northernireland

cvm.org.uk/ni @cvmni facebook.com/cvmni

An introductionCVM Office, 276 Ravenhill Road, Belfast BT6 8GL

Email: ni@cvm.org.uk | Tel: 07590 544924

We would like to introduce you to Christian Vision for Men (CVM) and tell you a bit about ourselves. Our vision is plain and simple, to: ‘Connect men to Jesus, and the church to men.’

CVM was born as a reaction to the exodus of men who have left the UK church in the last 30 years. It is a movement of men across the UK who have nailed their colours to the mast for the sake of Jesus’ message. Recent statistics show that out of 30 million blokes in the UK, only 750,000 are regular church-goers. If the next 30 years plays out identically as the previous three decades, the British church will see a total

wipe out of Christian men. CVM has drawn a line in the sand. We have a vision, which connects men across the country unashamedly making Jesus known through actions and words. CVM hosts church gatherings in every major city in the UK in a bid to remind Christian men from every denomination that the message of Jesus still saves people today. The movement also produces

INTRODUCING CVM

2 | northern ireland | an introduction

IF THE NEXT 30 YEARS PLAYS OUT IDENTICALLY AS THE PREVIOUS THREE DECADES, THE BRITISH CHURCH

WILL SEE A TOTAL WIPE OUT OF CHRISTIAN MEN

bespoke evangelistic resources, which explain the message of Jesus in a bloke-friendly way. We are focussed extensively on introducing millions of men to Jesus here in the UK, and men are coming to faith as a result! CVM is a catalyst for an emerging band of brothers across the UK existing to see the nation won for Jesus. Focused primarily on introducing men in the UK to Jesus, we also want to see men gripped and excited by their faith and equipped to live the adventure of following Jesus. In everything it does, CVM has the local church in mind and many of the team have years of local church leadership experience. CVM provides resources and tools for the local church to be better equipped to reach men with the message of Jesus. For more information about CVM and The Code movement, visit: cvm.org.uk and codelife.org

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‘Thanks be to God who always leads us in the triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads

everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.’ 2 Corinthians 2:14

INTRODUCING CVM

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WHO IS SPUD?

Spud is married to Lizi and they have two children; Zach 1 and Lily 5—and she’s the number one reason why Spud’s in Men’s Ministry!

He worked as a tax man for over 12 years and Crown Jesus Ministries as a youth worker on a voluntary and part time basis. He’s been involved in church leadership since the age of 27 initially as an elder and more recently as an

Assistant Pastor in his home church UT Belfast with his entire focus being on men. He enjoy’s all sports, especially golf and football: specifically Everton & Northern Ireland!

CVM Northern Ireland was officially launched on 7 September 2011 at Stormont Buildings and in our first year we have been amazed and encouraged at the response we have received. The need to reach men with the powerful message of Jesus is evermore urgent and difficult, and we have had a very busy first year.

We’ve established two Area Groups as part of the wider CVM Network: ‘CVM Ballymena’ and ‘NI West’.

In Ballymena we are working with nine churches and counting; resourcing their men’s ministry and, more importantly, helping them reach men in the Ballymena

area for Jesus. We are running a ‘Cracking the Code’ tour from September 2012 – June 2013 on the 3rd Monday of each month unpacking ‘The Code’ and seeing how it applies to our lives.

Our NI West team covers a vast area from Omagh to Enniskillen and beyond. Made up of a great bunch of guys from various churches, they organise numerous outreach events specifically for men in ‘The West’ following the CVM four-level evangelism strategy. These guys quite simply ‘do evangelism’, they get along side men and walk with them helping them find Jesus.

We are launching two new groups in the

STAFF PROFILE: SPUD

A WORD FROM SPUD

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Newcastle and Mid Ulster areas in 2013, with plans for more to follow, including some exciting opportunities opening in the South of Ireland.

We partner with New Wine Ireland for their annual men’s days, ‘Kingdom Men’, in Belfast & Dromore Co Tyrone. We’ve also spoken at several key leadership training days and work with What Now in a consultancy role with their annual Mandate Conference.

To keep up to date with CVM NI please sign up on our website and keep in contact via Facebook and/or Twitter.

A WORD FROM SPUD

OUR COUNCIL OF REFERENCE

ROY WALKER With over 30 years experience as a local business man, football manager and speaker at many Christian events, Roy also serves as a member of the CVM Team here in Northern Ireland.

REV ANDREW THOMPSON Andrew is the Minister of Elmwood Presbyterian Church in Lisburn and also serves as the current Chaplain of the Ulster Rugby Team.

MATT BAGGOTT Matt is the current Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the President of the Christian Police Association.

PASTOR JACK MCKEE Jack is the Senior Pastor of New Life City Church and the CEO of Stadium Youth Project and City Life Centre.

MITCH Mitch is an Evangelist serving with Crown Jesus Ministries working throughout all of Ireland.

They join the existing CVM council of reference, see cvm.org.uk/team for more details.

NEWCASTLE AND MID ULSTER COMING SOON

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CVM lives and breathes to tell men about Jesus. Our passion is that through grass roots men’s work and through churches that are effective in reaching and discipling men, we will see one million men across the UK come to faith in Jesus.

With that in mind, a big priority for us was to find a man who could spear-head the work in Northern Ireland and through him meet friends and ministry partners who could help and stand with us. So we were thrilled to meet Spud. It was one of those ‘moments’ that left everybody in no doubt that God had organised the meeting.

Through Spud and a newly emerging network of men’s group leaders, area coordinators, CVM approved speakers and resources, we want to help local churches in Northern Ireland communicate the Gospel to as many men as possible. We are in it for the long haul by faith and are investing heavily into the work. By partnering with CVM, you will not only be supporting Spud but also helping CVM NI to produce more evangelistic resources for you to use. You will also gain access

to our speakers list for your events and become part of a growing movement that is passionate about taking the life changing message of Jesus to men! Across all our work, from the mainland, across to Wales and up to Scotland, we have never seen as many men coming to faith on a regular basis as now. We long to see the same happening in NI and believe that this is the time! Finally, a big thank you from myself and the CVM team for such an incredibly warm welcome to NI. Thanks for standing with us as brothers as we seek to learn, work alongside, grow and support evangelism and ministry across Ireland. Your brother and friend in Christ,

Carl Beech, General Director CVM

MESSAGE FROM CARL

WE HAVE NEVER SEEN AS MANY MEN COMING TO FAITH ON A REGULAR BASIS AS NOW

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This powerful series of Bible notes for men is written by Carl Beech, who heads up CVM, together with two different guest contributors in each volume.

TV survival celebrity Bear Grylls has commended The Manual and encouraged Christian men in the UK to get on board. He said:

“The Manual is powerful, personal and relevant—it has helped me a lot to live my faith day by day.”

Each book contains 60 days of readings, notes and prayers leading men of all ages into a deeper faith and a closer walk with God.

Order online:cvm.org.uk/themanualAlso available from CWR, Amazon and Christian bookshops. eBook versions available in Kindle and ePub formats.

It’s time for a new kind of man.The Code is a fantastic twelve-point honour code manual for practical Christian living.

Reading it could radically change your life!

A rule of life for men that helps them to stay gripped and focussed on living a full-on, uncompromised Jesus centred life, in company with others.

It is the heart of the developing Codelife movement.

Men are reporting this to be life changing!

Order online:cvm.org.uk/thecodeAlso available from Amazon and Christian bookshops.Kindle version also available for eBook readers.

Be led into a deeper faith and a closer walk with God.

For a great night out with your Men’s Group,

get 10% off Ulster Rugby home games at Ravenhill for

all CVM Network Groups.

10% offContact the CVM NI office for more details: Tel: 07590 544924 E-mail: ni@cvm.org.uk

www.cvm.org.uk/ni