Sunday 12th May
With a bank holiday on Monday there was an opportunity to catch up on some pressing jobs in the comfort of my own home with only one trip across to my office. As it was such a glorious day of warm sunshine we decided to have a barbecue at tea time so that provided some light relief after the busy-ness of the day and before going to our home Church for the Bible Study. We continued with our studies in the book of Revelation drawing strength from the assurance that God is still in control.
Back at work on Tuesday I had a meeting with a client who, after we had talked business, turned the conversation around to ask whether my wife goes into his children’s school to share the Gospel. I was please to confirm that she does but it was encouraging to know that these children who are part of a Christian family tell their parents about the assemblies. This led to a chat about the various links and partnership working that we have with three of the primary schools in our town.
In the evening it was the Youth Clubs, at the junior club the boys seemed incapable of keeping the ball in the garden so it had to go away but then they found so many more ways to entertain themselves in the warm evening air. Due to the amount of work I have at the moment I left the senior club once everyone had arrived so that I could go home and get on.
Wednesday was an evening of two meetings, the first being the joint prayer meeting at our home church where although numbers were lower than usual we had a time of blessing together. There was then a short journey up to the church hall of the local Anglican Church for a Churches Together meeting chaired by my fellow Minister, Sheila Heron, who was the outgoing Chair. Although the group is not greatly active reports were given of the events that had taken place since the last meeting with assessments of their effectiveness and plans were made for the future.
I spent Thursday evening preparing for the forthcoming weekend as I prepared to go first to the Congregational Federation Annual Meeting from Friday to Sunday and then to stay over in London for a meeting of the Free Churches Group directors on Monday. There were things to pack, things to leave ready for others in my absence, jobs that needed dealing with.
On Friday morning I arrived at the railway station in Seaham in good time for the first train in my journey to Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent. I was to travel to Newcastle to pick up a connecting train to London. With only eight minutes between arriving and departing Newcastle I was conscious that there was little room for delay but the train from Seaham was six minutes late. I prayed the train would speed up to make up time to avoid me missing the London train and thankfully God got me there in time for a dash over the station bridge at Newcastle to get my next train.
There was a lesson for me through this, I didn’t pray about the train arriving into King’s Cross on time so I was 15 minutes late and missed my connecting tube and train to Tunbridge Wells. I’m not sure if my delay made a difference but the tube I caught was so tightly packed that I was pressed against a door unable to move for the whole of the journey from King’s Cross to London Bridge. This gave me time to contemplate why there are laws which will not allow animals to be packed so tightly together but there are no such laws for humans. At London Bridge I had to find which train I could get to Tunbridge Wells and from which platform but eventually I was able to arrive at the hotel six hours after I had left home ready to spend the weekend with the Congregational Federation at their Annual Assembly.
In the evening I had been asked to be interviewed as part of the fringe meeting where I was warmly and generously welcomed, after the interview it was thrown open to those assembled to ask any questions they might have which led to a number of people posing some for me. After the meeting there was time to chat to some of those assembled in a more informal setting.
After breakfast at the hotel a route master bus took many of us to the Assembly in the River Centre in Tonbridge, no that’s not a spelling mistake Tonbridge is just a few miles from Tunbridge Wells. It was interesting to see how another denomination conducts their annual meeting and to sit back and enjoy it with no responsibility. I was inspired and blessed by the stories of what God is doing in a number of the churches of the Congregational Federation, some of which were quite small, a reminder that God wants to use churches of all sizes. The Assembly lasted from 11.30am to 5.00pmthen, after more tea and chats, it was back on the bus to the hotel where in the evening there was a celebration dinner.
I ended up at Tunbridge Wells Hospital after breakfast on Sunday morning, it wasn’t that I was ill, I went for a stroll and thought that it would be a good place to find out the times of the buses to get back to the Railway Station at Tunbridge Wells in the afternoon. Back at the hotel there was morning worship which included songs from a group visiting from Malawi, even though they sang in their own language it spoke from heart to heart.
Following a carvery lunch where I was able to talk finance because I ended up seated beside members of the Federation’s finance team I said my goodbyes and made my way to the bus stop. There followed bus, train and tube journeys with waits in between them, I discovered that London Bridge Railway Station is at the foot of the Shard, Europe’s tallest building, so I got my closest view yet of this marvel of architecture and construction before I walked through gentle rain to my hotel in London for the night to be ready for a meeting in the Capital the next day.
If you would like to get in touch for whatever reason you can contact me by e-mail at president@imcgb.org.ukor by writing to me at my home address.
Diary Dates
for the Coming Fortnight
Monday 13th May
11.30am Free Churches Group Directors’ meeting at 27 Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, London.
Tuesday 14th May
6.00-7.00pm Youth Club at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
7.00-8.30pm Senior Youth Club at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
Wednesday 15th May
7.00pm Pentecost Praise at Seaham Salvation Army.
Thursday 16th May
5.45pm Seaham Community Choir at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
Saturday 18th May
11.00am Connexional Committee Meeting Bible Comes Alive at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
Sunday 19th May
10.30am Preach at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
Monday 20th May
6.00pm North East Circuit’s Examining and Education Committee at Hetton-le-Hole Church, North East Circuit.
7.00pm Bible Study at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
Wednesday 22nd May
4.00 – 6.00pm Attend a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace
Sunday 26th May
10.30am Preach at Stanley Street IM Church, Seaham, North East Circuit.
5.30pm Preach at Hetton-le-Hole IM Church, North East Circuit.