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On May 20, Affinity held its annual Churches and Mission Day at Highbury Baptist Church in London, discussing the question ‘Is sending cross-cultural missionaries preferable to supporting indigenous gospel workers?’. John McDonald of Grace Baptist Mission urged churches to see that supporting a gifted national believer may be a far better way of using limited resources. If encouraged to support an indigenous worker, churches may say that they cannot support or pray for someone they have never met. And how will he or she send prayer letters if they do not speak English? Yet Paul had never met the Colossians and was constantly praying for them (Colossians 1.9). This is a challenge to our churches.

Culture of dependency

Do our mission strategies help or hinder? Do we ‘use’ national believers in our strategy, or do we serve them in theirs? If some level of control and accountability is lost in the process, is that a sacrifice worth making? Unless we let them lead, they may not escape from a culture of dependency which will stunt their maturity as leaders and churches.

This year was the turn of the Renewal Centre in Solihull to play host to the Grace Baptist Mission (GBM) annual meetings.

On October 26, the venue was full with 750 or more Christians from across the country. The theme was ‘A heart for mission’. One of the highlights of the day was the introduction of new missionaries who have come into the work.

1,000 people from across London crowded into Central Hall, Westminster, on October 14 for the Crossing London Hope 2014 Vision Night of inspiration, music and Christian worship and praise.

There were thought-provoking ideas about the future of Christian mission in London, and news of some exciting initiatives coming up in the next 12 months as Crossing London partners with many other groups, organisations and churches, to try to see the capital and its people renewed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The black and white of the St. Piran county flag was the colour of the month through September.

Walk Cornwall 2 did three weeks of evangelistic mission in the far west county, all under the auspices of Through Faith Missions, utilising local leadership.

A church plant that almost failed has taken off and goes independent in January.

Billy, Justine, Gill, Emma, Gary, John, Maggie, Amy are just a few of the many who have come to faith over the past six years at Shepherd Drive Baptist Church on the Chantry and Pinewood estates in Ipswich. If you have never been to the ‘far east’, Ipswich is a historic sea port on the river Orwell with a couple of large marinas full of posh yachts. Now just over an hour from Liverpool Street station in the City of London, it is also a rapidly growing commuter town.

Making a mark for God

Situated at a key point on this expanding housing development, the church is starting to make a real mark for God among the many young families who live round about. It was, however, back in the 1970s that a Christian nurse living on the estate first felt a burden to reach the local children with the gospel. In due time this led to a church plant, which, in spite of sincere efforts and a good building, never really impacted the area as it might have. After a closure of around three years, the fellowship was re-launched in 2007 with a specific aim of reaching the un-churched.

Over the last six years, a training ministry initially developed for a local church in the north of England now has a truly global impact.

The Porterbrook Network started in 2007 when church planters Steve Timmis and Tim Chester started work on a course that would equip Christians for mission and ministry in everyday life. It needed to appeal to busy Christians who couldn’t take a day a week for training. They wanted something that connected biblical theology to both heart change and mission. A key aim was to help men and women see mission as something to which they could contribute.

The result was Porterbrook Learning. It centred on biblical theology, character development and sound doctrine, as well as equipping people to speak the gospel into everyday life. It gave Christians a renewed vision for the centrality of the local church in mission, and trained people for evangelism and cultural engagement.

Scott Drive Church, Exmouth, officially opened its new building extension on September 21.

But the church’s real agenda is to see God’s kingdom extended in this seaside town. Founded in 1966 by a retired minister who saw the need for an independent church with strong biblical foundations, years of valiant effort by many did not seem to be bearing fruit until recently. Then God blessed the congregation with increased numbers and several conversions.

The induction service for Andrew Wigham, the new pastor of Yateley Baptist Church in Hampshire, was held on September 14 at Yateley Manor School.

Over 170 people, including a good number from Wales, joined in a service of praise and worship. The meeting was led by Ray Smith, one of the elders of the church. During the initial part of the service, Ken Walters, another of the elders, explained how the church came to feel that Andrew was ‘the man of God’s choosing’ to lead the church forward. In response, Andrew spoke of his call to full-time ministry, from being a shy person to preaching in the open air in Covent Garden. He has pursued theological study in Wales and has experience working in a number of churches. More recently he has worked in a school in Rumney, Cardiff, with special needs students.

Newswatch (The Baptist Times)

October 20 saw the first gathering of Calon Lân at Rhiwbina Baptist Church in Cardiff.

After several months of praying together, the group launched the new Welsh language missional community. Cardiff’s population currently stands at 350,000 and is rising. More than 10% of its residents speak the Welsh language and this new group hopes to reach out to the tens of thousands of speakers who have little or no connection with any church.

The year-long search of Latimer Congregational Church, Beverley, came to an end on October 12 as Iain Clements was inducted to be the new minister.

Around 150 people gathered to celebrate the occasion and to pray God’s blessing on Iain and the fellowship.

A June Family Fun Day showed the results of long-term mission in a former ‘no man’s land’ in East London.

St. John’s Park is a green space on the Isle of Dogs. Just a few years ago it was a place where no one dared to enter because of the gangs, drugs and high levels of crime. But now it is a vibrant hub of community where, particularly in the summer months, parents and children gather to enjoy time together.

In the historic city of Chester in June, 50 nationalities were reached with the gospel during a new venture for United Beach Missions (UBM).

For the first time, Christian Answer, the open-air arm of UBM, took a diverse team to the cathedral city for a week of open-air preaching, an exhibition stand and literature table, questionnaire work and an international café evening.

WEST has announced the appointment of Dr. Michael Reeves to the full-time faculty from September 2013.

As Theologian-at-Large, Mike will spearhead a major new initiative to make theology more accessible to all. This innovative project will put quality theological education within the financial and geographical reach of all who need it.

The annual Keswick Convention held during July and early August saw an estimated 12,000-15,000 people visit for bible study and worshipping God together.

Weeks of almost unbroken sunshine went together with record attendances. Around 3,700 people were at the Bible readings with Oxford University mathematician Professor John Lennox, plus around 800 children and young people in groups. A 95-year-old local lady, Sally, was there again: she has been coming to the Convention since she was five!

Karen Soole

Date posted: 1 Aug 2013

There is one conversation that is repeated often; it is the one about what women can’t do in ministry.

Media hostility has increased towards those who believe the Bible teaches comple-mentarianism, because restricting church leadership to men is considered unjust. The underlying implication is that women who teach women are inferior and succumbing to the second best option. With this in mind, the North West Gospel Partnership decided that the time had come to encourage women in the ministries that they can do.

In early July the Evangelical Movement of Wales helped with the running of two outreaches.

The first was at Bangor (North Wales) where Ebenezer Evangelical Church and Capel y Ffynnon ran a bilingual mission.

At the instigation of London City Mission (LCM) a comprehensive study of churches in London was carried out last year. The results have now been published and there is much which is encouraging.

The research was carried out by the Brierley Consultancy and LCM were particularly interested to see what information could be gathered which related to the extent and effectiveness of church planting in the capital.

On May 4, Wheelock Heath Baptist Church, Cheshire, met with friends for the induction of Paul Gibson to the pastorate.

Over 160 members and friends met to give thanks to God for answered prayer and bringing Paul, Helen and their two children, Sarah and Timothy, to Wheelock Heath. The happy occasion was chaired by one of the elders, Bob Baxter. Peter Butler, fellow elder, gave a history of the call, speaking of biblical leadership being a team effort. Paul responded by recalling the way the Lord had led him in ministry to his arrival in Cheshire. Bryan Jarvis, an elder from his previous church family in Leamington Spa, presented a warm commendation of Paul’s character, gifts and evident development and said that he and Helen will be greatly missed. Simon Medcroft, Danbury Mission, Essex, performed the induction. Bill James spoke from 1 Peter 1-4, stating that an elder, overseer, and shepherd is to be a pastor of God’s flock. He is to be a servant of Christ, a witness and sharer in Christ’s sufferings, dependent on God for daily grace. He is to be a committed leader and the love of Christ must be the constraining influence.

The month of June marked the start of a new era in the life of Lansdowne Baptist Church (LBC) in Bournemouth, as Peter Baker took over as senior minister.

More than 400 people gathered at LBC from all over the UK to attend the official welcome service for Peter and his wife Siân on June 8. A further 120 also watched online from 12 different countries.