History
The London Men's Convention
The Convention began in 2002 - which ones do you remember?
First London Men's Convention (2002)
Be Men of Courage
The London Men's Convention was launched on Saturday 20th April, 2002 at Westminster Central Hall. Some 2,500 men travelled from all over the south east and even further afield to attend and the atmosphere in the Hall was superb.
Richard Coekin, the Chairman of the LMC committee, kicked off by outlining the vision for the London Men's Convention and then handed over to Phillip Jensen who gave two talks on the subject of being Men of Courage, the theme of the day. (All three talks are available from the Good Book Company).
There were seminars too, on Evangelism (Rico Tice), Fatherhood (Trevor Archer), Work (William Taylor) and Marriage (David Jackman). Ian Fry led a seminar for younger men.
Second London Men's Convention (2003)
Be Men of the Future
After the success of the inaugural convention at Westminster Central Hall, it was clear that a bigger venue was required and so the 2nd London Men's Convention moved to the magnificent surroundings of the Royal Albert Hall.
On Saturday 10th May 2003, around 4,000 men made their way to South Kensington and the sound of their voices lifting the roof off the RAH with the opening hymn was an unforgettable experience.
Richard Coekin opened by emphasising that the London Men's Convention is committed to supporting local church gospel ministry to men and to that end, each delegate received a free book ' "Men of God" - published especially for the London Men's Convention as a resource for local church men's ministry.
Our theme this year was living as Men of the Future and our three speakers took a chapter each from the book of 2 Peter. Vaughan Roberts was first up speaking from 2 Peter 1 under the title "Make your calling and election sure". David Jackman took chapter 2 which warns of "Counter Attack" from false prophets and teachers. The final talk from Chapter 3 focused on God's patience and Rico Tice reminded us to live in the light of the coming day of judgement - to live as Men of the Future. All three of these inspirational talks as well as Richard Coekin's address are available on tape from St Helen's Media.
Third London Men's Convention (2004)
Be Men of the Cross
The third London Men's Convention was again held in the Royal Albert Hall and took the theme of living as Men of the Cross.
Simon Manchester flew in from Sydney to give the first main talk on how Christ's death on the cross brings us freedom from guilt as God's wrath was satisfied. Bill Bygroves spoke on how the example of the cross brings us freedom from selfishness and William Taylor finished the day by speaking on how the defeat of Satan at the cross brings us freedom from fear.
This year also saw the start of the Northern Men's Convention in Manchester with 1,000 men attending the inaugural event.
Fourth London Men's Convention (2005)
Biblical Answers to Tough Questions
The theme on Saturday 14th May 2005 took a slightly different tack from previous years. Biblical Answers to Tough Questions sought both to equip Christian Men to be able to talk to unbelievers and tackle the questions that they have about the Christian faith and also to answer those questions directly for unbelievers who were invited along.
The convention was the fullest that it had ever been with some 4000 plus men attending. A particular highlight for many were the main speakers. Vaughan Roberts tackled the question "How can we know the truth about God?", John Stott tacked the question "Isn't Christianity one of many options?" and Liam Goligher closed the convention by answering the question "Isn't Christianity restrictive?".
The seminars this year tackled a number of other tough questions on topics ranging from creation to sex and science to suffering with the Christian Conventions book 'Biblical Answers to Tough Questions' supporting all these and proving a useful tool for Men's groups to use in their local churches.
Fifth London Men's Convention (2006)
Be Men of the Spirit
The aim in our fifth year, on Saturday 29th April 2006, was to clarify and celebrate the person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Convention addressed the confusion and controversy that sadly often exists in churches with clear Bible teaching.
Pete Woodcock began with a clear exposition of Romans 8 on 'The Spirit of Life'. The experienced Dick Lucas then spoke on 'The Sprit of Truth' from John 16. The third main address of the day was by the Convention Chairman, Richard Coekin, who spoke on 'The Spirit of Holiness' from Galatians 5.
Seminars on topics such as 'What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?' and 'What is prophecy today?' were examined in nearby venues. This year also saw the popular 'Question Time' in the Royal Albert Hall helping to clarify the main talks. On the panel were John Benton, Mark Burkill, David Peterson, Tim Thornborough and Vaughan Roberts.
Sixth London Men's Convention (2007)
Be Men of Godliness
On 19th May 2007 the London Men's Convention looked at the theme of godliness in the letter of Paul to Titus with a challenge to 'be men of godliness'. Richard Coekin asked who our real hero was - James Bond or Jesus Christ.
Hugh Palmer (All Souls, Langham Place) began the teaching at the Convention looking at the first chapter of Titus on 'Being Blameless'. After the morning break Rupert Bentley-Taylor (Widcombe Baptist Church, Bath) took the men to chapter 2 under the title 'Saying No'. The final chapter of Titus was powerfully expounded by Jonathan Stephen (Evangelical Theological Colege of Wales and also Affinity) who spoke on 'Doing Good'.
The practical application of the main talks was again picked up in the seminars on work, sexuality, marriage and fatherhood. The 'My Story!' main session in the main Hall also proved very popular as five men gave their personal testimony on how God had sustained them through difficult times. A free copy of 'A Few Good Men', written by Richard Coekin especially for the event, was also well received, with all the remaining copies being bought up in the weeks after the event.
Seventh London Men’s Convention (2008)
Be Men with a Message
Our aim in 2008 as we met at the Royal Albert Hall was to be ‘Recharged for Maximum Impact’. An ‘all in the hall’ format was followed, with no seminars and four talks.
Vaughan Roberts began the day answering the obvious question: ‘What is the Gospel?’ He clearly proclaimed the Gospel is from God, about Jesus, and for everyone. Al Stewart spoke twice from Revelation 20 and 21 either side of lunch powerfully reminding us of ‘The Truth About Hell’ and ‘The Truth About Heaven’.
Rico Tice finished the day with a practical and immensely encouraging talk ‘How do I share the Gospel?’ Speaking from Colossians 4 Rico told us that sharing the Gospel is talking to God about people and talking to people about God. Richard Coekin announced the ‘A Passion for Life’ mission 2010 initiative to the men and challenged them to get involved.
Stuart Townend and his band led us in praising God and their music was really well received by all the men. The event attracted the largest number of men ever.
Eighth London Men's Convention (2009)
Be Men of Jesus
The 2009 Convention was held at a new venue - the spacious and modern ExCeL in London’s Docklands. Our focus was firmly on the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Wes McNabb, pastor of a thriving inner city church in Plumstead, expounded the beautiful character of Jesus under the title “He came as King” from Matthew 14. Mike Cain, author of the outstanding book, “Real Life Jesus”, and pioneer-leader of a church plant outside Bristol, opened up the magnificent truth that “He will return in glory” from 2 Thessalonians 1.
At the heart of our Convention, we were privileged to welcome Tim Keller, senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York. Tim is the author of various books, including the New York Times Bestseller, “The Reason for God”. He wonderfully opened up John’s gospel on the themes of “He died for sins” and “He rose to rule”.
This is the gospel that remains the power for salvation today: Jesus Christ our Lord came as our King, died for our sins, rose to rule and will return as our judge. With Stuart Townend also leading our praises once again, we were reminded that if we are to be effective in mission, we need to become men of Jesus - men who trust, obey, delight and proclaim this Jesus with every fibre of our being.
Special joint London Men's / Women's Convention (2010)
The God Confusion
2010 saw a special joint event as the London Men’s and Women’s Convention came together as part of the A Passion for Life national mission. Delegates were encouraged to bring friends, especially those asking questions about the Christian faith. The Convention, entitled “The God Confusion”, began by asking how we can even know God exists - is he just a human invention....or a crippling delusion? We were hugely privileged to have Dr. Tim Keller, renowned author, academic and church pastor from secular Manhattan, to help us make some progress, not with blind leaps of faith but with genuine “reasons for God”.
We next asked what makes Jesus so special - are there not countless prophets and gurus to choose from? We were delighted to welcome Al Stewart, the famously plain-speaking preacher and church planter from Sydney, to shed some light on why millions of Christians all over the world are convinced that Jesus Christ is the only way to God.
But how do we make a fresh start with God - what would we have to do to wipe the slate clean and start enjoying God forever? Rico Tice, author of the massively popular Christianity Explored course and known the world over for his humour and passion in teaching the Bible, then clearly explained that wherever we’re from and whatever we’ve done, we can all start again with God thanks to his overwhelming grace.
As a new departure we were also thrilled to offer two optional seminars during the lunch-break addressing contemporary challenges to the Christian faith. Firstly, brilliant Oxford academic and Christian presenter Professor John Lennox addressed the issue of whether Science and Christianity are compatible. Following this, the Universities and Colleges student movement Director, Richard Cunningham, looked at the troubling personal issue, “How could a good God allow suffering?”
With a mix of interviews, filmed items and congregational singing, along with input from Nashville-based professional Christian singer/songwriter Nathan Tasker, “The God Confusion” was an exciting day which helped many Christians become better able to explain their faith to their friends. Wonderfully, there were also those who became Christians on the day, and many others who were helped with their questions about the Lord Jesus Christ and went away keen to keep on thinking about his claim on their life.
Missed a Year?
If you missed a year why not order the talks at St Helen's Media? Talks, seminars and singing are available for each year in different formats including MP3s.
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