Epistles From EnglandTeam 1987 England

8/13/2019 Epistles From EnglandTeam 1987 England

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Cpisftit from nslant A report from ministries clialienging apost-Christian nation with th e c la ims of Christ.

VOL. 14 NO. 4 FEBBOARY 1987FOOD, GLORIOUS POODThe t ransit ion from one culture to another requires fundamental adjustmentat one absolutely vi ta l level: FOOD I know almost nothing dx)ut cooking, so

please forgive ray less-than-precise d e s c r i p t i o n . However, as my bathroomscales wil l t es tif y, I know a lo t about eating. So here i s iny introduction tofoods peculiar to Britainor perhaps that should be 'peculiar Brit ish foods'Let's start with that nost famous of a l l British culinary del ights; fish andchips. For the record, nei ther Arthur Treacher nor Long John Silver have aclue when i t comes t o p repa ring proper fish and chips. Their offerings have,unfortunately, been Americanized beyond a l l recognition. Brit ish chips arenothing at a l l l ike American french fr ies nor are those wedge-shaped potatosl ices that some establishments serve. Brit ish chips are properly thick, fat ,greasy and covered with s a l t and malt vinegar. They may, on occasion, bedipped in tomato sauce (ketchup) or even smeared in Daddy s sauce (a brown-colored concoction made of fruit and vinegar). But by far the most creativeuse of these delicacies i s to cram them into a buttered bsq) (hamburger bun) andenjoy a chip butty (sandwich). Fish, a t l eas t as i t i s served in Leicestershire, i s battered and deep-fried cod, haddock, or plaice and usually measuresat l e a s t ten to twelve inches in length. That whole lo t can be purchased forabout 1.30 ($2.00).Dare 1 mention faggots? These are bal ls of minced meat mixed with a spicef i l l i n g and covered with gravy. Faggots are consumed e i t h e r with b ^ e d beansor, bet ter s t i l l mushy peassoft, fa t peas ground to a kind of lumpy paste.

And how about black or blood pudding? There's a f lavor the people at Royalhave yet to develop. Blood pudding is , in fact, what i t s name implies. I t i smade of blood and f a t jammed into a sausage skin and i s often cut into sl icesa n d f r i e d .Shal l I go on? Actual ly I l l f i n i s h with the b e s t t r i f l e . This i s ad e s s e r t which no s e l f - r e s p e c t i n g b u f f e t or dinner p a r t y would be without.Trif le i s a layer of cake sodced in jel lo (and sometimes sherry), covered by alayer of vanilla pudding, covered by a layer of fresh whipped cream and thend e c o r a t e d w i t h c h o c o l a t e b i t s o r f r u i t .I f you haven't guessed by now, Britain i s re po rted to have one of thehighest heart disease rates in the world. With a d i e t l ike t h i s one canunderstand why. On the other hand, I must confess to enjoying most of thefoods I've described. There are many more (most much healthier), and althougjiI do make the odd tr ip to Leicester's McDonalds, I find that, on th e whole,Brit ish food i s to use a Brit ish expression, lovely . BOB H BTM N


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WIGSTON REPORTCh ris tm a s Jo y

Bob and Sue Har tmanKari and hristopher

fe ^ The Chr is tmas season was f i l l e dt mli kk with joy for us personally and forli congregation It began in lateNovember when Tim Ske t ch l ey was

bap t i zed . He has been a t t end ingevening se rv ice for over a year

and ha s accompan i ed us on th e l^ guitar. he has also done some

Bib le s t udy wi th Bob and has beenJ a t t e n d i n g th e Wednesday n i g h t.^Sk Growth Group

Bob and Sue Har tman ea r l y December we had ourKari and Christopher hristmas Harvest service whentoys , books and games are col lec ted

from the ch i ld ren and given to a l o ca l hosp i t a l . This year we also saw apantomime of Je sus parab le of the G rea t Feas t which fea tured our youngt een group. We had the usua l Chris tmas caro l ing and par t ies . This yearKari s school caroled fo r a local home for the mentally disabled.

Chris had some breath ing problems but we are thankfu l tha t h is ches t x-rays were c l ea r and t ha t it n ev er p ro g re ss ed i n to an a t t a ck .On Dec. 21s t we had our c ar ol s er vic e and th e Sunday School ch i ld rendid a nat iv i ty play. This year Mary and Joseph actual ly got married as somany of the ch i ld ren were qu i t e young and we wanted to fill in the de ta i l sto help t h e i r unders tanding. Kari was an angel and Chris a wise man.We had a Chris tmas Eve c a nd le li gh t s er vi ce where Bob and Mike Bennettspoke. ob also preached at the vi l l age Christmas morning serv ice .Alan and Rene Robinson hosted a Church New Year s Eve party which went

wellWe had a few vis i tors and contacts vis i t the specia l services this yearand a t l e a s t one has come s ince January.We a l so passed ou t church Chr i s tmas ca rd s (one thousand) to a newhousing es ta te in the vil lage and then to houses which various people passby regular ly. We hope to continue leaf le t t ing these houses during 1987.On a more pe r sona l l e v e l , we had a l ove ly , bu t busy Chr i s tmas . The

Schade , Dahlman and Rose f ami l i e s s pe nt C hris tm a s Day wi th us as d idPeggie Baker, one of th e widows in the church . The Schades an d Dahlmansthen s tayed on un t i l Saturday . And a l l of th e k ids played and s l e p tn ice ly

Our 1987 Growth Groups began the f i r s t week in January and th i s term wea re s tudy ing Chr i s t i an Marr iage , The Li fe of Jesus and Living asChrist ians in the World. One very exciting thing about this is that Terryand Lauren Fre t t e r are host ing the l a t t e r one in t he i r home Praise Godf o r t h a t con t a c t . SUE


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PLATT BRIDGE REPORTWhen You P r ayed

Th i s is t h e sort o f c o l umn Ilove wr i t i ng . We rece ived November s E pis t le in th is morning spos t it s ea r l y January ; no doubtth e C h r i s tm a s s e as o n s l owe d downthe pos t ) , when our r epo r t wascal led When You Pray . We ra t t l edo ff a list of p raye r re qu es ts fo rvar ious people and needs in th echurch. Now comes the fun par t : tot e l l you how the Lord has answeredsome of your prayers so far .

F i r s t , Gi l l Co l l i e r has s e t t l e d in very we l l in Birmingham, s tudy ingful l - t ime at Spr ingdale Col lege , part-t ime at a local business college,and working ten hours a week in the Springdale off ice . All the reports wegetincluding from herar e f avor ab le . nd her mother, Margaret, cont inues to learn and grow in he r new fa i th . Praise to the Lord.

Next, Janet Riley, as we reported in the l as t Epis t l e , was baptized intoCh r i s t on Oc t ob e r 19 . P r a i s e to th e Lord .Third, our evening service has grown both in i t s energy and attendancenoth ing spec t acu l a r , but the s igns are encourag ing , and two new coupleshave begun attending.

Sad ly , th e teen group has no t endured we l l and we are wonder ing if we should l e t it go . But even here i s a hopefu ls ign : one of the group s more mischievous g i r l s , Caro l , haskep t coming to the evening s e r v i c e seven when t h e re was noteen group to fo llow . She seems suddenly i n t e res t ed . Pleasepray fo r Carol s continued growth, no matter what happens withth e group.

Still more good news. Our church s e c r e t a r y . B i l l Robinson, who wasunder so much pre ssu re a t h is job in Liverpool , found a new pos i t ion witha Manches ter b uild in g firm , where he s t a r t ed in ea r ly January. Incident a l l y , a f t e r giving in h is n ot ic e, most of h is col leagues to ld him inpr iva te how much he would be missed. He had had an obvious e f f e c t on th epeople of his former job. For that and his new and be t te r job, praise tothe Lord.

also asked you to pray for several needs which surround our leavingP l a t t Bridge. We still need to s e l l the house , but on the o the r end,various poss ib i l i t i e s of future work seem to be slowly emerging. nd theneed fo r a new minis te r fo r the church here i s becoming a focus of thecongrega t ion s prayer l i f e , so the e lder s hope it not only br ings a newminister but also a new v i t a l i ty to the church s sp i r i t u a l l i fe . Praiseto th e Lord . JIM

Melissa and Jim DahlmanSarah


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I f you aire a f a i t h f u l r e a d e r o f t h e E p i s t l e and no o t h e r n e w s l e t t e rfrom England it might be easy to think t h a t very l i t t l e else i s going oni n t h i s c o u n t r y among t h e C h u r c h e s o f C h r i s t . T h a twould be a f a l s e i m p r e s s i o n and one which I would l i k et o h e l p c o r r e c t now. The B r i t i s h s i t u a t i o n i s stillvery much dependent upon o uts id e h elp but t h a t p i c t u r ei s c h a n g i n g all t h e t i m e . F o r i n s t a n c e a mere f i v ey e a r s ago t h e number o f B r i t i s h m i n i s t e r s c o u l d becounted on one hand . Today when t h e m i n i s t e r s g e tt og e th e r f or a f r a t e r n a l you d o n t h e a r n e a r as manyAmerican accents . Or perhaps it would be b e t t e r t o saythat t h e ritisha c c e n t is much m o r e noticeable Inf a c t one B r i t i s h m i n i s t e r i s now lay in g the groundworkf o r th e s t a r t i n g o f a new church.

And t h e n t h e r e i s t h e B i b l e C o l l e g e S p r i n g d a l e . Under t h e c a p a b l ed i r e c t i o n o f Dr. R o b e r t W e t z e l t h e c o l l e g e h a s gone f r o m s t r e n g t h t os t r e n g t h . A number of young p e o p l e have come forward t o be t r a in e d i nf a i t h t h a t when t h e y g r a d u a t e t h e r e w i l l be a c h u r c h who can s u p p o r tt h e m . I am c o n v i n c e d t h a t God will h o n o r s u c h f a i t h .The goal of se lf suppor t ing B r i t i s h churches i s s t i l l some time offperhaps even t h e t u r n of the c e n t u r y . It w i l l no t be an easy road towalk. But we a r e conf ident t h a t God wants a s t r o n g church i n B r i t a i n andwe look forward to the day when we w i l l see t h a t prayer answered.Of c o u r s e your p a r t i n t h i s has been h e l p f u l and n e c e s s a r y . For t h ed o l l a r s you have s e n t the p r a y e r s you have o f f e r e d up th e concern youhave shown we want to say TH NK TOO URT NORDHESIM

Jpiatle m20 0 E Jette ison

Ji m S Melissa Dahlman4 Ruskin C r e sc e n tAbttm Wigant i n e s . IVW2 5P X

Dick S Yvonne Stitt21 Duko StreetM c e i t h l n - F u m e ssCumbria LAIS 7A 0

ftts A J a n Bowen25 Oxford R o a dWest Broimrich. SandwellWest Mid lands

Den S Amy Vtunell101 R e ds tone C los eChurch HUI NorthRadditch. MtorcsBSaSMF

IL 6IS71

Bo b S Su e Hartman4 6 A s h bo u m e R o a dWIgsUn LeicesterLE 8 IF E

Jane t Balnes3 Edward St .HInckloy LE10 ODHLEtO 1RB

Curt a Linda Nordhie lm13 St . J a m e s ParkTunbridge WellsKent T NI 2LQ

Gail B u m s i Rita Id e20 Cutverdon P a r k R o a dTitnbridffe WellsKent TN 4 9C V

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTS:Mr S Mrs. B .C Notdhielm20 0 E JeMersoaWashington. IL 81571USA

M i s s i o n S e r v i c e sP 0 Box 2 4 2 7K n o x v i l l e TN 37901

BULK RAU.S. POST

PAIDPERMIT NO

WASHINGTON

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED


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FURNESS REPORT AMderStrategyu reminded often of ways in

M^>9II9h H which od uses our troublesour9 sufferingsto teach us.From our d i f f i cu l t i e s in f ind ingHI ^ home here came the strategy forgrowth we are put t ing in to e f fec t .\ , v houses are available, none

^ af fordable for us in Kirkby. In' jpltm July we m de an offer on a house inAskam- in -Fumess some f i ve mi le srv-^i I o* ** f rom th e chu r c h i n K i r k b y - i n -Dick and Yvonne Stitt Fumess . Fumess , pronounced l ike

furnace, i s from an ancient Roman word fo r pennisula.)Not f a r f ive miles? Psycho log ica l ly yes in an area o f sma l lv i l l ages which are qu i t e paroch ia l . An ea r ly Sep tembe r occupancy wasagreed and we shoehorned ourselves in to a holiday mobile home to wait .The occupancy date got l a t e r and l a t e r in to October. In tha t month, a

house in Kirkby, only hal f -a -mi le from the church became avai lable , thouglat a higher price. I t needed a lo t of work and was admittedly appealingemotional ly . I t was bu i l t in 1611 and fu l l of authentic charac ter .We agonized about and sought advice on the witness e f fec t ofwithdrawing our of f e r to the people in Askam; l ega l ly the re i s nocommitment here un t i l con t r ac t s are exchanged a t o r about the t ime ofoccupancy. Unt i l then , e i the r party can withdraw. Our s e l l e r hadconsidered withdrawing as h is bui lder got l a t e r and l a te r .But we a l so d id our sums*, as e l d e r Fred Clamp i t t c a l l s it t i sunlikely tha t we could build a v ia ble , s el f- suppor ti ng congregation fromth e twe lve hundred o r so f o l k who a re s c a t t e r e d ac ross Ki rkby wi th itsfou r chu rche s . But what about pa s t o r a l ca re? A c lo se look a t th emembership was s t a r t l i ng : t he se fo lk l i ve in Kirkby , Dalton, Askam andUlvers ton . Askam i s be t t e r lo ca ted to reach them than Kirkby. That was ape r suas ive pas to r a l answer . We moved to Askam i n l a t e October with a newchu r ch -bu i l d i ng s t r a t e g y .

Kirkby i s to become a p lant ing church in an e f fo r t to revive parts ofthe o ld Church of C hris t d i s t r i c t . Most vi l lages around had Churches ofChr i s t a t one t ime . We w i l l start th e p roces s by weekly home growthgroups B ib le s tu dy and f el lo w sh ip in each v i l l a g e wi th a l l jo in in g inworsh ip a t Kirkby on Sundays. Su f f i c i e n t growth in fu tu re years couldl ead to t r an sp l an t i ng Dal ton house groups fo r example i n t o a Dal tonchurch . Dick w i l l l ead e ac h g ro up bu t on ly if a l e ade r in t r a in in g iscommitted from the f i r s t meeting.

Happ i l y we bap t i z ed f i v e i n December : two men i n t h e i r f o r t i e s as e ven te en y ea r o ld and two e le ve n y ea r o ld l a d s . I n t e r e s t i n g l y one i sfrom Kirkby; four are from Ulvers ton . DICK TVO fi


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TUNBRIDGE WELLS REPORT F o u n d a t i o n sSince the last t i m e we h a d a n

Schoo l and c lub c h i l d r e n have done sponsored walk fo r th e Help the Handicapped Hol iday Fund, t ou red^ Gatwick airport, begun a drama clubcho i r (The Warblers) , p rac t i c edh o u r s and h o u r s for t h e children sChris tmas program a t the church anda t r e t i r emen t home, ca ro l ed i nt h e t own center for t h e Save t h e

^ . o - x M _ii. I Chi ld ren Fund, taken pa r t in th eCurt Linda DonnettaNordheilm Carol Service and enjoyed severalGail Burns Rita Idle pa r t i e s . A l o t o f a c t i v i t i e s fo r

N ov em be r an d De c emb e r . B u t notactivities for activities s a k e .Do you know how whispers of an i dea or a t hought ramb le s around yourmind but you just don t realize i t unt i l a ll of a sudden you find yourself

mouthing th e words of the cu lmina t ion of those thoughts? I was a t acommittee meeting in Birmingham and was chat t ing w ith f rie nd s afterwardswhen out came a Culmination of Thoughts

I n e s s ence it was : ou r youth activities a reno t j u s t fo r a c t i v i t i e s sake , bu t a way ofbe ing with t h ese ch i l d r en who have no o t h e rCh r i s t i a n i n f l uence . With th e ex cep t io n ofDonne t t a , no t one ch i l d t h a t we work wi t h i sfrom a churched fami ly . Not one has had cont inual inf luence from a close family member whois a Ch r i s t i a n . Th ink a b o u t t h a t f o r a minu t e .We are ta lk ing about over f i f ty chi ldren.

Church-going i s n t a l l t h a t soc i a l l y acceptable in Br i t a in and ourcongregation does not have any young fami l ies within it (not unusual fo rBri t ish churches). We are, qui te l i t e ra l ly , nurturing the next generationthrough these act iv i t ies . In teaching a tt it ud e s, f ac ts , reasonings andresponses to touch th e i r l iv es , to make Je sus Chr i s t r e a l to them and notjust another good guy l ike E.T., Superman, and He-mansomeone they growout of ( t radi t ional ly in B rita in when children reach the age of twelve orth i r teen they drop out of Sunday School; they have outgrown i t ) , weendeavor to con t i nua l l y po in t the ch i l d r en to th e REAL Je sus Chr i s t andpray that they turn where we point . We rea l ize , though, tha t i f they dodecide to become Chr is t i ans , th ey p ro ba bly won t have t h e i r fami l ie ssuppor t , nor , most l i ke l y , t h e i r f r i ends .

Pu ts a whole new ou t look on youth a c t i v i t i e s , doesn t it We need tobe wi t h ou r k id s GAIL


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Cpigtlc from Cnglanb .Al .i ~i .riM-jr.rT..- r.'j A report from ministries challenging apost-Christian nation with the claims of Christ.

iSVOL. 14 NO. 5 MARCH 1987

Relat:ively speaking, Tunbridge Wells is a new town. Dudley, Lord North


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WIGSTON REPORT

ST i nW Okay so maybe i t sounds corny butmm we fe l t we needed some kind of specijm fic evangelistic goal this year. Not

e i gh t y - s ev en new members , mind you;^ membership of eighty-sevenby th e end o f t h i s yea r . That would

mean adding roughly another threed o z e n memb e r s in t n xt tw lvy months , a goa l t h a t i s no t beyond th eii^Ti 1^^^ . ^^8 realms of possibility. oband Sue Hartman T/ .u X u rea l i zed? A number of th ings . InKan and Christopher conjuctlon with Orrell Battersby I

prepar ing a s e r i e s of evange l i s t i c l e a f l e t s to be dis t r ibu ted around ourcommunity on a monthly bas i s . We a re s t a r t i ng wi th Wigs ton s newes thous ing e s t a t e and a l so in th e ne ighborhoods where ou r people a l r eadyl i ve , with a view to expanding our d i s t r i bu t i on as more volun tee r s comeforward. Alan Rob in son, one of our deacons, and Fred Jennings , one of ournewest and most en thus ias t i c members, are coordinat ing the dis t r ibu t ion .

During the summer there i s also the poss ib i l i t y tha t we wi l l be havinga team of students from Springdale College come and help us v i s i t some ofth e homes we have been l e a f l e t i n g , bo th to d ete rm in e th e e f f ec t i vene s s ofthe l e a f l e t s and to see i f t he re i s any i n t e r e s t in the church. We hopetha t Mike Bennett , our Timothy a t Springdale, wi l l be par t of tha t team.We are also p la nn in g n in e specia l evangel is t ic meetings throughout theyear . Final ly , and most important ly , we are crea t ing a prayer team spec i f i c a l l y fo r evangelism . This team wi l l pray regu lar ly fo r th e convers ion o f i nd iv idua l s whose names have been submit ted by our congregat ion.We need your prayers in th i s mat te r , as wel l . As John Wesley sa i d , Goddoes noth ing bu t in answer to prayer . So pray fo r us p lease . We want1987 to be a yea r of growth and out reach in the Church of C hr is t inWigston Magna. BOBOTHER FBAYER NEEDS

-Miss Lewie Ty r e l l has r e cen t ly suf f e red a s t r oke .-Pau l Derry and Sonj a J en n in g s a re se r i ou s l y cons ide r ing making ad ec is i o n f o r Ch r i s t .

-Andy Mason leaves fo r a three month t r ip to Ind ia , China and Russiaa t the beginning of March. Please pray fo r a safe t r i p .

-Lynne Conroy i s expect ing her t h i rd ch i ld in March.- T ho s e o f o u r membe r s who a r e mar r i e d to n on -C h r i s ti a n s and who mus tco ntin ue to w itne ss and be pa t i en t . SUE


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PLATT BRIDGE REPORTHi

Melissa and Jim D ah lm anSa rah

GrowingUneasi lyIt sounds s i l l y to t a lk about

growth dur ing an a t tendance s lump,bu t the P la t t Bridge Church seemsto be growing in l ess v i s i b l e ways.Perhaps it i s more accurate to sayt h a t God i s p repa r i ng th e groundfo r more growth . Time wi l l tellbut here are two encouraging s igns .

Our weekly home Bib le group i ss tudy ing the Cor in th i an l e t t e r s ,

and many of th e i s s u e s which Pau l r a i s ed a re on th e minds o f ou r newerChr i s t i an s . But the rea l encouragement i s t ha t a couple of them had thechance to pu t th e letter i n to p ra c t i c e . There was a s eve re misunderstanding between the two of them which could have driven one or both awayfrom the church. But by honest ta lk ing, par t ly with the e lders help , theproblems were resolved and the two remain good f r iends. The Bible provedno t only insp i ra t iona l , but also prac t ica l . Towards the end of the reconc i l i a t i on process , one of the pa r t i e s sa id chee r fu l ly , I f e e l l i ke wethe church) have rea l ly grown th i s week.

Also in J anua ry , a ma rr ie d c ou ple who had begun v i s i t i ng o ur e ve nin gse rv ices a lmos t s t a r t ed d ivo rce p roceed ings . B i t t e rness and r e c r im i n a t i on r u l ed th e day and some l a t en igh t s ) . few of ou r church members knew what washappen ing , and even though Mel i s s a and I s p en t manyhour s w ith th e coup le , we a l l felt he l p l e s s as wewatched a marriage hu r t l e towards des t ruc t ion . Thosewho knew th e s i t u a t i o n prayed s pe c i f i c a l l y fo r our

f r i ends marr iage , and the whole church was asked to pray fo r t h e i rneeds . And j u s t as it seemed to pass the po in t of no r e tu rn , the couplephoned to say they had decided to t r y again . Apologies and confe ss ionswere of fe red and suddenly the marriage was a l ive . No human e f fo r t couldbe cred i ted . must bel ieve tha t od s imply answered our prayers. Lesson:even when our be s t e f f o r t s l ook s e t to fail God can still work wi thf a i t h - f i l l ed prayer . Seeing od answer prayer so dramatical ly has encouraged th e f a i t h of many, and reminded us of how we l l he works . ( I j u s twonder why we have to keep learning tha t over and o ver again.)

Janua ry ended much happ i e r t han seemed pos s i b l e a t its start Godt aught us much through th i s d i f f i c u l t t ime , and I am more convinced thanever , by Scr ip ture and exper i ence , t ha t it i s in uneasy s i t ua t ions t ha t het eaches us bes t what fa i th is a l l about . It i s our bes t s o i l fo r growing.

J IM


10/36

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J fT) S MbIis sb Dah lman4 Hu kin CiesceniAtram. WiganLanes. WNZ 5PX

Dick S Yvonne Slil l21 Duke StreetAskam-ln-Fume sCumbria LAJS 7A0

Pete i J an Benen25 Otfon) BaaoWes Bmmwich. SandwellW s UMilanJs

Dan S Amy YainellW1 f leOstone CloseChutcn Hill NorthReddltch. WtorCJ.B9 e 9A F

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S Sue Hartman46 AshOoarne RoadWigston. LeicesterL6 IF E

J a n e t B a i n es3 Ed-a rd St .Hmckley, LEW ODHLEIO IR B

Cun S LinOa Nordnie lmt3 St James ParkTurtbndge WellsKen t TN t 2LG

Gai l Burns S Rita Id a20 Cu lv er d on P a r k R o tTunbridge WellsKent TNI 9Q Y

AMERICAN CORRESPONDENTS:Mr. 5 Mrs. B. C. Nordtiielm20 0 E. Je e r sonWasmngton. IL 61571

JOY irBeing in the minis t ry can give

you a real l ook i n t o th e t o rme n t o fpeoples l ives . J u s t before Chr i s tmas a young la d I know t r i e d tocommit su i c i d e . His t h ree yea rrelat ionship with h is gi r l f r iend hadfa l len apar t . He doesn' t bel ieve inGod and so shar ing with him the loveand heal ing God brings seems to f a l lon d e a f ears The a ch e inside h imand th e loa th ing he f ee l s fo r himse l f is hear t-breaking.Then a t the end of January ayoung mother suf fe r ing severe headaches se t her house on f i re to get

r id of her problems. She bel ieves in God but hasn 't learned to submit tohim. She has spent a few days in prison, has been in and out of court andi s desperate fo r help. At present she is s taying with me on ba l l un t i lshe goes to court. The church has really been able to encourage and helpand t h i s has been a r e a l wi tness to he r and he r husband.The brother of two of our members put h imse lf in to psychiat r ic care.e was seeing people that no one else could see. After mu h counsellingand prayer, he found that Jesus could free him from h is o ccultic past.Jesus did and Alan i s to be baptized. REJOICE Adraist the torm ent we seethat Jesus can act to bring the new l i fe he promises. Please be in prayerfo r these people and our minis try to them. JANET

Mi ssi on ervicesP 0 Box 2427Knoxv i l l e TN 37901

BUL K RATBU.S. POSTAG

PAIDPERMIT NO .

WASHINGTON. IL

ADDRESS CORRECTTION REQUESTED


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F U RN E S S REPORTRes is tan ceToChange

I n s u l a r i t y , s e t - a pa r t ne s s andV k jf V ownership of the Lord s church byIr commendable trait of persever-an ce se em all t o o often t o charac

terize the British Ch u r c h e s o fi i 7 r P ^ / ChristiW. / i While an American ministerialJ S: L l couple can at one and the same timec ommend t h e leaders o f t h e r em -Dlck and Yvonne stitt nant churches fo r th eir fa ith fu lness an d c h i d e them fo r t h e i r p a r ochialism a deeply-ingrained resistance to change ca n frustrate perhaps

e v e n prevent , any m ea nin gfu l c hu rc h g ro wth .These fa c t ors seem a l l the more entrenched in th is r ela tiv ely remoter e g i o n of Engl and. Andrew Parish and h is w i f e E d i t h have been an d a rep i l l a r s o f th e c h u r c h . Andrew now s ix ty- f ive , ha s been c h u r c hsecre ta ry , t r ad i t iona l ly th e most p o w e r f u l posi t ion , fo r more t h a n fo r tyy e a r s . I t i s more than a r e a so n a b l e a s s u m p t i o n to s a y t ha t w i t h o u t t he i rday-to-day commitmentand act i ont he Kirkby Church o f C hri st would longs i n c e ha v e c l o s e d its d o o r s .

The apost le P aul c l a i m s tha t p e r s e v e r a n c e in th e fa i th b r i n g sc ha ra c t e r. In s i n g u l a r de vot i on to a church i t can bri ng an in ter v en in gp r id e as w e l l as a sense of propri e t orshi p. This is so when the lead in gfami ly can t race i t s e l f back to th e foundi ng o f th e church one hundr e dan d sixty years ago. E d i t h Tyson P a r i s h is a s t r o n g daughter o f R ic har dTyson l e a d e r w i t h h is b r o t h e r o f th e church fo r many y ears b efo re s o n -i n- l a w Andrew became s e c r e t a r y . Most l o ng -t i m er s i n Kirkby s t i l l know th echurch as Tyson s Chapel . Such perseverance can bri ng entrenchment. Wehear a t one and the same t ime highly vocal commitment to church growth ande qua l l y v i g o r o u s res is tance to changes tha t w il l make it p o s s i b l e .When such long t i m e lead er sh ip is perceived as a l oof ne ss as w e l l i t isg o i n g to t ake t im e to b e c o m e much l e s s b e seen , a s a car ing church . Iti s a s t on i sh i ng to u s t h a t wh i l e m o s t of th e c o r e o f th e m e m b e r s h a v eb een to ge th er fo r t h i r ty years o r more many h av e n e v e r b een in e a c hother s hom es. They have little contac t b e t w e e n Sundays. When D i c k smother died tw o days after Christmas expressions o f sympathy came frommany o u t s i d e o f Kirkby. I n Kirkby one elev e n y ear o l d bo y e x p r e sse d h isc o n c e r n . H is l o v e f o r u s was all t h e more memo r a b l e b e c a u s e h e was th eonly one ap ar t from Andrew s vis i t , f ro m K ir kb y to show sympathy.I t n e e d s to be e m p h a s i z e d : s t rong co m m i t m en t to th e c h ur c h ev en if

r ig id , is fa r , fa r be t t e r th an th e prevai l ing soc ia l s e n s e o f noc o m m i t D e n t a t all D I C K YVONNE


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RE D D I T CH R E P O R T ENCOURAGEDjBfpQPHjjjjjjjj^^ must get the impression that all we

a re fac in g are prob lems . t i s nos m a l l e x a g g e r a t i o n t h a t our w o r kjF 1 entails much time with d i f f i c u lf s i t u a t i o n s and r e si st a n t peoplebut w e c nnot fford to overlook

^ contribution of those who are iv n usatim to refle t upon

L to R Amy, Joshua Dan and f f through his Holyn r^ V S p i r i t t h i s past year and what hDavid YarnGll continues to do through those whare g r o w i n g in C hr is t . L e t me share a few e x a m p l e s with you.

L o re t t a King i s o u r c h u r c h sec re t a ry . She i s also a c o n v e r t e d J e w e s sH er family h as ra re ly b e e n suppor t ive o f her in l i f e and espec ia l ly wheshe b e c a m e a C h r i s t i a n tw o y e a r s a g o . H e r h u s b a n d Dave and o l d e sd a u g h t e r R a c h a e l h a v e b o t h become Chris t ians due to h er in flu en ce . Theco n t i n u e to h a v e t h e i r s t r u g g l e s e s p e c i a l l y D a v e b u t God has b ro u g ht h e m a l o n g way in t h e i r f a i t h . T hey a re an e n c o u r a g e m e n t to u s in o uwork. Let t ie i s a so l id e n c o u r a g e m e n t f o r us and we a r e gra t e fu l fo r h e r

Peter o u r d e a c o n i s a s ing le man in h is l a t e twent i e s . He grew up aa C h ris ti an b e li ev e r h is fa th e r b e i n g a minis ter and evangel is t . He h ab e e n b o th a f r i en d an d an en co u rag e r to u s when th e d i f f i c u l t i e s h a vcome. He h a s faced a new jo b c h a n g e a l o s s of h is b ro t h e r throughs u i c i d e a n d many o t h e r c ha nge s ; b u t h is l ove fo r C h r i s t and h isconsis tency h a s offered u s i nsp i ra t ion .My l a s t e x a m p l e i s Tony R a n d a l l . A f t e r having i n i t i a t e d th e ch u rch

h is w if e l e f t h im and he s tepped down from c h u r c h l e a d e r sh i p . He a l sof e l l way fro m C h r i s t . However h e ha s come back to Chr i s t an d c o n t i n u eto f a c e t h e s t rugg les o f b e i n g a s in g le p a ren t . H e s come a l o n g way fromhis t e e n days as a drug a d d i c t an d h i p p i e . He h as a l o n g way to go in h ip i l g r i m m a g e . B ut he is a good f r i en d a l w a y s w i l l i n g to l i s t e n and s u pp o r t u s in o u r w o r k .We co n t i n u e to f ace th e d i f f i c u l t i e s o f m i n i s t r y . B u t w i t h t h e s

p r e c i o u s g i f t s fro m God to of fe r us e n c o u r a g e m e n t an d hope a l o n g w i t hh e l p i n g hand i n o u r work we p r e s s o n.Please p r a y wi th u s in t h a n k s fo r these l i v e s and p r a y fo r them as t h e

cont inue in t h e i r walk of fa i th and growth in C hr is t . D


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Cptsitle {torn Cnglanb A report from ministr ies challenging apost-Christian nation with th e claims of Christ.

VOL. 14 NO . 6 A P R I L 1987

IS ITm um 22 CENTSThe b a n e of any news le t t e r must be th e c o n s t a n t need fo r u pd atin g th e

m a i l i n g l i s t . T h i s i s espec ia l ly t rue in o u r c a s e s ince we h a ve so manyd i f fe ren t ministr ies r e p o r t i n g . Ou r m a i l i n g l i s t c o n t a i n s o v e r th i r teenh u n d r e d n a m e s and we s e n d ou t nea r l y e igh teen h u n d r e d cop ie s eve rymonth. D e sp i t e c o n s t a n t at tent ion , t h e l i s t i s n e v e r c o m p l e t e l y u p - t o -d a t e .

Indeed, this problem i s going t o be great ly e x a sp e r a t e d in th e n e a rf u t u r e by th e d e p a r t u r e o f th e DAHLMAN s and NORDHIELM s. F or i n s t a n c e ,when th e Dahlman s jo in ed th e Epis t le they brought wi t h them a l i s t ofp e o p l e who w a n t e d to rece ive th e Epi s t l e . B ut now t ha t t h e y arel eaving , i s t f a i r j u s t to dele te a l l of t h e s e names from t h e l i s t ?Hopefully those v/ho s t a r t e d reading because of their in terest in Jim andMel is sa , h a v e no w become i n t e re s t ed in th e o the r min i s t r i e s . Ju s t tota k e e v ery name o ff th e l i s t whi ch th e Dahlman s added might a l iena tethose who are genuinely in teres ted in th e f ie ld o f England.

YOUR COMMITMENT TO USSo, w h a t do we do? Afte r a grea t d e a l o fthought, we have decided to adopt a method which is being increasinglyused by those who send out newsletter s. This i s not an attempt to makeanyone s t o p re c ei v in g th e Epis t le . I f you genuinely want i t , we genuine ly w a n t you to rece ive i t . I n th i s i s sue t he re i s a form fo r you tof i l l out and r etu r n to o ur American Correspondents address on the back)i f you w a n t t o c o nti n ue to rece ive i t . Or, even be t t e r , cu t o ff th eaddress l abe l , t ap e t t o th e form an d r e t u r n i t . This a p p l i e s only t oi nd iv idua l s who r ece ive the Ep i s t l e in the m a i l ; I t d o e s no t a p p l y toc h u r c h e s, a ge nc ie s, B ib le Colleges o r i n d i v i d u a l s who r e c e i ve the i r copya t t h e i r c h u r c h . Nor d o e s t a p p l y to any fo re ign add ress . L ik ew ise ,fo r those o f you who j u s t r ece ived a persona l l e t t e r fr o m R o g erE d r i n g t o n and responded by sending back the form, yo u do not need torespond.) I f yo u do no t want i t an y more, t here is no need to r e t u r n th eform. Because th i s i s a ne w procedure, we wil l no t d e l e t e anyone s nameunt i l mid-June. (By t h a t t ime, both the Dahlman s and Nordhielm s wil lhave conc luded t h e i r min i s t r i e s . There w i l l a r eminde r in th e nex ti s sue of th e Ep i s t l e . We a re so r ry we h a v e h ad t o a d o p t t h i s procedure, but t ig h t finances have made i t necessary. I t costs 140/monthto s end th e Epis t le and we have t p r i n t e d f r e e o f charge to us as

C o n t . on l a s t page)


14/36

WIGSTON REPORTNewsy ITews

E This month we decided t ha tM fc i we would deal with a lo t ofWf r9ll^m little happenings. We have^ had two baptisms recently. InJanuary ALAN was bapt ized and

F e b r u a r y . Alan h as b eenH 1^ attending for about a year andBWjt T K5I plays the guitar at oure ve n i ng s e r v i c e s . He i s inUTIWawTi his mid-fifties. Sonja has

Bob and Sue Hartman been attending for about twoKari and Christopher years and plays the flute forour s i n g i n g group. Both ofthem attend one of our Growth Groups. Sonja ha s also been attending

our young teen group s ince i t s incept ion th i s past autumn.We said goodbye, temporari ly, to ANDY on March 1. Andy has l e f tfor a three month vis i t of some third world countries, which includeIndia and C hi na. He feels drawn to a future calling in overseas workand we hope that this vis i t will help him to clarify how and when he

should begin.On a more personal level we have jus t enjoyed a two week v i s i twith TIM and DIANA HARTMAN BOB s brother and s is ter in law. t wasgreat to be able to take them around the country and i t was nice forour folk as they were able to pa r t i c ipa te in the se rv ices on theSunday they were here. They also attended Sonja s baptism and thete h e l d a f t e r w a r d s .KARI has her f i r s t wobbly tooth and is anxiously awaiting i t sdeparture. She keeps asking i f there is a tooth fairy )I ve begun helping with the cooking at Kari*s school. Onal ternate Fridays I teach four six year olds how to make cupcakes.t i s a nice way to meet th e tea ch ers and Kari s c la ssmat es . And itis especially nice because CHRIS has been invited to spend my cookingt ime in the f i r s t year c lass which he w i l l be in next autumn.

LEWIS and KERRY a re to be m a r r i e d l a t e r t h i s month and we wouldask you to keep them in your prayers. Their courtship has not been asmooth one as they are the f i r s t of our young adul t s to form aserious commitment and they had many facets of their relationship towork out. Lewis* parents divorced when he was quite young and so hehas no memories of a two-parent family and they are pl an ni ng to begina family fairly soon. Kerry has not yet made a commitment to Christ,but she has regularly attended the evening services and a GrowthGroup since they began dat ing. SUE


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PL TT RIDGE REPORT Walking thc Strccts5 sight of barbed wire jolts^SsHSv ~ ^ ^ turn off Millers Lane andhead down Ribble Road, a windings t r e e t which cu ts through the hear t of one of th e l a r ge s t and mostr . ^ troubled of Wigan s council es-I^B The fence surrounds a

bu i l d i ng which con t a i ned fl ts(apartments) un t i l it was torched aMelissa and Jim Dahlman couple of years ago Now the coun-q__QU c i l is turning i t into an areaof f i ce fo r P la t t Bridge, but un t i lthe work i s finished, high fences with c urle d barbed wire and patrol l ing

guard dogs give the place a pr ison camp fee l . Vacant looks in many r e s idents ' eyes only makes it worse.Our smal l chapel i s on the border of the M i l le rs Lane Esta te , whereunemployment i s o f f i c i a l l y th i r ty-seven percent , but l oca l wisdom doublest h a t f igure . The Government has pumped 2.5 ($3.75) m il l io n in to th ees t a t e fo r long-overdue improvements , and much of the work wi l l be done bylocals (including David Campbell, one of our members, who wil l work as asecu r i t y guard) . The a r ch i t e c t s p lans look good and people have highhopes fo r the renaissance of the es t a t e .At th e same t im e , th ere i s an u ne as in es s: f o lk seem to s ense t h a t th e

es ta te s problems wi l l not be over when the l a s t coa t of pa in t i s dry.They i ns t inc t ive ly know t h a t the problems run deeper than any saw can cut .Many fear tha t today's improvements may jus t be new t a rge ts of vandal ismand thef t . They would not say it th i s way, but the problem i s a sp i r i t ua lone. As one man s a i d , I t s not on ly th e roo f s t h a t need f ix in* ; it st h em th t live u n d e r em .So the church still has a lo t of work to do to br ing the gospe l todarkest Pla t t Bridge. But the one necessary s tep in the r ig h t d ir ec tio n i sprayer . So ( s t e a l i ng an i d ea from the l o c a l Angl ican church) , we arebeginning a p ra ye r c yc le fo r Pla t t Bridge. Each week, we wi l l p r^ fo r twos t ree t s in the vi l lage and some of us wi l l walk down those s t ree t s , ta lking with the people who l ive there and simply le t t ing them know we care.But more s ign i f i can t ly , we think God wi l l work to br ing the gospel ofreconci l ia t ion and hope to the people of our community. Please join us inprayer fo r P la t t Bridge. JIM

Four th-Comine News: EMILY R H EL D HLM N was bom on March 6,a l l 8 l b s . , 7 oz. of her . All a re hea l thy , and Sarah adores he rlittle s i s t e r . Rejo ice and thank God with us

JIM, MELISSA AND SASAE


16/36

(Con t . from f ront page)a minis t ry by a f r i end . I f youwould l ike to help with thef inances , your g i f t would begra t e fu l ly rece ived . )

ODR CaoaTMENT TO YODInl i gh t o f the f a c t t ha t youwi l l now, in e f fec t , be subscr ibing ( a lbe i t f ree) to theEpis t l e , we are going to makeevery e f fo r t to keep the qua li ty of the newsle tte r h igh .Some o f o u r r e a d e r s h a v e commented t ha t they th ink we haveon e o f t h e b es t n ew s le t t e r s .We wan t t o make ev en betterEd i to r (Dan Yarnel l )compu te r

PLEASE RETURN Y JUNE 15, 1987NAME

ADDRESS

TOWN

STATE Z IP CODE

For the Ju ly is sue there wi l l be a newand we hope a new format produced by an exc i t ing

sof tware developmentdesktop publ ish ing . This wi l l allow agrea ter degree of f l ex ib i l i t y and should help improve our qual i ty .We thank you fo r your t ime and ask t h a t if you des i r e to cont inue to

re ce iv e th e Epis t l e t ha t you fill ou t the form now and re tu rn it EDITORMichael Green, speak ing of the denia l of God s judgment, sa id :Today, in many c i rc l e s the quest ion i s not so much tha t ofca l l i ng the prodigal home as o f t ry ing to make him comfortablein h is pigs ty , whi l s t he remains still fa r away from home andcu t o ff from the only person who rea l ly loves and cares .

^rrtsille horn^ 2 E MlenonrWashin^ 61571Jim S UoUas* OalUman4 Ruskin CmsconIAbrsm, WiganLanes, me SPX

Dick S Yvonne Stit t21 Ouko Stmo tAskam- in^umesaCumbria LAIS 7AD

PatB S J an Botmn25 Oxtord RoadWbslBmmwich, Sandwellmst MkUamSt

Dan t Amy Vkmel l101 RedsMia CloseChurch Hill NorthRaOditch. Htoics.B3B9AF

3If

Bob & Su e Har tman46 Ashboumo RoadWigston, LeicestorLEB 1FE

J ane t Baines3 EOward St .Hinckley, LE100DHLEIO 1RB

Cult a Linda Nordhieim13 St . James ParkTunbridge WellsKent TNI 2L 0

Gai l Bums a Rita Id e20 Culverdon Pa rk Ro adTunbridge WailsKe nt TN4 9 0 y

AMERICAN (XRRESPONDENTS:Mr. S Mrs. B. C Nordhieim20 0 E. JeffersonWashington, IL 61571USA

i i BS io n S e r Vi c;e sP Box 2427i


17/36

TUNBRIDGE WELLS REPORT Founda t i o n a lis h a r d t o believe th t inBr^iHP6 y, just over three months nine ye rs

of minist ry in England wi l l come to3 c l o s e . L ind a and 1 have been i n: England s ince I graduated fromSeminary . We have seen our twochi ldren born here and as they werecut t ing t he i r t ee th I was cu t t ing

tee th in the minis try .over those nine

years o f min i s t ry I see qu i t e aCurt Nordheilm number o f changesboth in the

Gall Burns churches I know best and in myself.Allow me to share with you three ofthose changes.When we arrived in England, the Churches of Chris t were in the midst ofa heated debate ov er whether th ey should jo in th e United Reform Church.Some decided not to and from a small group of about twenty churches, theFellowship of Churches of Christ was formed. Very small beginnings andto th is day we remain small . I t wil l take at l eas t a generat ion befor e webegin to see any dramatic change in the picture. But I am glad that I was

in on the foundat ion-bui ld ing. Such work i s hard work, but necessarywork. Hopefully, one day, there wil l be a grand and glorious bui lding ontha t foundation which gives glory to God.More spec i f ica l ly here in Tunbridge Wells, foundation-building wasalso necessary. Both the church and the building had ro t at their bases.The rot in the church building took a year to correct and now the buildingis warm, comfortable and inviting. The ro t in the church has taken longerto co r rec t but I bel i eve we now have a s t rong bas i s upon which to grow.Would you please pray tha t t he congregat ion find someone to replace me sotha t the church can grow in strength.And what of me? People never remain the same (thank God that he does)and tha t is par t i cu la r ly t rue of those who l ive in a foreign cul ture . Idesperately want to bring back in my luggage some of the positive aspectsof both the Brit ish culture (l ike time for family and friends) and of theBr i t i sh express ion of Ch r is ti an it y l ik e communion). (There are someaspects tha t I w i ll d efin ite ly leave behind )On th e day we l e ave I am s u r e t h a t I w i l l have mixed emo t ions . twi l l be hard to leave a country and people I love , but tha t sadness wi l lnot be pure for I wi l l be eager to re turn to my roo ts my f i r s t home andto a new minis t ry . For the ch i l d ren however, they wi l l no t be goinghome , but to a foreign culture where they too will change and grow.


18/36

REDDITCH REPORT Hope vrHapdcss? inter has f ina l ly breathed i t s l as tjBpji^SHjjjM cold breath and spring is on the wayweather people t e l l us). With comes a s i g h o f r e l i e f a r a y o fi ope nd n expect tion of new ndmelted the dark clouds are broken by

^ shafts of light nd the flowers ofJu s t as In nature so i n t h e l i ve s

- f of most people, the feelings of lethar-hopelessness are being transformedLtoR)m, D.aa s n s i lDavid Yarnell already experiencing the foretaste oft h i s miracle i n a v a r i e t y of ways.One f am il y a wa it s tiie birth of their second child their f i r s t died just over ayear ago . Some s tr ai ne d r el at io ns hi ps and broken lives ar e being resurrectedinto something new. Hope ha s come.But often diis hope seems short-lived. With so uuch effort and resources beinggiven, does i t not seem that th e reality is that this church, along with most a l lof the churches in Britain and not only the Churches of Christ) are reallyhopeless?

I t is true that with the ministry of Billy Graham, Luis Pallau and a host ofothers, along with a few growing churches in th e UK, the signs of hope ar e evident. But they ar e isolated Incidents and in many w ^s th e situation seems justas h o p e le s s as b e f o r e .There is no denying that along with th e Redditch church, many others in theFellowship of Churches of Christ and other churches as well) have experiencedsome growth. But i t seems so small compared to th e great need around us . Whenth e average attendance is between two and t en p erc en t of t he p op ul at io n, when cu ltgroups, Eastern religions and the oocult occupy a stronger appearance and havebetter support than the church and when materialism and a host of ot he r i de ol ogie sv ie for the place o f God in worship, a ll can seem los tHopeless? I t seems so at times. A Messiah who hung from a tree as a pol i t i c a lprisoner wasn t exactly everybody s id ea of hope either. But he didn t remain onthe cross and th e church does not need to be hopeless. Though i t looks like along cold w in te r, spring is coming. And whether i t be the church in Redditch orwherever i n t h i s world, hope i n th e Chris t, th e Lord of the church wil l never leadto the des pair of winter. There is hope for th e church. The r es ur re c ti on e s ta bl i s h e s i t the church proclaims i t and l ives i t by fai th an d the Holy Spir i tconfirms i t i n w orsh ip a id in t r u t h . D N


19/36

pistk from Cnglanb A report from ministries cliallenging apost-Christian nation with the claims of Christ.

VOL. 14 NO. 7 MAY 1987

C O A L A N D OTTON(EDITOR S NOTE: DESPITE THE IMMINENT DEPARTURE OF THE DAHLMAN S, THOUGHT ITWOULD BE GOOD TO GIVE YOU THIS aiMPSE OF WIGAN.

Here's a question for your U.K. edition of Trivia l Pursuit : Which of thesetowns was largest in the middle ages: Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, orWigan? I f you said Wigan, collect your colored wedgeMost Americans have not even heard of Wigan unless they are rugby fanatics orGeorge 1984 Orwell enthusiasts. (The town has th e world's most famous rugbyleague teamfor whatever that is worthand i t served as Orwell's typical viewof 1930s industrial Britain in his Road to Wigan Pier .) But Wigan has a longand interesting history, star t ing when the Romans buil t an outpost her e on th emain road nor th to Hadrian 's Wall and ca l led it Coccium . The town grewwealthy on brass and pew te r, a lmos t became a spa resor t town (a la TunbridgeWells), but the Industr ia l Revolution ensured Wigan's future as a major coalmining area.In the early 1900s, Wigan town center alone was dotted with seven col l ie r ies .A century ago, Pla t t Bridge and neighboring Abram were t ransformed from sleepyfarming v illa ge s in to a busy coal center: a dozen pits were digging within aone mile radius. This prompted Wigan s Rodney Street Church of Christ, thefo cal point of an area then r ich in Churches of Christ , to send a few of i t sfamilie s to Pla t t Bridge to s t a r t a church. Our church.Cotton was King Coal 's Queen: nor thwest Eng lan d has the per fec t weather(damp) for working the fibre. M ills grew between the mines, and the Leeds-to-Liverpool canal was dug through Wigan to enable American and Asian cotton to beshipped cheaply from Liverpool, and Wigan cannel coal to be shipped back.This canalside exchange point, lined with barges and warehouses, came to beknown as Wigan Pier , a two-edged barb which poked fun at th e seaside resorts 'entertainment piers , such as at nearby Bl^kpool , and also struck at Wigan'scontrast ing ima^ of soot, grime and smokestacks.Even though a lmos t a l l of the mines and mil l s are closed now, the imageremains, largely because of chronic higfi unemployment. But recent developments,such as the award-winning Wigan Pier complex, with i t s l iving heritage museumand tour i s t at tract ionincluding a pub ca l led The Orwel l is a t t r ac t i ngthousands of vis i tors (i nc lu ding th e Queen) and new investment. The economicprospects for the town are the best for a generation.But grea te r p ro sp ects awa it the folk of th is old town were they to investthe i r l ives in him who went to a Roman cross not long before the Romans came toCoccium. JIM DAHLMAN

Please remember that i f you wish to continue to receive the Epis t lea f t e r th i s ed i t i on you must send your name and address to ourAmerican Correspondents by June 15.

o


20/36

WIGSTON REPORT

Bob and Sue HartmanKari and Christopher

9^ 16 LAntof inIn th e i n t r oduc t i on to he r ve ry

i n t e r e s t i ng ana lys i s of contempora ry Ame r i c a n culture a u t h o rFRANCES FITZGERALD d e s c r i b e d S unCi ty , a F lo ri da r et ir em e n t communi t y , in the fo l lowing way: In muchth e same way Sun Ci t i a n s were nowevolving a d i s t inc t cu l tu re a t theo the r end of the age spec t rum.Belong ing to the first gene ra t i onto r each o ld age en masse , in goodhea l t h , and wi th th e r e s ou r c e s tolive i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f t h e i rch i ld ren , they were people fo r whom

soc ie ty had as yet no se t of expectat ions and no vis ion. They were peoplewho had to i nven t , and a long wi th o the r s of t h e i r gene r a t i on , they werec rea t ing a concep t i on of how t h e i r s t age in life shou ld be l ed . Theywere, t ho ug ht , p io ne ers on the f ron t ie r of age.

Pioneers on the f ron t i e r of age. What a s t imula t ing and chal lengingway to de s c r i b e th e p ro ce ss o f growing o ld . r e a l i z e t h a t t h i s i s no tth e expe r i ence o f a l l of Am er ica s e l de r l y , bu t it i s p robab ly f a i r tos ugge s t t h a t an i n c r e a s i ng l y s i g n i f i c a n t p ropo r t i o n do fall i n t o t h i sca tego ry . That i s not th e case in Br i t a i n . Yes, t he r e are some communit i e s , no t ab ly those on the sou th coas t , where one can f ind a h ighe rp ro po rtio n o f o lde r people among th e p op ula tio n. But, by and l a rge , thechanging a t t i tude of Americans toward the aging and i t s consequent benef i tto the aged, has not washed across the Atlant ic . We watch Golden Girlson our t e l ev i s ion sc reens , but it i s most de f in i t e ly an American impor t ,with few e qu iv ale nt s w i th in th is soc ie ty . For fa r too many pensioners ,as they are ca l led here , o ld age i s still an unappe t iz ing menu of lows o c i a l es teem, pover ty , i l l n e s s and l one l i ne s s .

W i th i n th e c h u r ch , th e situation is n o t much better In o u rcongrega t ion , we have left the t r a d i t i o n a l morning se rv i ce l a rge lyunchanged so t h a t our older members might continue to f ee l a t home withour worsh ip . But they know as wel l as our younger members t h a t it i s thevery non - t r ad i t i ona l evening se rv i ce which a t t r a c t s the l a rge r congregat i o n s and w hich h as been th e veh i c l e t h rough which most conve r t s havecome. Some of them r e s e n t t h a t , know, and f e e l th at th e chu rch , a longwi th soc i e ty , has conspi red to l eave them behind.

So what do do? visit them and a t t emp t to invo lve them and encourage othe r members to do the same, but am still l e f t with an uneas inessabou t my i n a b i l i t y to ba l an ce r e s p e c t fo r t h e i r s e cu r i t y and s t a t u s , onthe one hand, with t he cong rega ti on s need to adapt and speak to a rap id lychanging Br i t i sh soc ie ty on the o the r hand. O


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PLATT BRIDGE REPORT TH El^i iA LASTWORD

This i s our l a s t Ep i s t l e artic l e . As s t r ange as t ha t seems, itdoesn t compare with the thought ofleaving our English home on May 20.

We owe you a few statistics ifonly because th ey a re th e first

rv step in evaluating success. When weMelissa and Jim Dahlman arrived in February 982 the aver-Sarah age attendance for morning com

munion was twen t y -n i n e ; now it i sthir ty-four. The evening s t i l l averages twenty-four after some ups anddowns (mostly downs . e have had fif teen baptisms and four people transfer inSome folk may be wondering what we ve been doing a l l th is time. I haveto admit the numbers are not impressive. But they do not show the imposs ib le s i tua t ion : one hundred years of t rad i t iona l church l i f e in a veryt ra d it io n -l ov ing pa rt of Bri ta in ; a congregation which had been s teadi lydeclining for twenty-five years; our being the f i r s t ful l - t ime workers inthe church s h i s to ry (and so young, we now see ) ; the f ie rce loya l ty toold church t ies (main ly Anglican and Roman Catho li c here) , even when peop le do not a t t end ; a depressed community ba t t l i ng hope les sness ; a pagancu l tu re which has re jec ted organized re l igion (part ly t he churches ownf au l t , thinking it useless in the harsh rea l i t i es of l i f e .And the numbers do not show the good news: younger people joining, menjoining, the church re- inst i tut ing elders and deacons, forming the f i r s tbudget, seeing more members get involved in act ive servi ce and evangelism.In shor t , God i s doing the imposs ib le in an imposs ib le s i tuat ion .

Tha nk fu lly th en , numbers beg in bu t do not end the s to ry . We in ourchurch, have grown. S t i l l , it has t aken more than f ive years to see asteady bumper harvest. But we see tha t God sent us here as a groundbreaking min i s t r y , to prepa re fo r fu tu re growth . The fu t u re i s he r e , and sot ime fo r us to move on. But not withou t f i r s t thanking you fo r yourcons t an t suppo r t in p raye r , in funds and in f r i endsh ip p a r t i cu l a r l y toour l iv in g l in k . F i r s t Chr i s t i an Church in Tarpon Spr ings , FL.). And wethank the P l a t t Bridge Church fo r making us par t of t h e i r family. Most ofa l l , we thank God for the pr iv i leges of working here and seeing l iveschanged. May he continue to bless the P la t t Bridge Church of Chr is tandyou. May he be pra ised in a l l . J IM, MELISSA, SARAH AND NEW-BORN RACHAEL

I f you would l ike a f inanc ia l summary of our work, wri te to : KingdomMinis t r ies , 6306 Dogwood Drive South, New Port Richey, FL 33553.)


22/36

WEST ROMWI H REPORT 1nr^vi^ rm v \IS

One o f th e e x c i t i n g t h i n g s tos e e i n th e chu rch i s th e way someof our people are using t h e i r g i f t sto serve God a n d others O uworship is b ein g helped by severao f ou r t e en s who a r e d eve l op i ngt h e i r skills wi th th e gu i t a r . KIM

j X r e g u l a r l y p l a y s in ou r morn ingJ a n and Pe te Bowen wo r s h i p . TONY is an rt c o l l e g eGareth and David student specializing in graphicsHe has put h is t a l en t to use in making pos te rs to adver t i se events andrecent ly produced a smal l church newsle t ter the f i r s t of many we hope He asked fo r a r t i c l e s from o the r s typed it a l l h imse l f and did a l l th ear twork making a very a t t r a c t i ve product . VAL who spen t many year scar ing fo r her e lder ly mother, has a rea l concern fo r old people. AChristmas she organized the d is t r ibu t ion of some food to about fourteenneedy o ld fo lk . Not want ing t h i s to be a Chris tmas only event she hastaken respons ib i l i t y for s tay ing in touch with some of them and fo r co ll ec t i ng food fo r d is t r ibu t ion a t o the r t imes of the year.

The re a re o f cou r s e more s e r v i ng t han t h i s bu t I sha r e t h e s e as anencouragement to us a l l to consider what we can do to be playing our pa rin the work of the whole Body of Chr i s t . PETE

from ^nglattb20 0 E JeHerson. nesl t inglon. IL 61571

BULK RAU.S. POSTA

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IVASH/WGTDN,im S Mal /SU Di/r lman Rush in C r a ac amAbram. WigtnL a ne s. W N2 5P X

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Pe te S J an Bowen25 Odora f loedWest Bmmwlcti, Sandtrel lWest Midlands

Dan t Amy Yamelllo t Reds ione Clo secnuKf i Hill Non nPeddi icn, iivorcsB9B 3A F

Bo b S Su e Hartman46 Asnboume RoadWigsion LeicesterLEB 1FE

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AMERICAN CORRESPONOenTS:Mr S Mr s B C Nordhielm20Q E JeHersonWasltinglon IL 6isnUS A

Miss ion Serv icesp O Box 2427KnrjKviile TN 37901

ADDRESS COIiliECriON REQUESTED


23/36

TUNBRIDGE WELLS REPORT

Curt NordheilmGail Burn s

MEETINGSL ooking back to F eb ru ary o r

March, I was surpr i sed to see howmany ex t ra meetings I d been to :Chu r c he s o f Ch r i s t min i s t e r s * frternal , Tunbr idge Wel ls ministersf raternals , Youth Action Committee,Youth fo r Chr i s t and Ep i s t l e fromEngland. Fellowship was a part ofa l l the meetings (except th e YFC ;bu s i n e s s was t h e main r e a s o n f o rt h r ee and i n f o rma t i o n / ed i f i c a t i o nth e c e n t r a l a im o f th e f r a t e r n a l s .I r ea l i zed the o the r day t h a tt h e r e were s p e c i f i c t h ing s Isso i ted with ll o f thesedi f fe ren t meetings. The fraternals a re en joyable and I look forward tobeing in the company of others who are in the professional ministry . Ialso found how much I miss being in an academic atmosphere. The businessmeetings have shown that business can be discussed equitably even i fdisagreements occur because in Christ we all respect one another and knowGod i s present in our mee ti ngs.And I also found, again, that i t is quite alr ight to say no to beingon a committee. I went to the Youth for Christ meeting for the f i r s t timeand knew that I wasn t cut out for that committee, though I support them

in t he i r minis t ry .Meetings are necessarya part of l i fe for usand can be a source off el lowsh ip , l ea rn ing and giving. They can also be a bore and hard slog.Generally speaking, however, I rather enjoy themwhich came as a surpriseto me. I t se ems one can never come to the end of finding out something

new about one s se l f . GAIL

When Do You Baptize?LINDA eager ly desires to be bapt ized. Every week in our Bible s tudyshe asks when wil l i t take place. And every week I must gently, butfirmly, say that she needs to fully understand what is taking place in he rbaptism. For LIND baptism is a magic r i tua l to go through to avoidproblems; i t is a cer t i f i ca t e to hang on her wall to say that sh e hasaccomplished something. I t i s not, a t l e a s t at the minute for LINDA, a

new b i r t h wi th a new life to f o l l ow . She does n ot u nd ers tan d the f u l limplica t ions of being born again and showing the f ru i t of repentence.Would you p l ease pray t h a t the t r u th o f God s Word would touch he r andclear the fog from her mind so that when (if) her baptism does take p laceit wi l l happen fo r the r i gh t reasons. CURT


24/36

FURNESS REPORT

Dick and Yvonne Stitt

Ecumenical Life t ouch i ng its t oe s g in g e r ly inKirkby . In ou r v iew it i s longo v e r d u e .

The reason i s s imple : t he r e a reso few Ch r i s t i a n s o f any de s c r i pt i on in the v i l l age indeed in th ewhole a rea t ha t they are near lyi n v i s i b l e when s t i c k i ng only to t h e i r own . t r ema i n s im p o r t a nto understand and b e able to e xpress the reason fo r one s own

belief , but i t is far past time when a t iny minority can afford to concent r a t e on t h e i r d if fe re n ce s r ath e r than on th e g r e a t themes o f s a l va t i onwhich proclaim them part of the body of Christ.

Under the leadership of the vi l lage vicar, WY MURPHET three representat ives each from the Church of England, Church of Chris t and MethodisChurch met together for the f i r s t time recently. Out of that f i r s t meeting alone came common worship serv ic es for Easter: all three joined inf ive -week Lenten course a t th e Church o f Chr i s t ; Dick pres ided a t th eChurch of Christ on Maundy Thursday evening, when MR MURPHET gave thmessage; on Good Friday, Dick gave the sermon at the service at theM e t h o d is t Chur ch .

A ll th r e e chu rches conduc ted t h e i r own Ea s t e r s e r v i c e s . A lso ag re edare a combined Pentecost walk in the vi l lage ending in a j o in t serv ice athe Church of Chris t . More such projects are p lanned, including a May fund r i v e doo r - t o - d oo r f o r C h r i s ti a n Aid .Join t effor t has a longer history in Ulverston, the nearest large townAs a participant, Dick preached the Easter Sunrise service for about twhund r ed f a i t h f u l on a moor n e a r th e t own .

Yvonne has been ecumenical as wel l . She led the centenary Woman s Daof Prayer before a full church (over one hundredwhat a sight that was and has spoken twice before the many-village Christian Women s FellowshipFrom t ha t came i nv i t a t i on s to speak e l sewhere inc luding t he Me th od isLadies of Dalton in April. Ecumenism may help bring Christianity out oth e c l o s e t . DICK and YVONN

SPECIAL PRAYER NEED We s ta r ted a weekly vi l l age Youth Clubfor e igh t to e leven year olds on Apri l 23rd This Is not ourstrength. But i t ^ the great gift of PATT HOOSER trying tora i se support to join us soon. Please pray fo r her success,and encourage her with l e t t e r s as well at RR 4, Box 127,Wetseka, IL 60970. She Is much needed here


25/36

Cpigtic ro Cnglanb A report from ministries challenging apost Christian nation with the claims of Christ

^ do

VOL. 1 4 NO. JUNE 1 9 8 7

Kirkby i s one of the most s c a t t e r e d v i l l a g e s i n the b e a u t i f u lFumess a r e a of E ngla nd. I t s e i g h t hamlets spread from the moors t othe shore of the estuary leading to the I r i s h Sea. The man made s c a r sof i t s h i s t o r y are highly v i s i b l e from a d i s t a n c e . They are the s l a gheaps o f s l a t e mined f o r c e n t u r i e s which brood over the v i l l a g e anda r e a metaphor f o r th e h a r d i n e s s and endurance o f t h e p e o p l e .

But t h e r e a re views, magnif icent views of green moors, grazed bysheep. To the n o r t h are the mountains of the Lake D i s t r i c t w h i l s t thes e a spark les to the south. Incomparable

Becks ide , with i t s a n c i e n tc o t t a g e s church and w a t e r m i l lh u d d l e s o n t h e rise o f t h e moorand i s thought by v i s i t o r s to beKirkby. But t h e r e a r e Sandsideby the s h o r e Wall End (wheret h e C h u r c h o f C h r i s t h a s b e e ns i n c e 1876) , and Soutergatee q u a l l y s t e e p e d i n a nt i q u i t y under t h e hulking moor d e f l e c t i n gsome o f t h e e a s t e r l y winds .Marshside, Marsh Garth , GhyllEnd, Chapels a r e o t h e r h a m l e t s .Kirkby once t h r i v e d ; m i n i -depar tment s t o r e bakehouses ,farms. Now it i s a r e l a x e d dormitory v i l l a g e : people who work goelsewhere . One t i n y shop and a s e r v i c e s t a t i o n serve the twelvehundred people .

Kirkby f o l k are v i v i d l y aware o f t h e i r long h i s t o r y . A man who hasl ived there f i f t y years regards him self a newcomer. Even the morningworship a t the Church o f C h r i s t only r e c e n t l y was moved to 10:45 A.M.from 1:30 P.M., a remnant from ancient days when f o l k walked e i g h tmiles to church every Sunday.

The s l a t e - h a r d ground has become synonymous i n t h e minds o f c l e r g yand a few growth-commited church l e a d e r s with t h e s p i r i t u a l and evens o c i a l r e c e p ti v it y o f t h e p e o p l e no t o n l y i n Kirkby , b u t i n t h eNorthwest . It i s hard ground indeed. DIOC

Yvonne and T l a o t h y on BankHouse Boor over looking p a r t o fKirkby an d, beyo nd, t h e Lakes .


26/36

WIGSTON REPORT

Bob and S u e HartmanKari and ChristopherP a l mP r a i s eand were p l e a s a n t l y su prised by a crowd of thousands, packed i n t o a b i gblue t e n t , joyfu l and excited in t h e i r worship of the l i v i n g God.So, t o answer the q u e s t i o n Who a r e t h e s e people? They a r e men aidwomen of all ages who had come together for Spring Harvestan EastertimeChristian Holid^ week which began in 1979 witn three thousand campers anda t t r a c t e d over f o r t y thousand t h i s year. They are Chris t ians looking fora f a m il y h o l i d ay s e t t i n g where they can r e l a x and d i s c o v e r more about t h eLord, snare with other Christ ians and join together in worship.Where do they come from? From many d i f f e r e n t denominations and p a r t so f t h e c o u n t r y and many d i f f e r e n t age g r o u p s . E s s e n t i a l l y , t h e week i se v a n g e l i c a l i n i t s o r i e n t a t i o n , w i t h Angl icans and B a p t i s t s making up t h el a r g e s t p e r c e n t a g e , b u t t h e r e a r e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s f r o m most C h r i s t i a ngroups. h t is so great about Sprinj; Harvest, though, is that one senomination i s not r e a l l y an i s s u e . Tne q u e s t i o n i s hardly e v e r askedWe a r e j u s t C h r i s t i a n s , s n a r i n g and e n j o y i n g o u r s e l v e s and w o r s h i p p i n gt o g e t h e r . The sense of u n i t y and the encou ragemen t o f being in suchl arge Chr is ti an group is marvellous.What happens? F l e x ib i l i t y i s the key t o S p ri ng H a rv e st . You d o n have t o do a n y t h i n g but e n j o y t h e beach, sun and e x c e l l e n t f a c i l i t i e s .But i f you vant, there are superb a c t i v i t e s provided for every age and foa l l l e v e l s o f C h r i s t i a n i n t e r e s t s , c o n c e r n and m a t u r i t y . T h i s y e a r stheme, Where Truth and J u s t i c e Meet , looked a t the church s m ission bothto the individual and to society . Every night there i s the celebrat ion inthe Big Top. What? Church every night? How boring some might say. AlI can say is this: Sue and I have been to Spr ing Harvest witn the familyfor two years and we can t e s t i f y that the joy Songs of Praise viewerssaw on TV w a s n t p u t on f o r t h e c a m e r a s . t i s f o r r e a l and t h e r e e v e r ynight . In f a c t , the evening c e l e b r a t i o n s are so popular t h a t you have tol i n e up wel l ahead of t ime to be sure of gett ing a seat .Our word hol iday comes o r i g i n a l l y from two wordsholy and day. Iseems to me that Spring Harvest successfully combines both meanings intosingle event. I t provides a week for individuals and families to enjoyt h e m s e l v e s and r e s t t o g e t h e r and a l s o g i v e s us a s p e c i a l t i m e t o g e t h ew i t h t h e Holy One. Our f a m i l y has found t i s j u s t t h e kind o f v a c a t i o nwe need. To t h i s p o i n t o n l y o u r s e l v e s , NORMAN and t h e JENNINGS f a m i l yhave a t t e n d e d t h i s e v e n t . We a r e now t a k i n g s t e p s t o encourage o t h emembers o f o u r c o n g r e g a t i o n t o go i n 1988. We ask you t o p r a y t h a t som(Con t . on the bottom of the next page

S p r i n g H a r v e s t E d i t o r s n o t e : Both t h e H a r t m a n s and

Y a r n e l l s went t o S pr in g H a rv es t. In Bob sa r t i c l e he e x p l a i n s what t i s a l l a b o u tDan s h a r e s t h e e n c o u r a g e m e n t he and h i sf am ily r ec eiv ed through t and the impact thad upon h is m i n is tr y .)Who are these people? Where do they comf rom? How c a n I j o i n i n w i t h them? Those

w e r e t h r e e Q u e s t i o n s a s k e d r e c e n t l y on BBC P oints of view , a program which gives viewe r s a c h a n c e t o r e s p o n d t o w h a t t h e y s e e onthe screen. These quest ions were concernedn o t w i t h a major new drama s e r i e s , n o r w i t han a l t e r n a t i v e comedy show, n o r w i t h somes p o r t i n g e v e n t b u t w i t h , o f a l l t h i n g s , t h eSunday e d i t i o n of the BBC's weekly worship program Soundls of And no wonder, fo r on tha t evening people a l l across Bri ta in saw


27/36

FURNESS REPORT

Dick and Yvonne Stitt

TAMWORTH REVISITED t I s good we d o n t need to

unders t and how God works t h roughhis people, only that we do^ unders t a n d that he does*

Yvonne and I we r e shattered(Br i t i sh fo r crushed, defeated) in1985 after f o u r t e e n mon t h s wo r kin Tamworth. The fe l lowsh ip s founder had s t a t ed f l a t l y t h a t herfeel ings were of grea t e r au thor i tythan scr ip ture .

We r e l u c t a n t l y and p r aye r f u l l y dec ided we had no r e cou r s e bu t to res ign . We f e l t t e r r i b l e about leaving people we had come to love. No matterhow we t r i ed to u nd ers ta nd (or ra t iona l ize) th e e xp er ie nc e, and even withloving advice and counsel , we f rankly f e l t fa i lu res . We may have f e l t wef a i l e d , bu t God d i d n t fail A r e c en t visit to Tamworth showed t h a t inways we cannot begin to fathom, God worked on l ives through us and unknownto us

The te lephone ca l l s from Tamworth s t a r t ed coming in November. A familyrang to t e l l us that after a year the^had decided they couldn t bring thefe l lowship to a scr ip tu ra l base. The day they rang, they had ju st q uit ,a f t e r t e l l i ng the pe ople exac t ly why. A l ady who had l e f t when we didrang us next . Should.she go back? We l i s t ened un t i l she answered her ownques t i on : no. A concerned man r ang ; to fill a need, he s t a r t e d a homeBible study. Most former members attend that mid-week Bible study and got o o t h e r c hu r c h e s .When we were able to r ev i s i t Tamworth for the f i r s t t ime, the warmthand depth of our welcome astounded us. We were hugged by t e a r f u l peopleas though we were r e l a t i v e s l o s t fo r decades.

One s a id , I t seems a yea r s i n c e I ve seen you, bu t we ca r ry on inconversat ion as though it were yesterday. The on ly p erso n I ve f e l t tha tcomfo r t ab l e wi t h be fo r e was my ( l a t e ) b ro t he r . At th e c l o s e o f ou rv i s i t , she sa id , almos t s hy ly , but f i rmly , Now I m ready to go back to (adi f fe ren t ) church. We had urged tha t fo r a year. Another lady dried hert e a r s and wai t ed un t i l her ch i l d r en had hugged us . Then she to ld us shehad l e f t the fe l lowship the Sunday before , giving them her reasons . Nowa l l but one of those we thought t ru ly committed to a Chris t i an walk havel e f t . The one remain ing still hopes to he lp other s come to a b i b l i c a lf o u n d a t i o n .The l e t t e r s , th e teleph one ca l l s , the ef fus ive welcomes, a l l by peoplewho had to surmount c lose , longt ime personal t i e s to make dec i s ions fo rChr is t ian i ty , demonstrate once again tha t we do nothing by our own plansand power, but by h i s plan. DICK YVO


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J.B.'S JOTTINGS

^ntalle from200 .Je/fe Son. TVMningion, L 6 Si15716 o 0 S S u e H s f l m a n46 Ashtyourne R o a dWigsion, LeicBSlerLEB IF E

J a n e i B a i n e a3 E O w a r a S I .Hinckley. LEW ODHLEW IRB

Curt S Linda N o M i e l m13 Si - J a m e s ParkTunbriOge WellaK e n t TN I 2L O

OaH Burr\s S n i a Id t20 Cu lv e rd on Pa r k Hoe dTunbiiOge wellsK e n t TN 4 SO Y

Dick < yvonn Slit l21 D u k e S t r M tAskam-in^FurnsssC u m Or ia L A S 7AD

P e t e i J a n B o i r e n25 O f o r a H o aaW as erontmcA. SandwellWest WKffantfs

Dan A Amy Yarnell101 f l e ds l o ne C l o seCftorc/i Hill NorthRaMiKh, WofC^.B S a S A F

AMERICAN CORRESPONDEHTS:Mr S Mrs. B. C Nordhielm20 0 E. J e tle r s o nw a ^ n g w i . IL 61571US A

H IIS ilO M

THE BAD NEWS:he rt tt ck a n ds u r g e r y .

THE GOOD NEWS: God h a s cert a i n l y been w ith her throughout a l land s h e s l o w l y i s on t h e mend.HALLELUJAHTHE BAD NEWS: Having to leave myf o l k s and fami ly a f t e r a seven weekv i s i t t o h elp n urse my mom.

THE GOOD NEWS: The j o y f u l w e lcome o f t h e p e o p l e h e r e on my r et u r n . . . The b a p t i s m o f n i n e t e e ny e a r o l d JANE w i t h whom I h a v e beens t u d y i n g . . . The s e t t l i n g of CHRISand P T SEWELL and family, our f u l l t i m e minister , in t h e i r home here in

Hinck leyfina l lyGod always seem to outweigh.^yahed,,jiiAth his goodness If we wil_l_onlyopen our eyes to see it. The gooa n^w^^^^^Js^mfort j omo and eppQu^pR^me to trust God when things aren t ^ is

My nram having atriple b y p a s s

s P O S T A GPAID

P E R M I T NO . 6WASHINGTON. IL

M i s s i o n S e r v i c e sP Bon 2427Knoxvi l le TN 37901

- ADDRESS CORRECnON REQUESTED


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R E D D ITCH R E P O R T

Lto R Amy Joshua, Dan an dDavid Yarnell

rvestWe came b a c k much e n c o u r a g e d

a f t e r s h a r i n g w i t h t h o u s a n d s o fo t h e r b e l i e v e r s . We a l s o c a m e b a c kch allen ge d to t h e t a s k o f r e l a t i n gthe gospel to the twentieth centurya n d t h e n e e d s o f t h e w o r l d .

R e n e w a l an d new life a l s o g a v eway to a h a r v e s t i n a n o t h e r wayWe c e l e b r a t e d t h e b a p t i s m o fTRACEY, th e y o u n g e s t d a u g h t e r o fDAVE a n d L E T T I E . T h i s n o w c o mp l e t e s t h e KING f a m i l y s comingi n t o C h r i s t a n d h i s c h u r c h . TRACEYand I had b een s h a r i n g t o g e t h er i na series o f studies w h i c h l e a d h e ri n t o a c c e p t i n g C h r i s t as Lord.An o th er wa y which br ought a h a r v e s t i n s p r i n g was in the b i r t h ofNATHAN Hi s par ents, DAVE and DENISE, have faced many d i f f i c u l t i e s over

th e p a s t tw o years , i ncl udi ng the l o s s of Nathan s o l d e r b r o th er PHILLIPin a c o t death. The b i r t h of NATHAN has brought much joy and happinessi n t o the l i v e s of h is par ents, and the Lord has also strengthened them int h e i r f a it h and c o m m i t m e n t t o h im a n d e a c h o t h e r .Finally, we had our annual TEAR Fund Sunday as a church. TEAR Fund i san ex p r essio n of ev an g elical C h r i s t i a n s to meet th e s p i r i t u a l an d s o c i a lneeds of people in underdeveloped and developing countr ies. We focused onthe needs of Nepal, lear ning of the Chr istians and the challenges to t h e i rfa ith usually involving imprisonment for a year), the daily s tr ug gle s fo rfood, water which i s sa fe to drink, and work. We were encouraged t h a t wecould a s s i s t through our continued prayer support and g i f t s . In a l l theseways, we have found a h a r v e s t of b l e s s i n g s i n s p r i n g t i m e . P l e a s e givethanks to God wi t h us f o r h is wonderful provi s i ons . DAN

Con*t. from pr e vi ous page)o f them w i l l respond. Too oft e n we tend to emphasize th e weakness o f th echur ch in B r i t a i n and o ve rl oo k th e g r e a t t h i n g s t h a t th e Lord i s doi ng.S pr in g H ar ve st i s on e of them. Because of t h i s event, thousands of C hrist i a n s many from s m a l l congregat i ons , can see f o r themselves t h a t they aren o t alone in t h e i r f a i t h e x p e r i e n c e th e e x c i t e m e n t of a l a r g e wor ships e s s i o n and be e n c o u r a g e d t o p r e s s on and p r a y f o r th e r e v i v a l t h i sc o u n t r y s o d e s p e r a t e l y n e e d s . . BOB


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TUN RI GE WELLS REPORT MutualMinistryOne of the h i s t o r i c a l s t r e n g t h s

a n d w e a k n e s s e s o f t h e ritishC h u r c h e s o f hrist h a s b e e n t h em u tu al m i n is tr y . T h i s i s a t e r md e s c r i b i n g t h e m i n i s t r y o f e v e r yb e l i e v e r . I t i s an at tempt to havee v e r y member i n v o l v e d i n som e wayi n t h e w o r k o f t h e c h u r c h . So farso good. To t h e e x t e n t t h a t t h a tgoa l has been a t t a i n e d , it i s as t r e n g t h . Every C h r i s t i a n doeshave a place i n God's work.U n f o r t u n a t e l y , t h e m u t u aminist ry has f a i l e d m iserably. Fartoo o ft e n m i n is tr y has been def ined

as that which ta ke s p lac e on Sunday morning during worship. This hasled, unconsciously in many cases, to the grossly mistaken idea that i f onei s n t involved in a posi t ion of leadership on a Sunday morning ( l ikepreaching or leading the worship service) one i s n t ministering. Afurther consequence of this mistaken idea is that many who think they canpreach, c a n t . The content of many sermons owe t h e i r o r i g i n more tohomespun philosophy than to solid biblical thinking. The result is anemiChristians with very l i t t l e foundation for their faith.LYN i s a young man in our congregation who has recently started topreach. So far he has preached two sermons, but after my departure at theend of June, he w i l l be asked to preach much more. How he prepares fohis sermons w i l l be of the utmost importance to the church for i t is fromhim and a few others (most of which have not been educated at a Biblcol lege) that the church w i l l be fed.I do not mean to imply a need for a professional c le rgy with a ll of thtrappings. However I do see a need for those who do preach to know howt o h a n d l e t h e t r u t h o f God and know how t o communica te it e f f e c t i v e l yThough od can and has taken hold of people without such skills and usethem for proclaiming his word, i t appears to be the excep tion instead othe rule. Would you please pray for LYN and the other men who wil l havthe awesome responsibi l i ty of preaching? OR

This w i l l be th e l a s t E p i s t l e a r t i c l e t h a t I w i l l be w r i t i n g .My family and I fly out June 27th. Our biggest prayer, and onewhich I would ask you to share in , i s t h a t the church findsomeone to replace me as m i n i s t e r . Do you know of anyone whomight be interested? Are you? I f so, write to our AmericanCorrespondents and I w i l l be in touchquickly

Curt Linda Donnetta NordheilmGail Burns Rita idle


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Cpisitlc from Cnglanb A report from ministries challenging apost>Christian nation with the claims of Christ.

VOL. 14 No. 9 JULY 1987

0oucfi ^omGI f you had been a t ravel ler in the eastern part of this country round

about the f i f th or s ix th century, you might have vis i ted a small Danishse t t lement with the appropriate name, Vikings Town . I t stood on asl ight ly elevated posit ion about f ive miles south of the old Roman town ofRatae. Today tha t town i s the City of Leicester, s t i l l reached by following the Roman Fosse Way from Bath.

Vikings Town has since outgrown i t s vil lage status. Wigston has becomea growing suburb now known, through a slip of the tongue and a mashing ofthe vowels, as Wigston. With two adjoining villages, South Wigs ton andOadby Wigston makes up the smallest o f Leicestershire s (Leicester Countynine distr icts . Population i s about fi f ty seven thousand people in a largely a res ident ial area, w ith l ight industry.More than some places, Wigston retains a sense ofi t s village character and identi ty, due more to i t speople than physical makeup. I t has changed over thepast twenty years to accommodate i t s growing populat ion. But Wigston people maintain a proud sense oft he i r her i tage They wi l l t e l l you, fo r example,tha t Wigston i s the only v illag e fo r many miles toboas t two Pa r i sh churches These two med ieva l bu i ldings A ll S ain ts and St. Wistan s , once earned thevi l lage the nickname of Wigston Two Steeples , afeature depicted in the Borough coat of arms (right).They will also, i f you have the time, gladly take you on a tour of theLanes a network of old footpaths that run through the vil lage center andwhich have been preserved a t the in sis te nc e o f the local community. Indeed,, one such lane, Bell Jet ty , finishes a t the side of our church building. Built in 1850, the church i s probably one of the oldest buildingss t i l l standing in the vil lage.

We do not intend to le t the building stand as just one more reminder ofWigston s past. I t i s rather ou r prayer tha t the Lord use the people whomeet weekly in tha t building to af fec t the future of Wigston and to cal li t s people to a new-found sense of the real i ty and power of God.

BOB HARTMAN


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WIGSTON REPORT

Bob and Sue HartmanKarl and Christopher

T h e Phone sRingingHow long do you l e t the phone r ing?Are you one of those who hang up i f i th a s n t b ee n an sw ere d fter f ou r o r f i v er ingis , o r do you l e t it go on and on inthe nopes t ha t someone wi l l pick it up?Or perhaps i t depends upon the situation.You le t i t ring i f they owe you ten bucksand hang up quick i f i t s you t ha t owes.I f my own growth in C hris t i s anythingto go by , th e Lord must be a l e t itr ing type , fo r th e re a re some areas ofmy minis t ry , in par t i cu la r , where it hastaken me a long, long time to pick up the

receiver One o f t h e s e h a s t o do w i t hthe sharing of mini st er ia l r espon s ib il ities Ea r l y in Apr i l , ALAN ( a chu rchl e ade r ) and I at tended a week-end churchgrowth seminar , sponsored by the B ib leSociety. Throughout the course, we were encouraged to evaluate our congregation on the basis of the growth principles we were learning. In someareas we were quite p le as an tly s urp ris ed by what we saw; but the matter ofMembership Mobilization l e f t us both challenged to involve a larger percentage of the congregation in th e church 's ministry. Two weeks la te r Iattended the Leadership Seminar at Spring Harvest (see la s t month's issue)and received a second and s t ronger dose of the same mater ia l . Bells wereringing everywhere and on my return I took my f i r s t steps toward answeringth e phone.I preached what some considered ( jokingly , I hope ) my most honestsermon to date: What Your Minis te r Cannot Do . I t r i ed to play thepiano. I attempted to do a f lower arrangement. I described the condi t ion

of the top of my desk. And in conclusion I said, Help I f this church'sminist ry i s going to be complete, it wi l l take more than my t a len t s andgifts alone. The response to that plea was not overwhelming (no one gotup out of t he i r sea t ) , but it was an encouraging s t a r t . L UREN fo rexample, who is presently typing th i s a r t i c l e Ctype something Lauren:Hel lo t he re . This job wi l l be a l l r i gh t as soon as I can read BOB'sscrawl ) offered to co-ordinate and organize the admin is tr at ive s ide of mywork. For the past few weeks now she has has been typing o ld seminars,helping me with my correspondence, and showing me hitherto unexploredposs ib i l i t i es for the e f f i c i en t running of my work. I am impressed,amazed and grateful for this administrative gif t with which the Lord hasblessed her. In another area WN has taken from SUE the oversight of ourYoung Adult Growth Group. SUE desperately needed r e l i e f from th i s respons ib i l i t y and WN i s doing a superb job of working with these youngChrist ians. With a view towards continuing th is developing trend, we arenow including a Job Center item in our cnurch magazine where we advert i ze those tasks tha t need doing. What i s more, at our next church business meeting we will be pr


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FURNESS REPORT

Dick and Yvonne S ti tt

UnexpectedYVONNE no t i c e d in th e k i t c h e n

an odd s ense o f r ever se de j avu. I t gave us a laugh. We hade igh t Br i t i sh houseguests . At theb re ak fa st ta ble they were na t t e rin g happ i l y away . What isthis? YVONNE thought , recal l ingparticularly o u r n ow - d e a rf r i ends , HUGH and CAROLE, whoseB B (bed and b r e ak f a s t ) we loveto visit in Yo r k . Wi t h a flouri sh and sou the rn Engl i sh- l aye redYorksh ir e a ccen ted at tempt a t French, our good hos t in a hear ty voice

gives us bon apet i te and an even hear t i e r breakfas t .Hearing a l l those Br i t i sh voices made me fee l as though I wereCarole, Yvonne said, The Bri t ish accents were coming from the table ,and I had my American accen t in th e k i t chen . t was l i k e a B B inreve rse . (A wag wi l l po in t out t ha t a B B in reve rse . . . i s still a B B.)

We are experiencing th i s more and more (except there i s no charge fo ri t ) . Unplanned, and la rgely as a r e su l t of our ageour experience a tl i v i ngwe have a busy m in is t ry to min i s t e r s and o t h e r fo lk who maysimply need a hol iday, a break from very busy l ives , distance in whichto c on sid er l ife -c ha ng in g dec is ions , or counse l on spec i f i c problems.The serenity of the beaut i fu l Lake Dis t r i c t nearby helps and, as someonetold us: I t i s so peaceful with you; you don t have any chi ldrenlBy count , we have had be t t e r than one overnight v i s i t o r every nightth is year as an average. We d^ have nights to ourselves; most oftenpeople come in f ami ly groups of two to s ix people , from which theaverage i s der ived . ) Of these , s ix ty - f i v e percen t are Br i t i s h , th eo t h e r s Amer ican . By r e co l l e c t i on r a t he r th an c ou nt , most come to us shat tered Bri t ish fo r erfiausted). From our time together has evolveda 3-R sanc tuary : Rest , Relaxa t ion and Res to ra t i on . And it goes twoways , of course ; it ce r t a i n l y mi t iga t e s th e f ee l i ng of i s o l a t i on wemight o the rwi s e have.Bob Hart man f i r s t got us to see t h i s as a minis t ry . Others agree.We ve had a f u r t h e r idea : adding an o r i en t a t i on cen t e r fo r Americanminis ters when they f i r s t ar r ive . Nearly th ree years of v i s i t ing witho th er m i nis te rs makes it c l e a r t h a t p a r t o f th e prob lem we all havecomes from a lack of r ea l unders tanding abo ut what the job en ta i l s in aF i rs t World which i s not ig noran t of the gospel but chooses Instead tor e j e c t o r ignore it Our s e l f - e xpe c t a t i on s a re un r e a l i s t i c . As wecheck out the need and value fo r th i s , we need your advice and counsel .

DICK a n d YVOHHK

Documents

Epistles From EnglandTeam 1987 England