The Word on the Wash convention took place at King’s Lynn Academy in mid-Sep-tember.
An appropriate quote from Anne Frank on the wall of the school hall – ‘How wonderful it is that no-one need waste a single moment before starting to change the world’ – fitted with some of the talks the delegates heard as part of the conference entitled ‘Living with hope in a changing world’.
Focusing on hope
The main speaker, Richard Underwood, from Christ Church Market Harborough, focused on the theme of hope, in three addresses – speaking from the ‘soul music’ of the Psalms, starting with Psalms 42 and 43, where the soul is cast down, yearning for God and seeking vindication, to the sense of wonder in Psalm 139, where God knows and surrounds his people in all the circumstances of life.
In this Psalm David also asks God to test him. Richard spoke about how prayer gives a framework for dealing with problems, and challenged listeners as to whether they were willing to allow God to search and change their thinking.
Ray Evans, church leadership consultant with FIEC, speaking from Philippians 1.12-30, also challenged listeners on their attitudes to setbacks or isolation in relation to church growth – just as Paul, in prison with the guard chained to him on both sides, was still able to act as God’s ambassador and to glorify him ‘whatever happens’.
Twenty churches
There was a choice of afternoon seminars on contemporary issues, ranging from church growth to the transgender debate. This was followed by a very useful forum, sharing approaches to the problem of the lack of children and young families in today’s church – the ‘unacceptable gap in the body of Christ’.
Once again, over 20 churches from West Norfolk and beyond were represented, some making very long journeys in order to take part. Word on the Wash 2019 is planned to take place on 13 and 14 September in the hope that this will continue to prove a blessing to congregations in the area.
