New Wine Magazine - Issue 63 - November 2015

Issue 63

FUTURE DISTINCTIVE Imagining a church that breathes life into the UK

p. 40

Teaching

Hearing God speak Listening out for nudges from God in everyday life p.18

Stories

Leaving the building How looking outwards can resurrect a congregation p.36

Culture

Bringing a church back to life From traditional to a place of growth and change p.44

Missed us at the National Gathering?

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News Teaching Stories Culture

Issue 63

Get In Touch Find us: 4a Ridley Avenue Ealing London W13 9XW Phone us: 020 8567 6717 Email us: mag@new-wine.org

What’s happening.

Learn together.

Our God at work.

Looking at our world.

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10

23

40

Reaching those who haven’t yet heard about God’s grace

What do we need to do to see revival in our generation? Malcolm Macdonald encourages us to cry out for more

With Christy Wimber of Yorba Linda Vineyard, California

Tim May suggests that if we’re going to see the church reach future generations we need to start thinking creatively

Mark Bailey: 3.8 million

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06

In Brief

News, reflections & a prize draw

Saturated with God

14

Love that defeats death

Donna Lazenby explores how the message of the gospel can be found throughout Frozen

09

18

Conferences and events happening soon, including Local Network meetings

How do we learn to listen to God in our everyday lives? Mark Aldridge suggests we need to be led by the Spirit

Upcoming Events

Hearing God speak

20

Your work matters

How can we make a difference for God at work? Mark Greene and the team from LICC give us some ideas

60-second insight

25

Future Distinctive

United 2015: Your stories

44

33

How do you reignite a traditional church that’s having little impact in a community? Ian Parkinson shares some of what he’s learned

Some inspiring stories from this summer’s National Gatherings

60-second insight

With Jo Soper of Exeter Network Church and Westminster Theological Centre

36

Leaving the building

Dave Brae reminds us that there’s hope of resurrection; even when a church has been closed

38

Producing a harvest Bruce Collins reports on the work of Just Earth transforming rural communiities in Kenya

Bringing a church back to life

46

Small but significant Anna Scott has a vision for preschool kids’ work that brings young children into friendship with their Heavenly Father

50

Recommended resources

Books to stretch and equip you and worship albums to connect you with God

NEWS

3.8 million

A note from Mark Bailey

In the few seconds it took you to glance at the heading and decide to read this letter somewhere in the world approximately 125 people were born and 53 people died. Thirty-six of those who died did not claim to know Jesus and in the last year approximately 3.8 million people died who probably didn’t know Christ.

Those numbers are overwhelming, they are staggering, but they have a far greater impact when they have a face. We have seen a number of faces in the media recently of those who have died. We have been overwhelmed with grief and sadness at some of the tragedies that unfold in and around this world. We are reminded once again about the challenge to be serious about reaching a dying world through grace and love in ways that are bold and innovative. We as the church and as a movement have a story to tell.

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As I have travelled back and forth across the country over the past year in my role as the National Leader of New Wine I have celebrated and delighted in the interdenominational nature of New Wine as a movement and our association with many different fellowships and churches, both nationally and internationally. To be alongside dear friends and servants of the Lord as we seek to tell that story together. There are so many good news stories and I want to congratulate and encourage you in all that you are doing and celebrate the many good things that are happening in this movement.

This edition of the magazine is a wonderful reflection of God’s goodness and grace as he calls us to be with him, experience his transformation and seek to reveal his light in our communities, in our regions and in the nation. It takes a church that is convinced about the message of the gospel and overwhelmed with the love of God. Certainly as I travel and listen to many of the leaders of churches who are part of our movement, their deep commitment and passion for those who don’t yet know Jesus is evident. I stand alongside others whose hearts break for those who don’t yet know Jesus as we together seek to implement creative ways to reach them.

Since you began to read this letter approximately 500 people were born and 213 have died, 145 of whom didn’t yet know Jesus. I hope that as we go into this new season in the life of the church around the country we have a plan for the numbers those lives represent. I am praying that as a movement our hearts would break for those who die and live not yet knowing Christ and get serious about the challenge to love deeply and to proclaim boldly so that we can help others encounter the amazing, captivating grace of Jesus Christ.

With my love and prayers,

Mark Bailey Leader, New Wine

NEW WINE’S VISION To see the nation changed through Christians experiencing the joy of worshipping God, the freedom of following Jesus, and the power of being filled with the Spirit.

To see churches renewed, strengthened and planted, living out the word of God in every aspect of life, serving God by reaching the lost, broken and poor, and demonstrating the good news of the kingdom of God to all.

NEW WINE’S VALUES Continuity & Change – we want to be faithful guardians of an unchanging message about the person and work of Jesus, and the need for personal salvation and sanctification, while also adapting ways of worship, teaching, being church and doing mission according to culture and context.

Cross & Resurrection – we want to honour all that Jesus has done for us on the cross, and to embrace the way of the cross for ourselves, while also knowing the power of his resurrection to set us free.

Gracious & Truthful – we want to be kind and generous in the way we think and speak about others whether they agree or disagree with us, while also clearly communicating what we believe and why we believe it.

Leadership & Every-member Ministry – we want to train and deploy anointed, courageous and missional church leaders, while also equipping every Christian to serve like Jesus in their home, church, work and life-place.

DO YOU HAVE A JOB VACANCY TO FILL?

THERE’S A SUCCESSFUL ‘FIND A JOB’ SERVICE ON THE NEW WINE WEBSITE.

Mission & Community – we want to see the church become a missionary movement to love and reach the lost, to care for the poor and to bring justice to our homes, neighbourhoods, workplaces and nations, while also being a grace-filled community in which people can find relationship, healing, faith, hope and love.

Natural & Supernatural – we want to see every Christian using all the natural reason, wisdom and skill that they can, while also learning to operate in the supernatural gifts of the Spirit to minister to others in love and power as Jesus did.

Now & Not yet of the Kingdom – we want to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God and to see that confirmed by miraculous signs and wonders, while also ministering grace to all, knowing that suffering will be part of life until Jesus returns and makes all things new.

Transcendence & Presence – we want to live lives that celebrate God’s awesome power, transcendent majesty and sovereign work, while at the same time experiencing his intimate presence as we encounter him in heartfelt worship.

Unity & Diversity – we want to work with everyone who holds these values in open, mutually accountable friendship, while also acknowledging and honouring differences in leadership style, church characteristics and denominational emphasis.

Word & Spirit – we want to derive all we believe, teach and do from the Bible as the written word of God, while also learning to hear and obey the voice of the Spirit speaking to us individually and collectively.

HOW CAN I HELP CHANGE THIS NATION? New Wine is a movement of churches working together to do just that! This includes working with our network of church leaders, hosting national gatherings, delivering training events and providing resources.

Find a Job gives churches (and other organisations) a quick and easy way to advertise jobs, with access to a large target audience.

You can use this service to advertise church leaders’ appointments, as well as all other roles within the church (including worship, youth, children’s and community work, internships, managerial, administrators and other support roles).

NEWS

OUR VISION AND VALUES

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NEWS

IN BRIEF

RESPONSE TO THE REFUGEE CRISIS Mark Bailey, Leader of New Wine, writes: ‘Like many of you, I have found myself deeply moved and impacted by the growing refugee crisis in Europe. The waves of refugees fleeing their homelands in desperate search of a life free of persecution and injustice have caused me to fall to my knees in prayer – for those individuals, for those working day and night to support them and provide them with aid, and for peace in the countries from which they are fleeing.

I want to encourage you to be praying about what steps you could take to help those in need. Perhaps you will feel it is right for you and members within your community to offer to take in a family of refugees. Maybe as a church you could raise funds for charities providing support and aid for refugees *. There are also ways you can actively petition the government to encourage them to allow more refugees to settle here.

New Wine November We’re launching New Wine November to help your church get organised and book into the United 2016 National Gatherings by the Super Early Bird deadline of 30 November – so they get the best rate possible!

Email info@new-wine.org and we’ll send you a link to videos, posters and all the information you’ll need.

Our call as God’s family is to love and support those around us, and as the New Wine family we believe in the power of the local church to help do this. I hope you will join me in continuing to pray for a peaceful solution to the refugee crisis, and that we would be able to find ways of supporting the whole of God’s family.’ * Tearfund Refugee Crisis, Open Doors, Cinnamon Network and some local denomination bodies (e.g.

Church of England dioceses) have set up responses to the crisis as well.

INVEST INVEST is our new initiative specifically aimed at young adults under 30, who are already demonstrating a growing desire to lead by serving in their local church.

It is also for young women and men God is calling and sending out to lead in the fields of business, education, healthcare and the community, and who are hungry to see a transformation in our nation through leaders who are living out a Kingdom vision with Christ-like character in their workplace.

INVEST Leaders’ Summit Gathering young leaders to live radical and reckless lives for Jesus 15-17 Jan 2016 The De Vere, Staverton Park, Northamptonshire INVEST Bootcamps Ministry specific, three-day intensives with teaching and training from specialists in their field of ministry.

Dates and venues TBC If you’re interested in INVEST, ask your New Wine network church leader or Regional Director to email invest@new-wine.org to recommend you.

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PRIZE DRAW We’re also holding a special **PRIZE DRAW** for speedy bookers! Anyone who books for the United 2016 National Gatherings before the Super Early Bird deadline of 30 November not only gets the cheapest rate tickets but will also be entered into a draw to win two free adult passes to a New Wine event of their choice, taking place between January and June 2016.* (See our website for details of the events currently scheduled, and keep an eye out for additional events soon to be added!) *Draw will be made on 1 December and the winner will be informed via email to the address used when booking. At this point we will be able to provide a complete list of the events planned for the given time period, from which you may choose.

INVEST LEADERS’ SUMMIT

15-17 JAN 2016

THE DE VERE, STAVERTON PARK, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE POLITICS New Wine’s theme for young people this year during Week 2 of the National Gatherings was ‘Stand Up’. We encouraged young people to ‘Stand Up’ for their faith, their friends, their church, love, hope and justice. So when a friend invited me to join him on a day trip to the Calais refugee camp, nicknamed the ‘Jungle’, I couldn’t say no.

GATHERING YOUNG LEADERS TO LIVE RADICAL AND RECKLESS LIVES COMMITTED TO THE CAUSE OF GOD’S KINGDOM

I went with no political intent or moralistic campaign to persuade people into. I just went, on a day off, somewhere slightly different!

As we approached the camp, the feelings of hopelessness and loss started to become tangible. Where I had been to Zambian townships and Kenyan orphanages before, I could always see incredible rays of hope, ambition, desire and faith; feelings I didn’t witness much in Calais.

For example, in the space of amount 20 minutes, six men told me how much they had paid traffickers to get over to the UK and by which means. I stood with a group of three young men who, whilst telling me their stories of up to nine years travelling from worn-torn countries to find freedom and a living, were queueing to get their daily donation of food. 45 minutes later, as the call of ‘no more food’ resounded, their faces expressed utter despair in a way I had never before witnessed.

On the ground, supporting almost 4,000 refugees, eight part-time volunteers did the best they could to see to the most intense of needs. That’s it. One volunteer for every 500 refugees.

Now back in the UK I am utterly convinced that concepts of countries, home territories, racial boundaries and cultural differences are all foreign to the commitment God makes to love his created peoples. I do not have any solutions or ideas of what to do, only more passion to always pursue the people behind the politics.

Alex Rayment is the Youth and Student Outreach Pastor at St Paul’s Church Cheltenham, and is currently training for ordination. Alongside Anna Mason, he coordinated the youth work at Week 2 of United 2015.

TRAINING A GENERATION OF YOUNG LEADERS TO TRANSFORM THEIR NATION To reserve a place ask your New Wine network church leader or Regional Director to email invest@new-wine.org on your behalf.

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Learning to Hear God’s Voice

Learning to Heal John Coles

Mark Aldridge

REGIONAL TRAINING DAYS

Seeing God rekindle life and purpose in your church 9 NOV 2015 10 NOV 2015 11 NOV 2015 12 NOV 2015 18 NOV 2015 19 NOV 2015

ST MARK’S, HARROGATE CHRIST THE KING, KETTERING ALL SAINT’S CHURCH, WOODFORD WELLS ST ANDREW’S, CHORLEYWOOD ALL SAINTS, WORCESTER PENRITH METHODIST CHURCH

NOVEMBER 2015 Men’s Days: Confident and Strong 7 November St George’s Leeds 14 November St Barnabas Kensington Urban Forum 18-19 November Emmanuel, Loughborough

JANUARY 2016 INVEST Young Leaders’ Summit 15-17 January 2016 De Vere Hotel, Staverton

FEBRUARY 2016 Face to Face 3-5 February 2016 Hothorpe Hall, Leicestershire

MARCH 2016 Leadership Conference 1-3 March 2016 Harrogate International Centre New Wine Women: Splendour 12 March 2016 Lighthouse, Poole

APRIL 2016 Leaders Time Out 10-14 April 2016 Trinity Cheltenham New Wine Women: Splendour 23 April 2016 Harrogate International Centre

LOCAL EVENTS NOVEMBER 2015 Church Leaders’ Network Meeting 5 November Mid/South Norfolk Spiritual Gifts for All With Ian Parkinson 7 November St Barnabas, Linthorpe New Wine Celebration With Jonathan Oloyede 8 November Holy Trinity, Leicester

local events

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday Evening Teaching With Ian Parkinson 8 November Church of the Holy Spirit, Crawcrook

Reignite: Seeing God Rekindle Life and Purpose in Your Church With Ian Parkinson 9 November St Mark’s Harrogate 10 November Christ the King, Kettering 11 November All Saints’ Church, Woodford Wells 12 November St Andrew’s Chorleywood 18 November All Saints Worcester at St Helen’s Church 19 November Penrith Methodist Church First steps in Fresh Expression 14 November The Gathering Place, Halifax Church Leaders’ Network Meetings 11 November Nottingham 12 November South Manchester 12 November Bristol 17 November Woking 23 November South Manchester 23 November East Devon 25 November Mid Norfolk 26 November Croydon 26 November St Albans 27 November Gloucestershire

JULY-AUGUST 2016

DECEMBER 2015

United National Gatherings Week 1: Saturday 23 - Friday 29 July Week 2: Sunday 31 July - Saturday 6 August Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet

Church Leaders’ Network Meetings 3 December Bristol 17 December Croydon

JANUARY 2016

For further details see our website new-wine.org/events

NEWS

New Wine hosts a range of events and conferences, including local meetings arranged by New Wine network groups, that are held all over the UK

Called to Lead With Steve Nicholson 15 January Holy Trinity Leicester 18 January St Paul’s Ealing

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TEACHING CULTURE

Saturated with God As the result of the Ulster revival of 1859, one million people came to Christ across the UK. What would it take to see revival in our generation?

Malcolm Macdonald encourages us to call out to God to saturate our communities.

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TEACHING

T

his month, our church renewed its vision with these words, ‘Every person, every place, saturated with God.’ We want to see God saturate our community and we are hungry to see a move of God such as we have never seen before in the UK. We want every person to know Jesus Christ and be filled with his Spirit.

We want his kingdom of love and power to come in every place.

I want to stir up your hunger for God to do something more than we have ever seen before here in the UK. But what does that really mean and what would it look like?

A seed for longing My journey of longing for revival in the UK began as a teenager when I attended some meetings on the Isle of Skye. As a young Christian, I met men and women who had experienced genuine revival. I could never be the same again. Meeting them ruined me for the ordinary.

At those meetings I listened to testimonies about the manifest presence of God and I felt his presence there in such power. There seemed to be a holy longing for God himself to come in power and a pure love for Jesus in those Christians. It was like they were describing a different world where God came down in a real and wonderful way.

Have you experienced the presence of God in such a way as causes the atmosphere to be charged with God’s transforming glory and fiery love? At that time, God planted a seed of longing in my heart to experience that revival here in the UK. My heart was stirred by people who had tasted of something of God’s kingdom that was more than I had ever known and that could only be explained in terms of God. Revival is God’s answer I believe that the answer to the situation that faces us today in Britain is to see a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit across the church and nation. I want to be part of a generation that sees a mighty move of God. God’s answer is always himself.

Duncan Campbell, a Scottish preacher who led the awakening on the Isle of Lewis from 1949-53, described revival as ‘a community saturated with God.’ As a teenager, God gripped my heart with a longing to pray for the UK. I placed a map of Britain in my Bible. I would get it out by my bedside and

‘When we really stop all our busy work for God, and instead work with God in waiting upon him in prayer, I believe we will see a difference’ cry to God for a fresh outpouring.

We won’t see community transformation only through organising better programmes or improved evangelistic techniques, much as I believe these are all necessary. There is a big difference between what we can do and what God can do. God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Are we seeing what we can do or what God can do today?

God is able to do so much more than we are currently experiencing.

We need to see more of God moving in our communities. More love, more power, more truth, more of his presence and peace. We need more of his manifest grace, mercy, joy, hope, healing and holiness in our streets.

I believe it is time for us to get back to the simple gospel. Back to God’s Word and Spirit moving together and back to passionate prayer. Are we not tired of living in a church striving, yet without power, to really reach our communities? The answer is in God himself. When we really stop all our busy work for God, and instead work with God in waiting upon him in prayer, I believe we will see a difference.

Dreaming about what God can do Imagine your own community saturated with God. Ask the Holy Spirit to birth the dream in you. People everywhere becoming aware of his presence and being touched by his power. Can you see many people coming to Christ because of a deep awareness of his love and conviction of their sin? Transformation starts with salvation.

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TEACHING

Our core scripture at St Mary’s, Loughton is Luke 1:37, that ‘nothing is impossible with God.’ Gabriel spoke these words to Mary as she heard how God would do something impossible in her to conceive Jesus - the man who is God. Sometimes we just can’t fully take in what God can do. Maybe we don’t need to worry about understanding revival and how God does it, we just need to believe, obey and receive what he has promised.

An awakening atmosphere Last summer, I went to visit a few of the remaining people who had experienced the Lewis revival. Their stories of the presence of God saturating the whole community were incredible. One of them said, ‘God was everywhere’.

They described it as an ‘awakening atmosphere’ of glorious worship, passion for prayer, depth of love and fellowship and the supernatural power of God present to save and transform lives.

Where is the move of God in our day and our generation? How can we begin to think about actually seeing revival happen? Let’s be honest, it seems something far fetched to think of our communities saturated with God, doesn’t it? It seems like a dream, something unreal and far away. The brokenness, anxieties and busyness of life press in to cloud such dreams and they all too easily fade. Is that your experience?

We have seen many churches renewed over the past 25 years, but not yet our communities transformed. What of the many millions in the UK today who know nothing of the true and living God? Our nation needs a touch of God. Revival brings an awareness of God, a deep conviction of sin and the pure joy of forgiveness. Revival stirs an appetite for prayer and an anointing in worship that goes beyond what we have currently experienced. It releases an acceleration of God’s power with signs and wonders of healing and deliverance from addictions and strongholds. It brings an approach to preaching that is fearless and anointed. It also releases an abundance of love and the revelation of the goodness of God.

I love Psalm 126. In that Psalm, God restoring Israel from captivity is described like a dream. It was something too good to be true, but it happened! God did it. God keeps his promises and he is able, if we will get ready and turn to him. We have not yet seen what God is about to do. He can do so much more than we have ever seen in this generation.

Ordination Training BA in Theology and Youth Ministry Undergraduate Study Postgraduate Study

London | Chelmsford | Liverpool

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This past summer at the National Gatherings we saw hundreds of people prostrate on their faces crying out to God for revival in the UK. I believe therein lies the secret. We need to wait upon God in desperate prayer for our communities and nation. We need to wake up to the need and depend on God more to meet it. Only God can save our nation. As Methodist preacher Samuel Chadwick once wrote, ‘Suppose we try Pentecost.’

Malcolm leads St Mary’s Loughton and is part of the New Wine International team. His first book, Set Me on Fire is published in November.

Theology | Worship | Unity | Mission

info@stmellitus.ac.uk

One of the people I met on Lewis described the community as experiencing a ‘holy atmosphere’.

Wouldn’t you want your community to be described like that?

Malcolm Macdonald

St Mellitus College

stmellitus.ac.uk

Suppose we try Pentecost God will move differently today than he did in the past, but as I read the history of revivals I am deeply moved because I sense that there is so much more we could be experiencing. I would encourage you to read the history of John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, Robert Murry McCheyne, Duncan Campbell and so many more. You will read about what God can do when he saturates communities and it will blow your mind. We have so much to learn.

@stmellitus

NEW WINE RESOURCES

learning to heal

Jesus trained His disciples to do the things that He did – but He Himself said that He was doing only what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19). He wants us to learn how to see what He is doing and hear what He is saying, so that we can join in with Him.

A practical guide for every Christian

Hearing God is the birthright of all believers, but we need to learn and grow in our ability to hear Him, as part of developing a prophetic lifestyle. In this book, Mark Aldridge shows us...

MARK ALDRIDGE

JOHN COLES

• How to hear God’s voice today

• How to use the gift wisely and sensitively • Numerous examples and illustrations to help you practice and develop your gift in a safe setting About the author: Mark Aldridge leads the Oak Tree Anglican Fellowship in Acton, London, and is the Head of Ministry for New Wine International.

He loves to teach on the prophetic, healing, the Kingdom of God and the mission of the Church.

Mark is married to Kate and they have four children and live in London.

LEARNING TO HEAR GOD’S VOICE

• How to begin using the prophetic gift both inside and outside of the local church

learning to hear God’s voice ...and live a prophetic lifestyle

ISBN 978-1-000000-00-0

NEW WINE

www.new-wine.org

BOOK

| DVD

| STUDY GUIDE

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BOOK

MARK ALDRIDGE | DVD

| STUDY GUIDE 07/07/2015 14:54

www.new-wine.org/resources

Be one in a million Share the love of God with a shoebox full of gifts and be one in a million to a child in need this Christmas Get involved at operationchristmaschild.org.uk

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TEACHING

Love defeats

THAT

death

The highest grossing animated film of all time is Disney’s Frozen, released in 2013, which is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen story The Snow Queen.

Donna Lazenby explores how the message of the gospel can be found encrypted throughout the narrative.

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Christian ideas have far from disappeared from the cultural imagination, but are discovered firmly embedded (though with a distinctive unknowing enshrined) in legal, educational and moral systems which we persistently applaud and defend: and, indeed, in forms of entertainment that reach out to tussle and grasp the essentials of human living.

Forgetting who we are Despite a surface-level cultural amnesia concerning the origins of our best and enduring convictions - concerning the inviolable status of honour, sacrifice, love, family, friendship, duty, progress in identity, service, community, dignity – convictions which have new parents speeding back to Church for the formation of their children: despite this surface selfforgetfulness, the subterranean levels of the collective cultural consciousness bulge rich with the bounty of hidden treasures.

Periodically, these treasures surface in crystallised paradigms, offering back to the library of life especially refined instalments of the narratives that shape our deepest meaning, through tales which carve our souls from earliest learning.

These are not so much new devices as erupting shafts of those granites and basalts that gird our foundations, as any excavation will show: and they come up glistening.

Enchanted worlds One sure store-house of Christian theology is the world of Hollywood and Disney: and it is interesting to observe that as the repository of publicly offered Christian monumentality is repressed, the enchanted worlds presented by Disney and Hollywood only gain influence and definition: as what is oppressed in one place, being indissolubly essential to the substance, simply erupts to the surface elsewhere. Upon our private and public screens themes of redemption, forgiveness, reconciliation, self-sacrifice and atoning love thrive and proliferate. At the heart of the recent craze – craved as much by adults as by children, so starved are we of material for maturing in the Spirit – is Christ himself (again), as the suffering and self-offering of an unsung hero(ine) holds the centre of Disney’s recent (re-) creation: Frozen.

This film calls on themes of identity, natural and supernatural gifting, power, renewal (personal and ecological), friendship and discipleship: and redemption made possible through one act of self-giving, an act of ‘true love’ which is alone capable of breaking the spell that holds creation and human relationships in thrall to life-numbing powers. It is an act of self-giving which in a discrete moment unlocks the logic of

TEACHING

I

t is sometimes alleged that our culture has divested itself of its Christian heritage, and has entered a ‘postChristian’, even secular, phase (as if to mark the passing of a civilisation, we are asked to speak of inhabiting ‘post-Christendom’). But actually, inspection of the same cultural consciousness reveals an imagination still captivated

by Jesus: though there is hesitation to speak his name.

deathliness, thereby equipping a spirit to move out and thaw the whole world. Everywhere in this story is the gospel encrypted.

Incarceration and rejection Frozen is a tale of two sisters, Elsa and Anna. Elsa is the Snow Queen and everything she touches freezes. The safety and freedom of her world appears to require her selfincarceration: but in this process of imprisonment it is Elsa’s own heart that we watch slowly freezing, while her rejection of herself, her sister Anna, and her community, sends creation into a corresponding deathly deep-freeze. Distortions and corruptions in the human heart and mind plunge the world around to sub-zero.

Elsa causes a huge amount of trouble and destruction and disorder in the film. But she is not evil: she is a person trying to work it all out alone, outside of any relation (sin). She is a person trying to live without relationship, without community, without love: bounded by the close of her imaginative circuit; without faith that a greater wisdom than her own might provide a better pattern to live by; without hope for the healing of past pains and rejections and mistaken identifications; without the awareness that community waits to love her, accept her, help her.

‘It is enchanted and captivated by an idea that won’t go away: the idea of something whose name is Love being the solution to death, unlocking a creation otherwise held in thrall to deathly powers’ Freedom and exile Consequently, propensities in Elsa’s character – actually neutral in themselves (as the making of splendid ice-rinks finally testifies) - lacking guidance beyond her own limited perspective become uncontrollable sources of powerlessness, of obsessions and neuroses. The mark of Elsa’s self-conceived freedom, her flight, is a race into solitary imprisonment. She flees from community: and in her wake, all land – trees, lakes, flowers – are locked solid, un-breathing. Creation suffers the brokenness of the human heart. Sin – living a life in exile, at a distance from wisdom, from life – sets nothing and no one free, but binds hearts, minds and imaginations, and petrifies the political, social and natural world into a dulled-down system of status-quo living.

Elsa believes the disconnection constitutes her happiness: but this is only numbness, the anaesthetising of particular questions: Who am I, really? How do I live with others? How do I relate to others? What am I to do with who I really am?

If I’m honest about myself, who can love me? Am I loved?

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TEACHING

Can I be truly freed to be me, to discover who I am and who others are, not merely to live in this wild unguided freedom which is actually a repression, a personal deep-freeze? Can there be a thaw? Elsa has not the spell for her own breaking.

But love is in pursuit.

Love comes running Elsa’s little sister, Anna, the weaker ‘underdog’ who, significantly, owns no magical powers, arrives with one vital quality: a reckless, prodigal refusal to give up the possibility of relationship with the sister who, from earliest memory, has always been pushing her away. So, she comes running.

She is God going after the lost sheep; she is God in pursuit of his covenant people, loving them to the ends of the earth (or stranded up the ice-mountain of self-exile, creation-exile, other-exile); she is God arriving as we write ourselves off to void; she is God come as much to free creation as the human being locked up at its centre.

In her flight from life, Elsa’s consummative act of anticipated destruction is to plant a shard of ice in the pursuant’s heart; one that will gradually turn little Anna to ice (everyone’s dust-dealt destiny pre-Christ, we might say). The only known antidote to this outcome is an act of true love, and loyal to the law of fairy-tale this is interpreted by Anna to mean ‘true love’s kiss.’ But in a moment of choosing – her own life, or her sister’s? – Anna turns from the lover’s timely embrace to let fall on herself a blade about to kill her sister. The prodigal Anna – giving herself to the point of reckless ruin – freezes over entirely, and is suspended in death. But in a recognisable moment of curious mingling, where the moment of selfsacrificing death is revealed as the simultaneous moment of death-defeating love, Anna’s act of love – now revealed to dwell not in ‘true love’s kiss’ after all but in the act of selfoutpouring – reverses the system, and thaws her to life. Anna is resurrected by love. The sacrament was in the giving. And Snow Queen Elsa is resurrected also, as, witnessing her sister’s unrelenting self-giving, she is recalled to the existence of something with the power to re-orientate her nature. ‘Love, of course!’ she cries, and in that moment, creation begins to thaw, as she casts out sparkling rinks for the community to dance upon.

Belief in redemption Fairy-tales are not (just) for children. They capture in symbolic forms the deepest yearnings and questing of human hearts; hearts that live at the centre of an often incomprehensible, mysterious universe. And here is our culture finding a way to talk about enshrined ideas and beliefs. Nervous of applying Christian clothing to this tale, we find other ways to make manifest our belief in the redemptive power of self-sacrificing love. The film makes magic and enchantment its declared subject: but actually, the film reveals that, like our culture, it is itself enchanted and captivated by an idea that won’t go away: the idea of something whose name is Love being the solution to death,

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unlocking a creation otherwise held in thrall to deathly powers. Here is our culture musing over the cherished inheritance of the concept of self-sacrificing love as the key to unlocking a new future – dwelling with it, working with it, renewing it, turning it over for inspection, wondering about it, incarnating it; feeling its power to win us again.

Reflections of truth Meanwhile, some clever self-subversions are noteworthy too. The stereotypical staple of fairy-tale world, the charming Prince, is revealed as a wolf in sheep’s clothing; a dangerously seductive chimera appearing as an angel of light. Furthermore the usually all-powerful symbol of ‘true love’s kiss’ is revealed as anaemic. It is a romantic consolation nowhere near capable of saving the day; nowhere near roadworthy enough, tough enough, relentless enough, to grasp and turn what is present invisibly in the gesturing struggles of death and life taking place in the centre of the picture. Disney overturns its own false ideals. But there’s an irony here; because it overturns these ideals while leaving untouched, at an ever-deeper underground level of freezing, the unlocked potential of the real story that sources all its treasured symbols and makes of even its most beautiful films but a glass to be seen through darkly (1 Cor 13:12).

For all its icy imagery, what Frozen actually reveals is what lies like a locked-up memory in the packed ice of our contemporary culture: scattered fragments of historical papers reporting the existence of a man called Jesus of Nazareth, and our haunting conviction (known in our bones but grown from where?) that ‘winning’ what is most worth achieving ‘salvation’ - arrives consummately in an unexpected form of seeming weakness which pours itself out with that mysteriously authoritative self-giving outwitting and outshining earthly powerhouses. We simply know, in our bones, to admire it. And each time it arrives, in slightly differing dress, the tale enchants our hearts afresh with the only power that is truly power: the love that thaws the way home, so that we might – in fact, not only in fiction - live happily ever after.

This article is an excerpt from Divine Sparks: Catching Sight of God’s Incoming Kingdom (forthcoming SPCK, 2016) and is published here with permission.

Donna Lazenby Donna is an Anglican priest and Lecturer and Tutor in Spirituality and Apologetics at St Mellitus College.

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TEACHING

Many of us have heard God’s voice through the Bible or during prayer ministry but how can we hear him more in our day to day lives?

Mark Aldridge encourages us to grow in allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us

C

hristianity is a divine invitation into an abiding friendship and union with God who is Holy Trinity.

It is to relate to the ultimate relationship which is God himself. Relationship requires communication and while evangelical Christians will rightly and properly point to the Bible and the person of Christ as supreme examples of God-given revelation I want to argue that both point to the ability to hear and see God in the present and the specific.

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Jesus says that the sheep follow the shepherd ‘because they know his voice’ ( John 10:4). Later in the chapter the depth of intimacy is described like this: ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father’ (14-15). Amazingly the promise is that we (the sheep) can know the Father just as Jesus did and this he links both to hearing his voice and to the obedience that comes from such a privilege. This is the language of deep togetherness and belonging.

It came to light that the stranger was a TV cameraman for CNN news and his bad back was keeping him off work. I prayed for him and he expressed some relief of his pain and told me that his wife was ‘one of you lot’. I hoped his encounter with me, and much more importantly with God, led to some fruitful discussion when he got home!

Imitating Jesus My desire to learn to hear the voice of God comes not from a desire for the sensational or spectacular; neither from a desire to have a prophetic ministry; but first and foremost because I want to know my God better and imitate my Saviour more fully. Jesus said, ‘The Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees his Father doing’ ( John 5:19). If the modus operandi of The Son of God incarnate was not to rely on his efforts but always await seeing the dynamic activity of the Father and then to choose to join in with him, then surely it is a model we must also learn from.

This is all part of the joy of being unceasing spiritual beings who have been created to have friendship with God. Reformation theologian John Calvin said that the great gift of prayer was so that we could have ‘intimate conversation’ with our Creator.

Surely then it is dangerous, arrogant and presumptuous to undertake life independently of God. Rather we need to cultivate lives that are learning the

language of the Spirit and which choose to obey his leading.

God’s strategy be for the transformation of your community?

There are two ways to live. The first is to strike out independently asking that God blesses whatever we do, or alternatively to seek what he is doing and join in with him. Jesus shows us that the latter way is the greater way.

The Bible reveals a God who speaks to human beings through visions, dreams, prophetic words and actions, burning bushes and what sounds like thunder to name just a few. Learning to hear God’s voice will require an open and renewed mind.

‘Over the years I have learnt that these strange nudges can be the Holy Spirit’s voice showing me what the Father is doing and inviting me to participation’

Under a fig tree In John 1, Jesus is confronted with a man who was simultaneously a truth seeker and a doubter (vs 43-50).

Nathaniel was resistant to Jesus as the possible Messiah because he came from Nazareth and the scriptures said that Bethlehem would be the birthplace of the Promised One. Somehow the simple statements that Jesus makes about Nathaniel as ‘an Israelite in whom there is no deceit’ and then ‘I saw you while you were still under the fig tree, work a repentance in Nathaniel so that the proclamations of disbelief become ‘Rabbi; you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.’

Did Jesus really see Nathaniel under a fig tree or was it a spiritual revelation?

We cannot be sure but something blew Nathaniel’s mind and heart wide open and it was the fact that Jesus had looked into his soul and seen a man searching for God. To ‘sit under a fig tree’ was a rabbinic statement for someone who was studying the law. Jesus knew the personal journey of this seeker.

This I believe came about because Jesus supremely communed with his Father.

Jesus in his humanity had learned to hear his Father’s voice. Indeed, the woman at the well in John 4 was to discover this in an awe-inspiring way!

What might such a life, based on conversational relationship with God, look like? What might a church led not by numerous human agendas but led by the Holy Spirit look like? What might

TEACHING

Nudges from God Quite recently I was walking my dog along a London street when a thought entered my consciousness. I felt that I should stop, turn around and speak to a stranger walking behind me. Over the years I have learnt that these strange nudges can be the Holy Spirit’s voice showing me what the Father is doing and inviting me to participation.

Somewhat reluctantly, I turned and saw a man walking behind me. I then saw two other men trying to push start a car. In an instant I said to the stranger ‘Shall we help?’ but he replied ‘Sorry I can’t, I have a bad back’. Before I knew it I was explaining that I was a follower of Jesus and I would love to pray to him for his bad back to be healed. In a matter of 20 seconds I had gone from minding my own business to being caught up in a divine appointment (or ambush)!

Expecting him to speak So how can we learn to hear God’s voice? Scripture of course. But also I would suggest listening carefully to thoughts that come with conviction; pictures that come to mind, impressions, physical feelings, dreams and even human conversations. As we learn to be attentive and expectant we realise God speaks to us often not occasionally.

In time we can learn to discern the difference between random thoughts and the Spirit’s prompting.

How about taking time to try to listen to God’s voice for your own day each morning? I will sometimes pray something like this: ‘Lord, who will I meet today and how do you want me to handle this meeting? Show me how to respond and give me your wisdom and your ways. Father, prepare me in advance so that I might be well prepared to reveal you.’

As I prayed one morning last year I saw in my imagination the face of a woman I had never met. I felt the Lord say, ‘Pray for her injured knee when you see her’. Later that day I did that just that and as God healed her she literally danced around the coffee shop where our paths had crossed.

Expectancy opens the way to hearing God’s voice and takes you deeper into your walk with him who so longs to do adventurous life with you!

The Learning to Hear God’s Voice DVD set by Mark Aldridge is available from standrewsbookshop.co.uk Mark Aldridge Mark Aldridge is ordained in the Church of England and Head of Ministry for New Wine International, which works in around 20 nations worldwide. He loves to teach on the prophetic, healing and God’s kingdom.

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TEACHING

YOUR

W RK MATTERS

How can we make the most of the opportunities we have to make an impact for Christ in our places of work? Mark Greene and the team at LICC remind us of how God wants to use us

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eer’, Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the USA, once declared, ‘is proof that God loves us’. Genesis 2:19 is proof that our work matters to God. Out of nothing, God has created the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, birds, fish, and animals, not to mention innumerable galaxies extending 92 billion light years into space. And then, with all of space and time and matter to delight in, God pops down to a garden in the Middle East and brings the animals and the birds to a

lone human being ‘to see what he would name them’. God, the creator and king of the universe, is interested in how the human uses his powers of observation and language skills to differentiate this from that and that and that.

As with Adam, so with us. God is intensely interested in how each of us uses the talents, resources, power, opportunities and freedoms at our disposal to complete the tasks we’ve been given to do. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves us.

Your work matters to God because you do Because work has a purpose, it is an essential component of God’s mission – the reconciliation and restoration of all things (Col 1:15-20). Our work, after all, either contributes to making the world a better place or a worse one. And just as in Eden, where God’s work provides, creates order, brings beauty and releases potential, so through our work we can do the same.

Through our work we get to create order – an elegant algorithm that makes payments easier, an injection that prevents the spread of disease, an arrest that keeps someone safe.

Through our work we get to bring beauty – a course of bricks perfectly laid, a street that is cleared of litter, an eye-catching dress in cerulean blue.

Through our work we get to release potential – turning sand into crystal glasses, nurturing children into adulthood, merging two companies into something stronger.

‘God is intensely interested in how each of us uses the talents, resources, power, opportunities and freedoms at our disposal to complete the tasks we’ve been given to do’

And through our work we get to relate to other people, marvel at the richness and diversity of those made in God’s image, lament our shared brokenness and sin and seek to show and share the way of grace.

Work is a gift Of course, there is the Fall… the project fails, the part doesn’t work, the colour runs, the people do what people do. And yet in every task, in whatever circumstance, work is a gift God gives us to serve him and others with hand and mind and heart. It is a context for worship, for spiritual growth, for

prayer; a context for Christ to work in you, through you, with you; a context to love extravagantly, pursue justice, adore truth, show mercy, lavish generosity, bless, minister and transform.

Pointing to our Father Take, for example, the large primary school in Hertfordshire with a very long corridor that the children would regularly run down with all the exhilarated glee and heedlessness of boy racers gunning down the A1 at 3am.

The head teacher wondered what she could do to make it safer and calmer.

And she prayed.

After a holiday break the children returned to school to find a red carpet all the way down the very long corridor.

In morning assembly, the head teacher asked the children, ‘Who walks on red carpets?’ And they replied, ‘film stars’, ‘the Queen’, ‘the Prime Minister’. ‘So who do you think this red carpet is for?’ They paused. ‘You miss,’ someone said. And she replied, ‘No, it’s for you.’

‘Oh.’ ‘And how do film stars and Prime Ministers walk on red carpets?’ ‘Slowly.’

‘Gracefully.’ ‘That’s right.’

Honoring people So it came to pass that the children in that primary school stopped running down the very long corridor and learned that they were as special as film stars and royalty. And that’s godly work – rolling out the red carpet for the people we work with and for, showing compassion, honoring them, having their best interests at heart and praying for the creativity to find ways to do it which point to our Father.

Work is not a bolt-on to ‘real’ mission.

Our work is our mission, our frontline.

Our work matters to God. And whatever our job he calls us to a richer, more expectant way of working, which not only invites his transformation but joyfully and humbly participates in it.

Mark Greene Mark is the Executive Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC).

5 simple things to do at work this week… and see what God does

TEACHING

Through our work we get to provide – people fed, clothed, housed, educated, cared for; the heart nurtured, the spirit lifted, the mind stretched.

1 2

NOTICE PEOPLE Don’t forget that your colleagues and clients have lives outside the workplace! Start to show friendly curiosity about their lives.

PUT GOD ON YOUR TO-DO LIST Try a new screensaver, an object on your desk or a note on your ‘to-do’ list to help you remember God at work.

3 4 5

THINK BEFORE YOU EMAIL Communicating by email can add stress and be misleading. Try making the effort to talk face-toface, call or Skype instead.

CAFFEINATE YOUR PRAYERS Use your trips to the coffee point as a chance to spend a minute praying about a workplace challenge you’re facing.

CHANGE THE BOAT’S DIRECTION Ask yourself what frustrates you about your workplace and do something simple to start changing the culture.

For more ideas on how to live out your faith at work take a look at LICC’s new workplace discipleship resource Transforming Work at licc.org.uk/tw or download the app.

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THE MIDNIGHT STAR

Explore the Christmas story from a new angle this year.

Download this FREE resource for your Church and children’s work today by simply visiting: www.toybox.org.uk/midnightstar

INSIGHT Christy is the Senior Leader of Yorba Linda Vineyard Church in California. She led a number of seminars and evening celebrations at United 2015 Q1 What were the highlights of United 2015

for you?

It’s great to watch people who are grateful and excited to see each other. It shows the National Gathering is more than an event; it’s family.

I love that God encouraged so many people in the area of emotional healing and mental illness. I think we often focus on physical healing as it seems more exciting. I had many moments of interaction with people who felt for the first time that the stigma of being affected with and by mental illness was removed by the Church. Many of us live with an ailment and never feel like we have a place where we can be honest about our struggle. So to be acknowledged in that struggle and have people love and minister to you is life changing. I haven’t heard, seen or been a part of ministry that powerful since our early days in the Vineyard. I felt honoured to be a part of it.

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Christy Wimber

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SECOND

Q2 Can you describe a time when God has spoken

to you?

I think God is always speaking; it’s just whether or not I’m tuned in. The most profound times God speaks to me are when I’m cleaning the house (which I hate), or driving the car (which I love). It’s mostly in my daily routine where I’m tuning in and inviting him into what I’m doing.

The other day I was at a meeting with some leaders who began to talk about some controversial subjects and I felt an inward hesitation. I felt the Lord told me to be quiet. I didn’t realize just how important this was until I found out later this group were trying to pull me into a conversation and endorsement that I disagree with. Just in listening and obeying that hesitation, which to me is God’s Spirit, saved me from a possible mess. I think those inward moments of hesitation or peace is where God speaks to us often.

Q3 Do you have one piece of advice you’d like to

share?

Stay close to Jesus; the enemy is in a hurry to get you. Always make time for community. Take time to pray and minister to yourself daily so God is the one defining you otherwise your job or others will do this for you. And if you’re in ministry remember you are most powerful as a minister after you’ve first been ministered to.

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STORIES

UNITED 2015 YOUR STORIES RELEASED TO PRAISE

‘This was my first National Gathering.

My wife had been trying to get me to come along for the last 15 years but I felt uncomfortable in the presence of other Christians. On the first evening I felt so bad I was unsure if I could even stay in The Arena. I wanted to run out! However I stuck with it and soon found myself down at the front praising God in a way I have never done before in the 28 years I’ve been a Christian. I experienced such a releasing of mind, body and soul.’

Andrew Newby

RENEWED HOPE

KIDS MEETING JESUS

‘Jesus blessed me in so many ways. I felt burdened when I arrived by my failures ‘I had a brilliant time serving on the as a mum and wife, not really believing Rock Solid team. During the week we spoke about children becoming friends that God could change anything. But with Jesus, and one evening all of the the prayer I received and wise people who I talked to gave me renewed hope. 15 children in my huddle group went out for prayer and gave their lives to I felt physically lighter and cleaner Jesus. When they returned to the group inside, after one particular session, and hopeful again for the future, ready they were laying hands on each other and praying. It truly blew my socks off. to fight the good fight again.’ Anon There is no junior Holy Spirit!’

Becky Courtney

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STORIES

LEARNING HOW TO PRAY ‘It’s now four weeks since United 2015 and my five-year-old is still singing the Ground Breakers songs and talking to Jesus. My three-year-old is still telling me many times a day ‘in Pebbles we did....’ This morning I suggested we pray for a friend we were talking about and he held out his hands in front of him in a ‘receiving position’, closed his eyes and lifted up his face expectantly and afterwards he said ‘that’s how you pray in Pebbles’. How wonderful that both my children grew in their love for the Lord and were equipped to pray and worship him (all they want to listen to is the New Wine Kids CDs).’ Anon

FREEDOM FROM ANXIETY

GOD CHANGING LIVES the world. This caused huge problems for me in relationships with friends ‘I was on one of the Thirst worship and a very precious friendship had teams for the week, and I was just broken down irreparably the unexpectedly blessed by seeing the week before. I was broken and on my teenagers worship. I was so moved that knees, angry at everyone. During the presence of God had settled in the the first worship I attended we sung room in response to our prayer - that the chorus ‘I am no longer a slave to he came in his glory because we asked fear, I am a child of God’. I felt like I him! And being allowed to watch what was being dragged up off my knees he was doing in the lives of the kids and I was standing weightless and that came, seeing them weeping under effortless without a care in the world. the revelation of how much he loves It’s the first time in my life I have felt them, seeing teenagers that were so peaceful. Throughout the week that bought into the culture choosing to chorus became my anthem and I grew throw it away and give their lives over stronger. I still have troubles to face to him... it was the highest honour just but feel like I am a better wife and to be permitted to be in the room as he mother and I feel more confident and was changing lives by his grace!’ secure in who I am to God. And I’m no longer worried what anyone else thinks Hannah McCallum of me because he calls me his daughter and that is the only identity A SLAVE SET FREE I need.’ Louise Wood

‘I have struggled with anxiety for the last two years. At its worst I wouldn’t ‘A man in our group had given his life leave the house for days at a time. I LOVE IN ACTION to Christ only a week before coming was losing hope in Jesus and decided to United 2015. Prior to that his entire to give him one last go at United 2015. adult life had predominantly been Jo Saxton was giving the talk the night ‘I was ill with a kidney infection but received amazing treatment from the spent in prison, and in a pattern of I really met with God. She described Medical Team. I am a single mum and drug use and homelessness. During what it was like to have a panic attack was there with my two children aged 12 worship in Impact, his face glowing, and I started to cry uncontrollably. I and six. I was blessed to be camping and tears streaming down his cheeks, went forward for prayer and as I was with my old church (I moved away he said ‘this is my song’, and continued being prayed for I felt a burning in my five years ago and hadn’t seen any of singing ‘I’m no longer a slave to fear, I chest where I normally get pain if I’m them since!) who all pulled together am a child of God’. Two weeks home, having a panic attack. As I felt the in prayer and in practically caring for and he is witnessing to everyone, and burning, I could feel the tension being released. Since then all of the everyday my family. My children had a fantastic today brought a whole family to church with him!’ Anon anxiety has gone and I feel free.’ Anon time at their groups and really moved on in their faith journeys. My new partner who was unable to come and A YOUNG PROPHET FINDING MY IDENTITY who is searching for his own path to faith, was really struck by the way I ‘For some time my seven-year-old ‘I came to United 2015 racked with was supported, loved and prayed for. self-doubt and low self-esteem. I didn’t He had never witnessed Christian love has been saying that he doesn’t hear God. We’ve been praying with him like to go out as I thought my size and in action before. I am thrilled that he and modelling to him but without image meant people would laugh at has asked to come with us next year!’ breakthrough. My prayer was that he me. I had no idea what my identity Liz Pilling would hear God at United 2015. At one was and I felt insecure and angry at 26

STORIES

of his Ground Breakers sessions he BLESSED THROUGH PRAYING said the same. We parted and I just had a picture from God! That in itself knew I would see him again. Two days would have filled my cup. But then one ‘I was very unsure about praying later as I walked down the main strip I for people after the sessions but evening I shared his picture with one saw a lorry drive up and start flashing one evening I noticed a young lady of our teenagers who has been coming its lights. It was Toby. He unwound standing at the front with her hands to church for years but never come his window and he put his hand out to out in front and felt I should pray for to faith. I think the picture was the show me it was healed! I got to share her. I went up to her nervously, put my final push he needed and that night my testimony with him!’ Anon hand on her shoulder and asked the he gave his life to Christ! God can do immeasurably more than we can ask or Holy Spirit to come. She started to NEW COURAGE shake, which surprised me, then some imagine!’ Anon words came to mind, that God wanted ‘On the last day of Ground Breakers, her to befriend young mums. ‘Are you GOING DEEP WITH GOD my seven-year-old daughter, who is sure’?’ I asked God. I said it to her anyway! She gasped, looked round and often anxious and reticent to become ‘This last year God has been walking said to me, ‘I’ve been asking God about involved, received her certificate with me through a challenging time including a ‘school report’. On this that all week!’ Then she sobbed on my where I started questioning a lot of shoulder. I don’t know who was blessed certificate was written a note from her things about myself. I was trusting team leaders, Tom and Emily, that they more, her or me!’ Anon in God for answers. At United 2015 had been praying for her specifically God met with me in ways I have never about her ‘courage to stand firm A HEALED HAND experienced before. From the first about what she believes in’. It is quite night it seemed God had a plan; and amazing to see the change in her since. aggressively started his work in me. He ‘At United 2015 I chatted to one of the She has indeed been displaying an bin men, a private contractor called broke me even more and filled me with incredible level of courage and has got Toby, as he was clearing bins. We such courage and assurance, ‘stuck in’ to so many things with a new talked about his job and he showed I discovered gifts I didn’t realise I had. freedom. This exploration of knowing me his hand which was calloused as a I finally began to see what the last herself, stepping out in confidence and result of tearing bin liners. I asked if I year has been about and how God has stretching her comfort zone is a very could pray for him. He was reluctant been there all the time in my storm. I wonderful platform on which to build.’ but said yes. I prayed for him and his left more in love with God and looking Anon hand and I felt heat and tingling. He forward to delving deeper.’ Anon

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‘GOD BEGAN THE PROCESS OF PUTTING OUR LIVES BACK TOGETHER’ When Peter and Jacky Wright came to United 2014 their lives seemed to be falling apart. Peter shares how God was able to speak into their circumstances and lead them into healing and hope through the ministry team and pastoral prayer team there My wife Jacky and I have been coming to New Wine for the past 21 years. It has been of importance to us before, but not as much as last year. We have had quite a torrid time over the past few years. I became seriously ill with heart failure and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), after having a couple of heart attacks five years ago. About three years ago I found that I could not work. I came to a standstill. Being self-employed, this had a massive impact on our finances. We had also put ourselves in a difficult financial position, buying a property to convert into a dwelling. It would have been ok if could have continued to work.

We lost our house and business and after paying all our creditors we had very little left, so we decided to move from Kent, which is expensive to rent in, to Suffolk, which is much cheaper. This meant leaving the church we had attended for 20 years as well as our family.

Obstacles and insecurity During this time we were homeless and lived in our caravan for five months while we worked things out. Then we found a lovely cottage in Suffolk. We signed our contract for our new rental, than a few days later heard from the landlord that he did not want us to move in. He tried to get us to reverse the contract. We didn’t know what to do.

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Jacky was becoming more and more upset and lost in the turmoil. I contacted the housing charity Shelter, and because we had signed the contract, and we had no other place to go, we forced the issue and moved in under a cloud.

just before the ministry time he said there were a few people in the meeting who had thought very recently that suicide/ death was the best option to get rid of their pain. He asked them to be brave enough to stand up. Jacky stood up. I didn’t know she had felt this bad and I was very shocked. The person who prayed for Jacky that evening recommended that we both go to the Pastoral Prayer Ministry Team the following day. We managed to get some sleep that night after talking through some of it as best as we could.

From bad to worse We came away to United 2014, but half way into the week we received an email from our landlord telling us that he was going to increase the rent by £100 a month after our contract period and said he thought we would not want to stay, as we could not afford the increase. We were very upset, Letting go and forgiving Jacky especially.

We went to the Pastoral Prayer Ministry Team the following day and they were amazing: gentle, loving and caring. We After friends sat with us and prayed we calmed down a were there for nearly three hours, being led into prayer and bit, but still felt very unsure of our future. We went to the forgiveness. We both wept for what we had lost and let it go. evening meeting, I can’t remember who the speaker was but Through the team there God began the process of putting our lives back together: my illness, the loss of our house and

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livelihood, and forgiveness for the landlord. This was the beginning of our steady climb out of the depths.

We are doing well. I am still ill but stable. I can’t work but God is more in my life now than he ever was. Jacky has started to hear God again and he is leading her out of the desert. We are new to living in rented accommodation, but it is working out, and we’ve been accepted onto the local housing list.

We are now members of Ipswich Vineyard where we have been loved so much. We believe God is in our situation, and we are looking forward to where he is taking us.

Peter Wright

‘I KEPT GETTING THE SAME MESSAGE THAT GOD LOVES ME AS HIS DAUGHTER’ Claire Shields met with God this summer through the worship and Bible teaching, seminars, prayer ministry, messages from strangers and alone in the Sanctuary venue. She shares her story of beginning to overcome the past and hope for the future My whole life I have known and believed in God. For at least 16 years I have suffered from depression on and off.

Last year I went to New Wine for the first time, having only ever worshipped in a quite high Anglican Church. I spent the first couple of days wondering what I was doing there and thinking I shouldn’t be there as everyone else seemed so happy and full of the Holy Spirit and I wasn’t. However as the week went on and I listened to the seminars and speakers I began to believe I could be part of it and come to know God better. One in particular spoke about Jesus as the cornerstone, supporting all the other stones in the wall (us) no matter what shape and size they are. I felt as if my stone was made of jelly and not very useful or stable but knew I could build on this.

Back at United this year I learned that in order to overcome my depression – probably caused by taking on board negative things said when I was younger and events in my life, such as my Dad leaving when I was seven as well as a chemical imbalance – I needed to open myself up completely and receive as much prayer as possible. I have had help for my depression in the past – counselling, medication and cognitive behaviour therapy. I have also talked to a few priests about it but only one ever suggested praying about it!

Renouncing the lies I went to a seminar called Empowered to be me with Christy Wimber. She started by saying that my identity does not come from what I do for my job, being a wife, a mother, a daughter or anything else, but my identity is as a daughter of God, whom he loves. I found it impossible to accept that I am loveable and loved. I know it in my head and believe it for other people, no matter who they are or what they have done, but I could not accept in my heart that Jesus loves me.

Christy made me realise that this is because I am afraid of rejection, seeming needy and losing control. However these fears come from the devil and he uses them to control us.

She also said that opposition and battles are a sign that you are doing something right. You need to unbind the untruths of what you are not and what you can’t do. This resonated with me as a couple of years ago I went through a Christian healing process called unbound, where I was enabled to say out loud that I renounce lies that I believed about myself such as I am not good enough or not loveable, but I don’t think I ever truly believed they weren’t true.

Jesus is enough Throughout the week I kept getting the same message that God loves me as his daughter. I learned that I didn’t feel loveable because I was not open to receiving God’s love and this meant I was uncertain in my identity. This made

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complete sense because I have never been a very confident person. Also people kept talking about speaking out and using your voice, which is another thing I find particularly difficult. A lady came up to me and said ‘This might sound completely crazy, and I don’t usually get messages for people, but I got a message for you saying that when you don’t know what to say, just saying 'Jesus ' is enough’. This was amazing to me, that a total stranger could get such a personal message for me.

Facing my feelings I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was stopping me accepting God’s love but a lady who prayed for me said she had a picture of my heart with shards of broken pottery in it, which needed taking out. This made sense of why I was hurting so much and I think the shards were partly the lies that I believed about myself. Removing these shards and letting them go was painful and exhausting but towards the end of the week I was able to write a list of feelings I had about myself and leave them at the foot of the cross in a place called the Sanctuary, where you can go to spend silent time with God. Opening up At the bottom of the cross were two beautiful stones with the words ‘hope’ and ‘peace’ on and I felt that this was what the cross was offering me. Several times I spent time lying face down on the floor opening myself up to God, which we had been invited to do in one of the worship sessions. I had never done anything like this before, but it worked and helped concentrate my mind and on opening it up. I felt completely open to God and that he was starting to move in my heart and soul.

about broken pottery being put back together and placed on the highest table at the banquet, which made me think about the shards that were being removed from my heart.

It is amazing when God gives you the same message in different forms from different people who know nothing about your journey.

Plans for the future In the Bible lots of people did not feel competent to carry out the work God asked them to do, and my church leader said this in his sermon about Moses on the Sunday after we got home from United 2015! If you lean on God and ask him for help, you can do anything. God knows what we are capable of doing when he calls us because he made us and knows us even better than we know ourselves. A good quote I wrote down was ‘When all you can do is to pray, that is the only thing you need to do’. I have always wanted to be a teacher but have never had the confidence to do anything about it. I have got an interview for teacher training in October, and for the first time ever I believe I could pass it!

Holding onto God It was a very emotional week, with lots of pain and having to do things totally outside my comfort zone, but one of the speakers said ‘Don’t wait until you are out of the furnace to share your story’. I know it is only the beginning. I will need to hold onto the messages from God I received during this very special week. Claire Shields

Put back together Every morning at 7.15am I had been going to the Rise worship and Bible study looking at The Song of Songs in the Hungry venue. This gave me the strong message that God loves me and I need to accept it. The leader also spoke 31

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INSIGHT Jo and her husband Jon started Exeter Network Church 10 years ago and recently planted two more churches in the city. They led the Third Person Seminar Stream at Week 2 of United 2015 Q1 What was your favourite thing about

United 2015?

I loved seeing the excitement and wonder on people’s faces as God gave them words of knowledge or healed someone through them for the first time.

Q2 Can you describe a time when God has spoken

to you?

About 11 years ago, Jon and I began to think that God was asking us to move to Devon and start a church. We had no sensible reason to do that, and no income, building or home.

But God gave three different people the same verses from Isaiah for us, and that convinced us that God was speaking to us, and that we should pack up and go.

Jo Soper

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SECOND

Q3 Can you describe a particular event which

marks a turning point in your life?

Many years ago, after I finished university, I went to Hong Kong to live at one of the houses pioneered by missionary Jackie Pullinger where heroin addicts and gang members could be set free. I had known that Jesus gives us life, but there I saw this in all its dimensions, and it changed me.

Q4 Can you recommend a book/piece of music/film

that has had an impact on you?

My son was singing in Exeter Cathedral earlier this year; Mass in Blue and other pieces by composer and pianist Will Todd. During a short piece called My Lord has come, the Holy Spirit did just that, and I was caught up in this extraordinary truth and in a powerful experience of God’s presence.

Q5 Do you have a piece of advice you’d like to share?

If you haven’t ever tried it, decide to give a tenth of your gross income to your church for a year. I have found that as you honour God with the ‘first fruits’, he blesses the rest in extraordinary ways.

Do you want to see your nation changed?

Join New Wine’s free, dynamic and growing network for all those in leadership.

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FOR PEOPLE WORKING IN URBAN PRIORITY AREAS, INNER CITIES AND ESTATES 18-19 NOVEMBER 2015 EMMANUEL, LOUGHBOROUGH

S AT U R D AY 2 3 A P R I L 2 0 1 6 H A R R O G AT E

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S AT U R D AY 8 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 LONDON

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L E AV I N G THE BUILDING What hope can there be for a church that has been closed down? David Brae reminds us that the key to resurrection lies in going out to meet the needs of the local community

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Anger and bitterness Christ Church Bacup was the last of three Anglican churches to close in the town. The closure of this church was a difficult one; many people’s lives being effected by arguments, slanderous comments and gossip. The closure of the church building for some was unbearable, as they had grown up worshipping in the church for the whole of their lives. It became a very bitter and hurtful process due to words said out of anger. Services would be heckled, such was the anger at the time. Eventually the Church Commissioners became involved and decided that the church would close.

The PCC made the decision that despite the great problems and anger during this closure, they would move to worship in a local Methodist church and share their building. The once strong congregation dropped in numbers considerably after the church building closed. However, the PCC had a desire to refocus itself upon mission to the community in Bacup. It faced the challenge of having very little in the way of resources, with a small and ageing congregation.

Going out of the building In September 2013 I came to Bacup full of excitement at what God wanted to do to rebuild his church. Over the last two years the church has gone out to serve its local community instead of waiting for people to come to them. Despite having little in the way of resources we’ve seen and are seeing God turn things around and bring a church back to life.

The nature of Bacup is that it can be at times a little suspicious of people making great promises. Also because

of our lack of resources, programmes such as Alpha couldn’t really work for us. So prayerfully, we decided to take a different approach and we decided to reach out to the local community on their terms. Rather than form ‘church groups’ that Christians might be comfortable in, we would plant into preexisting groups within the town. So we are now developing church with a group of addicts, a local business association, people suffering with dementia, and at the gym, to name a few. We encouraged people to do and be church in the places and with the people they were most passionate about. We’re equipping them to do church in those places.

Addicts and atheists As we have taken the approach to ‘go out’ we have seen our church grow.

Most of our growth has come though unchurched addicts. So we have to deal with a fair few issues that comes with that. We started our small church plant to addicts with an atheist addict.

She was keen to work with us and was desperate to help those who she knew were wrestling with addiction. In her own words she declared herself to be a ‘person of science’, and while she would be involved, would in no way EVER become a believer. As I sat in her living room and explained to her what we were going to be doing, I said to her ‘You know you might find Jesus too difficult to refuse’, at which point she laughed.

At the beginning of August she got baptised as a believer for which we praise God. She shared how because she was forgiven, she could forgive others, and that Christ had given her a peace that she had never experienced before.

In fact she was one of eight people who got baptised because of our mission to people wrestling with addiction.

Slowly we are seeing people’s lives being restored from addiction and as he restores their lives, he is restoring the church. Our church has grown from a weekly 15 people on average, to around 40-50 with our growth coming from those who have never set foot in church before.

Rebuilding relationship As we’ve focused upon mission, our finances have gone from being in the red to being in the black. While I keep praying for more financial riches, the reality is, God has given us just enough to make sure we’re covered. The church is slowly but surely beginning to turn the corner. Where the community of Bacup was disappointed at the closure of the church building, the ‘go out’ approach has allowed us to rebuild our relationship with the local community.

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B

acup is situated in Rossendale, near Burnley, Lancashire and is a former Mill Town.

It is an area that wrestles with deprivation. Unemployment, poor housing and socially challenging behaviour, broken family relationships and addiction affect the people here. I enjoy living here but when I arrived two years ago many of the locals would say ‘Why have you moved here?’ or they would raise an eyebrow and say ‘You’ve got a tough job here’. I think it was their way of saying, ‘Bacup needs some love’.

In March of this year we wanted to show that the town is loved and so we organised a jobs fair in partnership with other charities. It was the first time a jobs fair had been held in Bacup, and we were all a bit nervous as to how successful it would be. On that day we welcomed over 200 people, giving the people of Bacup the opportunity to find employment, education or just to have a chat. This was a great moment for the church as it was a sign that God was restoring its relationship with the community after a difficult building closure. But even better was that it showed a community that they are loved. In the coming months we will hopefully be opening a community cafe with a local charity, that will help provide people with yet further opportunities to see lives transformed.

Life after death What has struck me about the growth that Christ Church has seen over the last two years is that at times we fear death. However, we can’t forget that because of Christ, resurrection always comes after it. We are seeing God build his church in this town. Other churches in the town are experiencing growth as well. We are still developing, and if you are a worship leader who wants to teach unchurched Christians to worship then please get in contact.

I hope and pray that if you are reading this and are in a difficult church situation that it brings you encouragement. God can turn the most difficult of situations around.

David Brae David is a vicar in the diocese of Manchester, ministering in the town of Bacup, where he is developing new forms of mission within a church that had to start all over again.

David enjoys training as a powerlifter and is passionate about connecting faith and exercise.

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PRODUCING

1,600 farmers in Kenya have now been trained through Farm Schools that teach Kingdom values. Bruce Collins shares how Just Earth are partnering with local churches and seeing exciting transformation in poor rural communities The work of Just Earth ( JE), formerly known as the Maseno Project, in Kenya commenced in January 2005. I had been leading New Wine teams on visits to the Anglican Diocese of Maseno North since 2002, and while rejoicing in all the healings and miracles seen on these visits, the challenges of hunger and poverty were all too evident in the rural communities there and could not be avoided.

Following much prayer, and consultations in Maseno, the Lord led us to Dr Apollo Orodho, a leading Kenyan agronomist and committed Christian, who shared his vision of how small farmers could be trained to be much more productive through Farmers’ Field Schools.

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average each farm supports eight family members, this means that nearly 13,000 poor people are not only properly fed on a sustainable basis, but are also enjoying much better health and have been lifted out of poverty.

‘Each of our Farm School farmers are passing on their knowledge to an average of four neighbouring farmers - who eagerly want this knowledge because they are astonished at the visible impact of JE training’

Combining practical and spiritual Working with Dr Orodho, we designed a three-year, church-based Farm School programme to give high-quality agricultural training for 36 farmers in each school, while discipling them as Christians through a specially written Kingdom Life course. The programme also includes training in nutritional values of foods, animal husbandry, soil conservation/improvement as well as health issues such as hygiene and avoidance of infectious diseases. Quality seed, fertiliser and farmyard manure are provided to the farmers through interest-free loans which have to be paid back at harvest time.

Thinking long term§ Because farmers are taught to tithe responsibly to their churches, the local church to which their school belongs is increasingly empowered to care for their widows and orphans.

Farmers are also now lending portions of their land to churchbased orphan feeding schemes, and Just Earth then provides the older orphans with the training and farm inputs to enable them to produce food for orphan-headed households and their church feeding scheme. The training also makes them eminently employable in these rural communities when they are older.

Through partnerships with generous churches in the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands and the USA, 45 Farm Schools have been started to date, which now means that over 1,600 farmers have been trained and discipled. Given that on

A ripple effect We’ve seen other spontaneous fruit from the Farm Schools.

Our research has shown us that each of our Farm School farmers are passing on their knowledge to an average of four

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A HARVEST neighbouring farmers - who eagerly want this knowledge because they are astonished at the visible impact of JE training. While they obviously don’t receive the full benefits of Farm School membership, their farm outputs nevertheless increase significantly too, and we estimate that another 50,000 poor people have been, or are being helped out of hunger and poverty in just 11 years since this work commenced.

Each Farm School also has three micro-finance sub-groups, farmers lending to one another from their new surpluses to help one another start or enlarge small businesses, creating further wealth and employment.

Creating a new company JE (UK) registered a JE Branch Company in Kenya in 2014, and we are therefore now in a position to buy farm inputs at fairer prices on behalf of our farmers, and to develop new markets for their outputs in cities like Nairobi so that they can get far better returns for their surplus produce. A significant portion of the offerings taken at the New Wine National Gatherings in Shepton Mallet this summer will be spent developing this key aspect of JE’s work.

Creation of the company has also made it possible for us to expand regionally in Kenya, with new Farm Schools in Kericho Diocese and a new School in the Muhuroni district in partnership with the AOG Churches of Kenya.

Expanding regionally and beyond JE is being asked by churches and Christian organisations to consider helping churches to open Farm Schools in other parts of Kenya and in other African countries. Woodlands Church near Houston, Texas, has been a partner for several years, and they have asked us to launch four new Farm

Schools in Haiti in 2016, because they are already involved with poor rural communities in that earthquake-devastated country.

As we seek the Lord’s leading for where he wants JE work to spread, we are also praying for, and looking for many more partners, whether these are churches, individuals or businesses, to join us in making this possible.

Partnering with Kenyan churches It costs roughly £5,000 per year for three years to help a local Kenyan church to run a new Farm School (some churches share this with other churches), and JE links partner churches directly to that church community. Visits to Farm School churches by their partner churches are strongly encouraged, and these visits include preaching and ministry in these churches and their communities, as well as seeing the progress of the Farm School itself. Those visiting invariably come back deeply excited by the healings and miracles they see happening at their own hands. Many churches have grown in their faith and expectancy to see the Kingdom come with power through these visits.

We have been astonished at the way the Lord has blessed this work.

Visit justearth.org for regular updates and testimonies from the Farm Schools and their churches. Email info@ justearth.org to get involved.

Bruce Collins Bruce is the former Overseer of New Wine’s International Networks. He now lives in Wales, helping to develop the New Wine Cymru networks as well as Just Earth, a registered UK charitable company with a branch company in Kenya.

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FUTURE DISTINCTIVE CLOSE YOUR EYES AND IMAGINE YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD FLOWING FORWARD TO 2035 WHERE THE CHURCH IS BURSTING AT THE SEAMS OF SOCIETY AND LIFE HAS COME. WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE? TIM MAY SUGGESTS THAT IF WE WANT TO SEE RENEWAL WE NEED TO START USING OUR IMAGINATION

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Inauthentic flavours Two flavours of current church leave a bad taste in my mouth. Firstly, the rigid traditionalism summed up by the caricature of men in dresses with wispy voices, seemingly so abstract from life, attracting the term ‘irrelevant’. This obtuse detachment tastes to me like that gastronomic delicacy that one feels one should like but doesn’t taste by any means wholesome or satisfying.

Secondly, as reaction to that rarified abstraction comes the ‘cool church,’ seeking to be ‘relevant,’ using the words, phrases and touch points of popular culture. This can taste to me like MSG; a bargain buffet bound to lead you into a dissatisfied stomach ache before a surprising hunger because while this appeals to our immediate tastes, the most nutritious parts are neglected; the parts that are often the most challenging for the palate but the most important part of the meal, without which food becomes actually unhealthy. Sometimes our smoke machines hide who Jesus is as much as our traditional forms of church seem to abstract him; our similarity to the culture as much as our difference can become a fundamental problem for communicating who Jesus is.

Different and distinct The authentic church of the hour tastes like both and neither at the same time.

The church is always relevant because it is the active agent of the kingdom of heaven breaking into the present order, which means it give glimpses of glory unknown by any other means: better ways to be human and better ways to be society. It highlights the deepest needs we have: to know and be known by both others and the Lord himself.

But the church is never relevant by seeking to be relevant. The church’s

Sent into the world We don’t need to be a bad version of the entertainment industry or a volunteer version of social services. The church should be confident with its own song and its own story. Neither abstractly unearthed nor so similar that we cannot see contrast. We need to recover the confidence to stand out but not to standoff. We must learn to live in the tension of being sent into the world without losing our distinctiveness ( John 17:14-19).

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God has given us, the church, the means and the mandate to bring life to the world (Rom 8). Imagine if it happened - if we saw the church come alive in the UK. What would it look like if our wildest dreams for the renewal of church came true? I don’t pretend to have the answer but I do see some key opportunities, like doors opening, that if we walked confidently through could see the kind of change of direction that could pivot a generation towards life.

The most important of these is I think our ability to summon the courage to be distinctive.

‘This new chapter for the church requires early adopter and bold pioneers who will take technology and see glory through it’ relevancy comes from its ability to be different and to offer something that is different. The church is always an alternative to the status quo as it offers a prophetically different way to be human and for humans to do society.

Think of Bonhoeffer opposing Hitler, Wilberforce opposing slavery, the early Christians caring for plague victims when everyone else had left the towns.

Church leverages transcendence to lift people beyond the normal and to above what is obviously relevant, to what some may even deem irrelevant. The church’s identity as being something different and even odd comes from the very core of its essence, it is ontologically different, in that there is a distinction between the world as it is and God’s perfect future (heaven). So we can say, the church is irrelevantly relevant to the very core of humanity and the heart of society because we are something distinct.

We live in the memory of a Christian country that has been declining since my Grandparents were young. This edifice creates an excitingly blank canvas to paint what church is to a new generation. Of course there’s cultural memory and much of this solicits negative responses but there is increasingly a lack of even the most basic knowledge of faith for most people.

This sociological situation is why the opportunity for the church to be distinctive is by far the most important to seize and in fact frames all other opportunities in front of us.

Engaging with technology So what does it look like to be distinctive not abstract? Let’s take technology. We are living in a frame of time where arguably technology has become ontological rather than just functional. My niece learnt to use an iPad before she could even speak and the foundational neurological imprinting that will go on for her until

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she is seven will take place alongside the presence of and through the function of a mobile internet device. She will never know a world where she is not digitally connected. So what does it mean for the church to be distinctive? It doesn’t mean to abandon technology.

‘The Internet of Things’, a theory first described in 1999 by Procter & Gamble brand manager Kevin Ashton, is likely to become a big thing in our lives over the coming years. It has to do with the implications and possibilities of a network of physical things connected by electronics. From wearable technology, smart heating systems, intelligent heart monitors to door sensors that will keep a record of your sick pay. A physical world connected in this way may repulse you but it has already happened and will likely be the major area of social change for the next 20 years. Where the internet has come from and where it started may be nowhere near as far reaching as how our physical world could change by the technology that is starting to flood our world. According to Deloitte, the largest professional services network in the world, over the next 20 years 35% of jobs are due to go to automation and much of that will be done by robotics.

Seeing opportunities It is not about whether we like the sound of this but how will we respond and how will we be distinct within such a world? Firstly, we need to encourage our young towards computer science degrees. We need to start to esteem IT skills within the church because if we want to be involved we need to be informed. Secondly, we need to support those who will create services and jobs

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within these new technologies. I’m working with Lord Wei of Shoreditch on makerwharf.cc whereby our church has become a shared working space for those experimenting with the possibilities of new technologies that will create new jobs for those who do not have them.

Lastly, we need to dream with God, for through Jesus he will reconcile all things to himself (Col 1:20) and the church as a colony of this future Kingdom could see a technologically united physical world as a devastatingly exciting prospect for mission. Human problems will become increasingly global and so will their solutions. When an app goes down on my phone it goes down on all the phones in the world.

This accelerating globalisation is an irreversible position, undermining governments and institutions by the flatness of what is sometimes called ‘the new power’. We live in a fully globalised world where the physical borders and historic cultural borders are no longer relevant. In a seminar at United 2015, Matthew Frost, who recently stood down from over 10 years as Tearfund’s CEO, spoke of the church as the largest civil society - with approximately 9,000,000 churches - in the world. Now imagine if those communities were not just linked virtually but with a physical network of objects able to respond to real time situations. The ability to work

within this world is as exciting as it is daunting. This new chapter for the church requires early adopter and bold pioneers who will take technology and see glory through it.

Rediscovering rest A final and important way we can be distinct within a technological society is to rediscover rest. Christians are known for taking strong moral positions, reading the Bible and going to church buildings but what if they were famous for helping society to rest from technology? The mindfulness movement demonstrates a desire for spaces and places of retreat and rest. Our Bible gives us 4,000 years of spirituality to draw from. How can we make our disciplines of silence and reflection into places where those who do not yet believe in Jesus can belong?

As well as all myriad benefits technology brings to our lives there are many concerns. What better way to help a society to be aware of these then by modelling and inviting our communities into rhythms of rest and retreat?

It is only the church that can be greatly optimistic about the future because the resurrection is a sure hope and an anchor for the soul (Heb 6:19). It is only church, distinct and neon bright that can bring renewal to society; we must seize these days with courage and imagination.

Tim May Tim worked for Central Church Edinburgh before becoming head of Alpha UK. He is currently an ordinand at St Peter’s Bethnal Green where he dreams of seeing the church breathe life into London and beyond.

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How do you reignite a traditional church that’s shrinking and having little impact in its local community? Ian Parkinson has written a book and will be leading training days in each of our six regions in November with the aim of helping those who long to see their churches transformed. Lucy Avery met up with Ian at the National Gathering this summer 44

groups for leaders mainly in their first senior appointment.

Most of them have been part of those groups have been in more traditional ‘stuck’ churches where there’s a need for a real transformation of culture. Over a two year journey together we meet every couple of months – 10 sessions over two years – and go through the building blocks together – some of the key disciplines which I think are required to see a church turn around. What I’m trying to do in those groups is help people learn more quickly what I stumbled upon and learned the hard way. I know that if I’d had other leaders to coach me when I was starting out in Saltman, I would have not let my head go down quite as often as I did, and I might have been given the courage to move forward more quickly in certain areas, and not have made all the mistakes that I did.

‘One of the key things is probably understanding that leadership is a marathon not a sprint. Having a longer term view is really important’

What led to you writing Reignite?

Having done the coaching groups for a while people began to suggest it would be helpful to write this stuff up. Last year I felt an increasing sense of compulsion from God to get it down on paper. I wanted it to be a manual for turning a church around but also a syllabus for those who wanted to form coaching or support groups themselves. I wanted it to be rooted in practice, to give hope to people. In many ways I felt that there was a gap in the market for a book that outlined something which is at the very heart of New Wine’s existence and practice. New Wine began as a summer conference as a place where church leaders could bring their churches to see Kingdom life and ministry modelled and go home and replicate it. I suppose there’s not a one volume book which talks about how this process happens on the ground when you get home. I thought that this is so central to what we do as a movement that someone needs to write this up.

What’s your experience of this?

23 years ago my wife Nadine and I started out leading a very traditional little Anglican church in a town called Saltman in the North East. We had a sense of God’s call to see it turned round to become a more Kingdom-focused, missional, community-engaged church. Over nine years we saw God do wonderful things. It was a painful journey at times but we saw numbers of people come to faith, the church growing and the church culture completely change to being much more engaged in the community.

What are some of the struggles?

I think one of the commonest challenges, especially when someone is the only leader and hasn’t begun to raise up others, is that they become disheartened by opposition, by people’s unwillingness to get on board with the vision, and they can be knocked off track by disappointment. You begin to try something that feels right but it doesn’t work as you’d hoped it would or you feel let down by people. I think that in any ground breaking Kingdom work we’re prime targets for demonic opposition and we need to be alert to that and have the equipment from God to deal with it. One of the key things is probably understanding that leadership is a marathon not a sprint. Having a longer term view is really important. I’m convinced that more people than we realise will readily embrace change because it’s exciting and offers the hope of something fresh. After a while you will get a number of people to embrace what seems a more attractive future. You will leave behind familiarity and embark upon a new journey. But the hardest change is what you might call the neutral zone where you begin to realise that you really have left the past behind but the future hasn’t yet come into being. There’s a whole process of transition, which people find hard. I think there’s an art to leading people thought that, and is where visionary and encouraging leadership is important. A lot of leaders probably give up or fall back because they get to that stage and lose courage because they become disillusioned.

How do you coach other leaders?

Our time in Saltman gave me a heart for similar churches and for a number of years I’ve led mentoring and coaching

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What does it mean to reignite a traditional church?

Around the country there are loads of churches that need bringing to life. I have a real heart to see those churches well led and engaging with their communities. I’m convinced that integral to the exercise of leadership is bringing Kingdom transformation – all the images of the Kingdom of God in scripture are dynamic, they’re about movement and progression. Someone once said ‘there’s a forward tilt to the Christian faith’, always straining ahead to the finishing line when God will sum up all things in Christ. Leadership is all about helping people along that journey. It’s about seeing the church inhabit more fully what the New Testament envisages the church to be.

How will the book help those who want to see their churches transformed?

It’s littered with my own experiences and experiences of others. For instance in the chapter on vision I talk about how to allow a vision to emerge which will capture people’s imaginations and be the engine room for change. I also include a possible framework for a PCC or elders away day so that people can have a structure to improvise around. I use other resources such as congregational surveys we’ve done where we’ve tried to canvas or consult on different aspects of change. I wanted to include lots of resources that people can go to.

What can people expect from the training days in November?

I will teach around some of the core themes of the book, leave space for people to process this and then we’ll minister to one another in the power of the Spirit and seek to see some of these things enacted in our lives.

Is Reignite just for church leaders?

The book is designed for church leaders, those exercising leadership in churches and those who want to see their churches develop and experience change.

Ian Parkinson Ian is Vicar of All Saints Marple and Regional Director of New Wine in the North West. He also coaches leaders on how to turn round declining churches..

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significant Small but

Anna Scott believes that even the youngest children can grow in their friendship with God. At her 25th summer of working with 3-4s at the Royal Bath & West Showground she told Lucy Avery about her passion to see children valued as much as the rest of the church

How did you get involved in kids ministry?

When New Wine was just starting, when I was four or five, my parents were part of St Andrew’s Chorleywood and were asked if they’d help with the 3-4s work in the summer (later to be called Pebbles). They started leading it every summer until 2008 when my mum passed on the baton to me. She’d been training me up. Throughout my childhood and teenage years I loved being part of it. I loved my own group but I loved being in Pebbles too and would quite often come and help my parents. I always felt a natural draw to children and a connection with them. I’ve never wanted to do anything else other than kids’ work.

What do you enjoy about kids ministry?

Seeing their childlike faith, without all the baggage we have as we get older. Seeing the pure joy and the fun they have.

Seeing them grasp Bible stories and God’s truth in a way that’s somehow more real. They soak it up like a sponge.

Seeing how God relates to them and brings them into 46

friendship with him in such a loving way. Doing kids’ work is a great excuse to be a kid again myself, to be silly and a bit of a clown. I love seeing them laugh and get excited about the puppets. This week our Bible verse has been ‘We are children of God’s family, put on God’s armour, stand ready’, and we’ve shouted it out like an army-chant. It is such a privilege to see them go on with God and have the opportunity to be friends with him. It’s an honour to be able to say I’m part of that.

God is letting me be part of some eternal stuff in their lives. I feel really humbled when I think about it.

What do you do when you’re not planning Pebbles?

I work part time for a charity called Kidz Klub in Coventry.

We work with partner churches who support us but our main vision is to get church out into deprived areas in Coventry with families who wouldn’t necessarily go to church. We run five kids clubs a week. I lead one and oversee another. We also visit more than 300 children in their homes during the week and build relationships with their families. We’re trying

Why have you called the New Wine Kids Curriculum X-Cavate!?

I wanted to combine the rock theme of the kids groups at the National Gatherings. We’re digging for God’s treasure for the local church.

How is Volume 1, for pre-schoolers, different to other resources out there?

Preschool work is quite often an area of church life that’s not really thought of as a ministry. It’s the age group that’s just seen as ‘babysitting’, caring, looking after the little ones while the main stuff is going on in the adult church. I’ve got a passion to see preschoolers included as a valuable part of the church. I would love to envision kids’ leaders and workers to see that preschoolers are able to have a friendship with God. God loves all his children. I have a passion to get that out there into the local church. They are part of the church and we can minister with them, pray with them, worship with them, teach them Bible stories and see them growing with

X-Cavate!

nate about seeing children of all ages digging deeper for God’s treasure – not just gatherings, but throughout the year too. We want to share with YOU, the ideas,

groups to X-Cavate! all the treasure God has for each of you!

X-Cavate! than by launching it with the youngest members of

yet! like no other you’ve seen before. Seriously, we’re not kidding! It’s jam-packed full of:

Our Place team on how to include ALL children

has space to touch children at a level that is completely age appropriate

eeper in your kids groups! Get ready to X-Cavate!

New Wine’s history, childrens ministry has been at the heart of everything we do. onate about seeing children meet with God, experience His presence and grow church and I can’t recommend it enough.”

MARK BAILEY LEADER, NEW WINE

X-Cavate! Pre-schoolers Curriculum Your Kids Will Dig!

is a brand new curriculum from New Wine Kids, covering all our rock-themed rriculum resources is especially for Gems (0-2s) and Pebbles (3-4s).

ISBN 978-1-902977-32-4

NEW WINE

www.new-wine.org

‘God is letting me be part of some eternal stuff in their lives. I feel really humbled when I think about it’ The other exciting part of the curriculum is that it’s got a thread running through it for children with special/ additional needs. This is something that not many other resources have. I’ve been working closely with Naomi Graham, one of the leaders of Our Place, the venue for those with special/additional needs at the National Gatherings.

She’s been helping me read through each session and think about how to include all children. For each session there are top tips to make sure all kids are included. We want inclusion to be essential to what we’re doing rather than an add-on.

What are you working on now?

A Key Stage 1 curriculum (for 5-7s) based on the teaching in Ground Breakers. Look out for it in 2016!

Anna Scott Anna is a qualified primary teacher who works for a charity called Kidz Klub, reaching unchurched children across Coventry, including on the estate where she lives.

She is the Kids Curriculum Developer for New Wine and oversees the Kids Networks.

Anna Scott

Are you ready to dig deep and see Well, grab a spade and get ready for...

God. God can use them just like he can use anybody and he wants to grow with them just like he wants to grow with us.

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to show God’s love out in the community. I used to do supply teaching for the rest of the week. For the last few years I’ve felt like God’s wanted me to get into writing curriculum.

A couple of years ago I went away on a retreat and felt like God put it on my life. After exploring different avenues and praying about it I started writing curriculum, even though I wasn’t sure what I was writing it for. But since February God’s given me my dream job: Kids Curriculum Developer for New Wine.

X-Cavate!

Volume 1

Pre-schoolers Curriculum Your Kids Will Dig!

Anna Scott 47

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES We need challenge, fresh vision and encouragement in our spiritual lives, church communities, ministry teams and small groups. Members of the New Wine family recommend resources they’ve found helpful BOOKS Peter’s preaching Jeremy Duff

This is a great book! It looks at Mark’s gospel as the means by which Peter’s preaching has been recorded, and works through the gospel thematically, looking at the miracles, the parables, the disciples etc. Jeremy has a gift of taking his considerable wealth of knowledge about the Bible and making it clear and accessible. I really enjoyed reading the book for myself, but as I did so I was also thinking of the people in my parish to whom I could lend it, and the nuggets I could steal (ahem, borrow) from it for my preaching. It’s theology at its best – stretching and challenging, but grounded in real life and real ministry – and so has a wide appeal.

Kate Wharton is Vicar of St George’s Church Everton, Liverpool and New Wine Urban Ministry Leader for the North West.

Resilient

In Resilient Sheridan leads us through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and its rugged guidance on relationships, sexuality, choices and spirituality. Drawing on personal and observed experiences, theological insights, philosophical bon mots and scriptural truths, this book shows how we can live a Jesus-shaped life as little Christs - Christians.

In many respects Sheridan is our answer to US thinker and writer Philip Yancey, and in Resilient he delivers a gloriously open and honest reading of Christ’s mountain-top manifesto. A life-changing read for the new Christian and long-term follower alike.

Barry Gittins is communications and research consultant for Salvation Army.

BOOKS GIVEAWAY! Simply email the title of one of the above books to mag@new-wine.org before 10 December 2015 for your chance to win a copy. One entry per person.

Winners will be chosen at random and notified by 15 December 2015.

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Sheridan Voysey

Losing the Fig Leaf Nicki Copeland

This book looks at an ancient story and gives it a modern interpretation.

Adam and Eve fell from God-consciousness to self-consciousness.

They experienced fear and shame. Their response was to hide and blame. Nicki uses this story to show us we are no different. This book encourages us to step out from among the trees and let go of our fig leaves. Nicki names six trees with many relevant insights. The trees are power, possessions, productivity, perfectionism, pretence and pastimes. While exploring all of the difficulties we have in coming out of hiding she always leaves us with the truth of Jesus’ transforming love and power. With many biblical and personal illustrations this book is for any serious disciple of Jesus.

Lin Button is founder of the Healing Prayer School and Director of Counselling at All Saints Woodford Wells.

MUSIC Empires

Hillsong United

Hillsong United’s most recent album captures captivatingly honest worship. The songs feel almost like a conversation; offering a striking portrayal of grace, characteristic instrumental interludes and minimalistic sounds. The standout song Touch The Sky has been widely accepted and celebrated, which is exciting because it takes another step away from Christian and mainstream music being two separate entities. Listeners will almost certainly identify songs that could serve the local church.

Susie Woodbridge is about to move to L.A. as the worship leader at a new church being planted from St Mary’s Bryanston Square in London.

Pocketful of Faith

Opaque Nature

Had a stressful day?

In need of some Godly refreshment? Looking Up by West Midlands band Opaque Nature is so relaxing. I love playing the album because it calms my soul. It’s great for worshipping, soaking, and bringing peace to everyday moments - my driving, my meal times, and when I’m getting ready in the morning. The meaningful lyrics and beautiful melodies have made me think about the journey I have been on with trusting God and seeing how he’s been faithful. These songs stir my spirit to burst out in thankfulness - letting loose my praise and gratitude. It’s a hope-filled album - it really does make you look up!

Anna Scott works for a charity called Kidz Klub, is the Kids Curriculum Developer for New Wine and oversees the Kids Networks.

Everything and Nothing Less (Live)

Tim Hughes

This is a great new album packed with typically helpful lyrics and vocal excellence.

Whilst the production lacks a bit of the flair and aggression of his previous record, yet again Tim has written some top congregational songs. Tracks that immediately stand out are Here with me (melodically and harmonically soaring), Plans (almost inducing me to begin break-dancing) and Hope and Glory (with your classic final verse octave jump that I’ll begrudgingly admit works like a dream). I can imagine every song on the album being sung in a church setting.

This is no easy task and is testament to the quality of Tim’s writing capabilities.

Phil Martin is a London-based professional musician who has long been part of the worship team at his local church, as well serving in worship bands at New Wine events.

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Looking Up

Chris McClarney

Apart from his cracker Your love never fails from a few years back I’ve not heard much from Chris before. I listen to worship music to connect with God, and that’s exactly what happens with this album. The lyrics are meaningful, heartfelt, engaging; occasionally poetic and abstract but never at the expense of connection for the listener/worshipper.

Consuming Fire stands out as an exceptional song – easy to sing, thematically strong, and sounds great melodically. This album is very solid - full of honest and real worship.

Phil Martin is a London-based professional musician who has long been part of the worship team at his local church, as well serving in worship bands at New Wine events.

E C AFFACE TO FACE E C AF EMPOWERING, STRENGTHENING AND EQUIPPING FOR CHURCH LEADERS WIVES

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What’s your attitude to prayer?

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23lme.co.uk +44(0)7545 564918

The reason for studying this is to see if there are things that are helping or getting in the way of prayer for emotional, spiritual and physical healing, and to look at what an understanding of the theology of the ‘now’ and ‘not yet’ of the Kingdom has to offer to prayer ministry.

If you’re able please go to the following link where there are more details on the first page:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WhatAboutPrayer

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INVOLVED IN YOUR LOCAL CHURCH AND WANT TO SEE IT PLAY ITS PART IN TRANSFORMING THE COMMUNITY? KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: MARK BATTERSON ARCHBISHOP JUSTIN WELBY KATE COLEMAN NICKY GUMBEL CHARLOTTE GAMBILL

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AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED! INTRODUCING FULL MORNING SESSIONS FOR GEMS AND PEBBLES In 2016, we will for the first time be running Gems and Pebbles sessions for the whole morning! Parents of children in this age group will now be free to enjoy the morning celebrations and seminars while the little ones enjoy their groups!

See website for further details including prices, children’s groups, teams information and more.