Newfrontiers : Love Belfast

Love Belfast

David Capener and his wife Trish recently uprooted from rural Norfolk with their three young daughters to plant a church in the centre of Belfast. We interviewed Dave to find out exactly why.

Tell us about your family

I am married to Trish who is amazing , and we have three lovely girls. Thea is seven and super clever, Eve is four and a little princess who at this moment is trying to raid the fridge! Our youngest is Amelia who is nearly two, going on 17! She’s great fun and keeps us on our toes. Number four is on the way in October, which we are all really looking forward to.

What is your background?

I was brought up in a Christian family in a small gospel hall, Brethren style evangelical church in Gloucester where my Dad is an Elder. I remember at the age of six hearing the gospel preached one Sunday evening. That night I felt so convicted by what I had heard that I knelt down beside my bed and decided that I wanted to follow Jesus.

After a few years of backsliding as an adolescent I attended a youth camp where I sat under the preaching of a Welsh evangelist called Phil Davis. I can’t even remember what he was preaching about but by the time he was finished I was a changed man. I remember being so convicted by the Holy Spirit that I could not move from my seat for a good few hours!

Fast forward a few years and I end up at university studying Architecture, which is where I met my beautiful wife Trish who is from Belfast. It was at this time that we both started attending New Community Church in SE London where I had my first real experience of a charismatic church.

Have you always wanted to start a church?

Both Trish and I have always known the call of God on our lives. We both had a real love for Belfast and Northern Ireland and figured that maybe one day we would end up back there, but not to plant a church!

I very clearly remember the moment that God called us both to church planting. It was a Sunday at New Community Church when Duncan Hanton (Northwest Church, London) was preaching. At the end of his talk he asked for a response for people who felt God was calling them to church planting. I just knew that I had to respond, and I didn't know it at the time but so did Trish. So there we were standing together with a real sense that God was calling us to plant churches. It was a really defining moment in our lives. Not long after we felt God calling us to go and serve in the Norfolk region under Maurice Nightingale, which was an incredible time of preparation and learning for us.

Why Belfast?

We know that God has called us here. Since we got married we have always said that wherever God called us we would go. It’s been a great way to live, always listening out for what God is saying. So when the call to church planting and the love and passion for Belfast came together we just knew that God had spoken. This was then confirmed by a number of significant prophetic words and we just knew that God had called us to see a church planted in Belfast. We really wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Belfast is such a fantastic city, and we can’t wait to see what God is going to do through His church here.

How did your move go?

The move was amazing, we really felt people praying for us. When we arrived in Belfast we both felt like we had come home. The leaving bit was difficult, but then it always is. We had all made so many amazing friends in Norfolk. It was especially tough for Thea (our eldest) who had made close friends at school. She cried non-stop for about the first 30 miles of our journey as we left. But the children are really settling in now and have made some great new friends.

What have been some of the challenges that you have faced?

Finding a job has been a really tough one. As an Architect this really isn't the best time to be looking for work. A lot of other guys in our team are also struggling with employment so it is a real challenge for us at the moment. Other members of the team have also been facing different pressures and that has been quite tough. I think it helps to keep these things in perspective though. Just the other day I was reading in the newspaper about the great Belfast-based preacher and author Derek Bingham and his battle with cancer. This quote really stirred me to keep the correct perspective.

‘As a Christian I have an incorruptible inheritance. As the world economy collapses, as millions lose employment, as wealth flies away like and eagle in a storm, none of this can touch my inheritance in Christ.’

What is your vision for the church?

Our vision is best explained by our name: Redeemer Central. We want to be a Christ-centred church seeking a Christ-centred city.

At the moment we have a five-fold mission plan, which will help us work towards that vision:

To establish a city centre church and 4 other congregations/churches (North,South,East,West) across Belfast by 2020.
To see a church planted in every city in Northern Ireland; Lisburn, Londonderry, Newry, Armagh.
To see a church planted in every major town in Northern Ireland with a population of 20,000 +.
To see churches planted from Northern Ireland to the nations. Particularly East coast America & Canada.
To equip others in Northern Ireland to plant churches.

Tell me about the recent Love Belfast event.

LoveBelfast was a really significant and amazing time. Over 120 people gathered at the Waterfront Hall Theatre in Belfast for a day of worship and teaching. Jeremy Simpkins (Jubilee Church, Teesside) spoke a timely word about the type of churches that we want to see built in Belfast. It was also great to have some great worship times and significant prophetic input from Julian Adams.

A real highlight of the day was hearing from four church leaders from across the city. They were all from very different churches and denominations but to hear them share one heart for the city was really stirring. We also received a wonderful welcome to the city from all of them.

In November 2010 we are hosting a church planting conference where Mark Driscoll, Tim Chester and David Stroud will be speaking. Church planting is big on the agenda at the moment across the whole island of Ireland so we are really looking forward to that. More information will be made available at the end of this year.

What are you excited about for the rest of 2009?

We have just started meeting mid-week on a Wednesday at Pizza Express in the city centre, which we are calling Citygroup. I am just so excited by the team that has already gathered to be part of the church. They really are an amazing bunch of people who have gathered from all over the world to be part of what God is doing here in Belfast. It is such a blessing to be serving here with them.

In June we are also running a Northern Ireland Church Planters Forum, where Matt Hatch (Mosaic Church, Leeds) will be sharing some of his church planting story. We already have a number of pastors and church planters signed up to come and are really looking forward to serving them as they consider and begin to plant churches.