One of the great blessings of the service last night was the opportunity to meet friends and to enjoy fellowship:
Just before the start of the service:

Enjoying food after the meeting:

Julie with various colleagues from Hope House School, including former pupils, and members of Hope House Church in Barnsley:

With friends and family from other areas:

Both Garry and Julie gave testimonies of how God has led them to this new area of responsibility. One of the great privileges of this service was having so many friends attend who have been instrumental in shaping their ministries over the years. Garry thanked Brian Watson for his faithful witness as a work colleague which led to his accepting Christ:

He spoke of how (many years ago) Brian and an unknown lady in a church in Ripon had both spoken of their belief that God would lead Garry into the pastorate and that although this had seemed an utterly impossible task in those early days of faith, God has worked consistently in his life over many years so that at this point, this no longer seemed an impossible task! He thanked Mark and Diane for their support and friendship and the congregation for their love and encouragement and spoke of the irony of having little formal theological training when he was so used to pursuing training in every aspect of his life, yet how he remained assured that God had given him the training and teaching required to do this work.

Julie was also thrilled to be able to share this evening with people who had been instrumental in bringing her to faith and nurturing her faith through university years and throughout her working life:
Raymond & Jane Obin

Philip & Sharon Pye (leaders at the church in Oxford which Julie attended as a student, Phil preached at Garry and Julie’s wedding and now works in Ilkeston, being a senior leader in Assemblies of God)

She too gave thanks to Mark and Diane, not only for their leadership of the church but for their encouragement and friendship which has helped to develop her ministries, saying that Mark and Diane are shining examples of what God’s light looks like in human form. She then shared how God had led her in 2013 to leave her job as a French teacher, calling her to what was then an unknown destination, a decision that was both difficult for one whose temperament liked familiarity and back-up plans and challenging. She also shared how there is often a time of testing and waiting between hearing God’s call and seeing the fulfilment of His promises. In her case, this meant waiting beyond her expected period of notice at school for God to supply a replacement teacher:
Julie with Florentine:

During those long days of waiting for God to move, the song ‘Mighty Fortress’ by Aaron Shust became very real and whilst unable to sing this herself because of having virtually lost her voice this past week, Stephen sang this song to encourage all who may still be in this waiting ‘in-between’ phrase that there are things God will simply never do because of His character and so we can be confident that He will never forsake us, deceive us, abandon us or reject us but will indeed be a mighty fortress and tower of strength to His people at all times:

‘Mighty Fortress’, Aaron Shust

Dave went on to continue speaking from 1 and 2 Timothy, offering advice from Paul’s letters to Timothy on leadership to Garry and Julie.

1 Tim 3:1-5 TNIV talks about the criteria those in leadership require, namely being ‘above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money’, with the wife being ‘worthy of respect, not malicious talkers but temperate and trustworthy in everything.’ (1 Tim 3:11 TNIV). He emphasised the team ministry of preaching, teaching and hospitality demonstrated by Garry and Julie and went on to look at some of the duties they are called to do: first of all, prayer (1 Tim 2:1-2 TNIV), for both those in the flock and for those in charge of the country; secondly, to preach the Word of God faithfully, opposing all false doctrine and using God’s Word to correct, rebuke and encourage (2 Tim 4:2-3 TNIV) and finally to guard what has been entrusted to them, recognising that to be a pastor is not a job, but a calling which must be guarded against the distractions of the world. (1 Tim 6:20 TNIV)

Listening to the formal charge given by Dave on behalf of the church:
‘I now charge you to:
In the power of the Holy Spirit and under the anointing of God, work together and individually to guide and lead the flock entrusted to you.
Uphold the people of God and this church by your earnest prayers.
To preach and to teach the whole Word of God as given to us in Holy Scripture.
To work together with the other leaders, and with the whole of the church, to propagate the Christian gospel with the purpose that all may be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.’

Garry and Julie both accepted this charge and the congregation were then invited to stand and respond to their charge: ‘Will you as the people of God in Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church, accept Garry and Julie Turner as your Pastor and Shepherd, and will you promise before God to help, support and encourage them in every way, to regularly pray for them, and accept their guidance and direction?’

After this, the elders prayed for both Garry and Julie and anointed them with oil:

A presentation of flowers was then given to Julie:

Saturday 4th January 2014 was a significant day in the life of our church as we gave thanks for the leadership of Mark and Diane over the past eight and a half years and welcomed Garry and Julie to the pastorate.

First of all we reviewed highlights in these people’s church life through a Power Point charting the work done since the move to St Mark’s.
Celebration service

Dave said that often services like these are viewed as being ‘under new management’, but actually a change in leadership is not new management, for Christ remains the head of the church. Nonetheless, it is significant to recognise all that God has done through leaders and to commission new leaders. He went on to speak from 2 Tim 1:3-7 TNIV, commenting that Mark’s faith had been nurtured by his grandmother and mother and that his vision and wisdom had helped the church to grow both numerically and spiritually over the past eight-and-a-half years.

The move to the new building in 2010 had been the fulfilment of a word spoken to Mark some fifteen years previously, but this had been the right time for this vision to be fulfilled (see Hab 2:3 TNIV) and Mark’s practical skills and confidence in God had led the church to new ventures. Renamed Goldthorpe Pentecostal Community Church after this move, the church’s work in the community continues to grow, largely in part because of Mark and Diane’s hard work with children and young people and it is with great excitement that we look to see how God leads in future. Mark and Diane will continue to serve on the leadership team of the church and we are very grateful not only for their past work but for their ongoing contribution to church life.

Mark and Diane both shared testimonies. Diane thanked all church members for their love and support and spoke of how God never gives us more than we can bear, even though He often stretches our faith! The refurbishment of the building nearly four years ago turned out to be much more extensive than we had anticipated, but God helped us each step of the way and blessed us enormously. Mark thanked Diane for her unstinting support of his ministries and thanked the church for being a ‘working church’, reminding us once again that God works all things together for good. (Rom 8:28 TNIV)

Prayer and presentations were then made to Mark and Diane:

Here are some more party photos from Wednesday:

We played pass the parcel with forfeits. Here, Eileen had to sing ‘Away in a Manger’ whilst wearing a Christmas hat:

Karen had to be superman, underpants and all!

Members of the Salvation Army drew the pirates’ straw!

… whilst Mark got a mankini!

Musical chairs:

One of our church traditions which I really like is the New Year’s Day party. It is good to start the new year together with food, fun and fellowship. These are key ingredients to any family life (I agree with Jan Peterson’s view that eating together is a really important part of fellowship!) and it is a great opportunity to invite other people into church.

Here are some photos from the party:

The food part

The fellowship part

The fun part