Author: Nigel Ring

Jesus’ Great Commission was to go and make disciples (Matt 28:19). One of the roles of the Ephesians 4 ministries of Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor and Teacher is to ‘equip the saints for the work of ministry’ (Eph 4: 12). So, within a year of Terry forming a team we launched a full-time training programme, although even by then we had held Young Men’s Training Days which gave way to Young People’s Training Days. Year of Training The YoT was launched in September 1981 with a pilot of two young men, Chris Wisdom and Mike Thompson. They moved weekly to live with a trainer as we had no base at that stage. The purpose of the programme was to cover four main areas: Biblical, Doctrinal, Practical and Pastoral, Church History.…

The initial contact In October 1985 Terry and Dave Holden visited South Africa for a full programme of speaking engagements with various leaders around the nation. Terry should have been accompanying Bryn Jones but difficulty with visas prevented Bryn from travelling. On that visit Terry and Dave also met Graham Ingram who had previously been leading the South Lee Christian Fellowship in London but was now leading the Vineyard Fellowship in Cape Town. A few months after their return Terry received a letter from Graham (the days before emails!) telling him about the work they were beginning to do in Khayelitsha, a township outside the city on the sandy Cape Flats, an extensive tract near Crossroads, the notorious informal housing area where migrant workers had gathered from the rural parts of…

First, India When Terry first invited a team to join him in September 1980 Alan Vincent was among them. At that time most of the team members’ contacts were in the south East of England but Alan had recently returned from India where he and Eileen had been living for several years through his employment with Kodak. They had been part of the Living Word Fellowship in Bombay, which they had helped plant. In October 1980 Alan invited Henry Tyler, one of the elders of Brighton and Hove Christian Fellowship/Clarendon Church (now Emmanuel Church), which he planted with David Fellingham in 1978, to accompany him on a visit. It soon became clear that the leadership of LWF were not flowing together and the church needed help. In discussion with Terry…

Books have been an important part of Newfrontiers communication over the years and many have been written. Here I will highlight three which particularly record our history. First, in 1986 Terry wrote ‘Restoration in the Church’ (no longer in print). This served to lay out his vision for the restored church, touching on many key aspects of church life and practice such as Grace, Worship, Evangelism, Prayer, and the then much-debated topic ‘Apostles today?’ In 2001 Terry wrote ‘No well-worn Paths’ (also out of print) the title alluding to one of the prophecies referred to in my last blog. In this book Terry reflected on the previous twenty years, sharing the history of Newfrontiers as we drew eleven years of the Stoneleigh Bible Week to a close and drawing out…

In the Bible prophecy was always an important gift from God , whether giving major national guidance or correction in the Old Testament, or Paul’s exhortation that we would all prophesy in the New (1 Cor 14:5). In the Newfrontiers’ family we have always taken prophecy seriously when brought in an appropriate context of being weighed by others. Some prophecies have been particularly prominent in shaping us. I have already referred to two in previous posts that resulted in the Crowning Years Ministry and the Enjoying God’s Grace tour. But there are others that stand out in our memories. Bound together by a common mission One early prophecy referred to us as being like an Armada (though not to the point of sinking I am glad to say!) which we…

Passing on the baton I am breaking into my personal recollections of the history of Newfrontiers as another important transition has just taken place during Global2020, another milestone in our mission together. Newfrontiers Together Following the redefinition of Newfrontiers in 2011 from a family of churches to a gathering of apostles within the Newfrontiers family across the world a ‘Newfrontiers Together’ team was formed, not to lead Newfrontiers as such but to facilitate and coordinate initiatives across the spheres, as needed. David Devenish was asked to chair this team. One of these initiatives has been taking place this week, the Global2020 conference. This should have been in Cyprus but in fact has been taking place online. An event of this type has been held annually for the senior leaders from…