The recently formed Fresh Oil Church
brings the number of Churches and places of worship in the
Lisburn City Council area to 134. Under the leadership of
Pastor Sheila Smyth, the new fellowship commenced in January
2005 and meet for worship each Sunday morning at 11.00am in
Lagan Room 2 - Lisburn Leisureplex.
The name Fresh Oil was chosen because it
speaks of a Fresh new move of the Holy Spirit. The Pastor,
Sheila Smyth, is a very gifted musician and a lot of new music
and worship songs have been birthed within Fresh Oil as they
have a strong emphasis on worship, and the desire to see and
hear new songs being written. They regularly take the studio
theatre in the civic centre and have worked with many good
musicians at this venue. On 30th June they will be
holding a concert in the Lagan Valley Island Hall and Pastor
Philemon Bandi, from Zimbabwe will be the speaker at that night
of music and evangelism. Fresh Oil also runs a Christian single
parent work, which offers support and help to single parents,
and their children.
During morning worship on Easter Sunday,
George Jackson and Caroline Wilson presented a gift to Sharon
Brown. Sharon is taking leave from her work as an audiologist
in the Royal Hospitals Trust and will travel to Greece on
Thursday 20th April for a six-month missionary
outreach in Astros, near Athens. She will be working with
evangelists Elias and Effie Armenis whom Sharon and Pastor
Sheila Smyth met on a trip to Greece last summer. The purpose
of that initial trip was to support some people in Astros who
wanted to plant an evangelical Church there. Elias gave up his
job as an engineer to work with homeless people, drug addicts,
and prostitutes in inner city Athens. He set up �The Hope
Place� where people he witnesses to on the streets can come for
food, clothing, a bed for the night, prayer support and
counselling. There are also times of fellowship, worship and
teaching. Sharon, who felt called to join them in their work,
will spend the summer months on the Greek Islands working with
the local team in outreach work using drama and music and will
also be involved in the ongoing work in Astros.
In May, Elias and Effie Armenis, who are
supported by �Passage to Life� will be visiting Lisburn and will
be speaking at Fresh Oil Church. In July, Pastor Sheila Smyth
and a team of musicians from the new Lisburn Church will be
joining Sharon in Greece to support her work there with a series
of open-air music concerts during an Evangelical Mission in
Astros, which will be led by Elias and a team from the USA.
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L to R: Pastor Sheila Smyth (centre of picture)
with George and Winifred Jackson, leaders of the
recently formed Fresh Oil Church, which meets for
worship in Lagan Room 2 - Lisburn
Leisureplex. |
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George Jackson and Caroline Wilson present a
gift to Sharon Brown (centre) during morning worship
at Fresh Oil Church on Easter Sunday. Sharon
travelled to Greece on Thursday 20th
April for a six-month missionary outreach.
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Leaders and some members of the congregation of
the recently formed Fresh Oil Church, which meets
for worship in Lagan Room 2 - Lisburn Leisureplex.
L to R: (seated) Pastor Sheila Smyth, Robert
Crockett, Martha Fulton and George Jackson with Paul
Kinghan (left), Nathan Smyth (front) and Alan
Alexander (right). (back row) Rebekah Smyth,
Caroline Wilson, Sharon Brown, Winifred Jackson,
Dorothy Bell and Sam Alexander.
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