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HONOURING JESUS’ NAME IN CITY Bridge Street Church in Leeds is growing, but leaders say it’s not about the numbers
NEWS from Elim and the wider church
OUT AND ABOUT WITH THE GS John Glass opens his diary
HELPING REBUILD ROTHERHAM Why love is the only answer after children suffer ‘appalling abuse’ in grooming scandal
A DESIRE TO SHOW GOD’S LOVE Elim member Pat Bulmer has been honoured for running a toddlers’ group
TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE Elim’s new Director of Training Dave Newton explains his vision for the role
MAKE A MEAL OUT OF CHRISTMAS It’s the best time to invite someone to hear the gospel, argues Mark Greenwood (pictured below)
DIVINE CONNECTIONS OF HEAVEN There are lessons to be learned from Mary and Elizabeth, says Mags Hallam in Aspire
CHRISTMAS ON THE MISSION FIELD How Shaun and Karen Graham celebrate the season in Tanzania with their family
WHAT’S THE BEST GIFT FOR A BLOKE? MPower’s Gordon Allan answers
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHAPLAINS They are called to minister where all the people are, explains Nigel Tween
IT’S SO WILD IT MUST BE TRUE! Gary Gibbs considers how the Creator became a tiny scrap of humanity
THE BELIEF IN A GOD OF JUSTICE A Bill aims to loose the chains of sexual exploitation, writes Lyndon Bowring
CALLED TO DO SOMETHING SCARY Sarah Whittleston (pictured below) challenges churches to believe God for a fresh move of the Spirit
MUSIC REVIEWS with Ian Yates
PLACING THINGS IN GOD’S HANDS Manchester United’s Radamel Falcao talks about how faith shapes his life
HUB TO HARNESS PASTORS’ SKILLS Ministry is not a contract of employment but a life calling, says Malcolm Hathaway (pictured below)
RADIO SHOW SPREADS THE GOSPEL The perfect ministry for David Hodgson
SHOWERED WITH BLESSINGS The vital question for shepherds is are you blessed or cursed, writes Kojo Wood
BOOKSHELF with Richard Dodge
ANSWERS with Mark Ryan
AND FINALLY with John Lancaster
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For children the December countdown would mostly be calculated as the number of remaining ‘sleeps’ before their presents are opened on Christmas day.
For others of us the countdown will be the number of days before Elim’s long-awaited centenary celebrations commence.
This centenary has been several years in the planning and I, together with the National Leadership Team, want 2015 to be both memorable and significant at national, regional and local levels.
I am particularly appreciative of all that Chris Cartwright and his team have done to put the finer points to the wider brush strokes of the original concepts.
Three years ago I challenged our churches to rise to the challenge of what was to be known as ‘The Big Centenary Ask’ – and it was a big ask, indeed.
Elim was born in church planting. My Grandmother on my father’s side was a member of the first Elim church in Monaghan in Northern Ireland when she was a teenager. My Grandmother on my mother’s side, Alice Woodhead, was the primary female soloist in George Jeffreys’ campaigns. One of my most treasured possessions is a 78 rpm record of George Jeffreys preaching on one side and her singing on the other. Her husband, John Woodhead, would later plant over twenty Elim churches in the early days of our Movement.
Over 120 churches responded to The Big Centenary Ask, which consisted of planting a daughter church, a multi-campus church or a fresh expression of church. This has resulted in more than 50 new Elim churches being planted in the past 12 months – more than in any single year of our history. Whether all of them will grow to full stature remains to be seen, but I want to express massive appreciation to Gary Gibbs, the national leader of ‘Reach’, for putting so much energy into the nurturing and fostering of this new growth.
I have been rightly quoted as not wanting 2015 to be simply a ‘sepia-tinted celebration of nostalgia’. What has brought us to this point is the result of faithful leaders, committed congregations, and especially the grace and goodness of God. We will be rightly honouring that.
But our centenary will be about what God is doing today and especially looking forward to the great destiny he has for this Movement in the years that are to come.
We have a phenomenal emerging generation of new leaders within our ranks – men and women with a heart after God and a passion to see our nation reached for Christ. In 2014 as I have travelled the country visiting our churches I have been immeasurably blessed by meeting members of our Movement of all ages who are already building, under God, what Elim will become as God’s grace continues to rest upon us.
We are taking some of the largest venues across the UK and Ireland towards the end of next year and I am looking forward to seeing you there.
Thank you for all that you have done to make Elim what it is today and what you are doing to make it an effective tool for God in the days that lie ahead.
John Glass
General Superintendent
Elim Pentecostal Church
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