The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

After Easter my attention turned towards Pentecost and prayed that God's Holy Spirit would be with me as I continued with my Presidential duties.

My first Eastertide engagement was the Spring Council Meeting. Here I contribute to the business of the  Council as an elected Trustee and importantly, ensure that our time together is prayerful and spirit led.

A break in the formal proceedings

It was a very full agenda and details will be circulated in due course. But part of the discussions were about our Assembly in June and the way we present the findings from the recent examination of council business as mandated by last year's resolution in the Swansea Assembly. Personally, I pray that this will be well received and allow us all to move to the next stage of our journey.

On 13th May it was my delightful duty to preside at the Anniversary service in Greenacres Congregational Church, Oldham. This is one of the oldest continuing congregations in the Federation  and a very warm welcome was given to me by a packed congregation. The service was followed by a wonderful lunch served in the church hall.

Revd David Lampard, Minister at Greenacres with President Martin Spain

The pulpit, choir area and Communion Table at Greenacres

Post worship lunch

The weekend of Saturday and Sunday 19 and 20 May saw me travelling across the severn estuary to the South West Area gathering at Crediton Congregational Church. It was good to be part of the Area meeting and to participate in some of the workshops. The following day saw me in the pulpit for two services, 9.30am and 11am. No rest for the wicked ... so the saying goes. Here is a church that has adapted to meet the needs of younger people whilst not forgetting its traditional roots, hence two distinct services. The same sermon was preached (almost) and it was a new experience for me to have the sermon applauded in the 11am service. I took it as a compliment for the Spirit does move where it wishes. My grateful thanks to Pastor James Gregory and team for an uplifting experience. Good on you!

Crediton Congregational Church

This was the 'warm up' before the 11am service

East and West

On Palm Sunday, 25th March 2018, I was the preacher at Springhead Congregational Church, near Oldham. It was a pleasure to lead worship and good to see many friends, including the minister, Revd Liz Dean. There was a good congregation and it was wonderful to see some children at the service. There were traditional readings for Palm Sunday and the children's address included shouts of 'Hosanna'.
Immediately after the service Bacon rolls and tea and coffee were served and it was a treat enjoyed by most of the congregation and members of the local constabulary who popped in.

This knitted Last Supper scene caught my eye

Liz and Martin enjoying a catch up after the bacon roll!

Easter Sunday was at home in my own churches and I presided at three services. 9.30am was at Crundale, 11am at Zion's Hill, Spittal and 2.30pm was the afternoon service at Tabernacle, Tiers Cross. 

And the following Sunday, I was in the East Midlands Area as I joined the Revd Ken Hague and fellowship at Newark Congregational Church for a 11am service. The sermon was based on the story of doubting Thomas and it was good to be part of this faithful fellowship, who treated me to a sumptuous Sunday lunch at the nearby Grange Hotel. I travelled to Newark on Saturday, stopping off at our Nottingham 'HQ' to visit the training course that was running. It was great to meet some of our students and tutors and Revd Dr Walter Riggans, our Learning and Development Manager. Please remember our students in your prayers and thank God for women and men who are learning how to better serve Him in the work of the Kingdom.

Newark Congregational Church

Martin and Ken

The best table for lunch

A visit to Escumesthorpe

Scunthorpe Congregational Church

Saturday 10 March saw me at Scunthorpe Congregational Church  for the Area Assembly of the North east Area. Scunthorpe is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 when it was known as Escumesthorpe. It was good to meet up with old colleagues and some Welsh people in exile in the north east.

The church building is a modern purpose built facility that gets the balance right between having a sanctuary for worship and praise and the halls for other events.

The meeting of the Area was ably chaired by Keith Bradley and before the official business, we were led in worship by Christine, after which I gave a presentation on my role as President and a military chaplain.

Sunday morning at 10.30am, I took the pulpit at Scunthorpe and was privileged to preside at the table for communion. It was Mothers' Day and the church distributed flowers to the fellowship, whether they were mothers, fathers or any other category! It was then a quick dash over to Tapton Hill, Sheffield for their 2.45pm service, stopping off for lunch with Keith and Sally on the way. Although busy, it was a blessed opportunity for me to lead worship.

My grateful thanks for all who looked after me during my visit.

Revd Bill Bentham chatting
 to a church member

The lectern has some carvings depicting steel workers

Revd Bill Bentham, President 1989-90

Keith Bradley in the chair

Chatting to a fellow Welshman, David from Llangain, Carmarthenshire

A Pilgrim makes progress to Bunyan

On Sunday 25 February 2018 I was the guest preacher at Bunyan Meeting, Bedford for their anniversary service. The cause was established in 1650 and is amongst the oldest independent churches in Britain. Famous of course, because John Bunyan was the minister from 1672 until he died in 1688. And famous today for being a leading ecumenical light in that part of the country with its fellowship being members of the Baptist Union and Congregational Federation. 

We had two services, the morning service at 11am, where the Word was preached on Ephesians 5 about giving thanks to God and the evening service at 6.30pm, where the preaching was based on Acts 20 and how we are to be shepherds of the church in these modern times. 

As the preacher I was uplifted by the spirituality of Bunyan Meeting and knew that God was blessing this active congregation in their community work. 

Thank you to the minister - Revd Chris Damp for the invitation and thank you to all who supported the anniversary celebrations. Particular thanks to Jenny for hosting me to a wonderful lunch and time of fellowship.

Former President Revd Dr Janet Wootton and some of the Deacons
enjoying tea at the end of the service

Southam Congregational Church

On Sunday 11 February 2018, I visited Southam Congregational Church where I presided at their morning service. I received a very warm welcome and the theme of the sermon was how we recognise Jesus as being the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24). During the service I had the privilege of accepting into membership three people and presided at the table when we gathered together as a fellowship.

My grateful thanks to the Minister Revd Neil Chappell and the fellowship for an uplifting time. Also thanks to Debbie Chappell for putting up with me over lunch!

Council Meeting

The third weekend of November saw me at the Council Meeting, which is held at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in London. This is an Anglican 'retreat' centre that offers conference rooms and excellent facilities for a stay in the east of the city (see http://rfsk.org.uk/). The Council have met here in November for many years.

As President I am responsible for the worship and prayer during our gathering. We always open with worship, there is a small act of worship every morning and a closing prayer at the end of the evening. Just before lunch on Sunday, we have a closing worship and made use of the chapel on site. There is an interesting history to St Katharine and during the Cromwellian era, the 'master' of the house was Richard Kentish. Kentish was congregational and is famous as being one of the few non conformists to have delivered a sermon to Parliament (in 1647). On the restoration of the monarchy, Kentish helped establish a congregational cause in Wapping and his son, Thomas, became the congregational minister at Southwark. So some 370 plus years after Kentish, the Congregationalists are still using St Katharine's and a non conformist act of worship still held in the chapel of a high Anglican church with the blessing of the current 'Master'. How ecumenical is that!

As President I also have responsibilities as trustee and along with council members, contribute for the greater good of the Federation by bringing the views of churches to the table. Full minutes of the meeting will be circulated in due course.

The Chapel

Trinity Congregational Church, Brixton

I was heading to London for the meeting of the council of the Congregational Federation and by arrangement visited Trinity Brixton on Thursday 16th November 2017. I was invited by the minister, Revd Alan Argent to come and talk about what I saw as the way forward for Congregationalists in this ever changing world. We enjoyed a meal together, some good discussion and fellowship.
It was good to visit and I pray that the substantial renovations of the main worship area in the church go to plan.

Alan giving a tour and explaining the ongoing work

To the foothills of the Pennines

Sunday 29th October might be a familiar date to you. It was Reformation Sunday where we commemorated the life and work of Martin Luther and his influence over the way we Congregationalists  developed.

I was delighted to have been invited to Tapton Hill Congregational Church where there was a day of commemoration involving churches of different traditions. There was worship and workshops that involved singing Reformation hymns, bible studies and craft. There was a wonderful atmosphere and it was so good to see other denominations coming to the Congregational Church to be part of the day.

And in true Congregational style, the afternoon concluded with a meal. We gathered at table and enjoyed fellowship and a German themed meal!

Grateful thanks to Revd Suzanne Nockels and congregation for inviting me. It was a marvelous occasion.

London Calling

On Sunday 22nd October I was in London, having been invited to lead worship at Anchor Church, Wandsworth in the morning and Wimbledon Congregational Church in the afternoon. I set off on a windy Saturday (storm Brian) and had a very long train journey from the coast of west Wales to Paddington.

On Sunday, I was collected from my hotel by Nigel Lindsay, the minister at Anchor Church and led their Anniversary Service. The sermon was based on Acts 20 where we are instructed to be Shepherds of the Church of God. After the service, the fellowship remained for a lunch at the church and it turned out to be a blessed time of fellowship as we shared a meal together.

It was then a trip across to Wimbledon to a 3pm service at the Congregational Church in Dundonald Road. The sermon was based on the healing of the blind man in John 9 where Jesus reminds us that He is the light of the world.

The service was followed by a time of fellowship, tea and cake and the members were remaining for the evening service, which was a talk given by some of the members on their recent mission trip to Spain.



I stayed in London for the next couple of days because on Tuesday 25th October, I was deputising for our General Secretary at a gathering of Churches Together in England, at Lambeth Palace. There was a shared meal and a time of discussion around the publication Insights into Churches Together in England and contemporary ecumenism. The results of the round table discussion will be fed into the various bodies that make up CTE and it is pleasing that a Welshman was able to contribute to English ecumenism!

A Century of Women’s Ordination

On Sunday 17th September, 2017, I attended the service to celebrate the Ordination of Constance Coltman. It was held in the American International Church in London (a former Congregational Church) and was a joint celebration organised by the Congregational Federation and the URC. It was a very uplifting service and grateful thanks to those from both the Federation and the URC who planned and led a wonderful day.

Constance's story is below.

On September 17th 1917, at the height of the First World War, Constance Todd was ordained to the congregational ministry at the then King’s Weigh House in London. She was ordained alongside her fiancé, Claud Coltman, and they were married the following day. Together, they took up the ministry of a mission in the East End of London, serving a very needy community.

She applied to study theology at Mansfield in 1913. It was an entirely male institution at the time, and there was no provision for a woman to study there, nor any expectation that a woman could be ordained and enter ministry, though the issue was under discussion in the Congregational Union.

However, then as now, the call to ministry, in congregational churches, was entirely in the hands of the local church meeting, seeking, then as now, to discern the mind of Christ in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so the principal at the time, W.B. Selbie accepted her for training, so that it would be open to a church to call her to its ministry. And four years later, on completion of her theological training, that is what happened.

Constance and Claud served a number of churches together, during a long ministry. The way was not always smooth, and Constance retained her radical edge, as a pacifist, supporter of women’s suffrage, and with a passionate care for the poorest and most disadvantaged of her church members.

Special Service in London with the President of Madagascar

On Monday 4th September, I found my way to London to a service that celebrated 200 years of Christian witness and following in Madagascar. Missionaries from the London Missionary Society went to the island and a Welshman, Revd David Griffiths joined another Welshman, Revd David Jones as a missionary in 1821.

Because of the close connection to Wales, the sermon was delivered by the Revd Dr Geraint Tudur, General Secretary of the Union of Welsh Independents and the worship leader was none other than our own Revd Barbara Bridges, who is one of the Directors for the Council for World Mission. The great and the good (and me) were present, including our General Secretary Yvonne Campbell, accompanied by Judith Mbaabu.

The guest of honour was the President of Madagascar, His Excellency, Mr Hery Rajaonarimampianina. It should be noted that I heard no one refer to him by his surname. The service concluded with prayers for God's blessing on the peoples of Madagascar with their many joys and struggles.

A selfie before we started. The back row are representatives
 of the Presbyterian Church of Wales

Yvonne and Judith with the President, His Excellency
Mr Hery Rajaonarimampianina

Lapford Congregational Church

On Saturday 5 August I was at Lapford Congregational Church to witness the induction of Caroline Stott as Pastor. Under the capable Presidency of Revd Adrian Wyatt, the service was full of praise and song as a packed church gathered to be part of a special occasion. There were many friends from the Congregational Federation present and the address was given by Revd Sandra Turner. She was assisted in her reading by husband John who played the part of Jesus' Media Consultant very well!

Lapford CC

Grateful thanks to the membership at Lapford for their welcome and hospitality and a special mention to Elder Noel Parry, a Welshman in exile, together with his wife, with whom I enjoyed some welsh conversation.

Every blessing to Caroline in her role as Pastor.

A selfie with Caroline and Adrian and some of the congregation in the background

Council Meeting

On Friday evening, 28th July, I arrived at Nottingham after an 8 hour car journey (it is peak holiday time) to attend a meeting of Council. The meeting had been planned many months before and the main agenda item was to talk of governance and the changes we might need to make to our Constitution and working practices. In addition, Council looked at the resolution that was passed by the Assembly in June and began to make plans about how to enact the will and wish of Assembly. Full details of the discussions will be circulated with the minutes in due course, but I include this item as attending meetings is one of the duties of the President. In the case of the Congregational Federation, the President Elect, President and Immediate Past President are the 'Officers' of the Federation and we have an important role to play in the cycle of meetings. If your church wishes to bring matters to the attention of council, please speak  to the chair of council, your Area representative or one of the Presidents.

Some worked through the coffee break!

A 'selfie' that was photo bombed

Martin's letter from America

Although not part of my Presidential Duties, I am in America on an Army Exchange Programme and spending time in Tennessee and Kentucky with a Chaplain from the National Guard. My host is Director of Missions for the Warren (county) Association of Baptists. They are part of the Southern Baptist Convention, a body with some 16 million members. That's right - 16 MILLION.

My time is spent between military and civilian minstries and have been to a number of churches to preach and tobe part of bible study groups. All I can say is WOW. Big churches that do much for their community. Most with a Pastor for one church and most with full time support personnel assisting the minister.

My first engagement was preaching at Scottsville Baptist Church and the picture is taken just before the service began. My host is Chaplain Colonel John Toby. After the service, we enjoyed a wonderful fellowship meal and the good people prayed for the Congregational Federation and were deligted to have the President with them.

Hope Congregational Church, Oldham

The good people of Hope invited me to preach on Sunday 18 June and on a beautiful summers day I found myself in the church and meeting a wonderful fellowship. I was very interested in the Hymnal Plus that played all the music for our hymns as one of my churches have recently ordered one.

There was a very warm welcome and a blessed time shared. Tea followed the service and afterwards, a small number of us went out for lunch.

The picture is one of my selfies taken as we enjoyed tea and you might spot a former president, Revd Frank Wroe in the background taking a break from the washing up!

That you Hope, Oldham for letting me share the day with you.

Non Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland

Revd Colin Campbell, the new Moderator of the NSPCI with Me

13 & 14 June 2017

May-Kane and myself

Shortly after our Annual Assembly, I attended the Annual General Assembly of the NSPCI. This year it was held in Ballyclare and as well as the usual business that accompanies such gatherings, there was a time of prayer, reflection and worship. We held a communion service on the first evening and shared in fellowship all that we held in common.

The Congregational Federation has a special relationship with the NSPCI and this was reflected in the sincere welcome and warmth I felt during my time with them. The style of worship, the prayers offered and the way the Sacrament of Communion was observed were entirely in keeping with the Congregational Way. It was a blessed time indeed.
I was joined in Ballyclare by Revd May-Kane Logan and this reflected the historical ties of the CF in Scotland with the NSPCI.

May Kane and myself formed a team (with some local support) for the social quiz held after the Assembly. We came a credible second!

My sincere thanks and blessings to the good people of the NSPCI who looked after us so well.