Say hello to Andy & Nicci!

“One of the great things about belonging to a group of churches is the support we can give to each other!  In our group, one of the ways that support is given is that the available church leaders gather on a Friday morning, twice a month, in order to pray for each other and the church communities we serve.

In one of those meetings, we were praying specifically for Mark and Katherine Eley, and Lifehouse Community Church.  As we prayed, I felt like God was trying to say something to me - I had a picture as we prayed, of Mark at the front of a rugby scrum.  Unfortunately, he was really up against it, because there were gaps in the scrum behind him!

I told the other leaders, and it encouraged us to pray for more people to get behind Mark and Katherine.  However, I thought it had a deeper significance for me and my wife, Nicci.  We talked it over and, alongside other things which had been happening, we wondered if God was calling us to join Lifehouse Community Church, and get behind Mark and Katherine - even if rugby scrums are hard work and messy!

We talked it over with Andrew and Ruth - a wise couple in the Oxford church who carry us in their hearts.  The idea was a complete surprise to them, but as we talked it over they were really excited and agreed that God did indeed seem to be speaking!  And so we made the decision to join Lifehouse.

Since then we've thrown ourselves into things (although we only just managed to move house!).  And I've recently been proposed as an 'elder' - an odd-sounding term, but rooted in the Bible.  The idea is to join Mark in having a care and a responsibility for the whole church - getting right behind him in the rugby scrum!

I've been around long enough to know that any church leadership isn't glamorous, it's hard work and messy, just like a rugby scrum.  God never promised easy, but he does promise to be with us as we follow Him.  It's been encouraging to hear that others think this is the right thing at this time.  And I know we have the support of our family of churches - thank goodness that Friday morning prayer meeting is still going!”