Chippenham FIEC 90

John Stevens preaching

Last Thursday half a dozen of our people crammed into a people carrier. For some strange reason I ended up in the boot. We braved a wet and windy night in order to attend our region's FIEC 90th anniversary meeting, held at Ladyfield Evangelical Church, Chippenham. Considering the weather conditions, a good number turned up for the event. The start time was delayed by fifteen minutes to give time for FIEC head honcho, John Stevens to turn up. Traffic problems, exacerbated by the heavy rain, apparently. 

We were treated to a potted history of the FIEC  by Andy Patterson, and saw a video on the FIEC's vision for Pastoral Support, Mission, Training and Practical Services. News was given of initiatives in our area, including the formation of clusters of churches.

John Stevens preached on Philippians 1:1-18. His focus was on 'gospel partnership', which tied in nicely with the FIEC's aim of enabling churches to work together for the sake of the gospel. 

It was good to get a sense of where the FIEC is heading over the next few years. The emphasis on the FIEC as a movement for the re-evangelisation of the UK was welcome. I listened to a recording of a talk given by Robert Letham the other day on Building Christ's Church. He suggested that while Independents might plant new churches in their locality, only Presbyterians were capable of a strategically planting churches right across the nation. Well, the FIEC is now considering planting churches in areas of the country where there is currently no evangelical witness. Indys can and do collaborate. That is what the 'F' in FIEC stands for. 

After the meeting it was a whirl of networking and snatched conversations before braving the rain for the journey home. Apparently John Stevens is now quite famous after being interviewed on my blog.