People sometimes say that church goes a bit quiet over the summer – so here’s an idea to encourage groups to gather socially. The 2024 Olympic games mark the 100th anniversary of Eric Liddell’s famous ‘Chariots of Fire’ story. A committed Christian, he refused to run in his favoured distance on a Sunday – but instead won gold in a different event. Did you know that Eric Liddell went on to be a missionary in China – and that the story of his later life is told in another film called “On wings of Eagles” (starring Joseph Fiennes). So here’s the suggestion: Gather some people round – invite friends and neighbours, and others from church (maybe including some you don't know so well, or who are new to church). Put on the popcorn, crack open the beers and enjoy 1 or 2 film nights – or even a double-bill! Chariots of Fire (PG, 2 hours) is available to stream on Disney Plus, Youtube, Apple TV, Amazon Prime, GooglePlay etc. Watch the trailer below. On Wings of Eagles (12, 1h45) is available to stream on Amazon Prime, GooglePlay, Apple TV. Watch the trailer below. Both films are great examples of Eric Liddell’s lively faith and courageous discipleship. So even if you don’t like sport or the Olympics – there’s much to enjoy and be encouraged by in these films. So … over to you … I hope you have some fun evenings! Oh, and don’t forget to show the classic rendition of the Chariots of Fire theme from the 2012 London Olympics, featuring Rowan Atkinson ...
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Following on from Dan's lead a few weeks ago...
Here is a glimpse into the life of Youth Work at St James and what Josh gets up to on a typical week Mondays - These start with our weekly Zoom prayer meeting of Pray for young disciples at 7am. A huge encouragement to pray big prayers with a committed group each week and lay the ministry before the Lord. I share the leading of this with Angel. Dan kindly covers when we're both away. I'd recommend joining in if you can! After being Dad for a couple of hours, next is a trip to Sainsburys to pick up 100 doughnuts from the bakery there. More on that later! I then try to sit down on a Monday and think through the pattern of the week, see which groups are happening and pick up how I hope it might flow. Roughly every other week, we sit down for a staff lunch, a chance to spend some time eating and in fellowship with one another followed by a staff meeting on a topic which is relevant to us. Last time, we discussed an interesting concept of 'Stages of Faith - Journey of Holiness' It is straight off after lunch to set-up for Drinks and Doughnuts with Suzanne and Bob ready for the students of Upper Shirley High (USH) to arrive at the church doors. For the past year, we have served the students with Hot Chocolate, squash and of course doughnuts. About 150 students come by, some stop long enough to pick up a doughnut, others stay for more of a chat. There is just time after this to check one or two emails before setting off home for more time as Dad. Once bedtime is done, there is a chance to catch up on any outstanding bits from the day. Tuesdays - A bit of gentler start to the day in preparation for the evening to come. Much of the day is spent in preparation for the evening's Connect session. More on that later. At lunchtime, I have the opportunity to head into USH to the library to chat to some of the students who find that a helpful place to be. Students can ask questions of faith or just talk about how their day has been to that point. In the afternoon it is another trip to the supermarket for snacks ready for the evening. Stocking up on the right snacks is crucial to good youth ministry and young people's preferences have definitely changed in my time here! In afternoons in the run up to the event, I've snuck in some time for a Youth Fest leaders meeting. A group of 5 Youth workers from across the city have been involved in the planning and delivering of a Youth event for 150 young people from 7 churches. It took quite a few meetings to get everything prepared! In the evening, we have Connect, for years 9-13. This happens every week and is our focal point of connection with our older youth group. We generally meet in the church building for bible study, prayer and games. Those three are the staple core of what we offer in sessions but we know how to let our hair down too with socials, including - Bake Offs, bowling trips, mystery nights! In the summertime - we take advantage of better(?) weather and head to the park. We have an incredible team of leaders who serve our young people through these sessions week in, week out. Wednesdays - These tend to be admin day to catch up to go through emails and do some planning for the rest of the week or the following week. I find having long chunks of time without any in the diary make it easier to plan. Every 3 weeks or so, Dan and I will still down for a line management meeting where we can discuss the youth ministry in a bit more depth. Every other week, we have a Torch session or our younger youth which is kindly hosted in a local home by one of our leaders. This is a bit like a mini cell group. We gather to eat amazing home cooked food, we play some table based card games and have a bible study. This year we have been exploring the book of Mark. Thursdays - Today starts with staff prayers. We share leading of the prayer time around the staff which means we all lead about every 5 weeks at the moment. It's a really helpful time to pray for the needs of the church and to pray for one another. On weeks where we don't have a staff lunch, we have a quick meeting to make sure we'll all up to date. I then have an hour and half for any jobs that need doing, this often when I'll start putting finishing touches to Sunday provision so it is prepared before the weekend. Lunchtime is then busy again. First, it is a trip into Richard Taunton's College. Armed with doughnuts, I run a drop in session for students who might want to come and talk. It can be about faith or anything else they want to. There have been some really encouraging conversations over the course of the two terms I have been there already. Second, it is back into USH again to spend some more time in the library. I find being in the school twice a week allows me to get to know students a lot quicker. After school finishes, I grab my tennis racquet and head over to the park to play tennis with one of our church young people. This has been a really enjoyable way of doing some 1-to-1 ministry time and helps me get a bit of exercise in the week! In the evening, I host our cell group every other week which is always an enjoyable way to finish my working week! Fridays - a chance to rest and relax with the family on my day off Saturdays - Have a check of the emails to see if anything has come in on Friday for the weekend. It's a chance to finish up anything that is needed for Sunday. That could be a session plan, a Kahoot or a talk. Sometimes, there is even an exciting trip to Costco for cake! Sundays - These look different depending on the week. On a 1st Sunday, the focus is on Elevate. Our service which led by the young people. I'll be around for the morning service and help with the children's focus at the start of the service where needed. Then, after the service it will be time to set up for the evening. I'll come back at about 4:30pm when the band are rehearsing and help with finishing touches to the space and check in with any young people who are leading or giving a talk in the service. Our recent service in July was such a celebration of joy and watching young people lead the band is fantastic! On a 2nd and 4th Sunday mornings, we have our Ignite group for those in years 6-8. These sessions typically get divided into half. First half is some games, often related to the theme of the session and the second half the session is our teaching time. We have Hot Chocolate and Pain au chocolates in between too! On 3rd and 5th Sundays - I'll either join in with our morning services or spend the morning with my wife and son at their churches picking up ideas to use here! On 2nd - 5th Sundays, I'll try and pick up on any planning admin that needs doing in the afternoons. Hope you have enjoyed the read and if you want to know any more then do come and ask! Dave Snape led us in bible study and prayers looking at:
Acts 2:42-47 1 Corinthians 12:12-20 Ephesians 2:19-22 We talked about unity of purpose and common belief; all the believers being together, they were all different but one in Christ. We, the people are the bricks and Jesus is the foundation and cornerstone. We looked at draft drawings for the Parish Hall and agreed to go ahead with paying for a quantity surveyor so we can have some idea of costings to help us move forward. We also agreed for a computer laser survey to be carried out on 133 Church Street. It’s a complicated building and this seemed the most sensible way forward. We had previously watched videos of different expressions of church: Bubble Church, Mosaic International Church, Café Church, Forest Church and Pub Church. We discussed if they would work in Shirley and were asked to write comments stating what we liked and what we didn’t like about each one. We had a new safeguarding scenario to discuss and were reminded that as we are trustees we have responsibility for safeguarding in the parish. Marie presented us with draft accounts for 2024; she also reminded us that we were trustees and therefore needed to engage with them thoroughly and ask questions about anything we didn’t understand. We agreed to pay for work to be done on a lime tree in the corner of the churchyard to make it safe. We ended in prayer, especially for Youth Fest, Holiday Club, and Holiday at Home. Dan writes ...
Hi all, Life and ministry looks so different for each of us, in the different callings God has put on our lives. We’re not starting with me because I’m more important than anyone else – far from it! But if I’m going to ask others on the staff team and in the congregation to do this, it’s only fair I have a go, too! I’m looking forward to reading contributions other people make to this series. So here’s what I’ve been up to over the last week … Thursday:
Friday
Sunday
Monday
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Wednesday
And in between all of that – various emails and pastoral chats! If you’ve read this far – thank you! PCC Update May 2024
The PCC had their monthly meeting this week. This was the first formal meeting for some of our new PCC members – it was good to have them with us. We begin each meeting with time spent reading the Bible and reflecting. This was led by Tracy, who guided us through some Bible passages and thoughts that had come out of the church prayer meeting focusing on our buildings. We were reminded that God is in the business of transforming people as well as transforming buildings, and that anything we do needs to be in God’s strength, not our own. This was followed by a discussion on the leadership structures of the church. The idea of having a Ministry Leadership Team was discussed. This would include representatives from the Up, In and Out Teams together with church leaders and staff members, and would provide a way for the teams and staff members to know what each other are doing and to work well together. The Buildings Development Group updated us on where their plans have got to for the development of the Parish Hall. Some of the ideas will require planning permission from the council – the PCC agreed that they could go ahead and apply for this. Each PCC meeting includes an item on safeguarding. All our safeguarding policies and procedures are regularly reviewed in line with the guidance from the Diocese. This month Rosie highlighted the reporting procedures we have in place if there is a safeguarding incident. Some of the trees on our land require some work. Once we know how much this will cost the PCC will be asked to approve this so that these trees can be made safer and more manageable. We were then shown a draft video giving a taste of our church community that has been put together to go on our website. It was great to see the variety of people and activities portrayed in such a positive way. We closed the meeting with prayer, acknowledging our dependency on God in all things. |