New Faces, New Places

(Yorkshire sunset)

Happy New Year! I'm so thankful for your partnership in prayer and support this year!! I realise that we are now twenty four days into the new year, but I believe this is the first time I've wished most of you the sentiment. Truly, I hope this finds you well and enjoying 2011. I've been enjoying the increasing length of the days. Every 21st of December, I celebrate inside because the shortest day of the year has passed. And we've had a lot of sunshine this January :). Sometimes I feel like the sun shines just for me.

(Angels visit the shepherds and sheep)

Of course, that's silly, but I take joy in it anyway. And there are a few things to update you on since Thanksgiving. We had a great Carol Service this year. The kids performed a live nativity. I call it the no gloss version of Jesus' birth, and they were adorable. The Carol Service always has an evangelistic tone, and this year was no exception. We had eighty people in attendance and one man decided to, as he put it, "Give this Jesus thing a go." All told, that's eight salvations this past year, and we're expecting an increase in the year to come. In fact, the following week, we had a celebration meal at a local pub, and we occupied three long tables.

This Christmas, I drove in London for the first time. I managed to navigate the one way streets 'almost' without incident. My brother and sister-in-law's plane was delayed, so I went to church with my good friend Pip. It was the first time I've ever done a pub quiz in church. (Pub quiz night is very popular here). All in all, with the jet lag, it was a nice quiet Christmas and Boxing Day with the exception of a little snafu with the rental car.

(Christmas cracker fun)

One of the highlights of the Christmas holidays (there were four days off this year), was a trip to Cambridge. My sister-in-law used to spend her summer holidays there, so we drove up to visit, stopping off in a village called Isleham (ice-lum) to visit her old pastor. He's called Paul Hedger, and he and his church are building the largest green oak timber church in the UK. He showed us the sawmill and shared about his church. The new building will have a sanctuary seating up to 600 people! It was faith-building for me to hear about other churches in the UK that are growing and seeing God move. Isleham isn't exactly a booming metropolis; it's a village really, but about 250 people are going to this church!

(Mr. Hedger's House)

After our visit with Mr. Hedger, we drove to Ely and visited the Ely Cathedral, the longest cathedral in the UK. One morning, the rector woke up to find the roof had caved in and a chap called Alan of Walsingham so liked the way the light flooded in, that he endeavored to build a ceiling that would allow the same to occur. It's definitely worth a google images search when you get a free minute.

(Ely Cathedral)

I had some free minutes over the Christmas to New Year's break, but there's also been some busyness. We moved out of our offices on Rockingham Street to save some money as we work on a deal for a new building. The whole church is going to visit the building on 6th February. Until then, we are functioning without offices. That has put Sarah and I in our flat more often. Our third flatmate is planning on moving out soon and we are praying for a new flatmate. So far we haven't had a lot of prospects. To top it off, we've discovered that we need to have the floor in our bathroom replaced. The shower has been leaking into the flat beneath ours. It's a good metaphor for not letting things in your life fester. The earlier you deal with it, the less rot can form. But I digress.

New Year's is a natural time to look at the past year and rejoice and look to the year to come and ask God what's coming. At our staff planning time in early January, we got some really good promises for the year to come. I've been working to run a holiday club during the Easter break. We've decided on the Xpedition Force theme, the gospel of Matthew with a military twist. I'm also working with a team of people to start our first church planting, discipleship school, the Antioch School of Transformation. Students spend a year learning how to disciple, building character, and applying the basic principles of church planting.

(Marble Slab in Sheffield!!)

God is doing new things all over the place. We've had new visitors at the Gathering, two couples getting married this year, lifegroups getting ready to multiply, and new building prospects. My housemate Sarah and I and a few friends popped down to Red Ruth, Cornwall for my former housemate Fliss' wedding. When I say popped down, I mean we drove six hours, an epically long car journey in UK terms. But the highlight of this past week is a tossup between a 3-year-old birthday party or one of our youth's recounting of her time ministering to a group of kids and the amazing way God used her story to speak into their lives. Good things are afoot this year. Climb onboard, hang on, and enjoy the ride!

(The beautiful bride)