The previous twelve months had not been the easiest in the Northampton church. Apart from other things, a massive flood had damaged much of the facilities and created huge challenges.
A year later, not only had the fabric of the building been restored but it was now exponentially in better shape than ever before. I sensed that this was also paralleled in the spiritual life of the church as well.
In order to thank the church for the magnificent work that had been done in the past twelve months - a lavish celebratory meal was put on in appreciation of a number of key people who had a part in the restoration process. Over ninety were in attendance. Senior Pastor Jason Heron (pictured here with his wife Linda) compered the evening.
Other people from outside the local church were also present and who has been support to the church during that period including Regional Leader Gordon Neale and his wife Kay.
Marilyn and I were there as guests and, before I spoke at the close of the evening two of the best worship leaders in the UK took part in the celebration - Lara Martin (who is based at Elim Northampton) and Noel Robinson.