Triple speaker bill at Transforming Norwich lunch 

The September Transforming Norwich leaders lunch at the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Thorpe St Andrew had a triple bill of speakers.

RCCG church leader Pastor Jonathan Onyeme (pictured above), welcomed around 20 guests on September 20 and said that his primary mission and goal as church leader was “to make heaven and in doing that we want to take as many people as possible with us”. Planting churches within five minutes’ walk or drive of everyone is the aim of the RCCG he said.

Established in Norwich in November 1998, the church will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a concert on November 11 and a thanksgiving service on November 12. Social collaboration and working with other Christian churches is also a high priority for Jonathan and his church. He said: “we are stronger together especially when we pray together”.
 
The main speaker was The Venerable Keith James, Archdeacon of Norwich (pictured below) who described how he was born in New Zealand and grew up in a small northern mill town in Lancashire.

“I became a Christian through my friend Anthony who invited me to go to a Christian youth group and they were the best fun ever – my social life completely took off –  and it also had a rich spiritual life, which is where I caught the Christian faith,” said Archdeacon Keith.

He went to university in Leeds to study theology and was ordained at the age of 24 after two years in theological college. He became a curate in Scunthorpe and a vicar near Lincoln and then in a Worcestershire market town.



“I came to Norwich to do a training job for licensed priests and work at the cathedral, which morphed into my current role as Archdeacon of Norwich," said Archdeacon Keith.

“An archdeacon is about service, a connecting role. In the TV series Rev the archdeacon is the bishop’s attack dog. My experience of it is more Dynarod that dynamite. It is about unblocking stuff and making things happen.

“I am involved with recruitment, buildings, HR, pastoral care and the well-being of Christian ministers. I want to see growing and flourishing Christian communities.”

Answering questions from the floor, Archdeacon Keith said: “In the Church of England we saw a hit during Covid in terms of attendance and income and though it has gone back up it has not reached the previous levels yet. Covid also has depleted the numbers of volunteers.

“My vision is for us to make sense of what God is saying and to support folk to respond to that in a way that is hopeful, realistic and not going to drive them absolutely nuts.

“We are seeing the growth and proliferation of mid-week ministry and other areas of growing and connecting church communities outside of Sundays, which are on a slight decline. So how do we connect and communicate the difference that Jesus makes and what the Gospel can do.”

Talking about the Church of England being inclusive, Archdeacon Keith said: “If we are not being radically inclusive on all kinds of fronts my children’s generation won’t even give us the time of day.

“We are a really broad church and hold together people of such different perspectives on all sorts of issues. We are trying to keep people in a very big tent. Unity is a journey rather than an arrival place very often.”

The last speaker was Rev Matthew Hutton in his final Transforming Norwich meeting before his retirement. His message was about abiding or remaining in Jesus, which will bear fruit and bring glory to the Father and he encouraged everyone present to abide and be fruitful.

The next TN meeting will be on Wednesday November 15 at Gateway Vineyard, The Chapel, Norwich. More details will be released soon.

These are the dates and confirmed venues for 2023/24:

Wednesday November 15    Gateway Vineyard, The Chapel, Norwich  
Wednesday January 17        King's Centre, Norwich
Wednesday March 20          St Cuthbert's, Sprowston

Picture courtesy of the website for the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Norwich