Faith, Fellowship and Fun at Hothorpe Hall – 23-26 May

Over 130 of us from LCBC and Cornerstone enjoyed the Bank Holiday weekend together at lovely Hothorpe Hall in Leicestershire, the perfect setting for church family time together. Our guest speaker for the weekend was Andy Upton, pastor of Knighton Evangelical Free Church, Leicester.

Faith Building

Andy focussed his talks on the structure of the Lord’s Prayer, a great way to challenge us as we thought about our prayer life. The first session reminded us who we are praying to – our Father, a personal God who wants us to come to him in prayer.

The format of the sessions over the weekend was very useful. A time of singing, followed by Andy’s talk and then discussion time in groups. This enabled us to reflect honestly on the challenges surrounding our individual prayer lives and share good ideas at a practical level.

A key point was that when we pray we often spend most of the time in request mode (our supplication prayers), and yet God already knows our needs. We spend too little time adoring God and asking him to reveal and forgive our sins. We also spend too little time being quiet and listening to God. Several people have been motivated to set up prayer triplets and to find other ways of ensuring that prayer is a natural part of our daily lives.

Fellowship and Fun

A weekend away is a great way to deepen relationships within the church, and relative newcomers can quickly feel very much part of the fellowship at LCBC.

Some enjoyed a healthy bit of competition and exercise with rounders, football, pool and table tennis tournaments, although there were several injuries including many bleeding knees. For others, an enjoyable ramble, art classes and Scrabble were the order of the day.

Special thanks must go to all those who provided excellent teaching and entertainment for the children, allowing parents a little space of their own.

Last but not least, the weekend would not have been the same without Ron and Eth talking about the Marriage Course, the church cleaners gossiping about church life and the myriad of poets and musicians that were ‘Crendon’s Got Talent’.

Good food, good company and good teaching. What more could we have wanted.