DECEMBER 2017
ISSUE 25
K I NGFI S H E R FAMILY Great Challenges, Great Opportunities What a year this has been! A year of growth, of faith challenges, of new ventures such as sponsoring 26 Dumagat children in the Philippines to attend school, providing them with accommodation, food and classroom materials; a year of stepping out into the challenges that God has placed before us, specifically in the form of six key words.
where we treat each other graciously, where we use our words to bless and not to curse, where we come into agreement (which is what confession is) with what God is doing here and we speak that out to each other. How has that been for you during this year? When people have been like sandpaper to you, rubbing you up the wrong way? When people have different views than you do on BUT GOD subjects like…BREXIT? Has that We believe that God can bring confession stood firm for you? A something amazing out of what seems season of change which requires a like a setback, or a difficult situation. season of grace. My confession was For me and the elders of Kingfisher that I believe this will go down as Kingsway, that was the right but being a golden season for us. difficult decision to close that church and bring two congregations together here at Tredworth. Right but hard. But God was promising to bring something good out of this, and I have to say that today, the majority of the ✦ people who were part of the Kingsway congregation are rooted in this church, in Connect groups, serving the Lord, and I thank God for that! As I said back in January, change is not easy, 2016 was not easy for ✦ many, But God has a plan and I choose to stand firm in the light of that belief! I will not allow my faith to be defined by my circumstances.
But God
My Confession What If?
MY CONFESSION. 2017 has been a season of change for us at Kingfisher and change can be unsettling. And so, the challenge was for each of us to agree together that this is going to be a season of change that propels us forward into the greater things that God has for us. My challenge to all of us was: can we agree that together? And more than that, can we agree together that this is going to be a season of grace? A season
WHAT IF? But God; My Confession - and the final two words: WHAT IF? We have thought a lot about those two words over the past couple of years. Here’s how I put that back in January: What would you do if God said specifically to you, ‘The status quo in your life - what you have settled for and perhaps just put up with, is no
longer good enough? What if He were to say to you, ‘I want you to expect more, believe bigger, aim higher?’ What if He said, ‘I’m calling you to trust more, to act in faith more’? What would you do? What step of faith would you take? So here we are, ten months later, and I want to ask that question, not looking forward as an invitation to make a statement of faith, but as an opportunity to review. How have you responded to God’s call for you to move forward? His challenge: “You have been at this mountain long enough”? Have you yet discovered what that might mean for you this year? Have you even realised yet that you have been settled into a routine in life and that God has been challenging you to stop getting so comfortable because the journey is before you, not behind you? I asked the question of all of us ten months ago: What if you were to make a confession - come into agreement with God and agree, the status quo, and my current levels of expectation and trust and willingness to step out - I’m not settling for that any more. I’m stepping up. With the new Plus One initiative being launched, the new church at the Treasure Seekers building in Westgate Street, Gloucester being launched and many more things happening, there has never been a better time to put these six words into action in your life: But God, My Confession, What If?
News from Kingfisher Church An update from Pastor Ollie It has been great to get back into the rhythm of ‘normal’ church life following the Summer break. All our groups are up and running again and it has been so good to welcome back those we know well and to say hello to a whole number of others who are new. We have created many different spaces in the week for people to connect and experience community, spaces where we as Christians can offer hope and show God’s love in real and tangible ways. So here is a typical week at Kingfisher Tredworth, just a taster of what’s on: Monday (am) - Toddlers Serving the local community and beyond as we invite parents and their small children to come and play, build friendships and find some support. Tuesday (am) - Community Coffee morning - We have a four week rolling programme including bingo, karaoke, a themed morning and a praise time. Treasure Seekers staff and volunteers run the coffee bar with us and we have a wide and diverse grouping of people who come and join in the fun. Tuesday (pm) - Seniors Citizens - For those of a senior age we organise three social afternoons a month and then have a church service with hymns old and new and a short devotion. It’s an opportunity to meet up with friends and keep those grey cells working, especially on* John, Phil and Dave’s quizzes! Tuesday (Evening) - Fusion Our youth group for primary school age children. We’ve had a brand new influx of kids from the local community this term having worked hard to get the word out in all the local schools in the area. It’s a place of hang-out as well as team time and competition. Tuesday (Evening) - Engage rehearsal - Our church music team continues to grow and it’s been great, off the back of our latest album Begin Again, to see a number of youth step up to become part of the team in this new season. Wednesday (am) - Twins Group - This is a toddler group with
a difference, where all the children are twins or triplets or maybe more. It’s a great space for the children to play but is an invaluable place of support for the parents who attend. Thursday (am) - Little Fishes This is a free to attend toddler group where the stories and songs are taken from the Bible. It is our most attended toddler group of the week! Thursday (Evening) Celebrate Recovery - A 12 Step recovery programme for anyone wanting to deal with their hurts, hang-ups and habits. We meet upstairs in the Jungle room every week from 7pm. It has become a real place of support and accountability for people who would call Kingfisher home as well as people from outside of our church. We are now part of the Celebrate Recovery UK Network. Anyone is welcome to come along. Friday - Detonate - Our youth group for teens gets together socially every Friday and is also plugged in to ‘Impact’ which is a churches together initiative every other Saturday night for the Christian youth in our city and their friends. Saturday - Dad’s Only - This is a toddler group just for dad’s and their children, a place to play and to build friendships. A full English breakfast is served each term, but Steve Evans will feed you every session with something.
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Sunday Services - 10am, 11.30am and 6pm. The time of the week when we gather together as family to refocus and refuel, to be reminded of God’s great plan and purpose for our lives. Many people only know our 10am service but it is always worth staying for the Learning Disability Friendly service at 11.30am (I’m looking to add to our team if you are interested in getting involved).You can also attend in the evening at 6pm where we have more time to worship, reflect on the Word and really listen to God. If you haven’t been before then make a date to come check it out. This doesn’t take into account all the Connect groups that meet during the week in people’s homes (join one if you can) or the additional Treasure Seekers activities that also happen here at our church building on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It is a well used space that we are so thankful to God for, made all the better coming into the winter months with the benefit of our new air conditioning/heating system that was installed earlier this year. Our regeneration project will continue in 2018 with the decoration of the upstairs meeting room, hallway and entrance.You will also see some additional decoration in the main hall. Our longer term intent is to refurbish the toilet facilities. It is also worth mentioning that we have a prayer meeting on the 2nd Saturday of every month at 9am. For me this is the most important meeting of the month and if you call Kingfisher home then it would be great for you to join us regularly. Without this time together we can just be busy doing lots of activity rather than seeing real fruit from our endeavours. We need that close partnership with God, to lean on, cling to and rely on Him so that we can follow His lead with His strength. Our next morning prayer meeting is Saturday 9th December why not plan to come and join in. If you would like to get involved in any of the above groups please let our administrator, Kirsty Dalley, know by emailing info@kingfisher.org.uk
News from Kingfisher Church
Curry Night On Saturday 28th October approximately 100 people gathered at church for our curry night. There were around ten different curries to chose from and it was a wonderful opportunity for the congregation and their friends and family to get together for some quality food, fun quizzes and great company! Thanks to Steve for organising the evening and to everyone who made a curry.
Baptism service Out latest baptism service was on Sunday 8th October and Angel Gale got baptised in front of lots of her friends and family. Congratulations Angel!
News from Kingfisher Treasure Seekers What’s on this Christmas at Treasure Seekers?
We will be open on Sundays 10th, 17th and 24th December from 12noon - 4pm
Thursdays 14th and 21st December 6pm - 8pm
There are lots of Christmas crafts to make and a free mince pie with all crafts made in December.
Late night shopping with live music, mince pies and 10% discount on everything plus further reductions on some items
Saturday 2nd December Cheesy Christmas Tunes Saturday 9th December Christmas Carols Friday 15th December Youth Night Glow Rave Wednesday 20th December Christmas Open Mic Night Saturday 23rd December Christmas Quiz (all at 8pm)
Treasure Seekers award nomination Treasure Seekers Gift Shop has been nominated as a finalist in the Best Retailer category of the Believe in Gloucester Awards 2017. The awards are a campaign run in association with the City Council and marketing Gloucester to celebrate achievement in Gloucester. This is the first time we have been nominated in the Best Retailer category. There is a Big event at Gloucester Rugby club on the 30th of November where the winners will be announced for each category. We are hoping the increased interest in the shop from this event will shine a
light on our amazing team of volunteers who work so hard for developing employment skills and will encourage more people to shop with us: raising more funds for the wider work of Kingfisher Treasure Seekers in empowering people to become the best versions of themselves.
News from Kingfisher Treasure Seekers
News from the Kingfisher Family Celebrating in the Philippines! Our National Director in the Philippines, Noel Delfin, has had a lot to praise God for recently! His church the Lords Light Christian Fellowship celebrated their 10th Anniversary last month. Many people came together to mark the anniversary with some of the children in the church putting on a show. The same month the youth leaders from Lords Light Christian Fellowship graduated from the Kingfisher Leadership Training course and, in the words of Noel, are now ‘Fishing for the King through adventure base counselling and evangelism’. We will be praying that these youth will go on to do amazing things for God in the Philippines.
Thank you so much to everyone who donated to this years Harvest Appeal. We raised over £3,000 and have sent off 100 family sized mosquito nets and 100 bibles to our churches in Mozambique. There’s currently
a malaria epidemic sweeping through the country with thousands being stuck by this deadly disease so your donations have given peace of mind to 100 families and potentially saved many lives. Most of our Kingfisher churches in Mozambique don’t even have access to a bible, which is something we take for granted (how many bibles do you personally have at home!), so what an amazing gift that we’re able to bring access to the Word of God to so many people.
News from the Kingfisher Family Feedback from the International Family in India 2017 has been a year of travelling around the world visiting various parts of the International Family. Early in November, that took James and Stuart Seagrave to the Punjab in India to visit the growing number of Kingfisher churches in that region. The Punjab straddles both India and Pakistan, with the border running through the middle. There is a large Sikh population in the Punjab and in particular in Amritsar, which houses the Golden Temple, a centre for Sikh worship. Eight Kingfisher churches have been planted in this region, and our visit to the Punjab in November was the first opportunity we have had to visit those churches and share the Kingfisher vision with them. Simon, our National Director, organised two conferences: a
leaders conference and a believers conference. At each, we had the opportunity, not only to teach but also to pray for the sick, anoint people with oil and pray for many of the leaders who were present. It was wonderful to see people being healed of various illnesses, but also to see the results of previous prayer. Stuart prayed the previous year for a couple who were infertile, and had the privilege of holding their newborn baby this time around. Many people said how encouraged and motivated they now are as a result of these conferences, as well as the visits we made to various more-out-of-theway churches, to pray and encourage. During our time we were able to present Simon with a National Director certificate and to
commission many church leaders. We believe that something powerful was birthed during this time in India, and that we will see the fruit of this in the coming months and years.
GET INVOLVED WITH THE NEWSLETTER! In order for this newsletter to grow and develop, we need your help! If you go to any Kingfisher event and have taken a great photo, then please email it to Kirsty at info@kingfisher.org.uk. The copy deadline for the next issue (due out in March 2018) is 19th February. Or if you would like to get involved in the production of the next newsletter then email us with your particular area of interest. Hope you enjoy hearing all that is happening across the Kingfisher Family!
Kingfisher Church Moor Street Tredworth Gloucester GL1 4NJ www.kingfisher.org.uk info@kingfisher.org.uk +441452 304339 Š Kingfisher Church, 2013