Lane End Elim Church

I came to conclusionon, on this my first ever visit to Lane End, that it is one of our Movement's best kept secrets. John Richards (pictured between his two associate pastors) has been there for 25 years. Lane End has a population of only 3000 but the church complex would do credit to any city centre. As so often is the case, a first class worship group led the service which had a high proportion of teenagers in the congregation. At the conclusion of the service everyone stayed behind for a meal together. John and Marion and the team have done a fantastic job over the years and this church planted the Princes Risborough church several years ago which continues to grow under the leadership of Geoff and Jane Blease.

Selly Oak Banquet

I mentioned in a previous posting that I had been asked to take part in the 70th anniversary of the church. This occasion however was a banquet to celebrate the event. Senior minister, Maldwyn Jones, one of our finest Pastors, hosted a large number of guests. Also present was the Regional Leader of the area, Gordon Neale, and his wife Kaye. Maldwyn, Gordon and I were in College together in the Sixties and Maldwyn and my wife Marilyn attended the same Grammar School.

York Community Church

Its rare that I take Sunday engagements outside our own Denomination but YCC was an exception. One of my relatives is a member of the leadership and my cousin and her husband, who also attend the church, had asked me to dedicate their new baby daughter while preaching at the morning service. YCC is a growing church that meets in two locations across the city.

Gloucester

Until recently Steve Kempton had been the senior minister of the Gloucester church. Now he and his wife Helen are preparing to move to Asia under the auspices of Elim International missions. Under his leadership the church has seen growth in every area including the adding of facilities and the complete refurbishment of the building. In the interim, assistant pastor Sarah Whittleston has been doing a tremendous job leading the church along with the Eldership. It was Sarah who lead the Impact meeting at which I had been invited to speak. While missing their previous minister and wife, the congregation is clearly looking forward expectantly to all that God has in store for them in the days that lie ahead.

Missions Course 2007

Those pictured, with the exception of the course leader Sarah Bale (far right), had completed the course preparing them to be stationed to various parts of the world under the auspices of Elim International Missions. I had been with them on the final day. All of them spoke warmly of the streling work that Sarah had done to bring the period of preparation to fruition and steering it through.

Clapham Christian Fellowship

Clapham Christian Fellowship commenced as a church plant of Kensington Temple and I was present as the speaker as they celebrated their tenth anniversary. Roger Stedman has pastored the church since its inception in 1997 and I know that he was delighted not only to see a full compliment of his congregation present but also several visitors who had been impacted by the life of the fellowship over the years

Romford - 50th Anniversary

It was 50 years since the Romford Elim church was founded and during the anniversary service, held in hired venue to accommodate the extra numbers, messages were brought from previous ministers to add their best wishes on this special occasion. Glen and Gill Podd have led the church for several years and the expanding congregation has far outgrown its current building. As well as being senior minister of the church, Glen is also a member of Elim's Serious4God national youth team.

Bethnal Green - Leadership

Bethnal Green - London

Wherever I visit there is also something that stands out as memorable and which I would want to commend - perhaps the warmth of the people or the music ministry. Both of these would be applicable to the church in Bethnal Green pastored by Richard and Toyin Jama (pictured) but the things that will stay in my memory after my day in this excellent church was the great relationship among the leaders that was evident as we shared a meal together after the service. The church has tripled over the past ten years and I have no doubt that it is on course for accelerated growth in the days that lie ahead.

Kingston upon Thames

Kingston is a beautiful and historic town just seventeen miles from the center of London. For the past ten years Alan and Margaret Hilton have pastored the church which is part of the Kensington Temple network. Alan, who by profession was a structural engineer before taking early retirement, has worked tenaciously to create a viable witness in the area.

Letter to the Times

It is not unusual for Elim to lobby politicians and the media on issues that affect issues in the nation with regard to justice and biblical standards of morality. It is unusual to comment on debates in the General Synod of the Church of England. However, the debate on same-sex marriages is something that affects the wider Church. In consequence, seven Denominational leaders produced an open letter that was subsequently published as follows.

Letter in The Times February 23, 2007 from Denominational Leaders

Sir

On February 28th, the General Synod of the Church of England will be debating two Private Members Motions, one promoting tolerance of same sex partnerships within the Church, proposed by the Revd Mary Gilbert, the other promoting traditional marriage, proposed by the Revd Paul Perkins.

We call on all members of the General Synod to support the motion being put forward by the Revd Perkin, and to oppose that put forward by the Revd Gilbert.

Over recent months, a spotlight has being shone on the Church’s position in relation to homosexuality, with the public watching and waiting for the Church’s response to the ever-increasing parity with which homosexual relationships, and marriage, are being treated by politicians and the legal system. The question is whether the Church will shift its stance on homosexuality, swayed by the changes created by the Civil Partnerships Act and the forthcoming Sexual Orientation Regulations, or whether the Church will stand firmly in its reliance on the unchanging Word of God.

Recent discussions about the issues of gay adoption, faith schools, the rights of cohabitees and freedom of conscience and religion in 21st century Britain mean that there is an unprecedented platform for the Church to speak boldly about God’s creation plan for humanity and his desire to reconcile sinful man to Him through Jesus Christ.

There is a battle for truth taking place in this nation. The battle relates to the meaning of family, the meaning of marriage, the welfare of children, and what sort of family and upbringing is in their best interests.

Mr Perkin’s motion calls for clarity of the Church’s witness to the Bible’s teaching on sexual morality. In contrast, the Ms Gilbert’s motion would be unhelpful and could lead to further confusion and misunderstanding about the Bible’s teaching on homosexuality. In particular, the motion could give the impression that all forms of relationship are equally acceptable and that the Bible has nothing to say about the rights and wrongs of extra-marital relationships.

Marriage is the bedrock of society. The Church is called not to reflect society’s standards but rather to show society how God has taught us to live. We ignore God’s biblical model for society at our peril.

Yours faithfully

THE REV JOHN GLASS

General Superintendent Elim Pentecostal Churches

THE REV PAUL WEAVER

General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Churches

THE REV RICHARD UNDERWOOD

General Secretary, The Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

WARREN JONES

The Apostolic Church UK

THE REV ALFRED WILLIAMS

Prophetic Voice Ministers Network

PASTOR ADE OMOOBA

Cohesive and Coherent Voice

JONATHAN STEPHEN

Director, Affininity

More than Gold

Attended the Westminster launch for Denominational leaders of "More than Gold" highlighting the role of the Church in the next Olympic Games to be held in the UK. Speakers included Joel Edwards, Rowan Williams and Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell. This is likely to be just one of several initiatives in which Christians can make an impact

Whitehaven

Whitehaven is situated in one of the most beautiful parts of the UK in the far west of the Lake District. I was there to speak at the 50th Anniversary of the church. It was founded by George Canty and a very young John Lancaster was the pianist for the Crusade. John and Pauline Campbell have been there for the past ten years and all of their three sons are involved in the church. Luke is currently serving on Elim's Gap Team in Kosova.

Chorley

It was good to be with Tony and Jennifer Lacey at Living Waters in Chorley - a church that bears witness to the benefits of long term pastoral ministry. Tony is the Regional coordinator for the area. The cafe area which is filled both before and after the service may be one of the contributing factors to the fact that this is such a warm and welcoming church. One of Tony and Jennifer's three sons, John, has recently joined the ministry team and also serves as the worship leader.

The Gathering

On Saturday I attended "The Gathering" organised by Seious4God Elim's youth department. The weather was horrendous with snow causing hours of delays. Neverltheess 1,700 young people gathered for one of their best events ever. Mark Pugh and his team once again did a tremendous job. Clicking on the following link will take you their Blog and you can see for yourself what people were saying about it. The Gathering Max at the NEC will attract around 5000 in October.

http://www.serious4god.co.uk/discussion_forums/view_postings.asp?topicid=TPC00076&forumID=CON00153&sort=desc

Missions Training Course

It was good to be able to spend time with those who are preparing to embark on Elim International Missions in various parts of the world - all were of excellent caliber. Most were young but a few , having taken early retirement, were now committing themselves to serve God abroad.

Irish Leaders Day

There are some things that I have to do as they are necessary to my role. There are others that I am enthusiastic about for their own sake. Spending time with our leaders definitely falls in the the latter category. There was tremendous support from those from Ulster with several making the long journey from the Republic to be there also. There is an incredible team of leaders in Ireland which have been led for many years by my good friend Eric McComb, the Irish Superintendent.

Kings Church - Boston Spa

This was my first visit to this excellent church that is affiliated to Elim and was pioneered fifteen years ago from a home Bible Study group. There were no spare seats in the packed Sunday morning service. Stephen Thompson, one of our finest Bible teachers, (pictured with his wife Ruth and daughter Christel) has led the church since it was planted and is totally committed to its future. This warm and welcoming congregation is an excellent testimony in the small town that it serves.

AoG leaders Regional Day

This was my third visit in the past four years to the Assemblies of God Regional Day based outside Cambridge for the fifty churches that are covered by Regional Superintendent, David Puddle. David and his wife Jackie were young people in the Cheltenham Elim church when I pastored it twenty-five years ago. It was good, once again, to be with them and leaders of Elim's sister fellowship.

Dunamis - House of Praise CD

In a previous Blog I referred to my visit to Ealing Dunamis and the album that has recently been produced by the Dunamis Collective. The easy thing to do would have been to make a praise album. They decided instead, generously, to profile several of the different musical genres represented by artists that are part of this innovative Elim congregation - a number of which are professional musicians. The result is an album featuring styles through jazz, hip-hop and rap. To sample the music and to find out how to secure the album go to www.myspace.com/thedunamiscollective. I keep this CD permanently in my car. It is a prime example of the best in professionally produced contemporary Christian music.