AGM & Ministry Report 2026

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6

The last verse of the Psalms captures their entire intent - it’s a call for us to look out on the world, to look back on the work of God in the past, to look forward to eternity, and to give praise to God for it all. As I look back over all that God has done among us in the last 12 months, there are an enormous number of things to praise God for.

Here at Christ Church, we are prayerfully seeking to build 3,000 wholehearted disciples of Jesus and as an increasing number of people gather with us week by week, we give all praise to God for new and growing life in Christ. Wonderfully, 21 adults put their faith in Jesus in 2025. Many more youth and children did the same through the relational discipleship that characterises our ministry to young people. We had 880 adults and 235 youth in Growth Groups, taking the opportunity to gather with others to discuss God’s word, love each other and pray together. These groups are immensely important in the life of our church as people find faith, belonging, care and friendship.

Kidspace continues to be a missionally encouraging ministry where the leaders see the joy and simplicity of young believers inviting friends to hear the gospel. Every Friday I am introduced to a new person, brought by someone who wants their friend to be loved by Jesus like they are. Everyday English on Mondays is overflowing with people eager to learn to communicate and eager to understand the God we worship. It’s such a joy to hear the chatter of voices in a multiplicity of languages each week.

The thrill of Celebration Sunday was physically palpable as dozens of people were baptised, confirmed and made public declarations of faith. God is indeed on the move and I want to urge everyone to be prayerful for what he is doing in our midst. There are lots of things we can be doing better, but everywhere I look I see things I can praise God for. I hope you are looking, seeing and praising God too.

As a church, one of our ongoing commitments is to raise up people to send out into the world to proclaim the gospel. It’s been a delight to work alongside a variety of trainees again in 2025 and a joyful sadness to send them out. We have also had a number of our senior staff move on to new roles and responsibilities. We feel this loss acutely but we rejoice that God’s work is bigger than St Ives, God’s plans are bigger than ours and God’s Kingdom will prevail over all.

With an increasing number of people onsite at church every day of the week, we are starting to outgrow our facilities as they show signs of wear. We have been talking about building plans for some time, but in 2025 the wardens took a bold next step to initiate a site master plan. We are looking to prepare for the next generation so an increasing number of people can have access to the gospel in and from our church. I am looking forward to being able to share news of new things during 2026.

There is so much happening. There is so much more we can do. There is one thing we must do. Preach Christ (1 Corinthians 1:23). The idea of having 3,000 people connected to our ministry sounds preposterous, but with all God is doing in our midst, nothing is impossible. Let’s keep going. Let’s keep praying. As long as we have breath, let’s keep praising God for his mercy, grace and kindness to us and all people.

– Nigel Fortescue (Senior Minister)