Monday, June 15, 2015

Woolwich

David Oorloff, pictured here with his wife Marina has ministered in Woolwich, London for an amazing thirty years.  Up until just six years ago David, in order to see the church established and because there was very little finance when he arrived, worked bi-vocationally.

The condition of the church today bears testimony to the high level of commitment that David and Marina have given, and continue to give, to the church.  It is several years since I was last there but it was thrilling to see a church doubled in size since that occasion and full to capacity for the morning service.


Thursday, June 04, 2015

Silverdale

From our largest church in our nation's capital I moved on to speak in the small town of Silverdale near Stoke on Trent that has a population of just 7000 people.  

However though the context is small the vision is not and a fine building in the heart of the community attracts around 150 people every Sunday.  As I have no weekends free for the remainder of my tenure, I was invited to speak at the Wednesday evening service. Senior Pastor Edwin Cotter (pictured with his wife Lorna) have faithfully served the church for almost ten years and have created a great sense of 'family' within this longstanding and well-established church that seeks to serve the community in which it is located.

Kensington Temple

KT, as it is more commonly called, is by far Elim's largest church with five major consecutive services on a Sunday and many branches around London that have been birthed from it that make up the network of 'London City Church'

Not only has Colin Dye been the senior minister for the past twenty-four years but, when I retire from my role as General Superintendent in a few months time, will be the longest serving member on Elim's National Leadership Team

I spoke at the 9  and 11 am meetings and would estimate that around 1,800 people were present for the two services
K.T's vision statement "London and the world for Christ" is far more than a simple aspiration for the influence of this church around the world is phenomenal.  With a powerful core team, led by associate minister Bruce Atkinson, and a committed membership Kensington Temple can only, by God's grace,  grow in impact and effectiveness in the years that lie ahead.  Colin and Amanda Dye are two of our closest friends and it was a joy to spend be with them again for the day.