We ain’t playing no more!!
There was an article in last week’s Telegraph that shocked me. Actually it shook me to the core. I don’t know how any follower of Jesus could read this and remain unmoved or apathetic. Take a read for yourself:
Life expectancy on British estate is lower than Haiti or Iraq.
This article, coupled with a report by the BBC last year that revealed the Welsh Valleys as the most depressed place in the UK, has left me more passionate than ever to see the gospel preached and churches planted across the Valleys – starting NOW!!
I’m not talking predictable churches in easy areas, I’m talking radical churches in the most difficult, dangerous, dark and depressed estates. I’ve heard that there are churches who are considering planting on the Gurnos in Merthyr. If so – praise God!! I’m with you all the way. However, if by 2012 there’s still a load of talk and no action – then watch what happens. Serious!!! It’s a tragedy that there is no gospel witness at the heart of the Gurnos – so that IS going to change – it HAS to!!
And it’s not just the Gurnos, like the report said:
“I would imagine you would find similar statistics in almost all the estates in the South Wales Valleys”
The Valleys are officially the most deprived place in Western Europe!!
The fields are SO RIPE!!!
Saints, New Breed doesn’t exist to plant sexy, comfy, trendy churches. We are here to scream “NO MORE!!!” into the face of poverty, suicide and the forces of darkness that are trashing the Valleys right now and then do whatever it takes to see the gospel take root in this beautiful, broken region again!! Behind the scenes God is raising up a generation of young believers who are up for saying “Stuff comfort. Stuff the status quo. Wherever it leads. Whatever it costs. Christ is worth it. Let’s go!” It’s refreshing, exciting and inspiring to spend time with such young people!
Trust, I ain’t playing no more, and neither is New Breed. It’s time to take it to the next level!!
Pray with me to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into the fields…
…but ask yourself if you’d be willing to be the answer to your own prayers!!
Gospel Chat in a Turkisk Kebab House!
So after 7 epic days with my good friends from Florida, they are safely back in the USA and I’m getting used to a more ‘normal’ way of life again (not that my life was ever normal!) I’m hoping that one of them (Zac) is going to write a blog entry in the not too distant future to reflect on what (for me at least) was a pretty incredible week!
In the meantime, however, check out this little video that we shot in a Turkish Kebab house in Cardiff on their last night in Wales:
Welcome To Wales Y’all!
This week I’m hanging out with 4 Florida-based Americans who are prayerfully considering relocating to Wales for the purpose of church planting. Who would have known that when Steve Timmis prompted Zac Anderson to start following me on Twitter about 18 months ago it would have led to this? Well it did, and right now Zac, his fantastic wife Natasha, his bouncing baby Boaz (they had to keave their other FOUR kids at home!!) and his good buddy Caleb (who had to leave his fair wife at home) are staying over to spy out the land and discern the will of God. This is just a quick post to say:
CROESO I GYMRU!! // WELCOME TO WALES!!
So far they’ve explored my valley (Torfaen) and are currently in the Welsh captial (Cardiff) getting drenched!! Tomorrow we’re hooking up with Peter Baker at Highfields Church, visiting a food bank scheme and seeing more valleys. Friday is all about lunch with Gareth Lloyd (Sovereign Grace, Merthyr) then heading off to Swansea for a few days with the Pillar crew, before heading back for Sunday with us at Hill City.
I have to confess that I’m completely blown away by these guys! HUGE gospel hearts. Willing to serve, learn, sacrifice and lead – the sort of people that would not only be a blessing to any church they were in, but also the sort of guys I’d just want to be friends with, full stop! They are a real credit to the church they have been faithfully serving back in Florida, Coquina Community Church, and I’m personally grateful for the generous friendship and support offered by their church leaders back home.
They have so much to offer us here in Wales, in our churches, communities and especially strategically through New Breed. They are well versed in Porterbrook/Soma missiology and I’m personally really keen to glean what I can from them! I can’t help but sense the divine purposes of God in all this.
So please pray for them and for this trip. Pray that God would inspire and bless their time here. That He would look after their loved ones back home. And that He would speak clearly to them (and to us) about what the next steps are.
You can follow their Welsh adventure on Twitter: @toWales and follow them personally: @zacnatasha & @RevTrainwreck.
Passion Community Church: The Launch
Sunday 5th December saw the launch of Passion Community Church in Mayhill, Swansea. The launch went really well and was very encouraging.
The core team of the church was fantastic. Everyone stepped up to the plate and got stuck in with setting everything up and packing away, meeting and greeting new people, and gladly getting on with any tasks that emerged as the day went on.
We had done a practice launch the week before to try and show up any problems before the real thing. This was invaluable because it allowed us to fix problems with the sound system, the projector, and the opening up of the community centre (the week before I had to go and pick the caretaker up after he didn’t show up to let us in!). It also gave us opportunity to plan how we were going to set up everything in the centre.
On launch day itself, pretty much all the practical things went without a hitch, apart from a problem with the radio mic we are using causing massive feedback if you have the volume up even a little bit! This was one thing we hadn’t been able to work through the week before. One of the needs we have is for someone who is much more technologically savvy to join the team. All of us can use tech but none of us are skilled beyond the basics.
The whole day was really encouraging, but here’s a few things that stood out: -
The Lord was definitely there. This was obvious when right before I got up to preach, a friend who was visiting to support us as we launched shared from Isaiah 54:1-3, which calls for barren women who have not had kids to sing. I was preaching from Luke 1:5-25, about God promising Zechariah and Elizabeth a baby, when they were no spring chickens and were barren! This was amazing and massively encouraging as I had been struggling with various attacks from the enemy against my preaching. Satan had been saying things like, “No one wants to here about this. You should really preach something else.” As a result I was struggling. What my friend shared really strengthened me to boldly proclaim what God had given me to proclaim. What was particularly wonderful was that one of my major points in my message was from verse 25 where Elizabeth says that the Lord “has taken away her reproach” through her baby. I spoke about how God takes away our reproach, shame and disgrace in Jesus. When I was done, my friend went on to share more from Isaiah 54, especially verse 4, which talks about shame, disgrace, and reproach! God was sovereignly orchestrating and directing the meeting. He was there, and speaking very clearly about these themes.
I can only assume that people who were present really needed to here about these things.
Two people showed up who had never come into a community of believers before. They are a couple that we’ve had some contact with in the past couple of months. We’ve been able to help them out in practical ways – meeting their needs and showing them the love of Jesus. We’ve also been able to share the gospel with them and pray with them. They came for the launch, which is amazing! I was particularly encouraged that they understood what I was saying as I was preaching. They also enjoyed what went on, felt welcomed and accepted, joined in serving at the end by helping pack everything away, and said they were really looking forward to coming again next week. The Lord is really at work in their lives, so please pray for Mark and Sharon.
A final encouragement is that there is now a gospel community in Mayhill (a particularly socially deprived and depraved area of Swansea). We are now there, shining as a light in the darkness, and bringing the presence of God into enemy territory. It is amazing!
I don’t know what the future holds for Passion Community Church. I don’t know how fast we’ll grow or when people will be saved. I know there’ll be tough times ahead and there’ll also be tremendous blessings. However, I’m sure that God has called us to this task and that He’s with us in what we’re doing. I believe we can join with Jesus as He says in John 8:29, “And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” Knowing the reality of that is truly awesome.
Acts 29 in Wales
I spent Tuesday – Thursday this week at Bawtry Hall in Doncaster at an invite-only gathering of men who are engaged in planting churches in various cultures and contexts across western Europe. It was the first such gathering organised by the Western Europe wing of Acts 29, headed up by none other than Steve Timmis. I was the only Welsh bloke there and suffice to say, it was a huge honour and privilege to be included. I’ll be writing up the specifics of the conference over on the Sanctified Rant, but after a phenomenal few days and a productive chat with Steve Timmis over breakfast, there is some really exciting news to broadcast regarding the NewBreed / Acts 29 partnership and this blog is the right place to announce that!
New Breed is now officially operating as the sole church planting arm of Acts 29 in Wales!
What that means in essence is that should anyone wish to plant a church with Acts 29 in Wales, they will be put in touch with New Breed to oversee the process. Over 90% of Acts 29 plants succeed, largely because of the rigorous assessment process that candidates have to go through. New Breed will be putting all potential planters through this process. Furthermore, Dai Hankey is now literally a few days away from being a fully qualified Acts 29 church planting coach and as such, will be able to offer coaching assistance to all those who would like to plant with Acts 29. On top of all that, all those who plant with us will be able to make use of the myriad of tools that are available through Acts 29, not least The City – an online resource that plugs church planters into a supportive, network of like-mided brothers in the trenches from across Western Europe.
Buzzin!
We are SO honoured, humbled and excited by this development.
If your heart is for church planting here in Wales, you need to know that New Breed just stepped up to the plate and got a whole lot more serious – so please get in touch with us!
#TNML – Best New Breed event to date?
So Taking No Man’s Land has been and gone. Without doubt it was the most significant, most impacting and most exciting event that New Breed has put on to date. Steve Timmis was in scintillating form as he unpacked the call to build gospel community and the challenge of breaking new ground, as well as taking a bit of Q&A. The seminar sessions for both the ladies and the men also seemed to be very well received. Furthermore, we spent time worshipping together and also gathering around a map of Wales and praying for all those involved in and passionate about the adventure of church planting (the highlight of the day for many!) On top of all this there was plenty of time to drink coffee, eat cake, meet new friends and indulge in copious amounts of church plant chatter!
All-in-all an absolutely buzzin’ day that gave great glory to God and brought joy and encouragement to those who came! The good news is that the whole event was recorded, so watch out for both audio and video footage of TNML that will be posted up here really soon! Our good friend Sammy Davies also recorded a sneaky little 30min interview with Mr Timmis at lunch time, so we’ll also be posting that up asap!
In the meantime, however, we’d love to hear your feedback from the day. Please let us know what you made of it – what rocked? What sucked? What could we do better next time? Would you like us to do another one? Is there anything that you’d like New Breed to put in place to build on TNML? Please do post your comments below – we really do want to hear from you.
Thanks again to all who attended, and especially to all who served and made the day possible. Above all, thank you to God for the New Breed vision and for the joy of seeing the gospel take root in people’s lives, to the point where they’d be compelled to go over the top and take no man’s land for Christ!
Taking No Man’s Land – Schedule
Thought we’d post up the schedule for this Saturday’s TNML conference in order to give you a better idea of what the day’s going to look like. As you can see the conference is going to be a buzzin’ blend of worship, fellowship, preaching, prayer, practical advice…and coffee!!
So if you haven’t already, make sure you sign up for a conference that might just change the course of your life and propel you on a church planting adventure (for the glory of Jesus!)
TAKING NO MAN’S LAND
Saturday 20th November 2010
@ Highfields Church, Cardiff
09:30 Coffee
10:00 Introduction (Peyton Jones)
10:15 Worship
10:30 Session 1 (Steve Timmis)
11:15 Coffee
11:30 Seminars (Dai Hankey/Andrea Jones)
12:30 Lunch
14:00 Worship
14:15 Plants/Maps/Dreams/Prayers
15:00 Session 2 (Steve Timmis)
15:45 Coffee
16:00 Q&A
16:45 Worship
17:00 Close
Jump School – Change Of Date
Hi guys just a super-quick post to inform you that the date for the first New Breed Jump School has been pushed back a week. It’s now scheduled to be held on Friday 18th-Saturday 19th September at the original venue – the Long Barn in Ceredigion.
It promises to be an awesome weekend of networking, worshipping, equipping and joy – so make sure it’s in your diary. We’ll be posting more details about the exact make-up of the weekend really soon. In the meantime feel free to get in touch with us if you’d like to know more, or to confirm your intention to attend.
Peace
JUMP SCHOOL
Okay, so they don’t just let you jump out of an airplane with a backpack on.
You gotta know how to use the flippin parachute! Plus, you need your mates.
New Breed is officially launching it’s first Jump School on September 11th -12th in the Long Barn, Ceredigion. Free up your schedules, and look out for the application forms in your email-box within the next week or so. Here it is again…
Date: September 11th-12th 2009
Where: The Long Barn – Ceredigion, Wales
Cost: 25 Pounds (coz we know you’re all broke church-planters)
Keep an eye on the two other dates for the year: January 15-16th , April 23rd – 24th 2010.
You’ve Been Tagged
This week Dai and I kicked it New Breed style at the Acts 29 Western Europe Church Planting conference. Our heads were buzzing with ideas about church planting (and the invention of the “Coffee man” who brings lattes to your front door every morning). Perhaps that last bit was just me when my mind wandered after my brain got full.
The guys from Acts 29 laid out a theoretical framework for church-planting over the course of 4 days, and discussed a wide range of related topics. For those of you who went along from New Breed, we hope it laid a foundation in your thinking that will be built upon in the September session of Jump School. Jump School will have more of a practical emphasis and will kick off with a solid BIBLICAL basis for church planting with examples from the early church. From there, it will follow onto our other two foundations of church planting: being MISSIONAL and RADICAL.
For those of you who were there, who showed potential for church-planting, we know who you are now…you’ve been tagged. We’re keeping an eye on you as we finalize details for Jump School in September. Look forward to hearing from us soon.
- Peyton
New Breed and Network
Awesome news!
Following lengthy conversations and a great deal of prayer, New Breed can now confirm that we will be joining forces with Highfields Church and heading-up the church-planting and evangelism stream on their new Network Plus course, starting in September.
Network is a theological training course that has been running out of Highfields on Tuesday mornings for around 5 years now, with many having attended and been deeply impacted (including myself!)
Network Plus is a new second year option that will run on Tuesday afternoons, offering 3 further streams on Church Planting & Evangelism, Leadership, and Bible handling. Both courses will run for 30 weeks, comprising 3 terms of 10 weeks each. We will be doing around 2/3 of the teaching in our stream, with Network staff and a few other guest speakers set to teach the rest.
As you might imagine, we’re MASSIVELY excited about this, though hugely humbled too! Please pray that we will play our part in delivering a stimulating and strategic course that will both honour the Lord and inspire the saints.
If you’re interested in attending Network, please let us know and we’ll get in touch.
God bless you.
Coffeerence Audio
As promised, here’s the audio from the New Breed Cofference. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to post your comments and questions…
Session 1 – The Journey So Far (Peyton Jones)
Session 2 – New Breed Mission Statement (Dai Hankey)
Session 3 – Two Punks and a Logo (Peyton Jones)
One Little Stone
One little stone. I’ve got loads of em in my back-yard, but now I’ve got one on my desk. This one is exactly the same as all of those, but since last Saturday, it means something different to me now…
Last Saturday at the Coffeerence, Dai gave a simple stone to every church-planter (a.k.a. “jumper”) who came. Like the stone on my desk, the missions that these jumpers will undertake will be hard, unnappealing, and sometimes overlooked just as David’s mighty men in their early days were once described as “distressed, in debt, or discontented” (1 Samuel 22:2). In the same way this motley crue of rag-tag jumpers assembled with a sense that God was strategically gathering a new breed of church-planters. The simple stones handed to each one were a visible reminder to those who might fall victim to the delusion that church-planting is a path to glory.
But it’s amazing what God can do with a simple stone…
Even giants crumple to the ground when God’s aiming it’s trajectory…and I hear that there are giants in the land.
Great to have you guys on board for such a time as this.
Coffeerence Programme
Had a cracking day of prayer yesterday! We sat in the sunshine of Cardiff Bay seeking God, until the drizzle moved in. Then we cheekily popped into the nearby 5-star St.David’s Hotel and spent the rest of the day in the lounge with our Bibles (and lap-top) open, and spent the rest of our time shaping the New Breed Mission Statement and setting the programme for tomorrow’s Cofference. So if you’re coming to the Coffeerence, this is what the day’s (roughly) going to look like:
New Breed Coffeerence Programme - 18th April 2009
Venue: WEST, Chapel (10am-1pm )
- 10:00 – Welcome & Coffee
- 10:30 – Sung Worship
- 10:45 – New Breed – The Journey So Far
- 11:00 – Unpacking New Breed Mission Statement
- 11:15 – Meeting the Delegates
- 11:30 – Coffee
- 11:45 – Unveiling the New Breed Jump School and Training Course
- 12:00 – Explaining the New Breed Network
- 12:15 – Q&A/Prayer/Coffee
- 13:00 – Close
Obviously this is only a rough guide to the day. The whole point of the Coffeerence is to not only introduce the New Breed vision, but also to meet those with a passion for church-planting in Wales and to hear their hearts.
Can’t wait to meet you – we’re buzzing about this…
A Day To Pray
Tomorrow (Thursday 15th April) me and Peyton are hooking up in Cardiff to spend the day with our phones off and our Bibles open as we seek God for His divine wisdom and leading for New Breed. Focussed prayer and fasting is always a challenge, but also so often the key to connecting with God in a deeper way and discerning His perfect will. And that’s exactly what we need right now! The New Breed vision is rolling at a rate of knots and we are passionately trying to keep up with all that God is doing, the doors He is opening and the opportunities we are being presented with to be involved in Welsh church planting strategies.
Are we out of our depth?
Yes!
Absolutely, but we’re having a blast learning how to swim! We just need to make sure that we’re swimming in the right direction, which is what tomorrow is all about. Would you please pray with us? We just want to be in step with God. Wales is gagging for authentic, credible, grace-filled, truth-proclaiming gospel communities and we want to play our part.
Hopefully we’ll see you at the Coffeerence on Saturday when we’ll tell you more!
God bless you.
Coffeerence Update
OK here’s the up-to-date details for the New Breed Coffeerence:
- Date: 18th April 2009
- Location: Wales School of Evangelical Theology (WEST), Bridgend.
- Venue: Chapel
- Time: 10am-1pm
- Admission: FREE
- Format: Peyton is bringing his personal coffee-maker, so as a former Starbucks employee we should be blessed by some quality caffeine. Then cup-in-hand we will simply share the New Breed vision and listen to the hearts of those who choose to come, exploring ways in which we can serve and/or partner with them to see Biblical, Missional, Radical churches planted in Wales. We will also worship together and pray for Wales.
Frankly, we’re buzzing about all this and are praying that this day will be both inspirational and strategic for all who come.
Hopefully see you there.
New Breed Coffeerence
Just a quick heads-up about the New Breed Coffeerence that we are holding at WEST on Saturday 18th April. All the information’s on the flyer below.
Keep checking back for more info…
Introducing New Breed
New Breed is a fresh church planting movement for those who are willing to give everything and stop at nothing to see the gospel of Jesus take root in the nation of Wales once more. Compelled by a passion for God’s glory and compassion for the lost, New Breed churches are not afraid to take risks and break out of the established mould as we pursue a vision to plant cutting-edge churches in Wales that are Biblical, Missional, and Radical.
• Biblical – Faithful to Scripture.
• Missional – Fulfilling the Great Commission.
• Radical – Engaging culture without fear or compromise.
(These concepts will be unpacked over coming days on this blog.)
The need is great! Less than two percent of the population in Wales attends Church. With this in mind, New Breed seeks to strategically plant churches, to assist in the training of individuals who feel called to church planting, and to provide a supportive network for those who have already planted churches. We are currently exploring some very exciting gospel partnerships through which we can strategically launch a training course for those who feel called to plant churches but don’t know where to begin. The Church Planter’s Course will start the ball rolling for many who will be planting the churches of tomorrow. It is our heart to see these people envisioned and effectively equipped to plant biblical, missional, radical churches in Wales.
The vision for New Breed was given to Peyton Jones in 2005, and has since been shared, shaped and refined over countless cups of coffee with Dai Hankey. While the vision continues to unfold and evolve as we try to keep up with what God is doing, the core commitment to planting biblical, missional and radical churches in Wales remains constant.
There are currently 2 New Breed Churches:
Our passion is for there to be many more! If your heart is to be involved in church planting in Wales, we’d love to hear from you.
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