It seems a long week

I cannot say that I have been sorry to have a week with fewer engagements than normal, especially in the light of the very active programme for the previous two weeks.  But the past few days have felt as if there has been some space.  It also seems a long time since the intensely busy days of last weekend.

Last Sunday was a frustrating time.  Jean, our regular pianist at Yelvertoft, is away on holiday going to Iceland (her husband said she is going to Tesco's afterwards!) and I really missed her partnership in the morning meeting.  The evening meeting at Theddingworth turned out to be me and Doreen and a young couple and their very young and two boisterous children. Trying to talk over their noise was almost impossible but not quite.  Even the oldest is too young to engage with anything I try to do for her benefit.  I think it was not wasted time, but it was not an exciting day.  How was yours?

On Monday I drove over 40 miles to visit a small village in north Leicestershire where they had held a Youth Alpha programme as a pre-confirmation course.  I had very happy fellowship with the local team vicar and putting that story together with the story I picked up the previous Saturday has made a decent article for Country Way.


During the week I finished off several articles and seem to have made the editor a happy lady.  I know that I tend to give Country Way a plug whenever I can but it really is an excellent magazine.  It is just £9 per year to get a copy sent to you three times a year.  If you live or worship in a village or country town you would find it informative and inspiring.  Let me know if you want to subscribe for a year.

Also during the week I completed a number of items required by the university and had an encouraging development. I also provided advice for a church looking at some constitutional matters and undertook some pastoral visits.  We also made a little progress regarding our planning application at Yelvertoft.  Our chapel there is a listed building and although we are not proposing any radical alterations we will certainly value prayers as we negotiate to make it more accessible.

The coming week
Sunday 31st July - 9.00 the morning service at Gartree Prison.  This is one of the quarterly visits when I am able to take in friends from Theddingworth.  After the meeting we remain and share some refreshments.  If we leave in time I will then go to Yelvertoft where the meeting is being taken by friends from Ashby.

6.00pm  I am taking the service at Market Harborough Congregational Church.

Tuesday 2nd August - Gartree Prison

Sunday 7th August - Taking the service at Yelvertoft.

In the week I will be studying in connection with the research project, undertaking various pastoral duties and administration for Rural Mission Solutions.

Coming Soon - Holiday at Home Week (a pre-evangelism outreach) from 15 - 19 August.  Please pray as the final stages of preparation take place.

Closing thoughts
I wonder whether you have any prayer 'heroes' - biblical characters or otherwise.  One of mine is a man called Epaphras and you need to read Colossians 4:12 to understand why.  Despite being absent from his home church he continued to carry a burden for them in prayer.  See the verse to discover how often he prayed, how he prayed and what he prayed.  It's been a standard we would all do well to follow.

Thanks for your fellowship.

Barry

Sufficient for each and sufficient for all.

It's late Saturday evening and I have just woken up to the fact that I have not written this week's blog.  So this is likely to be a little on the short side.

Last Sunday John Harris, a retired Methodist Minister, took the morning meeting at Yelvertoft.  I was glad to be free as it had been a tiring day driving down to Heathfield and Herstmonceux in East Sussex the day before.  It was good to share with friends at Herstmonceux once again.  It was also good to talk and pray with my friend Marj whose daughter had died in the accident (see last week).  But it was around 11.00 by the time I got home after a long long day.

John spoke on the feeding of the 5000 as recorded in Mark's Gospel and brought out some interesting thoughts.  In his talk he suggested that as Jesus shared out the bread this prefigured the offering of himself on the cross.  He tied both together stating that there was sufficient for each and sufficient for all.  I liked that.  He is indeed all we need and his sacrifice is indeed enough for all who will receive.

Tuesday we had a better choir practice in the prison and a good time of fellowship.  One of the new members opened up and shared his faith story with me.  He hopes to get out soon and feels a strong call to share the gospel.

On Thursday I was back down to East Sussex for the funeral of Maureen at Eastbourne.  Please continue to pray for Peter (husband), Marj and Michael (mother and brother), and Richard and David (sons) following this tragic accident.  We are still waiting for the inquest.  It was another very long day with 360 miles driving.  I am thankful for the provision of the new car as it is so much easier to drive.

On Friday I received a request from a Salvation Army Youth Worker in Cumbria to assist in some training in August and hope to build a rural mission day for church leaders into this occasion.

On Saturday the morning was given over to supporting a Coffee Morning in Yelvertoft in aid of the situation in East Africa, and some pastoral ministry.  In the afternoon I went to the village of Groby (pronounced grooby) north of Leicester to research Youth Alpha.  It was good to hear how the Spirit of God is working in the two churches in the village.  It is rare to hear of such a good ecumenical partnership in a rural community.

This week
Sunday - 10.45am Yelvertoft Congregational Church; 6.00pm Theddingworth Church

Monday - visiting a church in the Vale of Belvoir (pronounced beaver) to research another Youth Alpha story.

Tuesday - Gartree Prison

Sunday 31st - 9.00 Gartree Prison Service (with team from Theddingworth) followed by 10.45 Yelvertoft (I will arrive late and John and Joy Langford are taking this meeting for me).  In the evening I am taking the service at Market Harborough Congregational Church.

I pray that the Lord will bless your week and encourage you to pray for greater things from God both in and through your life.

Barry

Renewing friends : losing friends

Well done for getting to this blog.  I hope you find the new address more helpful.

Last Saturday I received some good news and some bad news.  The good news was that I got back in contact with one of our "Turkish daughters".  Many years ago Doreen and I made friends with a family in Antalya and had their daughters to stay in our homes over a couple of summers.  We lost contact but through Google I tracked down a very well qualified young woman in the USA who seemed to be about the right age. To our joy (and hers) we are now back in touch.

The bad news was that a friend of ours had died in tragic circumstances.  I have known Maureen since her teenage life when I used to stay in her parent's home on occasions.  I was best man at her wedding to Peter.  Sadly, the contact between us grew weaker with the passing of years so it was a real joy when Peter and Maureen turned up at our home about a month ago.  Doreen and I soaked up the pleasure of this renewed relationship.  Last week I phoned Maureen for some advice.  It was good to chat and she told me that she and Peter were about to go on holiday with their caravan.  She joked about the problem of putting up the awning.  Then on Saturday Peter phoned to say that while he was putting up the awning she had gone for a walk.  She failed to return and was found some hours later having fallen into a steep and deep ditch where she drowned.  Please pray for Peter, their two sons, Maureen's mother (Marj) and brother (Michael).

As you will know from emails I have sent out the launch of "Responding Well" at the General Synod in York was a happy event.  This policy and guidance document for the Church of England has the endorsement of the House of Bishops.  It is a needed and welcome publication.  Those who pray for me might like to see something of the output you support.  It is available on line and I can send you a pdf copy if that would be helpful.  Every church (of any denomination) probably ought to purchase a copy for their leaders.

After the enjoyable day on Monday it was a disappointing choir practice at the prison on Tuesday.  I had a good service there last Sunday morning before going to Yelvertoft.  The main problem was one of the prisoners messing about.  I will have to talk with him about this and value your prayers about this on the coming Tuesday.

On Wednesday I had a great time with the school assembly where I told the story of Samson with a lot of interaction.  Then on Thursday it was an early start in order to get to Rugby for the church leaders prayer breakfast.  There was an opportunity to discuss how rural churches can link with the Hope Together programme.

On Friday I wrote and posted the new blog on Tailored Rural Missions at tailoredmissions.blogspot.com.

The coming week
This Saturday (16th) I am travelling to East Sussex for a 200th anniversary event at my previous church at Herstmonceux.  It will also give me an opportunity to visit Maureen's mother.

Sunday 17th - Doreen and I will be at Yelvertoft but the service is being taken by our friend John Harris.

Tuesday 19th - Gartree Prison

Thursday 21st - sharing in the funeral service for Maureen.

Sunday 24th - Yelvertoft.

Writing and study are still the main activities.

Thanks for your prayers.
Barry

Time for praise and prayer and...?

I have just written my monthly article for the Yelvertoft Parish Magazine and posted a version of it on my "Reflections" blog if you would like to read it.  The theme is "Throwing Stones" and it focuses on this week's major news topic.  You can see it at http://barryosborne.blogspot.com/

I haven't managed to do as much writing this past week as I had hoped, but I have just had an encouraging response from an editor to a theological reflection I have written for Country Way.  This reminds me to give yet another plug for subscribers.  It really is a super magazine and a "must" for anyone who attends a rural church.  It carried all kinds of relevant information and ideas and is so worthy of a wider readership.

Doreen helped me get the mailing out for the Rural Evangelism Network after I had put together the news sheet.

We had two new members in the Prison Choir.  I had to run this on my own last Tuesday and had a bad dream about it the night before.  We had a serious work out but ended up with a lot of hilarity singing "Barbara Ann".  Is it OK for prisoners to have moments of fun?

The Coming Week
Sunday 10th - 9.00 service at Gartree Prison, Leics.   10.45 service at Yelvertoft Congregational Church, Northants.

Monday 11th - travel to York where the Church of England General Synod is being held.  I am taking part in the launch of a special document entitled, "Responding Well" that focuses on appropriate action by churches to people who have been sexually abused at some time (whether within a church context or outside).  I will be speaking briefly within the presentation.  Please pray that we will get a good attendance at this lunch time fringe meeting.

Tuesday 12th - Gartree Prison

Wednesday 13th - School Assembly, Lubenham.  I should have been in on Monday but had to cancel because of the trip to York.  The head teacher kindly arranged this alternative as otherwise I would have missed the year 6 children who will be leaving soon.

Thursday 14th - 8.00 am Leaders Breakfast Meeting, Rugby, Warwicks.  Followed possibly by a trip to a village in the Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire to research an article on Youth Alpha in a village setting.

Friday 15th (provisional) - travel to Hastings ready for Saturday.

Saturday 16th (provisional) - joining friends at our previous church at Herstmonceux, East Sussex, celebrating their 200th anniversary.

Additionally, there are articles to write, and work related to the University Research programme.

A biblical reflection on time
In both Ephesians 5 and Colossians 4 Paul uses a phrase that the KJV of the Bible translates as "redeeming the time" and the NIV translates as "making the most of every opportunity".  These and some other scripture references have significantly my life which tends to be very busy and lived with a sense of urgency.  But these scriptures are not just about the fleeting moments (that is filling up the time); they are about how that time is used - responding appropriately to the opportunities they bring.

Some who like to play with New Testament Greek words emphasise that the word used here is kairos and not chronos.  The latter is about the sequential passing of time (a quantitative element) while the former is about significant moments within the passing of time (a qualitative element).  But to understand these verses correctly we need to recognise that within the passing moments there are many opportunities.  Simply sitting and waiting for the kairoi to appear is never good enough. Kairos does not wait around, for it is caught up in the passing of chronos.


A healthy appreciation and response to both is what the Lord requires of us.  What does this moment bring to you?

May God grant you a good week.

Barry

Straight Paths

It is Sunday morning 3rd July as I write this weeks post for the diary blog.  At 7.00am this morning several large and very noisy vehicles arrived in our street and started to tear up the road surface.  It was not unexpected and I had parked our car in the next street to avoid any problems.  The road was poor in several places and I am sure that I will appreciate a new and better surface to drive on once they finish this work today.

Last Tuesday evening, after a very busy day full of meetings I set off for London by train to be ready for the day of training I would be leading at the Salvation Army Training College on Wednesday.  As the ticket office was closed I had to use one of their new ticket machines.  It took 15 minutes to print the selected tickets, causing me to miss my train and arrive an hour later than scheduled.  On Friday, a different ticket machine at the same station also failed to work properly and I caught my train by the skin of my teeth.

What does the Bible mean when it talks about "straight paths"?  There are several references to this in Proverbs such as, "in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Prov 3:6).  There are also the references to the ministry of John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus' ministry.  It seems to me to be about removing obstacles (such as dysfunctional ticket machines).  This took on special relevance as Friday and Saturday were spent as part of the Pastoral Care Board for the Congregational Federation as we carried out a large number of vocational interviews for students on our training courses.  Some are clearly well on their way with little obviously in their way.  Others needed some guidance and help to cope with obstacles in their way.  Our job was to try to help them in a process of discernment of the way ahead.  Not everyone is called to the same ministry and we needed to help them to be sure they were going in the right direction!

Apart from journey frustrations described above the week's activities went well including the training day on Wednesday and the multiple activities on Tuesday.  So here are things for which i value your prayers this week:

Research Programme
There is an ongoing process of reading around the subject of rural evangelism and critiquing various publications.  I am also in the process of writing 3000 words as part of an assessment of the past semester.  At the same time I have to carefully define the aims of my research and how it will be carried out.  This is critical for my progressing to the next stage.  I need a clear head for all this.

Rural Evangelism Network
A mailing goes out to all members this week.  This involves gathering all essential information and producing newsletters etc.  I have a couple of key conversations that need to take place and might need to take a trip to London in this connection.  I am also busy trying to set up local consultations for later this year in SE England, Wales and Scotland.  A request to do something in Cumbria has also come in this week.

Country Way
There is ongoing writing for this important magazine.  This involves some research, interviews and writing up the outcomes.

Yelvertoft
There will be some pastoral visits and next Sunday's meetings to prepare.

and beside all this...
There is always administration to be done (several outstanding jobs), getting copies produced for the  second CD of favourite gospel songs, and taking the choir practice at Gartree Prison on Tuesday.

Compared to the past week, the diary for the coming week is currently fairly free of engagements but there is plenty to fill this space.  Your prayer for all this is very much appreciated.  Also please remember to pray for my colleague, Monica, and her ministry, for the trustees and local committees, and that our financial needs will be met as we look to the Lord to answer prayer in these difficult financial days.

I pray that the Lord will give you a blessed week.  Please keep your eyes on Jesus and remember that seven prayerless days make one weak.

Barry