Newsletter - February 2024
Celebrating Valentine’s Day this month reminded me of the original Valentine story. You are probably aware that Valentine was a priest, maybe a bishop, in the Roman empire, who probably never married. He ministered to persecuted Christians and was martyred.
Love in essence is a verb; it’s an action - something you do. Love is also expressed in words. ‘I love you’ is a common statement. Yet when Jesus talks about love in John 3:16 – ‘God so loved the world, that he gave…’ it’s that self-giving love that brings together both actions - in dying on the cross - and words – ‘I love you, you are my beloved’.
He loved us first!
Love is such a powerful, self-giving, sacrificial term when we talk of God’s love, and it releases us to know that we are fully loved. When love is broken, it causes pain, hurt and heartache. Many of us live with that brokenness; it causes us to feel down and low. But let’s remember, as a gospel entrepreneur, that Jesus, the redeemer King and saviour of the world, loves us, and invites us into an amazing relationship. He is our role model of sacrificial love; of self-giving.
So I pray that this month we will experience more of his love, transforming our hearts, transforming our lives, and causing us to do loving things and say the most profound, truthful, loving words. Let’s surrender to him today, so that we may experience more of his love and grace in our lives as a Gospel Entrepreneur.
Roy Crowne
Gospel Entrepreneurs founder
A Second Chance
Sarah Bainbridge is one of the founders and the programme manager for the Adullam programme in Lancaster. The ministry provides ongoing support, friendship, advice and training for those who find themselves on the margins of the community; whether through mental health challenges, addiction, relationship trauma, loneliness or imprisonment. Adullam provides a second chance for individuals to develop a full and positive life and to fulfil their potential within the context of a safe community. A former banker, Sarah says that Gospel Entrepreneurs has ‘helped take the charity to a new level’. Watch the video below to find out more.
Free and effective
We are thrilled to be able to make the Gospel Entrepreneurs series freely available to those who sign up on the website. We want the series to be widely used. It is exciting to hear how it is being received. In Kuala Lumpur, one of the Gospel Entrepreneurs following the series saw Gary Grant’s interview so went to The Entertainer toy store in a city centre shopping mall – only to find that it is run by a Christian family. What a wonderful connection as a result of the series!
Mentors and coaches
As Gospel Entrepreneurs has developed we are now actively mentoring, coaching and encouraging Christian Entrepreneurs. Our mentors include our associates Steve Gee and Laura Brett, plus Paul Harvey and our newest coach Richard Street, pictured below.
Richard has spent more than 35 years in senior roles in business, primarily in the retail sector leading supply chain functions. He loves supporting transformation, growth and turnarounds through developing cultures, plans, people, partnerships and processes. He has been chair of trustees for a charity specialising in mental health and has been part of the leadership team for a local church. He is currently ‘in transition‘ to a second career as a ‘business and personal‘ coach, accredited by the International Coaching Federation, and is really enjoying working with individuals to unlock their personal and their venture’s potential. Richard is married to Clare and they have two adult children.
Business benefits
One business that has benefitted from Gospel Entrepreneurs coaching is CLO Coffee run by Linda and Nick Castle. They say: ‘Connecting with other business leaders through Gospel Entrepreneurs has been a huge blessing for us. We’ve been able to learn from Christians pioneering new ideas in different areas of business, helping us shape our thinking and attitudes to leading CLO coffee.’ Nick & Linda Castle
Meet our new trustees
This year sees some changes to our Board of Trustees. Special thanks go to Mike Pollard, who stepped down last month. Brian Addis and Morola Hayden continue as trustees and are joined by Caroline Taylor and Elijah Kirby.
Caroline Taylor
Caroline lives in Leicestershire and has a wealth of experience as a detail-oriented Programme Manager for Sainsbury’s in Coventry, London and Manchester. Her day job is a great asset to her role at a Gospel Entrepreneurs’ trustee as her working responsibilities are to ensure there is a clear governance process in place to record and resolve any changes to costs or scope, managing risks and issues against each programme.
Caroline has been married to Dean for 31 year and they have two sons. They are part of a church in Rugby and Caroline enjoys regular socialising with family and friends, eating out, running, walking & cycling.
Elijah Kirby
Elijah is head of membership and sector development for London Youth. He leads a team of seven and is accountable to 600+ member and partner organisations. His responsibilities include capacity building, training, comms and digital engagement alongside internal quarterly reporting, compiling external funding reports, authorising expenditure, and re-forecasting budgets. He is a trustee of Spurgeons Children's Charity, and was Chief Executive Officer at NorthPoint Care CIC from 2019-2022. Prior to that he was Head of UK Church Partnerships at Tearfund and a senior leader at Teesside Vineyard Church. Elijah is married to Jo and is father to three boys and one girl.
Sign up and meet up
Have you signed up for the national gathering 8-9th March in the Holiday Inn, Northampton, hosted by Gospel Entrepreneurs? Spaces are limited. Sign up today.
Our goal is to inspire and energise you and to connect you with like-minded people. We have some amazing, inspiring and engaging speakers who will be joining the Gospel Entrepreneurs team, sharing their wisdom and insights with us. Guest speakers, alongside Roy Crowne, Laura Brett and Steve Gee are:
Simon Berry, executive chairman of English Lakes Hotels
Matt Parfitt, founder and CEO of Grace Enterprises, transforming lives through supportive employment in sustainable businesses
Jody Wainwright, director of Boodles, one of the UK’s most prestigious jewellers.
NEWS ARCHIVE
If you miss an enews update you can catch up here on the Gospel Entrepreneurs website.
CONNECT
If you have received this Gospel Entrepreneurs news update from a friend – you can sign up here to receive it direct to your inbox each month.
Please continue to pray that God will leads us as we invest in entrepreneurs and plan for the future.