Is your church swimming or treading water?

Both swimming and treading water are important skills, and at times each is likely to become essential, but if the intention is to get from one place to another, trading water is not likely to be much help.  It occurred to me that for many churches in our villages, all the energy, time and money that is invested is enabling us to ‘tread water’ at best or to sink more slowly.

 

I undertook adult swimming lessons because, as a child, I had developed a fear of water.  It did not matter to me how many people were diving in or swimming and playing in the sea or our local swimming pool; I was terrified.  Having advanced from ducking under, floating, and picking up objects from the bottom, I found myself in a small group of intermediate learners.  Those more confident were quickly enjoying newfound confidence, while the worst group had the attention of the trainers.  We were left to our own devices.

 

Then, as the series of lessons was coming to an end, we were suddenly put under pressure.  One goal proved easier than the other.  So long as the instructor’s pole followed beside me, I managed the length of the pool using backstroke.  Completing the width of the pool using breaststroke was more difficult as, however good my intentions were, my body assumed an upright position halfway across the pool, and progress was halted.  Nevertheless, I was proclaimed to be ‘a swimmer’ by the course trainers.  My own opinion was that I had achieved to become a slow drowner!

 

This experience has helped me to become empathetic towards those for whom mission or evangelism seem very alien.  Often, the very language of mission can be disturbing, and we become determined not to jump in and discover the joys.  After all, we can leave it to others, and we can watch from the side lines.  Is this, I wonder, why so many churches are not making progress as far as growth and conversions are concerned?  We might actually ‘be in the pool’ but nervously gripping the side rail.  Or we might be trading water, expending lots of energy similar to swimming but not making any forward progress.

 

Rural Mission Solutions offers the choice of three alternative solutions, two of which will be happening in the next few weeks and the third is on offer free of charge to any church that is serious about a gentle discovery that mission can be fun.

 

The Rural Churches’ Forum is a periodic and free online event open to rural church leaders, both lay and ordained.  It is a conversation.  A very successful conversation was held earlier this year when we explored the changes that have taken place both in rural communities and village churches.  A second conversation is planned for November 9th.  This was originally planned for October, but we felt that releasing promotional material at the same time as mourning for the death of our late Queen seemed insensitive.

 

The theme on this occasion will be how churches can develop mutually helpful links between their church and the community in which it is set.  In the past such links were strong but now seem much weaker, leading to decline in interest in the church and its message.  But this is not always the case.  So, we will be exploring what we can learn about developing and maintaining healthy and helpful relationships that help sharing the gospel and growing the church.

 

It starts at 10.00 and you can register to attend by CLICKING HERE.  You do not need to subscribe to Zoom.

 

A Rural Consultation is a relatively small gathering of rural church leaders living and working close to one another.  Typically, two dozen clergy or lay leaders are invited to spend six hours together for fellowship, mutual encouragement and prayer, with some helpful input on simple and appropriate ways of sharing the ‘Good News in the Countryside’.  Just such an event is planned on 22nd October for churches in the Sharnbrook Deanery of the Diocese of St Albans.

 

Our David Wells has been working within this diocese, encouraging various initiatives and supporting the clergy.  The close geographical area of a deanery makes this kind of consultation ideal.  It can be, as in this case, for a single denomination, or it could be open to various traditions.  Costs are minimal and we will work with any church that is willing to take the initiative.  More details can be obtained by emailing an enquiry to info@ruralmissions.org.uk.

 

While we value your prayers and interest in these two schemes, there is the third resource I have yet to describe.  It is here that the parallel between learning to swim and becoming effective in mission are most pronounced.  We are currently offering to provide the content - absolutely free - for any rural church, or group of churches - for an Away Day exploring how Mission Can Be Fun.  It takes approximately six hours and includes a light lunch.  Together we will explore what gifts and resources God has already given to the church(es) and look for creative ways in which these could be used to respond to the needs and opportunities in their location(s).

 

It is an interactive programme and has always proved enjoyable - often to the surprise of the participants.  The intended outcome of the Away Day is that members of the local congregation(s) grow in confidence in their faith, and the church(es) are able to design their own appropriate plans for mission that fit their size and feel comfortable.  It aims to do ‘what it says on the label’.

 

This Autumn through to Spring 2023 is an ideal time for looking afresh at how we are joining in God’s mission and the expression of his love for the people surrounding our churches.  We value your prayers as we offer such helpful programmes to individual churches and groups of churches.  Many of us are looking at our programmes post pandemic.  Now is a great time to get it right.  Can we help you and your church?  Start a conversation soon.  Treading water is for those who merely want to stay afloat   Swimming is for those who plan to make progress.  Let’s get swimming together.

Motivated?

There is no doubt that the vast majority of Christians in the UK have little or no motivation for sharing the good news about Jesus with their friends or with strangers.  Whatever else might be required for our churches to be truly missional, nothing will be effective if we are not personally motivated.

Not many months after a profound spiritual awakening at an evangelistic meeting on Hastings Pier, I attended a similar meeting in the same location with some Christian friends.  We were all teenagers. A reasonable number of people had already turned up and we were standing near the back when we were approached by the guest evangelist.  “Are you all Christians?” he asked.  We proudly assured him that we were.  “Well, why are you standing here?” he said,  “Go outside and fish more people in!”  With that he thrust a number of flyers into our hands.

I had never done anything like that before.  The idea was to approach some of the many sauntering onto the pier and ask them if they would like to come and hear an interesting talk. Any momentary hesitation soon gave way and I found it not a threatening activity.  It gave rise to questions about faith which I answered as confidently as I was able.  Several people attended that evening because of the invitations we gave out.  Since that day his words, “What are you doing here?” have lingered with me.

My first opportunity to preach publicly in a church came about a year later when, as a teenage member of a mission team, I was invited to preach at the Sunday morning Holiness Meeting of the Salvation Army Corps we were serving.  The director of the Mission organisation felt it was inappropriate, but the Corps Commanding Officer, Captain Peak, insisted.  My text that Sunday was “Shall your brethren go to war and shall ye sit here?” (Numbers 32:6) (AV).  You can read the story behind this text from the first verse of the chapter.  Some of the tribes of Israel chose not to enter the Promised Land as they approached the borders after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. 

I suggested that the reason behind their request was partly that they had lost the vision for what God called them to be and do, that they had become complacent in the light of the blessings they had received from God, and that they had become self-interested, losing their understanding of being one nation.  The biblical account records Moses response to their request.  He claimed they would spread discouragement to others, that they would make God angry, and that it would result in more years of wilderness experience instead of entering into the blessing of the purposes of God.

The outcome was that they rallied, even to going at the spearhead of the invasion.  I have repeated that sermon from time to time as it continues to be generally apposite when it comes to motivation to mission in the UK. Many have lost the vision for God’s purposes for his Church and our common calling.  Sunday after Sunday we celebrate God’s goodness and the blessings without being motivated by the needs of others who have yet to hear the gospel.  This has a negative impact on others, displeases God, and probably accounts for the limited impact that most churches have upon the communities in which we are set.

The apostle, Paul, was clearly a highly motivated person.  In his letters he refers to two motivators in his life, both of which appear in 2 Corinthians 5. These are, “Knowing what it is to fear the Lord” and “Christ’s love compels us”.  To understand the first of these, we need to read the preceding verses where Paul writes about living to please God and knowing that we will all have to give an account of our lives.  A desire to please God and an awareness of our ultimate accountability should both motivate us out of concern for ourselves AND out of concern for others.

Verse 14 which speaks about Christ’s love, is not well served by the NIV translation which speaks of it compelling us.  Other translations of the Greek word, synecho, render it constrains or controls. Literally it means to hold something fast. It is as if Paul sees himself as captivated by Christ’s love so that who he is and what he does is no longer in his own control.  He can do no other, so he says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”  What is not clear to me is whether it is the love Christ has for us, or the love we have for Christ that puts us under such obligation and holds us fast so we can do no other.

Some years ago a friend from the Netherlands and I were asked to represent European Churches within the Council for Mission at a conference on evangelism in Kuala Lumpur. Almost all the other Churches were from South Asia, Africa and the Pacific.  Many of the Churches represented were located in situations where Christianity was a minority religion and where there was oppression.  But the missional stories from their various churches were of courage and faithfulness.  We from Europe felt ashamed.  We tried to explain the difficulty of working in a post-Christian context, but the reality was that our limited engagement in evangelism was probably down to a lack of love for Jesus.

In the passage of scripture about the Children of Reuben and the Children of Gad, Moses spoke about the influence a lack of motivation would have.  Conversely, I have seen how enthusiasm can be spread and grow where people are highly motivated.  This was seen in the sporting world over recent years where success in tennis and cycling has led many more to play and ride.

My friends, we are not motivated to share the gospel as we ought to be.  I fear that the root of this is that many have not been grasped by the love of Christ and that consequently do not really love him.  So we do not serve him as we should.  Have we lost sight of the fact that our lives are not our own, that we are bought with a price, and called to be part of the Church God has for his mission on earth. I fear that many will stand before God at the final judgement and discover that God is not impressed by the fact that we went to Church most Sundays but never told anyone of the God who loves them so much that he is willing to give his life for them.

Within the last few days I have been motivated to rent a storage unit.  I work from home but my office has spilled over into our living space.  Worse still I have brought into our home the remainder of two other offices that have been closed down.  Our home was looking more like a warehouse with boxes occupying our lounge, dining room and two bedrooms!  To resolve this I am gradually removing those things that are inappropriate and taking them into rented space where they can be sorted and where some will be removed permanently.  This motivation happened because I woke up to just how dreadful the situation was, and realised it would only get worse unless I addressed the problem. 

Our world is in a mess.  It will only get worse unless we are motivated to do something about it.  Perhaps one thing we could do is to sign up for the webinars designed to help rural and small urban churches become effective in mission.  The next one on Saturday 27^th August at 9.00 to 9.45 will have suggestions for things we can easily do to share the gospel this autumn.  See below for details.

From the Diary

The past week began with a farewell service at Yelvertoft where Doreen and I have served in ministry for the past ten years.  We are grateful for the kind comments shared on that occasion.

We then spent the next five days on Harborough Holiday at Home. This is a programme for older people in the community. On four days we had meetings containing a choice of activities, a helpful or entertaining presentation, a short gospel talk and a two course lunch (plus plenty of tea and coffee). On one day we went on an outing to Lichfield Cathedral, stopping at a garden Centre on the way.  It is a way of sharing the gospel through a social action and is very effective.  It was hard work and meant that over those days I worked probably 90 hours.  Pray that the love and message shared will bear fruit.

Last week the presence of three new men at the choir practise at HMP Gartree caused problems and I value prayer as I seek to resolve this.  In addition to my regular work at the prison on Tuesday afternoon I will be taking part in the licencing of a new Anglican Chaplain on Thursday.  Please pray for him as he settles into this new role.

Gordon Banks and I have started working on the webinar scheduled for 27^th August at 9.00 and running until 9.45.  This contains suggestions for missional activity during autumn months and relating to the season and the key events it brings. This is the Saturday of the Bank Holiday but numbers registering to attend are increasing.  I strongly encourage you to attend this online seminar, which you can do from your home or a hotel room.  All you need is an internet connection with sound.  You can use a computer, laptop, tablet or smart phone.  It is absolutely free but you do need to register in advance in order to obtain the link you will need.  This online seminar is appropriate for any Christians but especially those in leadership roles or who are keen to encourage their church in mission.  Please pass on the details to others.  You can find more on the Rural Mission Solutions website.  To register to attend go to

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/738463171413200899

Please pray for Gordon and me as we fine-tune the presentation and for all who will be attending.

On Sunday 21^st I was due to speak at a church in Narborough, Leicestershire but they have just written asking to change the date for my visit.  So this will give me an opportunity to be still and listen – no bad thing!

Thank you for your love and prayers.

Barry

On Your Bike!

As today sees the start of the 2014 Tour de France cycle race I thought I would base my thoughts on the topic of cycling and how it relates to my activities as a rural mission consultant. No, I do not travel around Britain's villages by bicycle, though it would be great to have an army of evangelists who did just that.  But, back in the 1980s, as we were pioneering an enabling approach to rural mission, I drew on the image of cycling to illustrate what was then a new way of thinking about mission.

Regular readers may be aware that for a quarter of a century I was part of a mission team that served rural churches of various denominations and across Britain.  While there were various important aspects to the work we did, at its heart was this itinerant team ministry. Members of the team was multi-talented and could offer a powerful preacher, a gifted gospel singer, an artist capable of producing amazing biblical pictures or cartoons to illustrate gospel truths, a conjurer, a raconteur, a pianist, an organist, and an audio-visual expert.  Between us we could run activities for children, youth, adults and adults in the third age. We conducted church services, and ran meetings in village halls, schools, pubs and people's homes.  But by the mid-1980s I was reflecting seriously regarding the value of what we were doing.

Our short-term outreaches were conducted at the request of local churches and carefully designed to fit with the local context.  They were fruitful events that brought many hundreds of people to faith in Christ, planted and grew churches.  But was this the best or even the only strategy?  One of the factors that brought matters to a head for me took place in a Cumbrian village during a home-based evening meeting packed to capacity.  The lady sitting on my right leant past me to speak to the vicar sitting on my left.  "Well Vicar," she said, "I don't know what we are going to do next week with only you to entertain us!"

It was not meant unkindly, and the use of the word "entertain" did not offend.  It was the words, "only you" that hit me. How hard was it to follow up the discontinuity caused by having a highly talented team in the church for a week or two.  Were we giving the impression that evangelism could only be done by outside 'specialists'? How did our programme contribute to the development and deployment of the gifts God had already put within the church for his purposes?

Out of these and other practical and theological questions was born what seemed then a new and unique approach to mission enabling.  Our vision was to help rural churches of any size understand their particular role within God's mission and how they could use their own resources (no matter how limited) in ways that feel comfortable, that are effective and sustainable with the minimum of outside support. This was a paradigm shift and as I looked for ways to explain its relevance two images came to mind.

The first of these was bespoke tailoring.  What we were seeking to do through consultation, education and training with a church was to help them design mission strategies that, like a well designed suit (for example) would fit perfectly, be in a style that suited and was not embarrassing, and which the church would be pleased to 'wear' publicly.  We rapidly developed appropriate material to use with churches on away-days and got to work.

Cycling was the second illustration - or rather teaching someone to cycle.  We were aware that for most Christians in rural areas the idea of expressing their faith in mission (and especially if this included evangelism) was sufficiently scary for them not to want to try it.  If the vision was to become a reality and transform many churches then designing the strategies was not enough on its own.  More was needed if the strategies were to be implemented.

Learning to ride a bike is not that hard but some help in the beginning can make a world of difference - especially for the young or nervous.  Of course there are some who will just get on the bike on their own, wobble around, fall off a few times, but eventually get the hang of it.  But how might you go about teaching someone to ride a bike?

It seemed to me that example might be helpful but a new rider will never learn from example alone.  Then there are a number of practical aspects that are important such as making sure that the saddle and handlebars are the right height and that the brakes work. It is also important that the new rider learns which part of the foot should be on the pedals to maximise thrust, how to fix their vision ahead rather than looking down, or around, or back.  But the there will be times when looking around or back will be important.  Finally, it is all about balance - and balance best maintained by forward motion.

By now, all should be able to see how apposite this is as an illustration for learning how to engage in mission.  But we have yet to come to the issue of confidence in mission.  It is usual when teaching someone to ride a bike to provide a little support.  This might mean walking or running beside the bike while holding onto the back of the saddle to correct wobbles or simply to reduce stress.  Eventually the teacher has to let go.  Of course there might be a tumble or problem of some kind but in the early stages that is to be expected and can be corrected.  The end result is that the teacher can enjoy watching the new rider enjoying the exhilarating experience of cycling.

Today thousands of cyclists in Leeds and around Yorkshire will have started cycling in this way.  Today they will be riding more sophisticated bikes and wearing Lycra, safety helmets and all the rest of the gear.  But they will be riding because they enjoy it!  Of course Yorkshire will provide a challenging context in which to race.  They will have to cope with bicycle congestion, cobbled streets, narrow bending roads with some scary hazards if they make a mistake.  Not unlike rural mission!

I do have a bike.  For many years I had not been on a bike.  Life is busy and a car is more convenient (?) perhaps.  But I do have a bike.  It is in a shed, well oiled with tyres pumped up.  I just don't ride it - or at least I haven't for a long time.  I wonder whether for any reader that too is a picture of where you are at in your role within God's mission.  Or perhaps it is where your church is at within God's mission.  God gives to every believer gifts and ministries which are specific to each individual so that they can play the part he has planned for each of us in his mission in his world today.  It follows that every local church is therefore a collection of such enables people and that the church therefore has a specific part to play.

Please pray as we continue to help develop bespoke tailored strategies with rural churches and help them gain confidence to implement them. And where are you at in this process?  Have you and has your church got its strategies appropriately tailored?  Hopefully, you are already 'on your bike' in a missional sense and it is not neglected in the shed?

From the diary:

• Praise God for his blessing on the activities of the past week which included a school assembly.  The service at Gartree Prison last Sunday was once again a special occasion when God's presence was felt.
• Pray for Brayford Methodist Church, Devon, as they receive my report and consider the way forward for them.
• This Saturday forenoon I will be speaking at the Ordination Service for a colleague called Joy at Markfield (near Leicester)
• On Sunday I will be leading the meeting at Yelvertoft.
• Please pray as we seek to finalise the plans for a special United Service as part of 'Hope in our Villages' on Monday evening.  The villages of Crick, Yelvertoft and Lilbourne have eight congregations and this is a unique opportunity to work together.
• This is a relatively quiet week with few engagements (I shall be working in prison on Tuesday as usual) so this offers an opportunity to catch up with some essential administration.
• I value prayers for my wife, Doreen who has peripheral neuropathy and has had a few small falls recently.  Pray for wisdom as we seek to make the home a safer place.
• Praise God for the encouraging replies I have received from Christian leaders who read this blog/newsletter.  I am glad that it seems to have become a ministry in itself.
• Some of the Christian prisoners have chosen to undertake a partial fast for the next few weeks to deepen their relationship with God. Pray for them at this time and for prison chaplaincies.
• Having past the halfway mark for another year this is a good time for taking stock of all we seek to do for God.  Some times we can be so busy that we have insufficient time to hear what God is saying.
• Thank God for gifts received during June.  Rural ministry does not feature very high with most Christians and we are thankful for those who share the vision, pray for us and support us as they are able.

Thank you.

Barry

If it looks wrong...

Regular readers will know that I try to begin these with something encouraging or inspiring.  This week I have a verse from 1 Thessalonians on my mind.  You will find it among a cluster of short exhortations towards the end of the chapter five.

"Steer clear of evil in any form."
J.B. Philips Version

This was a verse that was impressed upon me from an early stage when I became a disciple of Jesus. At that time the King James Version was most widely used by protestants and that translates it "Abstain from all appearances of evil".  I have been looking it up in various translations and it seems that different translators have dealt with the Greek eidous in either of two ways.  On one hand they have taken the "evil in any form" or "evil of any kind" approach (as does JB Philips).  On the other hand there  has been a slightly different interpretation, taking up the sense of the outward perception (as does KJV).  I want to come down on the side of the KJV on this occasion.  We could paraphrase this as "If it looks wrong or bad, keep well clear of it".

Have you seen any news clips of soldiers in Afghanistan walking or driving?  The slightest sign of something abnormal in or beside the road and they take evasive action.  It could be an IED!  Ignoring it could be fatal!

There's an old sermon illustration about a man who wanted to hire a new chauffeur.  There were three applicants so the man had planned a test route that included a narrow and precipitous mountain road.  The first to demonstrate his skill drove with amazing confidence just a few feet from the edge of the road. The second, having seen the skill of the first driver, drove with nerves of steel even close to the edge.  When the third driver had his opportunity he abandoned any thought of dare devil driving and kept as far from the edge as possible.  He got the job.

God calls us to holiness because it is good for us.  Our lives are also an unspoken witness to our relationship with God.  In a sense his reputation is on the line by the way we live out our lives.  For his sake we dare not take risks.  If it looks remotely evil in any way (without exclusion) steer clear.

In the past I have had to deal with situations where a Christian leader's conduct has appeared inappropriate. Sometimes the leader concerned was found to have definitely been acting inappropriately.  In other situations he was proved innocent.  It is all too easy for a reputation to be lost by a single moment of carelessness.  A farmer friend sometimes reminds me that a yard of hole undoes a mile of fence!

While I believe it is healthy to recognise that none of us - not even the most apparently saintly - is perfect, this is no reason to become casual about matters of holiness. How we act, what we say, and where we look are often noticed by the very unbelievers we would long to come to know the Lord.

So, if I may take a leaf out of Paul's book and mix my metaphors we had better watch where we are driving as we repair any holes in the fence.

Things causing thankfulness...

• It was great to spend time with Rebecca and Maureen during the past week.  Both are employed part time by the Congregational Federation East Midlands Area and I am their line manager.  I also have a small team that together forms the support and accountability structure for them. Rebecca is responsible for children and family work and we talked strategy and expectations over coffee.  Maureen's responsibility is mission development and I joined her on a visit to a village church that has exciting potential but seems stuck and not making progress. Both workers are faced with more challenge than encouragement and I am grateful for their commitment.
• On Wednesday I met with my own group responsible for my accountability and support.  I am thankful not just for the time they give but the advice as well.
• Sunday 14th at Yelvertoft was interesting.  I was joined by Carl, a young man exploring his ministry.  Carl shared in leading the service but I planned a highly interactive session in which the congregation would discuss a Bible passage and then unpack their thoughts after discussing the passage in groups of two or three.  We read the account of David and Goliath and some real treasures were shared afterwards with thoughts on relevance for us today.  There were four people who had never been before and I nearly backed out of my plans.  I needn't have worried; they loved it!  So did I.
• The East Midlands Area of CF has also a small team collecting information to maintain an up to date prayer diary.  I am expecting great things as we learn to pray more effectively.
• Another request for a rural consultation day came in very recently.  This is an opportunity to deepen understanding of how rural churches can become more effective in mission.
• During the week, plans moved forward with the university research programme into how evangelism is understood and practised in rural communities.
• I welcomed the Church of England's decisions in Synod about caring for victims of abuse.  Part of this was about further promotion of "Responding Well", a report I helped to write.  It's available on line and although it was written for Anglicans it can be adapted for other denominations.  I still have copies of "Time for Action", which is the other great pastoral resource.  Please ensure that your church/minister has a copy and that it is read.
• I am writing this on Sunday evening 21st.  This morning Doreen and I travelled to Stamford in Lincolnshire where I took their morning meeting.  It was a great joy to meet friends here that I haven't seen for such a long time.  I even discovered that one woman in the congregation sang in a wonderful choir in Hastings under the conductor, Edmund Niblett, my Junior School headmaster!  More than that she had known well the RE teacher in my secondary school who played a part in my faith journey!

Items for Prayer...

• For the work of Rebecca and Maureen.  For wisdom and patience.  For the ability to inspire and envision.
• For the trustees and management teams in Sunrise Ministries.
• For the work of Action for Christ. We are thankful for prayer and financial support as we seek to continue this ministry.
• For 'J', whose activities and failures have devastated the work of Mission for Christ/Action for Christ.  Our God redeems.  He needs it as well as the organisations.  Pray for fellow trustees and new trustees coming on board.
• Please pray that our material needs will be met.  God has al;ways been good to us but some of our regular supporters grow old and are called home.  Please pray that churches will adopt our mission work and share their giving with us.
• Key activities this week include HMP Gartree on Tuesday, The Bible Discussion meeting on Thursday and Yelvertoft next Sunday.
• From 29th July to 2nd August I will be sharing in the International Congregational Fellowship Quadrennial family Conference in Brunel University.  There will be all kinds of ministry.  I will be leading a session on tailoring mission strategies to fit churches. I also have two official functions within ICF and am hoping to pass these on to younger people.
• All kinds of ministry needs the breath of God within it.  Please pray that I and all my colleagues and associates will be constantly refilled with the Holy Spirit.
• Pray for more opportunities to inspire, envision and enable inherited rural churches to engage in sustainable and effective tailored programmes of evangelism and mission.

I cannot thank you enough for your interest in our labours for the Master.  Your prayers and gifts are so encouraging. Thank you.

Barry

The Benefits of Teamwork

Just about all my ministry activity has been teamwork.  I started out working in a small mission organisation and over the following 25 years planned and led hundreds of short term outreaches where I worked in a team.  Apart from the planning, my main role was as the song-leader.  Someone else did much of the preaching, while others undertook children's work, youth work, work with senior citizens.  and had musical roles.  Other team members had many skills and for the main part we knew one another well and worked fairly easily together.

Also behind the scenes there were many valued team members.  I recall Graham Silver and Philip Stainer who looked after finances, and David Woodward and Trevor Rye and many others who made up the admin team.  Then there were several who have supplied much valued personal secretarial help, all of whom I keep in touch with, with the exception of Jenny Burgess.  Jenny married a young man who then trained for the Anglican ministry and I can't remember his name!  But the teamwork is remembered.

More recently there is the Sunrise Ministries team which, in addition to my colleague, Monica, includes others such as trustees and support groups.  Then there are the prayer partners, those who give regularly to keep us on the road, and most importantly - Doreen who is my most important human team member.

Colleagues within the Congregational Federation's Boards and Committees and national office holders are an enormous blessing.  Then there are those who make up the various churches where I have served in the past and serve now.  Teamwork is certainly a description of those ministries.  Then even more recently there are those within Action for Christ (formerly Mission for Christ) - the organisation I have recently agreed to help.  Since this is the organisation with which I started I guess it has now gone full circle, though the people have changed.

Over the past few weeks I have been asking you to pray for this aspect of my activities so it is about time I introduced you to the team.  Elizabeth Ingram and Terry Martin are my fellow trustees.  Elizabeth is an old friend and a Lay Canon in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham.  She is our chairperson.  Terry Martin is a most gracious and experienced minister from within the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. We have a staff of two in the office: Heather and Mary.  Once again, it is a good team.

Over recent years the organisation has served several small churches through generous grants and the provision of free design and print services.  Current circumstances have necessitated some changes and an opportunity to review future direction.  We hope that this can be carried out quite quickly and with the minimum inconvenience to others.  Please pray for wisdom and guidance for the trustees through this period.

Brief general news
A highlight of the week was our latest choir concert at Gartree Prison.  The choir members were excellent and the singing was of a high standard.  It's just a shame that they perform to such a limited audience as they are certainly good enough to go on the road.  But of course, that is never going to happen to these men who are serving life sentences.  Pray for 'M' with whom I had difficulty at the final practice and have now had to formerly request to be taken out of the choir.  I greatly regret such a situation and hope that he will realise the problem.

Your prayers for the ministry and other activities through this week are - as always - very much appreciated.

Everyone who prays for our ministries, and those churches and individuals that give what they can to help us serving in rural mission work are team members with us.

Quick Closing Comments
I would like to encourage you to pray for this country's dairy farmers at this time.  Most are struggling to keep going.  Pray also for our friends in the Farm Crisis Network.

If anyone is looking for sheltered retirement accommodation we have two excellent Christian projects in this part of the country and I would be very happy to pass on information.

The Lord abundantly bless you.

Barry