A week in the life of ...

This week I thought you might like a glimpse into some of what I have been up to.  As you will see some unexpected news in the opening hour of the week brought added work.

Sunday 18th. Just after midnight (early hours of Sunday) I picked up an email from a friend informing me that a sex offender who had previously set up and led a mission which gave him opportunity and cover for his activities was now proposing to launch a new rural evangelism organisation.  Horrified I sat down at the laptop and wrote an account of some of his activities as this was certainly something he ought not to be allowed to do.

09:55 Doreen and I set off for Yelvertoft to take the morning service.  In the meeting we reflected on the way God often surprises us by his generosity (Jonah in the OT and the parable where all the workers received the same pay in the NT).  It was good to have Jean back at the Clavinova and it felt a good meeting.  In the evening we supported the meeting at Theddingworth.

Monday 19th. Early morning appointment at the dentist and then helped move and store audio visual equipment in the Market Harborough church.  The rest of the day was spent preparing and sending out emails to members of the Rural Evangelism Network regarding the proposed new rural mission organisation.  How can one protect small rural churches that are likely to grasp at an offer of help without checking if it is safe?  Had a useful conversation with the Police who have asked for documentation.

Tuesday 20th.  In the morning I travelled to Yelvertoft to take a school assembly.  The topic was Noah.  Big issues about what one says in school regarding some issues that even Bible loving theologians are unsure about. Focused on his preparedness to stand out and be different, living a good life in the midst of sin, and how obedience to God saved him but no others though he preached to them  It was excellent and some of the children expressed the hope that I would be back with them the next week.  Coffee in staff room and a good chat with teachers.

Afternoon off to Prison.  Once again 'C' was helpful so please keep praying for him.  It is a real change in his behaviour.  We worked hard all the concert pieces and I got home exhausted and fell asleep on the settee.

Independent safeguarding Authority requested a formal report about the rural mission 'risk'.

Wednesday 21st.  Drafted letter to go to long-standing prayer partners who might know the person setting up the mission.  I am concerned that some could have had a communication requesting support for this inappropriate action.  I have had to share bits of my history working with this man that I would have preferred to keep to myself.  Emails start flowing back thanking me for my honesty and supporting what I had written.  Somewhat relieved as the supportive emails keep coming in.

Late morning met with ministerial colleague, Suzanne, from the Harborough church to discuss a series of home groups on friendship evangelism.  Welcomed the time of prayer we shared.  In the afternoon I drafted the first of the Friendship Evangelism programmes based on John 4.

Thursday 22nd.  In the morning I drove to Stoneleigh, Warwickshire for the Country Way Editorial Group Meeting.  Sad that Jill Hopkinson, National Rural Officer for the Church of England and Executive Editor, was not well enough to be at the meeting.  It was a productive meeting and I arrived back home early afternoon for a late lunch bring back home copies of the current magazine for mailing out to Rural Evangelism Network members.

Over the last several days back into last week I have also been getting the data for the REN Directory up to date.  Started preparing the Directory ready for the mailing.

Friday 23rd.  Finished the REN Directory and wrote the REN Newsletter.  Also some REN administration as the annual subscriptions are coming in (letter sent out last week).  Late afternoon I met with Dr Gordon temple at the Torch trust offices in preparation for Saturday's meeting.   All REN mailing now ready by the evening but I needed to prepare for Saturday.

Saturday 24th.  Gordon and I travelled to Nottingham by train.  As I was about to leave I received a pastoral phone call.  One of my members was taken ill during the week while in south Wales and has ended up in hospital in Newport.  I managed to arrange for a colleague to visit Lynne in hospital and also set up a pre-baptism meeting for early tomorrow.

Congregational Federation's Mission & Society Meeting (Gordon was a guest speaker).  A very positive time.  My report went well as did Gordon's presentation.  Much else was encouraging.  Came away having been tasked to set up a Facebook Group Page so that Committee members can share news and prayer.  Good idea but short on volunteers!

In the evening I wrote this blog.  Thanks for being with me through this fairly typical week though somewhat overshadowed by the news at the start of the week.

The Week Ahead

Sunday 9.30 Pre-baptism meeting at Yelvertoft.  Morning meeting taken by Angela.

Monday Printing and then mailing out to REN members.  In the afternoon I take part in an international telephone conference for a theological commission for whom I prepared a new constitution a few weeks ago.

Tuusday Gartree Prison.

Thursday Part of International Congregational Fellowship Conference Planning Group in London.

Sunday Morning Meeting at Yelvertoft followed by Area Autumn Assembly in Okeham, Rutland where I am the speaker.

Hopefully plenty of time to catch up on the study missed through the past week!

Thank you.

Stop struggling ... just sit still

I returned yesterday evening from a day spent in Nottingham for the Christian Ministries Committee of the Congregational Federation.  It is not a body on which I normally sit, but I was deputising for our Area representative on this occasion.  Since I was attending I was asked also to deputise for the Chair of the Pastoral care Board (on which I do sit).  It was an interesting day including encouraging news of what is happening among our work with children and teenagers.

This was one of the occasions when my mind is a blank when it comes to preparing for Sunday and I was tired this Saturday evening.  Sometimes I have a conviction well in advance, and sometimes it comes later in the week, but usually I have a sense of what the Lord wants me to speak about.  Long ago I prayed that God would keep me from 'sermonising' - just speaking for the sake of it, even if the content is good.  What matters to me is that we come together to meet with God and need to hear what he has to say.

Of course, I cannot guarantee that I always get it right or that I make a good job of communicating God's heart for his people, but it remains my aim.  Lacking any clear guidance I looked up the lectionary readings and was intrigued to find the theme was on how God's values often surprise us.  The OT reading is the story of Jonah and the NT reading the parable of the workers who all received the same pay regardless of how many hours they worked.  When I woke this morning, Doreen shared with me a song that had been on her heart in the night.  It was "To be in your presence...".

Was it a subconscious influence or the prompting of the Holy Spirit that then took me to a beautiful hymn I have only found in the old Redemption Hymnal.  The first verse goes, "Dwelling in the Secret Place, Overshadowed by his grace, Looking up into his face, Seeing only Jesus.".   In my mind I could see Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, and in the background Martha frantically trying to offer Jesus the best hospitality.  I wonder how often we miss drinking in from the generosity of God because of our desire to serve him.  Jonah groused because he failed to understand the heart of God, and felt that God should deal harshly with his enemies.  Some of the workers complained, not because they were not well paid, but because the owner paid everyone the same.  Martha was not doing anything wrong, it was just that he desire to serve obscured the need to sit and listen.  It all seems to be about finding the heart of God that so often surprises us.

Prayers & Praise
Give thanks for a lovely time in Gartree Prison both on Sunday morning and again at the Choir practise on Tuesday.  Did you pray about the behaviour of 'C'?  This week not only was he not a nuisance, he was actually helpful!  I managed to get some more important reading and writing done, and a task i have to do for the university became clearer.  Sunday at Yelvertoft also brought encouragement and it was great to make a start on a Bible study series in the week.  Thank you for your prayers.

Sunday 18th - Yelvertoft Congregational Church
Tuesday 20th - School Assembly at Yelvertoft and Gartree Prison
Thursday 22nd - Country Way Editorial Group Meeting, Stoneleigh, Warwicks.
Saturday 24th - Mission and Society Committee, Nottingham

I have been asked to provide some material and teaching on Friendship Evangelism during October and will be meeting in the week with the Minister of the church to discuss this.  I want to tailor this to the local situation and value your prayers.  I am also preparing for a conference I will be speaking at in November on discipleship in rural churches. As I prepare I want to be guided by the Holy Spirit and not just grab hold of 'good' material previously used.

I met with 'M' who recently had a mastectomy about which you prayed.  We spent 45 minutes rejoicing together over God's blessings.  Alison (recovering after the removal of a brain tumour) and her husband Stephen still need your prayers.  An infection in the operation wound is causing problems.

Thank you for your fellowship in prayer.

Barry

Surprising influences from God

Today I have been putting in time writing a 3000 word essay for the University.  Writing is normally something I enjoy and I remember that I excelled in this when at school.  In fact a great deal of my time is spent at my laptop writing all manner of documents including legal documents, articles for magazines, book chapters and web pages (to mention a few).  However writing anything on which I know I am going to be assessed is a different matter as I have suffered from a sense of anxiety in exam situations.  So what should have been relatively easy today became that much harder.

The task was writing about something that has influenced my research topic - an expansion of a face to face presentation with PowerPoint given last semester.  For many of my fellow research students there were books that had informed their research but there has not been much written on rural evangelism in the UK other than my own contributions.  But what had significantly influenced my research was undertaking an Open University Business Management Course back in the mid-1980s.  At the time I was working as General Secretary of a mission organisation and I invested a small legacy I had received on this OU pilot course for an MBA course they were developing. The aim was to improve my abilities in management of the organisation.

Having to fund the course myself meant that I was only able to take three major modules before the money ran out but I enjoyed it immensely for various reasons.  What I had not expected was how much the course would speak almost prophetically into my ministry, shaping a new paradigm in mission.  Many years later I was to discover that some of those who wrote the course were committed Christians.  At the first tutorial, held in the University of Kent's Religious Studies Department we met for the first time an interesting gathering of middle managers from all kinds of businesses.  One of my fellow students, looking at the arrangements of images of Passover night and the crucifixion enquired light-heartedly what all that had to do with management.  What an opportunity!

I explained that Passover and the Exodus were major projects that called for management skills.  I then went on to explain how it foreshadowed a greater deliverance.  I had just finished when the tutor arrived. Up till then they thought I was the tutor apparently.  As I soaked up the next two years of study I made good friends but was constantly blown away by the way in which insight into management practise cast new light on Bible passages and created a new mission paradigm.  Out of that came the development of Rural Sunrise, the publishing of The Key to Effective Rural Evangelism, and our strategic focus on helping rural churches engage in mission in ways that are appropriate for them in their context.

Sometimes God speaks at unexpected times through unexpected means.  Back in my teens I had experienced God speaking to me through a song played on a juke box.  There were no labels on the buttons but a stack of records.  One of the owners of this just-reopened coffee bar who could not have heard the discussion I was having with Christian friends inserted a coin and pressed three buttons randomly.  The first song played was so relevant to our discussion it was like hearing the voice of God.

Of course that experience could have just been a fluke but sometimes you can read or hear something and the Holy Spirit witnesses to what you have just heard or read.  Such experiences do not undermine the discovery of God and his will through the faithful reading of scripture.  Nor can I claim to have heard God speak to me in unusual ways more than probably half a dozen times over the past 48 years.  What I do know is that each of the occasions has marked a significant change for me.

It was good to spend several hours today reflecting on the impact that OU Course had, and the fact that journey is still incomplete.  The recent survey on impediments to rural evangelism endorsed the strategies developed as a result of that experience, but there is still a hill to climb and I need your prayers.

This week:
Sunday 11th  9.00am at Gartree Prison followed at 10.45 at Yelvertoft Congregational Church
Tuesday 13th Gartree Prison Choir.  We had a little difficulty last week and I ask you to pray for 'C'.  He has a disruptive influence and I need wisdom to know how to handle him.  I think it would help if he talked about himself with me.
Wednesday 14th Church Leaders' Prayer Breakfast in Rugby followed by some pastoral ministry.
Thursday 15th Rural Church Leaders Network Meeting in Market Harborough.
Saturday 17th - a special panel to consider a ministry application followed by a Christian Ministries Committee, both in Nottingham.  I am not a regular member of the CMC and only attending as a deputy for our Area Representative and deputy for the Chair of our Pastoral Care Board.
Sunday 18th - Yelvertoft Congregational Church.

Thanks for your prayers for Alison who had brain surgery to remove a tumour, for Margaret who had a mastectomy  and Deb who started chemotherapy.  All value your prayers.  Alison is on the mend but is stuck in hospital until they can get her temperature under control.

I learned this week that a booklet I wrote about what to do if the Minister or his family are affected by serious illness is about to go into circulation.  Orders continue to come in for the second CD of treasured gospel songs.  One person described listening to these old gospel songs as uplifting and energising. I'm glad they are bringing blessing and, of course, they are full of Christian doctrine as well as enjoyable.  In between engagements I still have a lot of reading and writing to do.   It looks like a busy week so please meet me round the throne of grace.

Barry

Great things happen when people pray

Firstly I would like to thank you for your prayers over the past week - especially for those going through difficult times.  The news from Stephen, whose wife Alison had a brain tumour removed is that she has come through the operation well and was making a good recovery.  Margaret had her mastectomy but I have no news and have been unable to visit the hospital so far.  Deb, who started chemo this week does not appear to have had any nasty side effects.  I am sure that all these and those close to them will appreciate your continued prayers.

It is now Saturday evening so once again I am writing this later than I normally plan.  This is partly because a scheduled pastoral visit to C and her family to discuss baptism was deferred from Monday evening to this morning.  This is the second discussion with C (probably mid twenties) and her parents.  It has provided an excellent opportunity to discuss the gospel.  Today we explored who Jesus was both as a person of history but also more than an ordinary man.  While it is good to be able to have three people to talk with it makes it difficult to focus on how C is responding to the gospel.  Please pray as our discussions continue.  [For any that have missed the background C's niece is being baptised in a Catholic church in October and the RC regulations will not allow a non-baptised person to act as a godparent.  C's brothers were baptised in a CofE church but the family moved about the time that C would have been baptised and they just never got round to it.]  I left C with a copy of an excellent booklet by Eric Delve.

Choir practice was also better this week, though I remain concerned about the prisoner whose behaviour was bad the week before.  Some of the choir are Christians and I hope that this contact and singing Christian songs might get through to him and the other non-Christians.  Again a matter for prayer, and thanks to those who prayed through with me last Tuesday.

Several days this week were given over to sorting out accounts.  Not having a secretary or any administrative backup means that book keeping gets deferred and then I have a lot of catching up if I want to be reimbursed for various payments made on behalf of Sunrise, the church at Yelvertoft  and others.

The week ahead if fairly busy.  Here are the main activities and some prayer requests.

Sunday 4th - 10.45 Yelvertoft Congregational Church (I plan to speak on Christian hope and assurance).  In the evening Doreen and I will attend Market Harborough Congregational Church.

Monday 5th - I need to send out the subscription renewals for the Rural Evangelism Network.  Any spare time will be spent in study.  Please pray as I am still trying to initiate rural mission consultations in various parts of Britain.

Tuesday 6th - I have a follow up appointment with the optician.  I have been having trouble with my sight after a lot of reading or computer work.  In the afternoon I am at Gartree prison.  Prayer as suggested above please.

Wednesday 7th - Congregational Federation Pastoral Care Board Meeting in Nottingham. This is an important meeting and wisdom will be needed.

Thursday 8th - This is usually the day for pastoral visits but I also am behind with my study schedule.

Friday 9th - I have a scheduled meeting with my University Supervisors but I am hoping to reschedule this so that I can get more up to date with work first.  Please pray that I will get some order into my life so that I can progress with the reading better than at present.

Saturday 10th - Perhaps some free time and also preparation for Sunday.  Please pray for the work of Rural Mission Solutions (previously Rural Sunrise) and for the Lord's provision to enable this needy work.  A recent survey on impediments to rural evangelism highlighted as most significant the issues that we have been tackling since 1988.  We appear to be strategically 'on the ball' with our ministry.  Please also give thanks and praise to God for his sustaining grace and unnumbered blessings.

Sunday 11th -  Yelvertoft Congregational Church (expecting C to attend for the first time in many years this Sunday).

Each new day brings fresh challenges.  I never know when the phone will ring or what I might be asked to do regarding meetings, writing papers or giving advice.  Doreen is a great help and puts up with the fact that she doesn't get as much of my time as she deserves.  She is truly a suitable help as God planned for Adam.  God's plans are always the best!

I pray you will have a good week.  Please pass on prayer and praise information to others.  We need you as much as Moses needed Aaron and Hur (See Exodus 17).

Thank you for your fellowship.

Barry