Something to shout about

The weeks of Lent seem to have been passing quickly.  The Lenten Bible Discussions have been very encouraging.  This year we have focused on Meals Jesus shared. I ran a similar programme when at Herstmonceux and it proved very successful.  On that occasion friends from the Parish Church joined us and Sue, the Vicar, and I planned and led it jointly.  Each week we met in a different kind of location, had a meal that reflected something of the Bible passage and had an informal talk and discussion.  This year, at Yelvertoft which is much smaller, we have had 14 to 16 attending and we have not had a meal, but have used different forms of Bible study.  This coming week we meet on Thursday evening for an enacted Passover Meal.

I spent part of the week reflecting on our publicity.  As Rural Mission Solutions is a relatively small organisation with a modest income we have never invested much in advertising.  This is a shame as our particular approach to the task of rural evangelism is unique and we should be broadcasting it as much as possible.  I discovered a marketing organisation is based in a small hamlet next to Yelvertoft and went and had a chat.  One result of this has been to set up a Facebook Page for Rural Mission Solutions.  Unfortunately Facebook are changing the format of these pages to a new Timeline design.  I'm not a fan of the new format but we will run with it at least for a while.  So if you are on Facebook perhaps you would visit Rural Mission Solutions.  If you click on 'Like' we can keep you in touch with developments.

I have also set up a similar page for the Rural Evangelism Network but am even less certain about the value for that part of our work.  Perhaps for REN a Facebook Group will suffice.

Please pray with us as we continue to reflect on how we raise our profile and make known the programmes, experience and expertise we can make available.

The process of setting up the regional Rural Mission Consultations (with REN) continue through the coming week.

This week's visit to Gartree Prison will be the penultimate practise before the concert.  Last Tuesday we practised three gospel songs that will be in the programme.  It went well but I still feel we are only 40% ready for the concert.  Hopefully it will be all right on the night.

This year marks the 350th Anniversary of our church in Yelvertoft.  On August 24th 1662 an Act of Parliament restricted who could minister within the Church of England and also the form of the services. For 2000 Anglican clergymen this was perceived as limiting the work of the Holy Spirit and they gave up their living and their homes in a courageous act of conscience.  This was the birth of what became known as non-conformity.  It was a costly step but amazing things grew out of it with blessing subsequently flowing into the Church of England which has been enriched through the spirituality of the non-conformists.

I was asked to set up a website to mark this event and you are invited to explore www.1662advance.org to find out more.  You may well find a chapel near you that will be celebrating its 350th anniversary this year where you would be very welcome.

This week's activities include...
Sunday 25th - Yelvertoft Congregational Church
Monday 26th - Lubenham School Assembly
Tuesday 27th - Outreach planning meeting in Market Harborough and Gartree Prison.
Thursday 29th - Lessons from a Passover Meal, Yelvertoft
Saturday 31st - Attending an Induction and Ordination Service for a new Minister near Bedford.
Sunday 1st April - Joint Palm Sunday Service in Yelvertoft.

Finally, be warned - I will be shortly undertaking another sponsored walk to support the work of Christian Aid in Nicaragua.  Can i count on you for a little help with the fund raising please?

Every blessing,

Barry

Developing tomorrow's leaders

It is late on Saturday as I write this week's blog.  It has been a full and quite busy week.  For most of the past 24 hours I have been away but I will come to that a little later.

On Monday I travelled to London for a Rural Round Table run by Fresh Expressions.  As might be expected I already knew over half of those there from other contexts but it was good to meet and hear from two that I had not met before.  The theme for the day was developing lay leadership and the gust speaker was James Lawrence from the Church Pastoral Aid Society.  His talk was excellent and while the focus was on leadership development in fresh expressions of church, anyone with leadership responsibilities in inherited forms of church would have found this valuable.  I hope that we might be able to invite James to speak at a Rural Evangelism Network meeting some time.

There was a lot of wise sayings.  Here is one:  "For the sake of the many invest in a few".  In other words focus on leadership with a few that are willing.  It made me think about a pithy saying from Dr Donald McGavran (of Church Growth fame) regarding leadership development.  He recommended focusing energies on teaching the teachable.  It sounds logical but a great deal of energy and time is wasted in our churches trying to move those who do not want to be moved.

Inevitably during the course of the day we considered individual potential when training leaders.  It made me reflect on the item I posted a couple of weeks ago about my need for a 'Timothy'.  Roughly ten years after Timothy joined Paul's team as a young man Paul wrote about him to the church at Philippi highly commending Timothy.  By that time Paul tells us that he has been 'proved'.  I wondered whether in praying for the finished article I was missing what God might want me to do in helping to develop the yet-to-be-realised potential in someone.  So as I ask you to keep praying about this please, perhaps we should keep an open mind as to whether this ought to be someone with a desire to be a good disciple and who has a teachable character.

An enjoyable spin-off during the day was the unexpected pleasure of sharing the train journey to London with my friend and colleague Dr Gordon Temple.  Gordon is CEO of Torch Trust for the Blind and is part of the ministry team at Yelvertoft and part of my local mission management team.

On Tuesday morning I attended a planning meeting for the 2012 summer Holiday at Home in Market Harborough.  I continue to rejoice that the local Methodist Minister and his wife are  former associate evangelists.  Brian and Clare still have a heart for sharing the gospel and a heart for rural ministry.  Holiday at Home locally was Brian's vision and has brought a lot of blessing.  A good programme is coming together for August this year.  Today a church leader from another country town expressed interest in learning from our experience of running these events.

After my regular ministry at the local prison I spoke on my journey of faith at a meeting in the evening at Market Harborough Congregational Church, interspersing my story with four gospel songs.  It felt very effectual and I hope was very effective.

Thursday was a day for leading Bible studies at Yelvertoft, one in the morning and one in the evening.  I continue to be very encouraged both by attendance and the high level of interest.  While writing about Bible teaching I would like to encourage you to pray for my brother in law, Paul, who is speaking to church leaders in Sierra Leone this week.

On Friday evening I set off towards Winchester for a session on research skills Saturday morning.  It was very interesting but I also drew comfort to discover that most of my fellow students seem to be struggling with time management (as I am) and several are significantly behind me in their work.  I felt liberated a little!  Immediately after the morning session and an hour in the University Library I drove to south Leicester to catch the end of the Area Assembly of the Congregational Federation.  I was just in time to catch the last 20 minutes of what was obviously a helpful talk on engaging in mission.

Prayer Focus this week:

• We start by praising God for the many precious experiences of ministering to people over the past week.  It is such a privilege to share in God's mission and sense his guidance.
• Praise God for encouraging letters and emails received and some donations for the work of Rural Mission Solutions.
• Pray for those who have sat under our ministry that God's word will work in all our hearts.
• With the date of the concert at the prison looming we have a mountain to climb in polishing our programme and we have such little time.  This puts me under pressure and relationships can easily become strained.  This is an important gospel issue and I need your prayers.
• This Sunday is a ministry free day so it provides a chance to be still and listen to what God is saying.  Pray for my listening.
• There will be Bible teaching and pastoral visits to undertake at Yelvertoft through the week.
• On Saturday I will be meeting with a couple who have asked for a service of blessing following a civil marriage at a local conference centre.  These can be precious intimate moments for sharing something of the gospel.
• Please pray for Paul in Sierra Leone.
• We learned last weekend that the Leaders Conference immediately after Easter I am helping to organise has had to relocate.  Happily all our speakers are OK with this.  We could still do with additional bookings.
• I am trying to arrange a number of rural mission consultations around the country.  The challenge is settling on the best dates for these.  I hope to move forward on at least three more this week.
• I have a lot of writing to do and need some focus time, also some focused reading time this week.
• Sunday 25th I will be ministering at Yelvertoft.

As always please pray that I will walk closely with the Lord and that activity will be the overflowing from a deeper walk with him.

Thank you.

Barry

God Always Knows Best

An invitation to pray at the end of a nephew's wedding this Saturday brought to remembrance a story.  Some time ago, when motor cars were a new invention and still quite rare, a motorist driving a Model T Ford (the first "mass produced" car) in the USA became stranded many miles from help.  The engine had stalled and try as he might he could not get it going again.  After a long time of tinkering under the bonnet he was relieved to see another Model T car coming towards him.

The driver of the second car stopped and enquired if he could help.  Exasperated, the man explained how long he had been tinkering with no result but told the other driver he could have a go if he wished.

The second man made a few adjustments and invited the driver to crank the handle (No starter motors in those days).  Immediately the engine roared into life. The drivers got into their respective cars and began to drive in opposite directions.  The first driver called across once more his thanks to his rescuer and asked his name.  "Henry Ford", came the reply!

Often we struggle with situations and get frustrated when we can't work things out.  We might even give up in despair.  But the Designer is only a prayer away and it is amazing what can happen when we invite him to sort things out.  I hope that my nephew and his wife will remember that, but it was good to be reminded myself.

On the subject of stories I had to take a primary school assembly on the set theme of sacrifice this week.  At first I thought I would tell them the story of Albert and Albrecht Durer and the painting of what is commonly called Praying Hands.  While preparing I had a strong conviction that I should use instead a story that I had only used in an adult context.  I settled the children down with the joke about the pig and chicken (if you don't know it ask me) and then told the story.  You could have heard a pin drop.  Afterwards the head thanked me and said how effective it had been to teach such a difficult concept to young children.  At times like that I know why Jesus used story as a teaching form.

In other news, I completed the work I have been doing for Germany, adding a couple of tweaks.  I responded to consultation enquiries from the south west and Wales, and had further communication from Ireland where my writing on rural evangelism is increasingly used.  We are considering an autumn conference or consultation in Ireland.  Previously my only visit to Ireland was a coach trip.  It's a different situation with church culture I believe but I am delighted at the prospect of serving churches and their leaders there.

I have also accepted an invitation to speak on rural evangelism at a conference of the Soldiers' and  Airmen's Scripture Readers Association later this year.  A former colleague and good friend, Alf Lavender, was converted through the work of SASRA in Singapore so I feel that this is a special privilege.

My university study has moved forward with some encouragement, and I had a helpful supervision session using Skype.  The main issue for your prayers is that I will plan time management well as I have to engage with literature related to my topic.  There is not a great deal on rural evangelism but a lot of related material I have to work through and produce a survey and critique.

We held a Bible Discussion meeting in the village of Yelvertoft last Thursday morning as part of Lent.  We explored the account of the wedding at Cana.  We used several different methods of investigating this story and I was amazed at the wealth of insight that came forth from all the members of the group.  There were eleven of us and we had two away because of illness, which is an encouraging number in a small village.  There would be some churches where getting excited about a Bible study attended by eleven people would seem strange, but if you come from a village church you will understand.  Hastings, where I lived at one time, is 70 times the size of Yelvertoft but I doubt that the churches there gather 770 people to a mid-week Bible study!

Finally, talking about proportionality, I was invited to attend a European Leadership Conference recently but could not see any aspect of the programme that was relevant for leaders of small and rural churches. The image of 'successful leadership' is all about numerical growth and large congregations.  Yet there are thousands of rural churches across Europe for whom this programme would be irrelevant.  I have raised this with the organisers but not had a reply so far.

Items for praise and prayer

• Please continue to pray that God will raise up people to catch the vision for rural missional churches running self-sustainable programmes that use all those who are part of the local church.  From among these we look for those who will help us, build on what we have done, and carry the work forward.
• Give thanks for those who have indicated a willingness to join our team of trustees for Sunrise Ministries.
• Give thanks for those booking in to attend the Church Leaders Conference (Congregational Federation) that I have helped to put together.  I would love to see another twenty applications.
• Please pray for my brother-in-law, Paul who has been preparing for a ministry visit to Sierra Leone.  Plans for this event have become a little confused.  Please pray that in the midst of this Paul will know what he should speak about, and that he will be greatly used by the Lord.
• On this Sunday I have a ministry-free day.
• On Monday I will be attending a rural round table meeting run by Fresh Expressions.
• My work at the prison is a little under pressure.  We have three weeks before the concert and a great deal of hard practising to do.  A good concert has a beneficial effect for the prisoners so we aim at perfection and right now are about 40% there!  We only get one 45 minute practice a week.
• There are some planning meetings also on Tuesday I shall attend.
• On Tuesday evening I have an engagement to talk and sing at Market Harborough Congregational Church.
• Next Saturday I will be at Winchester University.  All the research students have had to write more information about their research project.  Most of my group are not doing religious studies but it has been interesting to read the reaction to what I have written about the gospel and evangelism.  Please pray that I will be sensitive to what God is doing in the lives of fellow students.

By now you have information overload, so I will close with my usual request that through your prayers you continue to uphold me and those who work with me.  May all we do be the overflowing of our relationship with God.  May we be faithful in everything and fruitful for his glory.

Barry

The Gospel Prism

During the course of the past week I had the joy of taking the school assembly at Yelvertoft Primary School.  The visitor assemblies this term are based upon the Acts of the Apostles.  Each week we have a Bible passage and a theme that can be picked up by the school.  This week is was Peter’s vision of unclean food and the theme was prejudice.  The invitation to go to the home of Cornelius was every bit as unusual for Peter as had been the invitation to partake of ‘unclean’ food.  I think it is probable that he might not have gone had he not had first had the vision followed by God’s instructions.  The record of Acts presents Peter previously preaching only to Jews and the heart of his message to them is that Jesus is the Messiah affirmed by his resurrection from the dead.  The challenge of a different cultural context Peter seems to modify his message.  Now there is no obvious reference to Jesus as the Messiah, but as Lord of all, judge of all and the one throw whom everyone who believes can find forgiveness.  Perhaps most radical of all is his opening statement that "God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation..."

The children had a clear understanding of the dangers of ungodly prejudice.  As the talk concluded I encouraged the children to turn to one another a declare "You're special because God loves you".  Then after the closing prayer they pointed to all the teachers and proclaimed the same with great enthusiasm to them.  Afterwards I had a queue of children who wanted to talk with me.  The last two came with a gold star that they had just made, which they gave to me.  I asked them why and was told it was because I was special too!

Of course I had only been able to give them one aspect of the gospel, just as Peter's sermons on the day of Pentecost and at Cornelius' house had.  Once at a communion service when children were present we sang a hymn full of Old Testament sacrifice language.  I knew it was over their heads and prayed for guidance.  Immediately I saw a way in as there had been an oil tanker disaster not long before.  The children had all seen the pictures on TV and explained to me that  because of the accident many birds died.  Some were rescued because people went to save them.  They also explained that in order to clean the filth of oil from the birds and set them free the people ended up getting the mess on themselves.

The gospel is too great, too marvellous and too mysterious for anyone to fully comprehend it let alone to find the words necessary to communicate it.  All we get is a glimpse of the light as if it were split into elements like light passing through a prism is split into seven colours that themselves merge to form other colours.  The best form of evangelism is not some ability that seeks to communicate head knowledge of theology but that lets the bit that has shone into our hearts shine out to others.  That might be as simple as the realisation that Jesus died because he loves us.  At the same time, what we share should always be culturally relevant to those to whom we are talking.

Items for Praise and Prayer

• Thank God for the opportunities to share the word of God with people through the past week and pray that it will bring a harvest in due season.
• Thank God for the ability to complete the written material now sent to the university in Germany.
• Thank God for income received this week for Sunrise Ministries that keeps our rural mission work going.
• Please pray for guidance about Renny (see last week's blog).
• Please continue to pray for the Lord to raise up men and women of vision and commitment to help carry forward the work of the Rural Evangelism Network and Rural Mission Solutions.
• Please pray for a good attendance at the Congregational Federation's Leaders Conference (straight after Easter) in which I have some input this year.
• Please pray for our work in Yelvertoft (Sunday morning and Thursday morning this week)
• Please pray for a school assembly in Lubenham (Monday)
• Please pray for the work in Gartree Prison (Tuesday afternoon)

The ministry at the home of Cornelius was interrupted as the Holy Spirit came to those who listened.  Please pray that we too might experience God at work as we seek to be obedient to his call and guidance.

Thank you.

Barry