The Call 2023: Review
For the first time in five years, Relational Mission is gathering leaders from across our family of churches for four days of teaching, worship and family together.
Over the course of the conference several delegates will be sharing their experience of The Call. First we have Maddie, one of the young people from Wellspring Family Church in Dereham.
This is my first time attending such a large RM event and it was great to see so many new faces, as well as a few people I had met at youth camps.
Worship was a really powerful start for me, connecting with God and seeing His Holy Spirit move among those around me and myself. I was overcome with an amazing amount of peace, able to sit in God’s presence and think of only Him. Prophetic words were brought about were on themes of stepping out and trusting in God, further influencing this worriless state I’d found in my Lord’s presence.
This was followed by an interview of Matt and Helen Spocchia, who have been living on the Isle of Sheppey for past five years, seeing a church plant come to life as they sharing the gospel in an unreached community. I was not only struck by their obedience and faith, but also by how God had worked among ordinary people and asked them to move to an ordinary place allowing his glory, as a result, to shine through.
After this Tom Scrivens spoke on the sheer love and devotion shown by Mary in John 12 as she pours perfume on Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair. It was particularly timely for leaders in our churches who are tired, especially after COVID, and the many faithful people have found themselves just going through the motions of ministry or even to avoid the judgemental opinions of others.
This really spoke to me as someone who has always grown up in the church and, as an elder’s daughter, have felt the need to continue with worship and praise even if I am not doing it for the sake of glorifying the Father. Tom reminded us that Jesus loves it when we just love Him, even if there’s nothing to show from it and nothing that influences other people’s opinions; our devotion to Him is what He asks for. We must return to our first love; the passion we felt when we all first came to Jesus.
Written by Maddie, Wellspring Family Church, Dereham.