This week’s blog comes to you all the way from Washington DC, where I have had the privilege of joining David Devenish’s Newfrontiers Together Team. This is a team of apostles from round the world and on this occasion, we have gathered in Washington. It is always a joy to be with dear friends and co-workers in our gospel partnership, and this is a fantastic team: Edward Buria, Scott Marques and Steve van Ryan from Africa; John Lanferman, PJ Smyth and Bryan Mowray from USA; Andrey Bonderenko from Ukraine; and finally, David Devenish and David Holden from the UK.

We have spent the last few days praying, talking and planning together, but we have also had the opportunity to see some of Washington’s iconic buildings. Jet lag meant that on the first morning I was awake very early, but it gave me the chance to get some steps in and take a long walk around some of the famous landmarks, including Capitol Hill and the National Mall. It is always an amazing experience to see places you know so well from TV and I can report that they are as impressive in real life as they are on screen!

Visiting this city has been a bit of a walk down memory lane for me. I first came to Washington as a child with my family, to visit my Aunt Joy. She was a remarkable lady who was aptly named, as she was indeed full of joy and always great fun to be around. She married an American and lived here all her adult life and I have many happy memories from this city – of barbecues and basketball with my cousins and of watching Johan Cruyff play for the Washington Diplomats.

As we have been praying for our growing apostolic fellowship this week, we have reflected on the God and King we serve. We are a group of apostles drawn from many nations, each of them different, yet united by a God who rules and reigns over us all.

Writing from the other side of the Atlantic, it seems strange to think that in just a short time I will be back in the UK. I shall look forward to seeing you all at King’s on Sunday.

Our dear friend Scott Marques flew in from Zimbabwe yesterday morning, and it was great to catch up with him over breakfast. Even after a long flight and very little sleep, Scott never fails to bring his usual enthusiasm and positive energy! Our conversation ranged from catching up on family news and what is happening at both King’s and River of Life churches, to the political situation in Zimbabwe and developments in Scott’s crocodile and egg businesses – it is always stimulating spending time with this guy!

Scott will be spending the next four days with us at King’s and will be meeting with our staff and the Zimbabwe Partnership Team. I am very excited that he will also be speaking at our Kingdom Investment Seminar on Saturday morning. As well as leading River of Life in Harare and the DNA family of churches, Scott is a successful business entrepreneur and leader. The morning seminar presents a great opportunity to come and hear Scott’s story and catch his heart for finding kingdom opportunities in every area of our lives. The seminar is open to all and will run from 9.45-11.30am at our Catford site.

I am also glad to tell you that Scott will be our guest speaker on Sunday, which is Diversity Sunday at King's. King’s is committed to building a community made up of people from many different nations, races, ages and backgrounds, and this is a moment when we celebrate our diversity together. The service will be slightly different to normal and we would love everyone to come wearing national/traditional dress or to dress up a bit smarter than usual. I will be marking the occasion by bringing out my suit! I hear there are a variety of different things being planned, so I really encourage everyone to be there and not miss out.

We have an exciting weekend ahead at King’s, and I look forward to seeing you there.

‘For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance; that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…’ 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

I would like to extend a warm invitation to you all for our Easter services at King’s this coming weekend.

On Good Friday we gather across all our sites at 10.30am. We will break bread together and reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, which has paid the penalty for our sin. The service normally lasts around an hour. Please note there will be no children’s work for this service.

Then on Easter Sunday, we gather again, this time to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Joe Macnamara will be speaking at both Downham meetings as he begins a new season of ministry based on the site. Meanwhile, I will be will speaking on our Catford and Lee sites. For those of you at the Catford site, please remember that we have meetings at 9.30am, 11.30am and 1.30pm. There will be no 5.30pm meeting on Easter Sunday.

So come along, invite a friend or family member and let us celebrate Jesus!

P.S. I will be on holiday next week, so no blog – but back as usual the week after. 

When I came to lead King’s Church in September 1995, I joined a small staff team of four: Ron, Martin, Beryl and Annie. Teams evolve over time – Ron retired more than a decade ago, Martin retired in 2014 and Beryl, my PA for five years, moved to work in a school. Annie Twort has held the record for longest serving staff member for some time now! This coming weekend we celebrate and give thanks for Annie’s ministry amongst us as she ends 25 years of service to King’s Church.

I always remember the first time I met Annie. In 1995, Annie was part of the leadership team at King’s and I was a young, 32-year-old pastor, looking for a church to lead. In June of that year, Deb and I came to meet the King’s leaders as a next step in finding out if this was where God was leading us. We arrived with our middle son, Josh, who was then just four months old and couldn’t be left with grandparents. As soon as Annie saw this young couple with a baby in tow, she stepped in and offered to hold Josh, so that we could be free to concentrate on what proved to be a very significant day for us. It was just a small example of Annie’s thoughtfulness and servant heart, a snapshot of the kind of person Annie is.

Annie is one of the most remarkable people I have ever met. In 25 years of working alongside her, I have never seen her lose her cool. She is unfailingly kind, gracious and supportive. She has been a fantastic person to work with, and we have enjoyed seeing the church flourish in recent years. She is prayerful, prophetic and passionate about God’s church. She has had numerous roles on team, but her primary calling has been outreach, leading our Alpha team with great success.

This weekend we are saying thank you for her ministry amongst us. On Saturday evening we are taking Annie and her husband Dickie for a meal at a nice restaurant on the River Thames, along with a small group of friends and close work colleagues. Then on Sunday we will be saying a public thank you on the Catford site and will also show a video interview that Annie and I recorded a couple of weeks ago to the whole church.

Please make every effort to join us this weekend at King's as we say a big thank you for Annie’s ministry amongst us. She will be greatly missed on the team, but we are very glad that she and Dickie plan to stay at King’s for the foreseeable future.