I’d like to invite you to join me at the Newfrontiers Global 2020 conference next week. This promises to be an excellent few days, and moving the conference online means that more friends from around the world will be able to participate than ever before. I will be hosting, together with my wife Deb, and our very own King’s band will be involved in the worship. We are thrilled to have Mark Sayers from Melbourne, Australia, as our guest speaker. Mark is a pastor and a well-known author and commentator on issues around culture and Christianity. We also have the joy of hearing David Devenish close the conference on the last day.

Global 2020 takes place next week over three afternoons –  13th, 14th and 15th October – starting next Tuesday at 2pm (UK time). It is free to attend and can be accessed via the Newfrontiers website. The daily sessions will be just an hour long, so why not take a late lunch hour next Tuesday and join us? I hope to see you there!

This Sunday, October 4th, is Vision Sunday, an important date in the King's calendar. I am looking forward to speaking and telling you more about some exciting new initiatives starting soon, as well as some details regarding the planned reopening of our buildings.

King's, the Kingdom of God is expanding! Please join us online on Sunday – this is a week not to be missed. In fact, why not invite a friend or family member to join you?

I am delighted to let you all know that I have made a good recovery after my recent, short period of illness. I am grateful to God for His grace in sustaining me through this season and also for the prayers of many, both here at King’s and throughout the Newfrontiers family. Prayer is powerful!

It’s good to be back and I hope you enjoy listening to my latest video update.

Over the Summer we have had a few guest blog posts from some of our pastors from across the sites. This is our final guest post from Hilary Dalziel who helps lead the Catford site.

Summer is the time for weddings, and this year we have had four weddings at King's despite the coronavirus restrictions. Yes, they have been very different: simple services with only thirty guests, chairs spaced out, and of course hand sanitiser at the ready. I even bought a pretty mask to match my outfit! But it has been so great to be in the building, to be part of the church community witnessing vows made in the presence of God, to hear the reading of scripture and to pray together for couples starting a life-long adventure. Those couples are just as married as any other couples who had tens of guests, a perfectly planned reception and all the other elaborate elements that usually make a wedding day.

All of us have also had to change our expectations about what the new ‘normal’ is for family celebrations, work and life during this summer! Our expectations around church have also had to change and will change again as we go into a new term. We do plan to have groups meeting in the buildings, but many will still be online. We can’t sing in church or hug yet, but we are still just as much the church as the days we sang with all our hearts and put our arms round each other and prayed together.

This September we will find a new normal as hundreds of us join groups, gathering around the word, encouraging each other and praying together. God will be there with us on zoom or in a room! We’re not just individual believers, we are his people, we are still being ‘built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.’ God still intends to display his ‘manifold wisdom’ through us, his church, whatever the circumstances – that has always been his eternal purpose. (Ephesians 2:21-22, 3:10-11)

Like the couples this summer who decided getting on with building their marriage was more important than waiting for the perfect wedding day, let’s step in and be the church - embracing the new normal, confident God is still at work building his church at Kings.

Hilary Dalziel assists in leading the Catford site and is the main driving force behind Groups at King's. She is part of the Pastoral Care Team, oversees marriage mentoring and organises much of the training of pastoral care staff and volunteers. Hilary is married to William and they have three grown-up children.