Christmas Day service

This is far too late but tomorrow our Christmas Day service is at 10am

This Sunday

This Sunday we're in Matthew 1:18-25 in the morning and then at night 2:1-12

Thank-you

A massive thank-you to all who put so much work in to make tonight a success. To May and Mark for the decorations, Daphne and Jennifer for the Mulled Wine and to the army of folk who worked yesterday getting things ready.

There were about 135 there and loads of people brought friends which was wonderfully encouraging.

Christianity Explored Book

Christianity Explored Book - A great gift for people and a brilliant introduction to Christianity.

Normally it costs you £5 but we are giving it away at £4.50.

If you buy 2 you can get them for £8.50

This Sunday

This Sunday on Sunday morning we'll be starting a short series from the beginning of Matthews gospel and in the evening will be our Church Carol Service - get inviting!!

Christmas Party

English Language Class Christmas Party this Friday night at 6.30pm - everybody welcome

Early Morning Prayer Meeting tomorrow

Tomorrow is tea on the green and there will be an early morning prayer meeting kicking off at 6.30 and it'll go till 8am. Please come for as long or short a time as you can

Tea on the Green

Tea on the Green is this coming Tuesday!
Helpers and Volunteers are needed from 2.30 - 5pm
See Jennifer Courtney

John Dugan's 90th

On Sunday after the service we will celebrate John Dugan's 90th birthday with a Pot Luck Lunch, come, bring, share.

Turkish Church Plant in Belgium

Tomorrow night in Ghent Belgium. A Turkish speaking congregation will become part of the IPC. Murat Ozertiken will be ordained as the Pastor. Please pray for this small congregation and the service tomorrow night, Bill Nikides will be preaching

Presbytery Dates for 2008

Saturday March 1st - Held in Liss
Synod will take place on Friday evening of June 6th at Kingston Korean Church.
Saturday June 7th (finishing at 1pm) will be Presbytery in Ealing
Saturday September 13th in Ealing
December 5/6 in Belgium

This Sunday

This Sunday morning we will be finishing off our series in 2 Timothy and in the evening Graham Weeks will be preaching on 'all you need to know about the 2nd coming!!'

Prayer Meeting tonight at 8pm

New Members Class

New Members Class will meet on Sunday Dec 9th - 4pm in the church lounge

This Sunday

This Sunday morning we will be having a guest service. Which in all honesty will not be very different from a normal service.

Rice Tice author of the Christianity Explored course and Curate of All Souls, Langham Place will be preaching on Luke 15.

There will be a pot luck lunch afterwards - invite as many as you can

Session Report

Over the past 6 months God has been kind and gracious to us as a congregation. We have seen many answers to our prayers, have been joined by new people and there have been lots of opportunities to share the gospel with others. It has been a joy to see new ministries started such as the International Hospitality Scheme and the Evening Language Class. We can say with the Psalmist, ‘It is the Lord’s doing and it is wonderful in our eyes.’

The congregation in the morning now averages around the 80 mark while the evening congregation can be anything between 45 and 60. Space on Sunday mornings is becoming more of an issue and we are currently looking into options with the deacons. Please continue to pray for wisdom for both elders and deacons.

As elders we have met less frequently in the past 6 months, however, at the end of September we held a planning retreat which was helpful in thinking, talking and praying together.

We have been glad to welcome Amir and are encouraged by how quickly he has settled in the congregation. Please do pray for Amir as he seeks to develop the Thursday Night Persian Bible Study and a Street Outreach Team based upon the Book Table ministry.

Kicheol and Hristo both started Cornhill in September. They are studying 2 days a week for the next 2 years finishing in June 09. Please pray that these 2 years would be used greatly in their lives.

The International Welcome Party was held once again in September at the YMCA - thank-you to all those who were involved. Although numbers were less than we hoped for Chris Roberts faithfully taught the gospel and we pray for the seed that was sown. As part of publishing the Hospitality Programme each International Student at Thames Valley University was sent an invitation. We had 26 applicants which is very encouraging and we thank-you to those who have volunteered to have students (and their families!) in their homes for meals. We, particularly thank Shan Shan for being willing to co-ordinate this. This is a great opportunity to build relationships. Let us pray for relationships and one another as we show hospitality and kindness to outsiders.

Jennifer Courtney has continued to develop the Language Classes. On Thursday mornings there are around 18 who come each week and Jennifer and Jill are hoping to hold lunches where Bible Stories can be told. There is still a need for more helpers in this work, so if you are able to spare a Thursday morning once a month please speak to Jennifer. The Evening Language Class started at the beginning of October led by Jennifer with Martin. Although numbers may have been less than we would have expected it has still been worthwhile. Tea on the Green will once again take place on December 11th and there will be a Language Class Christmas Party on Friday 14th December to which all the church is invited.

Holiday Bible Club was a great encouragement during the summer with good numbers of children coming along. Both 24:7 and Club 16 have known growth this term with more non-church children bringing friends. On Sundays we have continued to have children in during the sermon and there has been a class for them beforehand. In addition we are pleased to have so many young babies and toddlers. Crèche is bulging and there is the need to re-locate into the lounge shortly.

The plan in the new year is to begin a series on Sunday mornings in the letter to the Ephesians and to continue our studies in Mark’s gospel in the evenings. We have also decided start a Greenford based house-group, if you would be interested in attending this please speak to Graham Weeks.

Please do continue to pray for us. Pray that God would give us wisdom and courage as we seek to lead His church,

Training offering yesterday

Yesterday we had an offering for the training fund which raised over £5,000, if you weren't around yesterday you can still give to the fund, see Terry Seaber

Deacons Report - Nov 07

We have once again reached the time of year to reflect and report on the issues dealt with by the deacons since the Annual General Meeting in June.

It was good to welcome Daphne, Jennifer Courtney and Carlos into our fold, thus lightning the load and injecting new ideas. With Marjie and John Corcoran stepping down, it was necessary to find assistance on the finance issues, such as budget reports. A willing servant was found in John McKirgan who has been meeting on numerous occasions with Margie and Terry.

We have continued to look at the provision of a disabled/friendly toilet/wet room.

Arrangements for a family fun day (originally planned for September) have been set aside with a view to taking place in May 2008.

Having pieced together the details of the Ethiopian visit, it was revealed that contributions exceeded the costs by £35.29 (incorporated in this was a donation of £1,000 for the Aids work).

After many months, the crèche room hopefully provides a more practical and comfortable place for the children and minders. We have also ensured that the baby room is more secure by installing security locks.

For several months we have reviewed the fire safety issue in the church, along with suitable lighting etc.

We are still pursuing the notion of providing a ‘Who’s Who of church members’ bulletin board to assist newcomers.

Our thanks go out to all those who provided assistance for Tea on the Green in September, which attracted many non-Christians. We are also indebted to May for providing us with such a colourful front garden display, and are thankful we have found volunteer replacements in Lesley Barnes, Chris Hosier and Shan Shan.

Our thanks also go out to Jennifer Courtney, Jill Peistrup and Martin Fox for the work put into establishing the English classes which we understand are very well received by those outside the church.

It was a huge relief to see the fire escape (next door) being taken away, so removing the danger of accidents and possible further damage to our property.

An intensive investigation was carried out on the church drainage system (after an overflow problem) which, thankfully, showed the problem to be within the Notting Hill boundaries. We are also endeavouring to keep in close touch with regard to the development next door. Along with this, there continues to be a number of maintenance/building items put on hold.

We have begun, over the past few months, to look into various Health & Safety issues, especially as we grow each month in our numbers for Pot Luck Lunches.

Please continue to pray for us as we strive to be faithful custodians in all things and we bring them to the Lord for guidance and wisdom so we can serve Him and assist in the growth of His word.

Training Fund offering this Sunday

Already this year we have had two special gift offerings for the church planting work in Camden Town and then at the harvest service there was an offering for the work of Kapsowar Hospital in Kenya (where Paul and Alysia Larson are serving) and London City Mission. We plan to have 4 such offerings per year, in trying to support mercy ministries and other ministry opportunities. We are very grateful to God for your generosity in these past 2 offerings.

This coming Sunday we will again hold a special gift offering for a new training fund that we have set up. This last Sunday morning we were looking at 2 Timothy 2 and the need to 'Stay strong' in the gospel and to 'pass it on' to others. Training should be part of every local church. Out of each congregation there should be people who seek further training for gospel ministry. The needs are endless; there is a need for more preachers, evangelists, missionaries. The training of such people is important and although a lot can happen in the context of a local church it is right for some to go to Bible/ Theological Colleges.

The costs of such training is substantial and we would like to set up a fund which can help people from our congregation who wish to go into full time training. Our prayer and desire is that over the coming years we would see many people going into ministry, both full time and part time, and that this fund would be of help to them.

We encourage you to pray and consider giving generously to the start of this fund. If you are not able to be there on Sunday there will still be opportunity to give to it, just speak to Terry Seaber.

Tea on the Green

Tuesday 11th December 2007 - Tea on the Green - for more info contact Jennifer Courtney.

There will also be an early morning prayer meeting that day from 6.30-8am

IPC Church Weekend 08

This years church weekend away at home - June 13-15
All the benefits of a weekend away whilst sleeping in your own bed.

The speaker for this year will be Iver Martin who is the minister of Stornoway Free Church in the Highlands of Scotland.

Please keep this date free

Christianity Explored Group starts Tuesday night

Tuesday night at the Levys home a Christianity Explored group is starting. It will start at 8.30. If you'd like to come let me know.

This Sunday

In the morning we have the second in the series on 2 Timothy - so read chapter 2 if you can. We also celebrate the Lords Supper this Sunday morning. There will also be a crowd of folk coming from Roehampton university who are going to be having their Cu house-party at IPC this weekend - they couldn't find anywhere else!!
In the evening we'll be looking at the final parable in Mark - The Parable of the Mustard Seed

A great quote

'A happy church is one that is giving and going, one that is reaching out, that does not have time to think how it feels today, because it is in the business of sharing the life of Jesus with the world in which Christ has placed it. And that should be the purpose of our fellowship. We do not just gather together as the be all and end all of everything. We gather to scatter. You do not go to church on Sunday morning and night only in order to have a good time together with other Christians. you go in order to prepare to penetrate your world during the week more effectively for Christ. We are not to devote all our resources to pampering ourselves. The church is not a health farm, nor is it a beauty parlour. The church is a battle hospital.'

David Jackman - Understanding the Church, p65,66

An evening with John Newton

The Banner of Truth are putting on 'an evening with John Newton'.

Monday 10th December - 7.30pm - The Church of St Mary Woolnoth, London (opposite Bank Tube Station - exit 6) - This was the church where Newton was the minister.

Brian Edwards will be speaking on 'John Newton, Slave, Slaver and Abolitionist'

George Curry will be speaking on 'John Newton, Evangelical Anglican'

A busy week

I'd value prayer for this week.

Tonight I'm speaking at Royal Holloway CU - Who gets into heaven?
Wednesday I'm at TVU on John 11 - Life and then Friday night I'm at Aberystwyth CU on the Resurrection.

Thankfully all the talks are prepared but pray for energy.

Hristo and Maria's wedding

Hristo and Maria are getting married on 24th May 2008 in Riga, Latvia.
The whole of IPC is invited!
Flights from Stanstead to Riga are about £80 at present. Hristo would like to know numbers so he can book bed and breakfast for folk.

New Monthly Prayer letter

We are putting together a monthly prayer letter for church members. Taking up the items raised at the prayer meeting so we can remember them through the month. If there are things you'd like to add to the letter, please speak to Jennifer Courtney.

Half Yearly Meeting

Half Yearly meeting will take place on Monday 26th 8pm

This Sunday

I'm away this Sunday speaking at London City Presbyterian Church so Pete Harris who is going to be church planting in Camden will be preaching in the morning on Numbers 1, while in the evening Andrew Rae will be taking us through Psalm 25

Church Family Prayer Meeting

This Wednesday night there is the Church Family Prayer meeting @8pm

Presbytery

The next Presbytery is on Saturday 1st December - any offers of beds to put people up would be appreciated.

Footie

Football will be played at the earlier time of 3pm this Saturday on Drayton Green

2 Timothy this Sunday

This Sunday morning we start a new series on 2 Timothy, we're planning to look at it over 4 weeks so read Chapter 1 for this Sunday.


If you wanted a simple commentary to read alongside the series you couldn't do better than Christopher Green's 'Finishing the Race' which should be available on the church bookstall for £6. John Stott's BST is very good but Green probably edges it.

Free Tim Keller Audio

Tim Keller was recently in the UK for the evangelists conference, his subject was smashing false idols. Audio Material is available here.

All 3 sessions are worth listening to, my pick is number 3.

Pot Luck Lunch

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month so it's Pot Luck in the morning and Lords Supper in the evening.

CLOCKS GO BACK 1 HOUR THIS SUNDAY

This Sunday

This Sunday morning Iain Clements who is the Assistant minister at Grove Chapel, Camberwell will be preaching on 1 Cor 12 and in the evening our very own Graham Weeks will be on Psalm 24

The men will be meeting again at 8.15 for breakfast, there were good reports of last week, do make it if you can

Mens Prayer Breakfast

This Sunday morning kicking off at 8.15 is a mens prayer breakfast - if you're coming speak to Ashley or Jono

What do we do with the Children

Dave Bish has posted some interesting stuff on keeping chiildren in the church service

Discovering the Old Testament

Discovering the Old Testament – Alec Motyer - £5

Have you struggled with interpreting the Old Testament? Have you wanted some help on how you piece it all together? How does the New Testament interpret the Old? These are questions every Christian faces and this book helps us with.

Alec Motyer has been the best Old Testament theologian in the UK for decades. Here is 50 years of his distilled wisdom, anything by Motyer is worth reading but this book introducing us to the Old Testament. Every Christian should buy this book!!

The Top 100 Questions Remix

The top 100 questions Remix by Richard Bewes £7.99 - £6.50

This book collects the top 100 questions asked by people about the Christian faith. Richard Bewes was for many years the minister of All Souls, Langham Place and now lives in Ealing. He’s a clear communicator and this book is biblical, simple, highly readable and full of common sense. It will help us all in our evangelism and thinking through our faith.

I particularly enjoyed the section on 'the bible we read', Richard explains difficult concepts very simply

Lecture this Monday lunchtime

The Evangelical Library have a lunchtime lecture this Monday

October 15th 12.30pm
Bruce Jenkins (Caversham) will be speaking on

"John Newton-Dispelling some myths"

Evangelical Library 78A Chiltern Street, London, W1U 5HB (just by Baker Street tube entrance)

Prayer Meeting

This Wednesday 8pm is our monthly prayer meeting and Amir will be giving his testimony, do come if you possibly can

Evening English Class

There will be an evening English class starting at IPC on Tuesday 9th October 6-7.15pm

Early morning prayer meeting

Tomorrow morning we're meeting for prayer between 6.45 and 8. Come along if you can for as long or short time as you can manage

Joint Service with New Life Masih Ghar

On Sunday 30th our evening service will meet with New Life Masih Ghar to celebrate their becoming an official IPC church.
The service starts at 4.30pm

Harvest Sunday 30th September

In the morning service of the 30th Sept we will be having a harvest offering for the work of London City Mission and Kapsowar Hospital in Kenya. If you'd like to bring food tinned goods can be given to the LCM centre in Waterloo.

Football on Saturday night

Chris and Ashley will be hosting football on green at 6pm this Saturday night!

Thursday 27th September

Internationals Welcome Night at the YMCA on St Marys Road beginning at 7.30pm - All welcome

Internationals Prayer Meeting

On Sunday night we'll meet after the evening service to pray for Internationals night on the 27th. There's also a need for people to flyer language schools in Ealing if you can help contact Hristo.

Larry and Teri Beckler

This Sunday Larry and Teri Beckler will be visiting us from the US. At 4.30 they will be giving a presentation of their work.

Club 16

Club 16 begins tomorrow for children in school years 1-6 and so does 24:7 for those in years 6-9

English Language Class

The English language classes kick off this Thursday morning 9.30 -12.30

Tea on the Green

Tea on the Green takes place tomorrow from 3pm in the hut on Drayton Green

Early morning prayer meeting

There's a prayer meeting tomorrow morning from 6.30 - 8 - come for as long as you can

This Sunday

This Sunday Paul Meiners will be preaching in the morning on Isaiah 6 and Kurt Peistrup will be preaching in the evening

We have new deacons!

For those of you who weren't here on Sunday our 3 deacon candidates were elected

Summer Reading 3

We've bought 60 copies of 'The House that Jesus built' by Dale Ralph Davis and would love it if the whole church could read it.

It's a great introduction to the church and is only 60 pages.

It is so good we are literally giving it away!!

David Barnes plugs it for us

One Saturday morning a Roman Catholic approached the Book Table in Greenford Broadway. He was a bus driver. He was with a friend who he described as a ‘born again Christian’. He saw our leaflet and asked ‘So you are Presbytrerian? Where are your headquarters? A difficult 5 minutes of explanation followed. How I would have liked to have something like this little book available.

This is a 55 page pocket size introduction to Presbyterian Church life and beliefs, aimed at enquirers and young Christians. The essentials of the Reformed Faith are set out briefly under such headings as ‘The Bible is entirely true’, ‘the Cross is absolutely central’, ‘Grace is utterly incredible’, ‘God is really big’, ‘Disciples are continually secure’, ‘Life is wholly holy’. (I leave it to you to supply the more traditional formulae).

The (Our) church is then described as ‘A Bible church,’ ‘A local church’ followed by a section on what church is and the meaning of ‘Presbyterian’ and ‘Reformed’ and a short section explaining to the reader what he or she needs to do to make it ‘my church’. Including ‘Do I have a ministry here’? Whilst brief, easy to read, this book is never superficial, and the amount of ground covered (and the questions raised) is very large.

A chapter, ‘How Christians live’ deals with the means of grace, the Word, the Sacraments, prayer, worship, and Christian fellowship.

The final chapter briefly explains the gospel and challenges the reader to faith.

It was originally written for a specific local church in the USA. It comes warmly recommended by our friend Willie Phillip, and I would like to add my recommendation. I think it is better for Christians than an enquiring unbeliever, their being more Christian jargon than I would like for the latter, but if a reasonably intelligent friend wanted a short introduction to Presbyterianism I would be more than happy to give it to them.

Evangelists Conference with Tim Keller

Tim Keller will be back in London to speak at the annual evangelists conference on Tuesday 9th October. It's taking place at All Souls and the cost is £20.
It looks excellent - here is the booking form

Chelmsford BBQ

The barbecue with Chelmsford Presbyterian Church is this Saturday, it'll start at 3.30 with food being served at 6.30.
There's still space so if you'd like to come get in touch.

Camden Town Church Plant

The offering last Sunday raised just under £4,000 for the church planting work which is very encouraging so a big thankyou to all who gave.

Get out the vote

Just a reminder to cast your ballot for deacons!!

This Sunday

This Sunday we will be having a thank offering for the Camden Town Church Plant, do please give as generously as you can to this work

Chelmsford BBQ

There are over 20 people signed up to come to the BBQ with Chelmsford Presbyterian Church. There's still time to sign up

Holiday Bible Club

This is probably a bit late but there's a holiday bible club planning meeting tonight, kick off 8pm

Summer Reading 2

Grace – Amazing Grace by Brian Edwards, Day One Publications, 2003
Normally £10 but at IPC - £8

“Grace is a many-splendoured thing. In this book, Brian Edwards takes the topic of grace and explains and illustrates many aspects of it in God at work in the lives of men and women. My mother and I enjoyed reading this together over a number of months and were sorry to finish it!

Edwards is a popular author, with a great sweep of both historical and up-to-date illustration of his themes and the lives of two great heroes of the faith crop up throughout – the apostle Paul and John Newton.

It is impossible to list all the aspects of grace he deals with, but from 16 chapters these are a few – universal grace (the term he prefers over common grace), forgiving grace, community grace, ultimate grace. Just try chapter one, and you’ll be hooked! This is a book which left us praising God and to which we intend to return.”

- Chris Hosier

Funeral arrangements

The burial will actually take place at Greenford cemetry not Hanwell as I said below

Holiday Bible Club

This Thursday at 8pm is the Holiday Bible Club planning and prayer meeting.

Prayer Meeting

At the prayer meeting on Wednesday Mark and Su Larson will be speaking on the work in Afghanistan. It kicks off at 8pm do come if you possibly can.

Cath's Funeral

Cath Benton's funeral will take place on this Friday
1.30pm at IPC
3.00pm at Hanwell Park cemetry

Summer Reading 1

War and Grace by Don Stephens, Evangelical Press
Normally £9 but at IPC £6.50!!

“What a joy and inspiration to read War and Grace by Don Stephens. One of a few book apart from the Bible that reveals so clearly God’s blessing and mercy to those facing the trials of war, even to death. A truly memorable, easy read that guarantees to leave a lasting impression.”
- Terry Seaber

Thirteen brief biographies of people, all but one of whom lived through the second World War. Six became Christians during the war in the most adverse of circumstances. Three Americans, two Germans, two Japanese, one Dutch and five Britons are featured. In all the stories, what comes through most strongly is that the grace of God can reach into the most extreme situations and to the greatest sinners, even war criminals facing death. This is a book that is very hard to put down. Well written, easily read, it moves ones heart to read of how God's grace changes and sustaines lives. A thrilling book I cannot commend too highly.

- Graham Weeks

Dimi to Danbury

Dimitri has accepted the job of Assistant Minister at Danbury Mission
He'll be starting there in September.

IPC website

Debbie has updated our church website

Pot Luck Lunch

This Sunday is a Pot luck Sunday

What is a Deacon?

Paul Meiners will be preaching on Sunday morning on Deacons!

Anyone for Airbeds?

Airbeds!!! There's a team staying of kids from Nashville, US staying in the church for one night next Wednesday and I am supposed to get airbeds for them.
Argos are sold out.
Anybody have any spares?

Club 16 Open Night

Club 16 Open Evening is next Thursday - everybody is welcome,

Holiday Bible Club

Holiday Bible Club is from Tuesday 28th August - Saturday 1st September

There is a prayer meeting this Sunday night after the evening service.

There will be further prayer meetings on 15th July and 26th August.

The planning meeting will on Thursday 5th July

The Draytons

Drayton Community Association is having a launch party this Saturday from 5.30 - 7pm at St Luke's Hall, Drayton Grove.

The aims are to

• have a stong unified voice with the council
• build relationships with the Police
• Give everyone a say in local issues
• Bring people together to create a greater sense of community

The event is being sponsored by Waitrose

The Deacons report for the AGM

The following hopefully covers the issues looked at and discussed in the six months since the half-year meeting in November 2006.

Regular talks were held with the elders with regard to increasing the number of deacons, along with calling new people to replace those stepping down (in line with a term of office modification set out by the Presbytery).

Windows were inserted into the corridor doors in January, to comply with Child Protection regulations. We also continued to carry out further CRB checks for those involved in crèche and childcare. Our next course of action is to insert glass panels into the main chapel door (estimate £1,500).

The provision of refreshments and decorations for the carol service was set in place and our thanks go out to May for her creative talents.

New crockery was purchased for the church kitchen along with plastic cup holders etc to ease the washing up at Pot Luck lunches.

There is an ongoing suggestion of providing a bulletin board with photos/names to inform new people who the elders/deacons are, along with other personnel.

Leaving gifts for Aaron & Eileen Lawler and Sylvester & Janet Jacobs were arranged, and a suitable farewell party date was found prior to the Jacobs actual departure. Thanks to John Corcoran for his time and talent in providing the drawing for the Jacobs.

A ‘one-off’ social evening for all the elders and deacons (with partners) took place on 5 February which proved very successful and helped to unite our bond as servants of the Lord.

The date of 15 September has been earmarked for a church Family Fun Day. Another opportunity following the Holiday Club to create a stronger bond with our neighbours.

The Welsh pre-school group, along with the Liberal Synagogue group and Choices, continued to use the facilities of the church. Eileen Lawler also carried out craft courses at various times.

Regular reviews and updates are kept regarding ongoing repairs such as lighting/shades/manse security etc.

The donations and auction promises for the Ethiopian trip raised over £2,000, which enabled our team to have a successful trip. Thanks to everyone who gave so generously.

Plans for the provision of a suitable disabled/friendly toilet have been considered and are currently awaiting quotes from builders. Refurbishment to other toilets is to be provided at the same time.

To date no further action has been undertaken with regard to replacing the heating system since we await the outcome of a possible church plant (see Session report in November 2006).

AGM Agenda

1. Session Report
2. Deacons Report (which includes financial report)
3. Presbytery Report

8pm in the Church lounge

Session Report for AGM

In the past 6 months we have seen slow but encouraging numerical growth in the congregation. Our membership role currently stands at 66 and Sunday mornings have average between 70-80 with many non Christians attending- ‘pot-luck’ lunch seems to bring more in! Sunday evenings have also been well attended, averaging between 35-45. The monthly prayer meeting continues to be another source of real encouragement both in terms of numbers attending and the prayers that are prayed.

Since we last wrote to you there have been new ventures launched. Tea on the Green has been good at building up the churches profile in the local area and making contacts while the English language classes have brought newcomers into the church building itself. Jennifer and Emmanuelle have been leading an evangelistic bible study with women going through the book of Mark. There has also been a number of informal bible studies and accountability groups taking place.

The elders have spoken for some time about having a missions trip and it was a joy to be able to send our first group of church people on a missions trip to Ethiopia. We hope that this will be the first of many mission trips. We are very grateful for Jennifer Courtney and the impetus she has given in developing this and the other activities mentioned above.

The Internationals ministry has undergone changes recently with the Tuesday night house-group taking on increased responsibility. On Tuesdays a meal is followed by an evangelistic bible study which occurs alongside the regular bible study. A social is also help once a month. This group is aiming to build a sense of community and to reach out to outside as well as build up the believers already in the group. Please pray that God would bring new people into our midst whom we can minister to. If you would like to be involved in this outreach do speak to Andrew Rae.

A church weekend at home was held from March 9-11 and it was very encouraging to see so many of the church family join with us. Alasdair I Macleod from St Andrews led our sessions thinking about Jesus Christ - Prophet, Priest and King. It was a great time of worship, fellowship and fun. We hope to make this a regular part of our church life.

In March there was a pulpit exchange with Chelmsford Presbyterian Church of EPCEW. John Scott and Paul Levy swapped pulpits & the Chelmsford Church have invited us to their church barbecue on 14th July. The elders are encouraged to see the two Presbyterian groups working together.

The Children’s is another way in which we continue to make inroads into our community. Club 16 has 15-20 children attending with only 4 of these being church children. Club 24:7 also has 9 regulars with all but one being from outside the church. Do pray that we'll see growth in these groups and that families would be won for the gospel. Holiday Bible Club this year will be from Tuesday 28th until Saturday 1st September.

Over the past 6 months the elders have been meeting twice per month. One meeting is devoted to prayer for the church and the other to governing the church. One of the key issues we have been looking at and praying about is the change to a new system of electing deacons and the resulting appointment of new deacons. Approximately one year ago the presbytery adopted a new system for deacons whereby they are elected for a term position rather than for an unlimited time period. We are thankful to the current deacons for their patient with us as it has been a slow process in making the transition.

We are pleased to announce that Carlos Soares, Daphne Colpman and Jennifer Courtney are candidates for the office of Deacon. The aim is to give ballot papers out within two weeks and in the next few weeks a sermon will be preached on “What is a deacon”.

As per the Book of Church Order, the change (from unlimited time period to term positions) will also affect all current deacons within the IPC English Presbytery. This will mean that our current deacons will, over the next while, decide whether they want to be considered for re-election or whether they want to stand down (as a deacon). Margie Lawler has therefore decided to stand down from the diaconate effective this September. We would like to sincerely thank Margie for her tirelessly service in our church and for the huge improvements she has brought to our financial stewardship. John Corcoran has also decided to take a 1 year sabbatical from the work of the diaconate. #

For IPC to grow as a denomination it is important that we develop our own men for the ministry. God has blessed us with a growing number of men who feel called to ministry and who desire to further their theological training. Ki Cheol Joo has been accepted by the Cornhill Training Course in London and in September will begin studying 2 days per week for the next 2 years. We believe Hristo is also called to ministry and he is considering further studies as we write this letter. It has been a pleasure to see him develop as a Christian in the last 5 years and in recent times to watch him develop his gifts.

We would ask for your prayers regarding the possibility of taking on Amir, a converted Muslim from Iran/ Afghanistan. Amir has been studying in Ilam College and working at All Souls Langham Place in Central London. He would be employed to reach out into the Muslim community. He would be working closely with Chuck and Kurt in such a way as to reach out and to involve the church in the ministry.

On Sunday June 3rd Pete Harris and Matthew Roberts visited the church. They are planning to plant an IPC church in Camden Town. We will be the closest English IPC to them and therefore will support them as much as we can. There is a great need for a gospel witness in Camden and they have a significant financial need. With this in mind on Sunday July 8th we will be having a special thank offering which will go to the work in Camden. God has blessed us in so many ways and this is an opportunity to express our gratitude and to share with our brothers who are in need of both our financial support and our encouragement.

On September 15th we are hoping to run a family fun afternoon with a BBQ where we’ll see to make more links with the community.

In the midst of encouragements and blessings we're conscious that for many in the congregation these last 6 months have been difficult. People from our fellowship have known bereavement and illness in their families. It's reminded us of the need to bear up one another prayer, and to encourage and strengthen one another with the hope of the gospel. Our prayers continue to be with those who are suffering.
As elders we do appreciate the encouragement, support and prayers of both the congregation and our deacons. Thank you

AGM next Monday

Next Monday is our church AGM beginning at 8pm.
Session, Deacons and financial reports will be available later this week.

This Sunday

This Sunday evening Carl Trueman from Westminster Seminary will be preaching

Gift Day for Camden Town Church Plant

On Sunday July 8th we are going to be having a special thank offering which is going towards the Camden Town Church Plant. Pete Harris and Matthew Roberts were with us a couple of weeks ago and we want to support them in as many ways as we can.

Andrew Campbell

Our summer intern Andrew Campbell has arrived from Mobil, Alabama.

He's staying with the Phillips' and will be involved at IPC in a variety of ways over the next couple of months.

This Sunday

This Sunday we are joined by Pete Harris and Matthew Roberts who are going to be planting a church in Camden Town. We'll interview both of them in the service and Pete will be preaching for us.



Also with this Sunday morning is Dr Ali Ashtaroo from Afghanistan. 15 minutes after the close of the service he will be sharing with us in the Chapel what is going on in Afghanistan, please do come back in for this.



After this we will have Pot Luck lunch together, we are expecting a large number of visitors this Sunday, so you might want to bring a bit more than usual.



In our evening service Joel Rinn who is doing pioneer missions work in Verona Italy will be preaching

Mark and Su back

Mark and Su and the family are back this summer and are in need of a car to use.
The dates are - 19th June - 4th July and then on the 8th July. If anybody can help in this let me know.

Room for 1?

If anyone has room for an American lad who wants to come and spend a month in London do contact me.

He'll be in London from July 8th for 1 month

Ethiopian Update 2

We have been busy here at the project despite a visit to a local spa which we hear you all heard about! Last week we spent most of our time with support groups. Most of them put on coffee ceremonies in celebration of Jennifer's return. This involves roasting and grinding fresh coffee beans and the making of coffee which has as much sugar in it as coffee! They serve it with delicious freshly made bread and popcorn, which suprisingly go really well together! Jennifer shared God's Word with most of the support groups. With the groups who didn't do a ceremony we made friendship bracelets with them which they really seemed to enjoy. Last week we also took the teenage girls group. We made fruit scones with them which we served with jam and cream. While they were baking we again had a devotional time with them.

This week we have spent our time with the new sister project in Bole, which is smaller in size and the support groups are not as far on as the original project. The worker there is finding it quite difficult as some of the women are reluctant to pray so she was encouraged to have the support. We also went on some home visits with them to spend a bit of time with the beneficiaries on their own and pray with them which was humbling and enjoyable.

We also have been helping out on a more practical level; organising and itemising the pharmacy on the premises. This was sooooo boring!! but it helped them a lot to put all the info on a computerised system. We have been eating a lot of that good Ethiopian food that we served you but we have had quite enough now. Dying for some good old tatties!

We have all been tremendously blessed, inspired and encouraged by the people of Ethiopia. Even though most have little or nothing they still praise God for their many blessings. This we can all learn from.

Pray for continued safe travel

Pray for Jennifer as she continues to share Gods word in the support groups

Pray for the beneficiaries in the project; for salvation and growing faith for those who are believers.

Bank Holiday walk next Monday

There is a walk planned for next Monday in the Chilterns.

The plan is to meet at the Church at 10:30 and then drive out to a village near Tring, where we will do a 5 mile walk, part of which is alongside the Grand Union canal. We will stop for lunch at a pub. If there is a strong demand, we can do a longer walk.

Please let me know if you are planning to come, and if you need a lift.

Daphne

Robert Malumbi

to fill you in on what Robert would have said to you if he had been able to visit on Sunday.

Robert is married to Alice and they have 4 children, Rodney (15), Cheryl (8), Leroy (3), Elizabeth (2).

They have a very small place in Nairobi from where they reach out to children from the garbage dump and orphans. They have 350 children who come daily to an 'orphanage' and to a school which Robert has built and finances. 400KM west of Nairobi, Robert has some land which he has 'donated' for a Missionary Training School which he is building. He has in two years completed one building, but it still needs to have the windows put in and the inside finished. it also needs water and toilets. Eventually he hopes to have a chapel, a dormitory, classrooms, and an administration block. he has three acres but he needs five.

The original budget for construction was £138000. To date he has been provided with £3000. he showed us photographs of people from his church digging the foundations. the only paid labour is the technical advice. All the actual building work is done by unpaid labour. Alice is supervising the work and so much of the time they are apart. As well as this Robert and Alice provide what Robert calls 'child support' for 27 children as and when he can (not his children, just children who need support).

He goes on frequent preaching trips both within Kenya and outside. His most recent trip was to Uganda. he has preached in Somalia. He has planted four churches. The pastor of one of the churches he planted in Somalia was recently murdered, and Robert and Alice have been providing support to his widow. Robert graduated from (I think) a US university in agricultural economics. Alice is a trained nurse. She has been unwell, dignosed with diabetes which she is trying to manage by diet, rather than medicine. They live in a poor area of Nairobi by choice.

They are attached to World In Need International and Robert has been in the UK to attend their conference.If anyone wanted to spend time in Nairobi teaching in the school or helping with the building work they would be most welcome,.

Robert also needs to build up a supply of theological books for the missionary training college.

David Barnes

What is Islam?

Arab World Ministries and All Souls, Langham Place are putting on a course 'What is Islam?' for Christians who want to be informed about Islam.
The dates are 3-5 July - 9.30 - 17.30 each day
The cost is £80 and speakers include
Elsie Maxwell
Paul Blackham
Jay Smith
Howard Jones

For more info speak to Kurt or Chuck or go here

Open night at Departure this Thursday

There is an open night at Departure - London City Missions art centre in Limehouse this Thursday night, everybody at IPC has been invited.

It begins at 7pm

West Ealing

''The worry is that what happened in the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and is still happening in the 00s is that W13 is always the bridesmaid but never the bride (Who is always W5)! We need more people banging on the table about investment in West Ealing....''

WEN13 - West Ealing neighbours May 2007 Newsletter.

4 events in June

Monday 4th June 6pm - The Evangelical Library Annual lecture
'Louis Berkhof (1873-1957) Systematic Theologian' - Address given by Geoff Thomas (Aberystwyth)

Saturday 9th June - 2.30 - London Theological Seminary end of year service
Speaker - Iain Murray

Saturday 9th June - Feltham Evangelical Church - 7pm
David Field is preaching on 'Why Hell?'

Saturday 16th June - Hayes Town Chapel - 7pm
John Newton - Amazing Grace
A lecture by Neil Richards

Ethiopian update 1

Hello from Ethiopia We have arrived safe and well in Addis Ababa.

Then first thing that hits you is the smell of smoke when you get off the plane. We had a long wait to get our visa then we were greeted by one of the team who drove us over some very bumpy roads to get to the SIM Guest House. It is a lovely big house with lots of space and we have the whole place to ourselves! Except poor Debbie is having to share a room with Gillian!

We went to St Matthews church and had our first taste of Ethiopian tea, which can only be described as syrupy. Needless to say the plants got well watered that day. However, Debbie didn’t next the extra hydration as she managed to take communion twice!

We have just spent our first day at the Project,meeting all the staff and beneficiaries. We split upto go out on house visits with the staff; Jennifer and Debbie visiting some housebound women who rely on the support from the Project. Meantime Marianne and Gillian visited some of the more sick people with the doctor. It was really humbling to visit these women and pray with them.

We plan to work with the support groups this week,sharing God’s word and teaching new crafts. Apart from Jennifer (!) we’re struggling to remember how to say hello and goodbye in Amharic never mind anything else! However, we have never felt so welcomed and loved going by the number of handshakes, wrist-shakes,shoulder-kissing and smiles. They’re all SO delighted to see Jennifer again – she gets at least 4 hugs fromeach person! Unsurprisingly, Gillian’s just spent the last hour entertaining the wee kids with some balloons! It actually enabled their Mum’s to listen to the health education on HIV.

Prayer Requests

Pray for the time here that we will be a benefit to the project.
For the teenage girls support group on Wednesday.
For Jennifer as she meets so many old friends and seeks to share the Word with the support groups.
That we would be willing and enabled to do everything God would have us do here.

Presbytery and Synod dates

Synod will meet on Saturday 2nd June at Kingston Korean Presbyterian Church. There will also be a Presbytery meeting on that afternoon.

Presbytery will meet on Saturday 9th September and Saturday 2nd December - both of these will be held at Ealing IPC.

Amazing Grace

Duke Street Church, Richmond is holding the following event:-

William Wilberforce & The Slave Trade.

An Evening with Sir Fred and Lady Catherwood.

8:00pm Thursday 24th May 2007

Admission Free

Theology for all

Some of us went to Theology for all conference with Carl Trueman last September. The recordings are on the Tyndale website here.

This year Mark Dever from 9 marks ministry will be speaking somewhere in London on September 22nd.

His topics are:-

• Lessons from the Past What lessons should today’s Church learn from this past, particularly the Puritans.

• Lessons for the Present Building biblically faithful churches today.

• Looking to the Future Given the new issues now facing Christians in the West which may put pressure on Churches not to stand against the tide – how can good theology help us?’

Hope Presbyterian Church, Timisoara

Liviu, Sica. Emmanuel and Emma

Ed Hartman - MTW Romania and Mike Ross, Pastor of Christ Covenant Church, Charlotte, US

Christinel, Mirella, Tabitha and Joseph

Katie, Abigail, Ed, Emily and Daniel Hartman - MTW Romania working in Brasov

Pot Luck luck lunch this Sunday

Please bring food with you to church on Sunday with enough for a few guests!

House-group News

From Andrew Rae......

As part of our house groups aim to reach out to the international community in Ealing, On the 24th April we will switch our House group night from Wednesday to Tuesday (Tuesday will become the regular night). We will also begin an evangelistic bible study on the 24th, primarily for int'ls though it will be appropriate for any who wants to look into the Christian faith.

There will be a Meal starting at 7:15 and after the meal there will be two bible study groups

If there is anybody who would like to join this group, do contact Andrew Rae.

Ethiopia Aids Mission Fundraiser night

Mark your calendars for the Ethiopia AIDS Mission Fundraiser night on Saturday, April 28, 6 pm. There will be a quiz, traditional Ethiopian food, auction, and a short presentation on the AIDS project where the team (Debbie, Gillian, Marianne, Jennifer) will be working for two weeks in May. Please come and invite your friends! Tickets are £7/ £5 concession.

Tickets will be available on Sunday

Social - This Friday

There will be a social at Andrew and Nicky Raes this Friday. Do come if you can and bring anyone you want along. Kick off is at 8pm

John MacArthur in London

Premier Christian Radio are holding an event with John MacArthur next Friday 7-9pm at the Emmanuel Christian Centre, London. Stuart Townend (who's written In Christ Alone, How deep the Fathers love for us) will be leading worship.

It's free but you have to book tickets here

Guest Preachers in April

I'm preaching at Amyand Park Chapel, Twickenham on 22nd April and in Timisoara, Romania on 29th April.

On 22nd April Dimitri Alldridge will be returning from the dark side to IPC to preach in the morning. Paul Meiners will speak at the evening service.

29th April David Field (see pic) a closet Presbyterian who teaches at Oak Hill Theological College will preach at our morning service and Hristo Voynikov of Bulgaria will preach in the evening.

An opportunity for service

Mowing the church lawns.

A 2 hour job with enormous satisfaction at the end of it guaranteed and lots of appreciation from the congregation. An opportunity not to be missed!

Email me if you fancy mowing.

Greeters!!

There's a need for more greeters for Sunday morning. If you can help out by going on the rota. Speak to Jennifer Reid

Ethiopian Girls

Jennifer Courtney, Debbie Weeks, Marianne Macleod and Gillian Thompson will be going to Ethiopia on IPC's first mission trip.

There will be a fundraising night on Saturday 28th April where you will be able to hear about the upcoming trip and how you can be part of it.

Holiday Bible Club 2007

The proposed dates are for Monday 20th - Friday 24th August in the mornings.

Ethiopian Missions Trip

I asked Jennifer to give some information on where the missions trip to Ethiopia is going and what they'll be doing.........

'The Lideta neighborhood in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is like many others in the city. The physical needs are obvious. Houses are made of mud and tin, there is no clean water supply, sanitation is sorely lacking, and people are desperately poor. The medical needs are clear. AIDS engulfs the health and livelihood of countless families in this area of 60,000 people. The spiritual needs are tremendous as many search for hope and relief in traditional cures and remedies.? --- from the Addis Ababa AIDS Homecare and Treatment Project, run by Mission to the World.

The team from IPC will be working with the MTW AIDS project in Addis Ababa, participating largely in women?s support group meetings, home visits to the beneficiaries with AIDS, and children?s activities for the beneficiaries? children or orphans of past beneficiaries. The project has about 300 HIV+ beneficiaries registered, and serves over 1,000 people, including families of beneficiaries, both living and those who have died. Our group will take craft supplies to teach the women during their weekly support group meetings, bubbles/balloons/crayons/sweets to give to the many children enthralled by those colourful Western luxuries, and most importantly spend time with the people there. Some days this might mean going on home visits to the beneficiary?s homes to pray with them or read a passage from Scripture together, lead devotions in support groups, entertain the children, or simply offer a gesture of kindness in putting an arm around a woman with AIDS who is often considered dirty and shunned in her community. The main aim of all that the project does is to share the message of hope in Jesus with our suffering community, both in word and deed, with a desire to see ashes replaced for beauty and mourning turned to dancing, as those suffering from AIDS come to know Jesus as their Saviour.'

Moody quote

Here is the full quote from Moody that I butchered on Sunday morning:-

Dwight L. Moody1837-1899 American evangelist

Some day you will read in the papers that D.L. Moody of East Northfield, is dead. Don't you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now; I shall have gone up higher, that is all, out of this old clay tenement into a house that is immortal- a body that death cannot touch, that sin cannot taint; a body fashioned like unto His glorious body.I was born of the flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.

Easter Services

Good Friday service with communion at 10.30 - we'll be taking up an offering for the missions team going to Ethiopia. Hot cross buns all round afterwards.

Easter Sunday Services 10.30 & 6

Prayer Meeting

Church Family Prayer Meeting

This Wednesday 8pm

Pot Luck lunch tomorrow

Palm Sunday Pot Luck tomorrow!

Urgent need for housing

Anybody got room for a 20 something man in their house?

He needs to have a bed for a while before he finds a Christian flatshare in Ealing.

Let me know if you have any leads.

Early Morning Prayer Meeting

Early Morning Prayer Meeting - Next Tuesday - 6.30 - 8am
Pop in for as long as you want.

Tea on the Green

Tea on the Green - next Tuesday - 27th March - meet at 3pm
see Jennifer Courtney for more details

Clocks go Forward

Clocks go forward 1 hour this Saturday night.
Any bets on who will be late for church?

English Classes

English classes are on tomorrow - 10-12 -FREE

Last week there were 8 women there and 3 more have promised to come this week!

Pray on

Sunday sermons

Sunday morning I preached a long sermon on Genesis 4 with 8 points and then last night was the introduction to Marks gospel. Drop me an email and I'll send the word files on to you, they might be easier to read than to listen to.

Disciplines of a Godly man - still going!

We're still meeting on Tuesday nights from 7.30-8.30pm

We've reached Chapter 9 'The Discipline of Worship'.

Induction at Solihull

Stephen Dancer was today inducted to the ministry at Solihull Presbyterian Church.

Ian Hamilton of Cambridge Presbyterian Church spoke on Isaiah 42 :1-4 on the church's supreme shepherd/ pastor.

His headings were

1. His dependance on God - Here is one God upholds and God has put his Spirit upon him. The servant stands among us as one who needs the Spirit.

2. He unyielding faithfulness to God - v1,3,4 establishing justice to the nations. He was obedient to the death.

3. The personal humility of the servant - the 3 verbs in v2 show us how unostentatious he was. It is never enough to speak the truth the way you speak the truth matters.

4. The servants unimaginable grace - one who comes to reveal the heart of God. Ian spoke of glory washing the feet of fearful disciples.

The Lords servant is unique but our job is to be patterned on him. The Spirit that upheld him will uphold you. The ministers prayer is Lord make me like Jesus.

Peter Naylor of Llandaff Presbyterian Church gave the charge to Stephen

1. Preach the word

2. Preach Christ

3 Reason with people

4. Preach with certainty.

There might have been a 5th but I missed it.

Solihill PC has around 20 people attending it. Stephen asked us to continue praying for them.

Thanks for the church weekend

It's a bit late, but I wanted to say thank-you for all who put masses of work into the church weekend. It was a great time together. Graham has posted some pictures here

London Men's Convention

The London Men's Convention details have been announced.

It will take place on Saturday 19th May at the Royal Albert Hall speakers this year are Hugh Palmer (All Souls Church), Rupert Bentley Taylor (Bath) and Jonathan Stephen (Affinity Director).

Tickets are £24 and £27, please see Terry Seaber if your interested in going

Presbytery News

Some news from Presbytery which took place last Saturday.

3 people were examined for eldership.

Murat Ozertiken who is working in Belgium church planting amongst Turks.
Chris Hatch who is working with New Life Masih Ghar in Southall.
Jonny Long who is being co-opted onto the session of Grace Fellowship, Warrington.
Results of the ballots should be in on Saturday.

In the afternoon Pete Harris an Englishman spoke about plans that he and others have to plant reformed and presbyterian churches in the UK. Redeemer Church in New York are going to help fund this. It was extremely encouraging to hear of possibilities for church planting.

Alan Waldecker and Bill Nikides reported on a conference they had spoken at in the US. There are ongoing discussions with some churches from the PCA regarding the possibility of funding for workers and church plants.

Gideon Song from Azerbaijan was at presebytery for the first time since transferring to us. We were also joined by Neal Williams , an American who is planning to move to Baku this summer . There are ongoing problems with the government registering this church .

Kim Song, afounding father of Korean Churches in the UK, has returned from Korea. He spoke about the possibilities of working more closely with the Korean Presbytery. He also told presbytery of a number of IPC Korean elders who have returned to Korea and plan to plant an IPC church in Korea.

All in all it was a very encouraging day. We had representatives from Italy, Romania, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Turkey, Korea, US and UK. It is s exciting to be part of Presbytery at the moment but there are real challenges ahead. Our next meeting is Synod with our Korean brothers on Saturday June 2nd. Pray for us

Preacher this Sunday

The Preacher this Sunday is Dr John Scott who is the minister of Chelmsford Presbyterian Church. Me and him are doing a swap.

There are 2 Presbyterian churches in England the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales (EPCEW) and the IPC. The Free Church of Scotland also has two congregations in London. I am hopeful if we can build relationships with each other there could be a merger somewhere down the line. The differences between us are small and if we were all willing to compromise a little we could be together, whether this will ever happen I'm not sure.

Please Pray

Please pray for Jennifer Courtney, she is heading to the US tomorrow for 2 missions conferences. The first one is in Trinity Presbyterian Church, Charlottesville (see the Wade Bradshaw post below), also there will be Bill Nikides, Nick Farrelly and Alan Waldecker they will be speaking on behalf of the IPC. Jennifer will be talking about her work with us and her time in Ethipia. She'll then go on to Independant Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia.

Church W/end at Home - March 9-11

March 9-11 - Guest speaker - Alasdair I Macleod from St Andrews, Scotland. You can hear audio sermons of him here.

Please do book in ASAP as we are ordering food in. Please give your booking form to Jill Peistrup.

All are welcome!

Reading Retreat

Next week at the Pines, Pulborough, West Sussex

Monday afternoon - Thursday morning

There are still spaces

New Members

It's been great in the last month to welcome lots of new members here's a list of the people who've joined us:-

Ashley Cicocki

Jennifer Courtney

Martin Fox

Adrian Little

Rachel Little

Marianne Macleod

Hazel Mangaser

Jonathan Mckirgan

Jill Peistrup

Christopher Roberts

Gillian Thompson

Emma Vane

Jonathan Willcox

Bradshaw's Departing remarks

I thought it would be good occasionally to post something on Presbytery, last summer Wade Bradshaw left IPC Liss to return to the US. He now works for Trinty Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville. At the Presbytery last June he gave the following remarks. I've found them really helpful so thought you might want to read them.

Wade Bradshaw’s Departing Remarks:
Given before the English Presbytery of the IPC 6 June 2006

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us …”

As I leave to return to America, these are the weights and entanglements I see for the International Presbyterian Church. I have three to mention this afternoon.

The first is the weight of our pasts. I say it this way, because we in the IPC have several pasts, but I want to mention two prominent ones. First, there is the heritage of L’Abri Fellowship, and secondly, there are the Presbyterian churches that we come from – and the PCA in particular.

Both of these are very strong histories, and both flow from the Protestant Reformation. Each has a great deal to offer us today in our situation, and the two can co-exist together well.

But I have often noticed that dangers we face seem to come in pairs. There is one danger in front of us – this is the danger we are most aware of and most afraid of stumbling over. Very frequently, however, this danger in front of us is not something we are going to stumble into: we are too aware of it, too afraid of it to do that. Instead, as we back away from the danger in front of us, we are likely to fall into a different problem, a danger that was always there and lurking behind us.

We in the IPC are afraid of losing our histories: the heritage of L’Abri and the PCA, and perhaps even of the Reformation. In the past, we may have wrestled with things; but in our current situation, the loss of our heritage is the danger in front of us. Our real danger and the one that we could back into unintentionally, the danger that we should actually fear is our not looking to the new thing God is calling us to be: a seriously connected, international, reformed, missional church in post-Christian Europe. As we back away from the danger of forgetting L’Abri, or the danger to our PCA background and the danger of losing the Reformation, we may actually fall into our real danger of just replaying previous history rather than trusting and obeying God with the opportunities of today.

The second weight that I think I can see among us is what I call the secret story we tell ourselves. This is related to the weight of our pasts.

Presbyterianism is ‘life in committee’ and church-planters can find life in committee maddening. We tell ourselves that “I am the only person who understands … something.” This something with which we finish the sentence can be many things. It might be the heritage of L’Abri, or Presbyterian polity, or what the future of our church-planting denomination ought to be.

Once I identify myself as the only voice for some cause, all kind of bad things begin to happen. Among these, we stop listening to each other carefully. We group each other in our minds into parties, rather than listening to the Holy Spirit. We trust only ourselves in this one issue, but soon we can begin to trust only ourselves on many issues. We begin to try to win in committee rather than to be wise and learning how to lose. This cascade of bad things is of the Flesh, not the Spirit.

The third weight is about personal holiness and devotion. Church-planters are a very independent bunch. We can try to look good to impress one another and to gain status. This is normal behaviour. In reality, however, we may be what Jesus referred to as white-washed tombs: all image for the eyes of people watching, while inwardly there is a loss of devotion to God and dependence upon His power. There can be a loss of a pure heart and mind and body.

I think that we are to grow in our connection to each other, to grow in intimacy, being honest with each other, looking out for each other. We should not fear that the others learn my weaknesses and problems, we should fear that my brothers not know my real struggles. Our connection is not to be only administrative but a common walk in the Holy Spirit.

So, our weights may be:
· Fearing the loss of our past, when we should fear not responding to God’s opportunities today.
· Telling ourselves that ‘only I’ understand something, and then trusting only my opinion.
· Not allowing each other to be sinners – so that we can help each other really grow in holiness.

I have a last fourth point. It is more of an entanglement than a weight.

We have the Scriptures, the Confession, and the Book of Church Order. Be very careful about adding more and more requirements to our unity. The IPC ‘underdid’ it in the past, but we must not forever ‘tinker with the machine’ in hopes of making it perfect. I would counsel you to beware of adding things we must be similar in, because we are to be flexible and highly diverse. Beware the urge to centralise everything . We are to be truly and spiritually connected – this is very difficult to accomplish. And because people tend to ‘manage what they can measure’, we prefer to control everything administratively rather than doing the hard work to bring about the true and spiritual connection. The IPC needs to spend its time reaching postChristian Europe and modelling the Kingdom, rather than perfecting our uniformity in everything. So, my fourth point is then – we are to be connected not controlled; united not uniform.

“… Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Working with the IPC has been a real privilege for me. I have serious doubts that I shall ever again be associated with a better group undertaking a greater need.

Wade Bradshaw

More on Schaeffer

Reformation 21 which is a great online magazine published in November 2 articles on Francis Schaeffer, who founded our little denomination.

They are both legnthy but worth reading

'Francis Schaeffer - The man and his message' - Jerram Barrs

'An introduction to the writings of Francis Schaeffer' - Mark Ryan

Lunchtime lecture in Central London

The Evangelical Library is holding a lunchtime lecture on Monday 26th February 12.30pm. Mostyn Roberts will be speaking on 'Francis Schaeffer - The man and his message'.
The lecture will last 50 minutes.

Monthly Church Prayer Meeting

Church Prayer Meeting is this Tuesday at 8pm - Carlo Colloredo will be giving us an overview of what to pray for in Italy.