1 ## **LBC Hurst Green** ## Charity no. **701531** ## Minutes of AGM - 12 September 2023 Held on the premises - Beaumont Rd, Halesowen B62 9HD Members Present: 28 Apologies: 3 The meeting opened with praise & worship. The annual report for the year ending 31[st] March 2023 was read. ## 1) **GENERAL CHURCH REVIEW APRIL ’22 TO MARCH 23** Wow, what a year upon reflection!!! Its not until we come to review church life over the past year (April 2022 to April 2023), that we get a true sense of the enormity and intensity of Father God’s love for His children and Jesus’ love for His bride. I am sure as you read through this report, you too will appreciate the speed at which we have been developing and growing as a fellowship. Spring of 2022 saw the beginning of the church sanctuary refit, with the old bar area being dismantled and removed to make way for a permanent baptismal area. We also had the first of our baptismal services for the period April 2022 – April 2023 with Amelia Fisher, Paul Palmer, Gavin Tether, Mark Gall and Alex, all taking a step of obedience and going through the waters. The summer of 2022 was a particular busy time for the church with 2 BBQ’s, an Alpha course, The Bible Course, street evangelism with LBC Oldbury around the Olympic stadium and other towns & areas, and the first Prophetic Workshops. Thank you to everyone who served in any way in each of these areas, _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 2 there are too many names to mention individually in this report – but the most important thing is that Father God sees all that you do and will reward you according to His promises. This period also proved to be a difficult time as John and Michelle Fisher stepped back from training for church planting and despite being supported in this decision, felt the need to also leave LBC Hurst Green and go to another church in the LBC network. John and Michelle are dearly loved by all at LBC Hurst Green, and we are delighted to see them now serving in LBC Langley (one of the latest churches to join the LBC Network.) Late summer leading into autumn saw the launch of Life Groups at a church family BBQ and everyone did extremely well coping with having Sunday services in the middle of a working building site. A number from our fellowship attended an evangelistic training day in October 2022 hosted by Rise for Christ and as a result of this evangelist Virginia Logan was invited to preach at an evening service. Autumn saw the completion of the refit (apart from the lighting system). Winter leading into 2023 saw: Sandra Gall, Katie Garner, Harvey Gall, Ravinder getting baptised in November, and Adam Hughes & Sandra (Sandie) getting baptised in December, and we all enjoyed a fantastic Christmas meal at the Toby Carvery, Quinton. In January 2023 we continued with our street evangelism and were joined one morning by our dear sister Evelyn, who was admitted to hospital shortly after. After many tests Evelyn has only recently been released from hospital. We were also involved in the reunification of Ken and Pearl Palmer after months of them being separated – (seeing Ken and Pearl together again, was one of the highlights of the past year). In January 2023 LBC Hurst Green Café Church was launched and proved to be very fruitful with salvations and a baptism. In February 2023, a new Church Membership was launched, giving people the opportunity to evaluate and commit to the vision of the church in the form of membership if felt called. During one prayer night in the Engine Room, the church received an amazing ‘faith challenging’ word through our _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 3 brother Edwin in which God challenged us “you take the initiative, and I will back you all the way’. This has proved to be an inspiring word for helping the church to push through when birthing new ministries/church plants as we move forward. At the start of spring (March) 2023 Nick Braine from Newport Wales came and took a morning service and shared his testimony. This was part of the developing relationship between Nick and LBC Hurst Green as Nick considered heading up a church plant for the LBC Network under the apostolic covering of LBC Hurst Green. It was a time of worship, food & fellowship, which also saw our final baptism of the year to April 2023, with Barry from Newport deciding to be baptised on the afternoon, sealing a year of adventure, growth, sorrows, celebration, salvations and baptisms. Yes, we are a blessed Church! and we can sincerely declare this despite having some very tough times, sad times, even heartbreaking moments over this last year with a few of the congregation losing close family members and others experiencing long-term sickness. However, we have also experienced constant outpourings of the Holy Spirit and lots of laughter amongst the tears. Father God has more than demonstrated his ability to keep us in the midst of trials. It’s worth mentioning too, that apart from various new ministries starting up over the last year, such as Life groups, youthwork, Men’s & Women’s ministry and the Café Church, God has graciously given us salvations in every month throughout the last year. Hallelujah! And all Glory and Praise to our God. ## 2) **MINISTERIAL REPORTS** ## _**Sunday Services**_ Our Sunday services remain a source of inspiration. We did not have so many visiting speakers as we did during the first six months of life as LBC Hurst Green. In addition, Senior Leader of the LBC network, Aaron Jarvis reduced his preaching input on _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 4 Sunday evenings over the year April 2022 to April 2023, from once a fortnight to once per month. This would be a challenge for LBC Hurst Green evening services as Aaron has a great evangelistic anointing, but on the positive side it shows that LBC Hurst Green is now able to stand on our own two feet and hold two services per week with much less support. This move also freed Aaron to speak at other LBC churches who are just starting out and need the support we were so privileged to have during the first 6 months or so. ## Morning Services: We interrupted a few of our usual Sunday morning services to support other churches in their first services in the LBC Network. During August 2022 we all joined LBC Earl Shilton as they launched their first service under the LBC Banner, and in March 2023 we cancelled the morning service to join LBC Langley as it became the fourth local church in the Birmingham area to be relaunched under the LBC banner. At the time of writing, we are planning to cancel another service so that we are able to stand with our brothers and sisters in Newport, Wales as we venture on our first church plant after their visit from Newport at the end of March. Apart from our regular visiting speaker Bernd, we had only Matthew from Hereford as our other visiting speaker. ## Evening Services We experienced some incredible evening services during the summer of 2022, with the Holy Spirit moving powerfully and giving gifts to the church. It is such a delight to see so many receive the gift of tongues over the last year – one of the most immediate evidence of regeneration in scripture. There will clearly be other gifts imparted but it will take time for the fruit of these to be seen. We have had fewer visiting speakers over the last year (April ’22 -April ’23), but those we have had, have brought some very rich teaching. Bernd always brings a good Biblical teaching and besides him we had Virginia Logan a street evangelist, bringing a stirring word and testimony, in October, what a blessing. A few people from our fellowship _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 5 joined Virginia Logan in Dudley and learnt how to do street evangelism. We also had Arif Anees, who brought us three monthly teachings from January to March 2023 about Islam and taught us some of the mindsets we would face in witnessing to those of the Islamic faith. We also had Daniel Shearer from Hull – Daniel brought us a very powerful message. In March 2023 we had Andy Flute back to take the evening for us. This was less well attended than when he visited in 2021. Still a powerful time in the Holy Spirit and several people were ministered to. ## _**Prayer**_ ## The Engine Room: The Engine room always proves to be a powerful time with no two weeks the same, however there seems to be a number of people who are not as regular as a year ago in the prayer room. Sustained prayer of any sort is always difficult, and this is something we as a fellowship must remain faithful to, in order to see any lasting fruit in the life of the church collectively and in our lives individually. Some of the answered prayer highlights over the last year are: Ken & Pearl Palmer who were separated when Ken was admitted to hospital in November 2022. God answered our prayers, and they were both reunited with each other in the same care home 7 March 2023. Nola Hoggart was rushed into hospital with a suspect clot on the brain behind her eyes, we prayed that the clot would dissolve to the extent that when Nola had her ultrasound nothing would be found. Again, the Lord answered our prayers as the results of the ultrasound and other tests showed nothing and Nola was given the all-clear and released from hospital. Gavin, Katie & kids received the keys for their new home – what an answer to prayer!!! Mark Whitehouse sister-in-law came through brain surgery successfully. _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 6 Laura Burns spinal fluid leaking from her spinal cord and running down her nose. Laura was rushed into hospital and surgery was expected once they had the results from the MRI scan. The church prayed that when the surgeons investigated, they would find that Laura would not need an operation. Laura’s husband John messaged us the next morning to let us know that consultants had informed Laura after checking the x- ray, that the leak had stopped and healed up and that they ‘couldn’t understand how it happened’ Laura was discharged on the Monday without surgery. Praise Jesus! During another time of prayer in the engine room one Thursday night in February – our dear brother Edwin Fletcher was praying. In the middle of his prayer, he uttered this line… “and we know Lord that if we take the initiative, you will back us all the way”. Nick heard and received this in the Holy Spirit anointing, and this has become a ‘now word’ for 2023. Keep taking the initiative for the church to experience the full weight of our Father’s backing you in your faith ventures. ## 24 Hour Prayer Meeting: One Sunday evening during November 2022, Nick received a word of knowledge from a visitor regarding his involvement with 24-hour prayer meetings in Birmingham City and LBC Oldbury and a prophetic word that the Lord was saying it was time to start doing 24-hour prayer meeting again. We held our first 24-hour prayer meeting at LBC Hurst Green the following week and was joined in the early part of the evening by others from across the LBC Network. In January 2023 we held the first of our 12 monthly 24hour prayer meetings of the year, and at the time of writing have completed 3. These have been amazing times with each prayer meeting being very different. It has been wonderful to see the whole church get involved and use the time to spend quality time with Father God. ## _**Life Groups / Bible Study**_ Up to September 2022 the midweek groups were segregated into mens and womens groups. Both mens and womens groups did the Bible Course and Rionhert Bonke’s ‘Full Flame’ _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 7 evangelistic course. Then from September 2022, three mixed groups were started with around 36 people across the 3 groups. These were going well and after being given a month or so to settle in, the groups began an extensive study on the Gospel of John, carried all the way through to April 2023. The study proved to be a popular and a number of people experienced their relationships with God being revived/restored. We will seek to do another intensive study when the time is right, but with the groups changing in the summer of 2023, the plan is to stick with a short bible study course. A few people petered out over the 9 months to April and together with illnesses, all of the groups reduced numerically. This will be addressed over the summer as we seek to press into God and build a strong community (in word, faith & relationship) of believers. ## _**Youth Work –** Nadine_ In October 2022, I began to help out with the youth work. It's only a small group, currently having 6 youths, but GOD has plans that this is going to grow. It might be slow, but I will be looking into how we can get the word out to grow GOD’S kingdom more to the younger generation. Activities that youth have done include: 1) Art & Crafts, 2) Role play for our Easter production, 3) Movie & Pizza nights, 4) Fashion show made from recycled materials 5) Disco and games night 6) Nerf cup building and aim. In December 2022, the youth gathered some gift bags, we filled the bags with essentials, gifts and a bible. We went into Dudley town centre where we did some street evangelism. What the youth learnt from this experience was that it was very cold/wet and dark, and it was not a nice place to be at nighttime. It says in (Job 5:15-16) “He saves the needy from the sword, from the mouth of the mighty and from the clutches of the powerful. So, the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.” AMEN. The youth team did well in Dudley, and I really do hope to do street evangelism with them again. Going forward, with this ministry we are looking at involving other youth groups from _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 8 other LBC congregations. Also, I would like to get them out feeding the homeless and leafleting for this event. I would like nothing more than to see the younger generation planting the seed. Running the youth group has a few low points e.g., space, places to store things etc. I can see a lot of room for growth in GOD’S timing. ## _**Kidzchurch** – Becky Davidson_ Leaders / Supporters Rebecca Davison and Andrea Powell have continued to take on the role as joint leaders of KidzChurch. Other members of the church have put their name forward for supporting roles within KidzChurch but due to ongoing health… issues with Nigel Powell their DBS forms have not been sent for approval. Mark Whitehouse has been helping out when both Andrea and Rebecca are unable to attend church due to supporting Nigel Powell. Olivia Harrison has been supporting KidzChurch when either Andrea or Rebecca is unable to attend church. Number of children There are five children who consistently come to KidzChurch - Joseph, Jacob, Libby, Connor and Violet. On occasions Reuben (Rosamund’s grandson) has come but due to Rosamund’s’ ongoing health issues his attendance has been reduced. Resources for planning The primary resource for planning comes from ‘Mission Bible Class’ – an online resource that provides detailed notes on how to deliver sessions and activities to support the sessions. Rebecca completes a long-term overview for each term outlining which Bible Stories will be covered each week. Structure of KidzChurch weekly lessons 1. Snack 2. Kids Worship songs via You Tube 3. Main Lesson 4. Activity 5. Team building games. _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 9 Themes covered during April 2022 – April 2023: Creation, Cain and Abel, Noah, Easter Story, Tower of Babel, Abraham and Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, Christmas and birth of Jesus, Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, Joseph and his coat. Struggles – needed more adults to support weekly lessons. Highlights - the relationships that the children have formed. Christmas performance – when the children took over the Christmas morning service. Church BBQ – Kids crafts. Confidence of Rebecca and Andrea in delivering new curriculum. The introduction of Life Groups has enabled Andrea and Rebecca to grow spiritually. ## _**Men’s Ministry**_ – Karl Hill At the beginning of 2023, I was asked to be a part of LBC's men’s ministry and was asked if I'd take the part of representing LBC Hurst Green which I accepted and see this as a privilege and it's an honour to do something I feel close to my heart. During the period of January 2023 (when I started) and March 2023. So far this year we have had 3 men’s breakfasts held at Oldbury which we had 3 talks, 2 of which were testimonies whilst I did one. We have had a pizza night at Hurst Green. All were well attended. We have a men’s conference in October which will be held at LBC Langley. ## _**Women’s Ministry – Daughter of Zion** – Joyce Neech_ The aim of the women’s ministry is two-fold. Firstly, it is to encourage and build up the women of the church to become all that God has called them to be. To help them to find what their giftings are and encourage them to use them. Secondly our aim is to find ways to reach out into our community to support families in need, and to show them the love of Jesus. This is not to be done in a purely welfare capacity but in ways that emphasise Gods love towards them. The organizing team consisted of Joyce Neech, Christine Powell, Michelle Fisher and Sandra Shearman. Our aim was to have a ## _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 10 quarterly meeting on a Saturday afternoon and by and large for the year up to December we managed to do this. However, during the year Michelle resigned and Christine became too ill to continue in the role. It was decided that the quarterly meetings would stop until March 2023 in order to enlist another organization team. The meetings that we did have are as follows: First meeting 5[th] February 2022. We shared with all the ladies present what the aim of the group was and asked for input from them. We had a time of worship and most importantly eats and fellowship afterwards. Second meeting 7[th] May 2022. The theme of the meeting was “I am who you say I am” I gave a word to encourage the ladies to know who God says they. I then passed a bowl around with scripture verses written on them saying who God says He is for each of them to keep. We had a time of worship and then eats and fellowship after. Third meeting 10th August 2022. We had a really lovely meal out at the Royal Oak. There were 12 of us there. It was a good time where we got to know each other so much better. It was great to see the new ladies of our church settling in and feeling part of everything. We decided that we will be doing this again. As I shared earlier there were no further meetings until April 2023 Fourth meeting 1st April 2023. We had a worship and prayer time. Then Nadine spoke about her experience at the Evangelist conference that she went to. I then spoke about the story of Leah to encourage all ladies to see that none of us are disqualified from being used by God. His standards are not our standards. And to learn to praise Him through the difficult times. We then had a quiz time which was great fun, and finally eats and fellowship. Just a final comment. During the membership meeting on 24[th] January 2023, I put out a call for any ladies who felt they would like to become part of the organization team. I have since received confirmation from Becky Davis, Andrea Powell and Sandra Gall that they are willing to join with me. We have been meeting since June and we are all very excited at the way _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 11 things are developing and look forward to where God is leading the ladies of Hurst Green in the future. ## _**Worship** – Mark Whitehouse_ At the start of this period, I had taken up leadership of the worship team. We have always sought to put Jesus at the centre of meetings at LBCHG, and to ascend God's holy hill through Spirit-led worship. The team members were, me, Nigel, Frank, John Fisher, Yvonne, Nicole. Shortly after this, Nigel had to cut down his involvement, due to helping care for his father-in-law. We had a team meal at Franky & Benny's in early July, and later that month, John Fisher left the church, and thus, the worship team also. Live worship was suspended at the end of July 2022, initially, to allow reconfiguration of the stage & associated electrics. We have subsequently felt that the Lord is taking us through a time of transition, and that He will make clear when He wants us to take up live worship on a regular basis. Through various comings and goings, by the Autumn of 2022, the team comprised of Yvonne, me, & Nadine Hill, who had recently joined the church. The team attended the Ascend Worship School at Revival Fires church, in Feb 2023. We experienced the anointing on this course, and on their worship team, led by Ryan Baker-Barnes. We have played for live worship from time to time, but we are still in the transition, knowing that we will get the 'go-ahead' from God when the time is right. We have also been logging the lists of songs used in each meeting, both from live and YouTube worship. This can help us to see where there is an anointing on particular songs, and to review where there have been 'breakthrough' points during worship. Yvonne regularly does a lot of work, sorting out the master-list of live worship songs, changing keys when necessary, printing off new songs, & helping download and sort out words for songs on the computer. We look forward to the new things which we believe God is going to do in terms of the worship team, as well as in our church generally. _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 12 ## **Prophetic Guild (prophetic workshop)** 16[th] July 2022 saw the introduction of the Prophetic Guild workshops – this is a very practical prophetic ministry lasting for one day, teaching people how to hear from God. This was such a Holy Spirit filled time and over twenty people attended. Everyone benefitted from this day and there was such enthusiasm and hunger to hear God speak during the day. Quote of the day _‘…I didn’t realise how accessible God is…’_ In September 2022 Joyce Neech and Nick Harrison began to plan the next prophetic workshop for 2023. This is an exciting ministry growing. ## **The Bible Course** Edwin Fletcher hosted the Bible Course, a brilliant course that gives an overview of the salvation story through the whole Bible. The Bible Course ran for a second time from October to December 2022, during the day with a number of people benefitting and appreciating the course material complimented by Edwin’s teaching gift and depth of Biblical knowledge. ## _**Website and Media Publicity AGM Report** – by Paul Davidson_ **(Persons Responsible:** Nick Harrison | Paul Davison) ## **Initial Objectives:** - **Domain Name** - To replace the old domain name (hurstgreenchurch.co.uk) with the new domain name (lbchurstgreen.co.uk) - **Website** - To carry out a complete redesign of the site using a more modern and updated Wordpress template whilst incorporating the LBC branding. - **Website** - To produce a website that is not only informative for existing Church members but also spreads the news of the Gospel with unchurched visitors of the website. - **Social Media** - To regain management of both the Church Twitter and Facebook social media accounts. ## **Successes:** - **Social Media** - We managed to regain access to the Church Facebook account and have now replaced the _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 13 historic personal email addresses used to login for new Church admin emails, therefore avoiding losing control in the future. - **Website** - We have a live website that meets the ‘Initial Objectives’ outlined above. - **Website** - Paul Davison will continue to maintain the website, carry out necessary updates, monitor security and upload sermons as required. ## **Struggles:** - **Content Creation** – we require additional team members who can produce content for the website e.g., daily devotionals, testimonies, video and photography so that we can keep the website fresh and regularly updated. - **Social Media** - We have been unable to recover the original @hgfamilychurch Twitter account, we have contacted them multiple times and they continue to ask for specific details that we do not have, they are no longer responding to our enquiries. - **Website** - It would be beneficial if the sermon speakers could provide a sermon title and brief outline of the sermon to enable a quicker upload time to the website. ## **Future Expectations:** - **Social Media** - To create a new Twitter account under a new @lbchurstgreen username. - **Social Media** - To create an Instagram account to advance into outreach via alternative media methods. - **Website** - To include multi-media (namely videos) on the website to appeal to a wider audience and enable us to be more engaging. - **Team -** To grow the ‘Website and Media Publicity’ Team to assist in updating/managing the website and social media activity. - **Website/Social Media** - To connect the website and all social media accounts together, so that when we share on one platform, all platforms relay the same information. ## **Leadership** Mark Whitehouse and Joyce Neech were welcomed on to the leadership team in August 2022 to work alongside Andrew & Yvonne Gisbourne, and Pastor Nick Harrison who heads up the _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 14 team. The leadership team give tirelessly into the fellowship with many hours and a lot of hard work done behind the scenes. Our Pastor would like to extend his love and appreciation to each member of the leadership team for stepping up and serving the church in such a sacrificial way. ## 3) **EVANGELISM** ## _**Community BBQ**_ We had a good turnout to the summer Community BBQ held 25[th] June 2022 and we saw 3 people come to faith on that day – a couple (Darren and Lisa) from the same street as the church, and a 10-year-old boy from amongst our own congregation. It proved very successful again and there were a number of local families with small children in attendance. The whole church was involved in helping the event be a huge success. With hot food, popcorn, candyfloss, face-painting, kids crafts and bouncy castle. We did have a bit of rain on the day, but we were able to carry on regardless. A huge thank you to everyone who helped on the day. There isn’t enough room to mention everybody’s name as the whole church was involved in making the day a huge success, but Pastor Nick would like to thank everyone involved for a sterling effort once again in reaching out to the community with the love of God. ## _**The Alpha Course**_ Between April 2022 and April 2023 there was a slowdown in the amount of Alpha courses that we were able to do. This was partly do with the cooks on the Alpha team being unable to cook due to various health issues, but also time played a factor as we started Life groups in September 2022. The Last Alpha Course we did started June 28, 2022. The course lasted for 6 weeks. It started the Tuesday after the Community BBQ and those who had given their lives to Jesus attended for the first couple of weeks, but the Alpha course proved to be a step too soon for new babes in the faith. We also had one man from the local community attend for about 4 weeks but sadly he stopped coming as work _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 15 commitments and late finishing became priority for him. His name is Anthony – and he came because his daughter was asking questions. Please do take a moment to pray for him and his family that he will answer the call again. We have sown the seeds of the gospel at least. Finally, one couple who attended and completed the whole 6 weeks was James & Beth who are now in training (under Senior Leader Aaron Jarvis) to take on LBC Langley in 18 months or so. James & Beth have both mentioned how significant Alpha was at that time in helping to establish a firm foundation in their faith. James gave his life to Jesus the year before even though he had attended the same church as Beth for a number of years, both had never made any serious commitment to follow Christ before 2022. Praise God for Alpha. Illnesses with volunteers have limited our ability to carry out further Alpha courses, but we are looking at ways to get round our limitations – one suggestion is that we only do a meal on the Holy Spirit evening. ## _**Street Evangelism**_ From April 2022 we continued to go into Blackheath each Friday up until March 2023. During this time, we saw so much fruit of people getting saved as a result of our street evangelism. March 2023 saw a significant slowdown in our outreach on the streets – something Pastor Nick is eager to get moving again when the time permits. ## Street Evangelism teams Between April 2022 and April 2023, the street evangelism team consisted of Evelyn Deeley, Nick Harrison, Joyce Neech, Karl & Nadine Hill, Rosamund Hearnshaw, Joan Betteridge, Mark Gall, Mark Whitehouse, Dennis Shearer, Andrew & Yvonne Gisbourne and John Fisher. We preached the gospel in Cheltenham, Hereford, Halesowen, Blackheath, Leicester, Dudley, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Birmingham. ## _**Church planting**_ _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 16 John & Michelle Fisher decided in July 2022, that church planting was not for them, and then also decided to leave LBC Hurst Green on the back of this decision, as John felt he had let people down and felt a bit embarrassed. Although John & Michelle, were assured that we all loved them and would stand with them in their decision, they still felt it was right to move on. John & Michelle are still loved by all at LBC Hurst Green. We do not base our love for people on what they can bring to the church but solely on the fact that they are our brothers and sisters, and love is a commandment in the law Christ (Phil 4) When John & Michelle decided to leave it was a low point for the church, but we were able to pick ourselves up and continue after a month or so. In October 2022, Nick Braine from Newport in Wales came to Birmingham and approached Nick Harrison with a view to plant a church within the LBC Network. Nick & Aaron initially met Nick Braine whilst visiting South Wales for other business in April 2022. Back then Nick B and some other guys were looking to join LBC Network as a church plant but decided they would go it alone under another name. that didn’t work out and Nick B felt that God was calling him to LBC to plant, hence his visit to Birmingham. Nick B and a few people from his church visited LBC Hurst Green and took a service one Sunday morning. It was a Spirit filled time and a real celebration took place with a meal after. Later that day, a brother in Christ named Barry (from Wales) decided to take a step of obedience and get baptised – what a brilliant day it was… awesome! As part of our continued outreach in Cheltenham, a team consisting of Mark Whitehouse, Yvonne Gisbourne and Pastor Nick went and painted a bungalow for a man named Martyn. Martyn was under ‘Supported Living’ care and was being moved from a temporary hostel into more permanent accommodation after living on the streets as an alcoholic. Pastor Nick had ministered to Martyn on the streets and Martyn contacted the church for help with moving in _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 17 In addition, another brother named Chris Walters whom Pastor Nick had known since Chris came to faith in 2021 began to meet with Pastor Nick. There is a developing opportunity for a possible church plant in 2024/2025 in Cheltenham. Nick is continuing to meet with Chris who is planning to come and meet LBC Hurst Green fellowship in the summer. We will continue to follow the Lord’s guidance and keep the church undated with any developments. Please cover this with prayer and particularly Chris. ## **LBC Hurst Green Café Church** The Café Church was launched on Tuesday 21[st] January 2023, and resulted from a visit Nick and Mark Whitehouse were making to Tender Care, a local care home, whilst visiting Ken and Pearl Palmer. At the time of writing the Café Church is proving really popular in the care home, with an average of 20 – 25 elderly residents attending. It is clear that some of those attending have never surrendered their lives to Jesus. We decided to run an Alpha course at the care home, and we are currently on week 8 of the Alpha course. It is wonderful to see the manageress and some staff attending every week too. It is a real privilege to be serving the elderly in this way and is all our Lord’s doing. A couple of highlights are when a lady named Anne gave her life to Jesus, when asked why she asked Jesus to be her Lord and Saviour, she said it was because she wanted a “new start”- remarkable really as Anne is aged 83! The second highlight is when a 17-year-old named Kiera popped into the care home to see if they had any work placements available. Kiera sat in the café church whilst waiting to speak to the manageress and surrendered her life to Jesus after hearing the gospel preached. ## **Salvations:** We had a total of 66 salvations between April 2022 and April 2023. They were as follows: 41 through street evangelism; 4 in the workplace; and 21 in church, (names are available from Nick). ## **Baptisms** _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 18 From April 2023 to April 2024, we held 4 baptismal services. These were all really joyous occasions, with 12 wonderful and varied testimonies. April 2022: Amelia Fisher, Paul Palmer, Gavin Tether, Mark Gall and Alex. November 2022: Sandra Gall, Katie Garner, Harvey Gall, Ravinder December 2022: Adam Hughes & Sandra (Sandi) March 2023: Barry (Wales) ## _**Missions**_ Burundi – Mark Whitehouse I visited Burundi for 10 days, last September 2022, with Senior LBC Pastor Aaron Jarvis, and LBC Oldbury Pastor Stuart Yates. We were met by and spent most of our time there with Pastor Anicet Kimana, of the LBC Burundi church. We visited this church in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, as well as a church in the mountain village of Buye, several hours drive from Bujumbura. In both cases we were struck by how vibrant, enthusiastic, exuberant, and lively their worship is. The meetings typically lasted 3 to 4 hours, or more. Aaron preached at these and other meetings. At Buye there were three salvations from the meeting. We also had free time to do some sightseeing, as well as visiting Pastor Anicet's home, & meeting his family of eight children. Later in the week we visited another church in Bujumbura, not yet fully a part of the LBC network. The Pastor of this church is Fiston. Again, lively worship for several hours, and a powerful word from Aaron. At the end of the meeting Two main impressions: _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 19 1, The poverty - people in Burundi have very few 'creature comforts', like TVs, computers, even running water, mains gas, or electricity. 2, Total abandonment in worship, giving God everything they've got. All in all, a wonderful, eye-opening, & blessed experience ## **Other Business** ## **Coming and Going** New faces Since April 22 Jeanette, Craig, Jo Hughes, Rojinder, Arif & Willemyn Anees, Richard Jones, Karl & Nadine Hill, Adam Hughes, Paul Palmer, Ravinder, Rojinder, John Lewis, Bill & Nola Hoggart, Richard Jones plans to join us permanently in November 2023. People who have moved on since April 2022: John & Michelle Fisher, Andy & Bev Dawes, Stephanie Blinten, Arif & Willemyn Anees, Stuart & Hillary Rushden, & 5 others who only attended for less than 6 months. Arif & Willemyn Anees were at the church whilst Arif completed his training with Church of England. Stuart & Hillary Rushden now lead George Road Baptist church. Andy & Bev Dawes & Stephanie Blinten were original members and moved on to pastures new. ## **Preaching Ministry** Over the last year the aim for the preaching ministry was to get a preaching team established and then set various teaching series in place throughout the year so that the teaching would become more structured and purposeful. At the time of writing a preaching team and preaching rota is now established, but a pre-organised teaching plan is yet to be introduced. The preaching team currently consist of Dennis Shearman, Nick Harrison, Andrew Gisborne & Mark Whitehouse ## **Nagaland Bible College** _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 20 Nick contacted Principal Senti of Nagaland Bible College to get a more in-depth understanding of what the college was about and whether it was in-line with the vision of LBC Hurst Green to become a ‘church planting church’ as the fellowship has sponsored the college over many years with a £50 per month commitment. Nick discovered that Principal Senti has taken responsibility for the vision of Nagaland Bible College since the passing of her father in the early 2000’s and has arranged for Principal Senti to visit LBC Hurst Green September this year. We look forward to this visit to discover what is happening in Nagaland, India. ## **Anti-Abortion bill** Most of the church signed the anti-abortion petition in February 2023 against the full-term abortion bill. Nick also wrote personally to House of Commons on behalf of the congregation and received a letter in response from the MP stating that though the letter of petition had been acknowledged, the law would be passed later this year. ## **Final Word from the Pastor** As I reflect on church life over the last 12 months, Ecclesiastes 3:1 comes to mind “There is a season for every activity under the sun”. I am not sure if its just me, or if time really _is_ going faster, but this last year has gone seemingly, in the blink of an eye. Yet since April 2022 we have grown and ministered in so many ways, serving both the Church and the lost, following in the likeness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It’s amazing to see how much has happened in just one year. During the upheaval of the sanctuary refit, the church managed to hold twice weekly services, BBQ’s, an Alpha course, Life Groups, a Bible Course, baptisms, continued street evangelism, Kidzchurch and Thursday night prayer. This past year has certainly felt like ‘a season’ filled with ‘every activity under the sun’. _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 21 In addition, there was an extensive list of new ministries launched since April 2022. These included: Life Groups, Youth Group, Men’s Ministry, Women’s Ministry, Prophetic Workshop, Media Publicity (& new website), Café Church and monthly 24hour prayer times. This is exciting, but we must remain sober minded, knowing that it is relatively easier to start a ministry than to keep that ministry going over years and eventually carry it over the finishing line. Ecclesiastes says: “Finishing is better than starting” 7:8 (NLT). So, whilst we rejoice in the starting of these new ministries, we too must remember that the real reward comes at the end of the race, not the start. Stickability is the name of the game for Church ministry. So, for those who have started ministering in the church this last year, my prayer is that you remain faithful, focussed, and joyful in the Lord. For those continuing with ministries in the last year, I thank God for your faithfulness, and I pray that you will be inspired, refreshed, and encouraged by Holy Spirit. It is so encouraging to see those new to the Christian faith stepping out into various roles and serving the Body of Christ alongside the more mature Christians “presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which is our spiritual service” (Romans 12:1) Some standout moments to praise God for are the constant flow of salvations throughout the year. The baptisms, Ken and Pearl Palmer being reunited. The Christmas meal, the launch of the Café Church, answers to prayer, Gavin, Katie, & family getting their new house! But the moment that stands out above all these is 83-year Anne surrendering her life to Jesus in Feb ’23 because in her word she “wanted a new start…” and then having the privilege of baptising her a few weeks later. Glory to God alone. On another front, sadly there have been some significant and long-standing illnesses for some in our fellowship, so it is reassuring to know that Father God is attentive to our prayers as we have been standing together in prayer with those suffering more than others. _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 22 We are a praying church – Jesus said my house will be called a house of prayer (Matthew 21:13) Prayer is the lifeblood of the church and is essential for any and every ministry within church life. If we don’t pray, we don’t live in Christ, its that simple. Let’s keep the fires constantly burning on the altar of prayer. Finally, it is a real honour to lead this fellowship and serve Jesus alongside you all, I continue to pray for wisdom and grace as we move forward. I thank God for the support I feel as I pour my life into this church for His kingdom’s sake and for the freedom allowed to accomplish the vision that God has given us to be a ‘church planting church’. I sense church plants on the horizon despite setbacks and I look forward to doing greater exploits in the coming year. I love and appreciate you all more than you will ever know. In service of our King, Pastor Nick “Thanks be to God our Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms”. (Ephesians 1:3) ## **AMEN & AMEN** ## LBC Hurst Green **Premises Report** April 2022 – March 2023 In April 2022 50 more blue chairs were purchased so we now have 101. In May Kevin built the plinth & desk, the central heating contractors fixed a leaking pipe in the wall in the creche, & some external LBC signs were put up. July saw the arrival of the baptismal pool, via the bay window, which had to be taken out & re-installed. Then Andrew built the stage after several committee!! attempts at getting the curve right. Nadine & Nick painted the main hall, and Nick excavated a round hole for the baptismal pool, laid a level base and then _**‘To plant Churches from here to the coast, into Europe and into the rest of the world’**_ . 23 fitted floorboards round the pool. Andrew built a banister along one side for safety. Ken, Max & Kevin rewired the stage, set up & wired in the screen displays & sound & installed cabling to link everything back to the desk. I would like to record our thanks to Ken, Max & Kevin. The carpet tiles were laid on stage by Nadine, and contractors did the main hall & the waterproof flooring round the baptistry. 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