It was the second London Men's Convention and the numbers had certainly grown from the previous year, with thousands of Christian men from across the denominations packing into the famous concert hall.
The singing is the first thing that strikes you. To hear so many male voices at full volume in joyful praise to God was very exhilarating and moving. The convention is strongly Bible-based and exists to stimulate men's ministry in local churches. We were welcomed into this splendid atmosphere by Richard Coekin who leads the Dundonald church in Wimbledon. From Hebrews 10 Richard emphasised the goals of the convention - to call men to the gospel of Christ, to teach men the evangelical faith of Christ and to encourage men to live for Christ.
The main agenda of the day was to take us through 2 Peter in three chapter-sized chunks, leading us to see our lives in the light of the Second Coming of Christ and so to be 'Men of the Future'. This was all ably handled by Vaughan Roberts of St. Ebbe's, Oxford, David Jackman and evangelist Rico Tice. The tapes are available and for me, especially, the talk by Vaughan Roberts was a real gem. His insightful and realistic applications for men to be steadfast, self-controlled and brotherly towards each other had many of us buzzing with conversation during the break that followed.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …