It is always interesting to hear an outside perspective on our movement.
Greg Thompson, Senior Pastor of Trinity Church, Charlottesville (Presbyterian) gave three outstanding Bible studies to some 1,200 leaders at the Vineyard National Leaders’ Conference in January.
In the clip below Greg talks about his experience of coming to the UK. You realise just what an extraordinary bunch people we are mixing with in our movement. It is a humbling five minutes to listen to. Worth your time.
You can hear all talks again from the conference here.
February 8, 2016 in news, news and events by andrew
Come and learn how to pray in the power of the Holy Spirit!
Wednesday 10 February, 7.30pm at Assington Hall.
This session is open to everyone whether you are a beginner or would like a refresher in what you are already doing.
The ministry we like to offer is where the content and direction of prayer for a person is led by revelation from God and a willingness from a person to serve the other. It is not counselling prayer, an intercessory time or a traditional prayer ministry time, though we value the place of all these things. It is intentionally non-religious, respectful and relaxed in style.
Have your eyes opened! Be inspired!
If this will be your first visit to Assington Hall you can download a map here. It is a lovely quiet, secluded venue about 10-15mins from Sudbury.
See you there!
No need to book.
January 28, 2016 in event, news, news and events by andrew
At our eighth birthday in September we shared our joy of how God is growing us a community of His people, transforming lives through his grace and mercy. We also shared a little of our plans for the year ahead, which included news of a new warehouse building.
There have been some developments, which I need to bring to your attention and ask for your grace and understanding.
Some of you will have noticed a ‘For Sale’ sign going up outside the building, so we would like to tell why.
Firstly, you need to know that we have a very good relationship with the owner of the warehouse. He has been a generous and faithful friend of Storehouse for over two years.
He is also a businessman. Along with the warehouse he owns the two other units next to it, which he currently trying to sell. However, he is finding that businesses are only interested if all three units are available. His business is, of course, his number one concern. And this means our plans have had to change.
It means that, as things stand, our tenure at the warehouse will now only be for one year. Of course, that could well change again, so we will continue to be open-minded about its future use for us. However, we still believe that it is God’s provision for us for today.
One of the attractions of the warehouse is the additional office space. It was going to save us thousands of pounds. At the moment, such is the wonderful growth of the church, we are having to dig deeper into our reserves – more than we would like. As everything grows so does our need for more money.
So may we ask you today to first pray about our financial needs, so we can continue to invest in God’s work in this church and our community. And secondly, pray about your own giving to God.
The Bible talks a lot about giving from a heart of gratitude. We are called to be cheerful givers. It also speaks of God’s heart, and he asks if we would willingly tithe 10% of our income back to him.
Now, that can seem a lot, but then when we remember how much God has given us through his son, Jesus. And, for me, I find that puts everything into perspective.
King David declares to God, “Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” (1 Chronicles 29:14). So we give back to him only what is his, and only 10% of it.
May I request that you give through Stewardship, our planned giving scheme. It enables us make your gifts go 25% further, courtesy of the taxman. Many of us are already giving sacrificially, thank you. But I can ask others of us to review our giving, not least if we have had a change in our circumstances in the last year and find ourselves a bit better off.
You can pick up a form from the Welcome Point on Sundays or request one from the church office. Alternatively, you can go to our online giving page.
Meanwhile, if you do have any questions about the warehouse or our finances, do please talk to Emma or myself or any of our trustees. We’d love to talk to you.
Thank you and God bless,
Andrew Stewart-Darling, Senior Pastor
October 5, 2015 in news & events, news and events by andrew
‘Waterfalls’ is the new album from Vineyard Records UK and is available from the Welcome Point on Sundays at the special offer price of £7 (for a limited time only).
Recorded at St Alban’s Vineyard, it features 12 songs from Vineyard churches all over the UK and sung by worship leaders who lead week in, week out in their local churches.
From Vineyard Records team:
“This is not an album from worship artists, but from people who work as teachers, carpenters and educational therapists in the week, and whose hearts long to worship God.
“The resulting songs are powerful, immediate, honest and bear the hallmarks of the intimate worship that the Vineyard movement has long been known for.”
And we would have to agree!
February 19, 2015 in event, news & events, news and events, this week by andrew
We’re sorry to say that for logistical reasons it has just not been possible to run this Outward Focused Ministry event in town for Shrove Tuesday (17 February).
We appreciate the disappointment as we know how much you love getting out on the streets and blessing our community in God’s name.
But, the good news is that we are planning to do a public giveaway after our Mother’s Day service outside St Peter’s Church on Sunday 15 March.
Being a special day we thought it would be fun to give out daffodils and chocolates to female passers-by. Hopefully, you can be a part of that wonderful occasion of serving someone with a small act of kindness then.
Meanwhile, don’t forget, you can still do your own personal acts of kindness for a stranger, such as buy them a coffee, a newspaper or some flowers.
Why not pick up a few ‘SVV compliment cards’ on Sunday morning from the Welcome Point for your purse or wallet, so when you give something you can also give them all our compliments?
February 13, 2015 in event, news & events, news and events by andrew
We are delighted to have Bishop Sandy Millar, former vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) with us on Sunday 23 November at our morning service.
Sandy was the vicar at HTB for over twenty years where he oversaw the vision and growth of Alpha, along with other initiatives such as The Marriage Course.
He and Annette were close friends of Vineyard founders John and Carol Wimber and remain dear friends of ours today. Sandy is an inspiration for many leaders and churches, inside and outside the Anglican church, and so it is joy to welcome him to Stour Valley Vineyard in November.
For more information, please contact the church office or ring 01787 377 670.
November 9, 2014 in event, news, news & events, news and events by andrew
We are pleased to welcome Sudbury Garden Centre as a new Collection Point for Storehouse Foodbank. So if you are the green-fingered type do pop in with a donation of a couple of cans and say ‘Hi’ to the staff.
Meanwhile, we will keep giving out the food and love to local families and individuals in crisis.
September 26, 2014 in event, news, news & events, news and events by andrew
If you’re a church, school or organisation planning to collect food donations for Storehouse Foodbank, thank you!
If you would like to know more about how you can get involved, it’s not too late. We’d love to chat.
You will be doing an amazing thing by helping to support our local families and individuals in crisis. Together we can help change lives and, in God’s name, tell them that someone cares about them.
Click here to go to our Harvest 2014 page and read more. You can also download publicity materials to help promote your Sunday or event. We can also provide, on loan, a pop up banner.
For more assistance or information about Storehouse, please don’t hesitate, to contact our Storehouse Foodbank team. We here to help in any way we can. No question is dumb.
Meanwhile, the team are praying for a significant time for you this Harvest and looking forward to hearing you get on. Have fun!
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me…” – Matthew 25:35-36
God bless.
September 10, 2014 in event, news, news and events by andrew
