Giles Arnold, Church Growth Trust’s Chief Executive, attended a service on 24 April to say goodbye to Mike Pavlou, who has led Oakleigh Community Church in Whetstone, North London since it was planted in 2002. Giles first met Mike in 2003 when Giles was working for Stewardship, who then held the trusteeship of Oakleigh Chapel, where the church has been based. “I was always struck by Mike’s humility, as he felt ill equipped to lead a church and had the “wrong mix” of people who had come with him to plant, so was completely reliant on God in everything. It has been such a pleasure working with Mike over the last 19 years and has been so encouraging to see the church grow and get established.” The church outgrew the building and has just completed a major project to reconfigure the inside layout and its external appearance. The building and the church are in a great place to go forward, as Mike retires. His humility allowed Mike to receive and reflect to the Lord praise given to him at the service.
Mike also stated, “I want to thank Giles and the team at Church Growth Trust for all their encouragement and support over the years. We could not have asked for better trustees, they have been immense! Oakleigh continues to grow and it seems we are getting new people in every week”.
Praise God for this humble man of God. We pray for Oakleigh Community Church as it goes into its next stage of growth and as Seb Cummings takes over as leader.
