Michael Toogood

For many years I was quite closely involved in the work of the London Inreach Project and the planting of the churc in Soho. I have long thought that the first planter in the team, Michael Toogood, should write up his own story as it would be an encouragement, a model and a discussion point as well as a testimony to God's goodness. Well, it has recently happened and I have already had chance to read my copy (a freebie) and I am keen to commend it to all and sundry. Anyone seriously considering urban ministry ought to at least sit and read it.

The book doesn't pull any punches and is a frank description and assesment of the eighties and nineties when Michael and his wife pam were involved in the work. Michael has very definite ideas about church planting and many other matters and even where one would beg to differ you have to admire his thoroughly thought through and tenacious, not to say tender yet firm, approach. At points an iron fist in a velvet glove came to mind.

One thing that struck me was that a lot of what Michael considers to be ministry I would tend to think of as things interrupting the real ministry. He may well be right and I am wrong.

One minor point. I'm not sure how the decision was made to publish the book as it has been but several proofing errors and spelling mistakes inevitably detract. I fear that distribution will be poor too. Do make the effort though. 

A busy week passed by

The week before last was such a busy week I haven't quite recovered yet. I did want to report back, however, so better late than never I hope. There were four main things that took up my time.

1. The John Owen Centre 2012 Conference on Adam in the Bible the Church and the World. Monday 10, Tuesday 11. This was a very good conference featuring six speakers over seven sessions, of which I caught five. It was very orderly so we began with vice principal David Green on Adam in the Old Testament and ended with Michael McClenahan (a new name to me) on Preaching Adam to Adam's Race which looked at Psalm 1 and the parable of the sower. I only caught the first of Lane Tipton's messages on Adam in the New Testament, I'm afraid. Garry Williams on Adam in the covenant of works was the stand out paper perhaps though the whole thing is worth getting to hear. See here.

2. The September 2012 Kent Evangelical Ministers Meeting. Monday 10. On the Monday evening I was not able to be at LTS because I was speaking at Waterford House, Strood. The pattern there is to begin with a meeting for pastors and elders at 5 pm and a more open meeting later at 7.30 pm. I spoke first on the session of Christ and then on the men of 1662, which seemed to be appreciated and lots of people snapped up copies of my new book, which was gratifying. See here.

3. GBM's Engage get together in Guildford. Thursday 13. Grace Baptist Mission have organised a series of three get togethers for supporting churches to discuss future strategy. Some 40 gathered at this second session in Chertsey Street, Guildford, and it seemed very worthwhile given that GBM endeavours to be a church based society. The real test will be what happens I guess. See here.

4. The LIP Annual Meetings for 2012. Saturday 14. The fourth thing was a series of meetings down at Orange Street, Trafalgar Square. We began with a trustees committee. Then in public, we had first a report on the work and then a preaching meeting which I chaired with former worker Ben Thomas from Criccieth speaking on 2 Kings 6. The project is due to end next August. More here.

LIP Annual meetings

It was great to be at the LIP (London Inreach Project) meetings in Orange Street near Trafalgar Square last Saturday. I was there for a meeting of the trustees first over the lunch hour. Otherwise we had a news session from 1.30 pm mainly with Andrew Murray and Roger Carter (above) but also featuring Mick Lockwood of Haworth who said how encouraging the project was despite the uphill slog it has been. Mick was once approached about working with the project and although nothing came of it it eventually propelled him into his current church planting role in Haworth. Mick later preached and I chaired.

Later, after a lovely tea downstairs, I was in the chair as we met again and took opportunity to thank Derek Sewell (and family) for all his work and heard more from Roger and from Peter Jermyn our treasurer. Mick preached very encouragingly from Acts 17 especially verses 26 and 27. We were not heaving numbers wise but it was good to be there and a great encouragement. Back here we had a sort of barbecue at the house for church people. Nice time again though a little wet.

Good Week

It's not over yet, of course, but it's been a good week. I started off at the Evangelical Library in Bounds Green where I was just making sure all was well for the final day of the Librarian's holiday. Then after getting some post done in Temple Fortune it was on to the John Owen Centre in Finchley, where the American assessors from ATS were in checking on the standards for the Westminster MTh. They wanted to speak to an "alumnus" which I am. Not one to say no to one of Giovanni's lunches I stayed on for that and had the unexpected pleasure of sharing it with Robert Strivens and Carl Trueman (in town to lecture on Luther for the MTh) plus Nigel Redford and Becky Lippert (just realised how similar that is to a name that appears below) from Westminster. After that it was down to Soho for the LIP committee which went off okay.

Tuesday, of course, was the football and Wednesday was dominated by our midweek meeting looking at Jeremiah 22. Thursday a new couple moved into the church flat and in the evening we had a meeting about our children's work. I also did some visiting in the afternoon. Friday I completed a book review for ET of this book and sneaked a look at part of the opening game of the world cup and in the evening we started back on our meetings for children and young people, which went okay though we were quite depleted seniors wise as our own young people have decamped to Bradford on Avon for 24 hours. I spoke on baby Moses using the Go Teach stuff. Also saw Outnumbered in the evening. Brilliantly observed as ever.

This morning has been dominated by the rugby. One is reminded once again of what a good game rugby is and the skill level these days even from the likes of Japan and Romania is very high. No upsets so far but Argentina almost did it only losing to England by one point. I must confess that seeing Johnny Wilkinson missing so many penalties and England being told off by the referee did give some pleasure.

Anyway, just had a nice chat to Rhodri fresh back from UCCF Forum with Mike Reeves and Becky Pippert. The rock music was rather loud he felt but there were lots of good things. He's always very positive. The younger boys will be back soon from walking the dogs with one of our church members and we'll have our traditional mixed grill or fry up (or full English) before I head out to photocopy tomorrow's notices and the (rather late) September newsletter.

Church Planting

It's been pretty busy, as ever. Last week I was chairing a new committee to oversee the church planting work in Cranford, West London, led by Robin Asgher. Until recently the FIEC has dealt with paying Robin and similar details but that has to change and soon the work will be under a new trust. Meanwhile the opportunities abound for work among Asians in that part of London.

At the end of last week I was chairing a public meeting in connection with the London Inreach Project, led by Andrew Murray and Derek Sewell in Soho and Covent Garden. I had to be at the trustees committee first and was then present at the early afternoon meeting where Andrew spoke along with Barry King, our evening preacher. Barry, always a compelling speaker, spoke about the Grace Baptist Partnership in the first afternoon meeting and then preached on small things from Proverbs 30 in the later meeting. Around 50 must have gathered through the day. Church planting is far from easy work but it is inching along and in some cases doing something more than that.

The LIP meeting was in Orange Street behind Trafalgar Square. I was also at a meeting yesterday in connection with the outreach in Trafalgar Square. I am trying to stand back from this a little at present due to too many other commitments, there is to be preaching in the square on October 2, however, so do come along if you can.

June over so soon

June sort of slipped by rather quickly and I missed some things that I wanted to mention.

At the end of May I was preaching in Tollington Park Baptist, currently without a pastor and a little on the small side but with a lovely new building and eager to lap up the word. An added bonus was having lunch and tea with a fellow Cwmbraner and her husband. She grew up in the same fellowship as me.

On June 1 I was up in Stapleford helping lay plans for the next Westminster Conference. Papers due (as already flagged up) are on Rewriting the Reformation, Puritan attitudes to Rome, the AV of 1611, Preaching repentance, Edinburgh Missionary Conference of 1910 and Andrew Bonar. That was half term week and most of the family were in Wales so I was more or less on my own, though Dylan was at home - a good excuse to send out for pizza. There were also committee meetings in connection with the Grace Assembly (next one May 24-26 2011, Swanwick, speakers include Stuart Olyott) and LIP (sorry to miss their recent baptism). I also spoke on parenting up at the Welwyn ladies coffee morning. The other things (such as the Evangelical Library Lecture, John Owen Centre TSG, LTS end of term and my trip to Bristol) I've mentioned. There has also been the regular preaching on Mark and Romans plus Titus midweek in Childs Hill as well as work with the elderly and children. The clubs are now over for the summer.

LIP Meetings

It's such a busy week! Saturday seems a life time ago now but I was at the meeting of the trustees of the London Inreach Project on that day, however, and then at the information meeting and the preaching meetings that followed.

I chaired the preaching meeting. My good friend Paul Pease of Hook Evangelical Church preached a fine pithy sermon from 2 Corinthians 4:5 on not preaching ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as his servants for the sake of God's people.

It was good to see so many supporters and to hear from Andrew Murray and Derek Sewell and Roger Carter. The work continues to be very slow and difficult but there are encouragements and opportunities galore.

TWTWTW

I must admit I'm half glad that the snow has come as I'm incredibly busy at present. It started last Monday with an evening committee meeting for the London Inreach Project in Covent Garden. Prior to that the day was fairly easy. Managed to go for a run round the park.

On Tuesday I was out all afternoon continuing to pursue the matter of where the Evangelical Library should move to. As reported, I spent Tuesday evening at Grove Chapel listening to jazz.

Wednesday was dominated by my regular visits to take services at Spring Court and Heath Grove Lodge (on Philippians 1 and Jonah 4). In between that I popped into central London to meet up with my good friend Chris Buckingham. In the evening it was our regular midweek meeting (looking at Deuteronomy 18).

In the midst of all this I found myself sheltering from the rain with my i-pod on. A live version of Sylvia (my all time favourite) came on and although I've listened to that song thousands of times it struck me once again how good it is. As I looked up there was the word Sylvia across the road in front to me (good job I'm not religious, eh?).

By Thursday I had so much to do I had to get up an hour earlier. I fitted most of it in, including writing a tract, preparing various other things and an afternoon Greek session at LTS on participles and the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount. In the evening we had our bi-monthly church members meeting. It's always a good time but I wish we could have more present.

On Friday I was in Welwyn at the EMF lecturing on JWs and Mormons. I had some business at a bank near Goodge Street en route home plus a visit to Finchley to read from Lloyd-Jones' masterful Preachers and preaching with Richard Raven a student at LTS who is one of our mentoring students. (He preached for us yesterday and quite acceptably too). We celebrated Dylan's birthday in the evening with fahitas and krispy kreme doughnuts. Also that evening, of course, it was the clubs for children and young people where I spoke about this current ad on the buses suggesting there is no God and we had a quiz.

Saturday morning we were giving out tracts in Golders Green in the bitterly cold wind - not the best weather for it. In the afternoon most of the family went to Aldenham Country Park and had a nice time there despite the cold.

Sunday morning I preached in the Welsh church, as reported. The three older boys were in Childs Hill to hear Richard. We went for a walk in Kenwood in the afternoon. I took communion in the evening adn then Richard preached on Psalm 145.

London Inreach

It was good to be at the London Inreach Project meetings last Saturday. The initial meeting was held at the LCM's Cafe Eterno where the church regularly meets. I was not able to be at that as I was obliged to attend the meeting of the trustees of the Project who gather annually. I am not a trustee but attend with our treasurer Peter Jermyn as chairman of the management committee. I managed to get a cuppa at Cafe Eterno before heading then for the Chinese Church in Shaftesbury Avenue where I chaired our preaching meeting.

It was good to see about fifty or so present. Derek Sewell gave a balanced report on the work, which is still hard going but not without its challenges and encouragements. Andrew Murray then spoke for a while and introduced our new worker Roger Carter to us, the successor to Ben Thomas. Peter Jermyn had a word finally and then our preacher, Ray Evans of Bedford (fresh from a paintball fight that morning - don't ask) turned our attention very helpfully to Dr Luke's case notes on Simon the Pharisee and the woman who kissed Jesus's feet.

Most people then drifted off but some took opportunity to head across Shaftesbury Avenue once again to the Fair Trade shop that the church continue to run (at the local council's behest) in Berwick Street, Soho. (This is where I had started my afternoon with the committee in the basement).

This is wonderful work. Not easy at all but vital. Do find out more. Start here.

Evangelist sought

WANTED!
Are you: ► enthusiastic about evangelism?
► gifted for work with young people?
► keen to be involved in local church life?

The London Inreach Project, a Reformed Baptist church planting work, hopes to appoint someone to join their team in Covent Garden and Soho for 2 years from August 2008. This would be an excellent opportunity to gain experience of gospel work in a challenging environment.
To discuss the possibilities, please contact: Gary Brady (LIP Chairman)

Like a river

"People say I'm like a river - cos I'm never standing still". That's a line from an old ATF hit. No-one's ever said I'm like a river but I do feel like one sometimes. Life is so busy at times. Today (Thursday) hasn't been so bad but yesterday I had three meetings - two in old people's homes that I take fortnightly plus our regular midweek meeting in the church, where we looked at the first commandment from Deuteronomy 5. Work with old people is not easy especially the second lot where there is little sign of comprehension. There are some encouragements though. The other week a lady from Monserrat prayed beautifully when asked. Then this week a Jewish man asked why it is called Good Friday and I directed him to Isaiah 53 which he seemed not to know. In between the two meetings I was reading the Raymond Franz book I have mentioned. I saw two JWs on the corner so I showed them what I was reading - although they didn't want to know. Just then a Jewish lady turned up. She's always giving me things. She had a load of kosher soap in her car, which she said could be used in the church. I didn't even know soap could be kosher!

The day before (Tuesday) had been quite busy too. I'd forgotten that I'd arranged to meet the LIP church planters down in Covent Garden. I remembered in time to get there late. We have a regular pastoral meeting where we can discuss things. Then in the evening we had a rather poorly attended Christianity Explored meeting and a better attended planning meeting for the Holiday Bible Club we hope to have in April.

The day before (Monday) I was down at the Evangelical Library to hear Professor Helm's talk on Packer's "Fundamentalism" and the Word of God. I discovered that I do have a copy but unread. It first came out in 1958 and I guess I was advised to get a copy (mine was printed in the USA in 1977) by someone in the previous generation. It is a stout defence of Reformed theology which was very much under attack at the time in connection with the Billy Graham meetings. Professor Helm felt that Packer probably hadn't shifted in his theology but certainly has in his tactics and approach. We had a decent number there. It's me next month on Baxter's Call to the unconverted. Anyway must dash, I'm taking a church member to hospital now. He's in for a day or two.

Busy weekend

It's been a busy weekend. Eleri went away (a very rare thing) with friends Friday and Saturday on the Eurostar to Cologne and so I was left in charge. First duty was lunch boxes and taking the two youngest to school. In the afternoon I was in Covent Garden for a Grace Publications Committee. Someone else kindly picked them up. I took a few minutes to look round a second hand bookshop in Charing Cross Road. Anne Fadiman had me thinking about them with one of her essays. Back home I prepared an haute cuisine tea - pizza! - before heading off to our children's meetings.

Saturday the two youngest were at a party in Gulliver's Kingdom, Milton Keynes, all day, so duties were minimal. They were home in time for Robin Hood after a really good day. In the evening Rhodri had organised a quiz night for 15 and overs. That was a fun time. I spoke on the ultimate questions, using John Blanchard's book as a basis. Eleri was back pretty late and had really enjoyed the time. On Sunday I preached from Mark 10:13 and 14 (am) and Matthew 4:10 (pm). It was the Korean pastor's last Sunday so we marked that briefly. He's off to Pusan. We're always saying goodbye here.

Monday I thought I was dying from a cold but I wasn't. We had a committee meeting for the London Inreach Project down at the London City Mission HQ in Tower Bridge Road. I got there early and had a wander and a cafe at a very nice Caffe Nero they have there. I'm rarely in that part of town.

Last Weekend 03

After the trustees meeting under the chairmanship of Geoff Gobbett, it was time for tea. Always a lovely spread.

Several of the rest of the family joined me at this point. My two eldest sons were at the house of one of the deacons for an evangelistic event for older young people. I think about 30 came altogether, which is really great.

Back in Covent Garden between 40 and 50 gathered for the meeting to follow which I lead. Veteran evangelist John Blanchard preached on Romans 1:16. In passing he mentioned that it was my father-in-law Geoff Thomas who suggested to him leaving off the word 'the' in his Ultimate Questions. Their little joke is that it's Geoff's advice that has made it the huge seller it has been. Less is more, eh? (More on John Blanchard here).

Eleri enjoys being in Central London as it's a rare treat. We walked to Piccadilly Circus and caught the Number 13 home.

Last Weekend 02

After the Evangelical Library it was on to Covent Garden for the afternoon LIP meetings. It was good to see around 40 there.

I was not able to stay for the question adn answer session with John Blanchard but it was good to hear the reports on the Covent Garden adn Soho work from Derek Sewell and Ben Thomas.

I had to dash off then to an LIP trustees meeting over in the Swiss Church.

In the right hadn column of this blog you can see a button for John Blanchard's book Ultimate Questions.

Grace Assembly 07 Pt 1

It was my privilege to be at the Grace Assembly in High Leigh near Hoddesdon in Hertfrodshire last week. I must confess that I was not over looking forward to it as I've been away quite a bit recently and the numbers attending were lower than expected and it was my duty to lead a business session half way through, a session that has been criticised in the past some (understandably) disliking my muddle through style of approach.
Anyway my father-in-law, Geoff Thomas kicked us off with an appropriate and gentle introductory sermon drawn from Romans 16. After a break in the sunshine and a chance to chat, this was followed by a reports session. This is always a good feature in the programme. Martin Leech spoke about London and Palma, Mallorca, where there has been something of a spurt due chiefly to people coming in from elsewhere. Andrew Murray spoke about the work in Soho and Covent Garden, including the recent baptism. To know of someone slogging away faithfully in a difficult situation can be a real tonic. Different again was the report from Keith Johns at Caterham where over the 24 years, with baptisms practically every year, they have seen steady but sure growth. I've been at Childs Hill about the same length of time and we have seen less growth (barely a baptism a year and lots of barren patches) so I was particularly impressed by Keith's eagerness to give the glory to God and stress that they had done nothing out of the ordinary. Encouraging.
In the evening session Conrad Mbewe from Lusaka, Zambia spoke from Matthew 5 on switching on the light. This was straight preaching of the old fashioned sort and good to hear. There was a late evening session with Mike Judge from Christian Institute but I confess that I headed to bed before that feeling rather tired. At least it meant I was able to be up for the prayer meeting the next morning.
The Thursday morning was divided between Nigel Lacey now in East London speaking (as a Baptist) on the importance of baptism and Robert Oliver, Bradford on Avon, on the importance of being a confessional church and yet uniting with others. it was clear from discussion that these topics were appreciated. There are few fora where such matters can be freely discussed.
By now I was feeling a lot less discouraged and looking forward (almost) to the rest of the time.
More to follow.

Happy Birthday ICC, Soho

I got this cheering paragraph today from Andrew Murray

Today is a red letter day. 20 years ago today Immanuel Community Church, Soho, was formed! There were four original members, and three people ... waiting to be baptised and join the church (the baptisms took place a couple of weeks later) ... while we might be disappointed at how little progress seems to have been made in the past 20 years, perhaps we should rather be thankful to God for what he has done in sustaining the little church, now in fellowship with CGEC (Covent Garden Evangelical), and looking forward to what the future holds. Yesterday, the Soho members and Derek met with ... (someone who wants to be baptised and join the church) ... it was lovely to hear her tell the story of what God has done in her life.

The picture shows the church's Fair Trade shop in Soho.