Bev Landreth Smith is married to Mark, leader of Beacon Church, Camberley,U.K. It’s such a priviledge getting to know Bev more……. This is what she said….M.M: Tell me briefly about your background?
B.LS: Well, I had a fantastic Christian upbringing. My dad was a local printer, my mum was a stay-at-home mum. We were part of a big church in Woking, where we were very involved in church life. My favourite things were family bible weeks, sewing and making things, youth group every Saturday night.
M.M: How best would you describe your family life?
B.LS: Well, I had a musical family and my brother would play piano for us all to sing lots of church songs. My Dad loved to train us in the art of conversation, and we would have sociable family meal times discussing God, Maths, society, the bible, our life choices etc. My mum had a big heart for the ‘marginalised’ so we would often have one or two extra at the table. Family life was noisy, crowded, loads of fun and games, not a lot of money, and full of Jesus!
M.M: What are the most significant events of church life since Mark starting leading Beacon Church?
B.LS: First, God gave me a neighbour to babysit our four small children, so I could be involved in meetings from when the church plant began. We soon grew out of our hall for Sunday meetings, and that building became the centre for administration. Also we started various mid-week groups like toddler group, children’s clubs, coffee mornings and prayer groups. We are now about 300 on Sundays. That building has now been demolished and we are building another on the same spot. It will be great, but not big enough for our Sunday morning meeting. We have a staff of four based there, and lots of new initiatives to start soon. Most significant event was having J John one Christmas, but there have been other good events too.
M.M: Exciting. Any challenges you’d like to share?
B.LS: Church planting is both exciting and scary together. The familiar security of the big church is hard to leave, and the planting starts with hard work. The challenge was keeping our own kids excited about God and the church. The next was to keep the momentum going throughout the congregation to keep on inviting people in. Another one was training up new leaders all the time.
M.M: You did a Training Track with Wendy Virgo at The annual Brighton leaders conference in July. What did you share on and how did that go?
B.LS: This was a really exciting time for me, as God has been leading me to encourage and teach women in the church specifically. For the last 5 years we have built a team to organise events with many creative and gifted women getting involved. We have been able to serve our region of churches too, as the smaller ones need plugging in to Newfrontiers whenever they can. In Brighton I shared on ‘The battle for materialism’, which is something we all face no matter what our financial situation is. We looked at being continually thankful, permanently contented and learning the joy of waiting. I was very encouraged at the response, and will be speaking on that subject again in the New Year. You can download the talk from the Brighton TOAM website.
M.M: Who is your favourite Bible character?
B.LS: Esther, for she was prepared, commissioned and strategically placed for ‘such a time as this’. So – you Queens out there….take your throne!
M.M: What is your favourite film?
B.LS: I have a few, so my favourite genre of film would be tasteful period drama. I like Who-done-its and Love Stories made in that context. My delight is in the respectful way in which they speak and the lavish costumes they wore.
M.M: What is your favourite quote?
B.LS: Charles Dickens “Cry your hardest now, it opens the lungs, washes the countenance, exercises the eyes, and softens down the temper. So cry away”
We should never stop folks crying! God is at work.
M.M: Great getting to know more about you Bev.
By Molly Manhanga
