grateful for things past - … · as the week drew to a close, our slippery-football soaked clothes...

1Partnership Magazine | Winter 2016

GRATEFUL FORTHINGS PAST

Dear Friends pg 3

Residentials pg 4

Book Review pg 7

Interview with Alec Moyter pg 8

North West Ministry Week pg 10

New Partner Church pg 11

Where are they now? pg 12

Local Training by Local Churches pg 14

CONTENTS

The North West Partnership is a registered charity no. 1104423.

Trustees: Robin Barfield, Paul Baxendale, Mark Cawson, Suzanne Cowburn, David Gibb, Tim Hanson, Brian Elfick, Ken Lippold and Gerry Straker.

I’m sure I don’t have to tell readers of the North West Partnership newsletter that so much of the Christian life is about looking back! We know our bibles don’t we?!

The idea of looking back is at the centre of the life of the Old Testament people of God as they remember the great act of redemption that brought them out of Egypt.

It remains central to the New Testament people of God as we are encouraged to “Do this in remembrance of me”.

Looking back with thankfulness at God’s covenant faithfulness and mercy will mark our lives in every way.

Many of us have been part of the NWP for a number of years now. How do we ensure that it doesn’t become another dreary responsibility that we could do without?

We must look back and give thanks to God for all that he has done to honour the Lord Jesus through the ministry that we have undertaken together.

What are you especially thankful for?

The real gospel partnerships that have encouraged you in the tough days of being Christian and being involved in ministry?

The training that you or others in your own church have received?

The church plant you are now involved with?

The conferences which have sharpened us and been great times of partnership?

The difficulties we have faced which have helped us remember our frailty and made us more aware of our dependence on the living God?

In so many ways, we have seen the miracle of the Lord Jesus continuing to build his church in our region. It is so humbling to be involved.

There is still so much to do! There are areas where bible teaching churches are few and far between, there are hundreds of thousands of people heading for a lost eternity without Christ and they have not been warned.

The Lord Jesus will continue to build his church, may he graciously grant to us the blessing of partnering with each other, under his hand, in this great endeavour.

TIM HANSONChair of NWP

DEAR FRIENDS

BE part of something

bigger!The North West, and indeed the whole world, is in desperate need of the Gospel. We want to see more people training for ministry, existing churches growing,

and new churches being started.

Partner with us as we work towards this vision by becoming a regular supporter of the Ministry Training Course.

Please consider partnering with us by supporting us financially.

a month will help us to employ a part time member of staff to assist and expand the

training we currently resource.60 £20people giving

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THE BUZZ - LANCASTER (FOR 8-11’S)

There are many ways you can spend your May Half Term but a great way is on The Buzz camp. There are two sites : Smallwood Manor and Lancaster Grammar school running the same camp with about 60 children coming to each. The Buzz is a fantastic week filled with fun, games, crafts, challenges and most importantly learning about Jesus through talks, bible studies and prayer.

One leader commented “It was my first time as a leader on The Buzz this year and I felt welcomed and encouraged from the get go. People were always on hand to give advice or help where needed. It was a really good opportunity to get stuck in and share in God’s work to spread his gospel among the children. I left the week encouraged by what I had seen and heard and challenged to be changed by God’s word. I was also not looking forward to cooking for myself again: The food was amazing!”

And with more children wanting to sign up each year there’s a definite need for more leaders to share the precious load. It really is a great week!

CASTERTON 1 (FOR 11-14’s)

We’re thanking God for great camps at both Rossall and Ashville during the beginning of the summer holidays.

The 11-14s, about 140 in total, enjoyed clear teaching from Mark’s gospel with lots of opportunities for fun and conversations about Jesus. Fabulously, there were young people who professed faith for the first time and others who put down deeper roots into Christ. We’re also grateful for the many servant-hearted leaders and assistant leaders (ALs) who worked tirelessly to give the young people a wonderful week. The ALs enjoyed their own tailored teaching programmes on the two camps and many leaders also received training in giving talks and Bible studies.

RESIDENTIALS

We aim to serve local churches by teaching their 11-14s the gospel through the context of a fun holiday week and so we pray that you will see fruit from camp in your churches this coming year. Please do pray for us as we begin to get ready for next year. It is a wonderful privilege to be partners with you in the gospel.

THE VIBE (FOR 14-18s)

The Vibe was back for it’s second year with about 60 teenagers. Fuelled by the same legendary food and catering team as last year, members had an Oscars themed week of fun, friendship, crazy games, dorm chats, sports, adventure, baking, craft, Oscar-worthy entertainment and much more.

We learnt from Ephesians in our evening meetings and Bible studies and we were constantly reminded of how awesome our status is with God if we are trusting in Jesus. There were also, seminars ranging from Gospel overviews, doctrine of God, and what it looks like practically living for Jesus in our society today. It was very exciting to see teenagers being struck by the Gospel and challenged to grow in their trust and walk with Jesus. As the week drew to a close, our slippery-football soaked clothes turned into smart suits and posh dresses as we held our very own Oscars evening. Starting with a walk down the red carpet and a dorm photoshoot, we enjoyed a delightful 3 course meal, an awards ceremony and a silent disco after party.

All of this was supported by our wonderful Assistant Leaders who, alongside being trained up in Godly leadership, served us tirelessly throughout the week. So all in all, it was a week to remember!

OFFERING GREAT CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 8-18, FULL OF FUN AND FAITHFUL BIBLE TEACHING

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO BE INVOLVED?WWW.SOUNDHOLIDAYS.ORG.UK

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Justin Mote writes: A few weeks ago (on August 26th) Alec Motyer went to be with His Lord. He was one of a band of men (along with Stott, Packer and Lucas) who had a profound impact on many of us preachers. They all lived or are living in their 90’s. His books and preaching displayed a love and reverence for the Bible text and the Living God behind it. In retirement he came to live in the North West. Many of our partner churches had him to preach and he served us in a memorable ministers’ meeting. Jonathan Carswell interviewed him shortly before he died. We include that interview and a review of one of his last books. A BOOK REVIEW BY JONATHON MILTON THOMPSON

‘Psalms by the Day’ is Dr Alec Motyer’s last published book. He wrote, not to tell us what the Psalms mean, but to help us discover for ourselves what they mean; to bring ‘all their treasures back into our personal lives’, and so to repossess their ‘wonderful richness’. And by God’s grace he has done just that.

We are taken through all the Psalms in 73 days. Some Psalms are treated singly; others are grouped together. Psalm 119 is covered in 7 days.

Dr Motyer made his own fresh and faithful translation of the Hebrew. There’s careful analysis, and an abundance of footnotes

to help explain certain Hebrew words and terms, and to take us to other parts of the Bible so we can understand the Psalms in the context of the whole overall Bible.

At the end of each day’s reading there is a ‘Pause for Thought’, a brief devotional exposition of a major theme or contribution of the Psalm(s) just read. Each ‘Pause’ is worth its weight in gold! The ‘hard’ parts of the Psalms are not ducked, but explained in a way true to God, who is both gracious Saviour and righteous Judge. Throughout we are shown how all the Psalms concern Jesus Christ, and find their ultimate fulfilment in him.

How to read the book? Slowly (and on your knees?). Ponder and pray as you read. Then live out what you’ve learned. And by God’s grace you will grow in your love for God and the Lord Jesus. It’s not a book to be read once then left to gather dust, but a book that you will want to read again and again.

It’s Christmas, nearly. Make sure a copy of this book comes down the chimney of every Bible teacher in your church. And don’t forget to treat yourself to a copy.

BOOK REVIEW‘PSALMS BY THE DAY: A NEW DEVOTIONAL TRANSLATION’ - ALEC MOTYER (CHRISTIAN FOCUS, 2016)

Great Christian holidays for young people aged 8-18 full of fun and faithful Bible teaching

www.soundholidays.org.uk Sound Holidays is part of the Northwest Partnership in partnership with CPAS Ventures

FOR MORE INFO: [email protected]

Be involved this summer! Spaces available for members - book now!

Leaders needed - contact us today!

FOR 11-14’S FOR 8-11’S FOR 14-18’S






FOR 11-14’S FOR 8-11’S FOR 14-18’S






FOR 11-14’S FOR 8-11’S FOR 14-18’S 30 May - 2 June Ashville: 22-29 July 22-29 July Quinta: 1-7 August

201717

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JDC: Alec, you are probably most known for your work on Isaiah. How did you first come to fall in love with the book?

AM: It happened by accident really. I was on the staff of the then Clifton Theological College and I was teaching the Old Testament. In the course of teaching Isaiah, I got the beginning of a glimmering of how the whole book hung together. I went to an Old Testament group at Cambridge led by GT Manley, he was big at IVP in those days. He asked me to contribute a commentary to the Tyndale series and, like a fool, instead of saying Obadiah, I said Isaiah! That’s what started it - it must now be 50 or 60 years ago… I have always held that there is one Isaiah. And, as I say, I had the beginning of a glimmering of how the whole book reflected the one author. And then over the years that’s developed.

JDC: Did you always want to be an author?

AM: It was a case of pressure. Ronald Inchley (he was the big shot at IVP - to be honest he was pretty much the only shot) he was a great one for pressing people to write books. My first attempt was a book on Philippians.

JDC: Has it become something you’ve enjoyed or is still a bit of a pressure?

AM: Well, I’m such a lazy hound that any sort of work is a bit of a pressure! But no, it’s something I’ve found great joy in. I was an interfering editor and I’m amazed that people put up with me so patiently. But I did believe that if I was the editor, I had a hand, without writing the book for them – that’s always the danger – so I had to be careful when to stop, but I was an interfering editor.

JDC: Are you a perfectionist?

AM: I think I possibly am, yes.

JDC: One of your latest books, Psalms By the Day: where did that come from? Was that a pressure or a love for the book?

AM: No, it started with Isaiah By the Day. I felt that I wanted to do something that really helped people read Isaiah and look upon it as a coherent book with a beginning, a middle and end; a structure. That then seemed to me to be a practical formula. Then I thought ‘Well the only other book that I think I know enough about to do a ‘By the Day’ is Psalms’. My daughter began to pester me: ‘What are you going to do next?’ I gave my standard answer: ‘I’m going to do what I’m good at: absolutely nothing!’ She said, ‘You know you’ll never do that, get ahead and do something’ and I thought, ‘Well I’ll have a go at Psalms’.

INTERVIEW WITH ALEC MOYTERI’ve [recently] done devotions on Exodus and Deuteronomy. I chose them because they are books I have done a good deal of work on and I felt I had sufficient material in hand. I’m really too old to tackle a fresh research project and I can only really tackle things I’ve in some measure broken the back of already. Whether I was right or wrong is another matter, but that’s what I felt.

JDC: You have influenced many people in your writings and preaching, but who influenced you through books or preaching?

AM: For reading, in recent years, David Gooding. I think that he’s a master Bible analyser and I wish he was better known. As far as preaching is concerned the major influence was a man named Charles Strong, in Dublin. He introduced me to the whole practice of Bible analysis and that seemed to me then, and it still seems to me, the best way to discover any book, chapter or verse of the Bible, and how it hangs together.

JDC: I had a sneak peek in your Bible earlier and it’s colour-coded and you’ve scribbled around it. So how do you go about analysis like you’re describing?

AM: Reading and reading and reading, over and over again. Noting where the subject changes, and saying, ‘Why does it go from that topic to that topic, and why do they belong together?’ In this Bible I use red to mark the structure, and blue to mark verses I like. It’s as simple as that… I feel I’ve had a very fortunate life. In my first seven years I was in the care of my Grandma. She was a very, very simple old lady, with elementary education but she was a great lover of the Bible and, for her

education and her general background, she had a phenomenal knowledge of the Bible. I was subjected, in the most loving way, to all that and I can look back and honestly say I cannot remember a time when I didn’t love the Bible and consider it the Word of God. Not dependent on any technical sense, but in the most simple-minded sense imbibed from Grandma. And that imbibing was so strong that when I went to university and came face to face with standard 1930s liberalism it just bounced off me. It wasn’t that I could answer it, but it was simply that it didn’t register and I knew it was wrong. All I can do with anybody is share that with them: This book is the Word of God, don’t ever let anybody say anything to its detriment, if they do, don’t believe them.

JDC: Well praise the Lord for your Grandma! Final question: you are senior in your Christian life - is there anything, if you had just one thing to say to people, to communicate to them - whether to encourage them in their Christian life…

AM: If I could go back - I was converted when I was 15, in 1940 – if I could go back to 1940 I would pursue holiness much more than I do.

JONATHAN CARSWELL10 of Those

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‘The cavalry aren’t coming.’ Those were Peter Jensen’s words which prompted a group of gospel-hearted folk in the North West to set up the partnership. Given that the cavalry aren’t coming it’s important we train up our own ‘good soldiers’ to proclaim the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. ‘North West Ministry Week’ is an initiative set up to help local churches in that training process. The week in April is aimed (mainly) at students thinking about the possibility of full-time church work. The idea is to give an extended taste of what is involved in work for a local church. There will be morning training sessions, run centrally, where they can learn foundational biblical principles which drive gospel ministry. Then, in the afternoons, students will be placed in churches around the region, to see how what they’ve learned in the classroom translates practically on the ground. The idea is to give an authentic experience of ministry and encourage them to think about taking the next step of working for a church after university.

Our prayer is that this week will be a great blessing to many local churches in the region in training up workers and ultimately a new generation of gospel-hearted church leaders.

We are hoping for the support of local churches in order to get this week off the ground in two main ways, which can be captured in two questions to local church leaders:

- Do you have any students thinking about going into paid gospel work who might benefit from taking part in this week? - Would you be able to take a placement student for a week for them to get a feel for what ministry looks like in a local church?

If the answer to either of those questions is yes, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me [email protected]

TIMOTHY WICKHAMSt, Mary’s Balderstone

St. Bridget’s Moresby is a lovely church family who meet on the site of an old Roman fort right on the Cumbrian coastline and just on the northern outskirts of the town of Whitehaven. For a good few decades now St. Bridget’s has been a clearly evangelical church with Bible teaching ministers and mission minded congregation members. Our motto is “to know Christ and make him known” and this permeates all we seek to do as a church in our parish and beyond.

Carlisle diocese, of which we are a part, is introducing “mission communities” which are clusters of churches. We are in a mission community with St. John’s Hensingham who are already a partner church and whose ministers are Fergus Pearson and Simon Walker – they are a great support to the ministry we undertake here.

Currently the big thing in the life of our church is the “Moresby Parks Project.” Moresby Parks is a village in our parish made up of ex-miners’ cottages but also a significant number of new houses which are predominantly home to many who work at the Sellafield Nuclear Plant some 15 miles south of us. We’ve taken the opportunity to pay a license fee for a Methodist chapel which is right in the heart of the village and is a very flexible and warm space.

From there we are setting up toddler groups, lunch clubs, dementia care groups, youth clubs, evangelistic events and more. All of these will be done for the purpose of “knowing Christ and making him known” and our long term prayer is that people in the village are won to Christ and that a regular congregation is established there.

We’ve joined the partnership because we keep being told there aren’t enough ministers coming through the system to appoint one person in each church. We believe the partnership provides a key way of training people for these roles and we want to support that and even see who from our congregation might benefit from such training.

PAUL KERRYSt. Bridget’s, Moresby

NORTH WEST MINISTRY WEEK

NEW PARTNER CHURCHST. BRIDGET’S CHURCH, MORESBY

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?ELEANOR BRINDLEOne of the biggest highlights of my last two years as a ministry trainee has been the weekly trip to Leyland to attend the Ministry Training Couse. I never got over the privilege each week: that I was there, receiving fantastic training from such great Bible teachers and experienced gospel workers.

A whole day saturated in theological training in the middle of a week of practical serving has been fantastic for my ministry. Each week my doctrine was stretched and challenged and my knowledge and love of God expanded as I was given the tools to teach and understand the Bible. Being sharpened alongside other gospel workers taught me what applying this looks like in the nitty gritty of churches and ministries wider than my own. I count the knowledge and learning experience gained there far more precious than my degree.

Together with the in-house training I’ve received from my church: living, laughing, crying, stressing and celebrating with families on the frontline of gospel ministry; I have been equipped for a lifetime of serving God’s church. I plan to do just that, and hope to continue my theological training, that I may continue to serve God’s family better and better.

PETER BRAMHALLSeeing a great gospel need, being convinced of the truth of God’s gospel and the need for gospel workers led me to drop a day a week at work with the intention of taking a step towards ministry. That was the step Kirsty and I decided would be the right thing to do, so I approached my boss early in 2004 to ask if that was possible. He said ‘Yes!’ That meant we then had to work out what to do.

Around the same time I heard about a new one day a week course being started up in the North West and to contact Justin Mote for more information. A phone call later and I’d signed up for the North West Ministry Training course starting September 2004. It was a year which was transformative for me. Studying God’s word, working hard to prepare talks and receive feedback changed me personally and it helped me to serve at Barnoldswick Gospel Mission as I preached, led bible studies and ran the kids club.

The year served to increase my appreciation of the gospel and the necessity of telling people about Jesus; for Christians to be taught that gospel so they could speak it. I was also convinced of the need for gospel ministry in the North West. It was during this year and through discussion with church leaders in our home church and on the course that we decided we should train formally for ministry.

So, in January 2006, we set off to study for 4 years at Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia. We made the decision before going that we would come back to the UK with the intention of being in the North West working in a North West Partnership church. The 4 years of study and being a student minister in a Sydney church taught me such an incredible amount about God’s grace and prepared me for ministry.

Since college I have been working at Christ Church Fulwood in Sheffield as the student worker. It has been a privilege to serve many students during the last 6 years. We are now excited to be back in the North West, partnering with Parr Street Evangelical Church to plant a new church in Milnthorpe - doing the very thing we caught the vision for 12 years ago through the North West Partnership.

Trinity Church Milnthorpe is due to launch on 23rd October 2016, meeting in Dallam School Sixth Form Centre at 10.15am.

Previous Ministry Training Course Students share their stories

KATY JOHNSON“I moved to the Northwest two years ago as a trainee at St Johns Church in Knutsford; working with 0-18’s and leading bible studies and giving talks. I was excited that I’d get to do the Ministry Training Course (MTC) and get some training to help me in my ministry but I was nervous about the preaching groups! As a people pleaser, I was concerned about what people would think of me and how to not to take feedback personally! Over the two years preaching groups have been one of my favourite parts and God has used the MTC not just to improve my talks but also to teach my heart too.

The MTC has helped me see my ministry as not all about me but about God doing His work by His Spirit through His Word. I’m not perfect and have got a lot to learn but through the blessing of other Christians He wants to refine us to serve Him. The MTC helped me decide to go into full time ministry, and I’ve just started as the Children’s Worker at St Andrews Church in Ashton, not with all the theological answers but equipped to serve Him better.”

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Since last year, local groups of ministers have been meeting together around the North West. For some it is just a chance to catch up, for others an opportunity to support one another and perhaps to work together. One of those groups from Mid-Cheshire had the idea of putting on a local training course, free of charge for members of their churches. That idea has now become a reality and nearly 80 people have signed up to come along.

The course, entitled ‘Growing in Christ’, will be hosted by a different church in each term, beginning in Winsford then moving to Sandbach, and then finally to Hartford. While the course takes much of its inspiration from the North West Training Course, it provides a home grown version more locally, with local ministers sharing the teaching. For convenience, the bulk of each term’s teaching is taken by the ministers of that church and those closest to it.

It required some churches to change their weekly pattern to accommodate the course, which runs on a Thursday evening, for eight weeks a term. In each meeting the first hour is devoted to a Bible overview and the second hour will feature Bible handling tools, ministry topics such as personal evangelism and 121 ministry and even a taste of church history. It is a real boost to fellowship between churches to work together in this way. Church leaders George Crowder, Paul Gibson, Tim Hanson, David Page and Mike Smith have all been deeply encouraged by the real sense of partnership in the planning meetings for the course. It is the belief of the whole planning team that training as many church members as possible to understand and apply the Bible will really strengthen the local churches to which they belong. And it is something that we can do much better in partnership with each other.

GEORGE CROWDERSt John’s Church Over

LOCAL TRAINING BYLOCAL CHURCHES

A N N U A L C O N F E R E N C E

2 7 T H & 2 8 T H J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7S T. A N D R E W ’ S , L E Y L A N D

R I C H A R D C O E K I N & G R A H A M B E Y N O N

GROWINGthe church and keeping it

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grateful for things past - … · as the week drew to a close, our slippery-football soaked clothes...

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