My earlier Judas thoughts

"And he, Judas, was there -
there for the miracles,
there for the teaching,
there for the prayer times,
there for the confrontations with the politicians and leaders,
there - and sent out - along with the others to teach and heal."

"It is easy to overlook the fact that Jesus chose Judas to be his disciple. We may also forget that while Judas betrayed Jesus, all the disciples abandoned him. With the other disciples, Judas shared a persistent misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission. They all expected Jesus to make the right political moves. When he kept talking about dying, they all felt varying degrees of anger, fear, and disappointment. They didn’t understand why they had been chosen if Jesus’ mission was doomed to fail.”

We hear many negative things about Judas: It is he who says Mary "wasted" the expensive Nard she used to annoint Jesus' feet, (Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus' feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him),said, 'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?' (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, 'Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.' John 12 1-8). We also hear not one but two descriptions of the unpleasant death of Judas Iscariot. This in a time when the mode of one's death was often seen to reflect on one's virtue. (Matthew 27.1ff & Acts 1:18-19)

Painting the last supper Da vinci first searched for the perfect Jesus and having met hundreds of men he chose a19 year old man and spent months painting him as Christ. Having painted Jesus he turned to finding the other disciples. He spent six years until only one face as left that of Judas. He spent all his time searching. He heard of a man in prison and going to see him he saw that this man was indeed the wretched unkempt and vicious man he needed. With special permission the man was released into Da Vinci’s care. When he’d finished and was returning the man to his prison, the prisoner turned tDa Vinci and said "I am your Christ!! I am the man you painted seven years ago as Christ! O, God, have I fallen so low?"

Judas - forgiven?

There is an ancient story that when Judas committed suicide he could find nowhere to rest and wandered for a thousand years through the dark. Until one time he saw a light in the distance, and struggled towards it. As Judas drew near, he saw that the light was streaming from the open windows of a hall. He looked in through the window, and saw a great feast prepared, with many people seated at a table in the banqueting hall and Jesus at the head of the table caught sight of Judas looking in. “Dear Judas” he said, “we have waited so long for you to come. Please join us. See, here is your seat. Now that you have arrived, the celebration can begin.”


Did Judas sit down to eat?

This story as the other things we hear about Judas does not present me with answers but with many questions:

Who did Judas ’wrong’? Who has the power to forgive a wrong?

Do you identify with Judas at all?

We use the term “unforgivable” at times – do we mean that?

What sins does contemporary society view as unforgivable?

What would it be like to substitute the name of someone who’s done that?

Condemn the sin but love the sinner?

(At daybreak Jesus appeared in the temple, and all the people gathered round him. He had taken his seat and was engaged in teaching them when the doctors of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught committing adultery. Making her stand out in the middle they said to him, "Master, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. In the Law Moses has laid down that such women are to be stoned. What do you say about it?" They put the question as a test, hoping to frame a charge against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they continued to press their question he sat up straight and said, "That one of you who is faultless shall throw the first stone." Then once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard what he said, one by one they went away, the eldest first; and Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. Jesus again sat up and said to the woman, "Where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She answered, "No one, sir." Jesus said, "Nor do I condemn you. You may go; do not sin again."John 8.2-11)

The church exists for those people that no-one else wants to know. Well, we should. It's what Jesus told us we should do. (Jesus sat at table with the tax collectors and sinners; and he said, It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. I did not come to call virtuous people, but sinners. Matthew 9.10,12,13 )

I don't have the answers to all my questions but I had a feeling about it inside which says that this poem sums up the way God would view Judas:

'Twas the Bridegroom stood at the open door,
And beckon'd, smiling sweet;
'Twas the soul of Judas Iscariot
Stole in, and fell at his feet.
'The Holy Supper is spread within,
And the many candles shine,
And I have waited long for thee
Before I poured the wine!'
The supper wine is poured at last,
The lights burn bright and fair,
Iscariot washes the Bridegroom's feet,
And dries them with his hair.
Robert Buchanan

Beatboxing Flute

Loved this change from traditional classic to beatbox. Thanks to one of my young people for flaggin it up!

Voluntary contributions

Richard posted about some volunteer stuff and I was interested to take a look because, as part of my role on the chaplaincy team at our local university college, I was invited to the Volunteer Awards event last night where the student volunteers who had made a significant contribution of hours (25, 50, 100 - one have even done 600 hours!) were fed a posh dinner, applauded, presented with a certificate, photographed for the uni magazine and then went on to dance at the disco.

I commented to my fellow chaplain that the churches could well learn something from that.

How many hours do our volunteers do? Do we celebrate that enough or are we too afraid that in highlighting how many hours people do we might lose them!

I'm sure none of us thanks our volunteers often enough. I know I always try to take my leaders to eat out together after training sessions but it really is a drop in the ocean.

We recently had to work out the number of hours of volutary work is done in the church as part of our accounts; in other words if we HAD to employ everybody who did anything in the church, how much would it cost. I seem to remember that a brief look at the youthwork alone and the hours my volunteers do added up to at least another full timer. That was before we even considered, the church stewards, the flower arrangers, the choir, the bell-ringers, the children's leaders, the coffee-shop volunteers, the PCC members, the task group members, the hours put in planning and running events like harvest suppers, fetes etc, and that's not even counting most of the roles people play in preparation for worship.

So I'd be interested to know. What do people do to recognise the contribution of their volunteers?

Bishop confirmed

Bishop John has been confirmed as the new Bishop of Oxford today and although he won't be inaugurated until 8th June (when I shall be on holiday - oops!) he has, however, posted something on the Oxford diocese website about getting ready for Easter. Good stuff.

Creactive

My lovely hubby is currently making all kinds of clanging and sawing noises as he is kindly make a special frame for four pictures I've just finished (using the fabulous easel he bought me!) which are inspired by the creation story. Yes there are just four. In tackling day 3 (when the earth brought forth vegetation) I realised that my symbolic style got lost in trying to show the growth and didn't quite work so well. I've made it work now, I think (though it is the one I'm least happy with) but what I've done wouldn't translate well to the birds/fish and animals/humans on days 5 & 6 as they would probably be similarly out of style. So it is that my creation's only taken four "days"! Once Michael's finished I'll pop a picture up.

Archbishops' reflections on the slave pits in Zanzibar

A useful short film to start discusssions with young people from our two archbishops. Really good to see them engaging in new media.

Sermon 11th March

This is the sermon I preached this morning. I first introduced Pat from Iain Rennie Hospice at Home which is the charity we're supporting for Lent at All Saints'. It's also the charity which looked after my mum when she had cancer and for whom I did the charity parachute jump. That's why there's mention of them (an the shelter we supported) in the sermon.


Isaiah 55:1-9, Psalm 63, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Luke 13:1-9

"Do you think that because these [people] suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other [people]?"

Today very few people believe that those who are suffering have done something which makes them deserve it. Whether it is a disaster or a sickness, the things that happen to cause suffering are not a punishment from God.

God does not send that kind of punishment. Instead as we heard in the Old Testament, God offers us things freely and calls us to things that help us:

"everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price."

And when there are trials in our lives, God is also present, according to Paul:

"God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it."

Yes throughout all these trials, God’s role is not that of the one inflicting it. In our sufferings, God is with us. Jesus knew sufferings and so is able to understand us and how we feel when we suffer.

Yet the message of this is not that we can do whatever we like and God will sort it all out. Yes God is a God of forgiveness but for forgiveness we must repent and also we must commit our lives to his service.

In the Gospel, Jesus calls us to repentance. And also stresses the importance of bearing fruit. It is not just about us being there but about being there and doing something useful. As the parable of the fig tree shows though, we need to bear fruit. Just like the fig tree that needed to be fed with manure, it is often when we are surrounded by unpleasant things that we can bear more fruit.

It is not just about God being there in our suffering but in our presence in the suffering of others. This is something we can all see in the work of the Iain Rennie nurses and in the homeless shelter our church supported last night and the work Paul is exploring in High Wycombe for the future.

God calls us in his two great commandments to love God and love our neighbours as we love ourselves. God calls us to serve in honour of him so that we may grow in our relationship with each other and with him, as God says in the parable of the sheep and the goats:

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25. 35)

Not everyone can do the amazing work which Iain Rennie do. We are not all nurses and we don't all have the patience that work like that needs but we can all do something. Almost anyone can hold a collecting tin. We can certainly support those who DO such things by donating time or money to charities and in all our lives there are chances to serve.

During lent, so many of us give up something and this can certainly give us opportunities to serve. In the time you have freed up by not doing other things we can begin to serve.

Where in your life is the opportunity to serve?

Where do you see Christ in the face of someone you could help?

or the much harder question...

Where in your life are you not seeing Christ?

Soup-er day

Really long busy day today but a fab one! It started with a session making soup for the homeless shelter our church is supporting in London (I was there a while ago). Two of our older teens were part of the team serving there but I waned to offer the others a chance to help out too so we mae the starter for 30 people (which doubled up as a vegetarian/vegan alternative to the main course apparently!) in the form of a fresh vegetable soup. I'd gone to our local out of town vegetable shop and got a stack of seasonal veg for £7 and we spent a merry hour peeling, chopping and stirring - amusingly I'd forgotten to take a wooden spoon so we ended up stirring with a celery stick which was kinda funny!! Anyway it was good and we linked in at youth group (Pulse) by talking about homelessness and what it really means. We ended up with a load of volunteers to help out next year when we'll hopefully be running a shelter in Wycombe!

Matrix 07

Fab time at Matrix O7 particularly seeing Agent K again as it has been AGES! Also good to catch up with Phil and Lev again (even if he was hyper on Five Alive some of the time!) Likewise good to have the Oxford diocese Posse of Ian, Simo and Laura there. Met up again with Alice, which is a Matrix tradition now.

Highlight for me as the James Lawrence session on leadership and I sadly orded (via amazon whilst at the conference) the book he recommended on talents of leaders and I hope to be using that and his book on Growing Leaders for our training events with the youth team here.

Low point had to be the last keynote which really didn't resonate with me so it was a bit of an anticlimax. The chap was really empassioned which was great and he was an enganing speaker. Unfortunately I found his passion needed tempering with compassion as although he critiqued the current situation of youth ministry rather well he didn't seem to follow that through with encouragement to improve/change that situation or offer anything tangible as a way of doing so. the other thing that was odd was that some of the seminars seemed to be the same as others which had been on offer at the last two Matrices (proper plural JUST for Ian) - same topic and session leader - so I'm not sure if there'll be enough new stuff for me in two years time.

Of course, as others have said before, the organised sessions were only the half of it and there were some great times of discussion about the nature of marriage and rather TOO long a discussion about vomit.

So far in follow up to the conference I haven't managed to type up my notes but hope to do so. However, I have done the strenghths finder test myself and discovered that my "signature themes" (top five talents of leadership) are as follows:

• Connectedness
• Ideation
• Input
• Woo
• Achiever

I'm ridiculously pleased that I got the one with the funny name (woo!) anyway all this apparently means:

Connectedness
Things happen for a reason. You are sure of it. You are sure of it because in your soul you know that we are all connected. Yes, we are individuals, responsible for our own judgments and in possession of our own free will, but nonetheless we are part of something larger. Some may call it the collective unconscious. Others may label it spirit or life force. But whatever your word of choice, you gain confidence from knowing that we are not isolated from one another or from the earth and the life on it. This feeling of Connectedness implies certain responsibilities. If we are all part of a larger picture, then we must not harm others because we will be harming ourselves. We must not exploit because we will be exploiting ourselves. Your awareness of these responsibilities creates your value system. You are considerate, caring, and accepting.
Certain of the unity of humankind, you are a bridge builder for people of different cultures. Sensitive to the invisible hand, you can give others comfort that there is a purpose beyond our humdrum lives. The exact articles of your faith will depend on your upbringing and your culture, but your faith is strong. It sustains you and your close friends in the face of life's mysteries.


Ideation
You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on
most days this is enough.


Input
You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information-words, facts, books, and quotations-or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don't feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It's interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

Woo
Woo stands for winning others over. You enjoy the challenge of meeting new people and getting them to like you. Strangers are rarely intimidating to you. On the contrary, strangers can be energizing. You are drawn to them. You want to learn their names, ask them questions, and find some area of common interest so that you can strike up a conversation and build rapport. Some people shy away from starting up conversations because they worry about running out of things to say. You don't. Not only are you rarely at a loss for words; you actually enjoy initiating with strangers because you derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection. Once that connection is made, you are quite happy to wrap it up and move on. There are new people to meet, new rooms to work, new crowds to mingle in. In your world there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet-lots of them.


Achiever
Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by "every day" you mean every single day-workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need
for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.

Copyright © 2000 The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ. All rights reserved. Clifton StrengthsFinder ® and each of the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names are trademarks of The Gallup Organization.

Quiet Day

DSCF2453
Originally uploaded by Sarah Brush.

We had a Quiet Day today at Douai Abbey near Newbury. In a group of 25 people we had 3 teenagers so I was really thrilled. It wasn't a fabulous, mind-blowing youthwork designed day. It was a quiet day for the congregation and these three young people were there as members of the congregation. For me that says so much about integrating our teens into the life of the church. I was on hand in case any of them really couldn't cope with sitting in silence on their own but they were great and really got a lot out of it, including one who was really worried she'd not manage to be quiet. Fabulous!

New work laptop

As the office PC is 7-8 years old (still windows 98 and Norton seems to hate Windows 98 with a burning passion) I was given permission to buy a new computer, preferably a laptop (which had publisher on it) with a budget of £700. When you look at prices this seems a reasonably EASY thing to do but in fact most laptops come without Microsoft Office (and we needed Small Business) which is 239.99 on its own (and that's as an upgrade from Works). However I was lucky enough to find a new laptop with 1024 RAM and 60GB HD plus all the software and a memory stick for £687. I am pretty proud of myself. Unfortunately one of the reasons it was so cheap is because it was the last one in the shop and I think the OTHER reason is... it's pink. Apologies to any future youth ministers at All Saints!

Jesus Family tomb story?

There's much talk of James Cameron's new film about a tomb (discovered in the 1980s pleas note) which he and so called academics allege to be the tomb of Jesus and his family. It doesn't take great scholarship to see some obvious flaws (e.g. the assertion that a tomb of Jesus son of Joseph and Mary could be one of MANY people with such names. -Much like today finding a gravestone of John son of David really not a rarity) but fortunately Ben Witherington has done even better and put together a very scholarly response.

Cute baby Panda?

Look at the lovely peaceful family scene... or is it?

Cross-Section @ All Saints

FANTASTIC evening at Cross-Section this evening. We had a fabulous team of volunteers leading a whole host of young people engaging with the creative section, the labyrinth and the talk and a good number of adults "checking it out" who seemed pretty happy in their adult creche. Pictures when I get them - I delegated that to a colleague as I was a little busy panicking!!

UPDATE: some pics here...

Pantastic!

Ok so my dad gave me a copy of the local newspaper that has my pictur ein but I have to warn you... I'm kinda tiny ... Well I know I'm not tall but the picture is pretty small too so I've put an enlarged version in too!

Flippin 'eck I'm "famous"

I'm reliably informed that a picture of me in the pancake race appeared in the free local newspaper this week. Unfortunately for me we don't get the free newspaper where we live (just the adverts!) so I've got to wait til my dad brings it round before I can share it with you! I've not found any evidence of it on the web though the story is there but with mention of my colleague and the mascot form the football club but not of me. Well it's a slight distraction from the worry/excitement in expectation of Cross-Section.

Enter through the Narrow Way

For Lent this year (and for our new town wide youth service Cross-Section which starts on Sunday) we've got a Prayer zone (kinda labyrinth like but not quite really) based on the story of the Prodigal Son.


Prodigal son labyrinth

1 Demanding – want wall catalogues – what do you want? make your wish list of all you want in life and take it with you.

2 Dividing the wealth (bowl of mixed “coins” and stones with words on like responsibility loving family WORDS FOR STONES:
WORK COMMUNITY SERVING HELPING
Take a cupful from the bowl and pick out the coins and "jewels" to take with you.

3 Living it up – party time. Life can be one non-stop party no responsibilities but is there more? The bubbles don’t last long; once the party popper’s popped all that’s left is something to tidy up.
Hand over your coins and take a balloon – roll up your wish list and place it inside the balloon. Then inflate the balloon as big as you can without bursting it but do not tie it. Hold it as you move on...

4 Party’s over
Sometimes Life’s not all fun. We feel lost and alone. Let go of the balloon and see its useless deflated form Take out your wish list and leave your deflated balloon. If our life is full of party party party it can be fairly empty. Look at yourself in the mirror and turn over the timer. Keep looking at yourself until the sand runs out. think about the things in your life you really need to change. What shoud you do more of? What you should do less of or stop altogether? What should you start doing?

5 In the poo
In the rubbish there are some sweets but they’re hidden among all the rubbish. (or in the sand?) Try to find one (and keep it to eat later if you want to) just like the sweetness of finding God in a dark time in your life.




6 Decision time
It is possible to follow God. God can be found anywhere even when you’re in the poo.
Look at the wish list you made? How much is for yourself and how much is for God and for others. Rip it up and put it in the rubbish bin

7 Coming Clean
Wash your hands and put behind you all your own wants and ask God to show you what you should be doing for him and for other people.

8 Welcome Home
When the son returned to his father the Father ran eagerly to meet him and fed him. Eat the bread and drink the juice. Picture yourself as part of the family of God.

9 Big Brother – The prodigal’s brother wasn’t too happy. He resented the welcome his brother received. Even when we’ve admitted our own mistakes we can resent the attention shown to others…

...How can you show welcome to people who come to faith or who come to your

church for the first time?

...Go out from here and say hello to someone you don’t know and pray for them.

Update: Interestingly Jonny Baker has been using the same Prodigal Son picture at Lee Abbey and I also found a book by Henry Nouwen about the story with the same picture on the cover in a box of books donated to the church library today so that has gone into the area for people wanting to reflect further.

Ask and it shall be given...

I've had two semi-complaints this week along hte lines of I read your log... WHEN you put stuff on it that is. So Mark and Ian, I hope the following post on our Prayer zone for Lent will satisfy you both.

HOT Fuss!

We went to see Hot Fuzz this afternoon as it's my day off and I have to say it was a wonderful bit of light relief in a rather busy time. It also happens to be about someone who lives their jobs rather too much meeting someone who doesn't really DO much towards their job and how they learn from each other. I'm rather feeling too much like the former at the moment. I was talking to friends on Sunday night about that continuing difficulty that there is for me (and other youth workers no doubt) at discerning what NOT to do as there is SO MUCH that I can do for my job and all of it so worthy, God-centred and serving young people and the community. However it's also important to BE there to serve next week and the week after rather than be burnt out (head's up to Ian for the link) Fortunately though I was busy watching the film, resting and not worrying about work so I hardly picked up on this!!!

Seriously I'd say if you liked Shaun of the Dead you'll love this. If you like the Incredibles and can take a little bit of blood spurting, you'll enjoy it. Even if you like Midsomer Murders (in an ironic way) you'll love the rurality!

What was amazing was the level of talent within the cast:
Not only the glorious Simon Pegg and the splendid Nick Frost but also Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey, Jim Broadbent, Edward Woodward, Timothy Dalton, Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Billie Whitelaw.

Oh and there's some Latin, a model village and some use of walkie talkies and some great bits about teenagers in hoodies for all you youthworkers out there!!

Shouldn't throw stones...or bricks?

Apologies to the person who must have been disappointed to come through to this old post when searching for:
what kind of greenhouse can oyu put on top of a school

I do hope my reminiscences of the airport in Menorca (where I'll be going again in June - hurrah!) gave you something if not quite what you were looking for!

I guess it must be the greenhouse effect... ouch!

The Brick Testament?

In response to an earlier post about the proposal that the government should take some financial responsibility for mantaining our church buildings, Phil Rankin said...

"Why should the government pay for this? If the building is no longer economically sustainable then sell it and move on. If the building is historically valuable then the National Trust and/or Heritage will be interested in maintaining it. Why should a government sustain buildings that in most cases a decreasing minority of people are using? When Alton Towers, or Tescos, or Sainsburys, or your local cinema needs repaired should the government be asked to pay for that too?"

Well I began to respond in the comments but it got rather LONG so here it is:

The government funds many things which do not, overtly, serve the whole population. The Church of England is still the established church of this country and as Richard has commented many people believe that the goevernment does fund churches. People often argue against money being spent on seemingly "worthless" things the dome, opera, the arts in general... the church? Well I know there are always going to be people who question spending money on things that over more than the "necessary" (John 12.4-8) and many think honouring God by building and maintaining impressive buildings that draw people to them would be such an unecessary expense.

Our building is enjoyed by MANY people during the week as a place of prayer particularly because it is an old building. I don't think any one them would seek out the cinema, or a supermarket for that quiet prayer time. Our town is currently experiencing a major redevelopment and it made me realise how the church is one of the only buildings in the town centre that isn't there to persuade people to spend money and consume. I think that's something worth saving.

I would agree that there are some buildings which are modern which can have that numenous feel to them but I think it is far more often in the buildings left to us by faithful worshipping Christians over the centuries which resound the prayers of the years gone by.

Why should we abandon that heritage? Why should Christians only meet together in modern buildings?

I think our churches have more than mere HISTORICAL value. I enjoy visiting old houses, castles etc but there is something DIFFERENT about a church that has been a place of Christian worship and witness for centuries.

I'm not saying ALL old churches have such value. Some have passed their usefulness and are not as alive with the spirit as others but there are many which are and the feeling is SO tangible, when you walk through the door, that God is with you that sometimes little else is needed but unfortunately the cost of maintaining some of these places is high.

I know that there is a lot of emphasis in the church on fresh expressions and on young people and I wholeheartedly support it but never at the expense of our heritage or indeed of faithful but elderly members of our churches. Why should old things, people or places, have no value?

To answer one of your specific proposals, Phil, you'll find that the National Trust don't really "do churches" and that English Heritage (which IS funded by the government and by the lottery) would say there is no way they can take on all the historic churches in this country with their current resources. Even if they could, if our churches WERE mainatined by "historical bodies" it would be the end of that place as a place of worship. The priorities of preservation societies are solely about maintaining the building and not its use for worship. Personally I would far rather see our churches be made MORE relevant to our society and used as places of worship than turned into moth-balled old relics of a time when we valued the contribution of those who went before us in honouring God.

Gifted

Really cool evening at BCUC CU tonight talking with the young adults about the Holy Spirit. We tlked about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit which we can all have in our lives (Galatians 5.22-23) and the GIFTS of the spirit which are given to some and not to others (1 Corinthians 12.1-11). It was excellent to hear their experiences of the Holy Spirit described in so many different ways and the honesty from some to admit they hadn't felt it consciously. I think we can sometimes think the Holy Spirit gives all GIFTS to all and I know Paul's letter to the Corinthians has always reassured me that it is not to ALL that the gift of speaking in tongues, faith, giving sound advice, healing etc. In fact it's because these gifts aren't given to everyone that makes them so special but as Paul points out it doesn't make the person with the gift special - it's the spirit working through them not they themselves:

"All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."

More than bricks and mortar

I love our ecclesiastical architectural history (loads of big words - ooh!) and I find them incredible places to encounter God. However I find it difficult when churches are forced to spend lots of energy to keep the buildings in good order on the stregth of insufficient funds. Fortunately there's something that could help free some people and energies up to the work of the Gospel.

There's a petition calling on the government to help churches pay for repairs, building work etc rather than the parishes having to do it all. What a good idea, eh?
So pop over here and sign up

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Preservation

Snow go

Ok so I've not been out far much yet!!! However I do know that the school which was supposed to be visitng All Saints is closed so that's ONE job cancelled. Kinda figuring that the rest of the day will be annual report writing on the laptop at home!!

Oh and also I suppose there must be the admission that we've still got out garden and chairs table out!!

UPDATE: more pic of snowy Wycombe over at my FlickR site and I've updated the ALL SAINTS' NEWS site while I've been sat at home with some more pics and a different layout.

Post Iron-ic revisited




Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

In our post-ironic world we really should be post-roning too - especially considering the environment and all that! right? **embarrassed shuffling**

Dave you are a wonderful human being - my trousers looked much like that on Sunday but I wore my creases with pride. In fact I have a confession to make to the world... I've never really "got" ironing. Why? Clothes seem slightly flatter in some places ... until you put them on then they crumple anyway! I think it is still true that my friend Craig has used my iron as many times as I have and he's only been to stay three or four times yet I've lived here four years now!

OK Go - Here It Goes Again

Just loved this!

Sermon 28th January Choral Evensong

The readings for this evening:
1 Chronicles 29.6-19

Then the leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of the thousands and of the hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. They gave for the service of the house of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze, and one hundred thousand talents of iron. Whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the Lord, into the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly.
Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: "Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are aliens and transients before you, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. Grant to my son Solomon that with single mind he may keep your commandments, your decrees, and your statutes, performing all of them, and that he may build the temple for which I have made provision."

Acts 7.44-50

"Our ancestors had the tent of testimony in the wilderness, as God directed when he spoke to Moses, ordering him to make it according to the pattern he had seen. Our ancestors in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors. And it was there until the time of David, who found favor with God and asked that he might find a dwelling place for the house of Jacob. But it was Solomon who built a house for him. Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with human hands; as the prophet says, "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?'

and here is my sermon - well as usual what was written down beforehand...

And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?'

I want to talk tonight about Footprints

Previously when we heard about footprints – story about a man walking along a beach with God

Nowadays a closer walk with God involves us looking at a different kind of footprint

Carbon footprints have been the topic of debate sometime and in the Guardian this week was a simple model for calculating the size of your carbon footprint – of how much of a dent you’re leaving in the “beach” of creation. By working out how much carbon you’re using in Gas, electricity, transport, and consumption you can discover how your life is having an impact on God’s creation. But why should we be thinking about this in church?

Let me read you the five marks of mission of the Anglican Communion. The Five things that the church as a whole seeks to do:

The Five Marks of Mission of the Worldwide Anglican Communion

• To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
• To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
• To respond to human need by loving service
• To seek to transform unjust structures of society
• To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth

That fifth mark of mission can often be overlooked but as we heard in our readings this evening, all of creation is God’s and whatever we have in this world comes from God.

Why must Christians care for the environment?

It is one of the five marks of mission – yes but why is it?

A simple answer would be because the earth deserves to be cared for. A beautiful rainforest has its own value in aesthetic and potential medical resources.
If we have eyes to see it, it is so clear that all creation is an expression of God. How often is it through the natural world that we find connection with God:

the sensation of rising above the clouds on top of a mountain,
light breaking at dawn,
staring out across a vast ocean.

Yet this is taking an anthropocentric view of creation – placing creation as the servant of humanity and there to serve us; to give us a beautiful view and food and resources. Thomas Aquinas and other theologians from history would argue that creation is there FOR mankind. Yet the theologian Richard Bauckham has explored the nature of the Christian view of humanity’s relationship with creation and suggests that in fact the concept of creation being in existence to SERVE humanity finds its roots much more in Greek philosophy than it does in biblical texts. In fact the biblical model places us not outside but within it: yes we are in creation but not at it’s centre. We must instead adopt a theocentric view of creation. humans are creatures of God alongside other creatures.

In 1991, Pope John Paul II wrote:

“Man thinks that he can make arbitrary use of the earth, subjecting it without restraint to his will, as though the earth did not have its own requisites and a prior, God-given purpose,… instead of carrying out his role as a co-operator with God in the work of creation, man sets himself up in place of God and thus ends up in provoking a rebellion on the part of nature, which is more tyrannised than governed by him.” Centesimus Annus 1991

So there is a danger in an anthropocentric view of creation; if we place humanity as the centre and pinnacle of creation we are in danger of placing what we see as our needs above the needs of creation. The readings we heard tonight encourage a more theocentric view whereby we are stewards and caretakers of something which is the creation of God


Of course the important element for humanity in God’s creation is that in creating us God gave us the free-will to CHOOSE how we behave. The free-will to give back as we heard in the reading:
the leaders of ancestral houses made their freewill offerings we CHOOSE how we deal with the environment .

In all the choices that we make, we choose whether or not to honour God. By caring for the environment we do so in the same way that in showing love to our neighbours we show love for God. Tearfund have taken this one step further

“For Christians there are two key reasons for being passionately committed to sustainable consumption. First, it is a matter of honouring God by putting him first in our lives, and not destroying his creation. Secondly, when the affluence and consumption of some has its immediate counterpart in the lack and suffering of others, then sustainable consumption becomes a deeply moral and spiritual issue. Concern about lifestyle will be inseparable from authentic love for our neighbour.” Tearfund, “Taking less, having more”

The right use of God’s creation, is a matter of honouring God, as those giving free-will offerings did in the old testament did but in our modern world, there is also the matter of honouring others:

We have this new imperative in light of our new awareness of climate change; the misuse of environmental resources has been most prevalent in the developed world and the impact has been felt most clearly in the undeveloped world. The pollution and overuse of resources by some impacts most clearly on their neighbours.

Is it really so bad? Isn’t this some wishy-washy liberal thinking?

Tearfund has set a series of testing questions:

Who is the greater thief, the one who burgles another’s house, or the one whose demand for fruit and flowers out of season takes up land and water that might otherwise be used by the poor?

Who shows least regard for human life, the one who in anger threatens his fellow, or the one whose commuting contributes to global warming and the drowning of coastal settlements?

Sometimes we may focus on sin against those that we can see. There’s an overemphasis on sin as that which reflects sexual immorality or violence against other people yet immorality and violence against creation is just as sinful in the way it impacts on others and on how it impacts on our relationship with God.

Often creation reveals the results of human sin – our maltreatment of creation is visible in devastation of geography and of the lives of people.


Now I know that we sometimes feel what we can do is not enough and that it’s up to governments and big business to make the change. Yet this macrocosmic view of creation is not God’s view. God has a much more microcosmic view. “Peace in the world begins with peace in our hearts” The only way to change the world is to begin by changing yourself. This is all part of the creation of the world to come; being a Christian means participating in building the Kingdom of God.

Without action at the national and international level, and action by business, individual effort will continue to be overwhelmed by the activities of governments and big corporations. But the opposite is also true. It is only when ordinary men and women change their lifestyles that consumption will be reduced to sustainable levels. This implies a radical change of heart, a submitting of one’s lifestyle to the ‘ecological footprint’ test, and then acting accordingly as consumption choices, great and small, are made on a day-by-day basis. (source)

The key to all our treatment of God’s creation is to be found in our consumerism and materialism how we may deal with that. Having no possessions isn’t the answer or having everything but in our we view what we have. The relationship with God is all in all. With God, bread and water are enough, but without him, even kingdoms and empires will not satisfy. A Christian gains contentment not by addition, but by subtraction, reducing his or her desires to the level that God, in his wisdom, has granted. The key is an inner change of attitude which may be characterised by the phrase ‘as if not’. The man or woman with many possessions will then think and act as if they did not have them. The man or woman without possessions will consider the lack as if it did not exist. (source)

When fairly traded products became more widely available I know many people who committed to making the change in one item in their trolley (tea, coffee, sugar pasta, bananas ) and I know people who have taken it step by step to buying MANY things fairly traded: Changing one thing at a time. What is there that you can do?

Decide not to buy imported, out-of-season products.
Decide to share (everything from newspapers, to tools, to cars and houses) rather than buy.
Cutting water consumption
Reducing waste by recycling
Using more efficient transport in more efficient ways
Consider energy use in the home by insulation or energy efficient appliances, bulbs and batteries
A decision not to buy at all, recognising that there is a danger of assuming a right to consume indefinitely in a finite world, so long as the goods are ‘green’.

Most of all I think each one of us here can consider our impact on the environment in a new way. Yes we can explore changes we can make to show greater care for the earth but not because some trendy modern eco-warrior says we should but rather as part of our Christian response to a loving creator. It’s a change in outlook that would make the most difference.

In the reading from Acts we heard God say

“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Did not my hand make all these things?'”

We can give nothing to God in material value. All we can give Him is our CHOICE to honour him and our neighbours and we do that by honouring His creation and by changing how we view it.

I ask again:

Who is the greater thief, the one who burgles another’s house, or the one whose demand for fruit and flowers out of season takes up land and water that might otherwise be used by the poor?

Who shows least regard for human life, the one who in anger threatens his fellow, or the one whose commuting contributes to global warming and the drowning of coastal settlements?
(source)

Back from Belfast

23012007391
Originally uploaded by Sarah Brush.

OK so we're back from Belfast. It was all really great fun if a little hectic meeting as many of Michael's friends as we could squeeze into four days! There's a set of pics on FlickR including this one of one of those places which has just GOT to confuse little children who are learning about shapes!

Young people and spirituality

For the sake of those in the confirmation group who may have forgotten that I asked you this... and for any other young people who feel like answering.

Can you email or post a comment here in response to these two questions:

1. What experiences have you had in your life that you felt were spiritual? (in any contexts i.e not just 'Church')

2. If those Spiritual experiences felt like an encounter with God, did your experience differ in anyway to what you have been taught about God through Church or youth group?

Busy busy busy

Sorry everyone, buut I've been super busy this week as Michael and I are off to Belfast tomorrow to see his old haunts and catch up with his friends so I've been doing EVERYTHING these last few days. Of course it also means that you'll not get much over the next few days too. However there's a rumour that the church we're going to is on Radio Ulster on Sunday so you could always listen out for us!!

Marma-made

Ok the last lid has gone onto the last jar of marmalade. I've put the whole process on Flickr together with some of the biscuits the young people of pulse were decorating on Saturday.

Here's a few as a taster...

Marmalade 1
Originally uploaded by Sarah Brush.

Marmalade 7
Originally uploaded by Sarah Brush.

Marmalade 8
Originally uploaded by Sarah Brush.

Buying in the sales for next Christmas

A few people had mentioned the nativity story and in case you're one of those poepl who is SO organised that you sort Christmas next year just after one has happened and were wondering about it for next year you can have a look at a few clips here to decide whether you want to go out and buy the DVD. There also appear to be various resources on the site which might help using it.

Common-ion

We had the story of the feeding of the 5,000 in church at the Eucharist today and it made me revisit some thoughts I had a while back but never blogged.

I was thinking how good it was that the focus for community in the Christian church is the common meal and that the meal Jesus asked us to particularly remember him at was one involving the simple things in life - bread and wine (mixed with water).

Holy Communion commemorates Jesus' supper with his friends and it is a meal that welcomes all.

Jesus shared meals with people on many occasions (I know there are people who've studied this in much greater depth) but it is the simple meal that we commemorate and recreate. It is a meal we can all participate in.

It's not Jesus' first meal; where he turned water into wine. Jesus did not call people to recreate that miracle each time they gathered which makes life a lot easier. Nor did Jesus ask us to remember him by taking five loaves and two fish and sharing them between five thousand people sat in groups of 50 and 100; I'm not sure which bit would be more of a challenge let alone how we'd approach the issue of welcoming vegetarians or people with fish allergies to the common meal.

No, instead of all these, Jesus chose instead the simple answer (and yet deep in meaning) as was so often the case. It was after sharing bread and wine that Jesus told us to "do this in remembrance of me" and many of us can and do across the world everyday.

Deeper thought elsewhere

There's an interesting discussion on predestination etc over at Dave Walker's blog. Yes he DOES do stuff other than cartoons!





Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Ok so this is not a pointless argument as everyone is playing nicely. If you want a stupid argument maybe you should look at that Slice of Laodicea lady... oh but she appears to have disappeared in a great mystery and debarcle!

Celebrity Big Brother

Ok so this is really NOT our usual cup of tea but we LOVE DIRK BENEDICT. He's such a dude. I mean I used to have a massive crush on him when he was in the A Team but he's even more cool now! He went on because his teenage sons persuaded him to do it!

So far I think the other highlight is Donny being incapable of finding/opening doors! Style over substance seems to have proved to much for him!

It looks like our evenings are set for the next few nights at least! Felt kinda sorry for poor Ken Russell though. THE Ken Russell who made cutting edge cinema like Tommy and no-one seems to know who he is!

VISTAPRINT WARNING

Having mentioned a site from which I got some really cool cheap business cards for myself and colleagues, I now discover that quite a few people have had problems with them.

Vistaprint has sent me good quality items and I haven't noticed any problems of charges on my accounts but then I have paid for items rather than just got them free as some of the people complaining have said.

I've recommended this company and I still think what I've got from the has been fine but I have like others received far too many emails from them almost constantly so please do be careful.

Amaze-ing find

Ok so I am SO used to there not being anything about Matrix out there that I hadn't really looked to hard.

Amaze has the following details on their site about the Matrix youth conference 2007 which is just the best conference out there in my view!

the matrix 2007
Conference for full time Youth workers - Christians working in any context.


freedom to flourish

200 years since the abolision of the transatlantic slave trade how do we express freedom in Christ today?

Take time out to think about how today's youth worker can help to continue to make an impact on the lives of young people.

the matrix 2007 will examine through four averarching themes the role of the youth worker

.... as theologian

.... as leader

.... as missionary

.... as prophet


This will enable you to develop as a youth worker, drawing on the theological and socialogical perspectives. There will be space for personal reflection, dialogue with other practitioners, relaxation, laughter and focussing on God.

plus links to

Key note speakers
Workshops
Day Pass Prices

So far I'm intrigued most and think may rock on up to:

• Pray with clay
• Keeping in touch with your spirituality
• Integrating youth ministry and the church
• creative use of the bible with young people
• Gender and singleness in youth ministry (as a newly smug-married I feel a fraud but it might be interesting anyway)
  

oh and I might try the Myers-Briggs thing but it depends on what they're doing with it as I've already had the "introduction to" kinda thing.

So anyone fancy being a study buddy at any of these?

The Oxford diocese is already forming reasonably but we have open arms to anyone prepared to sit around with us and do the deep discussion thing as well as be vaguely silly. Sadly enough I now have a wifi card for my laptop so could join the throng of onsite bloggers but I will try to resist!

Matrix 07

Can't believe it's only two months to Matrix 07. Still not much idea what will happen but getting a better picture of who might be there. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what any of the sessions might be about unless anyone has some inside info?

If you're going to be there let me know in the comments and I'll be sure to have a drink (coffee or otherwise) with you when we're there.

New Look?

Well the office is getting a bit of a make-over today. Yes I AM tidying. Really. There's a black sack of rubbish and two huge bags of paper for recycling to prove it! If you're lucky I'll put pics up when I'm done but tidy people be warned this will be a Sarah version of tidy. My surname maybe Brush but that is my married name!!

While I'm not here to entertain you I suggest you pop over to Facebook which is a really cool site recommended to me by a Taize friend. It's similar to Myspace and Bebo but it's just, well, cuddlier I suppose. It seems a lot easier to use (less emphasis on backgrounds and more on people) and I've set up a group for our Oxford Diocese Taize group as well as for All Saints' church. There is a woefully sparsely populated group for youth workers so I think some of you need to get on there!

New Year's Resolutions

So anyone put any thought into resolutions?

I'm thinking I'm going to try to READ more. I have a habit of buying books and stacking them up in waiting for me but I LOVE reading and don't do it often enough as I get distracted by things that NEED doing.

I don't really have too many obvious vices (drinking, smoking...) to give up but I guess there must be habits of being kind I could take more seriously.

But before resolutions begin we have the fun of some friends over to ours for a murder mystery party for New Year's Eve. I'm an eccentric Archaeologist and Michael is a Sigmund Freud wannabe! Sounds perfect!

What are you gonna do for New Year's Eve or for resolutions?

Christmas feelings

Just found a really good Christmas reflective page at rejesus.

How are you feeling in this Christmas season?

Now as the commercialism kicks in to the max and all the SALES start, I lose a little faith in people's appreciation of the significance of it all, as I see people desperate to spend MORE money and get lots of good deals. If you're happy and thankful or down and feeling a bit of a failure they've got some Bible passages appropriate to your mood.

So if you'd rather look at something somewhat better than half price kitchens, prices slashed on sofas and herds of people piling into the Metrocentre at 5am pop over there and have a look. They have other Christmas activities too.

Christmas meaning...

Just had a great time with the children from our local CofE School at their end of term assembly in churhc. Lots of Angel Dance and looking at God as the Light of the World (guess which song we used!?) and the stillness of these energetic and lively children when we played the Tim Hughes track was awe inspiring.

We had great fun dancing about to bouncing songs too.

I think with Christmas it is always difficult to balance the MERRY with the MEANING and sometimes we might look rather like sourpuss grumpy face if we try and over do the Easter in amongst the Christmas. I find the words of this song particularly poignant. I think it can sometimes be a bit heavy for Christmas but it says it for me. You probably all use it a lot and have heard it all before but we tend to stick with traditional at this time of year rather than worship songs so it was a new one on me last year.

Since the day the angel came
It seemed that everything had changed
The only certain thing
Was the child that moved within
On the road that would not end
Winding down to Bethlehem
So far away from home

Just a blanket on the floor
Of a vacant cattle-stall
But there the child was born
She held him in her arms
And as she laid him down to sleep
She wondered - will it always be
So bitter and so sweet

And did she see there
In the straw by his head a thorn
And did she smell myrrh
In the air on that starry night
And did she hear angels sing
Not so far away
Till at last the sun rose blood-red
In the morning sky

Then the words of ancient seers
Tumbled down the centuries ...
A virgin shall conceive...
God with us... Prince of Peace
Man of Sorrows - strangest name
Oh Joseph there it comes again
So bitter yet so sweet

And as she watched him through the years
Her joy was mingled with her tears
And she'd feel it all again
The glory, and the shame
And when the miracles began
She wondered, who is this man
And where will this all end

'Til against a darkening sky
The son she loved was lifted high
And with his dying breath
She heard him say 'Father forgive'
And to the criminal beside
"Today-with me in Paradise"
So bitter yet so sweet.
Graham Kendrick

Christmas Spirit

Jolly Christmas elves band available here! Just in case you needed perking up into the Christmas mood. There might be an annoying pop up bu Firefox blocked it for me so I'm not certain!

ENJOY!

Less than reluctant

Ok I know this is YET ANOTHER short and sweet blog after an uncredibly long break but I've been pretty busy. Just to let you all know that Reluctant Souls has decided to close.

• So the group that brought you the big argument about SNOW between BBTS and BUTTS
• The comic sans campaign
• Debates on is there a "good time" to leave a church youth minsitry post and patriotic symbols in worship
  

Thanks to all members:

• Katie
• EasyRew
• Pete Lev
• holyphil
• iPriest
• Phil Goodacre
• Mark Berry
  
• Darren
• Roy
• kathryn
• simo
• Tim Sudworth
• Ed Lane

It was a good way to express our community but the time has passed. I'm sure we'll all continue to meet out there in the big wide blogosphere.

God bless

Christmas Presents

Just solving some christmas present problems... I've downloded and printed a copy of Dave Walker's 2007 calendar. Why don't you try the same!?

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Flannelgraph for Christmas

We've discovered our flannelgraph at church TWO WHOLE BOXES (including a VERY unnerving representaiton of the second coming!) and so we're putting together an interactive nativity scene in our north chapel. Off now to find some SKY from our local scrap store!

VERY exciting!

My Space giggles

Sorry - Just had to share this one with you...

I logged in this morning to find the messaeg;

"Jason Donovan wants to be your friend"

Bless him! He must be desperate!

I took only a little pleasure in saying No.

Christmas Time, Much to do.... and wine?

I've been hectic busy with

BCUC carol service - which went really well
Decroating our Christmas tree at church
Christingle,
Film Night watching Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Sunday School Nativity and the service sheet for our crib service
Running a funky advent game with our young people's Sunday group
Preparing for our Christmas Eve party
Getting readers for and rehearsing with choir for our Nine lessons and carols service tonight (which is being broadcast on BBC 3 Counties Radio on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning)

Christmas is definitley coming because:
I've had my first glass of mulled wine
I made (and tasted) Cranberry relish today
I watched children sing Away in a manger
The Fairground organ played outside church yesterday

and today... I'm about to watch Muppet Christmas Carol. The best EVER!

Youthblog's new boss!

The new bishop of Oxford has been announced. He is John Pritchard, who has been Bishop of Jarrow, a suffragan of Durham.

Bishop John said: “Coming to the Diocese of Oxford is an unexpected honour and privilege. Through the years I have looked at the Diocese from afar and much admired what I’ve seen. Little did I think I would have the opportunity to make a contribution to the life and vitality of the Diocese and the wider community. I shall give it everything I’ve got but will need to start with a great deal of listening and learning. Please be patient!”

He has authored various books worthy of note through SPCK which include works on prayer and sharing faith.

He's doing a tour around the diocese today concluding with tea at our place which we've known about but not known about. We knew we had to be around but not why - it was all very exciting!

Reluctant blogs

Having switched over to the new blogger, I now can't access those blogs which haven't switched which includes reluctant souls. Anybody still on the old beta who's a member will need to do it. It'll involve something slightly complicated as it relies on the person who created the blog to sort it and Ben M left a while ago but it doesn't seem to understand that!

Ok so that's the first glitch of the new system!

BETA BETTER?

Ok so this is my first blog through the beta version. Seems fine so far!

Had a good session with the young people at Pulse yesterday; Some looney balloon games to start and then the talk slot based on a version of the game one of the young people ran on the youth holiday. I popped a slip of paper (with something we do at Christmas written on it) and a prize into an uninflated balloon then got the young leaders to blow them up. We passed them round in a pass the parcel kind of way and as we opened each one we discussed how important each thing was to Christmas (Eating turkey, Giving things, Jesus being born, crackers etc.) It worked pretty well and there was a good buzz about the place.

We also did some Christmas craft that I remembered doing myself as a brownie. I found instructions here. Even some of the boys thought it was "pretty cool" as it's rather clever. You turn old Christmas cards into twenty circles which you then turn into a icosahedron. They look pretty good too.

Over a WEEEK?

Were did that time go?

Sorry readers I've been distracted by
FABULOUS confirmation course and service last Sunday
FUNKY Staff Christmas do on Friday - BLOC 3 you rock!
FLOATY Advent Carol service on Sunday
FEBRILE cold - hubby's not mine
FRANTIC Christmas shopping
FANCY flier designing partially aided by the great site vistaprint which no doubt some people discovered ages ago!
FULSOME envelope stuffing with all the fliers!