Excuse the provocative and rather ‘slangy’title but now I’ve got your attention, andthe heading has more than a bit of truthin it. Having been involved in a largechurch for 13 years I think I can appre-ciate their advantages: (often) rich in re-source, plenty of people of all ages; signi-ficant youth work…well I better stop oryou’ll become envious. Calvary is a smallchurch, with a membership in the low20s and Sunday morning congregationsusually in the mid-30s. It has beenmore—for a br ief time 20 years agomembership was almost 60—and I hopeyou share my passion that we should seesubstantial growth, in every way. But Ialso hope that we remain a ‘small’ churchin terms of some important values andcriteria:

Contact. In larger churches it’s very pos-sible not to have met, let alone know,other people in the church. That just isn’tpossible in a small church—unless youmake a very big effort not to notice oth-ers; and a good thing too! The flavour ofthe church as expressed in the Bible is allabout first name relationships and con-sciousness of people’s situations andneeds. Paul had to plead with Euodia andSyntyche to get on with each other be-cause they couldn’t help bumping intoeach other in church in Philippi; whichleads us on to:

Character. All of us need to grow in grace(see 2 Peter 1:5-7). It’s an imperative. Butit can be a challenging and sometimespainful experience. The church is theplace where much of this characterchanging needs to take place. I hopeEuodia and Syntyche grappled with thisrather than move elsewhere. They wouldsurely have learnt a lot! In large churchesit’s rather easy to avoid people we don’tnaturally get on with. This is a shamebecause we miss out on a vast amount ofthe attitude-changing, behaviour-altering, prayer-making work which Godneeds to do in every Christian.

Commitment. A third ‘C’! Commitmentis a much used, and abused, word but it’sa truly good word for a Christian. We arecommitted to Jesus Christ—and He iscommitted to us. And as members of Hisbody, the church, our lives are bound uptogether for time and eternity. We needto express this and experience the rich-ness of all that this can mean. A smallchurch is a very good place to understandwhat this could mean. Eph. 4:1-3 comesto mind.

All of this suggests that a small church isan excellent situation to ‘get real’ and‘keep real’ as a Christian. Well, this mayseem like hard work and in fact it often is.But is there actually any other way for usto live properly as Christians than by

NewsletterSummer 2008

Join a small church – and get real!

genuine contact, more Christ-like char-acter and ‘look you in the eye’ commit-ment? Nothing less than God’s grace andstrength will see us through with this sortof life. What a calling! What a privilege!

Yours, together in His service,

Chris Fry (Elder)

Well we all thought Elsie was indestructible,but our oldest member (and a great, greatgrandmother) finally went to the Lord on 24thJanuary 2008. Here is one of her poems.

If only

If only you would open your eyes and seeThe beautiful things aroundIf only you would tell Jesus you love himWhat a beautiful friend you have found.

If only you would come to JesusAnd call his precious nameTell him how much you love himHe would do the same.

If only I was young againHow much happier I would have beenTo have such a beautiful friend

just like him

Yet now I am much olderI feel within my heartHe has really been my beautiful friendRight from the start.

Elsie Lilian TaylorBorn 1st September1916Died 24th January 2008

In our last newsletter (Winter 2007) wereported on our evangelistic efforts dur-ing two ‘Events Weeks’ and our generalongoing outreach by means of a booktable located every Saturday morning atthe entrance to the Open Market byLondon Road.

As we enter the solemn but excitingEaster season we can report that, by God’sgrace, the book table is still a regular fea-ture amongst the billboards and businessesin the marketplace. This is a key devel-opment in this type of evangelism sincepeople are more comfortable and trustingtowards familiar things and several rela-tionships with individuals and traders arebeing built. But it is not just about rela-tionship; we are not there merely to so-cialise. We are trying to follow God’sagenda which requires the under-pinningof long-term commitment and resolve,patience and sensibility towards everykind of individual. We also need personalmaturity to recognise a directive from theHoly Spirit and exercise enough faith tospeak frankly and clearly concerning anyaspect of the Gospel at any given mo-ment. This is a real test of balancingkindness and gentleness with the need toconfront them with the terrifying realitiesof an eternal future under God’s wrath.We must not leave this part of the Gospelout – or why on earth would anyone intoday’s world of self-dependency and in-dividualism see the need for Jesus?People, in general, are in denial aboutdeath and what follows and I am con-vinced that sowing a seed of thought inthis area can work with their consciencesmore effectively than simply the rather

Evangelism in Brighton

Elsie Taylor

cosy idea that Jesus loves them.

It is a hard work and paradoxicallydraining and uplifting at the same time.Once we have it settled in our minds andspirits that God is unfailingly at work‘behind the scenes’ while we speak thosewords of life into dark places of unbeliefand rebellion, then it becomes a thrill torealise that we really are partnering withthe Living God every Saturday morning– not a bad start to the weekend!

Finally, my personal conviction frommany years of evangelism in all its diverseforms is that it is the simplest, most ef-fective and instant method of drawingyour attention away from self. How pronewe are, even daily, to let down our guardand become entangled in concerns andworries about self; and how (if we arehonest) we love to do this. But this is just

not the Godly way and soon enough ourpersonal perspective becomes distortedand inflated. Whenever I feel I am losingmy grip in this way, or I’m tired or fed-up,I know, that I know, that I know I mustget my eyes fixed back on Jesus right awayso I drag myself (sometimes kicking andscreaming) out amongst the lost ofBrighton and, before long, my heavenlyperspective on all of life returns.

Please pray that this endeavour will go onfaithfully not only for the sake of thedesperate unbeliever but also for the des-perate Christian who may decide this isone way in which to allow God to do Hiswork of personal transformation.

Christina Summers

The refurbishment of the building con-tinues apace. By God’s grace this has beenfinanced by a substantial legacy and gen-erous gifts from members and friends, sowe have not been delayed by any cashflow problms.

At the time of publication we (well ac-tually some very helpful builders!) haveconstructed new toilets in the old vestry,and created a new entrance area with amezzanine floor. This structure has alsocreated a small room off the main hallwhich doubles as a vestry and crèche. A

new glass main door creates a more wel-coming impression while still excludingnoise from Viaduct Road.

At the time of publication a major kit-chen refurbishment is underway, and weare trying out new chairs for the mainhall.

Steve Ellacott

Building Works

The mezzanine floor under construction

This is an extract from Ray Wingate’s account of his wife Christine’s life, given atthe Thanksgiving Service in January 2008

Chr is’s Grandmother Hannah Gee(Nanny Gee) attended the church hereand so Chris and Ray’s grandchildren arethe fifth generation! Chris mother, IreneGee (nee Cole) came from Essex. Chriswas brought to church here, by Ted andIrene Gee, not so much as a babe inarms... but as a ‘bump’ even before she wasborn. Brother David arrived in 1954.

The family lived in Park Crescent Roaduntil 1964. Chr is attended FairlightSchools, as did her father and later ourchildren. She passed the 11+ and went toVarndean School for Girls. Liz Smith(née Marsh) writes “Chris was a greatfriend throughout our time at Varndean.We met up on the first day. She was theonly girl who passed the 11+ from herschool and only three passed from mineand they were not in the same class. So weteamed up and have been in touch eversince. She was a loyal and trustworthyfriend and it was good to keep in touchwith our yearly letters at Christmas.”From Fay Cumberland (née Crampton):“Even though we never met since a fewmonths after your marriage, I rememberher well from our Varndean days. Quiet,studious, very gentle and a good friendback then.”

Chris was baptised by immersion (alongwith Jenny Long) on 1st September 1965at Preston Park Baptist Church, byCalvary’s late Pastor Les Hill, I think bothhad been deeply affected by Pastor Les’s

series on the Second Coming of the LordJesus Christ and although Chris had beenbrought up in the Christian religion sherealised the need to be born again, to re-pent of her sin and to follow the LordJesus Christ. Under Les’s pastoral careChris joined the young people in thechurch (Tea at the manse, then Star Trekand then into the Back Hall for theWednesday Bible Study.)

Our coming together was somewhat un-expected I think. There was a plan bysome of the young people of the churchto go to the Holland Road BaptistChurch Missionary Week, but only thetwo of us turned up at the bus stop, andwhen we got there the main speakerhadn’t turned up either! Miss Barber hadseen us together and asked the question(with much surprise and perhaps evenshock) “Are Christine and Raymond ‘going out?” We weren’t actually, but itdid seem a good idea! After a while, andwith Ted’s permission, we were engagedat Christmas 1966 and married on the9th September 1967.

I think I’d put a stop to any ideas of Chrisgoing on to college. She had sometimesworked as my Saturday girl at the BataShoe shop I managed in Western Road,and after on leaving school with A levelsworked as a cler ical officer for theMinistry of Pensions and NationalInsurance (later Social Security) on thelong-term benefits section. (This raised asmile when reading in the Bible about‘the ministry of reconciliation’ and ‘forgetnot all His benefits’!) Chris left work tostart a family, spending her 21st birthday

Thanksgiving service: Christine Wingate

in hospital nursing a three day old Julie!Elisabeth ar r ived in July 1971 andAndrew in January 1978.

Chris later returned to the world of workand was for a time a playground dinnerlady at Fairlight (and later a parent gov-ernor). She did Tupperware for a time andlater joined the Sussex Eye Hospital in1988, where she was part of the team.Shirley Miller wrote: “Christine was oneof the loveliest people I have worked withand known. She is already greatly missed,but we all have special and happymemories.”

Julie and Roger married in 1993 andElisabeth married Dave in 2001. Chrisbecame a grandma with little Emily whosuccumbed to a sudden fatal illness. Therewas sadness too in with the passing of Ted,her father, her brother David and hermother Irene in the space of three years.She was so pleased to be a grandma againwhen Matthew was born, then laterChloe (who was in such a rush to seeGrandma!) and Jonathan. In this past yearChris was able to see Eben and to holdhim. We were thankful that she was ableto know that Andrew had qualified as anurse and due to commence his NursingCareer soon after Christmas.

One of the church members wrote “Iloved and respected Chris, her quietstrength in all she did was something Ireally admired in her. Her confidence inGod was obvious, and even when facedwith an uncertain future her faith did notwaver. She was wise on all kinds of mat-ters and I will miss her very much.”

Ray Wingate

Calvary International Cafe was launchedin September 2005 to reach Internationalstudents with the Gospel, to befriendthem and to help them. The work stillcontinues every Saturday evening 7 -9pm. We are normally a small group ran-ging from around five to twelve people.We play table tennis, table football, dartsas well as var ious board games... wesometimes have quirky games (!) and wefinish with a coffee and a Bible study. I(Mark) am the organiser.... Sarah andRachel help me out as well as the studentsthat come.

We are a close knit group and every weekis a bit different. We seem to get peoplevisiting one week and they either comeback or don’t! It is very informal and a lotof fruit has come from it: students findinga “home” at Calvary and even coming tothe main meetings on a Sunday.

We have seen many students from all overthe world! Recent nationalities includeArgentinean and Saudi. I really enjoyleading this time and showing Christ tostudents in a practical way. They appreci-ate the time and effort given and as anex-foreign student myself l know what itis like in a foreign land with little know-ledge of their language!

Keep praying that students will come andfind a refuge at our café and church andmost importantly find Jesus Christ. Alsopray that we will encourage Christianstudents in their faith!

Calvary InternationalCafé (CIC)

“There is neither Greek nor Jew, slave norfree, male or female, for you are all one inChrist Jesus. (Gal. 3:28)”

Mark Rayfield

Supporting Mission – the evening ofSunday 9th March was dedicated to re-viewing our mission support at home andacross the globe. It was a precious time ofacknowledging and praying for the manydiverse and effective ways of witnessing tothe Gospel and we are seeking the Lord’sheart and mind for our future areas andlevel of support.

Brian, Jordan and little Iain Douglas areheaded back west – having spent eighteenmonths living in family digs on SussexUniversity campus while Brian pursuedhis DPhil studies and faced all the chal-lenges of culture change, British studentlife, financial stretching, health issues andall the other delights of rearing a youngfamily, the Lord has wonderfully openeda door for Brian to teach at St Ambrose

High School based in the beautiful townof Boise, capital of the state of Idaho wayover by the Rockies in north-westernUSA. They are excited to be returning totheir homeland and to be part of aforward-thinking Christian establish-ment, but they know the challenges of yetbeing far from their home and family inFlorida. At Calvary our challenge is not tomiss them too much (!) and to rememberthem in prayer and ongoing communic-ation. We love them and will be com-mitting them to the Lord’s keeping as wecelebrate their season with us on 23rdMay. They will depart two days later. (TheDouglas family would like to thank all themembers and friends of Calvary whohave so graciously opened their heartsand homes to them, and who have faith-fully lifted them up in prayer).

Who are We?Calvary Evangelical Church is a registered charity, no. 1089327.

To find out more about us, check outwww.calvary-brighton.org.uk

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