Twice the size in six

‘The church where everyone is someone and Jesus Christ is Lord.’ That’s the motto for TCM, but the encouraging observation often heard from the members is: ‘It’s hard to keep track of all the new people!’

Thomas Cooper Memorial Evangelical Baptist Church, known locally as TCM, is located in the centre of the picturesque county city of Lincoln. The church has a long history of evangelical witness in Lincoln and, in common with most long-established churches, has experienced glorious times of feasts and difficult times of famine.

We want conversions

When pastor Hugh Hill was called to TCM in September 2000 he asked the church officers what their vision was for the future and received the reply: ‘We want to see conversions, baptisms, the church filled with worshipping people, and the gallery, long unused on Sundays, to be in regular use again.’ In other words, they longed to see spiritual and numerical growth right across the church.

Hugh’s reply was that, with God’s help and the leadership working in unity, they would see the desire of their hearts fulfilled. He spoke with some measure of confidence, having in the past experienced the Lord’s blessing in Maybridge Christian Fellowship in Worthing and the Slade Evangelical Church in London.

Reasons for growth

Six and a half years later, TCM has indeed seen the numerical and spiritual growth which was prayed for, as the adult membership has more than doubled to about 280 people and the children’s work increased proportionately.

Some of the reasons behind this growth are relevant Bible teaching, meaningful contemporary worship, the commitment and involvement of the members, and friendships within the fellowship held in balance under a united leadership.

Relevant Bible teaching means Scripture-based preaching with a relevant application for today. Whether challenging, encouraging or evangelistic, such preaching should cause the listeners to sense the Lord speaking to them directly through his word, resulting in changed lives. The importance given to Bible teaching at TCM is seen in its two Sunday services where biblical preaching is given pre-eminence.

TCM is also starting a monthly Saturday Bible School. Many people have signed up for a wide-ranging series of theological and doctrinal seminars on the Christian faith, delivered by TCM members. Well-known Christian lecturers have also been invited to speak on specific subjects. Further evidence of TCM’s commitment to Bible teaching is that one couple has recently completed the two-year FIEC Prepared for Service course and another couple has recently begun a similar course. A Bible teaching/preaching church will also have a heart for evangelism and this is the case at TCM, where souls have been saved through the Alpha and Christianity Explored courses taken with the students.

Tears of joy

Hugh said that, when men and women are under conviction and in the process of being born again, they often have a desire to express their heart-felt gratitude to the Lord who has saved them. This is often seen in their response during musical worship, where tears of remorse turn to tears of joy with the help of contemporary worship.

TCM has been particularly blessed with gifted musicians and, after confirming the Scripture theme of the message and choice of songs and hymns with the preacher, the musicians are responsible for the remainder of the musical worship. This means that often most of the songs will come after the sermon in the form of a response to the message, followed by a time of quiet for prayer and reflection.

Student workers

Hugh believes the church family should never function with a one-man-band mentality, but rather with the commitment and involvement of the members in obedience to Paul’s injunction in Ephesians 4.12: ‘We are to prepare God’s people for works of service.’ The outworking of this command is seen at TCM where each new member is encouraged to find and use his/her gift for the building up of the church. This means being open to new ministries in response to new giftings from new people.

Students sticking around

The University of Lincoln is very new and the campus is on the doorstep of TCM’s building. To meet the challenge this presented, the church supported a young married couple (former students themselves) in a full-time capacity with a brief to reach and minister to the students. God has wonderfully blessed this ministry and around 50 or 60 students are in regular attendance each Sunday. A further blessing is that some have stayed on in Lincoln (well, it is a pleasant city), found employment, married other former students and now form a nucleus of young committed members reaching out to other students and young people in the area. They also supply a welcome addition of youth leaders, as having many young families in the church family means TCM has a thriving children’s and young people’s work with clubs for all ages meeting during the week.

Friendships

TCM also believes that friendships within the fellowship are very important. ‘We are aware that most of our new Christians do not come from church families, and their new-found brothers and sisters in Christ are vital for their stability and spiritual growth’, says Hugh. ‘To meet this need we have a quality time of fellowship after Sunday services when tea and coffee are served and I am thrilled to see the diaries out as men and women all over the church arrange to meet for a variety of social events.’ This also helps enormously with friendship evangelism, making it much easier to introduce unchurched friends to members at church services and evangelistic events.

We need a new pastor

Sensing that it is time for someone fresh to develop the work in Lincoln, Hugh has informed TCM that he will retire in September this year and the church are now seeking the Lord’s successor to the TCM pulpit. So a fairly large Bible-believing FIEC church which enjoys preaching and contemporary worship is looking forward to writing the next exciting chapter in its history.

Further details about the church can be obtained from http://www.tcmlincoln.co.uk or Hugh Hill (hugh@hughhill.co.uk or 01522 752671).