When I was vicar of Holy Trinity, Redhill I was part of the NLACC network and I have been on the organising committee for this year's conference, but I have now moved out of the larger church world (I did try to stand down from the committee but they wouldn't let me) so this was a farewell visit to a network whose support and fellowship I have valued immensely over the years.
I popped in today for the middle day to see how the conference was going. It was good to a catch up with old friends and I was really pleased to see how well the conference was going.
It takes place once every two years and runs for three days. In the intervening year there is a shorter conference for new leaders of larger churches (defined as 350+ Sunday attendance).
A growing proportion of English Anglicans attend larger churches (currently 14%, rising to 20% by 2020) so these churches have a strategic significance for the mission of the Gospel in this country, although, there is a snag.
And its this: almost without exception the larger Anglican churches are predominantly middle class churches serving predominantly middle class communities - in city centres, outer surburbia, and prosperous market towns - but the Gospel has to reach the places where the larger churches do not reach and that brings us back to Bermondsey and hundreds of places like it.
So, thank God for the life and vitality of the churches of the NLACC network, but let's pray for the spread of the Gospel everywhere.
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