Leadership Conference Photos

At the beginning of June, our church network (Relational Mission) hosted a Leadership conference. Some of our folks went along and some heroes volunteered - Matt Tarr, James Mulholland, Ben Parker, Mikka Parker. Photos below!

RM Church Planters

James Mulholland overseeing AV

Mikka Parker on Video-ing

With a friend planting elsewhere in the world

Global Sunday Video Taster

On Sunday the 12th of June, The City Church are having a 'Global Sunday'  to focus on and celebrate all the church planting and sending that God has done through them. For a fuller blog post go HERE .

Global Sunday 12th June (Canterbury)

On Sunday 12 June, we will NOT be meeting in Colchester but taking a road trip to our sending church, The City Church. When I (Hugh) was based at City, it was clear that we were to be a sending church. In my last few years I was responsible for church planting and had the privilege to be at the forefront of helping dear friends move to Helsinki, Finland to pioneer a work there (see https://www.facebook.com/Helsinki.Plant/?fref=ts), and helping another couple move to Lille, France to church plant there (see https://www.facebook.com/newfrontierslille/?fref=ts).

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Over the years many others have moved to be part of church plants or have simply got stuck in to young works in Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Uk and many more! God has also increasingly knitted the City church together with Radiant Church in Visalia, California in the US. Travis (who leads Radiant) and his wife Tiffany will be speaking at Global Sunday. I had the privilege of meeting Travis when I travelled the US for a part of my Sabbatical - they are great!

There are various reasons we are going, here are some;

• To encourage those who have supported our plant in prayer, encouragement and resources
• To be encouraged as we hear about what God is doing through one church
• To get a taste of what it means to be a church caught up in global mission
• To build relationships with a church we hope to partner with for years to come
• To have fun together on a road trip!

Come and join us!

Bono & Eugene Peterson discuss The Psalms

Below is an encouraging and provoking conversation between Bono and Eugene Peterson on The Psalms - have a watch and get into the Psalms. The article is originally from https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/bono-eugene-peterson-psalms/.

““As a songwriter it’s very clear to me that Eugene Peterson is a poet as well as a scholar. He brings the musicality to God’s Word that I’m sure was always there.”
”

— Bono, Grammy award-winning artist and lead singer of U2.

““Bono is singing to the very people I did this work for. I feel that we are allies in this. He is helping get me and the Message to the very people Jesus spent much of his time with.””

— Eugene Peterson, beloved author, pastor, and writer of The Message.

Digital Gluttony...

View fullsize

Digital Gluttony...

I recently read a superb blog post by The Village Church and was convicted and provoked. It is worth a read. It addresses the challenge of gluttony in a digital age...below are some of the most penetrating parts of it. The full article is HERE.

---

“Consider whether you know the ins and outs of the characters on your favourite show better than you know the people God has placed around you.”

“Our habitual indulgence in television shows and social media has become a form of gluttony that, if not controlled, will lead to our destruction.​​”

“Paul Matthies defined gluttony as “a lack of faith in God that expresses itself through excess and expects total satisfaction from some idol of choice at the expense of community, responsibility and trusting worship of God.” At its root, gluttony says, “My desires should be met, right now, by whatever I crave.” Gluttony is the suicide of self-control; instead of trusting in God’s goodness and sufficiency, the glutton tries to seize satisfaction apart from God for desires he thinks belong to him.”

“With the technological advances of the last several years, many of us have become digital-age gluttons. Whether we’re endlessly scrolling down social media feeds or binge-watching whole television series, we have found it easy to treat digital goods in overblown ways. Simply consider this: What if you ate ice cream like you watched the waiver wire in your fantasy league? What if you drank wine to the same degree you spend time on Instagram?”

“When we choose to spend another night streaming or scrolling rather than engaging others face to face, we choose to forsake love of neighbour in order to feed a craving”

“Gluttony jeopardizes our ability to responsibly steward all that God has entrusted to us. By giving too much of yourself to screen time, you may find that those who need you have less of you than they need. When we overindulge in something like digital media, it’s not just we who suffer from the absence of others; others also suffer as a result of our absence. Consider whether you know the ins and outs of the characters on your favourite show better than you know the people God has placed around you.”