The Welsh Outpouring – Victory Church Cwmbran

Posted on 14/06/2013 by David Grant

 On Tuesday evening 5 of us from Life Church Hook headed off to Wales, to visit Victory Church, Cwmbran which has become renowned as the centre of what is being called the Welsh Outpouring. Having looked at their website and watched a few of their videos I had some idea of what to expect.

We had been warned that the venue fills up quickly once the doors open at 7:00pm and it was best to arrive early to ensure a seat in the main auditorium, a converted warehouse. The meeting began with worship which was Christ centred and God exalting. After about 20 minutes Kenny Brandie, Lead Pastor for the Cwmbran Campus, invited those who would like prayer for healing and deliverance from addiction to come to the front where the ministry team prayed for them. Over 100 people were prayed for, the vast majority ending up flat on their backs on the floor. I was impressed by the care and sensitivity being shown by the ministry team to the people they prayed for.

After a further worship time Pastor Kenny preached a message about experiencing the presence of God. And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. Exodus 33:15 English Standard Version (ESV) Kenny showed us how fire was a symbol of God’s presence: with Moses at the burning bush, in the pillar of fire that guided the Israelites through the wilderness and on the disciples at the day pf pentecost. He encouraged us to seek and expect the presence of God; not just for a moment but to take with us into our lives. This led to a further ministry time when about a dozen people became followers of Jesus and the vast majority of those present were prayed for to receive fresh impartation of the Holy Spirit.

People have asked me since if this is a genuine revival; I think I would have to say it is. I felt extremely comfortable and the whole focus of the meeting was Jesus centred and the gospel of Jesus was proclaimed. The leaders we self effacing and at pains not to draw attention to themselves. This was night 64 of these meetings and during that time they have recorded 650 new believers and thousands of people being healed and touched by the presence of God.

I went hoping, that like Jesus disciples in the gospels, I would see Jesus at work – healing the sick and declaring the kingdom. I long to see more of his happening in our ministry here in Hook so plan to visit Cwmbran again and take more of our people with us. 

Visiting the Welsh Outpouring by Roger Harper

The Welsh Outpouring at Victory Church, Cwmbran, continues. Five of us from our family went last Wednesday to catch it.

Victory Church is in a converted industrial unit, round the corner from a major shopping park in Cwmbran, easy to find. We joined a large queue before being ushered into the ‘dark shoe box’, as the Minister, Richard Taylor, called it. People were standing packed at the back, not a seat in sight. A leading local man led us to the front where there were free seats. Not so different from normal church…

The format was normal Pentecostal: worship songs, followed by talk, followed by more songs and prayer ministry at the front by the local team. Some of the initial songs were from 10 or so years ago, not all bang up to date. Later we sang some old hymns. The familiarity and gusto of all the singing indicated that most of the people present were long-standing Christians. We sang ‘Here is love, vast as the ocean…’ the ‘signature hymn’ of the 1904 Welsh Revival. Richard Taylor said that the Cwmbran Outpouring is the first significant such move of the Holy Spirit in Wales since 1904.

People had come far – from Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Tennessee and Singapore. We heard that Victory Church has had a million people viewing their Facebook page since the Outpouring began. Hundreds of people have decided to welcome and follow Jesus in their lives. Hundreds have reported healing. We were told of an 18 year old girl who had been self-harming, including on her legs, and who now no longer needs to cut herself. She came again to Victory Church in shorts, showing her former scars: ‘trophies of grace’ – a phrase she had heard there. A man with curvature of the spine came. He wasn’t healed, but he started praying in tongues. The Holy Spirit prompted him to go back to be reconciled with the leaders of a church which he had left in bad grace. He returned to Victory Church and, on this second visit, his back was straightened.

My 88 year old mother-in-law was with us, hoping to see at last with her own eyes a dramatic healing, like someone leaping out of a wheelchair. We didn’t see that. We did see her falling onto the floor while someone prayed for her. This is usual for her. Many such times have made her healthier and happier than when she was 68. I went forward for prayer for Holy Spirit Outpouring on me and through me. I didn’t fall over, as is usual for me. Standing, I did feel gently filled up, as though with warm air, similar to other times of prayer for the Holy Spirit, but distinctive. No obvious difference since. Maybe when I pray with others..?

From what I could see, there were fewer physical signs of the Holy Spirit moving, fewer shakings and fallings over, in the congregation, as opposed to during prayer ministry, than I have seen in a couple of other places.

Richard Taylor preached on the cross with genuine passion. He called for people to make first time commitments in the usual way: first putting their hand up, then coming to the front for a prayer of dedication and to be given follow up material. Nothing unusual: focus on Jesus and him crucified, rather than on the Holy Spirit.

It seems that some critics have said the Outpouring is all money-making. Richard Taylor joked that he could make a fortune out of selling anointed prayer cloths, instead of just giving them away. There was no offering, nor a mini-sermon on giving, as is usual in many churches, only a retiring collection. The screen at the front was no hi-tech super-reflective surface, but a white bed sheet tacked onto a wooden board.

Richard Taylor said repeatedly that Victory Church is just a local church. They are doing what they have done before, but with more sense of the Holy Spirit flowing.  He hinted that they have moved on from some of their previous practice – no longer giving a benediction. ‘When the Outpouring came, Benedict left the building.’ Mostly, though, they are the same but more so.

Normal local church with more sense of the Holy Spirit welcome, present and moving. That possibility, to me, is tremendous, exciting, inspiring hope. Not an unusual time called ‘Revival’ which comes and then goes leaving powerful memories and a disappointed hangover. Ordinary local churches being themselves in their various traditions, but with more enthusiasm, more sense of the Holy Spirit, more light, more fire, more healing, more commitment to Jesus. ‘Don’t join our church,’ said Richard Taylor, ‘there are plenty of other good churches.’ A few things may have to leave the building; not all that we do is what the Holy Spirit wants. Mostly, though, we will remain the same, but more so. May this Outpouring flow to many more local churches in Wales and beyond.