It is time: a church born in Derby

For weeks the invitation had gone out across Derby under one word: “It is time.” It was printed on a flyer, carried in a series of pictures in which a pocket watch moved, card by card, to the stroke of midnight, and set out on a website made for the new church.

We came to St Peter's Church on St Peter's Street, the only medieval church still standing in the heart of the city, a little before six. Shortly before the meeting our brother Emmanuel Akpet arrived with flyers, and we went out and preached in the streets for about forty-five minutes, almost an hour, telling people that it is time. We came back in a few minutes past seven to begin.

We sat in a circle under the old arcades and began with worship. Ekaba opened John 4: the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Chidera spoke on the day of small things: many great things began with gatherings like this. Our host, Bill, sat with us to the end, and before we parted he prayed over us; we received it as a fatherly blessing and a key to the city.

Josh Callan said there was a reason he was there: the invitation had come up in his feed. He had found his faith about six months before. At the end of that meeting, to the glory of God, a church was planted in the city of Derby: the Church of Christ, Derby. Josh gave himself to the Lord and to the work, with Emmanuel and his wife Josephine.

Brother Segun stayed behind. The next afternoon he met Josh and Emmanuel and laid the foundation: love, forgiveness, a new family in Christ. They found they live ten minutes' walk from each other, on the same street, and they began to meet in their homes.