Scripture is final
Every word is received under the authority of the Bible and must agree with it.
Encouragements received between 2012 and 2025
Words that have shaped our story
Four prophetic pictures have helped us pray, look beyond ourselves and remain open to what God may do in, around and beyond Portsmouth.
Bible teaching and spiritual gifts
Rooted in the Word, open to the Spirit
We want to be a fully Bible-teaching church. That means receiving Scripture as our final authority and taking seriously everything it teaches about the life of the Spirit—including the call not to stifle the Spirit or dismiss prophetic gifts.
At significant moments, trusted leaders within our Commission family of churches have shared pictures that brought encouragement, challenge and a wider horizon. We are grateful for them, but we do not treat them as Scripture, new doctrine or an infallible plan.
“Don’t stifle the Spirit. Don’t despise prophecies, but test all things. Hold on to what is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:19–21 (CSB)
Prophecy is weighed
We test words together through Scripture, prayer, wise leadership, time and fruit.
Jesus stays central
Pictures may encourage us, but Jesus builds his church and the gospel directs our mission.
Some parts of these words resonate clearly with our later story. Other parts remain invitations we continue to weigh and pray into. We share them here because they have helped stretch our faith and clarify the kind of church we hope to become.
The Dartboard
The whole city, not only the centre
A Summary:
Guy described a dartboard laid over Portsmouth. The encouragement was not to aim only for the bullseye, a quick increase focus just on the centre, but to see the whole board: east and west, Southsea, Havant, Gosport and communities at the edges.
The language of doubles and triples pointed to multiplication—more groups, more leaders and more ways of reaching people, including people unlike ourselves. It called the church to prepare for enlargement by raising leaders and finance rather than relying on a small number of people.
“I want you to see the whole dartboard; I’m giving you the whole dartboard.”
How it has shaped us
This word gave us language for a call wider than one meeting in one part of Portsmouth. The planting of Christ Church Fareham in 2018 and the beginning of our Baffins and Milton congregation in 2022 resonate with its emphasis on edges, leaders and multiplication. It still challenges us to see the whole field and reach people who may never come to us by themselves. We have members who travel from Gosport to PO1 each week and we would love to grow our capacity to plant a church in Gosport.
The Dockyard
Build well, then send generously
A Summary:
Portsmouth Dockyard was pictured as a place that equips an armada. Christ Central is a strategic church in a strategic city, we are to build many kinds of vessel well and send them where they were needed. Small minesweepers, frigates and aircraft carriers each had a different role; none was to be despised or overawed by another.
The word encouraged the elders to build according to God’s plumb line, to make bold plans and to be willing to release good people. The promise was not that sending would be painless, but that the best could be sent without leaving the rest diminished.
“I trust you as a church to build well, to build strong, to build according to my plumb line.”
How it has shaped us
The picture confirmed a conviction that a healthy church should train and release rather than gather everything to itself. It continues to shape our desire to develop people carefully, honour different callings and send leaders into local communities, church plants, the wider nation and the nations. We are committed to discipleship and encouraged by our growing global influence.
The Market Stalls
Different people reaching different communities
A Summary:
Guy pictured a fish market with six stalls. Christ Central and the newly planted church in Fareham were two of them; others were associated with places including Gosport and the Isle of Wight. The stalls belonged to one shared market, but each received different fish from different waters.
The emphasis was on releasing fishermen and fisherwomen who could reach people the existing leaders could not. The whole church was needed. A small number of people could make only a small impact; a church working together, heart and soul, could make a far greater one.
“This needs all of us.”
How it has shaped us
This picture strengthens our conviction that every member matters. Mission is not the work of a few visible leaders. God gives different people relationships, gifts and credibility in different communities. Our responsibility is to recognise, coach and release them so that multiplication becomes the work of the whole family.
The Spinnaker
Catching the wind for gospel breakthrough
A Summary:
A spinnaker is a sail designed to catch even a faint wind and help a boat accelerate. Guy pictured one being hoisted on Christ Central as the wind of God moved the church forward into a new season of spiritual life and gospel breakthrough.
Green, white and orange in the sail drew attention to Nigerian, wider African, Indian and Asian people. The word encouraged us to expect God to draw people from these communities, raise new leaders from among them and send people beyond Portsmouth as well as grow a more diverse church here.
“This church … accelerating into something of the spirit, and accelerating into something of gospel breakthrough.”
How it is shaping us
This recent word sharpens our expectation that diversity is not a side issue but part of the church God is forming. We want to make room for people from the nations to belong, contribute and lead; to remain sensitive to the Spirit; and to see gospel life flow both into Portsmouth and out from Portsmouth to the world. We increasingly sense the ‘wind’ is the Holy Spirit and the spinnaker is every member deployed confident in their gifts and call.
The thread running through them
One continuing invitation
The pictures are different, but their repeated direction is clear: look beyond ourselves, prepare people well and trust God for a multiplying, diverse and outward-looking church.
See the whole field
Carry the gospel in, around and beyond Portsmouth—not only where it is easiest or most familiar.
Raise and release
Build people well, trust them with responsibility and be willing to send good people.
Multiply through everyone
Expect the whole church, with different gifts and relationships, to share in God’s mission.
Welcome and send the nations
Grow as a diverse family in Portsmouth and release people to serve Jesus across cultures and nations.
The story is still being written
Come and be part of what God is doing
We do not know every detail of what comes next. We do know that Jesus is still building his church, the gospel is still good news, and every person has a part to play. Come and meet us, ask your questions and discover where you might belong.