Last night I spoke to around 400 people at the 6.30pm evening service at Jesmond Parish Church, Newcastle, which is led by my dad’s cousin, Rev. David Holloway. The morning services are bigger, with JPC probably being the largest church north of Sheffield in the UK.
I spoke on “Searching for approval and significance” which is an evangelistic talk from John 4 that I’ve used regularly on university campuses. Last night’s talk was to promote the Christian Union events week, which starts a week from now, on Monday 3rd March. I’ll be speaking twice each lunchtime in the Newcastle University Student Union and once in the evening every day.
It was tremendous to catch up with David & Joy (pictured on their wedding day in 1967) after the service and to stay the night at the vicarage where they have lived since 1972.
David & Joy are pioneers who arrived at a church of around 100 people, and have stayed for more than 40 years. And theirs is a remarkable story of church growth. In the 1970s and early 80s David did something that was highly unusual at the time. He travelled to the USA and studied church growth. He asked a question that few Christians here were asking at the time . . . “why not build a huge church in Britain? Why not in Newcastle? Why should churches of a large size only be in other parts of the world?”
Of course that is only part of the story. David has stuck to the Bible and preached and lived it and refused to budge, despite numerous pressures, which those of us outside the Church of England can hardly imagine. David’s stance has regularly brought him into conflict with others who oppose biblical teaching both inside and outside the Established Church. Last night he told me how he once had to go to Middlesbrough and become a barrister for the day to defend his rights in Canon Law before a judge in court!
A few years ago, JPC planted Holy Trinity, Gateshead. And JPC is now considering a multi-site model having acquired a new church site called St Joseph’s a former Roman Catholic Church.
David has been a regular commentator through the media on the changing fate of our nation. When we finishe our long discussion last night, he rose to pray for the nation. I found it quite moving, to stand in the kitchen with this couple who have fought so long and so hard and built such a big church. They are really taking responsibility and ownership in their hearts for where Britain is going.. Of course we all have our personal challenges and pains, but what I can so easily lose sight of, is that right now the spiritual destiny of our country is at stake. The future of Britain does lie in the balance. The forces of secularism are on the rise, and are increasingly confident. But as Bill Hybels says, the local church is the hope of the world. And here in this corner of Newcastle, hundreds of lives have been transformed by hearing the whole counsel of God declared in an un-embarrassed way from the Bible. We will never improve on Scripture.