FIEC Prayer News - August 2010
Week 1 - Sunday 1st – Saturday 7th
FIEC Council & Staff
General Prayer Points
The affairs of FIEC are handled by the 35 members of Council (our Trustees), supported by a network of teams and committees, and administered by the staff—most of whom are based at the Market Harborough office. The Council usually meets three times each year and is mostly comprised of church leaders from busy pastorates; please pray that they may be effective in their own ministries and in steering the work of FIEC.
Personnel
President: Rupert Bentley-Taylor
General Secretary: Richard Underwood
Director-Designate: John Stevens
Treasurer: Peter Shelley
Office Staff: Rod Badams, Roy Saint, Tim Oldridge, Janice Bowman
Pastors’ Association: Basil Howlett and Elisabeth Smyth
Prepared for Service: David and Laraine Cook
Regular Volunteer: Margery Badams
FIEC Limited: Alan Manzie, Jayne Oldridge, Gemma Adam. Volunteers: Derek Alcock, Mike Smith
Key Prayer Points This Week
Sunday 1st As we meet today for worship, may we be enabled to declare with confidence and joy the unchanging truth of Jesus, the one who came to bring salvation to all who believe in him.
Monday 2nd Please pray for Richard Underwood (General Secretary) that he will be able to support the staff and churches of the Fellowship through a period of change. Pray for safety in travel, wisdom in the many decisions he has to make and time to stay close to the Lord. At the beginning of next month he takes up his new role as Churches’ and Pastors’ Support Director.
Tuesday 3rd We thank God for our President, Rupert Bentley-Taylor, and for his leadership of the Fellowship over the past three years. Please pray for him as he brings his commitments as FIEC President to a fitting conclusion at the end of this month and as he develops his ongoing ministry at Widcombe Baptist Church, Bath and beyond.
Wednesday 4th Please pray for John Stevens (Director-Designate) as he takes up his new role on 1st September, and as he, Ursula and the family hope to be able to move into a permanent home in Market Harborough at the end of the month.
Thursday 5th Thank God for the faithful ministry of the FIEC Council as trustees of the Fellowship over many years. Please pray for the newly elected members of the new FIEC Trust Board under the chairmanship of Colin Tamplin (Monyhull Church, Birmingham) as they prepare to take up their governance responsibilities for the Fellowship next month.
Friday 6th Please pray for all the staff as the Fellowship undergoes the process of change. The work they do is essential to the smooth running of all the services FIEC brings to the churches. Thank God for Peter Shelley, as he fills the demanding role of FIEC Treasurer.
Saturday 7th Please pray for all the Christian young couples getting married this summer. Let’s ask that God will build many strong Christian marriages which can be a great encouragement in our churches and be a tangible witness to unbelievers.
Week 2 - Sunday 8th – Monday 16th
FIEC Ministries
General Prayer Points
The various ministry teams do a significant amount of work ‘behind the scenes’. Please pray that each team may be aware that its work is valued as we seek to work out the aims and objectives of FIEC, which are to support churches, reach communities and grow leaders. Pray for each team to be enthused with their task of adding gospel value to the life of the churches
Teams
Executive Committee, Training Teams, Finance Committee, Overseas Relationships Team, Care & Recognition Team (CART), Media Team, Outreach Team, Women’s Ministry Team, Pastoral Link Team, FIEC Limited
Key Prayer Points This Week
Sunday 8th The church is the hope of the world. Please pray that as we meet today, the Lord would instil in us more deeply the needs of our nation and his heart for the lost. Pray too that we will always be welcoming to newcomers, both Christian and non-Christian, as they visit our churches.
Monday 9th Summer is a great opportunity for camps, beach missions, houseparties and open air evangelism. Pray that God will use many of the young people in our churches particularly to share their faith boldly and have the joy of seeing young and older won for the Lord Jesus.
Tuesday 10th Please pray for the Media Team. It has a wide range of tasks connected with the presentation of the Fellowship’s work including Together magazine and the FIEC website.
Wednesday 11th Please pray for the Pastoral Link Team. The PLT manages the Pastors’ Association which supports and cares for pastors, encourages young men entering pastoral ministry and acts as a link for pastors seeking a church and vice versa.
Thursday 12th Please pray for Terry Martin and the Church Restoration Team. The work they do to help struggling churches throughout the country is greatly needed. May the Lord give them wisdom, discernment, inner strength and safety in their travels and hope to the churches.
Friday 13th Pray for the Women’s Ministry Team. The WMT aims to encourage biblical women’s ministries and to support and encourage pastors’ wives and other women in ministry in our churches.
Saturday 14th Please pray for the Training Team whose purpose is to embed a culture of training in our churches and to provide top quality training through Prepared for Service. Join us in thanking God for the appointment of Trevor Archer as Training Director; he will take up this post full time from 1st January 2011.
Sunday 15th Thank God that we are able to worship without fear today. Let’s remember to pray for those believers throughout the world who do not enjoy religious freedom that the Lord will strengthen them in the face of opposition and possibly strong persecution.
Monday 16th Contagious is a Bible-centred youth conference which is being held in two different locations for the first time this year. From today until Sunday, Contagious East for 14-19 year olds and Contagious Nano for 11-13 year olds will run concurrently at Culford School, Bury St Edmunds. Please pray for the staff and youngsters attending that this will be a great week for learning more about Jesus. This year, Contagious will be exploring the book of Revelation.
Week 3 - Tuesday 17th - Wednesrday 25th
Supporting Churches, Reaching Communities, Growing Leaders
General Prayer Points
The church is the special object of God’s love and the hope of the world. FIEC exists to equip churches to fulfil their divine mandate at a challenging time in our nation. We need to keep our hearts focussed on the glory of God, our wills aligned with God’s saving purpose and our vision fixed on the goal of making disciples from every nation.
FIEC Ministries
FIEC Visitors and local church groups, Learn2Lead, Pastors’ Association, Conferences and Consultations, Advice & Support from the FIEC office, Church Planting, Prepared for Service, Church Restoration
Key Prayer Points This Week
Tuesday 17th Reaching our communities with the gospel is one of our greatest challenges and our biggest priorities as a movement of churches. Please pray as we seek to develop ways of supporting missional ministry across the nation.
Wednesday 18th Thank God for those involved in church planting ministries. Church planting is a great way of reaching a new community with the good news about Jesus and keeping a congregation fresh and vibrant.
Thursday 19th Please pray for the Care and Recognition Team. The CART addresses the needs that arise within and between churches. It is also responsible for administering the Visitor scheme.
Friday 20th The Pastoral Introductions service helps many churches to find pastors. Thank God for new ministries which have commenced in recent months and pray for churches who long to find the right man to lead, love and teach them.
Saturday 21st Please pray for FIEC’s church planters as they undergo a period of change—the Asghers in Cranford, W London, the Reberas in Brighton, the Hutchinsons in Blackpool, the Swales in Newcastle and the Birmingham team. Praise God for the way he has blessed these ministries through the salvation of many people.
Sunday 22nd Please pray for all the churches of the Fellowship as we meet today to declare the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ with confidence and joy. Please pray for pastors and church leaders suffering from ill-health, worry or discouragement. May the Lord strengthen them in his love and enable them to return to their ministries, full of the Holy Spirit.
Monday 23rd Please pray today for the young people aged 14-19 years old, who will attend the first Contagious West Youth Conference at Hebron Hall, Cardiff starting today, running until Sunday. Pray too for the leaders as they seek to disciple these young people and prepare them for future service in days to come.
Tuesday 24th People from our churches are faithfully serving the Lord in many parts of the world. Please pray that the Lord will use them and raise up a new generation of young people who will serve him as missionaries taking the gospel to the whole world.
Wednesday 25th Please pray for the ministry of all the FIEC Visitors around the country in their vital work of supporting churches and pastors. Thank God for new Visitors and ask him to help us identify more men who could fulfil this vital role.
PLEASE LET US HAVE ITEMS FOR INCLUSION IN THE SEPTEMBER PRAYER NEWS BY MONDAY 16th AUGUST via the e-mail contact section of the website
Week 4 - Thursday 26th - Tuesday 31st
Pursuing Evangelical Unity & Growing Partnerships
General Prayer Points
FIEC seeks to foster good relationships in the wider evangelical world and contribute to gospel work through informal networks, membership of organisations like Affinity and with representatives on the boards of various agencies (e.g. Go Teach and the Evangelical Housing Association).
Partner or Related Ministries
Affinity, Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches, Evangelical Housing Association, Evangelical Movement of Wales, Go Teach, Grace Baptist Associations, Association of Evangelists, New Word Alive, Bible Colleges like LTS, Oak Hill and WEST, Proclamation Trust – and Cornhill Training Course
Key Prayer Points This Week
Thursday 26th Please pray for Affinity which is a network of more than 1200 Bible-centred churches and Christian agencies in the UK. Seeking to be conservative in doctrine and contemporary in culture, Affinity exists to promote biblical church unity for the furtherance of the gospel. Affinity is delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Milsom as its new part-time Director; please pray for Peter as he takes on this new role from 1st September and for Richard (chairman) as he steers the Affinity Council through a period of change.
Friday 27th Please pray for the work of FIEC Ltd. Pray for Gemma Adam who has recently joined the staff to work alongside Jayne Oldridge and Alan Manzie, with Derek Alcock and Mike Smith who serve on a voluntary basis. Pray for them all in the invaluable work they do for so many churches both inside and outside the Fellowship.
Saturday 28th Please start to pray about Envision: The FIEC Leaders’ Conference which will take place from 20-22 October, entitled ‘Building for the Future’. The Conference will be a great opportunity for leaders in our churches, whether elders, deacons, youth leaders or women’s workers, together with their spouses, to join together for mutual encouragement and to shape the vision and direction of the Fellowship.
Sunday 29th Pray for all ministries amongst children and young people—they are not just the church of tomorrow; they are a vital part of the church today. The work can be discouraging at times so please pray for Sunday School teachers and all children’s and youth workers.
Monday 30th Please pray for the Overseas Relationships Team which works to promote contact with, and assistance of, churches in need overseas. It also enables folk from the UK to make overseas visits to encourage missionaries linked with their churches.
Tuesday 31st As the summer holidays draw to a close, let us pray for all our young people preparing to return to (or go to for the first time) school, college, university or work. Pray too for all teachers at the start of the new academic year that they may know the Lord’s help and wisdom in what is a very difficult and demanding occupation.
As the information contained in this prayer bulletin can at times be sensitive, please note that none of the content should be reprinted in another publication without the permission of the FIEC office – 39 The Point, Market Harborough, LE16 7QU (01858 434540).