Vision Meeting 2026
Our annual Vision Meeting was held at the Gatehouse on 24th February 2026 and attended by a group of 30 people.
Pastor Neville Walker opened the meeting with a welcome and encouragement from Joshua 1:3. He mentioned appreciation of what has been achieved in the last year (see Annual Reports) and how these things have worked towards the fulfilment of “The Church I would like to see”
There was a call to volunteer and recruit volunteers to carry out running of church and plans to move forward.
Elders
Kay is not continuing as an elder having completed three years and we are very grateful for her leadership. Liz Hall is being put forward by the current leadership for another 3 year term, Patrick Fleming and Ihechiluru Anozie are being put forward as elders for the first time having served on the leadership team for two years or more. There will be a short members meeting after church service on Sunday 22nd March with a vote to express support from the members. Any objections should be sent to the pastor in writing before then.
It was noted that eldership positions require that people have been members for at least 2 years in an Elim church.

Safeguarding
Ihechi delivered a presentation on the importance of Safeguarding in all church activities and the necessity for all volunteers to have safeguarding training. There will be an online training event on 4th July 2026.
Looking Ahead
Buildings – reduce our building loan and also open up the entrance/lounge area of church.
Current loan is approx. £29,000 and in May we will move from paying interest only to also paying off capital. We may introduce a special offering to try and significantly reduce this loan to enable us to move forward with our building plans.
Ross presented a plan to improve the “front of house” experience including developing teams to do the cleaning (saving money on cleaners’ salaries) and as carpark attendants.
Continue the Big Yes, Little Yes and Healthy Maybe programme (see Evangelism Events report in Annual Report).
Equipping – over the next year or two years we will be giving people access to various courses and training – Holy Spirit Course, Leadership training, Exploring your Gifts, Freedom Course, Marriage Course.
Add to our leadership team
We have advertised in Elim to take on an assistant pastor half-time, with a particular focus on the younger generations. This is a stretch financially, but we will save money on salaries from the cleaners and the small stipend that Kay received for her work as Families and Community Worker.
Neville is due for retirement in 4½ years – before then we will be working to raise up more, younger leaders to join the leadership team.
Increase the number of connect groups – we see the value they bring to the individuals in their discipleship journey and to the church as a whole.
We anticipate an increase in forthright Gospel preaching in Blackpool and beyond and look to support this work.
Contributions in an open session
There were words from various people at the meeting, namely:
A word of encouragement to trust God for the finances.
A word to point out the importance of prayer and fasting as a church – to hear God’s will.
A word to leave space to seek the move/baptism in the Holy Spirit.
A request for training in personal evangelism.
Presentations
Safeguarding - Ihechiluru Anozie