FIEC Prayer News - September 2009
Week 1 - Tuesday 1st – Monday 8th
FIEC Council & Staff
General Prayer Points
The affairs of FIEC are handled by the 35 members of Council (our Trustees), supported by various teams and committees, and administered by the staff - most of whom are based at the Market Harborough office. The Council usually meets three times each year and is mostly comprised of men from busy pastorates; please pray that they may be effective in their own ministries and in steering the work of FIEC.
Personnel
President: Rupert Bentley-Taylor
General Secretary: Richard Underwood
Treasurer: Peter Shelley
Pastors’ Association: Basil Howlett and Elisabeth Smyth
Prepared for Service: David & Laraine Cook, Hugh & Joyce Hill
Office Staff: Rod Badams, Roy Saint, Tim Oldridge, Janice Bowman
Regular Volunteer: Margery Badams
FIEC Limited: Brian Matthews, Jayne Oldridge, Nick Williams; Derek Alcock, Mike Smith (volunteers)
Key Prayer Points This Week
Tuesday 1st Please pray for Richard Underwood (General Secretary) that he will be able to support the staff in their work and the churches of the Fellowship in all their rich diversity. Pray for safety in travel, wisdom in the many decisions he has to make and time to stay close to the Lord. This evening he will be chairing an informal consultation regarding the restructuring proposals FIEC For a New Day in Lancing, West Sussex.
Wednesday 2nd Please pray for all the staff working for the Fellowship. The work they do is essential to the smooth running of all the services FIEC brings to the churches. Thank God too for Peter Shelley, as he fills the demanding role of FIEC Treasurer.
Thursday 3rd Please pray for Rupert Bentley-Taylor, our President, as he juggles the priorities of leading Widcombe Baptist Church and fulfilling his commitments to the churches of the Fellowship. He, Richard and John Stevens will be hosting a restructuring meeting in London today.
Friday 4th Please pray today for the work of FIEC Limited, and for Brian Matthews, Jayne Oldridge and Nick Williams, with the able assistance of Derek Alcock and Mike Smith on a voluntary basis in the invaluable work they do for so many of our churches.
Saturday 5th We thank God for the commencement of several new pastorates in the coming weeks. Let us pray today for the induction of Simon Carter to the pastorate of Bawtry EFC, Doncaster. Please pray too for Richard as he preaches at a church weekend for Cuckfield BC, Sussex.
Sunday 6th Thank God for those involved in church planting ministries. Church planting is a great way of reaching a new community with the good news about Jesus and keeping a congregation fresh and vibrant. We thank God for the launch of a new church plant today—from Bethel EC, Otley to Ilkley. Please pray for Martin Woodier, the pastor at Bethel, that he will know the Lord’s strength and enabling in this new venture.
Monday 7th Please pray for Prepared for Service (PfS). Sadly PfS North has had to close but the course continues to run in Reading, re-commencing today and running until Wednesday 9th. Pray that the students, staff and lecturers on this part-time training course preparing folk for work in local churches would know God’s abundant blessing as the autumn session gets under way.
Week 2 - Tuesday 8th – Tuesday 15th
FIEC Ministries
General Prayer Points
The various ministry teams do a significant amount of work ‘behind the scenes’. Please pray that each team may be aware that its work is valued as we seek to work out the aims and objectives of FIEC, which are to support churches, reach communities and grow leaders. Pray for each team to be enthused with their task of adding gospel value to the life of the churches
Teams
Executive Committee, Training Teams, Finance Committee, Overseas Relationships Team, Care & Recognition Team (CART), Media Team, Outreach Teams, Women’s Ministry Team, Pastoral Link Team, FIEC Limited
Key Prayer Points This Week
Tuesday 8th Please pray for John and Ursula Stevens and family and City Church, Birmingham. It is hoped that following the consultation process, John will be appointed as the Director-Designate of FIEC which will have far-reaching implications for both his family and the church he pastors.
Wednesday 9th Please thank God for, and pray for the FIEC Council and Executive Committee as they lead the churches of FIEC. Churches are currently considering Council’s proposals for FIEC for a New Day. Please ask the Lord that as we pray and discuss, he will show us the way forward as a family of churches. Please pray for the Executive as they meet in Worcester today.
Thursday 10th Please pray for Terry Martin and the Church Restoration Group. The work they do to help struggling churches throughout the country is greatly needed. May the Lord give them wisdom, discernment, inner strength and safety in their travels and hope to the churches they serve.
Friday 11th We are currently planning the first FIEC Leaders’ Conference in Swanwick from 7-9 October. Please pray that the Lord will give us strong gospel relationships and a sense of shared purpose. There is a Conference planning meeting today.
Saturday 12th We thank God that Ian Fry commences a new pastorate at Fetcham Community Church, Leatherhead today. Please pray today for the Females @ Fellowship Conference at Brackla Tabernacle in Bridgend, S Wales today. Barbara Isaac will be speaking on the subject More to Life … Proverbs 31—Mission Impossible.
Sunday 13th Thank God that we are able to worship God without fear today. Let’s remember to pray for those believers throughout the world who do not enjoy religious freedom that the Lord will strengthen them in the face of opposition and possibly strong persecution. Please pray for Rod Badams (FIEC Administrator) as he preaches at Crescent Road Congregational Church, Dukinfield, Cheshire, today.
Monday 14th The Regional Gospel Partnerships are planning A Passion for Life Mission in 2010. Many FIEC churches are involved; please pray that the Lord would bless gospel churches as they pray and plan together to seek the lost for him.
Tuesday 15th Please pray for the Pastoral Link Team which meets today in Reading under the chairmanship of Jonathan Prime. The PLT manages the Pastors’ Association which supports and cares for pastors, encourages young men entering pastoral ministry and acts as a link for pastors seeking a church and churches seeking a pastor.
Week 3 - Wednesday 16th – Wednesday 23rd
Supporting Churches, Reaching Communities, Growing Leaders
General Prayer Points
The church is the special object of God’s love and the hope of the world. FIEC exists to equip churches to fulfil their divine mandate at a challenging time in our nation. We need to keep our hearts focussed on the glory of God, our wills aligned with God’s saving purpose and our vision fixed on the goal of making disciples from every nation.
FIEC Ministries
FIEC Visitors and local church groups, Learn2Lead, Pastors’ Association, Conferences and Consultations, Advice & Support from the FIEC office, Church Planting, Prepared for Service, Church Restoration
Key Prayer Points This Week
Wednesday 16th People from our churches are faithfully serving the Lord in many parts of the world. Please pray that the Lord will use them and raise up a new generation of young people who will serve him as missionaries taking the gospel to the whole world.
Thursday 17th Pray for the Women’s Ministry Team which meets today. The WMT aims to encourage biblical women’s ministries and to support and encourage pastors’ wives. A number of ladies’ and pastors’ wives’ conferences will be taking place in the autumn.
Friday 18th Please pray for FIEC’s church planters—the Asghers in Cranford, W London, the Reberas in Brighton, the Hutchinsons in Blackpool, the Swales in Newcastle and the Birmingham team. Praise God for the way he has blessed these ministries through the salvation of many people. Please pray that God would raise up new church planting initiatives—and new church planters.
Saturday 19th Please pray today for a new ministry commencing in Surrey today. James Murkett will be inducted as Assistant Pastor of Tollgate EC and Lower Kingswood EC at Lower Kingswood, Tadworth at 2.30 pm. We also thank God this weekend for the 40 year ministry of Peter and Valerie Lewis at Cornerstone EC, Nottingham.
Sunday 20th The church is the hope of the world. Please pray that as we meet today, the Lord would instil in us more deeply the needs of our nation and his heart for the lost. May he send us out with renewed confidence to disciple our communities.
Monday 21st Please pray for pastors and church leaders suffering from ill-health, worry or discouragement today. May the Lord strengthen them in his love and enable them to return to their ministries, hopefully after a refreshing summer break, full of the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday 22nd The Pastoral Introductions service helps many churches to find pastors. Thank God for the new ministries which have commenced in recent months and pray for churches who long to find the right man to lead, love and teach them.
Wednesday 23rd Please pray for the Overseas Relationship Team which works to promote contact with, and assistance of, churches in need overseas. It also enables folk from the UK to make overseas visits to encourage missionaries linked with their churches.
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Week 4 - Thursday 24th - Wednesday 30th
Pursuing Evangelical Unity & Growing Partnerships
General Prayer Points
FIEC seeks to foster good relationships in the wider evangelical world and contribute to gospel work through informal networks, membership of organisations like Affinity and with representatives on the boards of various agencies (e.g. Go Teach and the Evangelical Movement of Wales).
Partner or Related Ministries
Affinity, Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Evangelical Housing Association Evangelical Movement of Wales, Go Teach, Grace Baptist Associations, Association of Evangelists, New Word Alive, Bible Colleges like LTS, Oak Hill and WEST, Proclamation Trust – and Cornhill Training Course
Key Prayer Points This Week
Thursday 24th Please pray for the Finance Committee which meets today under the chairmanship of Jonathan Bond. The work of the FC is particularly demanding as the work of FIEC expands. Its task is to resource all the activities of the Council and its committees and advise on financial/staffing policies.
Friday 25th Please pray for the ministry of all the FIEC Visitors around the country in their vital work of supporting churches and pastors. Thank God for new Visitors and ask him to help us identify more men who could fulfil this vital role. Pray for a meeting of the W Midlands Reps in Walsall today.
Saturday 26th Thank God for the commencement of another new ministry as Mark Sewall is inducted to the pastorate of Grange BC, Letchworth at 3 pm. Please pray for Richard as he speaks at a church weekend in Waldringfield, Suffolk.
Sunday 27th As we meet today for worship, may we be enabled to declare the unchanging truth of Jesus, the one who came to bring salvation to all who believe in him. Pray too that we will always be welcoming to newcomers, both Christian and non-Christian, as they visit our churches.
Monday 28th Affinity is a network of about 1300 churches located throughout the British Isles. Seeking to be conservative in doctrine and contemporary in culture, Affinity exists to promote biblical church unity for the furtherance of the gospel; please pray for the ministry of Affinity’s Director, Jonathan Stephen and for Richard who currently chairs the Affinity Council.
Tuesday 29th Please pray for the Care and Recognition Team which meets today under the chairmanship of Michael Teutsch. The CART addresses needs that arise within and between churches. It is also responsible for administering the Visitor scheme.
Wednesday 30th Pray for all ministries amongst children and young people—they are not just the church of tomorrow; they are a vital part of the church today. The work can be discouraging at times so please pray for Sunday School teachers and all children’s and youth workers.
As the information contained in this prayer bulletin can at times be sensitive, please note that none of the content should be reprinted in another publication without the permission of the FIEC office – 39 The Point, Market Harborough, LE16 7QU (01858 434540).