1Partnership Magazine | Summer 2016

NEWS FROM THE NORTH WEST

Dear Friends pg 3

Modern Day John Newton’s pg 4

Christianity Explored Ministries pg 6

Keswick Ministries pg 8

Leaving the Friendly North pg 10

North by North West Sub-Regional Group pg 11

An Update from BCUK pg 12

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 Justin Mote.

Dear Friends

In this introduction I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to two people who are moving on from roles within the Partnership.

First we say a big ‘thank you’ to Jill Tunley, who has been our administrator for the last four years. Jill is going to study at Manchester University in speech and language therapy. She leaves us at the end of August. Jill has been an outstanding servant to us. She has worked tirelessly, often working many more hours than we have paid her! She has always been cheerful and has wonderfully promoted all that we do together as partners. By the time you read this we will have interviewed for a successor.

We also say farewell and ‘thank you’ to Daf Merion Jones. Daf and Bo, with their seven children, have been at All Saints Preston for over a decade. Daf arrived from Exeter and totally threw himself into the life of the Partnership. He has been a trustee for many years, organised and led our ministers’ meetings and for a while chaired our church planting group. Daf is moving to the south to lead the ministry at Chessington Evangelical Church. He moves with our love and prayers.

I am thrilled to be able to ‘welcome’ Brian Elfick as a new NWP trustee. Brian is vicar at St Philemon’s in Toxteth. We are grateful that he has agreed to help us in this role.

So with many thanks to these people, I hope you enjoy this summer’s magazine.

With love in Christ

JUSTIN MOTEChair of Trustees of the NW Partnership Trust

DEAR FRIENDS

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Many will know John Newton as the slave trader, or perhaps as the Vicar of a parish church in Buckinghamshire, or even more likely as the author of many well-loved hymns like “Amazing Grace”. But you will probably not know of him as the Liverpool Tides Surveyor who worked at the Port of Liverpool to ensure that every arriving ship paid the appropriate customs tax upon arrival.

That is what John Newton did after becoming a Christian and ending his career as captain of a slave trading ship. He spent almost 10 years living in Liverpool and working as Tide Surveyor.

During that time, he used his spare time to study theology, Greek and Hebrew in order to serve as a lay minister. Think of the impact he has made on the Church since the mid 1700’s! None of that would have been possible had he not used his spare time to train.

Liverpool continues to be a place where men and women can use the spare time they have to be trained as lay ministers of the gospel. Some of them, like Newton, go on to serve the Church as full-time ministers, others utilise their training to be more effective members of their local church.

MODERN-DAY JOHN NEWTON’S

Since the inception of The North West Partnership, Liverpool has been home to a hub for training. And the primary home for that training is at 2 Blackburne Place. Every Tuesday from October - June there are around thirty men and women learning to study and teach the Bible through the Ministry Training Course. And every Wednesday from September - May men and women from all around the North West come to study theology, Greek and Hebrew through the Union course. Every other Wednesday evening, CCEF hosts training for Biblical Counseling. And Christ Church Liverpool uses the building for their mid-week ministry, training, and evangelistic outreach.

Having a base in the city centre of Liverpool is what makes it possible for the modern-day John Newtons to be trained. And as that ministry continues to expand, there is now a need for a larger facility. Over the coming months we will be looking into moving into a larger facility in the city centre that can host the expanding of NWP’s training and the growing ministries of Christ Church Liverpool.

2 Blackburne Place is also available for Partnership churches for a reduced cost for meetings, trainings, and other events. Please visit www.2blackburneplace.org for more information, and continue to pray for us as we work towards this vision

KEN LIPPOLDPastor of Christ Church Liverpool

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Since I became a Christian nearly twenty years’ ago, it’s been my privilege to be involved in many Christianity Explored courses. It’s really encouraging to see individuals come to faith in Jesus Christ through a local church event.

Recently, I’ve joined the team at CEM - the people who create a whole range of evangelistic materials - as Regional Coordinator for the North West of England.

Christianity Explored (CE) now has a new look; more contemporary and attractive for leaders and guests, whilst the content remains unchanged. CE helps us discover the identity, mission and call of Jesus as we read through Mark’s Gospel. Discipleship Explored is the popular follow on, helping new Christians explore Paul’s letter to the Philippians and learn more about what it means to follow Christ.

An exciting new resource - Life Explored - is coming in September 2016. This can be used before or after Christianity Explored. It aims to show people what they’re really living for and reveal that the greatest pleasure in life is enjoying, not God’s many gifts, but God himself.

It’s great to be part of this ministry; as Regional Coordinator, my role is to pray for, encourage and assist churches who are already using CE in the NW, as well as to help more churches find out how CEM materials can be an invaluable addition to their ministry tool kit. This might include help with training, promoting and setting-up new courses.

Many NWP churches will already use CE and know the benefits. Often, churches get started with Christianity Explored because it’s recommended by someone they know and trust. If you are aware of anyone in your area who might be looking for new or fresh evangelistic resources, feel free to introduce us.

For more information, please see www.ceministries.org or email ian.lawrence@christianityexplored.org

IAN LAWRENCESt John’s Lindow, Wilmslow

CHRISTIANITY EXPLORED MINISTRIES

Ministry TrainingCourse

Daytime courses in Leyland and Liverpool

Evening Courses in Leyland and Carlisle

WEB: www.northwestpartnership.com

EMAIL: info@northwestpartnership.com

TEL : 0151 703 1873

We interviewed James Devenish, Business Director of Keswick Ministries, to find out what their vision is for the future.

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KESWICK MINISTRIESWhat is the Keswick convention? How did it start, and what does it do each year?The Keswick Convention is so much more than just a summer event. Starting in the grounds of St John’s, Keswick in 1875, for over 140 years Christians from all over the UK and abroad have been travelling to the gorgeous Lake District for the Keswick Convention. Today close to 15,000 people attend this event over three weeks.

Some have attended the Convention more than 80 times and, over time, brought their children and their grandchildren along.

Our strapline is: Hearing God’s Word – Be-coming like God’s Son - Serving God’s mis-sion. We are committed to the teaching of the Word of God for the spiritual renewal of God’s people for His mission in the world.

When you look around the large marquee in Keswick, you will find people from all walks of life, hungry to hear God’s Word and to be equipped for His mission. No-body comes for the hype. It is not that kind of event. Saying that, the excitement and anticipation of what God will do, can be felt from day one.

The event attracts a variety of gifted speakers such as Vaughan Roberts, Sinclair Ferguson, Alistair Begg, Rico Tice, Peter Maiden, Jonathan Lamb and John Stott, who in 2007 preached his last public

sermon encouraging us to seek Christlike-ness. In addition, international preachers such as Billy Graham, Ravi Zacharias and D.A. Carson, one of the Bible readers for 2017, have been welcome contributors throughout the years.

What is the vision of Keswick for the fu-ture, and in particular to support gospel ministry in the North West?Keswick Ministries is embarking on one of its most exciting adventures - The Derwent Project. We have acquired the old pencil factory site in Keswick which will host a larg-er Convention on an integrated site as well as a conference centre for other training and seminars at other times of the year.

We long to see the restoration of gos-pel-centred Bible preaching in churches in the North, especially in our own region of Cumbria and the West Coast. I attended the January conference in Leyland and was so heartened and encouraged by the gospel-centred ministry that is happening there. We want to encourage the churches

locally by providing Keswick Ministries training events to build up preachers, chil-dren and youth workers, church leaders and missionaries, for example. We also want the new conference centre to be available for churches in the area for their own events.

What better place for this to happen than the breathtakingly beautiful Lake District?

In what ways can churches in the region support what you are seeking to do?Pray! And please attend the Keswick Con-vention and deliberately seek out contin-uing partnership in the gospel! This year’s Keswick Convention takes place from 16th July – 5th August – everyone is welcome! The event is free of charge.

If you would like to support Keswick Minis-tries Derwent Project please give at https://www.give.net/20182815.

Every year, 600 volunteers help us run the Convention. If you are interested in being part of a fantastic team of helpers, sign up online at: https://keswickministries.org/volunteer

If you would like to find out more about Keswick Ministries, the Convention or the Derwent Project, please go to www.kes-wickministries.org.

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When I was considering the post of vicar of All Saints Preston someone told me I should get in contact with the North West Partnership. So I dutifully rang Justin Mote, who I had never met, and asked his advice. That was the start of a relationship that has been vital to me over the last 11 years, not just with Justin, but with many people across the region, who share the same biblical beliefs and have the same goal of seeing Jesus honoured through the preaching of the gospel. Here are just a few of the benefits I’ve enjoyed:

1. Friendship:Quite literally the North West Partnership has provided me with friends in ministry. Without their wisdom, encouragement and love I would have packed up not just serving Christ in Preston, but gospel ministry entirely on a number of occasions.

2. Training:The training course has been a fantastic resource from which All Saints has benefitted, as not just trainees, but many regular punters, have had their knowledge of God in His word expanded exponentially. I have also benefitted from preaching groups, theologically stretching conferences and ministers meetings, as well as the privilege of being able to learn from others as we chat about what is going on in our churches.

3. Vision:The Partnership has forced me to stretch the bounds of my vision for the gospel beyond Preston to the whole of our region. One of the dangers of ministry is that we can become very parochial (even in non-Anglican churches!), looking just to run our ship well and keep it on course. We easily lose sight of gospel needs not on the other side of the world, but just around the corner. The North West needs more biblical churches, and gospel partnership is the most effective way that we can be part of providing them.

So why am I doing what I vowed not to do and returning to the South (a word that I hope you spit out in disgust!)? Though it is not the primary reason, I think that the partnership has had a small part to play, in that it has broken down some of the historical church divisions, so that when I was asked to serve Christ in an FIEC church I thought that was an entirely normal thing to do; after all that’s what some of my best friends do!

DAF MEIRION JONES

The North West Partnership is thriving up in Cumbria, for which we are so grateful to the Lord. NWP has recently moved towards growing local expressions of that Partnership, and we call ours North by North West Partnership (I’m Cary Grant – I’ve always wanted to be tall!). We have a long history of evangelical ministry around here, through both Anglican and Free churches, so there are real opportunities to partner together. Indeed, Carlisle has one of the original 9 or 10 North West Partnership ministers, and its great to have Rev Steve Donald’s input.

One of the big issues for us is geography – everywhere seems to take a long time to get to! Which is fine when you’re on holiday in the Lake District, but isn’t great when trying to work and pray together closely for kingdom growth. Because of this, we cannot meet monthly as some local networks do, but we do meet together 12:30-3:00 every term, so that when we do drive, we get quality time together. Its lunch to catch up, then some Bible input (Tim Chester, Justin Mote, Lee Gatiss to name but three) and then a good half hour to pray. Those of us in the Anglican church come an hour early to focus on the specific issues and opportunities we face.

There have been some encouraging stories of church growth and development over the years, which is enhancing our group – most recently at Bethesda in Brampton with Huw & Rachel Iley. We are now running the evening training course from September, are working towards some church planting plans, and are networking with folk like FIEC and the Keswick Convention to partner together in various ways.

If you are part of a church in Cumbria, or know one, please do make sure they are in touch with us. And as the man from Macedonia didn’t quite say – why not come up here to join in and help us?

ANDY TOWNERVicar at St. John’s Houghton

LEAVING THE FRIENDLY NORTH

NORTH BY NORTH WEST

We’re saying a sad goodbye to one of our Trustees. We asked Daf what he has enjoyed most about Partnership.

Andy Towner updates us on our most Northern sub-regional Ministers Group.

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AN UPDATE FROM BCUK

Graduate Diploma in Theology & MA in Contemporary Church LeadershipUnion is proud to be partnering with The North West

Partnership, enrolling its students at their Liverpool Centre. Union is the bringing together of the academy (WEST)

and the church for theological education.(Part time - Max classroom time 2 days a week)

Apply at west.org.uk/apply

For more information: email info@northwestpartnership.com

call 0151 703 1873

This July will see the first students complete the Biblical Counselling UK Certificate Course in Liverpool.Nationally our students are very different - Pastors, Outreach Workers, Ministry Trainees, One-Anothering Helpers - completing the course better equipped to encourage Christ-centred change, enabled by the Spirit, through the ministry of the Word, in the local church.

“We’re doing that already” you might say.

So what might be different about training in Biblical Counselling? In Matthew 22:34-40 God’s word shows us how Jesus connects true love and worship of God with love of neighbour. His radical call to repentance and forgiveness of sins leads to a lifetime in his ‘household’, the church, where the Spirit’s work of steady change in our hearts takes place.

It takes place in your daily concerns, such as the hospital visit. It takes place in the briefest of conversations you have after a church service as you move towards another, concerned to know how your brother or sister is really doing, and how you might pray with them and for them. It may even take place in the fear and confusion of psychiatric diagnosis.

And it takes place for all of us daily as we struggle with the pride, disappointment and self-pity in our own hearts.

How does the Word of life speak into the stuff of life?

Join us in September for the next Certificate Course: www.biblicalcounselling.org.uk/certificatecourse and join us next March for our residential conference, Biblical Counselling in the Local Church: www.biblicalcounselling.org.uk/conferences

We also run a church Intern Scheme:www.biblicalcounselling.org.uk/intern-scheme

And do pray! We are thankful as we partner with you in the Gospel here in the North West.

SALLY ORWIN LEE

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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: admin@soundholidays.org.uk

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

1 JULY 2016 @ SPEKE BAPTIST, LIVERPOOL 7–9.30pm / £4 / for 14–18sFood, meeting up with people from sound and a short talk helping us keep focused on Jesus during the summer – why not bring a friend?

bookings+info WWW.THISISSOUND.COM

questions SARAH@PLATTCHURCH.ORG

facebook /thisissound • twitter @soundnwp

SUMMER

PRESENTS...

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