It was a big day in the life of Lifehouse Community Church in the afternoon of Sunday 25th April 2021. After not meeting in person for over a year during the pandemic we met together again for our first Sunday gathering. It felt a bit like going on holiday crossed with Christmas Day! For Katherine and I and our family there was a level of excitement and nervousness - constantly checking the clock to see if it was time to get in the car yet! There was a growing excitement and an expectation of what was to come.

Let me introduce Rich and Anna Houghton to you. We have known them for many years having been first connected in Kidlington. Anna works as a primary school teacher and Rich works as a project manager for a design agency. They have two children and are fun-loving people that love sharing life with others in Banbury.

There's a church just north of Oxford that we're family with! Although its exciting, being actively part of a wider family of churches may be a new idea for some of you, so we want to tell the story of how we got there, and how relationships are sustained today.

Chapter 1: Oxfordshire

In the 1970s, UK churches were impacted by a new movement that came to be called both the ‘charismatic renewal’ and the ‘house church movement’. It placed emphasis on authentic community, participation in worship, spiritual gifts, and meaningful discipleship. 

A quick read of the New Testament shows us a picture of a mobile and dynamic church. A church committed to each other, but also to making an impact in their towns and cities, and to the task of reaching the world with the good news of Jesus Christ.