People
Church is about people. It is a family. It is a community. You will find that Community
Church is full of all kinds of people from different backgrounds, experiences and
cultures. We are from different social and educational backgrounds and have various
talents, gifts and personality types. But we are united by our common experience
of a living and life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s what joins
us together. And we are committed to each other and to the vision and purpose that
God has given us. Read the stories of some of the people from Community Church and
how God has changed their lives, and about the vision that God has given us. Better
still, come and visit us and meet some of these people.
Personal Stories
The following stories are testimonies about how God – by his goodness and power
– has affected and transformed people’s lives. Please take time to read them and
think about what God can do to change your life.
Dan Lush is Community Church’s Technical Team Leader
I
used to be able to eat anything I wanted and as much of it as I wanted,
but then I became quite ill and ended up with a stomach problem. Suddenly I felt
very ill if I ate slightly too much and certain foods aggravated my condition. I
lost over a stone in weight and the doctors didn’t know what was wrong. I underwent
several very unpleasant procedures to try and diagnose it but there was no clear
result. I was taking medication every day which helped my condition but was not
able to cure it. One weekend at Community Church a man was talking about faith and
some friends of mine stood with me and prayed for me to be healed. That week I had
no symptoms and took none of my medication. The following week I stood up to tell
the church I had been healed and after I did one of the members of the church got
on stage and told me that when he was at work that week he had seen a picture in
his mind of me telling the church and God had told him to confirm to me that I was
healed. I have not had a symptom or taken any medication since.
Alison Lloyd is Community Church’s Youth & Community Worker
At
four months old, I developed a bad skin condition. It included eczema but also involved
a thick dryness that was uncomfortable, hyper sensitive and prone to infection.
To bring some ease to it, I have bathed in oils every morning for nearly forty years.
I would also have to cream myself up to four times a day all over with thick greasy
cream. From childhood, wearing clothes was very uncomfortable, my skin would often
split, and many things would cause my skin to become rashy and sore - rain, dust,
animals, mild perfumes, etc. Since I was a young child, I had believed that God
would heal me, and when a man of God who had experienced revival in Cuba, came to
England recently, I felt a real rise of faith that God was going to do it. After
he prayed for me my skin felt hot and tingly all over. Over the days that followed
I found that I needed less and less cream. I stopped having baths and used a thin
perfumed lotion instead. Every time I casually brushed my arms with my hands I found
myself having to do it again just to feel how smooth they were and to check they
were my arms. What a difference it has made to my life. I can now have a shower
after the gym, I can go out in all types of weather, my feet and ankles are so soft,
my clothes feel soft and gentle. My greatest thrill was that God had healed me before
a mission trip to Cuba that I was going on. I was able to enjoy my time over there
with no bad effects to my skin. I was able to use suntan cream, antiseptic hand
gel, have showers every day and cope with the heat. This was a total transformation
for me. God is so good.
Jane Gledhill is a member of Community Church’s Street Work Team
I
grew up feeling rejected and unloved. My mum and dad were divorced by my second
birthday. I didn’t get on with my step father or my real father. I felt like an
outsider in my family. I became pregnant at sixteen from a brief relationship. Whilst
pregnant I met someone else and had a second child. This relationship ended in violence.
I felt un-loved and let down. I smoked weed and slept around. I had no self-respect,
no self-esteem and no self-control. I wanted to feel loved. I met another guy and
had another child. I thought he loved me but he too was violent. He abused me and
my children. When a friend asked me to church I went but I always cried. I found
out later that this was the Holy Spirit working in me. After listening to the speaker
I committed my life to Jesus. It was difficult at first but God has changed me and
forgiven my past, I have come through many trials. My eldest son’s behavioural problems
got us evicted from our family home one Christmas Day. God provided another house.
My son went to prison for assaulting his brother and me. Then he was taken into
care but has now given his life to Jesus. Since then God really helped me. I passed
two English exams, my driving test and was given a car. I found true love in our
graceful God. My heart is not empty - craving men’s love. My heart is whole - craving
God’s love. God has restored my relationship with my parents, healed my back, provided
finance, protected me when I fell, helped me win court cases, has got one son into
a care home run by two millionaires and another son into the best local school when
there were no spaces. All this has happened through having a personal relationship
with Jesus.
Helen Holt assists with the admin at Community Church
I
was born to Ukrainian parents in 1960. I do not remember a time when I felt I fitted.
I was neither Ukrainian nor English; I had a friend or two but was very much a loner.
I found solace in dance and yet I rejected that when I was 17 to please my parents,
as they wanted me to have a college-based career. Going to college introduced me
to new experiences and I mistook physical attraction and attention for love and
respect. I married in 1985 and when my first son, Andrew, was born in 1990 it was
an utter delight, quickly followed by despair when I discovered he had Down’s Syndrome
-(I now know that Andrew is a unique teacher, reflects God’s love and consequently
is a source of amazement and joy). I gave up work to look after Andrew and subsequently
had Adam and Angus but could not appreciate their beauty within my depression. Things
didn’t work out the way I wanted them to while everyone else seemed to have the
perfect life. I felt unappreciated and overworked at home and felt a failure as
a mother and a wife. I became divorced in 2001. Then one day, a lady whom I hardly
knew took me for a coffee and told me about Community Church. I attended and I realised
how much God loved me so I gave my life to him and was blessed even more by my sons
also choosing to do so. I have left my life- destroying highway to join God’s life-fulfilling
path. He enabled me to let go of my past. He gave me peace. He restored my life
to me.