Kilsyth, Scotland

 It is always a pleasure to minister in our churches throughout the UK but it was special joy to be in Kilsyth for their anniversary weekend as this was the church that I had pastored prior to being elected as General Superintendent in 1999.

Kilsyth Church of God is the longest established Pentecostal church in Scotland and celebrated its centenary during the period in which I was the minister.  This anniversary marked fifty years since the opening of its present building.
Twelve months ago Mike Preston - pictured here with his wife Bev, his son Yoshan and daughters Yolanda and Zara - became the pastor and the church is prospering under his ministry.

Apostolic Church, Ebbw Vale, South Wales

Although I usually only accept invitations for ministry at the weekend from Elim Churches it was a pleasure to visit the Ebbw Vale Apostolic church pastored by Jason Pennington - pictured here with his wife Charis, his son Nathan and his daughters Abigail and liberty - all of which are fully involved in the life and ministry of the church.

It was a joy to spend time with this warm and welcoming congregation. 

 

Gatehouse Elim Church, Porth

It was great to be with John and Debbie Bullock (pictured) and the Gatehouse Church in Porth - a dynamic congregation in the Rhondda Valley, South Wales.

Apart from being the local Elim church in the area, it is also home to  'Sporting Marvels' a phenomenal initiative that links the church to the community via sport -  google 'sporting marvels' to find out more.

This church also holds many memories for Marilyn and I as it was venue at which we were married over 40 years ago.

Silverdale

The Saturday meeting for leaders entitled, "Creating a place for the Presence'" was made open to a number of churches in Potteries and was organised by Edwin Cotter, pictured here with his wife Lorna, the senior pastor of the Elim Church in Silverdale.

It is a remarkable that a village of just a few thousand should have such a thriving Pentecostal Church.

It was an excellent day and I thoroughly enjoyed being with leaders from a variety of backgrounds.

Faith through a lens

A powerful scene of former drug addicts reading the New Testament scooped the overall winner’s award at the national amateur photography competition, Faith Through a Lens. Created by national church insurer Congregational and General, renowned photojournalist Don McCullin and Minister for Faith and Communities, Baroness Warsi, John Glass, General Superintendent  Elim Churches and Dr. David Cornick presented the prizes. .
‘Brothers in Arms’ by Paul Triller was praised by the judging panel for its immediate impact, fantastic use of light and real intensity. Paul, who took the photo whilst in Romania, received a camera-shaped trophy sculpted by emerging artist Craig Dyson and a prize pack valued at £1,400 which included a new Nikon V1 camera. Winners of the other categories also scooped a photography prize pack and also the opportunity to nominate a faith, charity or community group to receive £1000 of audio-visual or photography equipment of their choice.
Communities Secretary, Eric Pickles, said: "They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I was delighted to see A Year of Service really come alive in some terrific photos that perfectly captured the strength of our faith communities and the commitment they make to their neighbourhoods. This has been a memorable year of social action so thank you to all the budding photographers who entered and congratulations to the winners."
The above photo shows the winning picture two of the judges - John Glass and Don McCullin CBE

Bethnal Green, London

It is always a pleasure to visit the Elim church in Bethnal Green, London - known locally as New Life Bible Church.

This vibrant fellowship of warm and welcoming people is pastored by Richard Jama (pictured here with his wife Toyin.

Richard Jama is also attaining an increased reputation in his home nation of Nigeria where he conducts leadership meetings and Crusades.

West Wellow

This was my first visit to this small Elim congregation on the outskirts of Salisbury.  One of the hallmarks of smaller congregations is the high percentage of people who are actively involved in the life and ministry of the church.  And this is particularly true of the good people in West Wellow.  It is in a period of transition and it was a pleasure to meet both those who had been part of its past leadership together with those who are involved in planning for the future.

Scottish Regional Retreat

Having spent fourteen years of my ministry in Scotlandd there is little wonder that I was looking forward to my time with our leaders north of the border.

Kevin Peat, NLT member and current Regional Leader, excels in pastoral care and, together with his wife Margaret, hosted the Scottish pastors at a the four-star hotel in Strathclyde Country park.

The theme was 'Replenish' and it was a privilege to be part of this fabulous two day event - not just in terms of the teaching that I was invited to bring - but being able to interact with our leaders between the various sessions.

Macclesfield

The last time I spoke at Macclesfield Elim church was 47 years ago.  I was in my mid teens and this was the was the first time that I had preached outside of the home church that I grew up in.

For the past ten years the church has been pastored by Cindy and Dean Shaw (pictured here with their two daughters).  

Though not a large church it has many activities during the week and there was an excellent family atmosphere at the morning service at which I ministered.

Coatbridge, Scotland

I have visited the Coatbridge church on a number of occasions during the past twelve years and was a pleasure to witness the growth in size and depth since my previous visit.

David and Linda Bell have worked faithfully there over the years and all of their family are involved in the Fellowship.  Pictured left to right are Louise, Shirley, David, Linda, Audrey and Stephen.

The Saturday evening service was attended by other churches in the area and the Sunday morning by the local church family. 

Ellesmere Port

 This was my first visit to the Ellesmere Port church that had been planted just three years ago as an Elim church.  Its visionary leader, Peter Israel Peters, took a great step of faith when he embarked on the purchasing of a large church complex at a time when the congregation was so small.

He and his family have worked sacrificially in order to see the new church become established and I believe that principles for growth and expansion are in place that will ensure that the church will continue to effectively reach the community with the Gospel.

After the morning service it was a pleasure to also spend time with the leadership of the local church as listen to their vision for the future.

Bethany Community Church, Cheadle

Tony Lacy (pictured here with his wife Jennifer) retired from the Elim church in Chorley (see previous post) but, far from scaling down their ministry, continued to act as a consultant to other churches in the locality.

When Bethany Community Church applied to affiliate with our Movement the Regional Leader Kevin Peat saw Tony as the obvious choice to give initial leadership to this fine congregation which meets in the excellent church complex pictured below.

I greatly enjoyed my time with one of the newest churches in our Elim Network.

Living Waters, Chorley

I always enjoy my visits to Living Waters. One of the highlights in the past was to speak at at Saturday meeting which was the farewell of the founding minister Tony Lacy (see next posting) which was then followed by the Sunday service at which one of Tony's sons John (pictured here with his wife Michelle) was inducted as the pastor.

In the period that has followed the congregation has more than doubled and has outgrown in premises in the centre of the town.

Saturday night took the form a teaching meeting for the leaders of the church.  Around fifty were present including nine leaders from other churches.

Sunday morning was the meeting of the full church family.  It was a great atmosphere and the Living Waters Praise Band is one of the best in our Movement.  The Elim church in Chorley I believe has an exceptional future ahead of it.

Dowlais

It has been three years since my last visit to Dowlais and I was immediately struck by two things.   The first was the increased size of the congregation.  The second was the refurbishment of the building. Wayne Carpenter, pictured here with his wife Carol, has always been a person committed to excellence.

The theme that the church has set for the weekend was "Intimacy with God". The Saturday service was attended by other Elim churches in the area and both Sunday morning and Sunday evening meetings were memorable occasions.

UCB

United Christian Broadcasters are a powerful and effective Christian ministry in the UK.  Operating out of state-of-the-art TV and radio studios they provide programming for their TV station and DAB radio station.  Those with an iphone or ipad should be sure to download the free UCB app.

Though UCB serves the whole church across the country, Elim has a strong relationship with this great organisation and it is UCB that broadcast our Bible Week on their TV station.

The reason for me being there on this occasion was to record thirty one-minute video shots each of which will be broadcast between programmes over the next few months.

Ignite Conference

Each year Kevin Peat, Regional Leader for Scotland and the North West,  hosts a conference for the North West Region at Cefn Lea holiday park in North Wales.  Aptly called 'Ignite"it serves to be a means of fellowship and inspiration to all those who attend.  Having spoken there in 2011 I had been invited again to speak at two of the sessions this year also.

There is always a great atmosphere at Ignite and the Elim Church in Chorley who led the worship are, in my opinion, one of the best Praise Bands in our Movement.

Persecuted church

It was over two years ago while at a Conference in South Africa that I was approached by an Iranian man in his early thirties who asked if I would travel to a country in the Middle East to give teaching and encouragement to young leaders who were undergoing persecution.

The concept at the time was that I would go to a relatively moderate Islamic country and that they would travel from the countries where persecution was more intense.

The arrangement was delayed for two reasons.  The so-called Arab Spring meant that the location needed to be changed but the second reason was far more serious.  On 26^th December 2010 my contact was himself arrested along with 40 other Christians and detained in one of Iran’s worst prisons in Teheran.

Separated from his wife and young children he is currently serving six years for converting from Islam and encouraging others to follow Christ.

A new location selected, Chris Jones and I travelled to meet a group of around 50 leaders all who had undergone persecution – some under torture. Those who had suffered imprisonment had been forced to leave their country with nothing but what they stood up in.  As they were not given passports their status was that of a refugee.  There is a huge price to pay for following Jesus around the world and the opportunity to meet and minister to them was one of the most humbling and impacting times of my 44 years in ministry.

Stockton

The reason for my visit, my first to the Elim church in Stockton, was on the occasion of their 40th anniversary.  The church is between ministers at the moment but there was an excellent attendance as several people from the Elim church in Darlington joined for the morning service.    Because of the occasion a number of people also attended from the local estate - some of which had never attended since they were children.  Four people responded to the gospel appeal at the end of the service.

Apostle Michael NTumy

One of my closest friends in recent years has been Apostle Michael Ntumy, former chairman of the Church of Pentecost.  Under his ten year tenure as the leader of our sister Movement he saw it grow from around 760,000 to over 1,600,000.  It now stands at over 2,000,000 world wide.

A few years ago he emerged from a serious spinal operation paralyzed from the neck down.  Since that time he has astounded surgeons, doctors and physicians with his progress which they have put down to his faith in God and the strength of his character.  He has also been wonderfully supported by his wife Martha (pictured standing between us).  I have visited him on two occasions in Germany where he currently resides but on this occasion I travelled to see him during a recent visit to London.  Also in the picture are dignitaries from the Church of Pentecost - including the UK Area Head (far right)  In my opinion Michael Ntumy is one of the most significant Christian Statesmen this century has produced.

MiT Conference

Each year around ninety 'Ministers in training' descend on the Elim International Centre for a three-day conference hosted by Nigel Tween and myself.  Main speakers, apart from the hosts, were Duncan Clark, Carl Johnston, Geoff Lee, Gordon Neale, Kevin Peat and Jonathan Skelton - reflecting a wide range of age and experience that contributed to what many felt was once of the most successful MiT conferences in a long time.