On 3rd December, we held our first Detling Ambassadors’ gathering, over afternoon tea. Having formally launched our Ambassadors’ team at this year’s Detling Celebration, it was a great opportunity to meet up once again with some of Detling’s most passtionate ‘family’ members.

Detling – news update
The event was held at St Luke’s Church, Maidstone and was a lovely time spent getting to know one another better, over a wonderful tea.  Eddie (Donaldson, Detling’s Chair of Trustees) opened the formal part of the afternoon with a news update on what had happened since the Summer Celebration. This included our  Leaders’ Lunch and the People’s Walk, which had raised over £1000 for Youth without Limits.   He also shared some exciting news about Detling 2012′s speakers, confirming  Gerard Kelly (a Spring Harvest favourite) and XLP founder, Patrick Regan.  

Detling Ambasadors – a vital role
Eddie then led a discussion about the vital role the Ambasasadors play in Detling’s future, being at the heart of communicating to other members of the local Christian community what the Celebration is all about and why be a part of it. He also stressed what an enormous difference it makes to us to have early bookings, enabling us to make the best plans for the Celebration.

How can the Ambassadors promote the Detling Celebration?
The Detling Ambassadors are a key part of Detling’s ‘face’, personally speaking to people, telling them about the Celebration and encouraging them to come along and join in. They communicate with churches, community groups and individuals alike, each in their own way. We spent some time sharing experiences of promoting the event, giving us all some more ideas to try, including:

• Regularly handing out printed updates to church members – on speakers, programme, promotions.
• Letting booked guests know where their pitch will be and inviting day visitors to pop in on them.
• Churches having their own weekly saving club, to make it easier for people to pay.

Encouragement from Eric
The afternoon ended with a short talk from Eric Delve, Detling’s founder,  encouraging us for the future. Eric based his talk on Hebrews 12 v 1-3, looking back at the early church fathers, such as Augustine, Wesley and Booth.  We thank God for them as we look back, realising that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are crowded in the stands, cheering us on.  He noted that as Trustees we need to strip off like an athlete, shedding all accumulated ‘stuff’ and what we can survive without, to enable us to run the race.  In this case the individual Detling Celebration race.

Eric went on to say that Detling is a strategically located conference.  In Kent, where the Medway towns have lost their docks, in the east the coalfields and now Pfizers relocating, a great tranche of people feel that life has passed them by.  We need to put on an event they can afford and be a part of, where they go home saying ‘we can make it, we’re not a bunch of losers’.  We have to make it possible.

To do this, we must fix our eyes on Jesus and the throne of God.  When we fix our eyes on the task, it can lead to weariness. By fixing our eyes on Jesus, He can refresh us, so that we don’t lose heart!

Find out more
Read more about Detling Ambassadors

Read more about special offers and assisted places to Detling Celebration

A report on our very own, ‘pilgrims’,’ progress…     

From Tuesday 25th October, to Saturday 29th October, our intrepid group walked along the old Pilgrim’s Way, between the cathedrals of Southwark and Canterbury.

Veteran walker Tony Chadwick planned and led the walk, joined for the whole route by Philip Davis and John Barry. A massive congratulations and THANK YOU goes out to them for their efforts and money raised for the Detling Celebration’s young people. All told, the trio walked 86 miles!

The route was split into sections over the five days, enabling others to join in the walk and allowing a few much needed stops for refreshment at a welcoming tea room or a good-old country pub! The walk ended at the more refined confines of Canterbury Cathedral.

Here’s a breakdown of the team’s route, distance covered and times.

Miles  Time
Day 1 Southwark Cathedral  Eynesford Station  22.68  9 hours 33
Day 2 Eynesford Station  Aylesford   22.19  9 hours 35
Day 3 Aylesford   Harrietsham   12.51  6 hours 11
Day 4 Harrietsham   Wye    13.91  6 hours 57
Day 5 Wye    Canterbury Cathedral  14.74  7 hours 07

Total – 86 miles (or 137 km)!!

Well done and thank you to everyone involved and to all of you who’ve donated or raised money for Detling’s youth programme.

An audience with Jonathan Veira and sons. Want a great night out and raise money to educate children in the slums of Nairobi? Then buy your ticket now before they run out!

Jonathan’s a great friend of Detling who has been entertaining our guests for many years. He blends his musical talent with an innate gift for humour to bring you an evening of riotous laughter to put a smile on your face that will last long after the show’s over.

Jonathan, a world class opera singer, shows off his broad range of ability on many instruments and singing in all styles; rock to blues, country to funky. He peppers this show with offbeat, hilarious comedy, ably supported by his gifted family.

Money raised by the concert will go to The Giraffe Project and help sponsor and support the education of Kenyan children, in the world’s poorest community. Find out more

Don’t wait ‘til after Christmas, buy your ticket today and bring your friends!

Central Theatre, Chatham,
Saturday, 21 January 2012
7.30pm

Tickets £18 & £16 for students/OAPs/under 18s

Block bookings 1 ticket in 10 free

www.medwayticketslive.co.uk

Tel. 01634 338338

We held our latest leaders’ lunch in the lovely setting of Aylesford Priory. We’re always blessed with great speakers to inspire us and this time was no exception.

Peter Martin, CEO of The Memralife Group, the parent organisation of Spring Harvest and other well-known Christian ministries, gave an inspiring and thought-provoking talk entitled, ‘Leadership against all odds.’

Peter based his talk on his own life and gave a very moving and personal testimony of his career and current work with Memralife. When talking about leadership, with reference to Jacob, he quoted, “If a leader doesn’t walk without a bit of a limp, he’s not worth following.”

The main focus of his talk was about the, ‘Attributes of my Shape,’ where he explained key attributes that form the shape of Christian leadership.

1. Vision – “The very essence of leadership” Hesburgh.  Proverbs 29:18.
2. Focus – Perseverance, drive, single mindedness, Hebrews 12:1-2
3. Servanthood – Serve with humility and grace, always encouraging. Allow people to fly.  Treat your calling as if it’s not yours. What God has given you; give back to Him to do His Will. You are never the reason, only the vessel.
4.  Accountability – Luke 16 parable of the shrewd manager.  Spiritual accountability is vital. Hiding things never works, it only gives the Devil a foothold.
5. Community – Today’s culture lies in community – live and know yours.

Peter went on to challenge us about how these attributes were reflected in our individual leadership, in our own, ‘shapes’. He then commented on what shape he felt was required of Christian leadership for the future and what other attributes Christian leadership needs to exhibit:

Passion
1. Passion for Jesus – We need to reclaim our passion for Jesus and overturn the current unprecedented apathy in the church.
2. Passion for the lost – We are so consumed with blessings, we’ve forgotten the lost.
3. Passion for Jesus’ return – We need to remember that victory is ours and look forward with hungry anticipation to Jesus’ return.

Purpose
1. Our own purpose – To know where God wants us. People don’t know their own identity.
2. God’s purpose for us – What do you want me to do.  And remember and acknowledge that God calls us into seasons.
3. Praise – The key to unlocking a fulfilled life of service and commitment.

And his lasting comment and challenge to us all…

Let the shape of who you are shape you.

Whether you’re walking, sponsoring, praying or supporting, you’ll want to know the route our merry band will be taking.

Day 1: Tuesday 25th October 2011
Depart Southwark Cathedral 08:00 aim for Eynesford Station 17:00
33.3 km (21 miles) – about 7:30 walking time
Route – Old Kent Road, Lewisham, Lee, Grove Park, Elmstead Woods, Chiselhurst, Petts Wood, St Mary Cray, south of Crockenhill, near Lullingstone Castle, to Eynesford Station

Day 2: Wednesday 26th October 2011
Depart Eynesford Station 08:00 for Arrive Aylesford Village Car Park (west side, just north of the Medway after/before the new bridge) 17:00
33.2km (21 miles) in about 7:30 hours
Route – Lullingstone Castle, Shoreham, Otford, Otford Manor, Wrotham, Pilgrims Way, Snodland, New Hythe, Aylesford Railway Station, Aylesford

Day 3: Thursday 27th October 2011
18.4 km (11.5 miles) in about 4:20 hours
Route: Aylesford – Boxley – Detling – Thurnham – Harrietsham Church (War Memorial)

Day 4: Friday 28th October 2011
20.5 km (13 miles) in 4:45 hours
Harrietsham Church – Marley – Charing Hill – Westwell – Eastwell Park – Boughton Lees – Wye

Day 5: Saturday 29th October 2011
21.5 km (13.5 miles) in 5 hours
Wye – Boughton Aulph – Kings Wood – Chilham – Old Wives Lees – Chartham Hatch – Canterbury

 There’s still time to join us
You can come for all or any part(s) of the walk. Just call our office on 0870 901 7777 and speak to a member of the team.

And still time to help raise £10,000 for Detling Youth
It’s so easy. You can sponsor the walk or make a donation (including Gift Aid) by texting 70070 with the message PWLW11 and the amount you wish to sponsor/give. Plus there’s no cost to you other than your usual text message charge.

As many of you know, we changed our Evening Celebration format a bit this year and introduced our new family Celebration – Oxygen. We’ve had mixed feedback, so thought we’d let you know our thoughts for the 2012 Celebration.

The Oxygen Celebration was introduced as a trial this year for people with families who wanted to worship together in the evenings. We thought it worked really well and have had some great feedback from many who came. However, we have had some feedback (which we agree with) saying that it didn’t work for a lot of the older children. So, next year we are going back to holding a separate evening celebration for 8-11s.

Thanks to all of you who gave us the feedback – it really helps. After all, the Celebration exists to glorify God and serve you – it helps us to know what works!

So, if you want to keep up to date with what we’ll be doing in 2012 watch this space… and sign up for our e-newsletter

Just a short distance from the Kent showground, on the other side of the downs, runs the Pilgrim’s Way, the ancient route taken by pilgrims from Winchester or London to Canterbury.

Following last year’s success, we are going to recreate that pilgrimage again this year between the 25th and 29th of October and we want you to join us!

Walk with us and raise £10,000
LONDON – CANTERBURY
25Th – 29TH OCTOBER 2011

Help us raise £10,000
Our purpose is to raise at least £10,000 in sponsorship and to do it together! Yes, we want you to walk with us from London to Canterbury or at least one or two stages of the 80 mile journey and to get your friends and relatives to sponsor you. The money raised will help support the Youth programme at next year’s Celebration.

What’s involved?
You’ll be lead by a team leader and we’ll have this year’s route all mapped out. How does it work? Here’s what we did last year: The fi rst two days we walked from Southwark Cathedral to Aylesford, about 20 miles each day. The next day from Aylesford to Harrietsham, 11 miles, the fourth day is another easy one from Harrietsham to Westwell – 9 miles. The final day will take us from Westwell to Canterbury Cathedral some 16 miles. Just in time for Canterbury Praise in the Cathedral! We discovered just how special walking together is. There’s an immense sense of reward, as well as a unique opportunity to enjoy fellowship and share stories, along the way.

How to register
You can register by calling our office on 0870 901 7777,  it’s just £5 and wewill send you details of the walk, where and when to meet, what to wear, the sponsorship forms and the People’s Walk 2011 T-shirt!

Let’s get started!
So, sign-up and start training now! – Even if you can’t join us, why not pledge at least £5 in support.

Last year, a team of us  50+ year olds walked the Coast to Coast Walk (192 miles in 12 days).

Thanks to some great support, we raised almost £7,000 for the charities which we supported.

This year, we have another Cunning Plan to raise money for 4 charities.

On 3rd September a team of 4 (Alan Beardsley, Allan Dyke, Mark Taylor, and Nigel White) will leave Whitehaven on the coast of Cumbria, armed only with bicycles. We plan to arrive in Sunderland on Tuesday 6th September – 134 miles and 15,000 feet of ascent later.

We’re raising funds for:　

http://www.justgiving.com/sea2sea-giraffeproject

Thanks for your help.

With kind regards

Nigel White (& the 50+ year-olds)

The Giraffe Project
Street Pastors Rochester
Street Pastors Maidstone
People Without Limits

If you would like to help us raise funds, please respond by e mail to me at nigelew@o2.co.uk . For the Giraffe Project, you could also donate electronically, using the following link: 

Missing Detling already?

Want to be reminded of some great moments?

Missed it entirely? Never been?

Check out these great videos of what went on this year.

Detling 2011 overview

Detling 2011 – Youth without Limits 

Detling Celebration promo video

Don’t forget, you can get all the teaching from EssentialChristian.com

See you for Detling 2012 – Lifesong,  book here

“Empty hands held high, such small sacrifice, if not joined with my life, I sing in vain tonight… may the words I say and the things that I do make my lifesong sing, bring a smile to you.” Casting Crowns  

If you’ve been transformed by your encounters with God at this year’s Detling Celebration and feel freed into His plans for you, then come back in 2012 for more! 

As a People without Limits, we’ll be learning from God’s Word how we can live in harmony with Jesus; living sacrificially to proclaim the good news to the poor… and to set the oppressed free. We’ll be opening our hearts to be inspired by God to be: Visionary, Unlimited, Generous, Reconciling, Fearless and Attractive. If our lives were compressed into a song, a lifesong, would they bring a smile to Him? And joy to us?

Don’t miss out on next year’s Celebration; the fun and freedom, the holiday times with friends – the special atmosphere that is Detling 2012!

11-16 August 2012. The Kent Showground, Detling.
Visit the Detling Celebration website or call the office on 0870 901 7777

Pricing information
Online booking