On Friday, August 23rd, 2024, my wife Claire and I dusted off the tent from the garage, squeezed all the camping equipment we could into the boot of the car, and, together with our two kids, crossed the border from Norfolk into Suffolk to join over 1,000 others at Trinity Park in Ipswich for the inaugural More Together Festival.

A Packed Weekend

Just like the boot of our car, the weekend was packed full – packed full of opportunities to meet with each other and with God. Things started with a Friday night meeting led by Stef Liston and others. There was an opportunity for the men to pray together early on Saturday morning and likewise for the Women on Sunday. A host of seminars and special interest lunches on topics ranging from sexuality to parenting to church planting were happening in different venues on the two afternoons. There were also several opportunities for everyone to meet for the main sessions. It wasn’t just the adults who were catered for; the youth and the children also had tailored programmes. Trinity Park became a hive of activity utilising a number of different venues: a coffee van, an ice cream truck, and even inflatables!

Deepening Relationships

At the core of who we are as Relational Mission is the word “relational”. This bank holiday weekend was characterised by relationship. It felt like getting the extended family together for a birthday party or anniversary. We camped with our church and spent extended periods in fellowship, deepening those relationships. Walking around the site, I kept bumping into familiar faces from other RM churches, and it was great to see and hear how God was at work in those members of our church family that we don’t get to see every week.

A particular highlight for me was getting to catch up with a couple of friends who did the ID internship year with me almost ten years ago. We reminisced about our time together, and it was great to hear stories of how God was using these brothers in Christ to serve churches in the wider Relational Mission family.

Equipping Ourselves to Abide in Christ

The teaching in the main meetings ranged from setting out a God-sized vision to checking and firming up our foundations.

One theme I particularly picked up during the week was abiding in Christ rather than viewing Him as a means to an end. Mike “Don’t Talk About Saul’s Horse” Betts (as he’s now known!) helpfully taught us that “Jesus is not an app”. Martin Segal echoed this sentiment by imploring us not to use God as a vending machine. The takeaway for me is that our relationship with Jesus and enjoying His presence should be our main focus as Christians and the greatest outcome we could hope to achieve. Yes, God loves it when His children ask things of Him, but He also wants to spend quality time with us and become the central focus of our lives. This abiding will be the place of transformation for each of us – as we spend time with Jesus, we discern His voice and become more like Him.

The Power of Prophetic Ministry and Worship

The quintessential and changeable British weather was also on full display: sunny on Friday afternoon, raining through the night and into Saturday (even though Tom Scrivens had assured Jon Beardon that it never rains in Ipswich!) before brightening up again on Sunday and Monday. However, the rain didn’t dampen our spirits and didn’t seem to dampen the Spirit of God from moving powerfully.

Marshall Schaitel from Aylsham community church shared a word about how spiritual fires can start and encouraged many of us that the Holy Fire of God is ready and able to break out in each of us, individually and in our broader church contexts. This tied in with some older prophetic words which we were reminded of from a Westminster Chapel gathering in 2017: that the UK was under a mist, but small pinpricks of light, fires, were breaking out like beacons across the country to shine light in the darkness. The prophetic gifting in others was also kindled through the two prophetic boiler room opportunities, which ran alongside the seminars in the afternoons.

There were also times to worship together as a family and see the Spirit move powerfully as we gave glory to God. We were served by worship teams from Revelation Church in Camden and Hope Church in Ipswich. Raising our voices together in adoration of the living God is so special, and the opportunity to sing with hundreds of others and proclaim His goodness with one voice was a great privilege.

Church Planting: A Vision for the Future

I believe there were a number of breakthrough moments over the weekend, and I trust that our prayers and the moving of the Spirit at that campsite will have significant repercussions in the weeks and months to come. We got to invest spiritually and financially into the plethora of UK-based church planting opportunities that are occurring at this very moment. People like David Bareham stirred our faith, suggesting that the goal of 100 new churches by 2040 might be too small a vision! We continue to pray that, through the grace and power of God, these church plants and many more will go from strength to strength as a result of spiritual fires started or kindled at this conference.

Looking Ahead

I don’t have the space to mention everyone who faithfully served us, both from the front and behind the scenes, to make the weekend happen. Suffice it to say a lot of time, hard work, and prayer went into making it such a great gathering. Thank you all for serving us so well.

If you missed this opportunity or can’t wait to do it all again, you can! Trinity Park is booked for next year from 22-25 August 2025. Early bird tickets will be available soon, and it’s bound to be another great opportunity to build relationships with God and one another. I, for one, can’t wait to hear about all God has done in our churches over the course of the year.

More Together 2024: A Weekend of Faith, Fellowship, and Spiritual Fire