Death to Life as One Church Brighton

Early up and off on Sunday morning to Brighton, seaside town of 250,000 which is in man respects culturally similar to Austin, Texas. In fact, the community has unofficially adopted "Keep Brighton Weird" as a tag line. One t-shirt was seen with the tag line on the front, and on back, "I'm doing my part!"

Greater Brighton is one of the most unchurched towns in Britain, with about 54% of its residents claiming atheism. In this environment, Dave Steell and family sensed God's leading to serve the Gloucester Baptist Church, a dwindling center city congregation. Within a brief period of having come to Brighton, Dave had a vision that Gloucester Baptist and another dying church, Florence Road Baptist, might come together to become one new church.

Space does not allow me to describe the entire process that led to the new church, but our team was privileged to worship with One Church Brighton, a part of the Body of Christ in the city. Where there were formerly two congregations that were close to death, the decision was in fact made to die. From the death of the two, one new church has been birthed.

For one year, the two congregations met together, heard the stories of those who were members of both congregations as Steell interviewed them week after week during worship. Then, on Easter Sunday, the formal launch of the new church saw the property filled with worshippers. While some members of the former congregations were not able to "make the journey" to become part of a new church, most have remained. Additionally, during the year of preparation for starting One Church, others who were not part of either church have come to identify One Church as their faith community.

Today, there is the critical mass for a healthy winsome church meeting at the Florence Road facility each week for worship and teaching. The center city facility, formerly Gloucester Place, is used for offices and public meetings of the community. Because of its location, plans are for it to become a ministry center for the city.

Our team had lunch with Dave Steell to hear him tell the story of two churches dying so that One Church could be born as a new healthy infant, with a vibrant future ahead. Just hearing the story brought us great hope.

Across America there are many places where the potential exists for similar death to life stories to be written. Pray for One Church Brighton, for Pastor Dave Steell and his family, and for the faithful congregations who are investing themselves to love Brighton in fresh ways. Pray for their effective service to the diverse and spiritual distant population of the city to which they have committed their lives.

Arrival, Underground, Fish-n-chips

Upon arriving in London, the tube system quickly became a lifeline for our team. We connected at Heathrow with Phil Young, who had arrived a couple of hours before us as he flew direct from Chicago. As we prepared to exit the terminal, I gave an Oyster card to each team member and welcomed them to life in London. Oyster cards are loaded with cash value and then swiped for access to trains, buses and the underground.

We caught the Picadilly Line at Heathrow and exited at South Ealing Station in southwest London. There we were met by car to transfer our luggage to the rental that would be our "home away from home" for the week. Through the online service, Vacation Rental by Owner (vrbo.com), I had located a home with sufficient bedrooms and baths to accommodate our team.

After dropping our luggage, we walked to Northfields Station where we caught the tube to King's Cross St. Pancras Station, one of the oldest and most ornate tube stations in London. From there, we took the bus north to the studios of More than Gold. After the briefing and sight visit to Olympic Park, http://missionalchurchcenter.blogspot.com/2011/06/more-than-gold-london-learning-lab.html, we tubed to Victoria Station to enjoy our first dinner at St. George's a traditional English pub.

Most of our team were ready for the first serving of fish and chips. While we were waiting for our meals to be served, Henry Deneen, Bryan Doyle and other GEM staff joined us. By we were finished, more than fish and chips had registered in the traditional english food category, as we splurged and had sticky pudding as well!

It was well after dark before we boarded the tube for "home" and the short twelve-minute walk to our rental property. After the overnight flight and a very full day, the team were ready for a good night's rest.