There have been some real
highlights over the last few weeks. There was the Heather Henderson evening,
with wonderful stories of God’s power and grace in Borneo, as well as a clear
testimony of the gospel to so many of our friends and visitors. Several guests
have never been to church before. Others spoke sincerely of their intention to
find out more.
Before that, we had the
Weekend Away. On top of the usual joy of proper time together (which is a good thing, isn’t it!), Jonathan
and Lynda Milton-Thompson are something special. At least for now, my prayers
have taken on a little more urgency, confidence and clear thinking as I
remember what’s worth praying for.
In terms of praying for our
church, I outlined a couple of things I thought we need to particularly work
towards as a church in the near future:
1) We need people who can own
ministries. I’m thrilled at things like the Tuesday Group and the Toddler Group
- and those who’ve taken them on. But most of us are pretty stretched with what
we’re already doing, and I’m not sure we can start much else without new people
to lead. Sadly for us, Grace (who we met at the Weekend) has accepted a role at
a church in her native Liverpool. I'm sure that is right for her. But you could pray for a certain man who is
very keen to join us. I think it would also be good to have a female ‘Community
Families Worker’.
2) There are some
particularly fragile areas in our church - and without addressing them I think
there may be problems in years to come. The three I’m thinking of in particular
are:
- 20s. It’s lovely to have a few, and we are only a
small church. But like attracts like, especially in that age bracket. Just
a few more would achieve a healthy social group who can be active in
ministry together.
- Youth. How wonderful (and unbelievable) to have 2XS
established. But it needs more sustainable leadership.
- Men. We’ve generally been quite strong with ‘working
men’. But we lose them quickly too. I would like to work towards a
deliberate ministry to reach more.
Please pray on!
With love, Mark
