Dear Friends,

I write this letter just as Lynne and I are about to go to Louth in Lincolnshire to celebrate with my sister and brother-in-law their 50^th wedding anniversary on the 18^th October. I can well remember the occasion in 1958 at the age of 13 proudly attending that event in a suit with short trousers! I don’t think I have ever seen such apparel since!

The marriage took place in Union Church, Queen’s Square, the church in Brighton where both Phyllis and I were brought up and where some 11 years later Lynne and I were also married. That building no longer exists as it was demolished to make way for town centre improvements but I have many fond memories of that building where I also came to know the Lord personally for myself in 1968.

The theology of the church could be described as fairly liberal, (I remember one of the ministers telling me not to be so old fashioned when I suggested a weekly prayer time would be good for the church!) but they did love and care for one another and I’m proud to say my parents attended that church for over 60 years and Dad was an elder there for many years as well.

Whatever their theology might have been they always welcomed me as a young and enthusiastic preacher saying that though they disagreed with my evangelical perspective they enjoyed my delivery and realised that unless the church of the future was made up of such people it would soon come to an end.

I am so grateful for my roots and the example I was given there of caring for one another. My mother said of the church that when Dad died, if it had not been for her faith and the loving care of that congregation she would never have got through. It was this background together with my training for four years in a Congregational Theological College , “New College”, a part of London University that enabled me to have a respect for and an appreciation of others with a different Christian perspective to mine.

“Thank you Lord for the pathway and journeying pilgrimage along which you have led me”.

So now we celebrate with Phyllis and John 50 years of married life, which to be honest, in the social climate we at present live in, is an amazing feat! So many marriages end up on the rocks of broken relationships so that when one sees a marriage surviving for such a great length of time it causes me to rejoice greatly.

However we must not be complacent about this. Please do pray with me for the marriages that form part of our church for none of us are exempt from difficulties and it is so important to uphold one another in prayer that we might be granted the Lord’s grace to communicate well and to apply Christian values and principles at all times.

It is with this fact in mind that Lynne and I are hoping in the New Year to run another Alpha Marriage course and we would be pleased to hear from anyone who might like to come along for  this encouraging and helpful course that is held once a week for seven weeks. Already about 10 couples have completed the course and would speak highly of its content. One does not have to be experiencing problems in order to qualify to attend because a strap line statement of the course states it “will help good marriages to get even better”.

As we look back over our lives we can all identify people and situations that have been “growth points” in our experience of the Lord no matter what length of time we have been following in His footsteps. I am so grateful for the way He found a way to break into my life and reveal Himself to me, making me realise He wanted a personal relationship with me. Up until 1968 I had attended church all my life but had not known Him. Praise the Lord with me for that precious relationship we have with our Lord Jesus since in His mercy we were enabled to open up our hearts to Him, repent of our sins and receive His healing forgiveness.

Yours in His joy,

Clive