At The Beacon Church AGM on Sunday I announced that it is time for Beverley and I to move on after 20 years in Camberley. This will be our last term at The Beacon before we leave at Christmas.
The reasons for this are various:
18 months ago John Groves came to preach about “not settling at Haran”. I thought about that a lot.
Guy Miller preached this year and stopped mid-preach to prophesy “Mark and Bev a new adventure for you”.
Malcolm also preached this year about “Radical obedience”. I felt uncomfortable. Again.
The elders asked good questions about my future and skill set.
My children have been a good and godly provocation in asking me and encouraging me to think about moving on. To be honest, I have not wanted to hear and have not wanted to go.
There has also been a strong prophetic thread over many months – lots of people from inside and outside the church have prophesied about a time to move on for us, ( Jane Gomersall, Helen Arnold, Claire Foley, Helen Appleton, Trevor Maddison, plus friends from further afield…).
Even my neighbour, whilst walking the dogs, said to me: "You need to know when it is time to move on".
The elders, Malcolm Kayes and Guy Miller have been involved in this conversation for some time.
Various opportunities have been presented to us over the summer which we are thinking about. They are all very different. One of those is a new church plant into Newbury...
We are not sure of our next destination but would ask you to join us in praying about where next?
In terms of what next for The Beacon…I am not worried. The ship is in good order with a good crew of leaders and good elders at the helm.
This is after all Jesus’ church, He has built it, He is committed to The Beacon church family and will continue to build and care for His church here.
We are, with Malcolm and Guy, thinking about who could be the next pastor of The Beacon and again, would ask you to join us in praying about that. A new appointment may take some time.
This is an opportunity for us to seek God together in a new and urgent manner.
Beverley, myself and the eldership team are around if you would like to chat to any of us about any of this. Please do get in touch.
We have not gone yet and will still be here for a while longer seeking God with you.
With very much love, Mark
1 comment:
What an exciting time for you Mark. So when I spoke to you in July about 'So what are you going to do when you leave The Beacon Mark?' was a little more prophetic than I first thought? Wow! God blows my mind! You'll be fine Mark, God has you in the palm of his hand x
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