We’re really grateful for another year of prayer partnership with St Mary’s. Though in many ways the past 12 months have felt fairly ordinary, as always there is so much to give thanks for to our extraordinary God.
Autumn baptisms
We have celebrated five baptisms, including three infants who will have the great privilege of growing up within the church and being able, from their earliest days, to relate to the God who made them as their loving Father. In the Autumn two adults were also baptised, including a young man who grew up in an atheist home knowing nothing of Christ. His is a stirring testimony of becoming convinced that there must be more to life, including a seminal moment looking up at the stars as he ran down the Long Walk in Windsor. This prompted him to turn to the internet for answers, and in time to seek out a Christian community. It has been a great joy to see him come to faith and be transformed by the Holy Spirit, and we are praying for many more stories like his. Please join us in praying for him and for others who are at various stages of being drawn to Christ.
It has been a joy to bed-in to life in the Anglican Mission in England (AMiE) since joining last March. We have particularly appreciated having a faithful bishop who prays for us and supports us in gospel ministry, and to be able ourselves to pray for and support church planting initiatives across our nation. We have also spent time as a church family considering what it means to belong to our local church and have committed together to prioritise biblical principles such as ‘being present’, ‘pursuing holiness’, ‘speaking truth’ and ‘serving others’. Please pray these would increasingly shape our local church culture at Grace Church.
Looking ahead, we say goodbye to our minister-in-training James Dancer and his family this summer as he moves to take up a role in a church in Farnham. It’s been a joy to see his growth and development as a gospel minister over the last three years. We would love to appoint a full-time assistant minister to contribute to the ministry here in Windsor and particularly to spearhead our evangelism and community engagement. Please pray for ongoing efforts to raise funds internally and externally for this new post, as well as for wisdom as we consider how to adapt to a smaller ministry team for a season.