On Saturday 20th January, 140 members and friends of Castlefields Church packed in to the Derby Conference Centre for a special service of thanksgiving to God. The Centre is the current venue for the Sunday services of the church, as the church building in the City Centre is too small for the present congregation. After 16 years as the full time Pastor of the church, David Fielding has passed the baton of that role to Richard Carvell and the service marked the occasion.
David told the story of his association with the church that went back 45 years. Although he and his wife, Anne, were only in Derby for less than two years, lifelong friendships were formed and through regular visits as a visiting preacher, and as a speaker on the annual Castlefields Houseparty, a strong bond had been built. This resulted in the church calling David full time in 2007.
Richard Carvell also gave his testimony, of coming to the church as an unconverted young man in 1992. Remarkably the first preacher that Richard heard was David! Richard was converted, and eventually appointed as an Elder. Following David’s recent cancer diagnosis, a decision was made to strengthen the full time Eldership. Richard was approached and after a time of heart searching and prayer, accepted the call. David remains as an Elder but Richard has taken up the full time pastoral and preaching role.
The church gave thanks for the wonderful providence of God in the lives of both men and for the fact that the church has grown in numbers considerably in recent years.
Austin Walker was the preacher at the service and centred our attention on Romans 10 v 13. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Austin showed us that this is not just as a gospel text, but a statement of what Christians had done for generations – they had called on the name of the Lord! His challenge to all present, was to go on calling on the Lord in repentance and faith, but also in worship and in gospel action as the church moves forward through this time of change.