two interesting months

hi all,

The last couple of months have been interesting and this goes some way to explaining why the blog has been a bit quiet.

In January we like many other were visited by the sickness bug- or rather alison was in a major way. The knocked her out for nearly the whole month, not nice and for those who know her will know this is really not normal. This month has been dominated by conferences. The first for me was the baptist minsters conference, which was enjoyable, each year they invite two speakers it seem that i tend to connect with one more than the other!!

This week alison and i went to the new wine conference for church leaders in urban areas, it was challenging and inspiring for many reason and i found God reminding of some stuff of His which i've put down.

The weekend i'm preaching for a church weekend away and then after that a normal week would be good ( what ever one of those on Harold Hill is!!)

oops it's been a while

Sorry all it's been a while, things haves been good. (lost couple of weeks Alison's been really ill with a bug but we seem to over that now)

We have been in an interesting time time here. We have been having communion at the end of our weekly meal which has been well received and for which we continue to seek wisdom as to how to do well.

I've been asked to be 'spiritual champion for the new youth centre, which is an amazing opportunity to serve God in the community.

We have also been preparing a paper for the leadership of our host church about our future plans.

This month is crazy with Alison and I going to a conference together, I'm going to the EBA ministers conference and speaking at a church weekend.

Most importantly our time continues to be about people and standing with them in their needs. As ever we are humbled to be part of different people journeys and hopefully to be Jesus to them as they travel in valleys of Pain and Darkness.

Three Tools we use

As a team we use many tools, like the buildings, in our attempt to be true to the work God has called us to.

Let me tell you about three of the tools.

Facebook:

Ok, so I’m not the biggest fan of facebook, but social media is here to stay and we soon realised that we were missing part of the conversation on Harold Hill by not being on facebook. Part of being a missionary is being able to hear the local conversation and then speak the Gospel into it. This includes Facebook. Because of Facebook we are able to be made aware of those with pastoral needs, remind people what’s coming up and have some really interesting debates, like we did in lent and when Bin laden was killed. Like all tools it requires wisdom to use and I still believe that face to face human contact is best and so try to only use Facebook to enhance our friendships on the Hill, not to replace them.

Working with the Local Authority

This second tool has been very significant in helping us meet and have contact with others. We are very grateful for the excellent working relationships we have with Social workers, children’s centres and schools. I believe that they now trust us to do good and professional work. They understand that we are Christians and we understand that working with them means we need to respect that they work with all and can’t be seen to promote or support one faith. Our working agreement I believe has benefitted us both and in this time of cuts to frontline services we the church are being able to fill some of the gaps in a professional, Godly and distinctively Christian way. The danger with this tool is that we would just become an extension of the Local Authority, surrogate social workers etc, however I don’t believe this is the case for us. (For a fuller explanation, see our Blog from June 6^th as to why we are not like social services. http://shorteradventure.blogspot.com ) Please pray for our Local Authority.

Being Baptist:

It might seem strange to suggest that being Baptist is one of our tools, especially as we don’t have what many would consider a ‘church’. However being Baptist is about more than just getting people really wet. For us it’s about a whole way of treating and working with people. One of the comments I get regularly is that “your not part of the system”. That’s right we’re not, as Baptists we believe that the community has a voice in discerning God’s will for it. We believe that all, young and old, those who are broken, those with mental health issues, those with a past and those who have never had a voice and been listened to can be part of and help shape and discern God’s will for His community. Being Baptist effects us because we want to ask people what they think, we hopefully show they are valued, that they can make a positive contribution, that we want to listen to their ideas. We hopefully model how to disagree and how to want what’s best for all, rather then just yourself. All of which are qualities needed in a healthy congregational Baptist church which is seeking together to discern God’s Will. As we take the next steps in working out what a church community is on Harold Hill. Being Baptist is at the heart of our values and how we operate.

Once again thank you for your love and prayers

Rich

keeping the rumour of God alive

This week Steve hosted a great xbox 360 night, one of our friends bought his mate along and as the night went on he asked what i do, i told him.

He then told me about his gran who used to read him bible stories every night and that he want ed to know more even though he'd forgotten most of them.

I'm thankful for that lady of faith and i'm thankful for the chance to keep the rumour of God alive on this man's heart and mind.

r.

Are gatherings really helpful?

Picture the scene, a roomful of people, mainly families with young children, a good number of mom and dad's and splattering teenagers, there is noise and laughter, families interacting together and the place is just about as full as it can get.

Surely this is a good thing for a church, the majority of people attending are not followers of Jesus, but would consider this their church. For 2 hours on November 4 this was the scene at the church chapel on Harold Hill. The night ending in a firework display worthy of Buckingham Palace! With the 2 guys that the children have made going up in flames beneath the Catherine Wheels.

On top of all this Steve had a teenager's group and led an excellent discussion about their stresses and enjoys and what they thought about Jesus and I had the privilege of talking to the parents about the same things. (Results of the discussion to follow shortly)

On the whole an excellent evening one which I'm sure would tick many boxes however, I'm not sure that hosting this type of gathering is in the long-term effective for church planting or regular church.

Firstly, I don't think we as a team had an opportunity to say more than a brief hello to all those who attended. Secondly I don't think that we as a team spent any time with our children, which meant that in the middle of this fantastic gathering were 3 little shorters wandering around on their own! Thirdly the event is costly in both time prep and finance. Fourthly by doing these events so well we are setting a high standard which is not always easy to follow.

So as a team we decided to reduce the number of events/gatherings that we do. We can see their value in bringing people together and giving people an excuse to attend one of our events. These gatherings give us the opportunity to see people who have not seen for a while. So we will keep some events in the diary. Our plan for the next couple of terms is to try and use the time that we would have spent in planning and preparing events in people's homes or down the Cafe or in the park with those people whom we have come here to serve.

I'm becoming concerned that our gatherings and in fact all Christian gatherings are not reflective of the Trinity God whom we follow. The gatherings like ours did not increase community and interaction with one another. They do not allow the space for the young and the old, the hurting and the well to be heard, to be involved and to have the opportunity to influence what is happening. Our hope by scaling back on big events is that we build community and so more faithfully represent the the Trinity in what we're doing.

After Christmas we are going to start sharing communion at the end of each of our community meals. The community meal will finish at 6 o'clock and communion will be served between 6 and 630. We will say to people they can stay, they can join in for as much or as little or their free to leave. Our hope is that by doing this will be sharing the Christian story and the Gospel in a way which enables people to interact receive and give while being part of our little community.

Gatherings can be helpful but what really builds community is allowing people to have a voice, to be heard to be challenged to be encouraged and I'm not sure that how easy that is in a crowd.

Love and prayers

Rich

fireworks night (Well the 4th nov) on Harold Hill

Hi all, last night was a our firework night.

Thank you those who prayed it was an excellent night and so much made it great night.

The help from romford baptist church was amazing, it was great to see so many families. Many of whom came with their dads. It was great to see the 'guys' which the kids made burnt really well.

We had a teenager group for the first time which steve lead, and the parent's group went really really well. ( i think the kids group was crazy, but Alison was doing that.)

It's amazing how with a bit of banter you can turn the conversation into thinking about Jesus.

these events are amazing, later in the week i'm going to blog are they helpful!!!

rich

pops it's been a while sorry

Hi all, hope you're ok,

The last month has been a bit a insane, some good, some not.

The coming month is going to include some big decisions about some aspects of our church plant.

please pray for the following things:

• a team day on friday 11th to look at where we are at and what we're going to do in the coming months and most importantly what God is saying in all this.
• By the end of Nov we will have a better idea of Steve and Lauren's future, please pray for Gods clear call.
• We have some key meetings about other elements of our future which i can't say much about now, but they are very key, please pray, we need wisdom and a little hope.

This week among all the admin and meetings i'll be leading 2 parenting courses and as a church we have our fireworks night on Friday, can't wait, it's going to be great to see our friends altogether in one place.

thank you for praying, God is our only hope, news letter out this week i hope!!

love and Prayers r.