Sheffield Presbyterian Church
Sunday 19 September was the first day of public worship services for Sheffield Presbyterian Church. As the church approached its launch, Paul Brown was busy building its web site (www.sheffieldpres.org.uk).
According to church planter Kevin Bidwell, there is a real sense of mission as the church planting work takes shape. Sheffield is the fifth biggest city in the UK, and the church is surrounded by 7 million people within a 90-minute radius.
In this urban hub, there is no Presbyterian church; the precious theology of the Westminster Standards is virtually unknown; and evangelicalism overall is quite weak.
Many churches are given over to various expressions of Arminian and Charismatic confusion and rarely consider the question, ‘What is a biblical church?’ Ultimately, the sheep are left confused and uncared for. In short, the spiritual needs are great!
In early 2010, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales commissioned Mr Bidwell (reaching the end of his doctorate in theology at WEST) to begin a Bible study in his home and prepare the way for a future church plant.
A nucleus had formed prior to this, with people from different households expressing a desire for a church that would be God-honouring in worship, committed to faithful biblical exegesis, and unashamedly Presbyterian.
Kevin Bidwell said, ‘We greatly value everyone’s prayer for the public worship services; for the development of materials for children’s and adult Sunday schools; for practical and administrative planning including fund-raising; for the Lord to draw the right people to the church; and for whole families to be converted during the next three years’.
