Can any good come out of Nazareth??

 

That was the attitude of New Testament people towards the place where Jesus was born. Sadly, that kind of attitude can also be found about many places in our country today.  It can equally be said about many places where Karen and I have lived throughout our life together. What is more important is how God feels about those places.  My name is Tony Greene, and my wife, Karen, and I are moving to Great Yarmouth to be part of Kings Church. Karen and I have three children, all of whom have now left home; two married, and one at University

 

I was born in Vauxhall, London, and was brought up in a place called Erith, Greater London. Apparently, the name comes from a root that means “Muddy Harbour” – doesn’t exactly thrill you with its attractiveness.  I became a Christian in 1978, through some contacts with a new Church based in Sidcup, Kent, when I was around 20 years old. Having trained as a Viola player throughout my childhood, when I met Karen and found out she plays Flute and Piano, our eyes met across a crowded room, and the rest, as they say, is history

 

We married in 1980, and eventually moved to Sidcup, where we lived for around 18 years. The name Sidcup, also has a root, meaning “The Place at the Top of the Hill” – again, not a name to fill you with vision and excitement.  What we found there, though was a church community rooted in friendship and forged in shared experiences that it was a privilege to be part of. We found a group of people that wanted to grow in the experience of God changing their lives, bringing meaning, purpose and direction; and also in the demonstration of God in their lives, reaching out to others and seeing God’s kingdom come.  That, for us, meant people, including us, set free to live life to the full

 

We moved to Chelmsford, Essex, in 1996 to be part of a new Church called The Oasis Church. Chelmsford, because we felt primarily, that it was what God wanted us to do. However, we felt that God wanted an expression of Church in Chelmsford, similar in values to what we had experienced in Sidcup, and that we wanted to be part of its birth and growth. We have since been involved with Oasis for around 13 years in many capacities, including as musicians and in various forms of leadership. It has been a wonderful period of our lives, with many precious memories and many deep friendships.

Why would we want to move again? And why would we want to move to Great Yarmouth?

 

Firstly, we believe that God has a wonderful plan and purpose for the church in Great Yarmouth. There is a long history of Gods provision for Yarmouth, and especially (from our point of view) in the life of Kings Church Great Yarmouth. There is huge opportunity coming with the establishment of the new port gateway to Europe, with all the opportunities for reaching out overseas that come with it.  There is a great need for more of the kind of community that Acts 2:42 describes; a community that met together regularly, but also expressed that community with one another, gladly, sharing life together with joy that demonstrates how the love of God works in day to day reality

 

Secondly, we believe that God wants us there! We are happy to sell our home, go through the process of selling, buying, leaving the jobs we currently have, saying “farewell” (real friendships don’t end when you move away) to our friends, because we love Jesus, and want to follow Him, and because we believe that God wants the next phase of our life together to be in Yarmouth!  And thirdly, because we already feel “joined” to the church in Yarmouth. We have already made friendships that, we hope, will last for years. We have already sensed the “rightness” of what we believe God is doing in moving us there

 

So, is there a “Great” in Yarmouth?? Resoundingly “YES”. God, in Yarmouth, is GREAT! The Church in Yarmouth is GREAT! Our experience is that people move to follow some kind of vision; a better job, a better school for their children; a better house. We are moving in order to follow vision too. Our vision is of a church where people feel secure – secure in being themselves, to engage in community in and out of the places where church meets. A place where everyone feels empowered to find out who they are in God, and encouraged to run after that with all their hearts and strength. A place where they can bring their friends in the secure knowledge that they will encounter God in unthreatening ways, a place which is secure and confident in the values they hold and demonstrate to the world at large – a place with identity. A place that demonstrates not only the words of the bible, but also the power of God in everyday real life

 

It’s a privilege to join the staff of a Church that holds to the same kind of vision. God is going to do great things in Great Yarmouth, and we want to be part of it.

 

 by kind permission of Kings Church