Grantham Baptist Church

 

• A homecoming nobody expected

• From arriving in 2015 the Minister wants the church to be setting the climate of the town by 2020

• ‘It’s all about confidence in the Gospel’
   

The current story for Ken and his family started many years ago. They attended Grantham Baptist Church for 15 years until 1993. During that time, they had grown as disciples and leaders, during a particularly good time in the church’s history. The church had 15 baptisms a year for more than 10 years with more than 60 teenagers involved in the life of the church. New leaders were generated and sent out.
 
Ken and his family were also sent to bible College. They were placed with a  New Frontiers plant, before spending a significant amount of time on an overseas mission to an unreached people group in South Sudan. Throughout this whole time, Grantham Baptist Church prayed for them regularly.
 
Then one Sunday many years later, Ken and his wife Sue were travelling to Grantham to preach. They were reflecting on what they had experienced since they left and both agreed and chuckled when they said, ‘we’re never going back to Grantham’. But God had a different plan. As Ken stood up to preach he was overwhelmed by the Spirit of God and stood there transfixed for two minutes! He knew he was being called back, this time to lead the church, but in a new way. Andy the current leader welcomed him and encouraged him greatly.
 
The church had changed since the 1990s. The church had grown older together and was now skewed to an older age group. The church told Ken they wanted a pastor. Ken’s reply was ‘You need a transformer not a pastor’. He had a biblical vision – to make disciples and transforms lives including influencing the whole town.
 
Ken started realising this vision at church and wanted to invest in ministry and leadership. He prioritised this to the under 50s. This was not ageist, but part of the plan to help transform the church for the future. He believes in 'every member in ministry and mission'
 
He also prioritised encouraging children in the church. This worked and doubled the numbers of young people. With the investment in new leaders they are mentoring those younger people, ‘Loving them into action. Giving confidence in the Gospel’.
 
They are now two years into the journey and 8 people have been baptised and 20 have come to Christ. Ken has also seen how his African experiences have been helpful in his calling. He recalls those that said amongst the unreached ‘I feel something burning in my chest and I think it has something to do with Jesus’. He wants people to experience those feelings in Grantham.
 
Ken has found there are similar leaders in the town with the same vision of transforming lives and setting the spiritual temperature. The leadership teams have come together to pray. The next stage is that the congregations will come gather to pray.
 
Ken is working to a 5-6-year cycle. By the 5th year he wants someone leading him and half his age. Already he doesn’t feel he needs to lead everything.

Above: Ken’s notebook which describes the journey Grantham is on. From arriving in 2015 he wants the church to be setting the climate of the town by 2020.
 
‘It’s all about confidence in the Gospel’

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