JUNE 2016
ISSUE 19
K I NGFI S H E R FAMILY The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night Back in January of this year, we had our annual Vision Morning, where we looked together at where we believe God is leading us this year and beyond. I was saying that the major shift that I believe will be occurring this year is the shift from WHAT IS to WHAT IF? WHAT IS represents things as they currently are. Our physical environment and spiritual state as we currently have them. Our expectations being that the status quo will be maintained. WHAT IF represents things as they could be; as they SHOULD be because God wants them to be. The shift from WHAT IS to WHAT IF was depicted as the experience the Israelites had when wandering in the desert having escaped from Egypt. They were guided by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. When the pillar was at rest, the people camped, sometimes for a few days, sometimes for an extended period of time. But when the cloud lifted and started to move, the Israelites had to break camp and follow. The pillar was God’s way of saying ‘What Is is about to become What If. The status quo is about to change!’
Project has been launched with a target of raising £60,000 to refurbish the church building and make it fit for purpose, ready for the growth and new ventures that Jesus Christ has in store. New chairs have already been bought, nearly £10,000 has already been raised, we are applying for a grant to fund the air-conditioning throughout the building, and the painting of the outside of the building is about to start.
‘What Is’ is about to become ‘What If’. The status quo is about to change!
We are now half way through the year and it is a fair question to ask, has the pillar moved, and have we moved with it? Are we still in WHAT IS mode, or have we begun to embrace WHAT IF mode - and if so, what does WHAT IF look like?
The pillar is moving at Kingsway in terms of momentum. The church has grown in terms of new people, the toddler group, Little Fishes, is seeing record numbers of families coming along, and there is a real sense in the church of things taking off. The number of Connect groups has risen this year, from just one to four and a new monthly church prayer meeting has been established with encouraging results. With a new pastor - Sturt Gray - in place, Kingsway is set for some exciting times.
The pillar is moving at Tredworth, as God challenges us to change the ‘what is’ of our physical environment. The Regeneration
The pillar is moving at the Social Enterprise. As outlined in a recent leaders’ celebration event and then at an evening service, the social
outreach of this group is growing rapidly as God continues to open new doors. A new service, offering help and support for adults and children who are in crisis is opening soon at the Cavern. The adult support has already been agreed by the Clinical Commissioning Group and hopefully the children’s part of this will follow soon. The Cavern is also becoming increasingly well-known as a live music venue, with the profile being raised massively by the recent staging of a regional heat of The Voice by ITV. Teenagers who would normally be presenting the police with ongoing challenges are finding a home there on Friday nights - the pilar is moving as God says, ‘What if you trusted me and followed me into radical social outreach?’ The pilar is moving internationally as well. James is travelling to The Philippines in June in response to a God-given opportunity to establish the Kingfisher Family out there. He is travelling with Norlie Bulacan who has recently joined Kingfisher with his family and who has been called by God to reach out to the villages in the Sierra Madre mountains to the north of that country. Meanwhile, Kingfisher in India has just baptised 18 new believers and Kingfisher in Malawi and Mozambique continue to grow and expand. In the next edition of The Family, we will be looking at some of the results from the recent International Day of Prayer. The pillar of cloud by day and fire by night is definitely on the move and Kingfisher is responding. What Is is no longer an option - we are headed towards the What If!