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.