Ichthus Newsletter Spring 2016

Welcome to your Ichthus Newsletter Quarterly Newsletter from the Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust I am writing this foreword in late January on a wintry day. Hopefully you will read it in Ichthus at a time when the sun is shining and the storms have abated! I am preparing for our LWPT and LWPHomes Board meetings and Annual General Meetings, to be held in February. There are four meetings, held ‘back to back’. We need your prayers as we meet to discuss the work of LWPT and LWPHomes. Please continue to pray for us. Our meetings will be held in Erdington Methodist Church, in north Birmingham. It is minutes away from Erdington rail station and fairly easy to reach from most places. We are welcomed at Erdington and my first call is to the coffee bar run by the Erdington volunteers. The toast and marmalade is excellent! Our board meetings are twice yearly but of course a lot of work is done ‘out of committee’. It is always good to hear from our Friends and supporters on all parts of our work. Keep your letters and emails coming in; we want to hear from you. I am pleased to receive so many positive comments about Preach magazine and our Ichthus newsletter. It is most encouraging that so many people see Preach as essential reading for all who preach and lead worship. We are progressively extending our Friends base beyond our traditional heartland in the Methodist and Wesleyan Reform Churches. LWPT is truly becoming an ecumenical charity. Our National Advocate, the Rev John Bolton, is an Anglican minister and we are hoping to gain new friends in the Baptist Union and other churches. John’s diary of appointments as National Advocate is filling, but he welcomes opportunities to visit churches. Please get in touch with him through the LWPT office if you want him to visit your church. Registered Charity No. 1107967 Contents 1 A Message from the Chairman 2 A look back at 2015 5 News from the Homes 6 Crossword 7 In Remembrance 8 Dates for the Diary Low Sunday is fast approaching, which traditionally we consider to be ‘LWPT Sunday’! We shall have a Low Sunday Appeal – details are inside. Our Vocational Grants scheme is going really well and particularly so with young people who are exploring their vocation for ministry. Please continue to pray for the ten successful applicants for grants who have recently started their studies. This will be my last foreword as LWPT Chairman. I shall leave this office at the AGM in February. I hope to continue as Finance Director for both LWPT and LWPHomes. My reason for standing down is to avoid any perception of conflict between the roles of Chairman and Finance Director. Your prayers for all parts of the work of LWPT and LWPHomes are essential. Please continue to pray for our volunteer trustees/directors, our staff, our beneficiaries and all the residents in our Westerley homes; our residents are our extended family. Philip Nuttall Chairman and Finance Director, LWPT Ichthus - Spring 2016 CONTACT US LWPT Office PO Box 2352 Watford Herts. WD18 1PY Call us on : 01923 231811 Email: [email protected] www.lwpt.org.uk www.preachweb.org Page 1