Over the last few years we have brought various teams and leaders together to pray, to hear from God and to discuss where we believe God is leading us as a church. In the last year we gathered the Elders, their wives, and the Site Teams (Autumn 2022) for a day together, and most recently, the Elders and Trustees went away for a couple of days earlier this month to do the same. These have been significant times for us and have shaped our priorities and decisions as we have looked ahead.

As an example, we launched some 5 Year Goals at the beginning of 2021, which came out of days away like these, and in September we will be updating the church on where we are up to as we approach the half way mark.

From our Elders and Trustees days earlier this month, there was a huge sense of gratitude to God for all that He has done in our church. The recent Gift Days where we received over £100,000 towards the Trainee Pastor Placement and the Building Fund was a mark of His grace and provision for us. We are excited to be receiving enquiries and applications for the Trainee Pastor Placement from people who feel a sense of call into vocational ministry so if you are interested to find out more, do get in touch.

One of the key areas that we discussed together was a desire to see more sites started across the city. Whilst we currently have sites in Bradley Stoke, Cotham and Fishponds, we are praying that God would open up doors in other areas of Bristol for the gospel to bear fruit. Over the coming weeks and months we will be talking more about this and we will be praying about it more regularly. We are particularly seeking God as to where we go next with a hope to get into South Bristol.

We came away knowing that what God has given us in terms of people and resources is a huge blessing and we want to ensure that we steward all these well for the Kingdom of God. A particular thank you to our Trustees (Nick Todd, Sarah Evens, Sam Dalziel, Rachel Donne-Davis and Christina Tucker) for their wisdom, leadership and expertise and we are excited for all that God has for us a church as we help Bristol believe.