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Greetings from Paris where Susan and I visited in October. We were able to meet with the church there, with the French leadership, and with the European Community of Practice (CoP), Marie Angélique Picard, Frans Danenberg, and Gavin and Sinead Henderson. It’s wonderful to talk to Christians of like mind and to feel their enthusiasm for Jesus and his work. 

Since his retirement some years back, James Henderson has served as the GCI Superintendent for Europe on a volunteer basis. My personal thanks go to James and his wife, Shirley, for their dedication to our fellowship and for the care they have shown as they ministered to others. 

One of the main priorities in the international areas has been to establish ideas about succession planning, and James and I reviewed the need for this in Europe. My idea was that James’ son, Gavin, the current UK national church leader, should take on the mantle for Europe. When James became aware of this, he stood back from the discussion because they are family. James also did the same thing when he stepped down from being a trustee of the UK Board. He excused himself from any discussions about his son to avoid suggestions that he might have influenced the UK Board when Gavin was appointed. 

I consulted with the other international superintendents about Gavin’s possible appointment as the new Superintendent for Europe, and all of them were in favor. The other two European CoP members, Frans and Marie Angélique, both consented willingly to the idea. The UK Board of Trustees was concerned about Gavin’s workload, as am I, but they gave their considered and considerable support for this development.  

With his ministry and office experience, his background within our church, and his GCS Master in Pastoral Studies, Gavin is a qualified and capable candidate for the role. Gavin and Sinead have a young family and are aware of workload implications. And they want to minimize the impact of frequent travel on their family. Bearing this in mind, Gavin has requested that his father continue to offer support to Europe should the need arise. I agree that this is a good idea, and James and Shirley will make themselves available when required. 

Therefore, it was with great joy that Susan and I were able to commission Gavin Henderson as the new GCI superintendent of Europe while in Paris. Sinead was with us, as were Frans and Marie Angélique. James and Shirley were child-minding in the UK, but they were with us in spirit! 

Congratulations, Gavin. Thank you so much for your support of our wonderful fellowship! 

By Greg Williams, President

The GCI church in the United Kingdom (UK) hosted a two-day denominational conference for Europe in June. This conference was the first time many of our ministers in Europe were able to gather together in person since 2019. It was an excellent chance to catch up and strengthen relationships.

With more than 100 attendees, the focus of the event was Healthy Church. We also explored how our theology and values are behind the Hope, Love, and Faith avenues and our move to embracing a Team based—Pastor led structure. 

By Gavin Henderson
Superintendent, Europe

 On October 30, we celebrated our 6th annual Surrey Hills Trunk or Treat. This year we moved the event to the parking lot of our church in Surrey. The location change was amazing. We had access to electricity and bathrooms and had ample space for all the fun! An estimated 3,500 people attended.

At GC Surrey Hills, we believe we are better together. This neighborhood event was only possible because an entire neighborhood worked together. We had 26 sponsors and more than 20 trunks passing out candy to all the kiddos. The Surrey Hills Lion’s Club joined the fun by volunteering at the carnival games, and even the OKC police cadets and Fire Department attended. 

Thanks to the generosity of neighbors and neighborhood business owners, we were able to provide inflatables (bounce houses), six professional carnival games, trophies, face painting, and loads of candy. We passed out more than 30,000 pieces of candy! 

It was an incredible day of family, community, fun, and relationship. We are blessed to be able to serve this amazing neighborhood. Our goal isn’t simply to get our neighbors to join our church, but for us to BE the church to our neighborhood. Jesus builds his church, and we are so thankful to be able to join him in everything he’s doing in this neighborhood. 

I want to give a HUGE shout out to our Love Avenue Team. Every person on the team had a job to do and worked hard to build teams and ensure the event went smoothly. The music was rocking, the parking crew was grooving, and the trunks and carnival games were popping! God is so good! 

Ceeja Malmkar 
Love Avenue Champion

What’s an ideal outcome for you? What would it mean to you if you reached your goal? What do you need to move forward? Who can help you with that? When will you do that? These are the kinds of questions you’ll hear if you overhear a conversation between a GCI ministry coach and their coachee.  

What is ministry coaching? It’s a process of discovery where the coach supports the coachee to draw out their God-given potential through a series of thought-provoking questions.  Experience and research show that ministry coaching not only improves ministry effectiveness but develops ministry leaders themselves. The GCI Ministry Coach program trains coaches to support ministry leaders in their development towards healthy leaders and healthy church.  

In August, 10 leaders across the US with a gifting for coaching gathered at the GCI Home Office to attend a GCI Coach Clinic. Over two days, the participants were trained in practices and principles of coaching as the first step in the process of earning their GCI Ministry Coach Certificate.

We praise God for the gifted leaders he brought together to develop their coaching skills with the goal of supporting the development of GCI ministry leaders across the country. The development of ministry participants and leaders is a ministry of its own. We are called to be disciples who make disciples – so we thank God for the ministry of coaching and these coaches-in-training who God continues to work through.  

One of the participants remarked that the following statement stood out: “A good coach encourages thinkers to take action and doers to stop and think.” Coaching is a transformational relationship of empowerment that is personal and contextualized.  

Please continue to pray for our coaches-in-training around the world. They are preparing to support the ministry of Jesus Christ as expressed through GCI’s healthy church vision, putting to practice their coaching gifts, knowledge, and skills. 

By Cara Garrity
Development Coordinator

This GCI Buzz explains the GCI Worship Calendar, a tool that keeps worship alive and provides an inspirational and intentional framework for planning your congregation’s Avenue-led activities and events. Embracing a well-defined calendar brings clarity to how we worship in GCI and keeps us Christ-centered. #gcibuzz

Click the image below to check out the full PDF.