the building

You will be aware that for the last few months we have been working on lans to renovate the front of the church building. The scheme will vastly improve the entrance to the building and will provide permanent disabled access, improved toilet facilities and a specific toilet for the disabled.

The good news is that the building regulations have been passed and now we are waiting on the tender to go out. We are on schedule to start at the end of Jan/Feb 08.

Please continue to pray that all goes smoothly and the final parts of the finance comes through to make this project a success. We will also need to find alternative premises to meet for our Sunday meetings and some of the other things that we do. We would like to think thatb during this time it will be a chance for us to grow and see the church move forward into the things that God has prepared in advance for us to do!

carol service

Well it has been to long since that last post! We have our carol service coming up on Sunday evening (note there is NO morning service this week) at 6.00pm. Please pray that for any who are not yet Christians that they would respond to the gospel. Maybe you could pray and ask God to reveal who you could ask to come to the service, you know maybe it is just that one person who you have had conversations with about matters of faith before?

Pastorates

For the last few months we have been talking about "Pastorates". Now many may ask what they are, which would be a valid question.

At present we operate a house group system in which the focus has mainly been for bible study and fellowship which is all good but we felt that there had to be a bit more to it. The Pastorate then is a mid-size group consisting of no more that 35 people who meet to do all the things that you would expect but more. There is more of an outward focus to the Pastorates and a safe place for people to explore the God-given gifting. The groups will start off at around 20 people and once they get to big we will form another pastorate and so on. It is the aim of these groups to see growth in maturity of the believer and fruitfulness by people coming to faith in and through Christ.

Small groups will still operate but may be a little different as they will be formed out of the Pastorates and held on alternate weeks.

Please pray...

• That this concept will be communicated effectively
• That through this change of structure we will be effective in reaching friends and family with the gospel of Jesus
  
• That we will see people flourish in their gifting
• Pray for the team as they finalise and co-ordinate the change
• That people will catch the heart and values behind the change (values - fruitfulness, multiplication, maturity and transformation)
  

FOOD BANK

It has been a while since that last post for various reasons, so sorry if you have logged on expecting to see an update.

A few months ago we announced at church that we were going to be launching into a social enterprise called the Food Bank which aims to distribute emergency food to people who are in desperate need. We have signed up for the franchise and are currently putting plans in place to get other churches involved and get the thing up and running. It is a logistical challenge, there is so much to sort out and organize. It may seem like this has been a forgotten project, it is not! We are just wanting to make sure that it is all in place ready to start, to give the project the best chance of longevity and maximum impact on our town.

You might ask how this fits in with the big picture of the church. Well, we posted not so long back the text from Jeremiah 29 in which the prophet calls the people to work for the peace and welfare of the town. Our heart and one of our core values as a community at WBCC is just that, to love the town as seek its welfare.


Please pray...

• That the meeting planned for September between the church leaders and Jeremy of the Food Bank franchise will go well and that church will want to be involved in the project
• That we would locate appropriate premises to store food and distribute from.
• That the finances we need would be provided
• That we would find favour with the authorities as we seek to get this project off the ground
• That all the organising would be done well and logistics well planned and that we would know the wisdom of God for this task

evangelism

As I mentioned yesterday during the service, we (church session) would really value your prayer over the coming months. During the next series of meeting we will begin to look at our mission as a church and be asking some big questions. I fundatmentally believe that at the core of our being as a church has to be a desire to see people who at present are seperated from God because if sin and ignorance and see them encounter the risen Christ, who not only came to the earth to forgive sin but the transform us into the kind of people he intended us to be in the beginning. May it be so!

So to that end please pray...

• That we hear what the Spirit is saying
• That we would be led by the Spirit in thinking and planning through strategy for reaching the lost of West Bromwich
• That as a church we will be moved with compassion for this town and see many people come to faith
• That we would live out the values of the kingdom of heaven in the here and now.

Update on Brian

Just to let you know that Brian is now at home and recovering well. Please pray that he continues to regain strength and gets back to living an active life.

church session

The church session is meeting on Thursday to discuss church matter's and business. Please pray for us as we seek to discern what God is saying to us regarding WBCC's future and direction. I talked on Sunday about loving the town and seeking its welfare with practical demonstration of God's love. I very much believe that this will shape the direction we take, but we must hear what God is saying so as not just to jump on the latest bandwagon but do what God is calling us to do. We must build for something lasting not just a quick fix, this will mean developing strategy and setting some goals, but we must not think that plans alone will solve it! We must be empowered by the Spirit of God if we are to be effective in seeing people come to faith in Christ, not merely rely on our plans or effort.

Obviously this will not just be shaped in one evening but will be something that we will be working on over the coming months.

Pray...

• for wisdom
• for courage
  
• for ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying
• that we would be empowered by the Spirit of God in leading the church to be effective in mission/evangelism
• that we would be creative and imaginative as we think through the future