Dan and Annie Dupree joined CFS with Dan training with us for 3 years as a student minister. Deep in the DNA of the church is to send people out to be God's agents elsewhere. After 3 great years with us we sent them off to Albania. They are still deeply part of our [...]
As friends invited friends, CFS grew quickly and organically with new new groups starting in homes across the area. With the growing size of CFS in 2008, we found starting new groups had many strengths: it would help new groups of people get involved in new places; and it helped us avoid an over-emphasis on [...]
Thanks to Tony, everything continued to change in 2006. As we wrestled with how to reshape our community increasingly for the poor and marginalised, a Christian probation worker approached us. He had a client called Tony who wanted to know more about God. He told us that taking Tony to his church would be a [...]
Understanding church as a community of Jesus' followers gave us space to reimagine its ancient traditions in modern ways. Starting with Baptisms in 2004. If there were water and faith, we were ready to baptise. But, if believer's baptism was about joining a family of followers, then the more people who got in the [...]
With the plans dead and the team gone, God now had space to create something new. It was early in 2003 and we decided to have another go, inviting our friends from beyond the church to a home in Leigh on Sea and another one in Westcliff. Our friends came and we began to [...]
With a launch party at the Arlington Rooms and events targeted at young people, we were going to be the coolest church in Southend. It was September 2o02 and we were dreaming of creating a community that included young adults who would otherwise not come into contact with the Church. It completely failed. Hardly anyone turned [...]
