Sheffield

The third in a Trio of Travels saw me set off on Friday afternoon for Steel City. I was in the company of Lia and John, with Lia driving and 'Jane' manning the SatNav. The occasion was the gathering of Northern Forum, a collection of folk from a number of churches in the Pioneer Network, of which Bren and me are a part. Last minute grandson duties meant that Bren missed out on the trip though.Baz and Lynda had pulled out all the stops in terms of welcome and hospitality, and we were soon around a table creaking under the weight of Chinese food and bottles of wine. These 24 hour gatherings are a good opportunity for leaders of churches in the network and others, to get together and encourage, pray and support one another. The stories flowed as well as the wine and the good conversation continued the next morning, along with with a number of issues discussed and resolved along the way. They say good friends are hard to find... and these are surely among the best. Here's to the next time!

Hexham

On Tuesday I took myself off up the Tyne Valley to Hexham to meet up with ministers and church leaders of the group 'Together Northumberland'. This is an occasional gathering for those involved in various denominations (and none) throughout the County. As usual it was great meeting up again and discovering what was happening around the region in individual contexts, and contribute prayer, support and encouragement for one another in our very different situations.
As I walked up through the town I noticed a plaque on a wall which intrigued me....


It was attributed to 'The Methodist Ranters'....! Well, I don't believe I fall into either of these categories but I couldn't wait to find out more when I got home via the wonders of the interweb... here's what I found out... Turns out this group was a breakaway from the 'Orthodox' Methodists (themselves of course a breakaway from the Church of England) in Hexham, and were marked out by their 'hellfire' style of preaching throughout the region.

As far as I know there are no such ranters among the Together Northumberland group (no doubt I'll be corrected on this score, and severely ranted at, if this is the case!) Our focus is more gentle hopefully, and more concerned with the journey of faith, the removal of religious barriers and the recognition of God-given individual freedoms, which should surely more closely be hallmarks of followers of Christ.

Communitas - discovering future church and mission

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Doesn’t church feel like that sometimes?

We do church like we have always done it; we expect revival but wonder why it never happens.

Maybe it’s time to look a fresh at what it means to be church in twenty first century Britain; to consider again how to be a witness for Jesus in a culture that increasingly considers our faith irrelevant.

Interested?

Then come and join the conversation at the Communitas conference taking place on Saturday 12 March 2011 at Storey Park Community Centre in Morpeth.
Its purpose is to question the status quo and explore what church could and maybe needs to look like in the future in order to survive and thrive, and transform our communities for Jesus.

Confirmed speakers on the day will be Roy Searle (Northumbria Community), Phil Togwell (24/7 Prayer) and Peter Farmer (UK Simple Church Network).

Come along and explore newer expressions of church and communities of faith with an emphasis on prayer and mission.
Invites are by word of mouth. If you are interested then come along. If you know someone who you think would want to come with you then invite them as well.

Everything kicks off at 10 AM - finishing by 5 PM latest. Bring something for lunch that you can share.
Unfortunately, space restrictions at the venue mean that we are not able to provide child care.

The cost for attending the event will be £10 per person. Let us know if you are coming, and pay in advance if you want to - but paying on the day is fine with us.
If you want to know more then ring Martin Luff on 0773 8866679 or Tim Sokell on 0794 0388610

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Bishop Tom Wright at Durham

Today I joined with a goodly crowd of folk from the Christian Leaders Forum at The Radisson Blu Hotel in Durham, to hear the bishop of that same city expound his thoughts [based on a new book he is currently writing] on 'Paul's Challenge to Tomorrows Church'. I could only stay for the morning session but what gems were heard from Bishop Tom Wright. He was of course delivering on his favourite topic and how neatly he proceeded to engage the gathered throng with his thoughts on the book of Galatians, the nature of the People of God, and the purpose of the church in the current and future ages.... all linked with a superb outline of the Abraham covenant and how this covenant embraces all people of faith today.

Bishop Tom is a prolific author and one of the 'better' theologians (imho) on the Anglican scene today. By that I mean he is neither liberal or stodgily conservative, but directs his material in a much more refreshing and engaging way, which has somehow had the effect of making the subject of bible study, and of faith itself much more interesting and approachable.

ASBO Jesus keeping it real again....

http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/

Typo Toast

Jonny Baker explains 'bread suspension - worship trick 73' on his blog. Always looking to be creative and engaging, his community 'Grace' got the worship cooking by baking some alphabet bread shapes and then toasting them.

"...we came up with the idea of getting some alphabet cutters and cutting text into bread that was suspended on washing line across the front of the space saying i am the bread of life. we toasted it so it was less floppy - grace toast!"

ECG Northumberland

Today I was at the 'Encouraging Christian Growth' day conference at Morpeth. This is an inter-church initiative aimed at drawing together and encouraging people to engage with God and with their communities. I was there partly to help promote the excellent 'Kairos' missions course with colleague Andrea. Also in the resources/exhibitions area I bumped into fellow mischief-maker Julia and her hubby Paul, who were promoting the 'Hope UK' initiative at the conference.

Congratulations!

Say what you like about the institute of marriage, but any couple who can get along for fifty years have my deep respect. Our friends Gavin and Rosemary are just such a couple, and the other morning I went along to their church to join in the celebrations for this milestone. G & R have been a big influence on me and the Lady Brenda for many years. They are people who 'walk the talk' in terms of their faith, and their love for God and his world is utterly infectious to pretty much anyone who comes across their path.

It's Friday, but Sunday's Coming...

The title of a well known sermon, given by Tony Campolo some years ago. Tall Skinny Kiwi mentions it today, and there's a link to a good article by Dr Bob Beltz. Tony tells the story of attending a Good Friday service at his mostly African-American church in Pennsylvania. The pastor would make a few observations about what happened on that first Good Friday and then make the remark, “Its Friday…but Sunday’s coming.” As the pastor went on, every time he made the remark, the intensity of his emotion and the volume of his voice increased. Here is an excerpt from the message:

"It’s Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. It was Friday, and my Jesus is dead on a tree. But that’s Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’. Friday, Mary’s crying her eyes out, the disciples are running in every direction like sheep without a shepherd. But that’s Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’. Friday, some are looking at the world and saying, “As things have been, so they shall be. You can’t change nothing in this world! You can’t change nothing in this world!” But they didn’t know that it was only Friday, and Sunday’s a comin’. Friday, them forces that oppress the poor and keep people down, them forces that destroy people, the forces in control now, them forces that are gonna rule, they don’t know it’s only Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. Friday, people are saying, “Darkness is gonna rule the world, sadness is gonna be everywhere,” but they don’t know it’s only Friday, but Sunday’s a comin’. Even though this world is rotten, as it is right now, we know it’s only Friday. But Sunday’s a comin’. "

Bob finishes with... "I can’t imagine what the original was like, but when Tony gets spitting and sweating, you feel the Spirit move! “It’s Friday…but Sunday’s coming.” When Jesus Christ blew the doors off the tomb (OK – stone) and marched out alive, everything he did and said was proven to be true. Friday suddenly made sense. That is why Easter is the greatest event in human history. And Easter means that all that Jesus endured and accomplished on the cross really makes Good Friday – good!" (Hat Tip: TSK)

My own thoughts on this event (Easter) are always tempered by the desire to make the reality of the death and resurrection of Christ, and the KINGDOM that he sought to bring, relevant and accessible to those who don't necessarily see themselves as 'religious'. The emotional and religious machinations and rituals of the (mainly) evangelical church see to it that various mental gymnastics are performed by the faith-ful to produce sobriety on Good Friday, and then reversed on Easter Day to turn them into Happy Smiley People. Of course, we can be very grateful to God for the work of his son, and its good to remember this redemptive event at a specific time, but oh that we could embrace and express it all the rest of the time too. Also worth mentioning is that, in my experience, God is not very far away at any given time, and that those who don't particularly express any faith, are probably nearer to God than they, or us, realise.

The dissenting voice

Backyard Missionary submits a strong, yet interesting piece about 'revival' in his Australia Day post. Here's a taster...

"I am tired of this revival talk and these false prophets, because in the 30 years I have been old enough to understand the concept I have actually observed the church (overall) in decline. And I haven’t seen any of the revivals that have been predicted ever actually happen. (I do know there have been movements of this ilk among aboriginal people - but these weren’t ‘prophesied’ - and of course because they are not white we don’t count them…)

Do I sound a tad cynical?…

The next time someone prophesies massive revival in your church tell them they are full of crap. Ok… maybe that’s a bit strong… Maybe just politely inquire when the revival will be, what will happen, how you will know it has happened and then bet them a carton of crownies it won’t happen. (Easy way to get free beer…)

No… on second thoughts I was right the first time."

God bless the dissenting voice I say! Go here for the full article.