Testimony of Conversion
I grew up in a loving, stable home. Both of my parents were Christians and we regularly attended the local baptist church where my father was a deacon.
From infancy I had been taught the scriptures at home and as a child I enjoyed Sunday School and Boy’s Brigade. At the age of 12 I attended a week long Boy’s Brigade Camp on the Isle of Wight. A guest from another church had been invited to lead the devotions each morning and evening and God used that man in an incredible way. One evening, after ‘lights out’, many of the older boys had gone back to the marquee to hear more. There had been much weeping, repentance and joy. As one of the younger boys I had been fast asleep and only later heard about what had happened. However, the morning after that special evening I was alone at the rear of our tent preparing for the daily inspection when I heard a voice call my name. I still don’t know whether it was an audible voice or a voice in my head but it was clear enough to make me stand up and turn round to see who was calling me. I cannot remember the details of what followed except to say that I am convinced that it was the work of the Spirit of God, calling me to repent and to follow Christ. I already knew the Bible stories and the message of the Gospel, but that day I really knew it applied to me personally. I confessed my sin, yielded to Christ and changed. I felt the Holy Spirit at work in my life from that moment on. Later that day, amongst the stories that the older boys were relaying to the adults I was able to explain my own salvation.
In many ways the battle had only just begun, but I now had assurance of salvation and started to walk the path of sanctification. There were many challenges in my early walk with Jesus. I was acutely aware at times that as well as wanting to follow Jesus I also wanted to follow the crowd. I am thankful to God that he has been so patient with me. He has been faithful when I have been unfaithful. Every step of the way He has given me courage and power to fight against the sin that he has slowly revealed in my heart.
I was baptised by immersion as a believer at Frindsbury Baptist Church, our home church in Kent, on 13 October 1985, aged 16. That date is particularly sweet as it was the date of Caroline’s 20th birthday, even though I didn’t meet her until 1987 or marry until 1990.
Call to Ministry
I came to Teesside University in 1987 to study computer engineering and started to attend the Christian Union where I was soon elected as the ‘president’. I was rather shocked and reluctant to take on the position but found it a great blessing and a good training ground for what was going to come.
Caroline and I married in 1990, when I still had a year left to study. We were given married accommodation by the University in the East of Middlesbrough, so we looked for a church to attend. Berwick Hills Baptist Church become our spiritual home for the next 17 years. The pastor was a reformed Baptist and we grew quickly under his expository preaching and enjoyed close fellowship with the whole church but especially the pastor and his wife. I already had a sense that my future was not with computers or engineering. In the church we served by running a weekly youth group. This started as a group of children from Christian homes but later become a much broader group.
At some point in 1992 I went off alone for a walk up the local Eston Hills and sat on a rock looking out over Middlesbrough. I was reading my bible and praying when I was deeply moved by the words of Matthew 7:13-14 where Jesus speaks of the broad road that leads to destruction and the narrow road that leads to life. Below me I could see the A174 – a broad dual carriageway. The traffic was heavy and I started to think how many of those people in those vehicles were heading to eternal punishment. The thought was quite unbearable – especially in comparison to the narrow quiet roads that I could see that were almost empty. This was the day that I offered myself to the Lord – asking that he might use me to help stop some of those people continuing on the broad road. I remember thinking that this may be a call to preach or to some form of full time Gospel work. The thought terrified me but I felt compelled so I spoke to Caroline and to our pastor about this as soon as I had chance. He suggested some books to read and in time started to give me opportunities to lead parts of the service and eventually to try preaching. His feedback was encouraging and he arranged a meeting for me with the local Baptist Superintendent to speak about ministerial training. Due to my youth he encouraged me to wait for a few years and spend time in secular employment. I am still not sure about my motives or wisdom but I didn’t really feel a particular calling to become an accredited Baptist Union pastor so began, in my zeal (and unemployment) to look for a suitable theological college. I settled upon Spurgeon’s College and was accepted to study on a part-time theological course focused on Church Planting and Evangelism. I also had a placement at a Baptist Church in London where I was paid as part-time assistant. I found the move and the culture change challenging but I struggled most with the college course which had a distinctive Arminian thread, particularly the church planting and evangelism aspect. There was a similar tension in my church placement. I was already a convinced Calvinist so after about 18 months, in 1995, I resigned from the course and the associated placement and returned to Middlesbrough. Caroline was pregnant with our first child so there was not much time to reflect on the frustrations and disappointments, I went out and got a secular job as an Education Welfare Officer. We returned to Berwick Hills Baptist church and served as and where needed. I was appointed a deacon and later an elder. Many of our questions to God about that time in London remain unanswered to this day but the Lords was certainly continuing to prepare me for ministry. By 2002 I had received several promotions and was working as a deputy project manager within the local education department, supporting the education of children in the care system. Future career prospects were good but there was a constant niggle that the real answer to many of the social problems I witnessed was the Gospel.
Through a series of events, under the providence of God, I resigned from my job and was employed as a full-time youth worker at Berwick Hills Baptist Church. I spent most of my time, however, based in the local state school. I led assemblies, helped the Religious Education teachers and sought opportunities to share the Gospel.
In 2008 I got a phone call out of the blue from the leaders of Markse Baptist Church, a church plant situated in a large village 10 miles up the coast that was just a few years old. I was asked if I would consider becoming their pastor. I had preached there a few times but was totally stunned by the phone call. I agreed to pray about it with Caroline and we decided to explore with them whether this might be from God. To cut a very long story short I become convinced that this was indeed Gods call on my life. At one point in the process, after several meetings, the church leaders rang me again to say that they had decided not to proceed. I turned to Caroline after I put the phone down and said that I was convinced that wasn’t the end. Sure enough, a few weeks later they were back in contact and the matter was brought before the church members – both in Middlesbrough and Marske. All agreed that this was the Lords leading and that I was eligible to take on this daunting role.
Whilst Pastoring in Marske I signed up to a four year distance learning programme endorsed by the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches). I was awarded a Diploma in Christian Ministry in 2014.
During 2013 I had become burdened by the lack of evangelical churches among the poor areas of the UK. My time in Middlesbrough had given me a love of the people living on council estates. It seemed to me that conservative evangelical church had become almost exclusively middle class and had all but given up on the working class and the ‘underclass’. As a response I began to pray about this and to explore opportunities to plant a church in a disadvantaged area. We had some places in mind, including a return to the council estates of East Middlesbrough but God clearly led us to Loftus, a more rural but yet equally impoverished community. During this time I had also been feeling a little pushed out of the Baptist Union, which had become more aggressive in pushing egalitarianism and ecumenism. So when it came to planting a church in Loftus I did not feel able to look to the local Baptist churches or the Baptist Union of Great Britain to send me. Rather, together with a few others who previously attended Marske Baptist Church we agreed to establish a new work in Loftus and to work towards affiliation with the FIEC – which seemed a much closer match in terms of its theological convictions.
The church began to meet in Loftus in April 2014 – using the church building owned by a very small Pentecostal Church. There were about 15 of us to start with (including our family of 7!). Two of the other men joined me as temporary leaders – in a capacity similar to deacons.
Grace Community Church Loftus was formally constituted in November 2021 and the membership now stands at 24 and regular attendance (including children) is roughly 30-40. In September 2022 the church members formally supported my continuing role as Pastor and also approved the continuing role of the two men as deacons.