We have called Ivan King to join and help lead Church from Scratch, and he has replied with an enthusiastic "yes".

(update to this article: Sat 21 Nov celebration and induction click for further information.)

This is the right time for us to look back over the first 7 years of CFS and say, "Thank you" for the amazing way the Holy Spirit has shaped us into his people and to look forward and say, "Please Holy Spirit, more of Jesus, more of your life giving Kingdom in CFS". What God starts he loves to finish!

If you couldn't be there when the church met with them you will then here are some snippets to whet your appetite and when they arrive you can really get to know them. Ivan, Nikki and their 18 year old son Ethan live in Ilford. They have been part of the family of Cranbrook Baptist Church for 28 years, and have been followers of Jesus for many years before that. For the last 9 years Ivan has led the church. They have fostered children; Ivan is doing a Masters degree in theology; Nikki works in education in a hospice; they have an old dog. In the past Ivan worked alongside charities and organisations to help them develop; Ivan is about to join the list of accredited Baptist ministers; they plan to rent in Southend for the first 6 months to get to know the area before deciding where to settle down and live; Ivan first visited CFS in 2007 having heard of us and wanting to know more.

Keep Saturday 21 November afternoon/early evening free on your calendar - it will be a special launch event to welcome them and commission Ivan as he starts with us. We expect members of Ivan's church will join us for it to "hand him over" and say goodbye. Our Regional Minister, Sheila will be with us, she's a great fan of CFS and has done much to help us get to this stage. We will commission Peter into his new role with us at the same time.
How will the jigsaw fit together? Peter is a pioneer leader who breaks new ground and Ivan is a leader gifted at helping what is to develop into what it could be. CLOT our leadership team, including the two of them and all CFS will be better equipped to be Jesus' church. We can develop CFS, plant more of CFS and help the planting of other churches to be sisters to us. Ivan will need to spend time at the start simply being with us and getting to know us as we get to know him.

A step of faith calls for our response. At last week's church meeting we saw that whilst we have built up some reserves, in calling Ivan to join us we would need to increase our giving in the church by at least £500/month for this to be sustainable. We believed we could do this together by increasing our giving and some people have already made pledges. This is going to be quite a challenge for us. We can talk more about this in a few weeks time, and you are welcome to make a response before then. And when you do respond please get pleasure from giving, the Lord loves a joyful giver.

Please pray. Pray for Ivan, Nikki and Ethan and Cranbrook Baptist Church as they transition, pray for our church, and most of all pray "your kingdom come".

God bless you,
Peter, Alex, Dave, John, Tim (our church leadership team)

(picture is of Ivan, his wife Nikki and their son Ethan)