CC Bible College York

Dear friends, I hope this update finds you well.  We’ve just wrapped up yet another great Bible college semester with a wonderful group of students.  The Lord did a good work in all of our hearts this semester.  Covid protocols were eased for the most part up until the end and we were able to do many of the things we normally do including Speaker’s Week in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.  Four students were baptized in the River Ure during our week there.

Baptism in the River Ure

 We put on a full Thanksgiving dinner for the students and Bible college family followed by a (secret turkey) gift exchange.  This semester we also had a time of weekly worship and waiting on the Lord on Wednesday evenings in our coffee shop (Gatehouse Coffee) which is in a 15^th century building situated on the city wall of York.

 Please pray that the Lord will put together the student body for the upcoming spring semester as He sees fit and that we as a staff would be sensitive to His Spirit.

Bible College flats

CC York

Calvary Chapel York is doing well with a number of new faces in our congregation as we have emerged from lockdown.  Men’s and women’s meetings have resumed as well as our university student ministry.  York has 25,000 university students, many of whom are international, and we provide a monthly lunch for those who come to the church.  We have a unique facility between the Bible college and church where we’re able to host missionaries who are passing through.  It’s a gracious place that represents a gracious and great God.  It’s a blessing to serve the Lord wherever we have been called, and I am blessed to be a part of this ministry.  I’m in the worship leading rotation and have had some recent teaching opportunities in the church.

 Prison Ministry

Praise God we have been able to resume our prison ministry and have conducted monthly services at HMP Humber in October, November and December.  In December we took a group of 15 students and church members in and sang Christmas carols in all 16 wings of the prison.  It was an all-day affair and a great blessing for us (and hopefully them also!).  “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:14-16). 

 Our Friend Rene

An unexpected sadness has come upon us at the Bible college as one of our fellow teachers and a good friend, Rene Etzold, has gone home to be with the Lord.  He was visiting family in Germany and had been ill for about a week and passed suddenly on Christmas Day.  We mourn the loss of him but rejoice in the truth that although he is absent from the body, he is present with the Lord ((2 Cor. 5:8).  Please pray for his mother and brother.  We will miss him around here.

USA Visit

Lord willing I will be in the South Jersey area from around January 7-25.  If you would like to meet up for coffee or have me share about what God is doing in England please contact me.

 

Wood-fired BBQ for students

 

About Me: 

I have been serving at Calvary Chapel York, England since 2016.  I teach at the Bible College and serve at the church in a variety of ways including teaching, prison ministry and leading worship.   If you'd like to follow my journey more closely, I have a blog (www.pfgoodwin.blogspot.com).  I can be contacted at pfgoodwin@hotmail.com.

 If you wish to support this ministry, contributions can be addressed to "Shepherd's Staff" with account #1454 in the memo section of check and sent to Shepherd's Staff, 6739 Academy Road, Suite 320, Albuquerque, NM 87109. Automatic EFT can be set up through Shepherd's Staff website: www.ssmfi.org. Prayers are also greatly appreciated.  The Lord bless you!