SEYMOUR STREET TEAM

Colin Houston, Karen McIlveen, Ian Richardson, Maxine & Trevor Jones, Eddie Drury, Sam Porter, Dawn Fryer

Trevor Wells, Annika McKillen, Sharon Houston, Wesley Sterling, Cathy Bell, Margaret Scott, Allen McCartney  

Hazel Pierce, from Seymour Street, writes…

When I first heard about the Lay Witness Weekend to be held in our church, Seymour Street Methodist (Lisburn), I didn’t know what to expect. Only when a friend told me about someone I know who came to faith in Christ as the result of one held in their church, did I begin to get excited about it!  From the very outset, I was looking for God to speak to me and I wanted to be open to His voice.  

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The weekend began on Friday evening with a delicious meal for 160 people, prepared by outside caterers, after which we were asked what we expected from the weekend. Many said they wanted to experience God in a new way. The evening was entitled “To Know Him” and three of the team of fifteen then told their stories. The unity among the team was lovely, even though some had not met before.  I know some of our congregation were touched by the simple practice of one team member praying for another before they began to talk. Their total honesty and their testimony to God’s grace in their lives was such a blessing!  As the weekend continued, this same honesty was apparent, and for some in our congregation, I know that was like a breath of fresh air!  

Forty men got up early for their breakfast on the Saturday morning, where, again, the stories of team members were really appreciated. Six coffee mornings were held in various venues and at one of those, we chatted about how easy it is to put on a mask at church and for no one to really know what is going on in our lives.  The result is that sometimes people can feel lonely, especially in a large church like ours. 

Entitled “To Love Him”, on Saturday evening, 130 of us again enjoyed fellowship and supper and it was lovely to have the time to share with one another in our congregation. Again different members of the team gave their testimony.  It was wonderful not only to hear the amazing stories of God's grace, but also to know that His strength is more than sufficient to help us cope with very difficult circumstances, and to bring us through those triumphantly, giving all the glory back to Him! 

The sense of God's presence in our Sunday morning service (“To Follow Him”) was so real and something I hadn't experienced for a while - it just felt so humbling and amazing all at once!  At our Sunday evening service, as we reflected on the weekend, there was such openness among us all.  Our minister, Brian Anderson, left the service free for folk to share and it was wonderful to see that God had been at work in people's lives!  I just long for that to continue - that everyone will be touched by God and won't be able to stay the same. I long to know that reality of God evident among us, changing people to become more like Him, speaking to us and being heard by those who previously have ignored His voice.  If this continues to happen, I am excited about what God has in store for us!  That reality of God's presence is what counts at the end of the day - and people cannot fail to be affected by it.

I know that many were spoken to, but I personally felt convicted about my lack of attendance at the prayer meeting and Bible study.  It's so easy to find an excuse not to go, but I really feel that it is only in answer to prayer that God will work.

As we prepare for our community mission in a few months’ time, the Lay Witness Weekend was a great means of experiencing God in a new way among us, bringing us closer together as a congregation and showing us what He can do in response to our willingness to be used by Him.

Trevor and Maxine Jones, first time team members, write…

It came as a great surprise to Maxine and me when we were contacted and asked to join the Lay Witness team going to Seymour Street, Lisburn for the weekend of 13^th – 15^th November 2009. We didn’t know why we were asked but nevertheless considered it a huge privilege to have been invited. After much discussion and prayer we decided that we would accept the invitation, and asked the Lord to be with us, and guide us in this new and very daunting experience.

We attended the first team meeting on 24^th Sept feeling very nervous and at a bit of a loss as to what to expect. Within a few minutes of meeting the rest of the team we knew that we had made the right decision. The warm welcome, the praise and the prayer we shared together reinforced to us that we all were there because the Lord had brought us together for a purpose. Even the theme of the weekend – ‘To Know Him’, ‘To Love Him’ and ‘To Follow Him’ resonated with Maxine and me and gave us further reassurance (although it didn’t stop us from being nervous).

John Ortberg, in his book, ‘If you want to walk on water, you’ve got to get out of the boat’ poses two questions:

(1)    How big is your God? and (2) How big is Christ in your life?

Maxine and I went prepared to tell our stories of just how big Christ has been in both our lives in the hope that with God’s grace our experiences may touch a life or lives in the congregation.

From our arrival on the Friday evening until our departure on Sunday afternoon, we were made extremely welcome – the whole of the weekend was a blessing from start to finish – the sharing of team praise and prayer – the sharing of mealtimes, men’s breakfast and coffee morning with the congregation and the shared testimonies of the team members. Throughout the weekend we all placed our faith and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide us and to be known in Seymour Street, and I believe this happened.

I believe that the congregation saw through the ordinariness of the team members that if you ‘Know Christ’, Love Christ’ and ‘Follow Christ’ then you really do have a ‘Big God’ indeed.

There are many people in Seymour Street, too numerous to mention, deserving of thanks for all their hard work and effort.  We’ll not forget our gracious hosts who went out of their way to ensure that our stay with them was both welcoming and comfortable. God Bless.

Dawn Fryer, first time team member, writes…

What is our mission?  That was definitely a question we asked ourselves in preparation for and during the lay witness weekend in Seymour Street Methodist Church, Lisburn. We shared our stories of how God has worked in our lives with our new friends in the church on many occasions over the weekend, after dinner on Friday and Saturday, at the men’s breakfast, during the coffee mornings and during the church service on the Sunday morning.  We also had the privilege of working with the young people in the church on the Friday night and thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality that greeted us in the church.

To be honest I felt that it was my mission merely to face my fear and go on the team at all.  It was my first time on a lay witness team and I have to say I was really nervous about the prospect of stepping so far out of my comfort zone.  Even though I had been on many teams before, working with children and young people, I had not worked on a team predominantly with and for ‘grown-ups’, but I was acutely aware that so many people were praying for me.  Without the Lord and the faithful prayers of so many, both known and unknown, I would have backed out of going on the lay witness weekend.  I am so glad I went on the team.  I was truly blessed and challenged by the experience and I hope the church at Seymour Street was as well. 

The Lord knows better than we do, and He makes us face our fears for many reasons, whether personal or corporately as a church.  We need to remember that He sees the whole play and we only see a scene at a time.  So back to my initial question – what is our mission?  Sometimes we don’t know what the mission is until we are in the middle of it.  All we need to do is make sure that we are available for and willing to do the Lord’s work – He will empower us and do the rest. I hope the church at Seymour Street will rise to that challenge to be open to the Lord’s work. 

You just need to make sure that you make your life a mission and not an intermission.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13