We held our first Vision and Values evening on Wednesday 7th September, when Jenny and I described the values that underpin vineyard churches and the vision that God has revealed to us for Portsmouth Vineyard.

Vision Evening – 7th September

We had a ‘sending out’ celebration at the Apostolic Faith Church in Bournemouth, which is the first purpose built Pentecostal Church in England.  People would walk from as far as Cornwall to be prayed for and receive healings.

We had a great evening hosted by Blair Crawford, lead in worship by Dave Griffiths with speaker Ian Coffey.  We invited several friends who had been a significant part of our spiritual journey, and God blessed us all.

Thirty of us met at Canoe Lake in Southsea for the Picnic in the Park.  It was a blessing to have great weather for our meeting together.  Several people bought friends along – including a Labradoodle.  It was a fabulous opportunity to  meet new people and to share food, time and life experiences together.

Picnic in the Park - 14th August 2011

Our first social gathering was a great success. We were particularly struck by how many people attended, how people who had never met before got on so well together, and their common enthusiasm for what God is doing at Portsmouth Vineyard.

Our first Social Gathering

Jenny and I explained our journey so far, and described the passion that God has placed within us to build a church in Portsmouth that offers practical help, support and ultimately life-transformation for the marginalised in society.  I quoted William Booth who in his last speech at the Royal Albert Hall in 1912 said:

While women weep, as they do now, I’ll fight;
While little children go hungry, as they do now, I’ll fight;
While men go to prison, in and out, as they do now, I’ll fight;
While there is a drunkard left,
While there is a poor lost girl on the streets,
While there is one lost soul without the light of God,
I’ll fight, I’ll fight to the very end.

We announced our next social gathering, a bring and share picnic at Canoe Lake in Southsea on 14th August, and our Vision Evening which is planned for 7th September. Everybody is welcome to come along – we love meeting new people!

Thank you to everybody who attended.

We attended a conference at Salisbury Vineyard run by Steve and Wendy Backlund from Bill Johnson’s Church in Reading, California. They gave us a number of prophesies for Portsmouth Vineyard; that we would have a ministry of fun and laughter; we will be part of something big; people will be set free and delivered, and we will have influence in the heavenly spiritual realm. They said that Youth and children’s work will be significant and somewhere different for youth to hang out on a Friday and Saturday night, with a real shift in Portsmouth. Very exciting!

Jenny and I have completed our degrees in Christian Leadership at Moorlands Bible College; we had our Valedictory (sending out) with Gavin Calver who leads Youth for Christ as guest speaker for the day. Now we look forward to concentrating on Portsmouth Vineyard.

We have received our start up package from Vineyard UK for Portsmouth Vineyard, including everything we need to setup bank accounts and to register as a charity.

We had a wonderful time at the Vineyard National Celebration.

Somebody approached us to say that he and his wife had been praying for Portsmouth Vineyard for the last two years – even before God laid it on our hearts to start a Vineyard Church here.

Have a look at the following video shown at the conference.  It shows not only the history of the Vineyard in the UK, but the real heart of what Vineyard is about.

VNC 2011: Celebrate from Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland on Vimeo.

The Celebrate documentary, covering the history of Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland and our core values.

We have just returned from Easter at Spring Harvest at Butlins in Minehead – We had an incredible time there, and got to spend time with one of our favourite speakers and advocate for social justice – Danielle Strickland (Wikipedia Article).  The youth will be able to catch her at Soul Survivor in August.

Sharing a meal with new friends from Taunton Vineyard

We also had a chance to visit Taunton Vineyard, we arrived for the 10:30 service and it felt like the whole church were on the welcome team – but incredibly, the first person to greet us was a former resident of Portsmouth! – God moves in mysterious ways.  We ended up going for lunch with a group from the church and finally headed back to Butlins at 4:30 having made several new friends – I really hope we can model the same level of hospitality ourselves in the future.

Thank you Taunton!

Blessings and Grace

Denham & Jenny

We emailed the leaders of most of the churches in Portsmouth – with the help of Steve at Portsmouth Churches.

The response has been inspiring – thank you all who have been so welcoming to us!  One theme came through many of the emails we received – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few” [Matthew 9:37], our prayer is that God will use us, along with members of the other churches in Portsmouth as workers to reap what has been sown over many Generations.

Catherine Booth – the Mother of the Salvation Army, wrote in her diary nearly 140 years ago, following a four month campaign in Portsmouth with meetings each Sunday of up to three thousand people, hundreds of whom found salvation.  Catherine Booth said in 1873, “only one minister in the town is at all favourable; the others are against the work, I hear there is a population of 150,000, and only church and chapel accommodation for 30,000! . . . there has been no revival for twenty years, so it is time something was done.”

It is fabulous that the churches in Portsmouth are all working together praying for God’s intervention. Portsmouth churches do a great job of demonstrating God’s love amongst the community in a very practical way.

Blessings and Grace

Denham & Jenny

Jenny looking at the Spinnaker Tower from Gunwharf Quays

We decided to take the day out from our normal routine – and became tourists instead.  The weather was fabulous, giving us the opportunity to walk the walls of Old Portsmouth and take in the marvellous views of the Solent and beyond from the top of the Spinnaker Tower – what an asset it is for Portsmouth!  As an occasional sailor (far too occasional), I always enjoy looking out for it as we head past Bembridge in the Round the Island Race.

God did His usual trick of making divine appointments for us as we went through the day – culminating in a barbecue shared with a group of new friends.

Blessings

Denham & Jenny