Dear praying friends,
I am starting to write this at almost midnight on Saturday
30th June and I apologise to those who like to look it up on the
internet on Saturday evenings. I am
sitting in a hotel room in Nottingham and my only link with the internet is via
my mobile phone so I am not sure whether the connection will be good enough for
sending out the emailed version. So if
this comes to you late please understand and forgive me.
A busy week has culminated with a weekend of activity with
students on the Congregational Federation’s Integrated Training Course. It started at 7.30pm on Friday and part of my
responsibilities was to lead the opening worship. I had felt that the Lord wanted me to speak
on “Why are you here?” and encourage the very mixed group to reflect on how we
engage with God’s purposes. The question
was one of three questions that three Dannite spies put to an isolated un-named
Levite who had got himself engaged as a private priest and compromised with
idolatry. I think he could not have
given the questions much thought as he was later taken by the same spies and
turned into a tame priest for their purposes and still embroiled in idolatry.
A similar question was put to Elijah after he had fled in
fear from Jezebel and saw no point to living, feeling that he was the only one
who feared the Lord. How wrong he was
and how blind to the fact that God was still enacting his purposes to bring his
people back to himself. We reflected on
the twin dangers of drifting aimlessly and/or allowing discouragement to rob us
of victory and joy.
On Saturday morning and afternoon a colleague from an urban
context and I jointly engaged in a shared discussion on rural and inner-city
ministry and mission, while the audience of tutors and students interacted with
us with considerable enthusiasm. This
covered two 90 minute sessions and worked well.
Now I am putting the finishing touches to the service plan
for the morning meeting here in Nottingham with the students, tutors and
members of the local church. The theme I
have felt led to is one that looks at excuses.
We use far too many as we seek to justify ourselves before God.
I hope you managed to catch the 5 seconds of me conducting
the choir on Channel 4 on Monday or Tuesday.
It was a shame that the piece they recorded of the choir singing in
beautiful harmony ended on the cutting room floor and showed instead a rather
rough rendition of a carol! Still the
film would have given a little idea of what a lifers prison experience is –
though many of us felt it failed to tell much that would have been of value.
On Tuesday I took the school assembly at Yelvertoft before
going into prison. Then that evening I
travelled to London ready to speak at the Salvation Army Training College on
Wednesday. After the morning and afternoon
sessions I sat a while and talked about scripture with a special advisor to the
House of Lords. Then it was on a train
again heading for East Sussex.
Many reading this as an email attachment will know that my
first 25 years of Christian ministry were partly spent in a rural evangelistic
mission. After I left the organisation
certain matters came to light that ultimately led to the founder/director of
that mission serving a prison sentence for shameful acts. After the court hearing I did what I could to
help the trustees understand how the organisation’s culture and management had
contributed to multiple acts of abuse.
Resulting from this a friend who had been one of the co-writers with me
of Time for Action had been invited
to become a trustee and had ultimately become the Chair of Trustees. Two weeks ago I received a phone call in
which she asked if I would join her and the only other active trustee in
seeking to sort out problems into which the organisation has more recently
found itself. I was soon to realise how
critical the situation was, calling for some urgent decisions and actions. So it was that Wednesday evening and most of Thursday
was spent exploring the scope of the problems and exploring how the problems
might be resolved.
So it was a very full week yet again, and I am sure that
were it not for your prayers it would have been even more challenging.
Praise God
·
for safe and smooth travel, especially in a week
when the weather made travel difficult for thousands;
·
for the attentiveness of children and staff at
the school assembly;
·
for yet another good session with prisoners in
Gartree;
·
for a really positive time with Salvation Army cadets
as we tackled the difficult subject of sexual abuse in a Christian context, how
to reduce risk and support victims;
·
for the commitment of trustees and staff in the
mission I am helping;
·
for the wonderful fellowship at Nottingham with
students and tutors and for my fellow guest speaker who shared the two Saturday
sessions.
Please Pray…
·
for the life of Yelvertoft School and the team
from the local churches as we take assemblies.
Pray that young hearts will see Jesus in us and be drawn to him. We cannot use these occasions for preaching
or evangelism, but we share the good news through our relationship with the
children and school;
·
for the members of Gartree Male Voice Choir. A prisoner (R) who was recently transferred
back to Gartree and who was and is again a member of the choir has served
almost twice the length of his tariff (minimum sentence) and is perplexed why
he is in this situation. For most of the
prisoners the choir is the most positive part of their weekly life;
·
for the Salvation Army Cadets who this weekend
will be commissioned and go out as new officers to various SA churches;
·
for wisdom for the trustees of that mission
organisation;
·
for the Congregational students as they explore
their vocations and work through the training programme;
·
for my work in prison on this Tuesday;
·
for an important discussion in which I will be
involved on Wednesday;
·
for meetings on Friday and Saturday in
Nottingham when some of those on the training course will come before the
Pastoral Care Board, with some hoping to be approved to become ministers.
Prayer is so important.
We dare not serve God and his people in our own strength. Please pray for me and Doreen; it will be
good to have more time together this week.
Pray that God will continue to sustain us spiritually, and in every
other way.
Thank you.
Barry
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