New Wine to move to Peterborough next year
From 2019, New Wine will be moving to Peterborough from Shepton Mallet.
The Christian festival runs for two weeks every summer and puts on teaching, music and youth activities. Since 1989, it has run from various show grounds but will now be having its united conference in the Cambridgeshire city.
Paul Harcourt, the National Leader of New Wine, told Premier: "We've been at Shepton Mallet for 30 years which has been an amazing time of blessing but we've always been looking go put our united gathering in a place that's more centrally located in the country and that gives us an amazing opportunity to bring everybody together in a place that's more easily accessible to a greater number of people."
He added that the new site, the East of England showground has: "great facilities - we can actually expand slightly and take more people."
"We're going to be able to take all the best of the things that people are used to and do some new things in addition as well."
He added that a more central UK location would allow more people to come and that there are over 1000 hotel rooms within three miles, meaning people who don't like camping could walk to the site.
Harcourt said he's been encouraged by the united gatherings ever since he's been involved because the meetings equip local churches: "What excites me about New Wine is this amazing family that's doing incredible things in local churches right across the nation and when we come together we really see the best of that."
Referencing the teaching and youth work, he said: "That draws people back year after year and sustains them to get on with the job of mission when they go back to their local churches at the end of the conference."
He said they would love prayers to go out on a high this year and for continued prayer for local churches to change the nation.
Listen to the full interview here:
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