www.new-wine.org
FREE! PLUS your chance to win up to £250 COPY worth of camping equipment! see page 3 Each year, around 30,000 people choose to spend a week of their summer holidays at a New Wine Summer Conference. But why?
NEW WHAT? What are the New Wine Summer Conferences? They attract a variety of different people for a variety of different reasons. In our words, and theirs, here’s why they keep coming back.
Doing it for the kids
To parents and carers of young children, it’s a place where your little ones will have loads of fun, grow in their faith and meet lots of new friends while you are free to enjoy the adults’ programme.
‘It’s a huge part of our year as a family. Our children insist on going, loving the chance to be with their friends, the incredible children’s work and the space to play in. Every year we are blown away by how, at such a young age, they meet with God and grow in their faith.’ [Rich, 36]
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God to go
To church groups, it’s a time to hang out together within a camping community, enjoy BBQs, play games, build friendships, learn, grow and gain inspiration as a church family.
‘If I look back at the times when Jesus has most impacted my life, many of them have been while sharing a summer conference week with my church, and that experience has continued to shape what God is doing back home. Each year we come away with deeper friendships, as well as the joy of seeing people saved, set free, fired up and recommitted.’ [Becky, 44]
Shacked up
For 0s to 11s, Gems is the venue for 0-2s, Pebbles for 3-4s, Ground Breakers for 5-7s, Rock Solid for 8-9s and Boulder Gang for 10-11s. Each group runs a fun-filled and age-appropriate programme led by a team of talented and experienced children’s workers, who are passionate about giving each child the best possible time on site. ‘Our son Chris first came to New Wine at just eight months old, and he’s now ten. Last year he saw a child’s arm healed of a series of boils, and came away with a passion for setting up a prayer shack at our local church. We now have the shack at all-age services once a month. It is wonderful to see how Chris confidently, earnestly and deeply prays for all those who come.’ [Catherine, 41]
‘It’s a family affair’
For people with special needs and their families, the Our Place venue is a haven where a dedicated and experienced team of volunteers ensure that everyone can grow in faith and worship as full members of the church family. ‘New Wine is the only holiday we feel we can go on as a family because of our son’s special needs’, said the parents of one of the children in Our Place last summer.
Reluctant single man...
To individuals, it’s a place to meet new people, to tailor your own programme from a jam-packed schedule of teaching and entertainment, or to socialise or simply sit back, relax and enjoy time out from the normal routine. ‘I was initially reluctant to come to New Wine. As a single man in my 30s, I expected to be hanging out with families and looking after their kids! While it’s definitely great for families, it’s also a place to intentionally meet with God and worship with hundreds of others. I was also surprised at how much else is going on outside of the scheduled sessions. Every evening someone different was having a BBQ. I found that New Wine offered space and time to build meaningful friendships and wonderful memories.’ [Carlton, 37]
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Save the date!
To church leaders, it’s a place to connect with other leaders and get inspired and re-energised. It also provides an opportunity to spend quality time with your congregation, to build relationships and gain fresh vision for your church. ‘For nearly 20 years now, the summer conference has been the first event to be put in my diary – and in our church’s diary too! As a leader, it’s been a key place of personal renewal and continuing growth, a source of fresh inspiration and challenging perspectives, and where deep and encouraging friendships have been formed and maintained.’ [Paul, 45]
Beers & Burgers
Three-year-old teachers
‘It was so refreshing to spend a week of evenings with friends, getting to know new people and laughing for hours. It was also a relaxed enough environment to have longer, deeper interactions, which coincidentally led to a rather significant conversation – over a beer and a burger – with my now-husband!’ [Ali, 33]
‘I love the atmosphere and have built lasting friendships with people from other parts of the country. For the past three years I’ve been part of the Pebbles team, which is what I look forward to the most. Being able to help young children in their walk with God is so much fun! It’s an amazing team to work with, and the things the children teach me about having an open heart for God are even more amazing.’ [Louisa, 17]
To teenagers and young adults, it provides time to get together with friends, meet new ones, and get stuck into a full week of activities that run late into the evening.
To volunteers, it’s a place to grow spiritually, learn new skills, meet lots of new people, and receive far more than you give.
£500 OF PRIZES TO BE WON
Everyone’s a winner.That’s because we consider all attendees of our Summer Conferences winners! But there is a real prize to be won... Get kitted out for the conference with a top prize of £250 and five runner-up prizes of £50 that can be spent in any UK Millets store. Simply email your Summer Conference booking reference with the answer to the following question to win@new-wine.org and we’ll enter you into the draw: Which company provides the coffee to the onsite cafés at our Summer Conferences? Terms & Conditions
FILL YOUR (WE IE) BOOTS!
In a typical week on site, our cafés get through…
1 Emails must be received by 29 March 2013.
3,800 jam doughnuts
2 One entry per person.
4,960 Millionaire’s shortbreads
3 Winners notified via email by 12 April 2013. 4 Not open to New Wine employees. 5 E ntrants must agree to take part in any post-competition publicity.
7,778 pints of milk 8,352 flakes in Hot Chocolate Mountains
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IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT SINGING AND PRAYING A
s well as a full programme of teaching from internationally acclaimed speakers, and worship led by some of the best worship teams, there’s also plenty to keep you entertained outside of the daily programme. Choose from music, comedy, pub quizzes, speed dating and open mic nights in our after-hours venues. Or if you’d prefer to take some time out during the day, there’s also a wide choice of cafés on site, all serving, among other treats, top-quality Fairtrade coffee! Plus, The Marketplace is our onsite shopping centre selling everything from books and MP3s to clothes and jewellery. For younger ones, there’s a whole host of exciting activities from football tournaments, to the climbing wall, the skate park, live bands and more.
I K
COFFEE
ingdom Coffee is the sole supplier of our onsite cafés. They are one of the UK’s Fairtrade and Ethical Coffee and Tea suppliers and strive to source top-quality and brandleading products. Whether you’re a latte lover or an espresso aficionado, our cafés are the place to go for that perfect cuppa.
JUST PITCH UP
We camp people together in villages, providing a great opportunity to build friendships and meet new people, whether you come alone or with your church. For 2013, we’re aiming to meet requests from smaller church groups to be camped together on a village with other small churches. This is only achievable if we receive these requests early, so if your church would like to be part of such a village, please email us at info@newwine.org before the end of March, and we will do our utmost to make it happen.
If you’re not a natural camper, you’ll find some helpful camping hints and tips on our website. There’s also a Village Host assigned to each camping area who will be on hand to show you the ropes. Plus, if you forget your tent pegs or charcoal, there are shops and supermarkets just a short drive away from the campsite.
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I’M A CHRISTIAN, GET ME OUT OF HERE
BEARDS, BONDING & BBQ-ING
Can’t do without your home comforts? Don’t worry, there are also plenty of B&Bs and self-catering cottages nearby, so book your place as usual and then come and go as you please.
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‘The summer conference always challenges and encourages me. I like the space to reflect and pray, and I also get to hang out with friends from church, as well as get to know people that I wouldn’t usually see on a Sunday. Staying off site allows me the best of both worlds – fellowship with my church group when on site, and time out when I want to return to my B&B.’ [Helen, 34]
‘We have come to New Wine for most years since it began. We love the blend of teaching and worship, the pleasure of serving others and being part of a team, and getting together with friends for longer, more relaxed conversations than are often possible in a busy London church. We stay offsite in a B&B and enjoy all the benefits of New Wine, with the added bonus of a real bed and a full English breakfast.’ [Brian, 64]
ur church has grown together in faith and become a far stronger team through our shared experiences at New Wine. We’ve loved the worship, sharing our challenges and, above all, relaxing and learning together. We have also begun to understand each other’s concerns for our local community and how we might address these.We have had fun and enjoyed food, shared tasks like cooking and washing up, got to know our children a lot better, played the ‘New Wine Best Beard’ competition, looked after each other’s children, shared cups of tea at all hours, and had many other memorable times. It’s been a great blessing to all of us!
DATE, MARRY, AVOID? ‘Dating in the Christian world can feel a bit dominated by young people. Us oldies need help and encouragement too!’ Andy and Lynne are in their 50s, and have been married for three years. They met at a speed dating evening while at the New Wine Summer Conference. In his words
I first came to New Wine in 2007 and, while there, decided a little nervously to do speed dating – something I’d never done before. It was quite an experience! My mind was a blur as we had just two minutes to talk to each person before moving on to the next. As the speed
dating ended, my conversation with one of the ladies continued, for the next two years! We had a lot of adjusting to do as we lived 90 miles apart, but in 2009 we got married. It was a wonderful answer to prayer for both of us and it’s been a very happy three years.
In her words
It was a sunny evening at New Wine in the summer of 2007, I was camping with my home group who knew I wanted to find someone special at the speed dating event that evening. We prayed together before I left. I’d never done it before so didn’t know what to expect. Although I was nervous, the atmosphere at any New Wine event is always very welcoming.
I found a seat and sat down opposite one of the men. A hooter signified the start of the event so we began chatting. When the hooter sounded again, the men moved along so there was someone different to talk to. Although I spoke to some lovely people, no-one seemed particularly right, but I was sure God had someone for me.Then the hooter sounded one last time and Andy came and sat opposite me. We got on instantly and carried on talking long past the end of the event. We met up the next morning and every other day while there. Two years later we got married, and are so thankful to God for making it all happen, and to our wonderful home group who supported me and now both of us so well.
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BETTER THAN MORRISSEY Luke describes his experience as a first-timer.
I’d known and believed in God before then but it was then that I physically felt it. I had heard about these types of feelings being consistent with a ‘high’ that you may feel at rock concerts. But I have been to many gigs, and have felt many ‘highs’ – the best being Morrissey at Reading 2004 – but what I felt at New Wine was something completely different and much more emphatic and enjoyable.
In 2011, I decided to go to New Wine for two days with about 15 others as a taster. I was part of a small church that had started gathering on a council estate in North London in 2010. Church still felt fairly new to me, and it was my first time at an event like this.
As I look back I know that on that Wednesday night at New Wine we all realised that we were on to something good, were doing it right, and were at the right place at exactly the right time. And it’s safe to say that after my ‘taster’ of New Wine in 2011, I decided to return in 2012!
We camped, ate and sunbathed together, then in the evening went to one of the main venues for a talk by Mike Pilavachi. It wasn’t a talk based around a specific part of the Bible, but everything seemed to ring true for us on the estate.
Afterwards people were offered prayer and immediately I knew I needed it. I had been immersed in prayer for what felt like a long time and when I finally opened my eyes I saw the rest of our group, who were also being prayed for or praying for each other. It was an incredible feeling and for the first time as a Christian I experienced the omnipresence of God.
BALANCING THE BOOKS We know that joining us in the summer is an important financial decision, so we want to make sure you know your payment options, and how to get the best deal. Here are our top tips:
1 C ome for free – join a Team.You’ll also get all your meals thrown in!
2 Book online to avoid a £10 admin fee. 3 Book before 2 April 2013 for a discounted rate. 4 S pread your payments to avoid paying a lump sum (your final payment must be made by the early-bird deadline to receive the discount). 5 H alf-week, day and evening tickets are available if you don’t want to commit to a full week. Book early to avoid disappointment (see website for details).
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DRAGGED ALONG? NOT SUREWHATYOU BELIEVE? GOT SOME BIG QUESTIONS? Running alongside the full programme of worship, teaching and prayer is ‘Just Looking’, a safe place for those who want to explore questions of faith.
Just Looking is flexible in its approach, with the following key values:
You set the agenda.
The questions guests have are personal, so instead of a ‘programme’ we respond to the issues that a particular group wants to explore.
We take a broad view.
Often friends or family have explained Christian faith in the way that they understand it, or described the decision to be a ‘follower’ according to their own experience – but this may not ‘fit’. They may also find it difficult to answer some of
the questions thrown at them. At Just Looking we take care to explain the whole range of possible Christian views – even (or especially!) for the trickier questions.
There’s no judgement.
Our guests can say exactly what they feel or think. Each contribution is valued, but talking is optional!
There’s no pressure.
We recognise that people move towards faith at different speeds and in different ways.
Stay as long as you want.
There’s no course to be completed, you can stay for the week, or drop in occasionally as it suits you. Although the format can vary, we always start with good quality coffee, some edible delicacies, and a chance to chat. Here are some true stories from Just Looking (some names and details have been changed to respect people’s privacy). Chris’ partner became a Christian while he was serving abroad with the armed forces. She’d booked a holiday to New Wine as a surprise for him when he came home on leave! He’d seen a
lot of disturbing things, and knew he was pretty troubled. He sat and listened for a couple of Just Looking sessions without saying much – and then had a profound encounter with Jesus during the night, and became a Christian himself. Alan is married to a deeply committed Christian, and loves to see his kids enjoying New Wine. He counts himself an atheist, and has been coming to Just Looking for years. He honestly can’t imagine he’ll ever change – but keeps on coming! Hannah comes from a Jewish background. She’s highly intelligent (a solicitor), and has no time for easy answers to difficult questions. She’s not a practising Jew, but the Jewish faith has formed who she is. She came to Just Looking a couple of years ago, and asked some of the most interesting and penetrating questions we’ve ever heard. Last year she was at New Wine again, and popped in to tell us that she wasn’t ‘there’ yet, but felt a lot closer. Davey came to Just Looking as an angry student. He had come to New Wine with a bunch of University friends who told him to bring us all his most difficult questions. He left us as angry as when he first came. Last summer we bumped into him at New Wine, a changed man, now a worship leader at his church!
2013 SuMMEr ConFErEnCE Join us for an unforgettable week to get inspired, empowered and fired up to change lives, communities and the nation! London & South EaSt
Saturday 27 July–Friday 2 August Royal Bath and West Showground, Somerset
north & EaSt
Saturday 3–Friday 9 August Newark and Nottinghamshire County Showground, Newark
CEntraL & South WESt SundAy 4–Saturday 10 August Royal Bath and West Showground, Somerset
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A SNEAKY PEEK We are gathering a great line-up of speakers and worship leaders across all three events in 2013.You can find the most up-to-date information on our website, but here’s a quick preview of what to expect: Justin Welby has been elected as the new Archbishop of Canterbury and will take up his role in March. He has served as Bishop of Durham and a lay reader at Holy Trinity Brompton, previously having spent 11 years working in the oil industry. He is married to Caroline, and they have two sons and three daughters. His interests include French culture, sailing and politics. Brian Doerksen is a songwriter, recording artist, author, conference speaker and pastor from the west coast of Canada. His songs are known around the world and include Come, now is the time to worship, Hope of the nations, Faithful One, Refiner’s Fire and Holy God.
Justin Welby photograph © Lambeth Palace / Picture Partnership
Danielle Strickland serves in The Salvation Army as an officer and is currently working in a marginalised community in Canada. She leads the Canadian arm of Stop The Traffik. Danielle is internationally recognised in her capacity as a leader, speaker, writer, justice advocate, mission developer, worship leader and church planter. Jay Pathak is the Senior Pastor of the Mile High Vineyard in Colorado and serves as the Regional Church Planting Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain region. He has a BA in Philosophy from The Ohio State University and is a graduate of the Vineyard Leadership Institute. London & South East
Ken Costa studied Law and Theology at the University of Cambridge. He has served as Vice-Chairman of UBS Investment Bank, and Chairman of Lazard International bank. He is also the Chairman of Alpha International and Church Warden of Holy Trinity Brompton, London. Robby Dawkins began a children’s ministry at the age of 12, and became a youth minister at 16. He has pastored the Vineyard Church of Aurora in Illinois since 1996, having felt called to plant in a poor urban community. He has ministered in over 30 countries worldwide, two of which are considered to be in the top ten most dangerous places.
North & East
SIGN ME UP! To book your place:
1 G o to www.new-wine.org/events 2 F ind your regional Summer Conference and click ‘Book Now’ 3 L og in: • If you’ve been to a New Wine event before, you’ll already be registered.You just need to remember your log-in details.There’s a password reminder, but if you’ve forgotten your username, just email us at info@new-wine.org. • If you’re new to New Wine, simply set up an account. You only need to do this once, so make a note of your username and password for future bookings. 4 Book yourself a place, or complete a group booking for friends, family or your whole church. (Group bookings may take a while first time around, but all the info will be stored so next time it’ll be easy peasy.)
Mike Pilavachi is Associate Director of Soul Survivor, a youth organisation seeking to reach, disciple, equip and empower young people to make a difference in their generation. Christy Wimber is Senior Pastor of the Yorba Linda Vineyard church in California. She is an author, speaker and television host. For 22 years she has travelled around the world teaching on the Kingdom of God, and has released material covering John Wimber’s teachings and writings. Mark Marx is part of Causeway Coast Vineyard and pioneered the development of the Healing on the Streets ministry which is now rapidly spreading across Europe and beyond.
Central & South West
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You’ll find loads more info, including prices, online at www.new-wine.org/summer. If you have any further questions or queries, our friendly customer service team will be happy to answer them. Email info@new-wine.org