News from St Mary's conference

Bex and I are having a great time here. We are staying at a conference centre in Derbyshire which is in the north of England near where I used to live. And so we have been visiting some of my old stomping grounds as an eleven year old - they are wild and crazy places like rivers and fields!
It is great to catch up with old friends and also to meet new ones (cheesey I know). There are some amazing people here: two gorgeous guys from Uganda who are into church planting and prison ministry, a Latin American couple who have set up a church in central London, the leaders of Core Church in Dublin where Rob the Irish man came from, Antley and Laura the leaders of the Jacksonville plant that Chris, James and Janie went on to help set up, another couple who are about to set up a church in Charlotte. I chatted to another guy who prays for 6 hours a day every morning has planted 22,000 churches in India, feeds 10,000 orphans a day, has won an Emmy award for film directing and runs several businesses through which he funds all of the rest! And so all in all things have been very stimulating. Everyone has been asking about St Pauls and they are really excited about what God is doing with us all which is really exciting. Lat night Bex and I formally fed back to the conference what is going on with us all in Auckland. Chris and Janie send their love. James could not make the conference but Janie and James are out in NZ in September which will be fun. I hope life is good with you all. We are really missing you and cant wait to hook up when we get back. Keep it real.

Still enjoying the sunshine

Bex , Jack and I continue to cath the rays although we have now left London (which has been a bit sweaty) and are currently in Bath with Bex's mum for the night. We head to the St Mary's conference tomorrow which we are both looking forward to. We have had a fun week catching up with family and reintroducing Jack once again to his endless male cousins one of whom has taken to punching him hard on the head whenever he sees him (I am having to stop myself from taking him out although he is only two and a half and so I feel I have an unfair advantage!) Will let you know how the conference goes...Have a great week...Great news on the U2 dates!

Heatwave in London

Well, life this end is good in the heat in London although I am missing you all.
I could not sleep on the plane and so watched films non stop for 35 hours which was a new experience. I don't recommend it because when Bex asked what I had watched I could not remember any of them and so it cant be good for your brain (Firewall, Sione's Wedding, 16 blocks, and my mind is blank...Oh I did play a mindless Atari game for about four hours (a bit like space invaders) and computer chess which was more exciting than it sounds...Oh and a mini golf game which was terrible but strangely addictive (I feel as though my golf improved although I suspect that does not follow).
Life in London is good. It is great to be united with Bex and Jack. Will keep you posted

Rotorvegas Blues...

I dont know whether you have ever been before or not but for the first time on Friday I set foot in Rotorua as we headed down for the Life Course weekend. What a brilliant place. I drove down with Paul and Laura which was fun (Paul didn't stop eating) especially Wirau (I think that is the right name of the place?). Anyway it is the place with cafe's and shops shaped like various animals (e.g. the sheep and dog tourist centre - it was like being in a strange film - a cross between Twin Peaks (I am showing my age) and Lost). I wonder who started the craze? Do you think it will spread to Auckland?
Anyway, the weekend was great and we had a real laugh. The Luge is well worth a trip if you have not done that before.
I dont know about you but I really enjoyed the service on Sunday night. There was alot of freedom there which is always a good thing. I think God is doing new things amongst us which is exciting! I hear that mad Irish Rob was on good form on Sunday morning. I need to download what he said.

The Ball Rocked...!

Man what a night that was! Some serious partying went down on Saturday night. I dont know about you but I was absolutely blown away by the whole evening. Anya in true style had utterly transformed the crypt aided by her incredible team of Melissa, Liv, Kate Emma, Pearl - beautiful tables lights, chandeliers, food...A big thank you to all of you! Tom you were a legend as well.
Late Eighties Mercedes were absolutely incredible... The boys from Hamilton did us proud. I have never seen so many people going for it on a dancefloor... Some of the moves that emerged I suspect have never been attempted before and in some cases I hope they will never be again!
The booze flowed and nothing could stop the beat...! I cant wait until the next one...
Jo took some great photos which, if you are reading this you probably have already seen on the website.
I think as well some serious partying paved the way for some fantastic services on Sunday. In both of them the Spirit ministered very powerfully which was very exciting (maybe we should rave hard every Saturday night?). I dont know about you but I also loved Petra's talk on Sunday night. Alot of very encouraging and challenging food for thought there.
Keep warm this week and look forward to see you on Sunday

More Power!

Well I hope you are all coping having no electricity. What a nightmare! The office was down for most of the morning although we are now back up and so if we have not been answering your calls that is why.

I hope you had a good weekend. We had the first cluster leader's brunch which was great. The aim of the morning was to get everyone together and think more about leadership in the church and how the clusters are going to work in future. It was a great morning and Pearl did an amazing brunch. Over the next few months we will be speaking more and more about them in the church.

I really enjoyed watching the All Blacks play in Hamilton with Rob who is over on placement from Ireland. The haka is far more intimidating "live" than on the television. Poor Rob thought that his team were in but it was not going to be.

I am looking forward to the ball on Saturday night. I think it' s going to be a real laugh. It's always amusing watching people from church partying and then seeing them on Sunday crammed in pews...Bring it on!

I hope you have a great week.

Welcome home Rich and Kath

Well, the good news is that Rich and Kath are back. Apparently England was freezing despite the fact that it is summer! They had a great time and are pleased to be back home. It is lovely to have them back.

My weekend was good despite having to spend most of Saturday with Paul and Laura! I wasn't feeling great last week and so I hibernated whilst Bex and Jack went out partying. I ended up watching masses of films e.g."King Kong", "Walk The Line". (Our local blockbuster has relocated and they have given us four free films a week for the whole of June and for some reason I have this driven compulsion to watch all of them!)

We also have a couple from Ireland with us at St Paul's who landed on Monday morning. Rob, Dylis and one year old Ethan are on placement from a church in Dublin (Core Church led by Jon Kissell (Barry's son)). They are keen to plant a church themselves within the Anglican Church of Ireland and so are with us to try and pick up some tips and so do pass on any wisdom or anything that you think will help them. I am going with Rob to watch the AB's play Ireland down in Hamilton on Saturday night. I am looking forward to it although am going to be with Irish fans which is slightly traumatic!