SEPTEMBER 2016
ISSUE 20
K I NGFI S H E R FAMILY Follow that Pillar! What a summer! In line with our vision statement at the beginning of the year, the 'pillar of cloud by day and fire by night' has been moving at a breathtaking pace this year. We've had two successful holiday clubs, the international family has been launched in the Philippines, the Social Enterprise has launched 'Support at the Cavern', a 365 day-a-year service providing support and non-clinical help to adults with mental health and other issues. This has been enthusiastically supported by Gloucestershire's Clinical Commissioning Group and by the Police and Crime Commissioner amongst others. We have hosted a concert performed by a children's choir from LIV village, a wonderful ministry in South Africa giving orphaned children a safe environment and hope of a better future. Two of our young people Sophie Bond and Beth Kelly spent six months out there and were hugely impacted by God during that time. We had record numbers (600+) attending the two TSPA shows, Moments from Grease. The performances were outstanding, but what really made those shows were the stories told of the personal journeys people are making; journeys from being prisoners of their fears and their past to being free to become who they were created to be. Truly inspiring!
door, a freshly-painted exterior, a new window upstairs, new fire doors...the project is definitely underway. We will soon have new signage on the outside of the building and a new ramp to the main door.
Twenty three years into the adventure and Jesus Christ is still saying: 'Follow that pillar!' And now we stand at the threshold of a new ministry season, with so many new opportunities. One of those opportunities is the launch of Celebrate Recovery. This is a group for people with 'hurts, habits and hang ups' who want to break free and become available for all that God has for them in their life. Celebrate Recovery is a 12-step recovery program which encourages participants to work through eight principles, developing and deepening a relationship with Jesus. We are running a pilot course this Autumn and offering this church-wide in the new year.
It has been great to see the We are also launching across our Tredworth building beginning to be whole international family, a new regenerated. We have a new front three-level discipleship program.
Level one is a reworked version of the Foundations course (without the DVD, for ease of use in other countries). Level two is the Shaped for Significance course that we launched 18 months ago. Level three is a new 'first steps in theology' course. We are rolling these courses out, together with leaders notes, for each Connect group to work through at some point in 2017. The significance of this is that we will be joining in a discipleship development process along with thousands of other believers around the world; in the UK, the EU, India, Africa, and the Philippines. Imagine the impact of thousands of believers committing to the Great Commission together! Speaking of the Great Commission, this is the focus of our Leadership Conference in October. Called 'The Great Commission Tsunami', this day conference looks at where in the world the Great Commission is having an impact today, what Great Commission disciples in those areas look like and what would happen if that Tsunami visited our own country. What would Great Commission disciples look like in our church? The 'pillar of cloud by day and fire by night' has shifted significantly over the past eight months and we have begun to follow. There is more - much more - to come in the remainder of this year and beyond. Twenty three years into the adventure and Jesus Christ is still saying: 'Follow that pillar!'
News from Kingfisher Kingsway Underwater Adventure at Kingfisher Kingsway For a week in August Kingsway Junior school was transformed for Underwater Adventure, our annual children’s holiday club, this year based on the Disney film Finding Nemo. The story of Finding Nemo is essentially of a dad doing everything he can to find his lost son. Using that theme, together with lots of team games, competitions, drama, singing, dancing and stories, the Christian messaged was creatively told throughout the week. Around 80 children had a fantastic time as Rachael and her team from Tredworth joined with our team from Kingsway to put on what we think was our best holiday club yet!
Little Fishes Summer Trip to Cattle Country On Friday 15th July we went on our Summer trip to Cattle Country in Berkeley. Due to the fundraising that we’ve been doing throughout the year we were able to pay for all of the children to get into the park, and we provided a coach from our church budget. There were around 70 of us from Little Fishes and, although the weather wasn’t ideal, as you can see from our photos everyone had a great time!
News from the Kingfisher Family The LIV Village experience At the beginning of this year Beth Kelly and Sophie Bond travelled to LIV Village in Durban, South Africa to volunteer for a few months amongst orphaned and disadvantaged children. Here is their story, written by Sophie: What's LIV? LIV is a village in South Africa where they give orphans and vulnerable children a home, a mother who will love them like their own, a school to learn and a safe place to grow and learn. Going to LIV was a big thing for both of us for many reasons. One of the biggest things and also the scariest thing was leaving everything behind in the UK and going to a completely new place, 6000 miles away from friends and family, not just for a couple of weeks but for six months and not
knowing exactly what we were going to be doing. But we both felt like God was calling us there so in a step of faith we said YES! What did we do? For the first three months we helped out doing various jobs around the village just giving them a hand in anything; whether that was farming cucumbers, doing little jobs in the school or setting out chairs for the Sunday morning service. The last three months we got to choose an area of LIV that we would like to work in. I chose to work in the school, working with the special needs class, coming alongside the children and doing general TA things. Beth decided to work in Homes Management. This involved many jobs from planning trips, general organisation of the
houses and much more but her main job was to help with the food distributions, making sure that all the homes got the food that they needed. We had teaching on identity and hearing the voice of God as well as having guest speakers throughout our six months and we were also given the opportunity to suggest topics we’d like to hear about. We learnt so much that has helped us gain a better relationship with Jesus and has helped us since coming home. LIV4Change (the name of the Gap Year) is one big family, we are reminded throughout the time that ‘strangers became friends and friends became family’ and that’s exactly what we became. The thought of living with a house full of strangers in a village full of people you don’t know far away from home can be daunting but it’s an exciting step of faith.You make life long friends and they all become a constant encouragement to you because you experience things with each other that nobody else will understand the way these people have, and it brings you closer together. If you would like to know any more about our time at LIV feel free to come and ask me or Beth!
Soon after Beth and Sophie returned to the UK we also welcomed the LIV Village Youth Choir to Gloucester as part of their nationwide tour to raise awareness and funding for their work in South Africa. So on 21st July, hosted at Kingsway Primary School, a packed hall was treated to an outstanding performance from twenty young people as they presented in song and dance the life transformation that they have experienced through LIV. It was an inspiring and challenging evening as we came face to face with the level of need but also with the incredible hope that is found when Christians step out in faith and do what Jesus has called us to do.
News from The Kingfisher Family Kingfisher branches out to the Philippines In June of this year, James and Norlie travelled to the Philippines for a week of ministry, introducing the vision that God built Kingfisher on to various pastors and church leaders. It was a great, God-given opportunity and He graciously opened a number of doors for us. Whilst there we had the opportunity to speak to a gathering of pastors and their wives that Norlie had brought together and especially to meet a pastor called Noel Delfin, to whom God gave a particular burden for seeing Kingfisher established in that land. Pastor Noel meets each month with a group of 30 pastors to encourage and disciple them and he has agreed to take our materials and start teaching them to those pastors. They have already had two sessions together, working through our Called to Leadership course, which has been enthusiastically received.
was so sad to learn that the start of their new school term had been delayed because they could not afford exercise books and pencils and pens. The government is supposed to be funding the children's education as well as paying Eileen, but both undertakings are very hit-and-miss. Kingfisher was able to give a small amount of money, enough to buy enough writing materials to enable the school to open and they were so grateful for just that small amount. So, training and equipping pastors and building in to the Dumagat tribe are the two areas where I believe we can make a real difference as our first steps in the Philippines, and we will be praying about and planning towards how we can move forward in those two areas in the months and years to come.
We also had the privilege of travelling into the Sierra Madre mountains to meet members of the Dumagat tribe. This tribe is in a remote area and has, until fairly recently, has had little contact with Western influence. Until just a few years ago, they were wearing traditional loin cloths and spoke no English. Thanks to the tireless work of a school teacher called Eileen, they have been introduced to the Christian faith and a number have already given their lives to the Lord. Norlie and I visited them in part to deliver clothes that Norlie had collected and had shipped out. We had such a great day with them! It
Greetings from Engage! So we as a team have been getting geared up for our final preparations for the 'Begin Again' recording, which is now only five weeks away and feels like it's fast approaching. You may remember that during July, we were compiling a list of words that members of the congregations in Kingsway and Tredworth were submitting in response to Isaiah 43:18-19. Begin Again has been the theme of that process, and of the season it feels we've been in as a church family. Really, it's a timeless one, where a timeless God allows us His fresh mercies everyday and is always ready and waiting to do a new work in us. This is what we wanted to celebrate by inviting all of you into the process of making an album cover, using the words you chose to reflect your testimonies and visually mark that crossing over from the former things into God's something new. You'll be seeing a sample of this product during services before seeing the real thing at the live recording on the 15th of October, where your part continues: I want to make this urge and plea that you make it a priority to join with your church family on this special occasion, to make these confessions together and celebrate all that God has been doing, and as a statement of faith that His is best is yet to come. Our role as a team is to serve God and serve you as a congregation, and we would love you to share this landmark with us, which we will then get to relive again and again when the album is released! Thank you and God bless, Joe
Clockwise from top: Children from various Rio Chico churches; Travelling into the mountains to visit the Dumagat tribe; Noel Delphin and James praying for the pastor of a Methodist church; The Dumagats welcoming us.
News from Kingfisher Treasure Seekers TSPA ‘Moments from Grease’ Why this car is automatic! It’s systematic! It’s hydromatic! Why it’s Greased Lightning! The TSPA highlights of Grease took to the stage at Police HQ Waterwells on 14th and 15th July. With countless pink ladies and Tbirds, hand jives, big songs and a lot of fun, it truly was a show to remember. Each performing group took a couple of songs to make their own, the art group created memorable year books and there were a couple of solo performances showcasing some of the talent within the group.
As well as enjoying the music delights a large group had spent time looking at relationships (a theme within the film), asking questions such as what are different relationships and what makes them better or breaks them down? Having looked at these within the group they then took to the streets of Gloucester to see what the general public thought. They even met a couple who had just got engaged at the Cathedral!! The show was dedicated to the memory of Bill Cooper, a show he would have loved and been proud of.
Support at Cavern Support at the Cavern launched on 11th July and it has been an incredible couple of months. We have had the privilege to spend time with over 40 people, many coming several times a week. We set up as a safe space for people experiencing mental health difficulties to come and spend time, somewhere they can chat as they need to and also play games, do some art activities, just to find a place they can feel at home in. There is no such thing as a typical night, but each evening includes lots of coffee and hot chocolate (the Turkish Delight hot chocolate being very popular!) plenty of board games, chatting and thinking on our feet. Many come with different situations and we are simply available to listen as required. We are open
6-11pm every night so we have plenty of time to spend with people and one of the real highlights is alongside the difficulties that each person faces, celebrating the achievements and good things, however small in each person’s life. It has been amazing to see community being built, people supporting one another and building friendships. I stood back the other night and just watched as people from really diverse backgrounds were sat together, laughing and sharing with one another. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen. If you are interested in being involved do come and speak to me (Sarah Baker) or drop me an email: sarah.baker@kftseekers.org.uk
News from Kingfisher Tredworth Dad’s Only Dad’s run Race for Life as Elvis! On Sunday 14th August over 100 people turned up at Plock Court for the Mens Race for Life 10k event. Amongst them were a team of men from our Dad’s Only toddler group who were running, dressed as Elvis, in memory of Bill Cooper who ran the race last year but sadly lost his battle with cancer earlier this year.
frozen shoulder and dodgy knees but that didn’t stop all eight of them crossing the finish line to raise funds and awareness for men who have been affected by cancer. Well done Steve, Ian, Neil, Ian, Paddy, Ben, Buzz and Alex!
Ian Brown, one of our Dad’s Only group dad’s, made an inspirational speech before the race telling of his own battle with cancer. Ian was diagnosed with a very rare cancer two years ago and has since had his right lung removed. After a minutes silence to remember those who had lost their battle with cancer and a quick warm up the race got underway. Our team of Elvis’ were carrying several injuries between them, including two cracked ribs, a
*
One Eighty’s 48 Hours This year in August, instead of going to soul survivor we tried something different; ‘48HOURS’ took place across the weekend of 12th-14th and included a Murder Mystery on the Friday night with pizza followed by a sleepover at church. On the Saturday we travelled to Alton Towers where we enjoyed (even if scared out of my skin sometimes!) a day of rollercoasters, rapids and food! We then returned to church for a chippy tea and some well earned rest! Sunday morning we had breakfast and enjoyed a morning of church followed by a picnic on top of Birdlip Hill. This weekend presented a great opportunity to invite young people who come to our groups in the week along to church. We had 13 young people come to ‘48HOURS’ and are hoping to host another one sometime next year. Detonate started back at the beginning of September and saw one of our biggest attendances and has seen our team double in size which is great! Detonate is on every Friday
during term time from 7pm- 8.30pm and is for year 7’s to age 18! We have great fun with different activities planned each week, things can get a little competitive but we always have a fab night! We also have exciting news about Soul Survivor next summer! We will be going along to Soul Survivor on Week C which has changed venue from where it had been based for many years at the Bath and West show ground. It will now be held in Peterborough at the East of England Showground. We are very excited about the change and can’t wait to experience Soul Survivor in a new
place! It is a great opportunity for young people to hear about God and to share a unique camping experience. We are currently giving out letters to all the young people who want to come so if you would like more information about Soul or to book on please contact me, Rosie Blake on 07867126617 rblake88.rb@gmail.com or Beth Kelly on 07506463051.You can also visit the Soul Survivor website www.soulsurvivor.com/summer/ weekbc/ for lots more information!
News from Kingfisher Tredworth Another successful holiday club! For the last 10 years the Children’s Ministry head, Rachael Bennett, has been fronting a holiday club at Kingfisher Tredworth and this year was no exception!! Underwater Adventure took place during the first week of August – and what a week it was! A team of willing volunteers spent the last Sunday in July transforming the hall in Tredworth into a giant aquarium with clown fish, sharks, jellyfish, stingrays and an awful lot of seaweed. 150 children were amazed when the entered the building the next day. The week was spent with the children split into junior and infant teams each competing with the other to win points and prizes in the hope of being the overall winners at the end of the week. Fishing, balloon popping and pass the shark were only a few of the frantic games played with all of the children cheering on their team mates as loudly as they could! But the games were only a part of the morning – the children were able to have daily teaching about Jesus through a variety of media. Using the film Finding Nemo to explore the subject, the children were told that even if we do our own thing and get lost and we need to be rescued, God is always looking out for
us if we just look for him. It was wonderful to see 150 children sitting with bated breath listening to this teaching. As ever the children were also entertained by our live dramas where this year a couple twins Spencer and Sacha argued and fought and Sacha was generally horrible to her brother – needless to say this caused a room full of children to be either booing or cheering. Over the week the children were encouraged to bring in various items to decorate their team areas and by the end of the week we couldn’t move! It was the 180 fish that were made to bring Spencer back into the fold that was really quite touching. The children all had a fabulous week thanks to Rachael and her team of volunteers, some of whom take annual leave to be able to be a part of it. For some of the children this is the nearest thing they have to an
actual holiday and it is a real privilege to be able to serve our community in this way. And yes, holiday club will be back next year with Adventure through the Wardrobe. Why not think about getting involved?
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 December) is 21st November. 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 Network!
Kingfisher Network Kingfisher Church Moor Street Tredworth Gloucester GL1 4NJ www.kingfisher.org.uk info@kingfisher.org.uk +441452 304339 Š Kingfisher Church, 2013