This past week our host church here in London, IPC-Ealing held our annual equipping conference for church planters, pastors, missionaries, and emerging leaders, Catalyst 2022. Over 250 attendees from numerous denominations and independent churches throughout the U.K. and Europe benefited from three days of fellowship and Biblical teaching from renowned Scottish theologian Sinclair Ferguson, Westminster Seminary professor Jonathan Gibson, American pastor Jonathan Landry Cruse, and some really great local church leaders from here in the U.K.
Shanna and I, and our entire church staff put in many hours to help make this year’s Catalyst conference a success, and we couldn’t be more happy with the results. For many of these church planters and pastors, who faithfully spend tireless hours preparing sermons and Bible studies for their churches and disciples each week, this is a rare opportunity to sit under good Biblical teaching themselves and rest and “recharge” with good fellowship with one another.
Among those in attendance were our friend and fellow MTW missionary and church planter Jonas Stava and three members of his church planting team, Niko, Thomas, and Kenneth from Hamar, Norway. These brothers don’t just envision planting a single church, but an entire network of Gospel-centred churches in Norway! We were thrilled to get to host them in our home on Tuesday evening for a cookout in our “back garden” (backyard) along with a key leader in the IPC denomination, Gethin Jones and his wife Katie who serve together in Paris, France. In addition to being an IPC pastor in Paris, Gethin serves as the stated clerk for the IPC and was able to visit with these church planters and answer their questions about their church plants joining the IPC and how the IPC can help and encourage them in their church planting efforts in Norway and as their churches mature into fully formed congregations.
It’s an honor and privilege to have such an encouraging gathering happen (literally!) in our own backyard that we hope the Lord will use to help strengthen Gospel-centred church planting in Norway!
***Please note that the pictures we post in this private group have been shared with the permission of those pictured. When necessary we obscure the faces and name tags of some of our friends who may one day have to return to a home country where their involvement in a church sponsored event, associating with a missionary, or even walking into a christian church may put them or their family in danger. Please don't share these images further without permission. Thank you for helping us keep them safe!!!***
