Announcement from Tim & Paul
Dear friends: if you were not in church yesterday for any of our Gatherings, you will have missed the following announcement from Tim & Paul …
This is what Tim said yesterday at the 8, the 10 and the 5:
It is with very mixed emotions that I stand here today to let you know that I have a new job and will be moving on from Christ Church.
A little while ago, Kate and I began to sense that the Lord may be preparing us to move on. I then sensed, through Acts 16 and Paul’s vision of the man of Macedonia, that we were waiting for a phone call to say ‘come over and help us’. I then received two phone calls close together. One was from Paul Harcourt, the new head of New Wine, offering me the voluntary role of Assistant Head of ministry for New Wine International. Another was from +Pete Broadbent, the Bishop of Willesden, inviting me to apply for a post in his diocese. Cutting a long story short, I have now been invited to become, and have accepted, the post of Vicar of Emmanuel, Northwood in NW London. This is subject to DBS clearance!
Emmanuel is a large Evangelical church with a real desire to move on into the things of the Spirit but which also has a heart to release me to fulfil the new role with New Wine. We’ve been amazed by God’s timing in all of this and his goodness in opening up these two exciting opportunities.
We have many mixed emotions today. We are sad because we love this church, we love all of you and we have had some amazing times together. But we know that God is calling us to lead Emmanuel – and play an increased role in New Wine International – and we are hugely excited about this opportunity and adventure that lies before us.
We won’t be leaving until July (the 16th July will be our last Sunday) and our licencing in Northwood won’t be until the 5th September. We’d love you to come if you’re able to! Please do be praying for us as we prepare to move, and for the people of Emmanuel – I think that they probably need all the prayers they can get!
This is what Paul added at the 10 and the 5:
I realise that this announcement takes some digesting – I’ve known for some weeks and yet, listening to what we’ve just heard, I realise that the idea of ‘Life Beyond Tim’ has not really sunk in.
We all owe Tim & Kate a huge debt of gratitude for the people, couple and ministers they have been among us, and we will all miss them and the girls hugely. In particular, I have appreciated Tim’s presence alongside me in so many situations, his partnership in prayer and discerning the Lord’s direction for the church – and of course the many things he brings and does which I don’t and can’t!
Appointing Associate Vicars is a bit of a catch-22: if you appoint someone of the calibre of Tim, you can’t expect to keep them as long as you would like. If you don’t … well, that would be a bit silly, wouldn’t it ..?
The Lord has made it clear to us that we are to be a generous and resourcing church, to be open-handed with all the good things he gives us. Today’s announcement is part of the cost of that value. We also place a high value on being led by the Lord, and the way that these two posts have arisen side by side is to me a clear sign that, costly as it is for us, this is indeed the right thing. Our loss will without doubt bring great blessing elsewhere, both to Emmanuel Northwood and to countless others through Tim’s expanding international ministry.
It’s important to acknowledge that we don’t replace people – it’s just not possible to replace a couple like Tim & Kate, whose contribution has been God’s good and unique gift to us all for this season. Early indications from the Diocese are that we should be able to appoint a successor to this role in due course.
The time will come when we can all express fully the gratitude we feel towards Tim, Kate and the girls for their time among us. For now, can I invite you to gather around them in the middle of the church as we pray for them, and the Lord’s leading for the future.