank the Lord so much because the week leading up to the baptisms had some real challenges for some – but courage and faith were given by the Holy Spirit and each one went through the waters of baptism.

What an awesome Saviour we have – all glory to him!

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NEWS IN BRIEF DREAMERS Lynn Shelley from Bradley Stoke Evangelical Church writes about their 25th anniversary.

In 1991, David Ashman was a farmer in South Gloucestershire and he had a dream. He’d sold a lot of his land for the development of Bradley Stoke but as a Christian his dream was to make sure that the people who moved there had the chance to hear the gospel.

So he put up two Portakabins.

Then he spoke to FIEC. FIEC caught the vision and sent two church planters, Revd Eric Olsen and Mike Hawkins. Christians from nearby evangelical churches also became involved and by November 1991, David’s dream, Bradley Stoke Evangelical Church (BSEC), was becoming a reality.

A children’s club started at

Bradley Stoke Evangelical

BSEC was soon very popular and

Church celebrated its 25th

it led to a serious growth spurt

anniversary in November

for the church. The two original

2016. The church was full as

church planters left and two

friends and supporters, both

others came to take their place.

old and new, joined the regular

One of them, Nick Watkins, a

congregation to thank God for

missionary returning from the

his goodness to us and to listen

Philippines, had a dream too. He

to Andy Paterson (FIEC Mission

dreamed of making Bradley Stoke

Director) and Steve Brady

his new mission field. Brian Sage,

(Moorlands College) preach.

the other church planter, dreamed

God is indeed, amazing!

of establishing a constituted

Because of his grace and

church and a permanent building.

goodness and the ‘dreams’ of

Now in 2016, the

those who love him, we have seen

Portakabins have long gone.

people converted, baptised and

In their place stands a large

growing in love for the Lord Jesus.

modern building with huge

But it’s not enough. Our

windows and a baptismal

dream is to see more people

pool hidden somewhere

saved, to see more spirtitually

beneath 150 chairs. The new

dead people coming in through

building can host everything

our doors and going out again

from lunches to toddler clubs,

as newborn Christians, glowing

basketball to indoor football.

with the light of Christ.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS AT BRADLEY STOKE

20

FIEC Together Spring 2017

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SHARING CHRIST IN SELHURST

ENGAGING COMMUNITY EVANGELISM The main theme of our Leaders’ Conference in November was “Engaging Evangelism” and Rob Pickering – pastor of Selhurst Evangelical Church – led one of the seminars.

In it, he shared about how God has been blessing their outreach work in their local community – particularly their interaction with people outside their local supermarkets.

Every week, Rob and some other members of the church stand in a shop foyer, giving fiec.org.uk

people information about their church and its activities. They have permission to be there and the members at Selhurst Evangelical simply explain where they’re from and invite people to join them at church.

Rob says this is a vital way the church gets to meet members of their community and it’s led to numerous people joining them on a Sunday morning at church – just because they were invited.

He said: “It’s been really, really

encouraging and I think it’s good just being here.

Sometimes we see people again and again which is great.

“All we do is let people know who we are, where we are and let them know that we would love to welcome them along to church. Mostly people are just open to us talking to them and a number of people say they would love to come along.

“We spoke to one lady today about our football academy. She went on to say that one of the girls who had come through the academy had been signed by Crystal Palace to play for the girls’ team. Now she wants to come along to the church but couldn’t remember where it was so she was really pleased she had met us today.”

Rob is clear that he and the team can’t do street preaching outside the store – that would break the agreement with the supermarket – but they can live out their faith and give people a reason for the hope they profess (1 Peter 3: 15).

He explained more about this ministry in his seminar at the Leaders’ Conference. A recording is now available online at fiec.org.uk – just search for “Community Evangelism”.

FIEC Together Spring 2017

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NEWS IN BRIEF SILVER STREET’S FIRST YEAR Silver Street Community Church celebrated its first anniversary in the autumn. This plant in the Edmonton area of north London has seen two people saved and the church growing in numbers but Pastor Nathan Howard says there are still many challenges.

We are amazed at what God has done in our first year as a church family.

Many new people from the community have become a regular part of our Sunday and Tuesday gatherings. Our prayer has been that Sundays would reflect the diversity of our community and by the grace of Jesus it is increasingly so.

We have seen Jesus save a couple of people and had the privilege of baptising one of them.

We have seen Jesus bring back to church those who have drifted from him. Jesus has also grown our workforce. We are seeing members of this local community serving in various ways in the life of the church.

As we look back on our first year it has

confirmed to us that the work will take some time to bed in.

It takes time to build relationships with people. It takes time to help new Christians grow.

It takes time to reach a densely populated area.

It takes time to mix our lives in with this local community. It takes time to grow a shared heart for gospel work with new people that have joined us. It takes time for a building location to become known in a community.

A year has gone so fast and whilst expectations have been exceeded we also have a confirmed sense that this is a marathon – not a sprint.

We are very grateful to God that London City Mission have appointed Nick Mott to serve alongside Silver Street Community Church and support us with evangelism in the area. So please continue to pray for us at Silver Street as we continue through our second year.

SILVER STREET COMMUNITY CHURCH

22

FIEC Together Spring 2017

fiec.org.uk

pastors’ NETWORK In the busyness of ministry, it’s easy to forget who you are.

Day conferences for pastors and their wives in 2017 Liverpool, Birmingham, Harrogate, Nottingham, Reading, Waterlooville, London, Glasgow, Bath, Cambridge, Merthyr Tydfil and Looe.

Find out more at fiec.org.uk/events

13-15 Nov 2017 Riviera Conference Centre Torquay Speakers include > Thabiti Anyabwile Matt Schmucker Michael Reeves Adrian Reynolds Paul Rees find out more > fiec.org.uk/lc2017

fiec.org.uk

FIEC Together Spring 2017

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REVITALISING YOUR CHURCH In this issue of Together we have been thinking about our great gospel task and one of the ways we are starting to see God at work is through church revitalisation.

We asked FIEC Revitalisation Coordinator Phil Walter to explain what Phil Walter it takes for a small, struggling church to be turned around for God’s glory: When churches face the prospect of lower numbers, the consequences are widespread.

A sense of failure – even guilt – can be crippling.

A declining congregation

24

FIEC Together Spring 2017

often means less impact on a community, fewer visitors to Sunday services, fewer workers available and, of course, the fear of closure unless something can be done to reverse the trend.

For churches that are small and struggling the effect is multiplied. Often what follows is a siege mentality and churches focus on being “faithful”, in the context of continuing to do what they have always done.

But what is “faithful”?

To answer that question we need to continually see how God describes faithfulness in his word; and then place ourselves alongside it.

For believers, being faithful is multi-faceted.

It affects our lifestyle, our witness, our prayer life, our quiet times and our study of God’s word; in fact, our whole beings! (Colossians 3: 12–14) For churches seeking to be faithful it is equally

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multi-faceted; not just being faithful in the solid preaching of the gospel on a Sunday (1 Corinthians 1: 22–25) but also the very things in which individuals must be faithful. So perhaps the better question to ask is simply “how healthy is our church?”

UNTIL A CHURCH SEES BEFORE GOD ITS FALLEN STATE, IT CANNOT BECOME HEALTHY. Is it exercising? Is it eating properly? Is it (in a spiritual sense) socially aware? The early church in the book of Acts must surely be the mirror we use to assess a church’s health and therefore its faithfulness. They were devoted to the word, to fellowship, to prayer and to the breaking of bread, affecting their community with the gospel, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people (Acts 2: 42–47). That’s true faithfulness.

But why are so many churches reaching such a low ebb?

What do we blame? The times we live in?

Our culture being so different from fifty years back? The fact that our communities are not as straightforward as they used to be? Of course all these things are relevant as we seek to reach our communities with the gospel, but we should not see such things as insurmountable under God. Revitalisation can only begin when a struggling church recognises that there is a problem. Until a church sees before God its fallen state, it cannot become healthy.

For some churches, it may be too late but for others, this checklist can help you think about whether church revitalisation could be an option.

Have you:  Recognised that the church needs help to restore health, just as an illness will prompt you to seek medical advice?  Called the church to pray regularly, making

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sure that prayer has its focus on the church and the community?  Asked for help? This is more than just a plea for speakers or more people from a larger church, it is initially for someone to help you see what the problems are.  Been prepared to change and take the tough decisions? Often this starts with the leadership who are not able to lead a church towards health.  Explored help from larger healthy churches to consider a graft that includes a new leadership structure?  Considered dying well if that’s the best option? Rather than waiting to close you could use what you have to help other gospel work.

HIS DESIRE IS THAT THE CHURCH SHOULD BE REACHING OUT INTO THE COMMUNITIES AROUND THEM WITH THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT HIM. We need to remember that Jesus loves his church whatever its size and state of health (John 17: 20–26, Ephesians 5: 25). But his desire is that the church should be reaching out into the communities around them with the good news about him (Matthew 28: 16–20).

So here’s one final question to finish with: what do we really mean when we say we’re being faithful?

For more info: If you are part of a smaller church and would like to see how FIEC might be able to help you with church revitalisation or if you are part of a larger church interested in revitalising a smaller church please email Phil Walter on phil.walter@fiec.org.uk

FIEC Together Spring 2017

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BOOK REVIEWS

26

We would like to say a big thank you to Jonathan Carswell and 10ofThose for providing these book reviews.

Renewal

The Joy Of Service

by John James

by Julian Hardyman

What a gem of a book! John is the first pastor of what was Helier Chapel, Birmingham, that had fallen on hard times and was in danger of closing. It tried to serve a deprived housing estate but the members were elderly and lacked both energy and resources to turn it around.

Whilst church planting is considered ‘cool’, seeking to revitalise a declining congregation might seem a lost cause.

But not to John. And not to John’s God. Here is a very warm, honest and humble account of the church’s journey.

John writes in a very readable style as he recounts the church’s experience over the past five years. He does not shun exposing his own doubts and shortcomings but through it all his love for God and his people shine forth. His constant refrain is ‘people not programmes’; church revitalisation is God’s work and only in his strength will it succeed.

The work is long-term, low key and hard and he was without any real encouragements during the first year.

He invested in relationships and helpfully describes evangelism as just talking to people about Jesus.

John reminds us that there is also an enemy at work.

Taking a stand against Satan means solid, tenacious perseverance is the order of the day: a daily ‘plod for God’.

John includes five other encouraging examples of church revitalisation. The book is thoroughly recommended to all Christians but especially to those, perhaps older, leaders of declining congregations. There’s hope in these pages!

This little book has spurred me on no end over the last month or so.

It was such a refreshing read, and with limited time to read at the moment, I read it from cover to cover in little more than one sitting (which is no small feat as a mum of three small children!).

It’s been a wonderful reminder of how to continue serving with joy, and how to keep counting the cost of ministry as a privilege, rather than grumpily, or begrudgingly ploughing on, particularly when we are at a tired point in the term.

The author is refreshing in his honesty about a number of unjoyful circumstances, much of which I cannot imagine the pain and turmoil endured on the front-line of ministry.

And yet wonderfully he shows how he has been able to serve joyfully through, and in the midst of, such circumstances.

Rather than point to himself, Julian Hardyman leaves you finishing the book wanting to praise Jesus more and feeling more ready to face the sacrifices and suffering that living for Jesus will inevitably bring.

It is a fantastic encourager to keep dying to self and to keep living for Christ, in all walks of life and wherever you find yourself serving.

Yvonne Iley, Birmingham

Sarah Dargue, Christ Church Gosforth

FIEC Together Spring 2017

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25% off

If you w ant to pu rchase a of our fe ny atured b ooks you get 25% can off at th e checko at www.1 ut 0ofThos e.com b quoting y TOGETH ERFIEC a a promo s tional co de.

She Reads Truth

To Fly to Serve

by Amanda Bible Williams and Raechel Myers

by Adrian Reynolds

This is a beautiful book – both in appearance and content.

To be honest, I picked it up sceptical, expecting to open the lovely cover and find something a little fluffy and insubstantial. Instead I have loved the honest, Jesuspointing, word-clinging voices of Myers and Williams as they show again and again what it is to read truth and cling to permanence amidst the unpredictable happenings of life.

It is autobiographical, with the writers taking it in turns to share aspects of their lives in self–deprecating, often humorous, and honest ways. Both women have experienced the brokenness of the world in different ways, and at times I wanted to cry with them.

As their stories unfolded, I feared that it might turn over-dramatic and self-glorifying, but they are down to earth and keep their reader grounded in the word throughout and therefore looking at Jesus rather than them. The purpose of telling their stories is to throw into sharp relief the permanence and steadfastness of God, seen in his word, amidst the shifting ground of life.

Scripture is threaded throughout the narrative, and the writers often take the time to consider right expectations and specific applications of particular passages. I loved that each chapter ends with chunks of the Bible so we are left hearing truth rather than the writers’ voices.

The aim of the whole ministry of ‘She Reads Truth’ is to get women opening their Bibles every day, and as I put down this book I am eager to open that greater Book and know my God better.

Adrian has crafted a most helpful and enlightening entry level book on preaching. His topic is not so much a ‘how to’ of preaching but is a stunning reminder on the ‘what’ of preaching.

It is a book that keeps the constant goal of preaching in the preacher’s mind.

His clarion call to all people giving a ‘Bible talk’ about the need to be congregation-focused and serve them in the best way they can is timely. His consistent analogy about the preacher as a pilot is very illustrative and the imagery very memorable, meaning that the pilot checklist is easily recalled as one crafts, structures and seeks to deliver a talk from the Bible.

It also gives a wonderful framework to evaluate preaching and challenges us to constantly think about how we can all strive to be better preachers. I think it is very accessible, very practical and I love the way Adrian humbly makes fun of himself which inspires people in the task.

During my time in pastoral ministry I have attempted to run some preaching classes to equip capable people in our congregation. I am definitely going to use this book as a gentle introduction for people to begin to get their heads around the task and goal of preaching, I think it is a superb resource and I’ve bought multiple copies to give away.

By Felicity Patterson

Jonathan Gemmell, Bruntsfield Evangelical Church

fiec.org.uk

FIEC Together Spring 2017

27

Since the last edition of Together:

NEW CHURCH AFFILIATIONS Bethel Baptist Church, Barry Bradfield and Rougham Baptist Church, Bury St Edmonds Christ Church Longbridge, Birmingham Clementswood Baptist Church, Ilford, Essex House of Mercy Christian Assembly, London Parr Street Evangelical Church, Kendal Bethany Evangelical Church, Dumfries Newquay URC, Cornwall Grace Community Church, Tipton, West Midlands Woodlands Church Oakwood, Derby

NEW CHURCH PLANT RECOGNITIONS Trinity Church Milnthorpe, Kendal (Planted by Parr Street, Kendal) Huntly Christian Fellowship, Aberdeenshire Grace Community Church, Loftus, Saltburn Grace Church Denbigh, Denbigh, Wales (Planted by Ebenezer Baptist Church, Mold)

fiec.org.uk fb.com/theFIEC @theFIEC 01858 434540 admin@fiec.org.uk Registered Charity No. 263354 Charity registered in Scotland SC047080

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