Stoney Middleton - Bakewell Circuit
Tuesday 6th March - Wow what a work. It has a congregation of THREE, all retired, but full of enthusiasm and love for their community. I called in on their Kids Club, 8+ kids - great fun and supported by two of the mums. They also run a monthly youth club and have just recently held an Alpha course. Out of the Alpha course came a request for a quiet day for mums, and did I mention their Family service and exhibition days.

Exhibition Days - instead of a Flower Festival, they have advertised an exhibition day on "Achievements" , "Tea Towels" etc. I kid you not "Tea Towels", people from the village were encouraged to bring in their tea towels, and they then displayed them under headings such as "Countries", "Animals" etc. with a verse for each one. People just kept on bringing them in. The one on "Achievements", people were asked to bring in their certificates and stories of what they have done and achieved, and then the Church was opened for Tea and Coffee and for everyone to view the exabition. What a great idea!

What about you?
Could you do something similar in your community - you know the people who live near your church - use your God given imagination and gifting - take a leap of faith and Go For It! Please get in touch if you want any help at all with such events. I can help with anything from setting out tables, to publicity, to speaking, to ideas storming, to encouraging your people To Go For It!

Half Yearly Meetings - High Wycombe Circuit
What fantastic hosts - great welcome and lovely fellowship.
Saturday evening meeting Rev. Raymond Zulu gave an excellent message, from Acts 20 looking at Paul's ministry to the Ephesians. We were challenged not to rely on a 30min message Sunday morning to be enough spiritual food for our people. We need to be teaching the word from House to House. To be there in their homes seeing their struggles and applying the word into real life situations, day by day.
Sunday morning I went to Beaconsfield WR Church, with Colin who was speaking. Lovely folk, lots happening with an excellent Nursery run every day by a lady from the church, which is providing great opportunities for their Friday Kids Club and Family Service. We then stayed at the church for and excellent lunch.
Sunday evening I went with George Phillips to Farnham Common WR Church the church is situated right on the High Street, and has tremendous potential for outreach. Again a lovely warm welcome, relaxed informal service, with a good cup of tea served at the end of the service and great fellowship. I feel so at home amongst family's like this.
Monday Business oh to get the right balance between Gospel ministry & Gospel ministry.

Prov 3:19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens;

The wisdom and understanding here, is not the Scientific wisdom that confounds our greatest University minds such as Astrophysics, Gravity & Macro biology. That is all basic stuff to the Creator of the Universe (and is probably why so many academics reject His very existence.) No the WISDOM mentioned in Prov 3:19 is the far more profound subject of Theology; because creation was made to Glorify God. We are in every way part of that process, even more so because we are His Body, His Church, His Redeemed People, and Redeemed from the fallen world that no longer brings Glory to their Creator.
Therefore all we have must be used to his glory and in that context. Matters of Business no matter how material must be looked at in light of Gods Glory and decisions must be made in light of God's power and will, not the restrictions we place due to to lack of money or our feeble will power or imagination etc.

"Consider the Lillies" - a Pull Out resource on Flower Festivals
Feb 28 - 07 I met with Muriel Stonehewer and Judy Land to plan a four page Pull Out resource on "How to run a Flower Festival". We had a great morning and I learnt a lot about Flower Festivals, and how much work goes into the preparation and running of one. This is hopefully going to be the first of many, and will appear very soon in the WRU monthly news letter "Contact". If you don't get Contact then you can order it from Church House, or through your Church Secretary if you are in a WRU Church.

February 07 - Update

Holiday in Wales (Half Term) - A lovely relaxing time, very near to Portmeirion. Took Anne-Marie out for an excellent Valentine meal in the Castle next to Portmeirion. My starter was Black Pudding and Lambs Liver. I highly recommend it. Anne-Maries parents came with us and we stayed on a farm, so each morning the girls were off collecting eggs, feeding sheep and ducks and taking pony's for a walk.

Feb 4th - Hampden View, Bonall & Wolverhampton - What a great day for fellowship; I spoke at Hampden View, then on to Bonsall for their afternoon service and Tea & Cakes. I felt totally at home, loved and well looked after. Great walking area! Then it was off to Wolverhampton for the evening service, followed by a Church meeting looking at "Outreach". Which was very encouraging.

Feb 5th - Tour of Bakewell with Richard Harvey - Fantastic sunny day, excellent scenery, and great fellowship. Richard drove me round the Churches in the Bakewell Circuit (well nearly all of them, we ran out of time; so look out for "Grand Tour 2 - The Bakewell Circuit" XBox 360). It was so encouraging to hear and see of the many opportunities, the churches have and something of their History.
Note : Can you give me a tour of your Circuit and or WR churches in your area. I would love to hear from you.

Janurary 07 - Update

Jan 13th - Fulwood Ministry Team
Christ Church Fulwood is an Evangelical CofE church in Sheffield with a membership of over 1,000. They have a Ministry team that greatly blesses many of the WR Churches in Sheffield. Three to Four people come out to take services, usually over a three to four week block. They give a very good word (using a running theme over the consecutive weeks). They may also sing, give testimony etc.
Well on this Saturday Brian Kay and myself were invited to their annual meeting, to tell them about what it is like to be in a small Wesleyan Reform Church, and how we can best support each other in our ministries to Sheffield. Brain gave a brief history of our Union and how our churches have changed in his life time (Taking us right back to the day he sat in his pram listening to John Wesley preach.) I then spoke on where we are now and what challenges we are facing in the future.
It was so encouraging to be amongst people who take such a real and prayerful interest in our churches.
Thanks to Brian Kay and Dave Saunders who set the meeting up.

Jan 17th - A trip to Coventry
After visiting my brother I had a good time with Peter Norton who showed me round Aldermans Green, and we chatted about the work there. Thanks for Lunch Peter.

Then in the Afternoon, I spoke at our Attleborough Church and then spent time with Martyn Owens and his family. chatting about their work.

From Rushden High Street

A visit from the Doc
It started with Andy Wilcock needing a bed for the night in Rushden - we had one available and so the arrangements were made. The church leaders had already spoken about inviting him to come to the church to do a ‘Swot’ analysis - to help them find the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which the church enjoyed and faced. However, that had been put on hold when I arrived as the minister in September.

An opportunity had opened up for Andy and for us. He got the bed, and we decided that while he was with us he could meet up with the leaders in an informal way. This is something you could do - let me share with you what happened.

I invited all the church leaders round to our home, no agenda was set, just coffee, relax with one another and listen to what Andy had to say. It was not preaching, not ‘do this, don’t do that’, certainly no guarantee of a ‘magic wand’ and all would be well. Andy simply shared what was on his heart concerning mission, and gave some practical examples of things we could consider when doing outreach. And that was it!

Or was it? Twice during the following week people spoke to me about things which I realised had come out of our time together. Things which Andy mentioned almost in passing have certainly made me think and re-assess how I do things. I think that the leaders were motivated, and should hopefully continue to grow as a team together.

And all because Andy needed a bed for the night! I would urge you to look for ways in which you could invite him to speak with your church or leaders. It does not have to be a formal meeting; invite Andy, invite others round, put the kettle on and see where God takes you.


The Church in the High Street

Mention the High Street Church and many people will know that you are speaking about the one in Rushden. Back in December, it became literally the church in the High Street.

The town held a Christmas Market on the first Sunday in December. Various stalls, fairground rides, street entertainment, Salvation Army band playing carols, switching on the Christmas lights and the fast becoming renowned Christmas Pudding race! And all right outside our doors.

Of course, these kind of events which are so often held on Sundays do put us in a little of a dilemma. We may not be in agreement with Sunday trading and other things which are happening - but these things are here and I feel they are here to stay. So that leaves us with two alternatives: either hiding away in the church or playing a part in bringing to people’s notice why the celebrations are being held, showing them some love in action and really being ‘the church in the High Street’. We chose the latter.

We were given a stall, but soon realised that it was much better to be in amongst the people. We gave out leaflets, Christian booklets, colouring sheets for children and around 400 free cups of coffee and tea. Quite a few people wanted to have a look at the church. Some had not realised it was there, many had never been in. And yes, we even entered a team in the Christmas Pudding race (an obstacle race involving wheelbarrows, runners and Christmas Puddings).

More people know where we are now. Hopefully many will have read the literature we gave out. We will never know what influence we have had on people. I am certain that all those from the church who braved the cold on that day to be among the people felt that it was very worthwhile. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t comfortable on a cold day. But it was where God wanted us to be.

December 06 - Update

Christmas Day 4:45am Pippa (aged 4) burst into our room "Daddy! Daddy! My tooth has come out!". It was her first one. My question was "Has Father Christmas been?". To which she replied "Oh yeh. But look my tooth!". She was sent back to to bed.

Christmas Eve - Hampden View Carol Service - maybe 50 people there (we only have 54 chairs) and we had a lovely family time together. I led a prayer time, praying for our troops serving abroad (particularly in Afghanistan). During the prayer what should happen but a mobile phone went off, and someone left the room to answer it. The culprit is in the TA, and the phone call was from his mates in Afghanistan to wish him a happy Christmas.

Dec 19th Toddler Coach Trip - Sundown Adventure Land

What an ace day. My fantastic wife organised the trip. Great day out with friends from the two Toddler groups she helps run and friends from the School Gate. Loads of scary rides (well they are if your 3 years old or called Anne-Marie) and we got to see Father Christmas (Except I stayed outside and held the coats.)

Dec 17th 11am - Toddler Nativity Service in Philadelphia WR Church Hall and joined by Hampden View Congregation.
Everyone sat round tables eating mince pies and drinking tea/coffee and chatted. On the floor at the front we placed nativity style clothing, which the kids then dressed up in, they chose who was who and some had brought their own. At about 11:20ish we showed a Video (on a big screen) called "It's a boy" http://www.itsaboy.org.uk/ featuring Canon & Ball as two Quail following the Christmas Story. Really great fun, and tells the story very well.
After the video the kids then did their own version of the story (no practice) I just gave them little suggestions, e.g. I sent Mary and Joseph around the tables to ask if anyone would take them back to their house tonight. So off they went knocking at each table, and everyone dutifully refused.
After this we got the kids together, around the crib - we sang away in a manger and photographs were taken.
Then all the kids were given a "It's a Boy" books and more tea and coffee served.

Dec 5th - Visit to Wolverhampton Churches
I had a lovely day speaking with John Griffiths(Wolverhampton), Ken Gorham(Church on the Rock & Oldbury) and Peter Hems(Old Hill, St James)
I then spoke in the evening to the people at Old Hill. What a great day of fellowship, and talking about the Lords work.