Thurrock Church Leaders Get Refreshed

Thurrock Leaders Prayer Refresh Day 13 April 2017

It was encouraging to see so many people at Grays Methodist Church considering it was a very busy day being Maundy Thursday.

After chatting together we were led by Deb Hendry of Community Church in a time of praise and worship and then into a time of praying and thanking God for all He has done, is doing and plans to do in Thurrock.

Tim read out a 10 year old prayer for Thurrock which is significant for now. This can be found on the website )see link on left).

Alan Cass from Global Legacy, Eastgate introduced himself by talking initially about his ties with Thurrock. He talked about his experiences of teaching in various schools in Thurrock, ending up as Head Teacher in Purfleet and his connections with various churches. Alan now leads Global Legacy and travels the country talking about ways to connect with people.

Alan turned his attention to Easter talking about Palm Sunday and that he had discovered that crowds of people were there waiting for the sheep to be driven in that were to be sacrificed for Passover. In came Jesus first as Saviour and sacrifice for all. The people thought that He was the King who would free them from the Roman Rule and did not realise that He was dying once for everyone.

Alan turned to the tripartite nature of man saying that a man’s spirit needs to wake up and take action instead of waiting for someone to lead them. We do have a need for church but we also have to get out into the community and Kingdom thinking.

The question is how do we get out there? There is a need to transform our thinking, becoming a father to the people by becoming a son of God.  People will want to stay connected.

There are various ways of getting out there and Alan talked of ways that he had found useful.

Treasure Hunting – simply praying together and asking God for clues about who you are to talk to and then finding the person and engaging them in friendly conversation about treasure hunting and what God has said about them.

Spiritual readings, using cards – each card having a picture of an every day item like a flower, river etc. which a person can pick up and this can start a conversation which can lead to prophetic words being given and prayer.

Themed ‘Connect’ groups – These could take place in a church room or hall and have a theme like photography, floristry, Thurrock history etc. Whatever anyone has a good knowledge of and meetings could last for a number of weeks. This enables people to get to know each other and provide opportunities to let the community to get to know you in a friendly setting.

Finally Alan said that leadership is about making good soil. His evening routine is to eat with his family, have a time of praise, worship and prayer and sitting for half-an-hour with God to hear what He wants to say to you and as a time of peace and quiet. This is a good recipe for a good night’s sleep.

Then it was time for getting together and having lunch.

A big thank you to Deb and Alan for their inspiration and to Maggie for opening up the church and hosting.  Looking forward to the next Refresh on 13 July. (And to Dennis & Celia for the minestrone soup – Ed.)

Present were:

• Colin Baker (pastor, Grays Baptist Church / chair, Transformation Thurrock)
• David Bareham (leader at Community Church)
• Celia Brockhurst (St Erkanwald’s, Barking)
• Dennis Brockhurst (St Erkanwald’s, Barking)
• Alan Cass (Eastgate / Global Legacy) – speaker
• Richard Earll (Community Church / Chadwell Healing Centre)
• Roy Edworthy (Craftsmen / treasurer, Transformation Thurrock)
• Jimi Fawehinmi (New Covenant Church, Grays)
• Chris Ford (St Catherne’s, E Tilbury / Foodbank)
• Kim Ford (St Catherne’s, E Tilbury / Foodbank / Transformation Thurrock)
• Rev Brenda Gutberlet (Thurrock Methodist Churches)
• Tim Harrold (Craftsmen / Transformation Thurrock)
• Deb Hendry (Community Church) – worship
• Rev Andy Higgs (Stifford Parish)
• Rev Bob Love (St Cedd’s, Stifford Clays)
• Maggie Watts (Grays Methodist Church) – host