by Alison Jackson
Faith
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The Community Outreach Worker Writes... by Alison Jackson |
Faith |
“There’s a first time for everything” - how often have you heard that saying?Well, this is the first time I’ve been asked to write this letter to you and I’ve thought long and hard about what I could write that you would want to read, and the other challenge has been to find a photo of myself that is not showing me washing cars, picking up litter or just generally covered in dirt and rain!!!!!!
As we have said “Goodbye” to Madeleine and Sherry, “Goodbye” to Mara, and are about to say “Goodbye” to David and Bobbie in the next few weeks, (much more of that to follow) it is really obvious to me that we are in changing times at Christ Church. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. We welcome Rosie Watson onto the staff team and Norman Richards, we welcome Tina as our new administrator and for those of you who don’t know, Brad Holland has just started his Reader training. We also have a very committed team on the PCC in place to move us into these new times and I know the fact that we now have an Operations Manager, Martin Dudley, will make many of our plans much easier to put into practice.
In fact these are exciting times......
We are about to start the process of looking for our new incumbent, male or female.
About to start being a missional church and all that means.
Many opportunities are going to open up for all of us and this is truly a time to pray for God’s guidance in the life of our Church and in our own personal lives and journey with God.
I am reminded of God’s promise to Joshua as he stood looking at the Promised Land, in Chapter1:3-5 “I will give you every place where you set your foot”...... I will never leave you or forsake you”.
This feels like that time to me, and maybe we are standing looking at our own Promised Land, not looking back but looking forward. Throughout that first chapter of Joshua, that new beginning for the Israelites they are told to, “Be strong and courageous (v6), and I feel that this is God’s message for us at this time. It seems to have been my own personal one for the past few years. Time and time again I am being put into situations where I need to hold on to this piece of scripture very tightly. Sometimes I seem to be saying that to myself daily.
Let me tell you a story....
As many of you know we run a Journeys course (which is a gentle introduction to the Christian faith). It usually happens in our house, with wine and lovely desserts - this time, Pimm’s in the garden, thanks to the weather, and a fabulous baked chocolate and orange cheesecake, thanks to Tom and Poppy. But, to be able to run this course we have to have people who want to know more about the Christian faith.
That is difficult, isn’t it? In this age of indifference. I am sure that we all know people who are good people, who try really hard to do nice things for others, however not being Christian they do not understand that ‘being good” will not get them into heaven and that the only way is to believe and trust in Jesus. It’s so hard to have those conversations with the people who we care about that don’t know the truth about Jesus, who think we are a bit strange, or even downright bonkers. How often have you wished you could have a conversation about faith with someone but never seem to get past the weather, or football, or what the children are up to, or where they are going on holiday. Don’t you just long for real conversations sometimes, about things that really matter?
I see people like this in Toddlers everyday. In a week now we see up to 200 carers with children, so if you count the children (which Jesus always did) about 400 people come to our building every week. That’s a lot of people. I would love them all to really come to know Jesus, but where to start? I’ve asked this question of God, many times, and over a period of time have grown closer to some of the Mums, our friendship has grown and I have become very fond of them. They are my friends.
I wanted to ask my friends who I have grown to know and care about through Toddlers to come on the Journeys Course, but I was afraid.... I was very afraid..... the fear of rejection weighed heavily with me as I had asked people in the past and had been rejected and I had found that hard.
So I asked a few good, close, Christian friends from Church to pray for me over a period of time to show me who to ask, to pray that God would prepare the way for me to ask, and to pray that God would give me the opportunity to ask.
Surprisingly God did all of the above and more (why do we ever doubt God?) and individually all my friends said ‘Yes’, and the relief and joy was immense, but I can honestly say I was very, very, scared. I am now running the course with the help of Georgina Martin and Rachel Swatton and we have 6 lovely ladies who have joined us in what will hopefully be the start of their own personal journey with Jesus, who knows - God, I think.
I do not tell you this so that you can say ‘Well done, Alison’. I tell you this story to help you face your fears. I tell you this story to try and explain how important these missional groups will be. They will give us opportunities to have friends who are not Christian, to enrich our own lives by knowing new people. I have been really blessed with the many people I now know in Ware it has made my own life and that of my family’s much more interesting.
If you already have friends that you would love to know about Jesus, I ask that God will give you courage to have that conversation. We will be running another Journeys course in the Autumn so you will have time to pray with friends about this.
If you are unsure about how to be involved in a missional group or how to set a missional group up, or have just had a good idea but don’t know what to do next, please talk to me or any of the staff team. We will be having brainstorming workshops in the Autumn to which everyone who is interested will be invited to come along and share their ideas and there are missional groups already active that you could be part of if you would like to be.
Remember God is with us, will not forsake us, and will use us if we let him, but to do that we have to “Be strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7) and walk into the Promised Land.
Alison
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Fund Raising Made Easy... Christ Church Ware presents a new quality production courtesy of the WWW |
 Body |
Got a computer?There’s no such thing as a free lunch... But there is www.easyfundraising.org.uk. Visit and have a look - there’s much more information than we can fit here!
But here it is in a nutshell... A lot of on-line shops are prepared to pay commission in return for traffic. It’s there to be had. Let’s have it!
How does it work? Visit your favourite on-line shops via the Easyfundraising website and your purchases generate commission. Easyfundraising collects it, and Christ Church Ware can share it for free.
What’s happened so far? Christ Church Ware has registered with them. It didn’t cost us anything because we’re “a good cause”.
What we’re asking you to do? We’d like you to register too. It won’t cost you anything either. You’re a shopper. When you register, pick “Christ Church Ware” as your cause...
And then... Next time you go on-line shopping, go to your normal store via easyfundraising. Nothing else changes.
What does it cost me? Nothing - your shop pays commission to easyfundraising because you came via their site.
So I’m buying via easyfundraising? No, you buy from the same shop you always bought from. Think of easyfundraising as a sort of Google. Use it to find your shop and our church can benefit.
How do I shop at Amazon for example? Go to www.easyfundraising.org.uk and pick Amazon from the A-Z of shops.
What’s the catch? There isn’t one - it takes one step and then everything else is the same.
I bet there aren’t many retailers! Over 2000 and growing.
I bet it only raises a couple of pence - It varies but WH Smith, for example, pays 3.5% commission. Your price stays the same; you pay in the same way. And easyfundraising splits the commission with us.
I’m committing myself, aren’t I? No - check out the questions and answers on the easyfundraising website.
What about my credit card details? Easyfundraising doesn’t get to see these
Can I cancel? Yes - just stop visiting.
What to do next:
Amazon Argos ASDA e-bay Tesco Sainsbury B&Q John Lewis M&S Millets BHS Next Boots ToysRUs Currys HMV Homebase Wickes Debenhams Halfords Sports Direct T-mobile Nokia Top Man Staples Mothercare i-Tunes McAfee Lego N-Power Kodak Boden British Gas Hilton Hotel Phones4U PC World Laura Ashley H Samuel
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Dial M for Op’s by Martin Dudley Mary and Martha |
Body |
Many thanks to all of those who responded to my first article as the Operations Manager. It was fun seeing your suggestions for a name for the column, thank you Tom for the winning entry.Some of you worked out that a phalarist is a collector of something - It is the old fashioned term for a medal collector - in my case I specifically collect military medals, mainly from the two world wars. This month’s little known fact is around food. I am sure lots of you know that I like to cook and will try anything once - even couscous. However my absolute favourite meal is steak and kidney PUDDING - not pie but pudding. If anybody knows where they serve a good one please let me know, as I am always hopeful it will be on the menu if we go out to eat but invariably disappointed.
Having shared a bit of my journey of how God led me to this role last edition, this time I want to reflect on what he has been enabling me to do in the first couple of months.
When I was thinking about what to write, I was reminded of the story of Mary and Martha where Martha resented her sister for just sitting at Jesus’ feet while she was rushing around like a headless chicken. It got me thinking, that was me until I started this job. My life was governed by deadlines, targets, conflicting demands and a sense that work dominated everything.
Life as the Operations Manager has been busy, the first week I worked over 55 hours with an archdeacon’s visitation, election hustings, interviews for a new administrator and looking after the returning officer for the polling station. The second wasn’t much quieter with the Ascension Day service. But one of big differences between working in the Bank and the Church is that there is time. This may seem a strange thing to say after outlining the first couple of weeks, but each day there is time at staff prayers to reflect on why we are here, who we serve and to thank God for the people at Christ Church. I have had the opportunity to spend time talking to people and getting to know more about their stories. By having the time to listen to people I am amazed by what a variety of interests people have, you never know when these can be used to help the church family.
I am writing this on hot June day with the sun streaming through the office windows, the birds singing and I can hear the children from Christ Church School enjoying their lunch break. Isn’t our God an amazing God! It has been wonderful to be able to have the time during a day to stop and appreciate his blessings to me and to see him in daily life. Whether it be walking through the Church when the peace and reverence of the space enfolds you, in seeing a mum and toddler happily going to one of the groups, a smile and word of encouragement from a visitor to the office or seeing a familiar face in the town. All of these I never took the time to appreciate before.
In the role I have time and space to think. Those who know me know that I think best when doing a physical task. The large cupboard at the back of church has benefited from several hours whilst I have been wrestling with some ideas and formulation plans (sorry Bobbie I know it spoilt your last article!). The centre cupboard and south porch are lined up for my next problem resolving times, and I’m saving Alison’s office for when I start on the issues of Health and Safety or a major crisis occurs!
Looking back over the first two months of the job, some of the highlights are:- God provided us with brilliant people to interview for the administrators post; how when we were getting close to the deadline for the centre cleaner, he brought us Jenny, an experienced cleaner who likes early mornings; being grilled by year 1 and 2s at school on why I am a Christian. I have revised staff contracts, written sickness and grievance/disciplinary polices (you never know when I might need them!), working beyond 70 policy (especially for Eva!), and I have started to look at Health and Safety regulations. I have explored all of the nooks and crannies of the church and halls – the memorial hall loft is full of fascinating pictures and lots of spiders - with a view to formulating a plan to resolve our need for more storage space. You will see the fruits of this over the next few months as we move into the implementation stage. I have also been learning a lot about the practical matters of how the church runs. I have verged at funerals, handled enquires about having children baptised, people looking to get married and how to book a funeral with no clergy available. I have climbed over the roof with contractors and learnt that they speak a completely different language to the rest of us! I even survived a week covering the office when Mara was away.
As I find my feet and learn what is expected and wanted from me, I hope that I will create space for others within the church to focus on and develop the key aspects of their ministries. This to me would be the best endorsement of my service to you.
Finally, if you ask my children, they are seeing more of me and they tell me I am less stressed and losing weight - a double win - although watching England recently will undo all the benefits. So for all of the above reasons I am truly grateful to God for this opportunity to serve Him and you at Christ Church.
Martin
| Toddlers |
 Bridge |
As a new mum, it had been a tricky transition going from working long hours to suddenly being at home with a demanding baby. As many will know it can be an incredibly lonely job. I literally stumbled across the Christ Church toddler playgroup and immediately was made to feel welcome and at ease.
Over the next few years I built some wonderful friendships with other mums I met - I’m sure they would agree it was a bit of a lifeline for us all, giving us other people to talk to and just simply having a place to go. What became apparent over time was that Alison and some of her team of volunteers at Toddlers were church goers and I was struck by how giving and caring they were. It took me back to my childhood, where my church hall was a great stomping ground with my fellow Sunday schoolers. I had always talked of getting back to a church at some point although quite when that point would come - who knows? I did know that I wanted my children to know God and to feel the warmth of a church family like I had. Again through playgroup I was introduced to Maggie who ran the Bubbles sunday school and started to attend church. Alison encouraged me to join her Wednesday night study group with some other mums. God had managed, without me even realising, to get me thinking and praying again. I kept thinking how I had missed this and how had I managed to get through my adult life thus far not having this relationship ? It truly felt like I had come home.
When Alison became a helper short at Toddlers, I immediately signed up - I felt that I had benefitted so greatly from my experience, I had got so much more than I had ever imagined. Our wednesday night group is starting a new ‘Journeys’ course in July and we are so excited to have mums from Toddlers joining us. It seems so very obvious to me now that God is there in our little playgroup.
Rachel
If you would like to be part of the Toddler Team, there are vacancies for both Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons and the Tuesday morning Baby Group would really like a friendly person to get alongside some of our new Mums.
| Spring Harvest 2010 |
Faith |
Daffodils, blossom on the trees, bracing sea air, comfortable accommodation,good company,inspiring teaching, both lively and reflective worship ............. these are just some of the ingredients that made up Spring Harvest 2010.Spring Harvest has been taking place for a number of years and it’s a well thought out Christian holiday catering for people from a few months to 91 (that was the oldest person this year) and no it wasn’t Evelyn !!
A typical day would be to have a leisurely start and then to go to the daily Bible reading led by Dr Krish Kandiah, a preacher and Bible teacher, who shared his knowledge with us looking at the nature of God through the Old Testament. This was done through teaching, testimony and humour.
It was then coffee time.
In the afternoons there was a variety of seminars to go to catering for the interests and needs of all ages.
Every evening there was for us one of the highlights of the week.............the celebration where we were led in worship by Graham Kendrick singing a mixture of hymns, new worship songs, which was a real privilege.
Each evening we looked at the book of Esther and another highlight for us was the Saltmine theatre group who did a short sketch/drama on the passage of Esther we were looking at that evening. The group was extremely talented and funny and they serialised the book of Esther calling it EstherEnders! We were taught by excellent speakers and we were shown clips of current affairs and happenings abroad that opened our eyes to what is happening in the world and what God is doing through His people.
There were also after hours events but ask Peter Ould for more information!!
The week of Spring Harvest for us was a real blessing. We’d had a difficult year and God knew what we needed and provided it that week.
Praise God,
Evelyn and Julia
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Can It Get Any Better Than This...... A cross cultural mission on our doorstep |
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Opening its doors for the first time in 2006, Alison and a team of volunteers from All Nations College, readily took on the challenge to provide a safe and comfortable environment for local International new comers to the district, to practise their English and make new friends. Since then every Thursday in term time, families from different corners of the world who now call the Ware their home, have enjoyed meeting together in a spirit of friendship.
The reality is this: Our wonderful International Café has announced it will close its doors for the final time this week and many of the regular visitors have asked if there was any way it could remain open.
So I am asking you directly on their behalf: Is there is a way to keep the doors of our church open to our fellow International neighbours, especially if they feel uncomfortable about attending Sunday services at this time of adjustment?
Will you step out in faith and help make this happen? Can we operate a new and improved International Café?
With your help we can.
As a student from All Nations, I feel that the café has impacted on the lives of not only the regular attendees, but also those serving. We have all learnt from our experiences. We have all grown in understanding of each other; and we have done this in the presence of the Lord.
I would certainly recommend this outreach to anyone who has a heart for people. If you feel called to serve in an international outreach of this kind, without packing your bags for foreign shores, please make yourself known and step forward. If the café is to keep opening its doors in the future, our Church will need as many of you to be involved, as possible. Will we make this your mission too?
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Book Review Breakout by Mark Stibbe and Andrew Williams |
Faith |
I recently had the pleasure of reading “Breakout”. It is the very enjoyable and exciting story of the journey that the people of St Andrew’s Chorleywood took as they embarked on a new adventure of being God’s people in that place. I think I can promise you that it will inspire you! The story is that of the change of approach from being a “come to us” church into a “go to them” church - they likened their approach to becoming lifeboats (I won’t give away the story - you’ll have to read the book!) It is a great reminder and encouragement that each and every one of us has gifts from God that we can use. No matter how old or young we are, no matter where we come from or what we do, we each have an important part in God’s story.The book does not try to suggest itself as a precise “blueprint” for other churches to copy. Rather it shows what God did in that place and in their context and it reminds us of the need to seek God’s will for how to be a missional church in our own context. There are many elements of their experience that we can certainly learn from and hopefully mistakes that they made that we do not need to make ourselves!
Read it and be inspired!
Sam
| The process of appointing a new vicar |
Faith |
Hopefully by now the news that David and Bobbie will be leaving us in September to take up a new position as Vicar in Bedhamton has reached everyone and so this article does not come as any surprise. You will also have seen the information we gave out a few weeks ago about what this will mean for Christ Church and what happens next.The process is divided roughly into two, before and after David resigns. David official resigns on the 27th of September before beginning his new job on the 28th September.
The Parish received official notice of the vacancy on the 8th June 2010 and the wardens met with Nick Sharp, the Rural Dean, to discuss moving forward in the appointment process, and contacting the Archdeacon who would be informing our Patrons (CPAS).
We were contacted by CPAS and were asked to convene a pre vacancy meeting on the 16th of June. Our understanding was that by then we should have appointed the two parish representatives who would represent Christ Church in the appointment process and also vote on Resolution A and B under The Priests (Ordination of Women) measure 1993, so we moved the June PCC meeting forward to do this.
As a result of this meeting the two Wardens, Dave Ilott and Mary Salter were appointed and the PCC voted to continue not to have resolution A in place and to rescind Resolution B which was in place, so that now both resolutions are not in place. Confused! We made sure that we weren’t when voting but it took a while!!!!
The PCC met with the Archdeacon, Rural Dean and Patrons CPAS to find that we should have recorded these votes, along with a couple of extra minor details, on a Section 11 form at a Section 11 meeting so we called one there and then. This proved to be the quickest PCC meeting ever I believe.
So this is where we are up to at present. The next stage will be to draw up the Parish profile, the advert for the vacancy and the standard candidate response form in time to advertise when the vacancy exists on the 28th September.
David and Bobbie’s last Sunday with us is the 5th September and they move out of the vicarage on the 6th or 7th of September. Details of “The Final Fling” to take place on the 4th September are out now, so make sure you keep this date free.
Dave and Mary
| Ware U3A |
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The U3A is an organisation especially for those who are retired or semi-retired. You’ll never have enough time to join all the groups that you would like to. You certainly won’t be bored.Ware U3A was launched in September 2008 and was overwhelmed by the response to the first open meeting at Leaside Church Hall and out grew this venue immediately and has now made its monthly home at Wodson Park (where we have been made very welcome). The group has over 600 members. The monthly meeting is on the second Wednesday of the month in the Wadesmill Suite, Wodson Park with an invited speaker (no lecture in August). Please see the U3A website Events page at Ware Online for further details www.wareu3a.co.uk
The Ware U3A has over 66 interest groups, meeting weekly, twice monthly, monthly or as the group wants, covering a variety of interests. See the website for more details.
All new (and potential) members are invited to an ‘Open to All’ coffee morning at Leaside Church Hall on Wednesday August 18th from 10:00am to 12:30pm. This is a chance to get to know people and learn about our many Groups. Come too if you are a member looking to join a new group.
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Bob’s Browsings by Bobbie Proud Confessions of a Blasé Tourist |
Faith |
It’s that time of year again. Yes, I’ve been to Scotland, marvelling at highland coos*, battered haggis, and CalMac ferries. (It’s strange what can give you pleasure). We’ve seen stunning, magnificent scenery, visited remote outposts down many a long single track, dead-end road, and lolled on idyllic empty beaches, all white sand and turquoise sea. And though you might think that Scotland is the home of deep fried Mars bars andIrn Bru, Celtic and Rangers, Andy Stewart and Billy Connolly, (and of course it is, let us not deny this) it does have a part of its nature that is, well, much more exotic, or so it seems to me (you can debate that between yourselves if you must, but I know which side I’m on). You see, there’s a wonder about it all, the transient views that unfold themselves suddenly round hairpin bends, the sheer drop from the side of the single track road down to waves crashing on inaccessible rocks, the very names of the hidden cottages that evoke another world: ‘Cnoc na faire’; ‘Tigh na Mara’; ‘Aig fois’ – they sound unfathomable, deeply mysterious (as well as unpronounceable). Actually, they probably mean ‘Sea View’ or ‘Dunroamin’. But to my mind, they’re from another, enigmatic, world and I treat them with reverential delight. Their very unfamiliarity makes them worthy of a silent pleasure in grappling to understand their meaning.
It’s the other side of the coin to the way we sometimes deal with the Bible if we’ve been reading it or listening to it for a few years – especially so if we’ve been used to it from childhood. You know the score (well, I hope you do – if not, it’s only me that this happens to, so it’ll be quite an embarrassing confession, and I’ll have to get a board to hang round my neck with the word “UNSPIRITUAL” written in big letters on it): you get a Bible passage to read , in your Bible reading plan for example, and you look it up and as soon as you glance at the page and you see it, you think, “Oh, yeah, that one. That one with the coins/seed sowing/ baldy guy/talking donkey etc “, and almost immediately you start skim reading it, because, well, you know what’s in it, and all you have to do is just check it out quickly, make sure you remember it, right? I think it happens when we get certain passages in church, too. We can almost predict what we think the sermon is likely to say, if we’ve been sitting nodding off during, sorry, listening to sermons for a few years, and it becomes almost like a tick chart for us. “ Yeah, yeah, Moses blah, manna, faith and trust, blah, blah, mm, yes, know all that, tick, oh, whoosh, what was that going over my head?” I remember my children being unable to comprehend why we bothered to read the Christmas story every December because they ALREADY KNEW IT ALL (not sure what they thought we should be reading instead, maybe something from the Tracy Beaker or Alex Rider series, or the Christmas edition of the Radio Times).
It was the same in Scotland. We went on a boat trip (Ardnamurchan Charters, great team and fab soup) to spot some marine wildlife. We’d seen seals often enough before and the odd porpoise, but never any whales or sharks, and this seemed like a good opportunity, as well as a chance to land on the Isle of Muck (so David could take a photo of me and caption it “Bobbie sitting on Muck” , ha ha, hilarious). We were about three hours into the trip when someone spotted the fin of a basking shark and everyone on the boat gathered excitedly to look and took loads of shots of a small black triangle of fin above the surface of a grey sea, knowing that there was a huge sea creature with its gob wide open just beneath the waves. We eventually moved on towards our destination, came across a couple more basking sharks on the way, stopped for a bit, admired them, took more photos, gazed in wonder, and moved away to the seal colonies. Around the seal colonies there were masses of seals, the labrador faced ones and the roman-nosed ones (see, I did learn something, though I can’t remember which is grey and which is common, so my knowledge may not be that useful) and a good few more basking sharks. Well, by this time they were just getting a bit too frequent an occurrence to be exciting, quite frankly. It was a bit of an “Oh, just another basking shark?” situation. Outrageous really, and shocking how quickly I could let myself become so unmoved in the presence of the second largest fish in the sea. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, ticked the box, got the photo with the fin AND a bit of tail...
Let’s not become “Bible tourists”, satisfied with snapshots. Let’s be Bible divers, getting below the surface, taking time and preparing ourselves to meet whatever we might find and delighting in an experience which remains in our being. Otherwise we’re going to miss so, so much.
God’s Word is better than a diamond, better than a diamond set between emeralds. You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring, better than red, ripe strawberries. Psalm 19:10 (The Message)
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A profile of Martin Dudley – Church Operations Manager (As seen through the eyes of the children in Hargreaves class) |
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A week later they wrote up their reports of the visit. Below are some extracts from various children’s work.
Mr Dudley is 23 years old, he is married to Mrs Dudley from Potter class and has 3 daughters. His daughters are in year 5, reception and big school.
He loves raspberries, rabbits and rugby but does not like football.
He likes to go to his allotment and grow things and he likes to watch cricket.
He reads his Bible on his bed and thinks that it is important to read it every day.
God sends him messages but they are not emails or phone calls. Martin has to listen to see what God wants.
He has a friend who tore pages out of his Bible and took them in a rocket to the moon!
Mr Dudley says you can read the bible anywhere, on a mountain, in space, in school, in church or even in bed.
Mr Dudley believes that God died on the cross and he knows that Jesus loves him. He loves Jesus back.
Martin Dudley eats bread and wine in church but is not proper enough to give it to other people.
He likes to climb in the church attic and find old pictures of Kings and he thinks the cupboard in church is really interesting!
He has lots of quiet times. At home he has them on his bed and his children know not to talk to him, at work he has them with other people. He thinks he is lucky to have so much quiet.
He likes to go to church to have fun with his friends, to learn from the teachers and to see what God is doing. Sometimes he has parties after church.
His favourite Bible story is Ruth which is a lovely story but he also says that the Bible is exciting and has lots of blood and gore in it. He said that there are some boring bits in the Bible which are important to read when we are a bit old but it won’t matter if we don’t read the lists now.
He likes singing in church and at home but is not sure other people like him singing.
Mr Dudley says that God like football and even footballers like God. He said that Kaka is God’s friend.
He does lots of things at work. He used to work in a bank but now talks to children like us, looks in cupboard and talks to God when he is alone and no one else is in the office....
....Mr Dudley said that it is very difficult to understand God is 3 people but we will learn about it and will see how it works. He said it is important to know this.
He is a nice man who was wearing a stripy top and said that he loves God and God love him and us. I think that is good.
Mr Dudley is always praying but thinks he should pray more when eating food. He does pray after his breakfast.
His favourite church service has a funny name and candles and does not do much singing or talking.
| LoveWare:LiveWare - an alternative definition |
Bridge |
Whilst it’s true that actions can often speak louder than words, words themselves remain very powerful. As Christians, we are often blessed and comforted by the deep meaning of some words, yet we can also confound ourselves and others with our peculiar jargon!Put simply, a large group of volunteers from a number of local churches spent the best part of Saturday May 1st on Lower Bourne Gardens playing field providing a day’s activities and service to the Community.
It was not a day for complex Christian words or for shoehorning “Jesus Loves You” awkwardly into conversations with strangers. But, for the church magazine reader today, allow me to turn the tables on you and give “church” words a meaning more appropriate to the May Day event we experienced.....
LOVE: What does it really mean to Love Ware? If God is love, we could be said to have “Godded Ware” – that was how it felt. I imagine God was very pleased to see us caring for his people.
GRACE: I football coached an eight year old girl called Grace who was so charming, and polite to the players she was competing with that it humbled me. When a younger opponent missed a shot, Grace made sure that they got another turn, living up to her name.
THANKSGIVING: “Please will you come here every week?” A quote from the mouth of a teenage boy who began the day on the edge of everything we were doing, scowling, behaving like the media image of his peers. By the end, it was first name terms and helping us pack stuff away.
MERCY: One French girl said thank you.
JOY: Some of us saw Alison Jackson slip into one of the tents and leap up and down with happiness about how the day was going. If God inspires and motivates someone, anything is possible.
COMMUNION: There were moments on the day when I took in the full 360 degree view of what was happening and could sense that the pieces just fitted together as one “whole”. Children should play with no sense of caution, adults should be kind and want to create fun for young people and those of us that have been fortunate to have experienced God’s enlightenment should shine.
Communion and community are listed closely together in the dictionary for a reason...
SACRIFICE: It’s not top of anyone’s Bank Holiday weekend list to pick up dog litter, especially when it’s not your dog. Someone from the team took that task on without complaining and I even gave up the last piece of bacon at the breakfast though I should not boast! All the little sacrifices added up to one large opportunity for God to send His fire to fall – and it did.
PEACE: I want to talk about the “piece” of lemon drizzle cake that was so gorgeous but I have to conclude that as the Bible promises, God’s peace surpasses our understanding. Why we should feel so content about washing cars, picking up litter, or serving strangers defies logic; we just felt at peace doing the right thing and that really was reward enough.
Darran
| Sun 22 Aug | Midday BBQ at Christ Church for all volunteers |
| Fri 27 Aug | Summer festival at Grange Gardens |
| Sat 28 Aug | Summer festival at Lower Bourne Gardens |
| Sun 29 Aug | Summer festival at King George's Field |
