Archive - January, 2009

January Café Church

January 12, 2009 in Church with 0 Comments

Yesterday was January’s café church on the theme of Epiphany.

We took the usual format of café, worship, talk, discussion, and prayer stations. I spoke on Matthew 2:1-12, focussing on how the Magi recognised, obeyed and worshipped God.

I found the preparation this month really difficult. I probably left writing the talk to the last minute, but also was stressing duringthe afternon over getting the church set up, as well as trying to sort out various techie stuff like video clips that weren’t working and created more problems than they were worth!

Having just finished the Ministry & Mission assignment on principles of ministry in the New Testament, this has consolidated a lot of the learning! I can see why Peter needed to appoint other people to help with the ministry (Acts 7) and what that says  about ministry not being able to done alone.

Ministry priorities

January 10, 2009 in Random reflections with 2 Comments

I was listening to the Worship Central podcast this week, where Nicky Gumbel was talking about priorities of ministry. He believes that the priority order is:

  • Your relationship with God
  • Your relationship with your husband/wife
  • Your relationship with your children
  • Your paid employment
  • Your church ministry

This really spoke to me. I think its really easy to get these the wrong way round, and it can be really easy for church ministry to take over, to the detriment of our relationships, even with God! I guess I was really challenged about how I see my paid employment, and the importance I put on this.

Church to remove crucifix

January 6, 2009 in Church, News with 6 Comments

Damian Thompson at the Telegrahph has blogged about the priest at St John’s (RC) Church Horsham has decided to remove the crucifix from the outside of the church building because it is felt to scare off people.

Now the protestant in me completely agrees with Rev Ewen Souter, and I have to admit to being a little surprised to discover that the church in question is Roman Catholic.

What I find more interesting amusing is the comment from the un-named worshipper:

“Pulling it down and putting up something that would look more at home on the side of a flashy modern shopping centre is not the way to get more bums on seats.

Next they’ll be ripping out the pews and putting sofas in their place, or throwing out all the Bibles and replacing them with laptops. It’s just not right.”

I know of a number of churches that have thrown out the pews, some (such as St Paul’s Onslow Square) have even dared to put in a few sofas! At Pip n Jim’s, we don’t have pew Bibles, but we do have a laptop which projects the Bible readings onto the overhead screens.

Why is this not right?

I do agree with Mr or Mrs Anonymous on one thing – whatever churches do cannot be simply about getting “bums on seats”.

But

The church is called to proclaim the faith afresh in each generation. Of course its important that the message doesn’t change or get diluted, but the media must be relevant to the culture of the day if the church is going to get the Gospel heard.

Whether that means a change in how churches use imagery, making use of technology in worship, or making the atmosphere of church buildings more welcoming and friendly, the most important thing is people get to hear the Gospel. If the church is seen to be to distant from society, people won’t want to hear the message we’ve got to share.

Update:

It appears the media (and I) confused two different churches by same name in Horsham: St John the Evangelist RC Church, and St John’s Broadbridge Heath, an evangelical Anglican church. The church in question is the latter.

Crisis in Israel

January 2, 2009 in Church, News with Comments Off

The Bishop of Tonbridge, Brian Castle has issued a statement about the recent military action in Israel/Palestine:

TO THE CLERGY AND THE PEOPLE OF THE DIOCESE OF ROCHESTER

Statement on the crisis in Israel/Palestine by the Bishop of Tonbridge

A few short weeks ago I visited the Holy Land with a group from the Diocese of Rochester. We were there to meet individuals and organisations working for peace and reconciliation in that place, including Bishop Suheil Dawani, the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.

Last week, on Christmas Eve, the Bishop preached in the Church of the Holy Nativity in Bethlehem. The world waits in eager expectation for people of goodwill, courage and vision to set aside personal agendas, to encourage a change of heart, to empower all people of faith to tear down the walls of cruelty, fear and hatred, he said, in the presence of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayaad. He continued, We cannot diminish or escape from the challenges before us which are very real and confront our people. Peace, a just durable peace, is rooted in the reconciling love of God for all the people of this land.

In Gaza, just two days after the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the people there were subjected to heavy bombardment by Israeli armed forces. As I write, the military action continues. The roots of the conflict in the Holy Land are deep and complex and while recognising the suffering of all parties involved, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are paying a particularly high price. The immediate cause of the present crisis is that, for many months, rockets fired from Gaza have brought terror and disruption to the lives of many living in Israel. This is unacceptable. Similarly, the reaction against Gaza, which has claimed many innocent lives and injured many hundreds of others, is disproportionate and equally unacceptable.

I am reminded of an African saying that when the elephants fight, it is the grass which gets trampled and this has been the case in the present crisis. As well as killing and injuring many innocent civilians in Gaza, the most heavily populated area in the world, it has also seen a number of innocent civilians killed and injured in Israel.

At this time of Christmas and Epiphany, Christians throughout the world are looking to the Holy Land in a spirit of joy and thanksgiving for the events of 2000 years ago: the realities unfolding today are anything but a cause for joy and thanksgiving. Commentators reflect that the seriousness of the situation should not be underestimated. As Christians we should pray both urgently and fervently.

May I ask, then, for you to pray that the spirit of peace and justice may influence those who make decisions about war and peace in the Holy Land. I also encourage you to pray for the casualties of war and for those who grieve for loved ones, as well as for those working hard to bring humanitarian and medical aid to those suffering in the war zone. Will you remember especially the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, an Anglican hospital which has been serving the people of the area for over a century, as it struggles to bring healing and peace to all who come to its doors. Finally, do pray for all those in the Holy Land working for peace and reconciliation, that they may have the strength to continue their work in the middle of such daunting challenges.

May there be an immediate cease-fire so that the voices and actions of people of goodwill, courage and vision prevail.

+Brian Tonbridge
1 January 2009

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