CCK Life blog

Monday 8th March

- Men’s Prayer for Brighton @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30-8.15am)

- Friends First with Cocaine Anonymous @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

- Choir @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8pm)

Tuesday 9th March

- Beta Course @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7pm)

- Netball Training @ Crew Club, Coolham Drive, Whitehawk (8pm)

Wednesday 10th March

- Mum’s Prayer @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am)

- Zone meetings in your area:

Brighton Central: 14-17 Manchester Street, Brighton. BN2 1TF
North Brighton: 8pm All Saints Barn, Patcham
East: 7.30pm Brighton racecourse
For all other zones, contact your zone leader

Friday 12th March

- New Horizons @ 21-23 Clarendon Villas, BN3 3RE (2pm)

- Engage (15-18 yr olds) @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

- CCKY (11-14 yr olds) @ 21-23 Clarendon Villas, BN3 3RE (7pm)

Saturday 13th March

- Prayer Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8-9am)

Sunday 14th March // Mothers’ Day and Baby Thanksgiving

- Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (9.15am, 11.30am and 6.30pm). Joel Virgo will be preaching at all three services. Simon Brading will be leading worship at 9.15am and 11.30am, and Phatfish will be leading worship at 6.30pm.

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Monday 1st March

- Men’s Prayer for Brighton @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30-8.15am)

- Friends First with Cocaine Anonymous @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

- Choir @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8pm)

Tuesday 2nd March

- Beta Course @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7pm)

- Netball Training @ Crew Club, Coolham Drive, Whitehawk (8pm)

Wednesday 3rd March

- Mum’s Prayer @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am)

- Small groups meeting in your area

Thursday 4th March

- Small groups meeting in your area

Friday 5th March

- New Horizons @ 21-23 Clarendon Villas, BN3 3RE (2pm)

- Engage (15-18 yr olds) @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

- CCKY (11-14 yr olds) @ 21-23 Clarendon Villas, BN3 3RE (7pm)

Saturday 6th March

- Prayer Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8-9am)

- New England Arts Orchestra @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am-12.30pm)

Sunday 7th March

- Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (9.15am, 11.30am and 6.30pm). Joel Virgo will be preaching at all three services. Jules Burt will be leading worship at 9.15am and 11.30am, and Simon Brading will be leading worship at 6.30pm.

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Lena Newman reviews The Women’s Day event conducted on the 13th of Feb..

It was absolutely amazing and so encouraging to see so many women gathered in one place last Saturday, united despite clear differences in age, race, culture and background – but all desiring to meet with God, engage with the word and expectant to hear His voice.

The sense of momentum and genuine excitement built as four hundred women realised that being sold out for Jesus in this city could change it’s face forever.

Admittedly I felt for the handful of males in the room, (who were outnumbered by a hundred to one!) and I was very grateful for their willingness to serve us.

After a brief intro by our lovely host Kate Virgo, we kick-started the day with amazing worship and met with the Spirit in a powerful way.

We got straight into the first session with Livy Gibbs powerfully teaching from Genesis, explaining to us the foundations of the God-given authority given to women as well as men from the beginning. She took us right through the New Testament and admonished us to use our authority and leadership, explaining that although headship is rightly gendered, leadership and authority aren’t, and pleaded with us to take seriously Jesus’ commission to do greater things than he did.

After a short break, Wendy Virgo took the next session, and preached from Esther, on the same topic of authority – but with a different perspective. Wendy brought to life the story of Esther as a woman of faith with humble beginnings, and vividly explained how God used her to redeem and save a nation. Their very different approaches to authority, and the different generations they were brought up in complemented each other wonderfully and gave a very rounded picture of what authority looks like for us.

Finally session three was an open time of worship and prayer, and different ministries and areas affecting women of all ages was brought to God in fervent, passionate prayer. It was particularly moving and right to see the older generation honoured in such a wonderful way – as those in their twenties and thirties gathered around them to pray for renewed faith and calling for the future.

It was truly refreshing to go to such an equipping women’s day, with solid biblical teaching on theology, spirit-filled worship, and fervent prayer. Throughout the day there was a clear sense of being commissioned as women to come alongside the men, as together we fight the battle to win this city to Christ! What an absolute privilege.

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Monday 15th February

- Men’s Prayer for Brighton @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30-8.15am)

- Friends First with Cocaine Anonymous @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

- Choir @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8pm)

Tuesday 16th February

- Beta Course @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7pm)

- Netball Training @ Crew Club, Coolham Drive, Whitehawk (8pm)

Wednesday 17th February

- Mum’s Prayer @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am)

- Small groups meeting in your area

Thursday 18th February

- Small groups meeting in your area

Friday 19th February

- New Horizons @ 21-23 Clarendon Villas, BN3 3RE (2pm)

- Engage (15-18 yr olds) @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

- CCKY (11-14 yr olds) @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7pm)

Saturday 20th February

- Prayer Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8-9am)

- Alternatives Prayer Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (9.30-10.30am)

- New England Arts Orchestra @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am-12.30pm)

Sunday 21st February

- Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (9.15am, 11.30am and 6.30pm). Phil Turner will be preaching at all three services. Phatfish will be leading worship at 9.15am and 11.30am, and Steve Rowland will be leading worship at 6.30pm.

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Monday 1st February

- Men’s Prayer for Brighton @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30-8.15am)

- Friends First with Cocaine Anonymous @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7.30pm)

Tuesday 2nd February

- Beta Course @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (7pm)

- Netball Training @ Crew Club, Coolham Drive, Whitehawk (8pm)

Wednesday 3rd February

- Mum’s Prayer @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am)

- Small groups meeting in your area

Thursday 4th February

- Small groups meeting in your area

Friday 5th February

- New Horizons @ 21-23 Clarendon Villas, BN3 3RE (2pm)

Saturday 6th February

- Prayer Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (8-9am)

- New England Arts Orchestra @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (10am-12.30pm)

Sunday 7th February

- Meeting @ Clarendon Centre, 47 New England Street, BN1 4GQ (9.15am, 11.30am and 6.30pm). Guest speaker Phil Moore will be preaching at all three services. Martin Cooper will be leading worship at 9.15am and 11.30am, and Jules Burt will be leading worship at 6.30pm.

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Nigel Ring has lived in Brighton and Hove for over 25 years now. He heads up the newfrontiers administration team and serves as Terry Virgo’s Administrator. Nigel served as one of the leaders of CCK for over 25 years. Nigel writes..

The recent Gift Day has included the needs of Kenya as they face severe drought. Let me give you a bit of background about our involvement there.

We first met Edward and Fridah Buria at the Downs Bible Week in 1985. This Bible week, hosted by newfrontiers on the Plumpton Racecourse near Lewes, then had about 7000 people attending. A few years later they brought their 100 or so churches into the family of newfrontiers.

Edward and Fridah are a remarkable couple. He is a visionary, evangelist, and entrepreneur who also has an apostolic ministry. Fridah is a very able business woman and wonderful support to Edward. He grew up in very poor circumstances (little better than slum life); she came from a well-to-do farming family. They met when he preached about Jesus in her school as a young adult (having been healed from a terminal illness). Several months after he first saw her he prayed for a wife for a considerable period and God told him she was the one.

After their wedding and first child they moved to Meru, a sizable town at the foot of Mount Kenya. They lived in a very rough area where there was high crime. After much prayer, they were able to start a church ‘Miracle in the Village’, now numbering nearly 1000 people. It is now the most peaceful area of Meru.

They began starting churches all over Kenya. Edward now oversees about 160 churches.

The drought they now face is the 3^rd this millennium, and by far the worst. I have visited during the previous two droughts (we have raised funds to help) and have been greatly impressed by their protocols and the highly effective and efficient ways in which they get help to the places of greatest need.

I have now just received (Nov 27^th) the following email about the current situation (only extracts reproduced here):

We have just returned back from Samburu (tribal area) where we have been for a few days carrying out relief andmedical operations … From what we have seen and heard … the situation on the ground and deep interior is so grave and not even captured on the National radar. It has emerged that we have whole ‘manyattas’ (i.e. Samburu homesteads) where on top of everyone being in dire need of relief food and other humanitarian supports, they have lost all their animals that succumbed to the drought … their only source of livelihood has been cut off.  In other areas, tension remains so high as communities fight and kill each other over cattle rustling and / or over the scarce either available vegetation and water. These intertribal skirmishes are so bad as they create a state of insecurity even on the roads in the affected areas.  It is also very clear that many people are dying as a result of the famine and through bandit-related incidents, and that such deaths go un-noticed or not recorded with the authorities.

The situation has even been complicated further by the continued failure of the much awaited rains … the weather people had predicted would be El-Nino Rains (i.e. torrential rains).

To our friends outside of Kenya, keep on praying for and with us and where it is possible to help in giving a smile and hope to a family in Samburu over this Christmas, please do so!

Like all other times in the past years, I and my able team remain so committed to standing and supporting our friends in Samburu and areas that have been affected by the on-going famine.

With every blessing.

Edward Buria

Thank you for giving sacrificially through the Gift Day. Please pray for them as the situation comes to mind.

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November, apart from the excitement of sparklers, fireworks and toffee apples, was the month in which the attention turned towards what is one of the classiest events in the CCK calendar; The CCK Leaders party.

The Clarendon Centre was transformed in order to host this annual celebration, in which we honour those individuals who have worked especially diligently in their church roles over the past year. With awards going to nominees from every level of church leadership, it was an excellent opportunity to applaud the people that have really given their all, those that have sacrificially and wholeheartedly served to ensure the smooth and productive running of the church…

The evening had a very apt ‘Cluedo’ theme, as the Church was likened to ‘a great house’ with many rooms. The main hall was decorated to look like a dinner room in an old mansion,with stain glass (projected!) windows and dinner candles…An old leather chair, lamp-stand and table intriguingly sat on a curtained stage as we waited patiently to see what it all meant. With a fantastically decadent photo booth area set up on one of the balconies, guests could ensure their glitzy outfits could be forever immortalised by photographer Steve Rowland (photos are available for viewing here) as everyone waited for the ceremony to begin.

As the lights dimmed and conversation hushed, our host, an eccentric aristocratic man by the name of Colonel Algernon Mustard, bundled into the side door as if from a storm, carrying a lantern and proceeded towards the leather chair where he introduced himself and replaced his raincoat with a well-appointed dressing gown. He then introduced the tour he would take us on through the floors of ‘the grand house’ (graphically represented brilliantly, in the classic Cluedo style on the big screens) Each floor was essentially a layer of church leadership, containing several rooms. Each room represented a team, and ultimately a set of nominees; ‘The Music Room’ for instance of course implied the worship team, while ‘The Nursery’ represented the Children’s ministry workers. As we journeyed through each floor and it’s rooms, the nominees were announced (on Cluedo cards!) and the winners presented with trophies. In true Oscar night style, the orchestral music, spotlight and huge applause accompanied each announcement, and here is a list of categories and their winners-Remember to pat them on the back next time you see them hard at work!

ZONES

South Hove Zone - Matt Fookes

Students - Chris Sivers

East Zone - Tal Fahy

Brighton Central Zone - Anneke Finer

North Hove Zone - Paul & Phillipa Williams

North Brighton Zone - Tom & Barbara Chong

West Zone - Steve & Lorrie Bell

International Zone - Edward Rhodes

Fiveways Zone - Paul & Becky Flannagan

YOUTHWORK

COGS weekly team leaders - Andrew Knight

COGS leadership award - Clare Andrews

Youth Work - Rich & Lisa Miles

UTILITIES

Duty Managers – Ken Stevens

Connect - Nick Vaughan

Lounge – Will Drury

Coffee area – Jo Rooke

Deaf – Mitra Hajebi

Looking after the Elderly – Beryl Lawton

Poor of the City - Danny Cassidy

Women of the City – Kate Martin

Family Life - Tal & Jo Fahy

MUSIC AND PRODUCTION

Sunday Production – Ryan Worsley

Worship – Jules Burt

Website/Communication - Yohaan Philip

SPECIAL AWARDS

Outstanding contribution – Keith & Irene Brooks

Winner of Winners – Matt Davis

After the announcement of the winners, our host announced that the dinner room doubled as a ballroom, and with that the on-stage curtains drew back to reveal a band, led by Hannah Silvester who set the excitable crowd dancing for the remainder of the party. A fantastic and fun end to this spectacularly posh party!

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CCKY, CCK’s youth group for 11-14 year olds, kicks back into action this Friday with an awesome night of beach volleyball and football at Yellowave on the Brighton seafront, along with a beach BBQ! It’s going to be an incredible night and a great way to start off the year! Youth are asked to bring a donation of £3 to help cover the cost of the night. Don’t worry if money is tight, we’d still love your young person to come (just let a member of our team know). We’ll be meeting at 7pm at Yellowave on Madiera Drive with pickup at the same place at 9:30pm. Click here for a map.

Even if your young person has never been to CCKY, please encourage them to come along! Each week we welcome new people to the youth group and we’ll make every effort to ensure your young person has a great time.

What’s CCKY all about?
CCKY stands for Church of Christ the King Youth. We exists to:

As part of CCK, CCKY serve youth aged 11-14 from our church and across Brighton & Hove. We operates under the supervision of the CCK Leadership team and youth pastor Stephen Dawson. From week to week, we are lead by Rich and Lisa Miles who oversee our team of approximately 20 youth leaders.

We make every effort to ensure our youth’s parents/guardians are aware of what is happening at CCKY. This is done via a weekly email and text (SMS) message. To add yourself to one or both of these lists, please email your details to contact@ccky.co.uk

What’s happening at CCKY this year?

Lots! Things start with a night at Yellowave on Friday 11th September, followed by a Snapshot Challenge on the 18th. On the 25th we’ve got the CCKY House Party and then we’re off to Woking for the CCKY Weekend Away from 2-4 October… and that’s just the first 4 weeks! Our full schedule for the term is available at www.ccky.co.uk.

Want to find out more?
The CCKY website is your best starting point. There you’ll find the full term schedule, information for parents including information about the team that will be serving your youth and loads more. If you’d prefer to speak to Rich and Lisa Miles who lead the CCKY team, please email contact@ccky.co.uk with your number and they’ll get in touch.

Thanks for reading! We hope to see your young person on Friday night at Yellowave!

Big love

The CCKY Team

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Nigel Ring has lived in Brighton and Hove for over 25 years now. He heads up the newfrontiers administration team and serves as Terry Virgo’s Administrator. His also has a passion for the upliftment of the poor and often travels to countries like India, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Zimbabwe to oversee some of the projects newfrontiers has initiated in these countries. Nigel writes..

Cultural naivety and culture shock.

On my first visit to India (I have since been about 20 times) the angels worked overtime! I arrived at midnight and only had an address on a piece of paper; I did not want to trouble my host to meet me at that hour. I assumed everyone spoke English and that the taxi drivers would be like London cabbies – they would know every street. How naïve. Wrong! Wrong!!

I clambered into one of the local means of transport, a three wheeler auto-rickshaw, and gave the driver the all-important piece of paper (having already fought my way through the cattle market of Bombay airport – now greatly improved). He shrugged his shoulders and set off. Rough roads, the stench of raw sewage and enquiring of every be-scarfed night-watchman (despite it being well over 20 degrees celcius) if he knew the address, defined the next hour.

We then arrived – at least that was my hope. Leaving my cases in the rickshaw (still naïve!) I climbed to the 3rd floor to check I was in the right place and, to my great relief, found Henry Tyler (co-founder of CCK) who, with his dear wife Dorothy, was spending 4 months helping the churches in Bombay.

I returned to pay the driver – great relief as the suitcases were still there! He did not speak English and the meter read Rs 8. There were 12 rupees to the £ at that stage so I assumed that that could not have meant 70 pence but should have been Rs 80 – about £7. This seemed reasonable for a one hour taxi ride. I am sure he was laughing all the way to the bank when I paid him (not that he would have used a bank)!

At 9am the next day, after a few hours of snatched sleep trying to ignore the barking of the ubiquitous brown mongrel dogs which roam the streets of every ‘third world’ city, I was visited by a young man from the church there who offered to show me round Bombay.

We started in Dharavi of Slumdog Millionaire fame, the largest slum in Asia. To this day I can recall standing in the middle of the abject poverty and realising my emotions had closed down. I could not register with anything – the ill-clad children defecating on the road, the sack and corrugated iron shacks that served (and still do) as people’s homes, the stench, the noise, the language…. Through the day we climbed the social scale and ended in the beautiful home of a converted Parsi lady, with marbled floor and the scent of plentiful flowers masking the atmosphere we had just escaped. Indeed, it was seeing the beauty of flowers that caused her to enquire about a Creator and led her to God.

All that took place nearly 3 decades ago. Despite this introduction to India something happened in my soul that has taken me there again and again. It also opened a new chapter in my life which has since taken me to many other nations where I have seen and experienced life in the raw, to places that no tourist ever has the privilege of sharing with local people.

And the angels continue to protect me – thank God! I could recount times in Sierra Leone, during the civil war, when I slept in a bombed out building under a UNHCR tarpaulin, or the occasion in Kenya when I nearly trod on a snake which, if it had bitten me, would have given me 2 minutes to live, or… But those are stories for another occasion.

God has been so gracious to me. Since my first sense of calling at the age of nine I can trace His favour and kindness to me in preparing me for each season of my life. I have rich memories of so many places and thank him for them. I also feel he has taught me things that others may benefit from. With this in mind I have just launched a blog. Through it I plan to share my experiences in Administration, my working with the Poor, reports of visits overseas and anything else I feel might help equip people and expand their world view. Why not check it out? www.nigelring.org. Enjoy!

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Excerpts from the article:

“We want young people to enjoy church. That might seem a weird thing to some people, but we’re seeing more and more young people from teenagers into their 20s wanting to get closer to God,” he added.

Thousands of young people from Norfolk and across the UK are expected to descend upon Norwich for the six day festival, with highlights including music and preaching from Simon Bradling, Lou Fellingham, Adrian Holloway, Phatfish and Matt Redman.

Newday was set up by preacher Joel Virgo with a vision to restore the Church to a worldwide audience through the eyes of young people.

To read the complete article, please click here.

Yohaan Philip will be live blogging during Newday on the ccklife blog.

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