A REVIEW OF EVENTS AT WCC IN 2009

There is a sense of excitement amongst the community of believers at Whitley Community Church in 2010; God has spoken to us of church planting in Burghfield, and that we are a Restoration Centre, grounded in God for the benefit of the local community. With this in mind the following is a summary of the main events in 2009.

JANUARY 2009
Brian and Louvain Parkinson moved from Cumbria a few years ago on God’s word to them, and have come in faith believing that God has a purpose for them at WCC. It is no small thing to leave one’s roots and move to a completely different area.

After they had been here and settled, Brian was approached by the eldership to consider becoming an elder; after sharing this with Louvain and much prayer he agreed this was the calling of God on his and Louvain’s life. Brian was inducted into eldership in January 2009 after hands were laid on him according to scripture.

APRIL 2009
We continually need to seek fresh ways to express God’s love for us and spread the gospel. In 2009 WCC was able to do this through the production and distribution of a DVD which told the stories of five members of the church and how their lives had been changed by God.

MAY 2009
With much preparation and many meetings with other interested parties, we took part in the Mayfayre at Burghfield village. The main object of this event was of course an outreach in the area of Burghfield where we had a vision to plant a church in the near future, and to make our presence known.

There was much to organise and we had many able and willing volunteers, not the least was the erecting of the marquee and other tents. We provided children’s activities in the marquee for free, which was a pleasant suprise for parents and were part of a team of local Christians offering prayer at the Prayer Stop. The sun shone and the day was a huge success.

JUNE 2009
Hot on the heels of the May Fayre in Burghfield, we took part in another annual community event: the South Reading Churches Together Fun Day. The event, which was held at Rabson’s Recreation Ground, was completely free and included activities such as bouncy castles, a wind tunnel, a climbing wall, pony rides, and even a free BBQ.

JULY 2009
This month was a special time for Brian and Nicole (and Jamal Nicole‘s son), they were married in Jamaica, where Brian serves as a policeman. Also we at WCC had the privilege of seeing them have their marriage blessed here at Nicole’s home church.

In July the annual Barnabas Camp was held, and there was excellent teaching and ministry. It was as usual a great success. Our David Gregory made a decision to be baptised in the swimming pool, and it has made a great difference to him.

AUGUST 2009
This month we had the marriage of Matt and Jo Tancock; the time passed so quickly from when they first they announced the news of their wedding. It was a good day and many came and wished them well, and the food was good too!

Then shortly afterwards Jay and Lizzie Garlant were married, their wedding took place at St. Mary’s church in Burghfield, it was a time of blessing for not only the bride and groom, but for all who attended to wish Jay and Lizzie well.

This month we said a very fond farewell to Jenny Carroll, who has been called of God to a ministry in Tanzania. As a church we laid hands on her and sent her out with our blessing. Jenny has a big heart for the lost, and will take the gospel wherever she goes, she is very capable and her knowledge of scripture is superb. But most important of all is the love and compassion she has for people.

SEPTEMBER 2009
Mike and Kathie Davis-Bater, who were living in Ely, Cambridgeshire, sensed that God wanted them to move to Burghfield to help plant the church that is mentioned in the May paragraph. A lot of prayer was offered up for them and eventually they and their two children moved in an act of faith to Burghfield in August. The Lord opened a door for them to rent out their house in Ely, and also to rent a house in Burghfield, as well as providing a job for Mike – all this in the middle of a recession! Now they head up one of the church’s house groups.

On the weekend of the 12th and 13th Jonathan Conrathe came. In the evening we held an outreach in Burghfield; again the presence of WCC was made known to the community of Burghfield.

The next day, Sunday, Jonathan ministered the grace of God in our morning service, and many hearts were touched.

In the afternoon the leaders met at Douai Abbey, where we shared lunch and fellowship with Jonathan who then ministered to the leaders. I felt that we had a new insight to the working of God through His servants.

This month also saw the commencement of the youth group, it was and is a success. The group is headed up by Dan Saunders and Rory Marshall, and has a good many young members.

NOVEMBER 2009
Part of the vision of the church included the Restoration Centre mentioned above. This has now commenced and the aim is to reach into the community by several functions, one being an internet cafe where people can come in and surf the net and if necessary have instruction on the use of computers.
We now have a course running to teach the people who enrol how to cook and enjoy healthy meals.