Christmas Greetings
Have a great Christmas, I hope to see you sometime in 2012!
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Okay, I know it’s been a while since my last post. It’s been a crazy year… I hope to post an update soon… Promise. 
Until then… I just wanted to let you know about an event I’m involved in at the end of November… I’m really excited to be part of this ‘Global Connections’ conference, “The future of mission” will be our focus…
It’s not too late to book up, so do check it out – details can be found HERE!
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Christians Against Poverty
Back at the beginning of March I had the opportunity to play at the ‘Christians Against Poverty’ Staff Conference up in Bradford. I’d heard a bit about their work before but must admit I hadn’t appreciated the full extent of what they do…
Through partnerships with the local church CAP offer hope, support, and solutions to families and individuals struggling with debt. I was blown away, not only by the passion and commitment of their team, but by the numerous stories of changed and transformed lives. CAP are all about proclaiming freedom for those caught in debt & poverty and helping people discover that they have a hope and future.
‘Faith and deeds’… Very exciting…
You can find out more about CAP HERE as well as hearing some amazing testimonies HERE…
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GB ‘Journeying Together’
Last Saturday I was invited to take part in the Girls Brigade ‘Journeying Together’ support day: a mentoring programme that GB are piloting for leaders and the young people they work with.
The new mentors met together for a day of training provided by Exodus (click HERE for a link) who run a successful mentoring programme in Northern Ireland. My role was to lead the worship and also to offer insight from some of the training and mentoring I’ve been involved with over the years.
It was an exciting and informative day as we explored what it looked like to mentor others and the privilege it is to “encourage, support, and equip people in their walk with God”.
It was a great start to an initiative that has the potential to make a real impact with young people around the country. I believe the work of GB is hugely significant and much needed in the lives of young people today. You can find out more about some of what they do HERE.
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YFC ‘ETA Worship’ Training
At the end of January I met again with this years YFC ‘ETA Worship’ volunteers. For those that aren’t aware: YFC offer additional training to their gap year volunteers and this year four of them have chosen to be part of the worship training stream. We meet together several times over the year to look at and discuss all things ‘worship’.
Back in October we had a look at what the Bible has to say about worship in general and spent time thinking about the role that creativity, singing, and music have to play in the life of the Church.
This time around we kicked off with a very practical look at working with a band. We had a great time thinking about things like – how different instruments work together, how to get the best from different musicians, how to run good rehearsals, and how different songs can flow together. We then spent a day putting the theory into practice: working on different arrangements, singing, playing, and worshipping together.
The more reflective element of our time together involved thinking hard about what it means to be a worshipper. Going beyond singing: we explored our gifts, passions, motivations, and calling; we also considered what it means to ‘lead worship’ and what that looks like in terms of our whole lives.
It’s a real privilege to work with such a great group of young adults seeking to love and serve Jesus, not just through what they play and sing, but in every aspect of their lives – with everything they are and everything they do.
If you would like to find out more about the training side of what I do, please get in touch; or if you’d like to find out more about YFC’s gap year programme check out the website HERE. In the meantime I leave you with the verse from Romans that played a major part in much of our time together.
“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” – The Message
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Christmas Services
So it’s the middle of January and I’m blogging about Christmas… You could argue I’m a little behind with my updates, or we could pretend I’ve done it deliberately because it’s good to remember some of our Christmas themes all year round. Either way, here we go…
Christmas this year wasn’t too busy for me. It was a nice change from the often crazy time of year. It meant the things I was involved in I had time to really appreciate…
It was great to be part of a couple of carol services at St James. It’s an amazing old building, so when lit up and decorated for Christmas, it feels kinda special. The services had a contemporary edge with a mixture of traditional carols arranged in a contemporary format, video clips, and other creative elements. It was great to see so many visitors at St James, credit to them for inviting and engaging the local community as we ‘unpacked’ what Christmas was all about.
The other Christmas event I was part of was the ‘Light Lunch‘ carol service. Meeting at Regents Hall just off Oxford Circus, business men and women gathered on a Wednesday lunchtime to worship, pray, and reflect on the theme of ‘Emmanuel, God with us’. A quick story… as a passerby heard the singing, she took a moment out from her shopping and joined us. After the service she commented that she hadn’t heard people singing carols that way before (the implication being with passion and enthusiasm) and it had stirred her to think about the words in a way she hadn’t previously… It’s exciting to think that as we worship God with our songs, it has a missional element that can stir people, causing them to think and engage. I was encouraged…
One of the reasons I enjoy carol services is we get to sing one of my favourite songs of all time… So even though it is mid January, I’m going to leave you with a few lines from, what is arguably, the best carol there is…
Have a great 2011.
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see!
Hail the incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel.”
(PS… Thanks to Jane Plackett for the great photo of St James)
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Autumn & Winter Newsletter
For those interested my latest news letter is available HERE.
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Youth Compass
A couple of weeks ago I led worship at a conference run by ‘Youth Compass’ – an organisation that works with ‘Third Culture Kids’. (TCK’s are “people who spend a significant time during the developmental years outside the parents’ passport culture(s).“)
The TREK conference was held at the Park Crescent Conference Centre, near Regents Park, in London. It provided an opportunity for anyone who works with international young people to come together for seminars, worship, training, teaching and networking.
It was great to meet people with a passion to serve young people all over the world, and share together in a time that was genuinely encouraging, challenging, & inspiring.
You can find out more about ‘Youth Compass’ HERE.
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More To Life
Some weeks ago, back in September, I was involved in a day conference called ‘Unlock The Power Of The Church’.
This event was a joint venture between Premier’s ‘Love London’ initiative and Viz-aViz’s ‘More To Life’ ministry.
The idea behind the theme was to encourage and equip the church to share its faith, by giving people the confidence to share their story in a way that will inspire those outside the church and leave them with a better understanding of God.
You can find out more about ‘More To Life’ HERE.
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Guest Blog: Leading Edge
It’s been such a busy couple of months that I haven’t had a chance to update you on some of the things I got up to over the Summer.
‘Leading Edge’ was one of the main events for me in August, and this year my biggest fan came too… The following is an extract from an article she wrote for our church magazine and has kindly reproduced it here in my first ever ‘guest blog’… Thanks Mum!
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‘Leading Edge’ was organised by the Baptist Union of Great Britain & Viz-a-viz Ministries, and held in Warwick. Compared to Spring Harvest or Soul Survivor, L E was a smaller, more intimate, ‘family’ event ministering to 900+ over seven days in August. There was a good range of Bible studies and seminars to choose from without being overwhelmed by too many options and distractions.
The 2010 brochure advertised ‘Celebrations, Bible teaching, Worship, Recreation, Entertainment’ that would enable participants to be ‘refreshed, renewed, recharged’, and in my opinion it didn’t disappoint. Many said this year’s event was the best ever – some who had been to every one in L E’s 15-year history.
The title of this year’s event was ‘Walking the Wire; following Jesus in a confusing world’ and focused on The Beatitudes, from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–12) Each “Blessed are …” was the basis for a morning Bible Study and Evening Celebration. God spoke powerfully through each speaker as they brought their own wealth of knowledge and experiences to the subject. I listened to some excellent speakers including: Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of the BU; Joel Edwards, former Director of Evangelical Alliance UK, now International Director for Micah Challenge; David Kerrigan, General Director of BMS World Mission; Ian Bunce, Head of BUGB Mission Dept; Kathryn Morgan, a Baptist minister and BUGB Mission Adviser; Diane Tidbal, Regional Minister Team Leader; Claire Earl, Baptist minister and ‘missionary to the young people of the East’ (of England that is). One of the things that came across so powerfully was that in each of their roles within a church, area or organisation, they are dealing with real issues in our confused and hurting world. I cannot do justice here to the words that God gave to them for us but they will be available on the BU website soon so do check them out.
Luke had an excellent group of musicians on the worship team… two or three of them would lead a low key time of worship at the Bible Study venues in the morning, and the whole band led at the main adult venue in the evening. The Evening Celebrations were amazing times of vibrant praise, reflective worship, and Holy Spirit led response to God’s message. Many people responded and the prayer team were kept busy. People left at the end of the week challenged and changed, inspired to walk as disciples, not to ‘obscure’ God, be ready and willing to learn, to be peacemakers, to minister to a hurting world, but above all to play our part by thinking ‘mission’ and sharing the Good News of Jesus whenever, wherever, however we can.
This was the last Leading Edge – in it’s present format, at least – but the groundswell of support for something to take its place suggests that God may have plans for something new. Watch this space!
Nicky Hamlyn
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More details about Leading Edge can be found HERE. You Can download the talks HERE.
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