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