Christian and Jenna's wedding - more photos

Wedding of Christian and Jenna Carpenter

Neath Elim church is a great church pastored by Wayne Carpenter who yesterday officiated at the wedding at which his son Christian and his lovely bride, Jenna, were married.

Christian and Jenna are typical of the fine young people within our Movement who are committed to Christ and to the local church. Christian, a professional musician, leads the worship at the Neath church and many will also know him as one of the lead musicians at The Gathering.

When Christian and Jenna invited me to speak at their wedding I knew that it, and the reception that followed, would be a clear testimony to their vibrant faith in Christ. It was all of that and more beside. We wish them every blessing in their new life together.

Apostle Appiah visits Cheltemham

In a recent posting I reported on the fact that Apostle Amegatcher had returned to Ghana after having responsibility for the leadership of the Church of Pentecost in the UK.

This week Apostle Appiah, who now takes up this important role, made his first visit to our International Offices in Cheltenham accompanied by a delegation of senior leaders. We look forward to a long and meaningful relationship with him and his team.

There are over two million members of the Church of Pentecost world wide and this Denomination has very close ties with the Elim Pentecostal church. The number of Pentecostals world-wide is currently estimated at over 500 million

Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland

It was great to be with John and Trish Waller (pictured) at Ballyfermot. The church has doubled in the few years they have been there and this was very evident from the numbers at the Sunday morning service. It is a warm and friendly family church that has a desire, not just to experience blessing within the church, but to create an impact though its ministry of care within the community.

Republic of Ireland Leaders Day

There was great support for the leaders day in the Republic of Ireland that was led by Pastor John McEvoy and hosted by Pastor Richard Macwhinney in Navan. Many of the churches throughout the Republic are many miles apart and so the value of the day is as much about fellowship as it is about teaching.

A special night at Wells

It says a lot both for the church and the leadership that such a high proportion of the congregation was present for the mid-week service. Stephen and Gill Fowler are the right people in the right place at the right time - a fantastic couple. The meeting was designed as means of encountering God and it proved to be a memorable occasion.

Several years ago Gill, who was the first to become a Christian, invited her lawyer husband to an evangelistic outreach. He still remembers the trepidation in which he entered the church - little knowing that years later, having come to faith, he would one day be the pastor of the church. It was a joy to be with them.

Selly Oak - 70th Anniversary

A full church gathered on the Sunday morning of the anniversary celebrations. Senior minister, Maldwyn Jones, has been there for the past fifteen years and has seen the church evolve in a variety of ways not least in the reduction of the average age of the congregation which has a higher than average proportion of students and young people. Tribute was given to the Elder, affectionately known as "Blackie" who was first brought to the church when he was four and has been there all of the churches 70 years.

Funeral of David Khan

David Khan, one of our highhly respected pastors, had a long a successful ministry within Elim. Over five hundred people packed the venue in Croydon for one of the most memorable funeral services I have attended in a long time. David Campbell, regional leader for the area, preached powerfully and several responded to the appeal. Many fellow-pastors were present in tribute to their colleague. Our thoughts and prayers are with Florence and the family. 

Ireland - Alexandra Park Avenue

This was my first opportunity to see the new building since it opened. It is 'state-of-the art' functionally and technically and it was good to spend some time with pastor Brian Madden and his wife Martine. The Irish churches have something to teach the rest of us when it comes to the numbers of non-Christian that they attract to their Sunday night services which often are the largest attended meeting of the week. I felt very much 'at home' preaching at a church that had great music, drama and mime presentations but especially to witness those who came to Christ at the close of the service.

Ireland - Belfast South

I was with Paul and Gail Dunn a couple of years ago in Dromore and now it was great to see how God is blessing them in South Belfast - a growing church with a strong evangelistic focus. As so often is the case, I notice in our churches worship groups that are of the highest calibre and were the congregation many times the size would need to change little.- this churtch was no exception