Newcastle

There had been a huge transformation in the Newcastle Elim church since my previous visit two years ago. The church building had been extended to accommodate the growing congregation and a gallery had been added and rooms removed to create additional space on the ground floor. The church had also successfully transitioned to two morning services - both of which were comfortably filled.

Simon Lawton (pictured here with his wife Julia and his daughter Amy) is confident that these developments are simply an additional stage in the ongoing progress of this warm and vibrant congregation.

Our weekend commenced with an Aspire event organised on the Saturday morning by Julia Lawton and at which Marilyn spoke. In the evening I was invited to speak with thirty of the core leaders before speaking the following day at both of the morning services. Great leadership - excellent church.

Blackburn

There has been an Elim church in Blackburn for a very long time and the current building stands in a prominent position overlooking the local retail park

I have never ministered in this church in recent years without there being a capacity congregation and this visit to their Sunday morning service was no exception

The church is ably led by Bob Clark (pictured left) who with his wife Rita have worked faithfully for many years. Recently he has been joined by associate minister Simon Pastorello from Italy who is shortly to be married to his fiancee Valentina who will be coming from Florence to work in Blackburn - now that's the call of God!

Delancey, Guernsey

There are three Elim churches on the Island of Guernsey. Delancey, Eldad and Vazon. I had the pleasure of speaking at Delancey on the Sunday morning the senior pastor which is Martin O'Brien (pictured here with his wife Sally). It was an excellent service and it is great to see the growth in this fine church situated right on the beautiful coast of the Island.

Over lunch I enjoyed meeting up with the leaders of all threee Elim Churches and in the evening we had a joint meeting at Delancey at which two important things took place. The first was the opening of the new youth suite and the second was a baptismal service at which several young people were baptised. Just great to hear the testimonies of changed lives and fresh starts..