THURSDAY, APRIL 29

Dreams and practical questions!

Thank you to all of you who had your photo taken last week in preparation for the ‘Dreams' display board. Please pick up your photo this Sunday from the tables in the auditorium. I'd encourage you to be thinking now about what your dreams are for this exciting new phase of King's life - just one sentence, please! - so you have it ready to be written it in the space under your picture on Sunday. Together they will make a fantastic display!

I have just returned from two days with Newfrontiers UK Team meetings -tomorrow I'm looking forward to a day off. On Sunday we pick up again the Old Testament Challenge series which we began last year - I'm looking forward to hearing Phil Varley preach about Joshua and in the coming weeks we will go through to the story of King Saul. I'm also looking forward to announcing on Sunday the total for our recent Gift Days towards the purchase of the Lee Green building... exciting times!

On that topic - here are a couple more questions (and answers!) about the move to multi-site...

What will happen to the Deaf Service?

For the time being this important meeting will continue to be at King's Catford but there may well be another at King's, Lee Green in the future. If we are reaching all the communities of south-east London then I would envisage that we will also reach those who are deaf or hearing-impaired in the Lee Green area - and beyond.

What about the King's offices?

We plan to move the King's offices from King's Catford to the Lee Green site when finances allow. Once this relocation has taken place it will mean that the pastoral and admin staff and volunteers will no longer have the cramped working conditions that are so far from ideal. That so much good work is achieved under the present arrangements is testimony to their great work ethic and their excellent attitudes!

SUNDAY, APRIL 25

Waiting to hear...

How are you at waiting to hear important information? I am not very good! I become impatient, I don't even like waiting in traffic ... Rather than being at a standstill I prefer to attempt a shortcut - which my kids inevitably call ‘one of Dad's long cuts'!

Over the next 24 hours I will be waiting to hear if we made our Lee Green building target of £100k in April. No chance of a shortcut to this information! It takes quite a long time to add up the offering, check the bank account and work out the tax refund! We have a great team who do this for us - let's hope they have good news to report by the end of the working day on Monday.

If you have been part of the giving during April I want to express again my thanks to you! Now it's a deep breath and we look to repeat the target again in May...

The week ahead for me is full of extremely important meetings. On Tuesday evening I meet with the Trustees to look in detail at our Budget for the year, approaching £5 million including purchasing the new building - we value your prayers. Please make every effort to attend the Vision Night/Prayer Meeting on Wednesday 5th May when we will share with the church all the latest news!

Included in the rest of this week - I'll be taking part in Newfrontiers UK team meetings.

THURSDAY, APRIL 22

Snapshots of the future?

Last night I had a very positive meeting with the church at Downham. I am now extremely hopeful that their considerations about joining King's are going well and their becoming part of King's Church will happen. That's very encouraging!

Today I have been meeting with a team of those who are actively involved in the training of Newfrontiers pastors. The preparation of well-trained leaders is key to our ability as a movement of churches to reach towards our goal of 400 churches. Our teachers and trainers aim to ensure that the training is to a high standard and so give the trainees the best chance to excel!

This coming Sunday, as people enter the building for the three meetings, we will (with your permission!) be taking individual Polaroid-type photos to be included on the ‘Dreams' board. The photos will be available next week for you to collect and to write on them your dreams for the future of King's - especially in the light of the acquisition of the Lee Green building. These will then be displayed around the auditorium so that we can all share in them!

Also this Sunday we shall have our second Gift Day for this month - we are looking towards our target of £200,000 by June and have some way to go as yet! Giving is always an act of faith - let's stir our faith and be in prayer regarding our own giving to this momentous project! The elders and I are really grateful to all of you who continue to own this vision and give sacrificially as a result.

Speaking of the move to multisite... here's another question that's been asked recently...

Q: What about the preaching at all the multi-site meetings? I heard someone say that we might have the preacher on video rather than ‘live'.

A: Our plan is to have a ‘live' preacher at all the meetings. We have looked at the issues with this and believe we can cover all the planned meetings. If the number of meetings - and sites - continues to grow, then we will have to look at this again. In time it is possible that we might use a DVD recording from the first meeting of the day, especially when, for example, we have a guest speaker.

SUNDAY, APRIL 18

Downham

This Wednesday I am looking forward to meeting up with the church at Downham. This is another important step on our journey together. I am increasingly excited about how this partnership could develop - Downham Way Family Church has faithfully sought to serve the community around them and I foresee good opportunities for us to work together in that locality as part of our multisite strategy.

We have had a few questions regarding the move to multisite and have dealt with them from the platform - but there is a chance that some of you may have missed the answers given, or forgotten what was said! So I thought it would be a good idea to go over them in the next few blogs. Understandably, an important question is:

‘What does being a multisite church actually mean?'

At King's it will mean that we continue to be one church with one eldership, one legal identity and one set of finances - but we will meet at more than one site! If you think about our three Sunday meetings at the moment, we have different people coming to each meeting. The same situation will hold for a multi-site structure but this time the meetings will also be at different locations. The point that people will not know those who attend the other location(s) holds even now. Those who attend (say) the 9.30 meeting may have no idea who is at the 11.30 or 5.30 meetings!

Fast-growing churches - especially in urban areas - are pursuing the multi-site route, as they get to the point where their current building is at maximum capacity. Larger buildings where the whole church can gather are often difficult to get hold of, either because they don't exist, or because they are prohibitively expensive! For us, we will have our meetings at King's Catford as we do now - and also at King's Lee Green in the new building. And if the Downham Church decides to join with us - that will become a third site...

THURSDAY, APRIL 15

Refreshed and ready to go!

I really benefited from the family holiday last week and returned energised ready to hear Malcolm Kyte preach for the first time at King's on Sunday - a great message! On Monday we drove to Bedford and St Neots and spent time with both sets of parents - my Dad celebrated his 74th birthday! I hope I have his energy when I'm 74!!

Then it was back into the King's office for a productive day on Tuesday and I am now mid-way through three days of training with leaders in Newfrontiers churches in and around London. I am sharing this block of training with Brian Watts from our Battersea church and we are looking at the Myers Briggs personality tests. If you know this set of tests you will be aware that it is very helpful in giving insight into the way an individual is wired. Self-knowledge is an essential prerequisite for effective leadership!

This Sunday it's my turn to take up the preaching baton! I'm looking forward to that - and also to participating in our next Gift Day for the Lee Green building. What an opportunity we have in this amazing new facility - and what a challenge as we seek to raise £200,000 in two months! We know God is faithful and we know that we are called to sacrificial and generous giving. Let's rise to the challenge, answer His call to us as a church and rest on His provision for us and our families!

SUNDAY, APRIL 11

Welcome to Malcolm & Cathy Kyte

I'm delighted to welcome Malcolm Kyte as he joins the King's staff team this week and as he preached at King's for the first time today! Malcolm & Cathy come to us from Queen's Road Church, another Newfrontiers fellowship in Wimbledon, where Malcolm was Senior Pastor. He joined the team there in 1985 and led the team from 1997. Malcolm also serves the wider Newfrontiers movement by overseeing six churches in south-west London. With a Master's degree in Applied Theology and extensive ministry experience in team-building, mentoring leaders, church planting, preaching and teaching we look forward to benefitting from his gifts and experience here at King's!

Malcolm and Cathy have lived in Wimbledon for the last 32 years, where Cathy was a busy Mum and also served as Children's Work Co-ordinator at Queen's Rd. She has also worked for Kingsway Communications as part of their Children's Ministry Editorial Team, has written two books and has been in demand as a speaker at training days for children's workers. In 2009 Cathy became Faith Support Officer for the Mother's Union, working full-time in Westminster, writing resource papers and speaking at various events.

They have three children - Ben (married to Lizzie) works as a housing officer in Birmingham where they are members of Oasis Church; Andrew is a teaching assistant and musician and is at Revelation Church, Camden, and Joanna (also at Revelation Church) is currently working towards three A levels.

Malcolm and Cathy are avid AFC Wimbledon supporters, love spending time in coffee shops with occasional trips to the theatre and art galleries in their spare time...

Please pray for the Kytes as they progress through the process of finding a home and the transfer from south-west to south-east London. We know God will bless them - and us - in our future together!

They join us at a crucial stage in our growth as we move towards going to multi-site and purchasing the new building - we look forward to our Gift Days over the next two Sundays in dependence on God and ready to give to His work!

THURSDAY, APRIL 1

Looking to Easter weekend

I am still buzzing from our weekend of celebration! What fun and what a great testimony to the power of the gospel to join people from different nations together! We have had great feedback from those who came - and from their visitors. And this weekend there's another opportunity to celebrate and to remember why we are all one new man in Christ! The Easter message is the heart of the Christian gospel and we have three meetings on Easter Sunday -with baptisms taking place within the 11.30am and 5.30pm meetings - in which to celebrate our risen Lord Jesus and all He has won for us!

Tonight we have our Easter communion and reflection - this evening (Thurs) at 8pm, led by Robert Kwami and Mick Taylor.

Since the weekend I've been away for a couple of days with friends and leaders within the Newfrontiers family. Each of those present has a role in overseeing a particular area within Newfrontiers so it's possible while there to get a wider picture of the health of our movement as we pray, plan and discuss together. It's all very encouraging and I'm now looking forward to a week's holiday.

Meanwhile, on the King's front, the next monthly Gift Days for the Lee Green building are approaching - 18th and 25th April are the days to remember and be prayerfully prepared for! We are looking to God to provide the £200,000 needed by June.

This is a big reach for us at King's - but not for God! Let's pray - and give - to the glory of God!