Event Description

Join Rob & Dianne Parsons for an evening of entertainment, music and laughter as he interviews well-known authors and artists, and speaks to them about their life and ministry.

Rob & Dianne’s guests include Dave Bilbrough, prolific worship leader whose hits include ‘Abba Father’ and ‘Holy Ground’, John Pantry, Premier Breakfast show presenter, Church of England minister and songwriter and Julie Anderson, Co-founder and Director of 'The Prayer Foundation'.

Both Dave and John will be performing on the evening, we’ll also be hearing throughout from Nick J Drake. Nick is one of the freshest contemporary worship leaders in the UK and his heart is to focus on drawing people to an encounter with God. He is based at St Paul’s, Hammersmith.

There will also be a surprise special guest on the evening, so make sure you book your tickets early to avoid missing out on what will be a truly memorable evening.

This event is taking place in support of relief, development and advocacy organisation World Vision. Motivated by their faith in Jesus Christ, World Vision serves alongside the poor and oppressed as a demonstration of God's unconditional love for all people.  Currently they are helping more than 100 million people in nearly 100 countries in their struggle against poverty, hunger and injustice.

Rob Parsons was born and raised in Cardiff, England. On leaving college he taught English Literature but then retrained as a lawyer. By the 1980s, he was a successful legal consultant and senior partner at a big provincial law firm. In 1988, he left his firm to start Care for the Family, a charitable organization which aims to promote strong family life and to help those hurting because of family breakdown. Once described by the British newspaper The Daily Mail as “the man who reinvented fatherhood", Rob is particularly passionate about helping parents relate to their children, particularly their teenagers. Rob has penned many popular books on marriage, parenting and Christian living including the bestselling Sixty-Minute series, 'Teenagers! What Every Parent Has to Know', 'The Money Secret' and 'Bringing Home the Prodigals'.

John Pantry trained as a recording engineer and worked for some years in the music business, contributing to many hit records for various artists and appeared with Kenny Everett on Radio 1, worked on the early Bee Gees albums, as well as time spent with the Stones, the Kinks, the Small Faces, the Who and many others. Following his conversion to Christianity, John’s first Christian production was “Light Up The Fire” which made it to the UK charts. John also spent a year working for Maranatha Music in California. In 1989 John was accepted by the Anglican Church for ordination, and was ordained in 1993 after training at Oak Hill College before joining Premier Christian Radio in 1995, where he now presents its daily breakfast programme “Inspirational Breakfast”.

Julie Anderson's heart particularly burns to see the nations turned back to God Having had a visitation from the Lord at a young age, she found herself completely given over to a life of prayer and intercession. Her prayer focus for parliament, media, and youth, plus her compassion for the lost, and hurting, with her sensitivity for others to encounter the Holy Spirit’s guidance, brings the supernatural realm alive and into engagement with the natural realm.  She comes from a media background, having been one of Brian Epstein’s secretary’s during the height of the Beatles popularity, and also worked for London’s top 60’s TV chat show host as Simon Dee’s PA, to a dramatic turn around while living amongst the Rolling Stones in the South of France. She is very much aware of how rapidly the music and strength of a generation can sway a nation. She is equally persuaded of God’s desire to move strongly amongst His church, through the youth of the nation and the power of music and prayer.  Julie and her husband Rod are Founders & Directors of The Prayer Foundation, as well as Senior Leaders of Commonwealth Church which is thriving in London. They have been married for over 26 years, and have 2 children and 2 grandchildren.

Dave Bilbrough - most budding songwriters dream of their first composition becoming a global success. Usually it remains a dream. For Dave Bilbrough, 'Abba Father' became a giant step into international music-writing recognition. With over three decades in full-time Christian ministry and numerous albums later, he is recognised as one of Britain's foremost worship leaders and songwriters. With a wide appeal that spans all Christian denominations and networks, songs such as 'All Hail the Lamb', 'I am a New Creation', 'Sound the Trumpet', 'Holy Ground', 'How Wonderful' and 'Let There be Love' have become a staple part of many a church's repertoire. Drawing on folk roots and world music influences, Dave is in demand as a troubadour and worship leader. His ministry brings an emphasis on the grace and faithfulness of God, uninhibited praise and reconciliation. Dave sees his role as a ministry rather than a career. He feels a worship leader is "someone who is a worshipper but uses his skills and gifts to encourage others into worship". The important thing in being proficient as a worship leader is "to be sensitive and open to God's voice". He also says, "to hear what God is saying is my constant desire and longing".

Nick J Drake grew up in the Wirral, among a Christian family. He did a degree in theology at Durham University, followed by a year or two pursuing success with band Coastal Dune, fronted by his wife Becky. After that came a move down south to be a part of Trent Vineyard for a year, where the church’s openness to the Holy Spirit set Nick on a new path. Nick then moved down to London, joining St Paul’s in 2003 as worship pastor, taking on the running of a team of 50 volunteers and working together with Becky to write a lot of all-age worship songs. At the same time Nick started an MA at King's College where he looked into charismatic theology, and the twin themes of Nick’s work began to come to the surface. Those who don’t know Nick’s work will find his take on worship songwriting refreshing. His theological background doesn’t result in the type of songs that you need a concordance and a dictionary to get through. “The idea of ‘songwriters being the theologians of the church’ just doesn’t make sense to me. These songs are not essays, they’re poetry set to music and you can’t be expected to get to the same place as someone writing a whole book.”