Together at... Butlins!

Together at Butlins 2009

Butlins by the sea in January ..... I wonder what image comes to mind? A cold, grey windswept, inhospitable wasteland perhaps? Far from it! Butlins was great. It was great to be there as a church and great to be there as part of the Newfrontiers family. With so much to do for the children it was a hit with families.

The place was full with 3,600 booked in. The Butlins staff were very helpful. The worship was very good. We especially enjoyed our own Beacon band and Roey and the Team did an excellent job leading 9-11s.

I think the highlight for me was Terry Virgo on the Saturday evening speaking from Jonah chapter 1. He managed to pull so many helpful points from the story of Jonah attempting to run away from God's call upon his life: don't run from God, don't leave his presence, don't let circumstance dictate how you live etc.

We have already booked a w\e with Butlins for next year so make a point of being there. Butlins by the sea in January with lots of friends is a must!

Passion Compassion Mission

Passion Compassion MISSION

Whilst on sabbatical in New Zealand I was very struck by Guy Kawasaki’s comment (former board member of Apple) that you should be able to sum up your organisation in 3 words. I immediately knew what those 3 words were for us at The Beacon: Passion Compassion Mission. Whilst we have been explicit about Passion and Compassion we have not been so explicit about our Mission.

If you would like to know more about what this means you can download this message from The Beacon web site (Sunday 4th Jan 09). You can also hear Peter Wharrad’s outstanding message from Isaiah 58 (Sun 11th Jan 09) which was a seminal word for us as a church and paves the way forward for us together through 2009 and into 2010.

In response to Peter’s word and how we feel God is leading us we will endeavour to be come more involved in Community Mission – various social action projects. The co-ordination of these projects will, I hope, become part of the brief for the new Assistant Pastor.

Week of Prayer January 2009

A Year of Change, a Year of Challenge

As ever with Weeks of Prayer I found it a good time not just to pray about some things but to hear God. I thought the week got off to a flying start with Carol Marlow’s magnificent word on Sunday morning about

“a year to stand out …”

The recurring themes of “stay close to me…remain in me...be like me…submit to me…take my yoke...” are great encouragements for us to develop our intimacy with God both now and throughout the year.

Praying through some specific topics has helped bring focus to those areas (buildings, resources, nations, the year ahead, mission…) and more besides. I have found praying about leadership and staffing particularly challenging and whilst I am not sure yet about the next staff appointment for the church I am confident that this year will see major change in The Beacon staff.

The final prayer meeting of the WoP was equally inspiring with Nigel's prophetic word about: "no limits, no ceilings and breakthrough ...".
Peter Caddick's word rounded the week off sharply. He felt God was speaking to us about " ...The Beacon light burning brighter, with longer range, more intensity, greater warmth ..."

So by Finishing the week by seeking God for more of the Holy Spirit for ourselves was a good way to conclude. We need to be full to overflowing if we are to fulfil the word “a year to stand out”.

What a great week! Let's stay filled with the Holy Spirit.

New Year for New Frontiers Region

The New Year is always a good time to reflect and to look forward. This January is no exception. We can thank God again for His faithfulness to us as a family of churches over the year and for the countless thousands who have been blessed by Together on a Mission at Brighton, Mobilise, New Day, our own Carroty Wood and the special time we had Together for the Nations in July here in Camberley.

We can also be expectant and prayerful about some of the challenges and changes in the coming year with Olaf’s changing role at Alton and Simon stepping up to leadership there; Sean Green staying in Reading (hooray!); Ian MacDonald leaving Fleet for Ghana; a growing Small Group meeting in Basingstoke; a new church plant into Istanbul, 2 existing churches in the region exploring what it means to be part of the Newfrontiers family; elders being appointed in Caversham, Addlestone and Alton shortly, plus of course: Together Butlins.

Butlins 09 is already fully booked but discussions are already gathering pace about 2 Butlins weekends in ’10. I will let you know and make sure you book in early!