Blackburn

Simon and Valentina Pastorello moved from AoG  Italy to join the team  in Elim Blackburn a few years ago and within the past few months Simon has taken over as lead pastor in what was the first church that Stephen Jeffries pioneered in Lancashire

Their strategically positioned building is now full to capacity on a Sunday morning and there is a wide spectrum of events in which the church is engaged in through the week.

It was good to be back in  church that has members who have been there for a generation as well as those who have recently joined the church

There are a number of levels of transitioning and restructuring in which the church is engaged that will position it to be a church that I will believe will see accelerated growth in the years that lie ahead.

Elim Centenary, Scotland

The result of eighteen months of planning and preparation came to fruition when over 1500 gathered in the iconic Armadillo arena at the SECC for the centenary celebrations.  Regional leader Kevin Peat was quick to mention the work that the organising team had put into the success of the event - notably Alan Scobie, Gordon Alan and James Glass.  It was a night of great worship, video memories and, after I had brought the message the whole congregation stood together in making a verbal declaration of their commitment to move into the next phase of our Movement's life believing that, without doubt, 'The best is yet to come'.

The night was hallmarked by those who came to faith for the first time and many who recommitted their life to the Lord.  Elim in Scotland has never been in a stronger position than it is today and its commitment to church growth and continued church planting make it clear that there is, under God, a great future to be anticipated.

Elim New Zealand

Of the four million people who live in New Zealand almost half of them live in Auckland and, in this great city, Elim's multicampus church has a congregation of over 2,000.  In addition to this it has a state-of-the art Christian School that educates over one thousand children and has a waiting list of over 700 who wish to attend.  The school has recently received the coveted 'Apple' award for excellence.  A remarkable feature are the huge four-coloured letters on the roof of the school campus that spell the word ELIM and can be seen on the international flight path as planes approach Auckland airport.

Recently the Jehovah's Witnesses moved their headquarters to Australia and the huge £7 million pound complex is now owned by the Aukland Elim Church and used as a leadership training centre.  The purchase of a golf course also means that the church has its own gold academy.

The brains behind this entrepreneurial expansion is senior pastor, Luke Brough, pictured here (right) with New Zealand's Prime Minister, John Key.

I was there at the invitation of good friend Mike Griffiths (pictured with his wife Liz) who was the leader of Elim New Zealand prior to, at the conference, passing the baton on to Luke.  Mike is an exceptional leader who has decided to concentrate on the growth of the church of which he is the senior pastor.

My preaching schedule for the conference was hectic however as I was ministering twelve times within a six day period.  However, I love everything about New Zealand, its national culture, its church culture and its vision for the future.

Coventry Elim

Coventry Elim has never been in a more healthy  state.  Already in multiple Sunday morning services, it now meets once a month in a city centre theatre so that all the church family can be together. Over 700 people were present at  service at which I spoke.

Duncan and Helen Clark (pictured) have led the church for several years and have built a great team around them which, together with the Elders and a committed congregation, have created, under God, something that has a full potential yet to be realised.

A recent survey showed that 75% of the congregation are younger than the senior pastor which certainly augers well for the future.

Apart from leading one of our Movements fastest growing churches Duncan is also a member of Elim's National leadership Team.