James' intern update

James Wakefield is spending a year interning for our church. Here’s his latest intern update…

It's been a full two months since I last updated you all on how the internship has been going! I have been journeying with God through some amazing things at church in this past season.

One highlight from April would have to be volunteering at Make Lunch over the Easter Holidays. I'd never come across this initiative before, but I was so encouraged to see what work our volunteers are doing in the local community. It was particularly great seeing students who have only been living here a year or two engage with the project, keen to follow Jesus and serve those around them.

I also wrote my first theology essay on 'conquering' as a biblical storyline, focusing on how God sent a very unearthly king who conquered death in such incredible ways. I'm very grateful to Ashaleigh Higgins for guiding me through this process.

I had a brilliant time with Ashaleigh and Jonny in Swindon for the Regions Beyond Hub conference. It was so great to catch up with leaders from other churches in the country, and hear incredible stories of what God is doing in our family across the country and the world!

I'm so pleased I've got to be part of the move in to the new building the other week. When I first arrived in Durham in 2019, we were supposed to move into The Emmanuel Centre in my third term. God's taken us on quite the journey since then! I'm so grateful to have been part of the worship team, understanding the new technology, and I have been blown away by the number of hours the team have put into moving into this next stage in Emmanuel Church's ministry.

I can't wait to see what God will do with my last month in Durham, and onwards with the Bulgaria mission trip (and on that note thank you so much to everyone who attended my fundraised at the end of April)!

James' intern update

It has been a great few weeks continuing the Emmanuel Internship. I would love to highlight just a few moments glorifying God's faithfulness!

The youth band has now started to form, with new musicians joining each week. Some first year university students are also now starting to help me in equipping the youth in worship which is excellent. The youth have shown a real talent for not only music, but being lead by the Spirit. I cannot wait to see where God takes the new band!

Street mission has been really encouraging this month, seeing an increase in popularity amongst the students. We have all seen God do miraculous things in conversations. I've personally been presented with challenging situations in praying for the homeless and those in desperate need. God's presence is certainly being felt on the streets of Durham!

I've also started to lead worship more regularly in the Sunday morning services which has been incredible. God has put on my heart to step out into situations I may have previously found daunting or too big to handle, so leading worship in our morning services was a great way of doing this. He is working through myself and the band to act as one to bring us closer to God, directing our praise to Him!

I've been studying what God's grace really means in relation to faith and the law, looking particularly at Galatians 3. Ashleigh and I have been working through Terry Virgo's 'God's Lavish Grace', which tackles some of these topics. It's been a new adventure for me studying theology at this depth, and I cannot wait to see what new realisations God brings me to.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayer!

Lockdown III - update

Due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, as of midnight on Wednesday 6th January, England will enter a third national lockdown.

Attending church is permitted

Following the Prime Minister's announcement on Monday evening, we were pleased to note that unlike in March attending a church service is one of the permitted reasons to leave home, as long as Covid security measures are in place. The Government's guidance is: "You can attend places of worship for a service. However, you must not mingle with anyone outside of your household or support bubble. You should maintain strict social distancing at all times."

One in-person Sunday meeting, 10.30am

We believe that we are able to provide a Covid-secure environment for people to worship appropriately, and hear God's word. We also understand that just seeing some people can be a boost to mental health.

So, we will continue to meet in-person at The Durham Centre - but for one meeting only at 10.30am. We anticipate this will provide sufficient capacity to meet demand and will reduce the pressure and risk to those serving. The prayer meeting beforehand will be at 9.45am.

Online meetings continue

We will also continue to give the choice of worshipping and hearing God's word online via YouTube.

There are dedicated teams that enable all this to happen and we so appreciate their hard work and service.

Ticketing and Test & Trace

We are running a ticketing system to both record your details for Test and Trace and also limit the numbers in the building. Please do not come without a ticket. We have increased the tickets available as we are moving to one meeting.

Please only book a week in advance, and from 11am on the preceding Sunday.

Tickets for this Sunday must be rebooked

If you have booked a ticket for this Sunday (10th January) for 9.30am or 11.15am, those tickets will be cancelled, and you will need to rebook for 10.30am. The link to book is here.

Keep your focus on Jesus

As we were reminded by RayLowe last Sunday, we remain in faith that God is putting on open door before us, even in this season, and we look with anticipation at what He is going to do in and through us at this time.

You will recall also that Fusi Mokoena encouraged us that God is comforting us at this time, restoring what has been lost and filling new wineskins with new wine. Our prayer is that God finds us all willing and open as His presence moves upon us wherever we are.

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit
be with us all
now and forevermore."