Every local Christian Church is unique, just as all have certain foundational truths in common. All are built on Christ and His Gospel. However, all are given a peculiar identity by God’s love of variety, by the ministries and individuals within each church, and by the cultural and social context of the church.
Larne Christian Fellowship began with four people (including Caroline and I), praying in our twelfth floor, high-rise, rented flat (12A to be precise). We were married on Saturday, 7th April 1979 and had our first meeting in our new home the following Tuesday. At that time we four regarded the church in Holywood (currently led by Margaret and Trevor Hull – mother and son) as our spiritual home. As we continued to travel to Holywood the mid-week meeting in our home grew, as God blessed us in marvellous ways. As a new Christian I steeped myself in the Word of God; we prayed and saw miracles; and we were blessed by the men and women of God who invested time, prayer and ministry into our small but growing group. These were wonderful times of grace and spiritual growth. We learned to value the importance of prayer, praise, the Bible and the ministry of the Holy Spirit through imperfect men and women. Our spiritual leaders gave us wonderful opportunities to minister (including a preaching course) and also deposited in us an abiding respect for God’s Word.
As time went on we found ourselves ministering and counselling more and more in Larne. God began to speak to me about the biblical pattern for church and – as people came and went but overall growth increased – I became convinced that God was speaking to us about forming a local church. The fellow leader of the prayer group (Matt Hilton) agreed and we had very honest discussions during times of prayer about our roles and how we should establish a new, local church. At this point I want to give due honour to Matt who, as well as being multi-gifted, is an exceptionally committed and faithful man of God. He and his wife now minister in a church in Belfast. So, the upshot of all of this was that Matt and I were recognised – several years after that first meeting in 12A Gardenmore House – as the elders of the church plant in Larne.
We continued to meet in houses, then the Town Hall, then a Community Centre on an estate. Finally, we bought land and built our own building – Shekinah Christian Centre – just over thirteen years ago. We own all of this outright: without debt. God is faithful!
However, it was in the building of God’s church, with living stones, that we had most to learn. We became a registered charity, with a treasurer and a tithe to steward. More importantly, we had to provide pastoral care for a growing number of adults (many with major problems) and to motivate Christians to discover their callings and to minister in them. When we announced that God was calling us to be a local church all those years ago we “grew” from about 45 to 12! I have learned, since then, to value qualitative growth more than quantitative growth. Since that time of new birth the church has come through some very difficult periods. There has never been a split but God has been gracious in bringing us through periods when gossip and criticism severely damaged the church. Because of this and other experiences I came to see a great need to support and encourage Christian leaders.
Today, Larne Christian Fellowship is an active and lively local church. We still have a long way to go to fulfil our whole vision. This vision was given to us by God in its clearest form some fourteen years ago and is very ambitious. God never allows complacency to settle in, as our only reason for existing is to live for theEvery local Christian Church is unique, just as all have certain foundational truths in common. All are built on Christ and His Gospel. However, all are given a peculiar identity by God’s love of variety, by the ministries and individuals within each church, and by the cultural and social context of the church.
Larne Christian Fellowship began with four people (including Caroline and I), praying in our twelfth floor, high-rise, rented flat (12A to be precise). We were married on Saturday, 7th April 1979 and had our first meeting in our new home the following Tuesday. At that time we four regarded the church in Holywood (currently led by Margaret and Trevor Hull – mother and son) as our spiritual home. As we continued to travel to Holywood the mid-week meeting in our home grew, as God blessed us in marvellous ways. As a new Christian I steeped myself in the Word of God; we prayed and saw miracles; and we were blessed by the men and women of God who invested time, prayer and ministry into our small but growing group. These were wonderful times of grace and spiritual growth. We learned to value the importance of prayer, praise, the Bible and the ministry of the Holy Spirit through imperfect men and women. Our spiritual leaders gave us wonderful opportunities to minister (including a preaching course) and also deposited in us an abiding respect for God’s Word.
As time went on we found ourselves ministering and counselling more and more in Larne. God began to speak to me about the biblical pattern for church and – as people came and went but overall growth increased – I became convinced that God was speaking to us about forming a local church. The fellow leader of the prayer group (Matt Hilton) agreed and we had very honest discussions during times of prayer about our roles and how we should establish a new, local church. At this point I want to give due honour to Matt who, as well as being multi-gifted, is an exceptionally committed and faithful man of God. He and his wife now minister in a church in Belfast. So, the upshot of all of this was that Matt and I were recognised – several years after that first meeting in 12A Gardenmore House – as the elders of the church plant in Larne.
We continued to meet in houses, then the Town Hall, then a Community Centre on an estate. Finally, we bought land and built our own building – Shekinah Christian Centre – just over thirteen years ago. We own all of this outright: without debt. God is faithful!
However, it was in the building of God’s church, with living stones, that we had most to learn. We became a registered charity, with a treasurer and a tithe to steward. More importantly, we had to provide pastoral care for a growing number of adults (many with major problems) and to motivate Christians to discover their callings and to minister in them. When we announced that God was calling us to be a local church all those years ago we “grew” from about 45 to 12! I have learned, since then, to value qualitative growth more than quantitative growth. Since that time of new birth the church has come through some very difficult periods. There has never been a split but God has been gracious in bringing us through periods when gossip and criticism severely damaged the church. Because of this and other experiences I came to see a great need to support and encourage Christian leaders.
Today, Larne Christian Fellowship is an active and lively local church. We still have a long way to go to fulfil our whole vision. This vision was given to us by God in its clearest form some fourteen years ago and is very ambitious. God never allows complacency to settle in, as our only reason for existing is to live for the praise of His glory.
praise of His glory.
Every local Christian Church is unique, just as all have certain foundational truths in common. All are built on Christ and His Gospel. However, all are given a peculiar identity by God’s love of variety, by the ministries and individuals within each church, and by the cultural and social context of the church.
Larne Christian Fellowship began with four people (including Caroline and I), praying in our twelfth floor, high-rise, rented flat (12A to be precise). We were married on Saturday, 7th April 1979 and had our first meeting in our new home the following Tuesday. At that time we four regarded the church in Holywood (currently led by Margaret and Trevor Hull – mother and son) as our spiritual home. As we continued to travel to Holywood the mid-week meeting in our home grew, as God blessed us in marvellous ways. As a new Christian I steeped myself in the Word of God; we prayed and saw miracles; and we were blessed by the men and women of God who invested time, prayer and ministry into our small but growing group. These were wonderful times of grace and spiritual growth. We learned to value the importance of prayer, praise, the Bible and the ministry of the Holy Spirit through imperfect men and women. Our spiritual leaders gave us wonderful opportunities to minister (including a preaching course) and also deposited in us an abiding respect for God’s Word.
As time went on we found ourselves ministering and counselling more and more in Larne. God began to speak to me about the biblical pattern for church and – as people came and went but overall growth increased – I became convinced that God was speaking to us about forming a local church. The fellow leader of the prayer group (Matt Hilton) agreed and we had very honest discussions during times of prayer about our roles and how we should establish a new, local church. At this point I want to give due honour to Matt who, as well as being multi-gifted, is an exceptionally committed and faithful man of God. He and his wife now minister in a church in Belfast. So, the upshot of all of this was that Matt and I were recognised – several years after that first meeting in 12A Gardenmore House – as the elders of the church plant in Larne.
We continued to meet in houses, then the Town Hall, then a Community Centre on an estate. Finally, we bought land and built our own building – Shekinah Christian Centre – just over thirteen years ago. We own all of this outright: without debt. God is faithful!
However, it was in the building of God’s church, with living stones, that we had most to learn. We became a registered charity, with a treasurer and a tithe to steward. More importantly, we had to provide pastoral care for a growing number of adults (many with major problems) and to motivate Christians to discover their callings and to minister in them. When we announced that God was calling us to be a local church all those years ago we “grew” from about 45 to 12! I have learned, since then, to value qualitative growth more than quantitative growth. Since that time of new birth the church has come through some very difficult periods. There has never been a split but God has been gracious in bringing us through periods when gossip and criticism severely damaged the church. Because of this and other experiences I came to see a great need to support and encourage Christian leaders.
Today, Larne Christian Fellowship is an active and lively local church. We still have a long way to go to fulfil our whole vision. This vision was given to us by God in its clearest form some fourteen years ago and is very ambitious. God never allows complacency to settle in, as our only reason for existing is to live for the praise of His glory.
Brian Gingles
Brian,
I have been praying for Larne Christian Fellowship for two weeks now. I normally pray for the Church in Larne anyway, but recently I have been praying for you especially. I was complaining to myself about the lack of information about Larne CF on Monday, and was amazed when this article came up on my search today (someone obviously heard my thoughts).
I don’t know much about your work, but I’d be very interested to hear about your ambitious vision. What is it?
William
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