First post in this blog? I can’t think of a better way to start than by celebrating what the Lord seems to be doing among The Church in Stockton. The Forum (Christian Charities in Teesside) meeting monthly, pastors of at least 9 churches meeting weekly for prayer, and last night’s joint worship at the Parish Church… it all seems to be coming together in a very healthy way. I feel priveleged to have turned up in Stockton in these days.
That was a great time last night. Big thanks to all the Tab folks who came out to it; it might have felt like it was an extra effort to turn out for something a bit different in a different venue, but I believe we put a smile on the Lord’s face last night. Big thanks also to Alan Farish and the Parish Church for having us. While having plenty of respect for the Anglicans I know, I confess I used to pooh-pooh their parish system – it seemed in some cases to be a way of blocking whole neighburhoods from hearing the good news of Jesus. BUT the system of parishes means they haven’t got the option of shutting up shop…. they’re committed to maintaining a presence in places where other streams of the church, including the one the Tab belongs to, have often pulled up stumps and headed for the suburbs.
Following on from last night let’s take to heart what Steve Brock said about doing some of our shopping in the town centre. We can’t complain about the decay of the High Street if we’re not prepared to give it our commercial support! and pray for it.
cheers
Andrew