13 people who told us they are not part of any church said yes to Christ, when I spoke at Hope Church, Guildford’s Carol Service on Sunday evening. The church has a tremendous high street presence hiring RGS Guildford and I was thrilled to be told how much this church has grown over the past 12 months. I’m told they 200 people there on Sunday night, which is twice as many as last year’s carols, and that this growth is typical of Sunday attendance year on year. In fact I met several of the newcomers afterwards who told me how much they are enjoying now being part of Hope Church.
Leaders Chris and Catherine Kimbangi hosted, and Catherine took part in an excellent dance (which sort of happened in the background, or back of the stage), during a performance song. The lead vocalist, who I think was called Rad was amazing. What a tremendous gift to have in any church! As well as the dance there was also a brass quartet called Hart of Brass, who did great also. It is tremendous to see a church with a relatively young age profile growing so quickly. Someone told me afterwards that 5 out of every 8 first time visitors make Hope Church their church.
Finally, I’d like to say that when I first arrived at university back in 1988, the first Christians I met were from RGS Guildford. These were young men who became role models and mentors to me when I was a brand new Christian. I’d heard so much about their school, where they were all converted, and it was quite something to visit there for the very first time.