Tuesday, April 29, 2008

West Street Baptist Church

"West Street Baptist" in Crewe has for several years been affiliated to Elim hence my visit to them. In the many years that their pastor, Geoff Willetts has been with them he has seen the church grow from a handful of people to the four hundred that attend their three Sunday services. I spoke at the two morning services. Geoff will retire in the next few years and the challenge will be to secure leadership that can continue to growth the church both in breadth and depth.

UCB

I have a very high regard for the work and ministry of United Christian Broadcasters based at Stoke on Trent. Its ministry is a great asset to the Church in the UK and it is led by a Board and Trustees that are of the highest caliber. My day with them was spent recording a series of fifty short messages to be broadcast over the next few weeks during their regular programming.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Salisbury - Oldest members

Whenever I visit long-established churches it is always a privilege to meet those who were founder members of the initial congregations.  Norman and Dorothea Coles have attended since the earliest days of the Salisbury Elim church and are still actively involved and rarely miss a meeting.  Norman is in his 97th year.  Elim owes a great debt  to such faithful people. 

Salisbury


The Salisbury Elim Church is pastored by Phil (pictured) and Sally Thompsett and Gordon and Jaquie Malcolm.  Prior to the morning service Phil took me on a tour of the adjacent building which had only been a shell on the last occasion I was there but now housed a coffee bar, youth lounge, sports hall and a number of offices from which community projects are launched throughout the week.




Sunday, April 13, 2008

Holy Trinity - Weston

Its always a pleasure to visit our churches and spend time with our leaders and congregations. On this weekend however I was with one of my closest friends Claude Ellerington, who with his wife Sue, is pictured here. Both Claude's sons, Richard and Steve, are Elim ministers and part of the ministry team. Weston is a creative and innovative church.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Alloa

Colin and Laura Shreenan pastor one of Elim's smallest churches but through tenacity and commitment are beginning to see a breakthrough. Committed to the people and with the the belief that this fellowship can break out of its history they are faithfully planting for God in this small Scottish town. I enjoyed being with them and their church over my weekend with them.