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The first week of November saw over 460 delegates meeting on the Norfolk coast for what is fast-becoming a key gathering for gospel-focused leaders in the free churches. It was this year’s FIEC Leaders’ Conference. Julian Hardyman (Eden Baptist, Cambridge) described it as ‘unmissable’ and ‘one of the highlights of my year’!

By any standards it was an outstanding time with spiritually nourishing, expository preaching, excellent seminars, encouraging reports of developments within the FIEC family of churches, well-led corporate worship and many informal opportunities to encourage one another in ministry. In the final session, John Stevens (FIEC national director) said simply: ‘I think we met the Lord Jesus together’. It would be hard to find a better or truer description of the week.

‘Life on life, together on mission’ lies at the heart of the NT vision for discipleship and it should therefore be at the heart of our vision for the local church. This has been the central conviction of the ‘Crowded House’ since it began in 1996, under the leadership of Steve Timmis.

But how could this conviction begin to shape the approach of churches with a similar theology and similar convictions about mission, but which have existing patterns of church life which may or may not facilitate this missional emphasis? That was the key question explored in a highly stimulating consultation in October facilitated by the Crowded House team, which brought together people from 11 churches (mostly, but not exclusively, from the FIEC but all conservative evangelical).