{ton fng \ . ... Report from a team ministry challenging I y a post Christian nation with the claims of Christ C-^ Vol. 3 No . 5 Steve & Le e Tate 1 Marlborough Rd . Coventry CV2 4EM Roger Edrington 59 Cambridge S t , Coventry CVl SHU February 1976 J an (Killebrew) Bowen To p Flat 8 Norfolk St Spon En d Coventry CV 3BX 51976 Janet Balnee Debbie Davis Bev Mulllns 20 2 Kingfield Rd . Coventry CV6 5PL American Correspondents: Mr. & Mrs. C, L . Davis 1010 N. Monroe St Lincoln, I I . 62656 U.S.A. F or U s Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. are busy because we t ry to use the season to do as much evangelism as we can in a time when people might be a little more open to ou r message. No doubt we made plenty o f mistakes this year — as usual. But we still believe that Christmas is for reaching out — a s well as looking i n toward families, friends, churches, and a l l those other comfortable things. By ou r standards, Jesus would no t have been very comfortable i n that stable and neither ar e a lt of people today. But He is comforting. For the Lord has comforted hi s people, (Is. 49:13). Be a b i g comforter this year and bring comfort t o others. We hope you a r e n o t so tired o f Christmas items that you a re not able t o enjoy this Epistle and i t s we passages W e Caroled Away i n a Manger (knock, knock), No crib f o r a (knock, knock) bed, The little Lord (knock, knock) Jesus Lay down h i s sweet (click—a light goes on i n one o f t h three houses) An Asian woman a n d part of her family come t o t h e door t o listen t o o ur song. When we finish, s h e holds out her hand o give u s money, a s i s t h e custom here. B u t we graciously decline. We didn t come o receive, but to give: J o y t o t h e World; The Lord i s comei L e t earth receive h e r King (knock); L e t every heart (knock, knock) Prepare Hi m room .... On goes o u r carol singing through Cam bridge Street, reminding Roger s closest neighbors (both Asian s English) that there i s another reason many celebrate Christmas. ROGER, DEBBIE, JANET (J.B.), STEVE, LEE, JAN,(SEATED) BEV more caroling Last year t h e Annual Hillfields Carol Fest ival came into being f o r tw o reasons: ( 1 ) Over and over people would s ay to us, There s no community spirit, an d we would agree, understanding that t i s a real prob lem. ( 2 ) Underlying this problem was a need for the wole area t o hear o f Christ s love. The Psalmist wrote o f praising Cod with fanfares on t h e trumpets, with t he lute an d harp, etc., etc. We praised God outside a l l t h e apartment buildings i n o u r Second Carol Festival an d about 1 5 0 voices, an accordian, and a trumpet. (Michelle Wegwert and Steve Tate filled i n for Salvation Army Band We a r e thinking of sending them over t o audition f o r t h e Ted Mac Original Amateur Houri) The program this year wa s very simple: carols were sung b y everyone; special music provid e d ; God's word was read a sermon wa s heard; food wa s eaten an d plenty o f time wa s given f o r people t o talk t o o n e another. Therefore, i n a special wa y t h e whole area resounded that night with o u r music filling i t t o t he brim, a reminder o f God's love. B e v EPISTLE FROM ENGLAND Lincoln Christian Church 2 0 4 N. McLean Street Lincoln, IL 62656 Non Profit Bulk Rate U.S. Postage Paid Lincoln, II. 62656 Permit 76 ADDRESS CORRECTIONREQUESTED
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{ton fng\ . . . . Report from a team ministry challenging I
y a post Christian nation with the claims of Christ C-^
Vo l . 3 No. 5
S t e v e & L ee Ta t e
1 Marlborough Rd.
Coventry CV2 4EM
Roger Edrington
59 Cambridge S t ,
Coventry CVl SHU
February 1976
Jan (Kil lebrew) Bowen
Top Fla t
8 Nor fo l k St
Spon End
Coventry CVl 3BX
51976
Janet Ba l n e e
Deb b i e Da v i s
Bev Mu l l l n s
202 Kingfield Rd .
Coventry CV6 5PL
American Correspondents :
Mr. & Mrs . C, L . Dav i s
1010 N . M on ro e St
Lincoln, I I . 62656 U.S.A.
F o r Us Christmas is one of the busiest times of the year. are busy because wetry to use the season to do as much evangelism as we can in a time when people might bea l i t t le more open to our message. No doubt we made plenty of mistakes this year — asusual . But we s t i l l believe tha t Christmas is for reaching out — as well as looking
in toward famil ies, f riends , churches, and all those other comfortable things. By ourstandards, Jesus would not have been very comfortable in that stable and neither are a
lot of people today. But He is comforting. For the Lord has comforted his people,( Is . 49:13). Be a big comforter th is year and bring comfort to others. We hope you are
not so t ired of Chris tmas i tems that you are not able to enjoy this Epistle and i ts wepassages
We Ca r o l e d
Away in a Manger (knock, knock),No crib for a (knock, knock) bed,
The l i t t l e Lord (knock, knock) Jesus
Lay down his sweet (click—a l ightgoes on in one of the three houses)
An Asian woman and par t of her family
come to t h e door to l i s t e n to ou r song .
When we f in i sh , she holds out her hand to
give us money, as i s th e custom he re . Butwe gracious ly decl ine . We d i dn t come to
rece ive , bu t to g ive :
Joy to th e World;
The Lo r d is come i
Let earth receive her King (knock);
Let every heart (knock, knock)Prepa r e Him r oom. . . .
On goes our caro l s inging through Cam
br idge S t r e e t , reminding Roger s c l o se s t
neighbors (both Asian s English) tha t there
i s a no th er r ea so n t h a t many people ce leb ra te
Ch r i s t m a s .
more caro lin g
Las t year th e Annual Hi l l f i e ld s Caro l Fes t
i v a l came in to being fo r tw o reasons :
(1) Over and ove r people would say to us,
The r e s no community sp i r i t , and we would
agree , unders tanding t h a t it i s a r e a l prob
lem. (2) Underlying th is problem was a need
fo r t h e wole a r e a t o h e a r o f Christ s l o v e .
The Psa lmis t wrote of prais ing Cod with
fanfares on the t rumpets, with the lute and
harp, e tc . , e tc . We praised God outs ide a l l
the apartment bui ld ings in our Second Carol
Fes t i v a l and about 150 vo ices , an accord ian ,
and a trumpet. (M ichelle Wegwert and Steve
Tate f i l l ed in f or S alv ati on Army Band We
are thinking of sending them over to audi t ion
for the Ted Mac Original Amateur Houri) Theprogram th i s year was very simple: carols
were sung by everyone; spec ia l music provid
ed; God's word was read a sermon was heard;
food was ea ten and plenty of t ime was given
for people to t a lk to one another .
Therefore , in a spec ia l way the whole area
resounded tha t n igh t with our music f i l l i ng
I t began as a poss ib i l i ty of a bookshop in the busy shopping precinct o f Conventr y s
dovmtown, A Chris t ian magazine gave us the idea tha t a vacant shop could eas i ly be turned
in to a Chris t ian bookshop for a couple of weeks be fo re Ch ri stmas . We had hoped t ha t th i s
would put Chris t ian mate ria l in to pe ople s hands and also give us some new witness opportun i t ies to people who we would not normally meet.
We asked you to pray about in our l a s t Epis t l e and we prayed. Although the re are
quite a few empty shops in the area we wished, legal complications f ina l ly made us abandon
the idea of a bookshop. But prayers were answered and the idea modified. The City of
Coventry, which owns qui te a lo t of p roper ty , o f fe re d us a la rge , cent ra l ly loca ted shop
for display purposes. And was FREEI So. . .we decided tha t God would wish us to disp lay
the message of Christmas so tha t some might reconsider His Incarnat ion.In big bold le t te rs across the top we proclaimed God St i l l Loves th e Worldi (Thanks
to Bonnie Evarts and her early Christmas card for the idea.) We gif t wrapped a largemanger scene and tagged i t , Free g i f t . Love, God. Venturing to remove some of the mis
conceptions about Christmas, we at tacked crass commercialism and the par ty a t t i tude and
portraved Jesus asking, Have you any room for me?
Our not-so-conventional manger scene was contrasted by an elaborate ly decorated crib
with a hanging s i lver spoon. The c ap ti on , J es us wasn t born l ike a King. We hoped they
woul^ .also get the_ point of th e hanging burlap s ign beh ind, But Wise Men St i l l Adore Him.The lead a r t i c l e of our homemade copy o f The Jerusalem Sta r revealed th e good -news, King
Born in a Stable . Another one of our s ix la rge windows attempted to sha t t e r the a t t i tude
tha t Christmas i s j u s t the s tory of a n ice , cuddly baby. Rather , Jesus demands my l i f e ,
my f a i th , my a l l was the message for those who stopped to read.
And from our observation, a lo t of people looked. How many stopped to rea l ly consider
the good news in the midst of t he i r bust l ing devotion to buy the r ight g i f t s , food, and
booze, we wil l never know. But perhaps i s ju s t a b i t of pre-pre -evange li sm tha t wil l
make them a l i t t l e more ready to l i s t en to Jesus— hopeful ly before He comes again.
We have access to this display area (which has been empty for several years) for an indef in i t e period now. I t could be a lengthy display depending on whether is rented or
no t . We would welcome ideas from our readers concerning how we can more genera l ly proclaim
th e message of Chris t through display . P le as e help i f you can and become a par t of our
Tour Investment n Us: prayerMany times in the work here I find myselfgoing around by my own steam. Needless tosay I usually end up empty, frustrated and
f ru i t l e s s in my work.There i s a cons t an t need fo r each o f us —
and you - - to re-evalua te what we are doing,where we are going, and ask i f we have pushed the Lord out . Instead of counting on theLord to guide me and use me where He wills ,of ten I f ind t ha t I have se t my pr io r i t i e s
on having the most way out things for my
Theophilus group, or the most visi ts to the
most d i f f i c u l t and undes i rable people, e tc .I have discovered a r e a l joy in my prayer
l i fe la tely and I wish to share this withyou. I have found th e more I lay my innerstruggles, my worries and concern for theministry, my fears , insecur i t ies , and inadequacies at the fee t of my Lord, the moreI am free to get to work. I have found i ta rea l t h r i l l s ee ing p ra ye r answered about
people for whom I have fe l t particulary burdened. There i s a r ea l comfort and a spec ia l
feel ing tha t comes when these things happen.
The future no longer worries me as I have
a Lord who i s Lord of today and tomorrow. I
must constantly keep today in His hands.Needless to say, my old self comes and
rea l ly messes things up. I find myself draw
ing to the old fami l iar ways and becoming
rea l ly upt ight and sensi t ive and withdrawn.I am ce r t a i n t h a t it i s because o f th e pray
ers of you back home that the Lord dailyconvicts , and not only me but each of us toreturn to Him ,
I bel ieve t ha t things here would not have
been what they are i f you a t home did notlove Him, us, the people here , and did notask the Lord to guide, d i r ec t and work out
His wi l l so t h a t His kingdom may grow.Keep loving and asking. You are a vi ta l
par t of th e Kingdom.
J B .
Briefly Noted:
loomingJesus sa id , I t e l l you there i s joy a-
mong the angels in heaven over one sinner
who repents. I 'm sure that there must have
b een doubl e joy when Noel and Carole Hastings
gave thei r l ives to Christ and were baptized
into H im .
Noel came on rea l ly s t rong against theChr i s t i an f a i t h in an I nves t i g a t i on Group a -
bout a year ago. But Noel found some ans
wers that he had n ev e r known b e f o r e . Ca r o l e
wasn t r ea l l y concerned; sh e th ou gh t e ve ry
one we n t t o h e a v e n , Bu t sh e started believ
ing even more quickly than Noel, After s ixweeks of special investigation, they (withothers) were involved in a weekly BibleStudy on the Book of John. Always with
plen ty o f ques t ions and discussion, theymove-
ed on to study the Book of Acts. And mean
whi le , they were becoming r egu la r in Church
attendance
Months of s t ruggle were involved and they
were somet imes up and down. But cons tantwitness and prayer from family and f r iends
have once again shown us t h a t God cont inues
to supply and use each o f us to advance His
Kingdom. Robin i s Noel s bro the r , Robin
and Noel have tw o more b ro the r s , a s i s t e r ,
a mother , and l o t s o f o ther people whom they
wou ld like to s e e do t h e s ame . Noe l and C a r
o le have two ch i ld ren — our f i r s t family
(with children) to accept Christ . Theirl i v e s have r ea l l y blossomed s ince accept ing
J e s u s . _ , _Jan and R oger
uilding igger arnsPlans for the ex tension of the t iny bui ld
ing i n which ou r church mee ts a re now we l l .
under way. They said it cou ldn t be done,
but we did receive permission to purchaset h r e e f e e t * o f extra l a n d t o t h e s i d e o f t h e
bu i ld ing . This ex t ra little b i t wi l l change
an f oo t e xte ns ion to an 11 foot one - a
much more worthwhile and workable proposit ion . We expected th e kind of o pp os it io n a -
ga in s t us having more l and which we've r e
ceived fo r y ea rs , but t h i s t ime with much
prayer ,**i t passed through the Town Planners
with no oppos i t ion .
We have been committed to th i s projec t forquite a while now and have r a is ed / 7, 000(about 14,500) of the est imated f12,000(about 25,000) needed to complete the extension and the remodeling requi red . This money
r ec ei ve d i nc lu d es some generous g i f t s from
indiv iduals in our congregation as well as
*In f ive post-Sunday evening se rv ice meet
ings , 16-20 Chris t ians have been preparingfo r OUTREACH TO ASIANS, We re no t going to
Asia, s i l ly i England (and especially Covent ry) has vast numbers of Asian Immigrants
( largely Indian and Pakistani) . The program,
Who is My Neighbor? prepared by an evangel
i c a l English mission, formed an excel lent
bas is for our preparat ion . We studied Islam,
Hinduism, and Sikhism, the major r e l ig ions ,
as well as dea l ing with prac t i ca l i ssues of
^ a post-Chrlstlan nation with the claims o Christ
J a n e t Ba inea
Debb i e Dav i s
Bev Mu l l i n a
202 Kingfield Rd.
Coventry CV6 5PL
Vol. 3 No. 7
S t e v e & Lee Ta t e
1 Marlborough Rd .
Coventry CV2 4EN
Roger Edr ing ton
59 Cambridge S t.
Coventry CVl SHU
NOT JUST HORSING AROUNDI
What do the fo l lowing have to do with God's
l o v e ?
1 . A husband and wife a re ca l l ed S i r
and Madam (they run a rather expensive
private gir ls school);
2. Ayoung gi r l
who love s hor se s (shewants to be a riding ins t ructress) ;3. An advertisement in a magazine ( i t
offered a job and schooling in r iding);4. A young man in need of a job (He's a
Christian and God guided him there).This was a setting that brought a gir l
o f s i x t een to h er S av io ur .
Annette Peach came to Coventry because
of Bremond College ' s advertisement. Thereshe met John Seymour who began to t e l l her
o f Je sus . At f i r s t she d i d n t bother to
l isten; but once interest was sparked, shecouldn't get enough, John arranged forAnnette and I to meet, and we began a Biblestudy. Then she rearranged her workingschedule witR^'T^adam so t h a t she cou ld a t
l eas t be able to come to the church meet
in g on Sunday evenings. A quiet revolut ion was t ak in g p la ce in her soul .
Time went by and Annette saw f i r s thand
some of the dif f icul t struggles which
Chris t ians have. There were times whenshe didn't understand what the preacher
meant, but she kept coming and growing.One Wednesday I asked her where she was in
re la t ion to God. She s ta ted t ha t she
would most probably accept Him, but sheneeded a b i t more knowledge of Him. Thenext Sunday evening sh e went to a f r iend s
Church, and God touched her heart througha sermon (Oh, the foolishness of preach-ingl) and she decided to accept Him. Shebecame a Christian on February 15.
I f Annette were writ ing this ar t ic le she
Apr i l 1976
Jan (Ki l lebrew) Bowen
Top Fla t
8 Norfolk S t .
Spon End
Coventry CVl 3BX
American Correspondents :
Mr. & Mr s . C . L . Dav i s
1010 N. Monroe S t .
Lincoln, I I . 62656 U.S.A.
sh e would no doubt t e l l you tha t was the
happies t day of her l i f e . She would share
how a great burden was l i f ted from her should
ers by her Friend and Saviour. We here in
Coventry rejoice; we invite you to as well.
B ev
At least th re e o th er British Churches of
Christ have begun using the special surveyapproach and Investigation Groups, which wehave introduced. A Birmingham church (Great
Francis Street) has jus t had i t s f i r s t con
version baptism since i t s beginning of thismethod under t h e i r new mini s t e r .
Jan, Bev, and several ladies from our
Church recently attended the annual ladies
convention of the Churches of Christ. Theyreport tha t there is a great deal of roomfor Christian growth.
new~ Bl:Ure~S tudy fo r non-L;nr is t ians i s
beginning. Subject: the Gospel of John. The
four participants were very honest aboutth e ir b e li ef s and disbe l ie fs . There i s much
hope that they might believe that Jesus is
the Messiah, the Son of God, and through thatfaith have life in his name. Then the purposeof the book would be fulfilled yet again.
(John 20:31)
At the time of writing, Steve is leading a
mini-school on Christian Maturity - Growingin Christ Today. The eleven participantshave benefited from the f i r s t hal f of the sixweekly sessions, sharing about ways to improve our day to day walk with Jesus, ou r
Friend and Lord. Weekly topics include:
Living on the Growing Edge: Knowing Jesus asa Friend; The Christian View of Men t Things;
f o l l owe r o f J e s u s , He had l i s t e ned critic
a l ly to a l l the t a lk about n ew l i f e an d
dying to sin and se l f , but now he has accepted Jesus and is ready to t ry it out fo r
himself. But much to his surprise and frus
t r a t i o n , th e bad hab i t s and bad a t t i t ude s o f
the old Clive , which he thought were bur
ied in the bapt i s t ry , have r i sen again to
haun t and d e f e a t h im. He knows t h a t he i s
a new Crea t ion in theory, and ce r ta in ly
goals and bel i e f s are r ad ica l ly new, but in
prac t i ce the new, Chr i s t i an Cl ive th inks ,fee ls and acts a lo t l ike the old, heathen
C l i v e .
This g rea t gap between what he believes
he can be and what in dai ly l i fe he rea l ly
is makes Cl ive a prime t a rge t fo r re ve rs
ion, defeat , low self- image and depress ion.
He needs help - teaching, encouragement,
prac t i ca l advice, nur ture , personal love,
and a t t en t ion . I f Cl ive doesn t ge t e -nough of these things through the teaching
and fellowship minist r ies of the church, he
may need a period of counseling.
The theory holds t rue . Complex personal
ities who have l i v e d mos t o f their lives
governed by the dic ta t es of se lf ishness
and worldly thinking do not change overnight.
When they become bel ievers , they do have a
new Sp i r i t wi th in them which i s ab l e totransform t he i r l ives by the renewing of
t h e i r minds and he a r t s . But t h i s r enewa l
i s a process , and old ways of thinking and
feel ing must be ferreted out and exposed
fo r what they are .
In t h i s way, the s e a r ch l i gh t of the Holy
Sp i r i t can show th e be l i eve r where r e a l
change mus t take place . Then he can begin
to in teg ra te h is bel i e f s in to r ea l , pract i c a l , holy l iving. He can be guided to see
how scr iptural principles can give him newways of th inking about God, himself and
others. Right th inking l eads to healthy
feel ings and gives him the power for re
sponsible action and decision making.
Debbie, Roger , and Steve have weekly
counsel ing sess ions with s ev era l in d iv id
uals . Others in the team find the principles of counseling ju s t as b en ef ic ia l in
informal si tuat ions of l is tening and shar
ing. e are contemplating a six week coun
sel ing program for every new Christ ian who
would want i t . e hope to be used by the
Holy Spir i t to bring more healing and whole
ness to His people.
feat
The economic s i t u a t i o n i n B r i t a i n has reach*
ed a very low point. The pound has dropped
to i t s lowest in for iegn exchange. Because
of th at s it ua ti on many people have been made
redundant and f inding a job i s next to imposs ib le . Several people in our Church are
in need of jobs and we ask tha t you pray for
them and the s i tuat ion tha t is present in
ritain
A young teenage Chris t ian g i r l needs your
p r aye r s as she wi tnes ses to her f r i ends a t
school and work. Pray with us tha t we mayhave f ut ur e oppor tuni ty to witness to her
non-Christian friends, and they wil l come toknow J e su s Chr i s t as t h e i r Saviour ,
A new Bible s tudy has s t a r t ed as a r e su l t
of a contact with a young couple while ca l l
ing. e ask tha t you pray for Roger as he
leads, and for the couple and friends as
th ey be gin to study God s word. e want them
to unde r s t and how J e su s can be r e le va nt in
t h e i r l i v e s .
e ask for your prayers in preparation ofo u r Ea s t e r activities Our theme w i l l be
Resurrect ion Means Freedom , a very power
ful message for ou r non-Christian parents.
I t s 8:05 Thursday evening and I m facingeight stone-faced, elderly ladies. I t s my
turn to preach a t the weekly meeting and
I have been dreading i t for two weeks., . .When I r e a l i z ed t h a t because I was sched
uled to speak t ha t p a rt ic u la r night, I wouldmiss a mini-school session, my a t t i tude be
came one o f re se ntm e nt . Because o f t h i s att
i tude, I spent the whole week try ing in vainto wri te a sermon. I planned to expand a
brief devotional which I had once given)
without rea l ly considering x«?hether it was
sui table for the ladies and i t j u s t d idn t
wo rk ,
Wednesday night came and I was frustrated,resentful , and beginning to panic. Final lyI did what I should have done in the begin-ing - I prayed, I asked God to forgive me
for not committing the task to Him and for
the poor a t t i tude I al lowed to f e s t e r . I
asked for help and He gave it
I t s now 9:30 p.m. and I know t ha t God
used me tonight in a special way. For the
f i r s t time since I ve known these ladies, Isaw posi t ive responses to the message. Not
my message , bu t God s . I m convinced t h a t
He uses me best when I m broken of my own
self ish wil l and real ize my dependence on
Him. And I have a renewed i n t e r e s t in t h e s e
We g en er al ly p la n to return to th e USA for a month every two years.
I t s a v a c a tio n - although p a r t l y a t lea st , a working one. Follow ing are
r e f l e c t i o n s of A p r il t r a v e l e r s to the USA:
T h e B o w e n s
When p re pa ri ng f or our v i s i t to th eSta tes , ne i the r P e t e nor I knew what to
e xpe c t . I ha d been told tha t I would ex
p e r i e n c e a cul tural shock an d P ete a n
Englishman) ha s grown up with th e idea of
America b e i n g BIG, Upon a r r iva l , we both
w e re amazed an d s h o c k e d a t th e b ign ess o f
every th ing
We were w el co med f ro m the b e g i n n i n g by
f a m i l y and f r i ends an d were e a g e r to s h a r ew i t h many a b o u t the work in C o v e n t r y . We
were encour aged a s many l i s tened a b o u t the
wo r k .
We t h a n k you fo r y o u r cont inued p raye r s
and g e n e r o u s f inanc ia l suppor t . We were
e x c i t e d to r e c e i v e unexpectedly a specia l
g i f t to p u rch as e a ca r . Ou r suppor t ing
c hurc h a l s o gave u s added regular income
to keep th e c a r g o i n g . Th e k i n d n e s s an d
t h o u g h t f u l n e s s wa s de monstra te d everywhere
we went t h r o u g h o u t th e whole t r i p .
We were b o t h encour aged by th e s p i r i t
u a l growth tha t is t a k i n g place among many
of you. As we re turned to C o v e n t r y , we
shared t h e j oys tha t we e xpe r i e nc e d.
God bless a l l o f you.
Pe t e 6c J a n
Resurrection Means Freedoowas th e t heme o f ou r Ea s t e r c e l e b r a t i o n s
t h i s yea r .Our w ee k- en d b eg an on Good F r i da y when
about 30 of us gathered to ge th er for ameal and communion service. The programfeatured eye-witness accounts of Jesusl i fe and death - by proxy, of course.
Very e a rly Sunday morning, 20 membersmet in the country to view th e beauty ofthe creation, remember t he C re ato r and
th e love which He expressed in J es us . Also,most obviously, to remember th e v i c t o r yo f Chris t on tha t f i r s t R e s u r r e c t i o n Morn
i ng .
All t h i s laid way for the family s e rvice t h a t evening. The Sunday School
children and various members presented
different aspects of Jesus ministry andl o v e to a f u l l h o u s e .
T h e T a t e s
Trans -con t inen ta l , t r an s - cu l tu r a l p i lgrims soon r ea l i ze t ha t home can be a re l
at ive te rm . Fa m ily , c h ild h o o d f r iends ,
possess ions , an d n e i g h b o r s def ine it one
wa y w h i l e ne w f r iends, ne w dr eams, an d
G o d s ca l l to m ini st ry d ef in e it another .
B u t it i s a gr and fe elin g to be l o v e d an d
wan t e d in o u r home s on bo t h sides o f t h e
o c e a n . We a r e r em i n d e d that l o v e is a
gi vi ng t h i n g . We pra ise Him fo r lo v ed onesin A m e r i c a wh o give o f t h e m s e l v e s to u s a n d
give th e g r ea t g i f t o f l e t t i ng u s go to
f o l l o w G o d s c a l l . t i s easy l o v e t h a t
p o s s e s s e s a nd d em an ds one s p r e s e n c e . t
is difficult but divine l o v e that knows the
bes t i s to l e t o ne go w here on e must.
We pra i se Hi m fo r guid ing a l l o f you
who m i n i s t e r e d to us and bui l t us up in
th e brief t ime we s h a r e d . T h e l e s s on s
l e a r n e d have a l r e a dy been used to h is g l o r y .
T h e tie that b i n d s u s h a s b e e n r ebound in
th e s t rength o f y ou r e n co u ra g em e n t. May we
always draw u po n H is Sp i r i t in each o t h e r
to bui ld H is Kingdom across the w o r l d .
. . . - - Th e Ta t e s a re a ls o now o w n e r s o f a f o u r -
door Ford-Cor-tina. We pray tha t c a r s , t o o ,
can be u s ed f o r H is g l o r y i
S t e v e St L e e
ontacts eed PrayerAbout a month ago with inspirat ion from
our Lord, our cal l ing work took on a f e e l^in g o f e x p e c t a n c y . We moved fa r the r o u t
and these people need following up . Please
pray fo r us and t h e m ,
Roger and Janet went c allin g to findJULIA q u ite wi l l i ng to t a lk .
Deb and Roger met: The CLEMENTS EVETTE
VERONICA, and The ASHBYS.
De b and Bev me t : IAN and PETER who a re
Investigation Group poss ibi l i t ies .Ja n and Bev met: PEGGY Mrs. WILSON
Mrs. KEARNY Mrs. EATHORNE and Mrs. COOK.
P r a i s e G o d i
And . , , l es t you wonder what happenedto Janet and Steve, i t should be explained
Faithful Finance £One par t i cu la r blessing in working in th i s team minis t ry has been the minimum of fund
ra i s ing requi red . e cont inual ly thank our benef icent Lord for supplying more than enough
to meet our needs . As we have s aid b ef or e, God knows our need and He s in c on tac t with
both you and us so we don t need to keep r a i s ing suppor t . e bel ieve t ha t i f He has the
power to c a l l us to t h i s min i s t ry an d give us the g i f t s we need t o m i ni st er , then He i s a l so
\ \able to move in the people he wants to minister to us financially.^ Inflation has affected us all - but because the dollar is doing much better than thepound, the exchange rate has helped us th is year . I t takes fewer dol l a rs to buy pounds so
we c a n make t h e f u n d s stretch a little farther
The money from th e two group fund accounts goes toward Epistle expenses, phone b i l l s ,
mimeographing, t racts, books, and special evangeli s tic projects (e.g. , Christian DisplayCen t e r ) .
The change in the exchange ra te for Bri t ish pound s ter l ing has al tered the books somewhat, but with a close approximat ion, here is ou r 3rd Annual Report of Finances:
Fisca l Year: September 1975 - August 1976
RECEIPTS:
Jane t Baines 2,945.00
V .B . S . Con t r i b u t i o n s 1 5 5 . 0 0
Debbie Davis 3,000.00
Spe ci al Con tr ib u ti o ns 350.00
Roger Edrington (including 900. backdated
ra ise from l a s t year) 5,575.00Jan (Killebrew) Bowen 5,200.00
C a r Fund 828 . 70
T r av e l Fund 400 . 00
Spec ia l Contr ibut ion 100.00Bev Mull ins 3,881.00
Spe ci al Con t ri b ut io n s 235,50
Steve Lee Tate 6,436.00
T r a v e l Fund 526 .86
GROUP FUNDS:
U , S . A . Ac c o u n t
Ba lance Sep tember 1, 1975
Receipts 1578.43
Expenses 1019.09
Balance A ugust 31, 1976
U .K . Ac c o u n t
Balance September 1, 1975
(Recorded last year 2.40 =JP1.00)
Receip ts 330.20
Expenses 734.49
Balance August 31, 1976 58,59
(Calculated (? 1.80 = JH.OO)
42.95
602.29
463.06
Bits h Pieces to PrayAbout Reflecting —Projecting
k::^ * Thirteen have joined Christ's body here
th i s year - we pra ise and thank God. e a l
so r ea l i ze our respons ib i l i t y to nurture the
b ab e s .
* A new six week Sunday School class began
t h i s month fo r th o se o f ou r k ids who a re
showing real interest i n Ch r is ti an i ty . Pleaseremember t h e s e k i d s and S t e v e a s he t e a c h e s
them the cost of disc ipleship .
* Two d ivo rcees a re i n t e r e s t e d i n Ch r i s t i
ani ty but have reserva t ions about where theystand regarding t he i r pas t l ives . Deb i s
studying the Bib le passages on this subjectwi t h t h em.
* Six from our Church are studying The Early C h ris tia n Church fo r th e na t iona l O rd
ina ry l ev e l schoo l exams in November. (This
level is similar to a h igh schoo l credi t . )
I remember when we f ive doubled th e
church attendance by our p re sence alone.Now, most services contain th i r ty - f ive tofor ty people.
I remember when th e team each put in
four to s ix hours of cal l ing a week. Now,every ednesday fourteen to sixteen peopleJJgo out tak ing surveys. ^ I remember ta lking in our weekly
team meetings about our goa ls fo r the Church
Now, God has p assed on those goals to someof the growing sp i r i tua l leaders of the
Chu r c h .
We've come a long.way.
I c an t help but look back and marvel
a t what God has done with the Church. Re
flection upon the past, automatically bringsto my mind the future . Yes, we share sp i r
IMFRESSIOH— EJPI^SIilONErdington, Birmingham, England. After
seven weeks of being in the U.S.A. and
over 40 speaking s e s s i o n s .
During my whirlwind speaking and v i s i t
ing tour of the U.S.A. , I spoket o
severa lthousand people about our work here and
chal lenged them t o g r e a t e r depth o f d i s c i -
p l e s h i p . Should I have been i n one p l a c e
l o n g e r , I probably would have f e l t t h e ne
c e s s i t y t o speak to some o f the problems
in t h e A m e r i c a n c h u r c h a s a w h o l e .
In England the church might be accused
of s t e r i l i t y ; in America s u p e r f i c i a l i t y
seems more t o t h e problem.England
seems
to s u f f e r still b i r t h s , i n f a n t i c i d e ,
and baby b a t t e r i n g . In both places , a d u l t
l e v e l maturi ty i n C hr is t i s not as obvious
as would seem necessary for v i t a l , meaning
f u l B o d i e s o f C h r i s t .
English Chris t ians s t r i v e to get peoplet o come to t h e i r mainly old, cold, bui ld
ings . American Chris t ians s t r i v e t o get
people to come to t h e i r new, p lu sh , c lima tec o n t r o l l e d bui ldings . English C h r i s t i a n s
r i s k being so far behind cul ture t h a t they
do not present Christ to this generation.
American Chris t ians r i s k being so caught
up in the cul ture t h a t they f a i l to pre
sent the pure gospel of Jesus C hrist to
t h i s g e n e r a t i o n . Americans could be so
comfortable that they forget t h e i r need
f o r t h e C o m f o r t e r .
American Chris t ianity has a long way to
grow. But I s t i l l believe t h a t the posi
t ion in Brita in per capita i s even worse .
I f I were called to America I would speakto the problems t h e r e . But s ince I am
called to England, I must concentrate main
l y on how God would have us work h e r e ,
I w i l l spare you f u r t h e r comment and
l e t you get about your job, THANKYOU
FORA NICE VISIT AND GOOD FELLOWSHIP IN THE
U . S . A .
Roger
We have now begun the two m i n i s t r i e s
as planned. Keeping the Coventry impetusgoing are Steve Tate, Jan Bowen DebbieDavis, and Janet Baines. In the Erd ington
ministry, Bev Mullins and Roger Edringtonmove from Coventry to join Penny Creaseystraight from the U.S.A. and Michelle Wegwart, who has l ived in England for the
p a s t s i x t e e n years .
Upon being assigned the task of writ ing
my impressions of England, I was stumped.
How can you have a j u s t and r e a l i s t i c view
of a place a l t e r only three s h o r t weeks
and t h o s e weeks having been s p e n t i n one
place?
I wish I could r e p o r t a g r e a t d i f f e r e n c e
s p i r i t u a l l y between the average U.S. c i t i
zen and t h e comparable B r it is h c i t iz e n .
B o t h c o u n t r i e s c o n s i d e r t h e m s e l v e s t o b e
Chris t ian nations (whatever t h a t may mean).
I w i s h I c o u l d w r i t e that I h a v e s e e n
more a d u l t book s t o r e s , more young people
on d r u g s , moredrunkards ,
moret e l e v i s i o nprograms u n f i t f o r f am i ly v iew ing , o r more
people in vo lv ed w ith the o c c u l t t h a n I v e
e v e r s e e n at h o m e . I can t I n t h e t h r e e
s h o r t weeks, I have seen little d i f f e r e n c e
i n t h e s i n fu ln e s s o f t h e s e two c o u n t r i e s .
I n s t e a d , I v e found t h e d i f f e r e n c e t o
b e i n t h e C h u r c h o f C h r i s t itself P l e a s e
keep i n mind t h a t my home i s i n th e B i b l e
B e l t o f t h e U.S. I v e always been s u rrounded by a c t i v e c h u r c h e s . I came f i r s t
t o t h e Hillfields C h r u c h o f C h r i s t and
found a growing group of young C h r i s t i a n s ,
deeply i n love with J e s u s . I v e had one
occasion to v i s i t with some people from
a n o t h e r C h u r c h o f C h ri s t t h a t r e a l i z e s t h a t
it i s dying and in need of encouragement
and guidance, t h a t congregation being
Erdington to which I w i l l be going in afew days. I have a ls o had opportuni ty t o
a t t e n d a n a t i o n a l r a l l y o f th e Churches o f
Christ. There I met people talking about
union and baptism r a t h e r than o f J e s u s and
His power t o change l i v e s .
I t was somewhat fr i g ht e nin g to n ot ic e
the similar i t ies of count ri es . So manythings have influenced and changed the
people, and the people have inf luenced andchanged t h e c h u r c h .
What w i l l happen t o the C h r i s t i a n Church
e s and Churches o f C h r i s t i n t h e U.S. w i t h
i n the next 30 years? Will they be i n f l u
enced and sidetracked by i r r e l e v a n t s ide
issues or w i l l t h e i r cause always remain
to t e l l the story of God changing the l i v e s
of men and women and the destiny of nations
through Jesus? Oh that we might be one inJ e s u s , b u t f i r s t won i n J e s u s .
Penny
Caugh t b etween two c u l t u r e s - h a l f Ameri
can, half Brit ish - I find myself wondering
what course my ministry w i l l take as a p a r t
of the new Erdington team. There are manyuntapped, untouched l i v e s fo r C h r i s t who
Many things can change in a month. The long drought which we sufferedt h i s summer has been re l i eved and with the ra in many new b less ing have
come. The team of s ix has changed to two teams of four working inErding-ton as well as Coventry. With the t ransfer of Roger and Bev to the new
work in Erdington we a t Coventry lose two very capable minis ters . But
what we are gaining i s a new sense of responsibi l i ty to to ta l minis try a-
mong the whole body here. Our prayers for a smooth t rans i t ion have been
answered as many are seeing more ful ly the vision of the whole church
minis ter ing to i t s e l f as well as witnessing to the world.
Th i s ha s mean t t h a t t h e More ma tu r e C h ri s t i a n s in ou r chu r ch have
been asking what they can do to spread the word and nurture the new babes
in Chr i s t This new sense of respons ib i l i ty i s ju s t what we need and
v;hat we have asked from the Lord ever s ince we saw the poss ib i l i t y of d iv id
ing the team. E sse nt ia l to working onese l f out o f a job i s t r a in ing fo r
and then giving up r e spons ib i l i t y
We see many i nd ica t ions t h a t the Lord has led the tim ing o f these
changes. The growth we are exper ienc ing in quant i ty and qua l i t y i s
more cons i t en t than ever before The number now s tands a t 15 baptisms in1976 with some o thers under convic t ion even now. Many o f those who have
recent ly made commitments to the Lord have come simply through th e w it
ness of the i r Chris t ian f r iends and th e p re ach in g of the Gospel a t our
s e rv i ce s This i s in c on tra st to those in th e pa s t who have needed l o t s
of ca l l ing and study through long term methods such as our Inves t iga t ion
Groups before being able to even cons ider making a dec i s ion
So we hav e needed to s h i f t gears a b i t to beable
to give these new
Christ ians the sp i r i tua l nourishment they wil l need. We are asking someof the older Christ ians to take a special shepherding responsibi l i ty
over the new Chri s t i ans This wi l l involve f i r s t j us t being a fr iend to
these new ones get t ing to know them and helping them find the i r place in
our fellowship. Also we hope these shepherds can encourage the new
Christians in their growth and watch for diff icul t times when they willneed guidance from older Chris t ians . Basical ly we hope th i s wil l mean no
one i s overlooked. We rea l ize the problems involved when so many newChrist ians come a l l at once in to a small fel lowship and we take very se r
ious ly our task to br ing each one to The fu l lness of the s t a tu r e of Chr i s t
I a p p r e c i a t e g r e a t l y th el o v e and e n c o u r a g e m e n t I
wa s gi ven by a l l o f you.
Coming home fo r a break an d to
repor t on th e m i n i s t r y requires a
b i t o f a d j u s t i n g . No t only did I
l eave o n e cu l tu r e an d s tep in to a n
other , b u t I found m ys el f st e ppi ngfrom th e shadows o f be ing a t e a m
minis te r in a busy l i t t l e c hur c h in
to the s p o t l i g h t o f my family an d
home church . T h a t was g rea t i B u t
th e whole pr ocess has been r ever sed
no w t h a t I m b a c k in C o v e n t r y . A f
te r a fe w days o f th e b lues , I m
making th e n ec ess ary r ea dj u stm e nt s .
Thank you a l l f o r making my v i s i t
home and my m i n i s t r y h e r e so v e r y
meaningfu l .
N o w A Chr i s t i anWhen asked ou r d o or -t o- do o r s ur ve y/ wi tn es s q ue st io ns n e a r l y 2 years ago,
P M T ORNTON commented tha t she t hought herself to be a C h r i s t i a n an dsaw no need to come to church. But she did say she would ask he r husband
about a p o s s i b l e B i bl e s t u d y .
Two years passed and Pam came to her f i rs t service on Easter. Since
that time she has come to the services regularly, started coming to aweek^ly Bible Study, and talked to her friends about what she was fin ding o uta b o u t esus
Like so many, she wanted to t ry to get th ing s s orte d out before accepting Jesus. Finally realizing that this is impossible, she decided to accept Jesus and le t Him s o r t out h er l i fe .
She was baptized in to C hrist and now rejoices that her l if e is beingchanged by Jesus. Her friends have remarked about her changes. Already
Pam ha s w i t n e s s e d an d invi ted them to f in d th e same p e r s o n a l re la t ionship
t h a t s h e i s f ind ing with Jesus .
As a mother o f four young boys, Pam i s anxious t ha t h e r family know th e
love o f Jesus too. But being divorced now an d without a job, she has manypressures which compete for her attention. She is not unlike many singleparents in our community who must face these responsibilit ies alone. e
hope as Jesus becomes r e a l in her l i fe , many others might see how the Lord
ca n help us face any situation. Jan
Bits l Pieces
Please be in p r a y e r f o r us a s th e
C hristm as s ea so n a pp ro ac he s. We
have many ideas and p l a n s to makespec i a l u se of t h i s s e a s o n and we
need to be s u r e of d o i n g t h e Lord s
will
^ s fThe extens ion o f the C o v e n t r y
Church bu i ld ing i s coming s l o w l y
b u t su re ly . In a few weeks, we
a r e hopi ng to p u t on th e roof .*^P lease b e in prayer fo r L e o n an d