God wants us to move again?
Part 1 of 4
by Jon Sidnell
Our Swindon planting journey started in 2019. We were part of Gathering Momentum, the Commission training course for Church Planters and Lead Elders. Having moved to help plant Hope Church in Andover, we joined the course to work out whether God was calling us do it again in a new place. The course gave us some fantastic practical teaching on what it means to lead a church plant. It was also a catalyst for the conversations we needed to have to discern if the Lord was calling us to move again.
We spent the first half of the year discussing what it would mean to move to Swindon. Were we prepared to start all over again? We’d only recently settled in Andover! What about the kids moving schools again? Or jobs that started only six months earlier? Where would we live? How could we be sure that God was truly calling us to this? All good and valid questions. How would we resolve them?
We told a non-Christian friend that we were thinking of moving to start a new church in Swindon. They told us that they’d start praying we would stay! Later on, the same friend performed a 180 and challenged us when we weren’t sure that it was the right move. They said “If this God you’re always telling me about is real, and you think He might want you to move, why not at least go and visit the place?” You’ve got to love God catching our attention through people who don’t know Him yet!
So we visited Swindon for the first time in August 2019. We spent the morning in Lydiard Park, the afternoon in the Outlet Village, and the evening eating Brazilian food. Another diner was wearing an interesting shirt that said "If God existed, I would hate Him!" Talk about showing us the need for mission in Swindon!! Our day in the town won us over, and we were soon compulsively surfing Rightmove any spare moment we had!
After this, we started to receive prophetic words from people. One shared that God was calling us to the north-east of Swindon, which was a fantastic confirmation for us. We'd already settled on house-hunting in Stratton which is in the north-east of the town! Another word spoke to the questioning we’d gone through. We were encouraged that God didn’t have a question mark over us. The same word told us that His answer to our questions is that He will empower us through His divine wind. These words, and others, helped spur us on toward what God was calling us to. We still had questions about timing, and who would go with us, but the Lord had worked in us and shown us what He was calling us to.
We'll share more of the Trinity Life story in further posts, but wanted to pause here and ask if God is stirring your heart to a new adventure? Are you eager to get going, or asking questions about what it will mean? We'd encourage you to pursue God with an open heart and let Him speak. Westpoint played a huge part in giving us God's direction for our adventures over the last six years. Why not come to Commission Festival this year and ask God to speak to you about what's coming next? You may be surprised by what He says!
Jon and Laluna Sidnell lead the team planting Trinity Life Church in Swindon. If you’d like to get in touch, you can visit their website or email hello@trinitylifeswindon.com.
If this has provoked you to consider church planting, and you'd like to speak to someone about it, then please email Chris Kilby from the Commission UK Team on chrisk@commission.global
