A new season for Groomsport with Revd Elliot Swattridge as rector
Bishop David has instituted the Revd Elliot Swattridge as rector of Groomsport Parish, almost three years after he was introduced as Priest-in-charge.
Elliot and his wife, Nomi, came to Groomsport from the Diocese of Southwark, drawn by the parish’s commitment to prayer - a passion that lies at the heart of Elliot’s ministry. Looking ahead, he says he feels “a deep sense of conviction and calling to go much deeper in prayer together, and the wonder God is drawing us into.”
That sense of calling shaped a joyful service, where ‘Mountain Moving Prayer’ was the focus of the address by Peter Johnston, Lead Pastor of King’s Church Bangor and a key contributor to a local united prayer movement. Children and team from the parish's Sunday Fun Club presented the seven special items to Elliot and joined in with gusto (and shakers) for the final two songs led by the praise group.
In the reflection below, Elliot gives thanks for God’s work in Groomsport and looks ahead with a longing for deeper prayer, renewed faith and a parish life that points others to Jesus.
God moving mountains in Groomsport
"Having had the privilege of being minister of Groomsport Parish Church for almost three years, we look back with thankfulness to our God for His kindness, patience and mercy. We praise Him for connecting us to more people in our community, adding to our number and sending more people to be part of our church family. It has been our delight that this has begun to include more children and parents connected through the new Harbour Tots, Sunday Fun Club, and Youth Nights groups, which we are immensely thankful for. We also praise Him for connecting us to the wider movement of God’s Spirit across the whole Church in the Bangor area - including the Light of the World united prayer for revival movement - which we are delighted to step into the flow of.
"Our Lord has also been stirring in individual hearts, with stories of people being renewed in their excitement about Scripture, worship - such as in our Praise Nights - and seeing real answers to prayer, including a house! We are especially thankful to Jesus for creating us into a community of friends across generations that is incredibly precious, and increasingly diverse. This is a treasure that we pray and work to protect and nurture and grow, and never take for granted. None of these things are my doing, but a stirring of the Spirit of Christ through us all.
"In this next season I feel a deep sense of conviction and calling to go much deeper in prayer together, and the wonder God is drawing us into. We have paddled in the Cove Bay beachy shallows of prayer, but He invites us to plunge into the depths and heart of the Atlantic Ocean of prayer! That is why I wanted ‘Mountain Moving Prayer’ to be the theme of the Service of Institution - that we would see a major growth in our confidence in the One who taught that even a mustard seed of faith is a channel for God’s power to move mountains. In being part of the wider prayer movement of many church fellowships in this area, of many denominations, we have a sense God is preparing His whole Church in this region for the next major move of His Spirit in our land, and I long to be ready and not weighed down with cynicism or distracted by little details. This is why I was very excited to welcome Peter Johnston, pastor of King’s Church in Bangor, to preach about mountain-moving prayer at the Service of Institution - alongside others he has been a great catalyst of this local united prayer movement.
"As we see from our shores Mew Island Lighthouse to the East, and Blackhead Lighthouse to the North, we long to be a ‘Lighthouse People’ - filled with overflowing love for Jesus, the Light of the World, and longing to share His light with all people. A major aspiration is to see people come to find new life in Jesus for themselves, and this is my primary longing for this next season. I feel very convicted that it is incredibly rare to see people coming to faith, and yearn that this would instead become a monthly, even weekly or daily reality of a Church fruitful in Christ, and for us to be ready to welcome and encourage them all with open arms. As we have been reading in Acts in our Wednesday Bible studies, “day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47) I feel these words challenge us to the same kind of real, daily fruitfulness almost two thousand years later - and this not in isolation, but in tandem with the rising tide of salvation and revival touching all the fellowships in this region. I long for more people to be excited about this vision! Please pray our God would move all stones, walls, even mountains out of the way, “that the King of glory may come in” (Ps. 24:7)."
