Thanks for your prayers

This is a brief note to say "thank you" for your prayers through this week.

Sunday morning seemed to be a very blessed ministry at Yelvertoft CC.

Tuesday's work at the prison also went well.  One prisoner who has been in the choir since before I started working with them opened up for the first time in a personal chat afterwards.  It was encouraging that he felt he could do so.  Please pray for this to continue in an appropriate way.

Today's interviews were interesting, and there was a clear sense of agreement between us all.  This is such an important post, but also all those interviewed are at a stage in their life where they are seeking guidance.  Please pray for all who were short-listed and interviewed today that they may have a quiet assurance of God's will in their lives.

Thursday - London working for the Salvation Army at their training college.  Always a challenging subject.

Barry

The week ahead

Thank you for your prayers; they mean so much to Doreen and me.  This will be a busy week so all the more reason to stay close to the Lord and seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Within this busy week I have writing work to do for the Church of England and, if possible, a newsletter to write and send out for the Rural Evangelism Network, and quite a lot of administrative work and correspondence.  Your prayers that the Lord will grant wisdom regarding time management this week, and in every sense meet our needs will be appreciated.  Someone sent me an email in which it said "If the Lord brings you to it, he will bring you through it".

Sunday 27th June
10.45  Yelvertoft Congregational Church, Northants.
18.00  Theddingworth Congregational Church, Leics. (attending)

Monday 28th June
Free Day (apart from a few admin jobs)

Tuesday 29th June
Afternoon - Gartree Prison
19.30 - Church Meeting, Theddingworth CC

Wednesday 30th June
Nottingham - as part of an Interview Panel for senior post (Mission Development Worker) in the Congregational Federation.  Please pray for wisdom as we interview three applicants.

Would have otherwise been at the Churches Rural Group meeting in Stoneleigh, Warwicks.  At the previous meeting the Chairman was unable to attend and his deputy was delayed.  I was asked to chair the first part of the meeting and some significant decisions were made.  I pray that this will be built upon effectively as this could be a very valuable group for the kingdom.

Thursday 1st July
Very early start for London where I will be providing the main input/teaching for the Salvation Army Cadets (officers in training) on appropriate pastoral care and actions should they ever receive a report of sexual abuse.  Hopefully they may never have to put the advice into practice but it's always best to be prepared, and some in all denominations are finding the courage to disclose past situations.  These could include abuse within the family or elsewhere.  This can be a demanding day's work.

Friday & Saturday 2nd & 3rd July
Nottingham - As part of the Congregational Federation's Pastoral Care Board I shall be taking part in vocational interviews for those who aspire to be recognised for ministry within the CF.  High standards are set and the two day programme keeps us pretty busy.

Sunday 4th July
10.45 Yelvertoft Congregational Church, Northants.

End of the week

I had a helpful visit to the URC offices meeting with their General Secretary and Secretary for Ecumenical Relationships.  The relationship between the URC and the Congregational Federation is encouraging.  Both bodies parted back in 1972 with some feeling led to establish the URC as a deliberate step of organic union, while others felt led to maintain their Congregational polity.  Both bodies are able to act in a mature and helpful way as we enjoy the unity that is already God's gift.

On the way to London I sat next to a man on the train.  He wanted to engage in conversation so work I had taken had to remain in my case.  It turned out he had travelled quite a lot and some of the countries he had been in I had been there also.  Although he told me that he only believed in bad luck, he gladly accepted a copy of "No Ordinary Man" I had taken with me in case an opportunity came up to discuss the project with my URC friends.  Please pray that he will read it and that God will call him through it.  He really needs his life straightening out.

The evening contained a telephone conference with two colleagues who will be working as part of an interview panel on Wednesday.

Friday morning was largely taken up with following up the meeting on Thursday in London.  Then I set off for Yelvertoft for several pastoral visits.

Today I spent much of the morning working on the alternative websites as part of the process to reduce unnecessary expenditure for Rural Sunrise.  In the afternoon Doreen and I went back to Yelvertoft (14 miles from Market Harborough) as it was the Parish Church Annual Fete.  It is important in rural ministry to support such events.

The week ends with gathering scattered thoughts for the meeting tomorrow in Yelvertoft.

On Tuesday I was back in prison working with the choir.  We have five weeks to go and have dropped two of the songs we were going to do (not that I am sorry) and so have to find at least one more and have quite a lot of polishing to do!!!

Collected more copies of "No Ordinary Man" from the store.  I need to find more partners to get these out.  Meanwhile another completed survey came back today.

Spent some time today working on a new website for the Rural Evangelism Network.  The system seems easy enough and I think this site offers more potential.  Have been trying to get a REN Committee meeting to discuss this and other matters.

Managed to get a short Praise & Prayer Letter out today.  Need to get something off to those who do not use the Internet.

Off to London Thursday meeting with folk from the URC so I had better get to bed!

I took the school assembly at Lubenham, Leicestershire today.  It's a super village school.  Small schools produce the best academic outcomes, the best citizens and are the best value for money.  When will the governments of the UK wake up to that demonstrable fact!  See www.smallschools.org.uk.

Interestingly, today's set theme (not looked up until yesterday evening) echoed the theme I took for Yelvertoft Congregational on Sunday morning and partly for Fleckney Baptist in the evening: namely the kingdom of God.  The Leicester Diocese sets the theme for assemblies in their schools and this term we have been working through "The Lord's Prayer".  This week:  "For yours is the kingdom".

I started by talking about the kind of king that Jesus is.  No pomp and ceremony, accompanying army, air force flypast, etc.  I drew on Philippians 2 about his leaving off the splendour and coming as a servant.  If this is how the king behaves how does he expect us to behave.  I then told my story (copyrighted) about Billy the Bubble, and got one of the Reception Class to blow bubbles from a bubble blower.  I concluded by telling them a paraphrased beatitude: "Happy are those who are not big-headed, do not think they are better than others, or boss people about, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".  You will find it in Matthew 5 (or something similar!).

I launched a painting/crayoning competition and hope to be able to publish some of the pictures.

Have you ever wondered how we might be preaching the gospel if we only had the four gospels as reference?  The gospels have many references to the kingdom of God/kingdom of heaven but few references to salvation.  That pattern in inverted in the epistles.  Even Hebrews has only one reference to the Kingdom of God.  Luke, whose gospel contains the second highest number of references to the kingdom, tells us several times in Acts that Paul preached the gospel of the kingdom.  Is there a danger that our gospel emphasises issues of salvation without teaching about living as part of the kingdom, under the rule and according to the teachings of the humble king?

Back to the topic of school again, last Tuesday I was deeply exercised about the need to encourage Christians and churches to set up regular intercession for their local schools - especially the Secondary School where teachers far too often have discipline problems.  Why not find out the names of teachers in your local school and put them on your prayer list?

If we really get behind our schools in prayer we might see a changed society!

Starting the week

Last night and the first part of today I put the finishing touches to the PowerPoint presentation going to Anchorage, Alaska for the Conference of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.  The presentation contains greetings from all over the world which I have edited into a PowerPoint with greetings and photos.  The resulting slide show has a backing track of music played by a dear friend and brother, Willie Munroe.

Before going to bed I did a little more study preparing for today.  I felt I should speak on the Kingdom of God this morning, and continued that first thing.  We have a lot of folk away at Yelvertoft, and a small village church that always has a big impact.

This evening I am back to Fleckney Baptist Church.  Fleckney is a large village not far from Leicester and at one time we had quite a lot of contact but we have fewer opportunities these days as we are committed most Sundays twice a day, one way or another.  Their former pastor was an old friend.  It will be good to see them again.

This week I have a school assembly at 1.00pm on Monday, the regular prison work on Tuesday and pastoral ministry on Thursday.  This is usually the week each month I try to do various admin jobs and catch up on correspondence, but there is quite a lot of writing to do any way.  The cheque finally arrived for the insurance claim for the repair of my car after it was struck by a lorry outside our home. It will be good to get it repaired as it continues to be a faithful servant despite its age!

I must write something about schools as it has been on my heart since last Tuesday.  Perhaps tomorrow after the school assembly.

ITC can be a nuisance

A recent inaccurate statistical statement in a national newspaper, repeated on the internet, has been copied on via the internet and reproduced or quoted in other places.  The newspaper printed a correction, but once the wrong information was out there - and seemed authoritative - it has been copied on, and on.  I am unsure how serious the consequences might be.

Today, I have been the victim of inaccurate statements in an email that has then led to a small spiral of assumptions based on that false information - largely because it originated from an authoritative source.

You don't need to know what it is all about, but I do value your prayers if you are reading this on or soon after the day on which it was published.  Strangely, an exacerbating factor is that someone also involved has not returned a phone call as I had hoped despite picking up on at least one message.  One short phone call last night would have saved much pain and waste of time! (Pause to pull out more hair!)

The irony is that this is all based on steps I took to be helpful and supportive in a matter, but another misinterpreted it and so it goes on.

I understand that John Wesley and George Whitfield also suffered a similar problem in their day in the 1700s.  There was disagreement between the two on doctrinal matters.  This may have led to some disputes.  The story goes that even after they had settled a matter of disagreement, another clergyman, Augustus Toplady, having only half the story, passed on information and inflamed the matter.  Now the only problem in my telling you that is that I was told it and have not read it in any original document, so I might be doing Toplady a disservice, so perhaps you should ignore that!

The good news is that God knows the truth of a matter and his love embraces all concerned then and now.  So there is reason to be hopeful!

Woven threads

Doreen and I travelled to Cambridge yesterday for a special celebration of the past 30 years of the Integrated Training Course of the Congregational Federation.  The event was held at Westminster College where we were welcomed by the Principal, the Rev Dr Susan Durber.  We enjoyed a splendid lunch in the dining hall, a tour of the college, and a lecture on Luke's Parables.  Add to that the joy of meeting with many friends and it was an very enjoyable day altogether.

But there are some interesting points to note.  The ITC was set up by the Congregational Federation after the forming of the United Reformed Church in 1972 in which the majority of Congregational churches had felt this was the journey on which they were being led.  But it left the remaining 500 or so continuing Congregational churches with a challenge regarding the training of their emerging ministers.  The ITC developed as a model of excellence in distance learning with university accreditation.  Immediately after 1972 the relationship between the URC and CF were at times uncomfortable but long since attitudes on both sides have become more than amicable.  There is something a little intriguing in that a former Director of Training for the Congregational Federation was the Rev Michael Durber, the husband of the now Principal of Westminster College (Michael died tragically following a road accident).

Westminster, which describes itself as "a centre of learning for the URC", is also listed as a college recognised as providing appropriate training for ministers in the Congregational Federation.  It is not insignificant that the event for celebrating one educational body was held in the home of another.  Each holds the other with respect and honour.  Parts of 1Corinthians 12 come to mind regarding respect for difference while celebrating unity.

When God led my footsteps into the pastorate at Herstmonceux in 1990 I had the opportunity of doing further training and theological study through the ITC under Michael Durber, and benefited enormously from this.  My earlier quite thorough training within a mission context in 1963 to 1965 had been uncertificated so this was an added benefit.  So yesterday's celebration delighted me as a beneficiary of the Training Course.  But it was also good to return to Westminster where I had taught students from various Cambridge colleges  on a mission module a number of years ago.  One theology student at that time is today an ordained Anglican priest and a member of my local management committee for Rural Sunrise.  Tracing threads God has woven into one's life can be fascinating.

Another “Satisfied Customer”

Last Saturday I took an eighty five year old lady from a nearby village to a monthly meeting of blind and partially sighted people.  She was keen to go and had on previous occasions enjoyed this event, partly because she once lost her sight and is still blind in one eye with poor sight in the other, and partly because it was a Christian meeting and she is a Christian.  People who are blind or partially sighted sometimes feel alienated within regular church services so these monthly meetings are especially enjoyable.

But on this occasion there was added enthusiasm because she had been invited to share her “testimony” or her personal story of faith. A horrendous head on accident on the old A50 had left her severely injured and completely blind at the age of 55.  It was the thought of blindness that terrified her most and as she was about to undergo the first operation after the accident she asked if the surgeons would give her a moment to pray.  Previously she had never given serious thought to God.

Over the next few days, as she lay blind on her hospital bed, she experienced a deep peace she had never known before.  Revelling in this strange sense of security it took some days before she realised it was God’s presence she had encountered in answer to her prayer.  This, she went on to tell us, had been followed by thirty years of a continual sense of God’s presence, of a living relationship with God and of the bliss and privilege of prayer.

Chuckling like a child she added, “Sharing our testimony is often more powerful than a sermon.  People cannot deny the reality of our experience of God.  We are like satisfied customers”.  I had never heard that term used in this context before but as a “satisfied customer” for the past 48 years I knew exactly what she meant.

Writing important documents and getting good news

Yesterday I cracked on making the revisions to the work preparing the report for the House of Bishops (C of E) following last Monday's meeting.  Editing other people's stuff is harder than editing one's own stuff.

The insurance assessor (finally) came to look at the car that was hit by a lorry several weeks ago.  Hopefully it will be approved and I can get the repairs done.  With scored windows i am concerned that they could easily crack so I want to get it done as soon as possible.  Keeping the old car going at least another year is important.  It is now approaching 104,000 miles but running well.

In the early evening Rev Dr Janet Wootton joined me to work on the drafting of a new constitution for the Theological Commission of the International Congregational Fellowship.  It seems that I have worked regularly on constitutional issues in one way or another since 1965!  It's an unusual aspect to my varied ministry.

Great news by phone in the evening as I heard that a man in East Sussex, who has been the subject of our prayers for a long time, has become a Christian through an Alpha Course.  His wife was a member when I was pastor at Herstmonceux.

In odd moments I have also been working on our web site to maximise benefits while reducing costs.

Thanks for the thank you

The other day I was walking along a footpath in Market Harborough and saw a man leaning over a waste basket.  There were two black bin bags at his feet and it became clear that he had just collected the rubbish and was putting a new bag in its place.  He was taking care to get this just right..

As I passed I thanked him for the work that he did.  He was very surprised and thanked me for thanking him.  He then told me that no one had ever thanked him - not even his boss.  When you consider how little a simple thank you costs it's a shame we do not give them away more often.  After all I would not want to live in a town overflowing with rubbish so I really am grateful to him - and his boss.

So here's the challenge: say thank you in a special way to at least one person each day for the next week.  Try to express thanks to people who might not expect it.  We could start a revolution!

Today I was back at Gartree Prison with the choir.  We have a lot of work to do to be ready for the concert.  I got thanked by my colleagues and the men and I appreciated their thanks.  And by the way.....

Thank you for reading this and for your prayers.  We appreciate those too.

A productive day in London

I was tired after ministry yesterday but rose early after six hours sleep and applied myself to the work needed to prepare for today's activity.  Two hours writing dealt with most of what I had promised to do shortly before my trip to Scotland and the subsequent emergency operation.  The one hour train journey into London from Market Harborough saw most of the remainder completed.  It's amazing what a deadline can produce!

So today I was working with colleagues in producing what we expect to become a report to the House of Bishops of the Church of England.  Some of the team are former collaborators in the writing of "Time for Action" - still considered a valuable tool for understanding the cause and consequences of sexual abuse, and appropriate pastoral responses.  Others are contemporary experts in this field.  We accomplished much.

I still have a little more work to do as my contribution, but I will also undertake an editing role over the summer months,

The sleepiness I felt on returning home to Doreen evaporated on receiving an email from a friend from days gone by who has been reading my blogs.  I then rattled off a long reply and ought now to go to bed.  Do pray for Doreen who has to cope with my often late nights and occasional early mornings.  Perhaps you need to pray for common sense for me too!

Two encouraging meetings

This morning I took the service at Yelvertoft CC.  Numbers were very low because of holidays, illnesses and accidents.  But it was a precious time of informal fellowship around the Lord's table.  We focused on Ephesians 2:8/9 and looked at four key words (grace, faith, saved and works) and then looked at how Paul combines the concepts defined by these words in this special passage.  During the discussion we had the joy of hearing one new Christian publicly confess her faith for the first time.

In the evening I took the service at Market Harborough CC where we considered the theme of thanksgiving.  Once again this was a very low turn out.  Some might have been kept away by sudden very intense cloudbursts just before the meeting time.  The ministry was well received.  "That deserved to be heard by a packed church" commented one lady.  But the Lord knew who would be there so presumably we needed to hear it.

While I had given a lot of thought and prayer to the message I planned to collect various scripture reference and group them together during the afternoon using www.biblegateway.com.  But the website crashed during the afternoon just at the crucial time.  My faithful Thompson's Chain Reference Bible came to the rescue, and the website came back on line at the last moment.  It helps to hide God's word in our hearts!

Off to London on Monday morning to meet with the group preparing a report for the Church of England Bishop's on the pastoral care of those within the churches who at some time have been sexually abused.

The week ahead

Sunday 6th June
10.45  Yelvertoft Congregational Church, Northants
18.00  Market Harborough Congregational Church, Leicestershire

Monday 7th June
Morning and afternoon in London for development of the report for Church of England Bishops relating to the pastoral care of those within churches who have suffered sexual abuse at some time.

Tuesday 8th June
Afternoon in Gartree Prison with the choir.  Evening home group.

Wednesday 9th June
Follow up work from Monday's activity in London.
Late afternoon meeting/early evening with the Revd Dr Janet Wootton to develop a new constitution for the Theological Commission of the International Congregational fellowship.

Thursday 10th June
Yelvertoft ministry and pastoral visits.

Friday 11th June
Preparation for the coming week and more "catch up activity" in the office.

Saturday 12th June
Free Day

The Past Week

About a week ago I wrote that this would be a quieter week for me that would enable me to catch up on various jobs.  Well, that has been partly true, and it is important to build such space into our lives and certainly into my diary that has a tendency to fill up with activity.  I never know what might come in by post, email or phone calls.  This week gave some opportunity to help one person doing an MA on rural evangelism and another person doing a sabbatical and looking at church planting in rural areas.  Here's a snapshot of other activities this week..

On Sunday 30th June I was in Gartree Prison with three friends from Theddingworth Congregational Church.  I think that it's amazing that from a very small village church such a valuable ministry and mission reaches both within and from the village.  As usual there was a great welcome.  The prison holds over 600 men serving life sentences; about 12% attended the service with many staying on afterwards for fellowship and discussions.

In the evening the team met up again with others at the village chapel for fellowship and prayer.

Monday was bank holiday and the relative quiet enabled admin work to be done.  One of the activities this week is exploring our website.  While the current site has many advantages it is relatively expensive and many of the potential uses of the website are not being used by the members of the Rural Evangelism Network for whom it largely exists.  So I have acquired two new websites and started to build up material as an opportunity to compare what we have with something much cheaper - and possibly simpler.

Tuesday brought with it my regular visit to the prison for the choir practice.  We have a concert planned for the end of July and have to work hard to get everything up to standard.  It's a mix of Christian and secular songs.  I was on my own for the music side and we managed to get a huge amount of work done in 45 minutes.  Some items clearly will not work and will have to be dropped.  But Tuesday afternoons is not just about music - it involves interaction at a personal level with the men during and afterwards over coffee.  "I was in prison and you visited me".  Evening is our weekly home group with lots of laughs, some lovely worship and discussion on part of Colossians 2.

Thursday is my day for Yelvertoft.  I visited several people including one couple where Ken has had a severe stroke and is cared for at home, limiting Joan's ability to get out.  In another couple it is Millie who has had second fall and had to spend two days this week in hospital.  She has Altzheimers and the fall seems to have exacerbated the condition.  It will take a while for her to get over the physical affects of the fall and we will miss them from our meeting on Sunday.

It was good to see the front doors of the church being repaired and re-varnished.  I also had a meeting with architects to discuss wheelchair access for the church, which is badly needed.

The countryside around is gorgeous.  Many of the fields have been used for growing oil seed rape.  The pollen is really annoying but the blaze of yellow brightens up the land.  Now we have had masses of blossom, meadows with buttercups, roadsides with masses of cow parsley in flower.  What a wonderful week this has been to live and work in the countryside.

On Friday Doreen and I left at mid day to go to Stoke on Trent for the funeral of Leeson who died in a tragic accident last week.  We were glad to be there to support the family.  It was good to meet up with them all and with several other old friends who were also there to lend support.  We had quite good journeys and managed to get back to Leicester in time for the Area Executive meeting for Congregational Churches where decisions were made to help fund two young people on a mission trip to Zambia, and to part fund two Christian women in their training as counsellors, and to celebrate what God is doing through these churches.  It is good to see how those who attend increasingly value these precious times of fellowship.