Sunday 28 November 2010

Clever electronics

I'm in Scotland snowed in at present but expecting it to clear in a few days sufficiently for us to return home.  Meanwhile we made a start recording some Old Fashioned Gospel songs with our good friend Willie Munroe on the Clavinova.  It's a clever instruments and can somehow split my voice into three part harmonies.

The plan is to prepare a CD before Christmas.  I'll try to put a sample on the Facebook page but please don't download it.

I'm back under the duvet!

Saturday 20 November 2010

Curious networking

Last Monday I had arranged to meet Captain Gordon Banks and Canon Penny Horseman (both Church Army Officers) at Hothorpe Hall which is not far from home.  The purpose was to discuss the possibility of holding a rural mission consultation in Penny's part of the world.  We had a useful conversation but as I was about to leave I spotted Peter Graystone - also with the Church Army - who has recently taken over as director of the Christian Enquiry Agency (of which I am a Council members).  The previous week CEA launched its new website (www.christianity.org.uk) but I was unable to be present as I was attending a funeral.

Having Peter at Hothorpe Hall made me realise how useful it would be if I could set up a meeting for him with Jeff Bonser (a former CEA Director) who lives about five minutes from me!  Various telephone numbers were being swapped when someone tapped my arm and said "Nice to see you!"  This was Major David Botting of the Salvation Army who was, I learned, also running an event in Hothorpe Hall.

David and I worked together on writing "Time for Action" about the pastoral care of people who have been sexually abused.  As soon as I finished with Peter I hunted down David and discovered he was there running an event for Salvation Army Chaplains that work in their Care Homes.  Chatting with him I discovered that there was a possibility that the SA would be interested in knowing that I had already networked the training department of the Congregational Federation, someone concerned to develop chaplaincy training for the AOG, and St. Philip's Centre in Leicester which was just developing such a course.  So contact details were passed on to David.

That evening I attended the Harborough Churches Together Forum where Jeff Bonser announced that he had  been enabled to meet up with Peter Graystone from the Christian Enquiry Agency who had told him of an important series of programmes the BBC will be running during advent.  Even more networking!

You might like to ponder which of the gifts and ministries such networking gifts fits!  I think it must be "Helps".

Yet another funeral service yesterday - this time for Ken, a dearly loved member at Yelvertoft Congregational Church.  During the refreshments that followed I met for the first time a neighbour of Ken & Joan who put herself out to tell me that she loves to read the pieces I write for the Parish Magazine.  Even that could have been a bit of useful networking.  There were also encouraging comments about the ministry at the Remembrance Service the previous Sunday.

Coming Up
This Sunday 21st I am taking the Family Service for Goodwood Evangelical Church on the outskirts of Leicester.  John Harris will be at Yelvertoft.

On Monday 22nd I will be taking a school assembly at Lubenham, Leics.

On Tuesday 23rd I have a school assembly at Yelvertoft, Northants followed by my weekly afternoon with the choir at Gartree Prison.

On Wednesday 24th I will be working with the Salvation Army at Sunbury on Thames as part of the Safe & Sound training.  Sunbury is the location of the SA's International Council and a conference centre.

On Thursday 25th a joiner will replace some kitchen fittings in our home following a small fire a few weeks ago.

On Friday 26th Doreen and I head off for a short break (Preston, Falkirk, Doncaster and home again). So there might not be a posting on this blog next weekend, but please check just in case.

Thanks again for your prayers.  At the end of another busy week which included some rather remarkable meetings I know that someone somewhere has been praying for me.

Barry

Sunday 14 November 2010

Remembrances

I am writing this post on the morning of Remembrance Sunday and will soon be preparing to share in a public act at the village war memorial and a joint service at the Parish Church in Yelvertoft.  But this past week has also been largely about remembrance as Doreen and I spent almost all of it in the south east of England.

Last Monday I attended a trustees meeting for Sunrise Ministries (the charity under which Rural Sunrise - now Rural Mission Solutions operates) in my capacity as company and charity secretary.  On Wednesday we both attended the funeral and thanksgiving services for a former member of Herstmonceux Free Church, where I was minister for almost 15 years.  By making some diary adjustments we were able to stay in East Sussex from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon and take a few days "break".

This also provided opportunity to visit friends and family in Hastings, Herstmonceux and the surrounding area.  Each day was filled with such activity that brought with it precious memories from the past and repeated occasions of thanksgiving for God's faithful blessings.  Happily included in this was a brief visit to an elderly aunt whom I had not seen for far too long.  She is the last of my aunts and uncles and I had spent many happy days of childhood at play with one of her sons who was the same age as me.  Tragically, he died while still a young man.

A busy life (I am often told too busy) has meant that links of family and friends have not always been serviced as I would have desired and I relished all these opportunities for such visits, including an evening with Doug with whom I was at two schools and sang in a semi-professional boy band at one time!

Occasions of remembrance do many things.  They can bring sadness as well as joy.  They can bring regret.  But they can also bring a fresh commitment to the quality of the time remaining.  This morning I will be speaking to this theme starting with the words, "Tell them that for their tomorrow we gave our today".  In the light of their sacrifice - and that of the cross - what kind of world are we building? Would they be disappointed?  Is God disappointed?

Among the past week's many discussions came two comments about this blog.  The first was that many friends and prayer partners feel excluded if they do not have internet access and do not receive paper based news.  The second was from a regular reader of the blog who expressed appreciation for it.  I admit that the relative ease of blogging and sending emails has led to a serious reduction in the number of newsletters that go out in the post.  It is, in part, also a matter of time management.  So I am wondering whether any reader of this diary blog would be prepared to help by producing an edited version of a month's news that could be contained on two sides of A4.  Copy and paste would be possible.  Some photos could also be copied.  If this was then emailed to the office Doreen and I could mail the letters out.  Any offers would be welcome please.

I end this posting by remembering the outside wall of an Anglo-Catholic church in St. Leonards-on-Sea that I often passed as a child on foot, bicycle, and bus.  Each time I glanced at the large crucifix and read the words beneath: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" (Lam. 1:12).  Remembering the past can be very important.

Sunday 7 November 2010

The Archbishop said "Yes"

That's him - not me!
I have not long returned from the "Faith & Future of the Countryside" Conference.  It was well attended (around 200 people), had an excellent programme, and great credit is due to the organisers and the staff of the Arthur Rank Centre who serviced the event.  It concluded with a question time to a panel that included the Archbishop of Canterbury, who had graciously included a visit to the Conference within an already busy schedule.

Mine was one of around six questions that had been selected.  It asked whether, in the light of the specific tasks given to the disciples to proclaim the gospel and make disciples, the panel wished to affirm the good work done by some rural churches that had discovered how to combine appropriate and effective proclamation of the gospel alongside presence evangelism (i.e. the witness through the life lived).  To this the Archbishop said, "Yes" and then went on to speak about the need for it to be appropriate in style.

Of course it is vital that our evangelism is appropriately contextualised and that includes how we engage with people, what and how we say it, and how we encourage a response.  There is understandable anxiety about imported evangelists and teams whose personal culture affects the way that they undertake the tasks.  Far better would be if those who are part of the community and know how the village ticks had sufficient knowledge of the gospel and sufficient confidence to share this vital story with their neighbours.

Even better is to include evangelism as part of a general programme of mission that expresses God's love and concern for all.  This is why we run programmes that help churches to design and tailor mission strategies that are appropriate to themselves and the community in which they are situated.  To that end I gave away at the conference around eighty copies of a free CD with a PowerPoint presentation with soundtrack on this very theme.

There was also interest in the "No Ordinary Man" project from a number of church leaders including some bishops of the Church of England.

While I was away we heard that Ken Duffield had passed into the presence of the Lord.  Ken was one of my members at Yelvertoft and had suffered a stroke two years ago.  For the last eighteen months his wife, Joan, had been his primary carer.  Thankfully, Doreen and others in the church provided immediate support with me backing that up on the phone.  In many ways it is a relief for Ken who is now in the presence of the Lord, as is also Joan Taylor - one of our members from my time at Herstmonceux who has recently lost a six year battle with cancer.  Her funeral is on Wednesday in Eastbourne.

I have to be in East Sussex for a Sunrise Ministries trustees' meeting on Monday so Doreen is joining me and we will spend a few days in Sussex to make it possible for us to attend both events.  So other activities this week have been cancelled.  Next Sunday is a Joint Remembrance Service and I will be speaking at the Parish Church in Yelvertoft.

If you would like a free copy of the CD mentioned above please email me at sunrise@ruralmissions.org.uk.