Faith, Hope & Love

The real reason for my trip to America begun today, and if I had to go home now the cost would have been worth it. Today was exceptional. I drove to Willow Creek and picked up my two co-travellers on the way, Des and Bill. We’ll be driving together every day this week and sharing [...]

On Sunday, at 8:30am I left with the Stein’s to go to Willow Community Church – McHenry County, one of their regional sites. We arrived about 10 minutes later, found a parking space easy in their car park, and then walked into their converted warehouse. The spacious car park and a vibrant, welcoming Children’s Ministry [...]

The next day I left the hotel and drove an hour north to my hosts. I purposefully drove along Lake Michigan, and as the Chicago Skyline was getting smaller in my rear view mirror and I again thanked God for the great opportunity that it is to be here, ‘Roxanne’ by the Police came on [...]

I woke up at 5am and was out exploring Chicago by 7.30am. This was after finding ‘Chicago Rock’ on my room radio and dancing around the room to Metallica, Enter Sandman, but that’s another story… It was a beautiful clear sky and a crisp, cold day. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day [...]

When I arrived in America it was Thanksgiving, so I didn’t know what to expect. Would the roads be busy? Would anything be open? I had been asked by Willow’s Global Hospitality team to be a driver for two other English Pastors, that would be staying near me at Willow and who would travel with [...]

The weeks leading up to my departure had been extremely busy. Preparing to be away for about 10 days was not easy, not least the idea of being away from my beautiful wife and two precious girls. There was also lots to be done at church, and at home, including a heavy teaching and course [...]

A number of months ago I received an invitation to an ‘invite-only’ event at Willow Creek Community Church, Chicago. The event is called ‘Partnering to Prevail’, (you can find out more about it here ) and is a five-day advanced leadership development program that gives Senior Pastors and Church Leaders an opportunity to be in [...]