ENTERPRISE - March/April 2010

From our Senior Minister

A word from Colin …

It is now 20 years since Nelson Mandela was released from a 27 year imprisonment under the apartheid regime of South Africa.  Following his release from prison on 11th February 1990, Mandela supported reconciliation and negotiation, and helped to lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in South Africa.  However this had not always been his approach to trying to end the evil of apartheid.  During his captivity he had reflected long and hard about who he was and what he wanted to be about.

Thankfully not many of us get such an involuntary and extended wake-up call, but the question “Who are you and how are you going to live and be?” is present in every encounter and experience.

Tempted to compromise
As we move into Lent we remember that for Jesus it was implicit in the temptations that tried to manipulate and throw him off course as the authentic Father-like Son:  “If you are the son of God...”  As we celebrate Holy Week we thank God that he remained true and obedient even to death on a cross and that God vindicated his way of living and serving, raising him to life on the third day.  For John the Baptist the question was direct.  “Who are you?” and “What are you about?” demanded some religious leaders (John 1.19-28).

Who do you think you are?
“Who are you?” is a crucial question frequently asked of us both implicitly and explicitly.  In churches this question often comes across as “Are you the same as, or prepared to become like, us?” in which case you are allowed in.  Outside the church, the question is more often “Who can you become or be like through the lifestyle choices you make, the clothes and accessories you buy, the décor of your home, the places that you eat in and clubs that you join?”  (Don’t panic – as soon as you are tired of this latest image, you can use your purchasing power to become something or someone else!)

There is a messiah – and it’s not you!
John the Baptist knew who he was not (“I am not the Messiah” – a very important realisation for many of us – there is a messiah – and it’s not you!).  He also knew who he was – the forerunner of God’s Messiah who paved the way for him.  He was chosen and called by God to use his energies to point to Jesus and get the people ready for him.  And the Baptist was secure and content when – as a result of his ministry – his own followers “left him to follow Jesus” (John 1.35-37).

“Who are you?” is a question which many people are exploring.  So many of our experiences and encounters tell us that who we are isn’t acceptable or enough.  Yet the Scriptures teach that we are made in God’s image, each of us has special gifts and talents, all of us have a contribution, and that our lifelong journey is to grow up into Christ – to become who we are in him.  And that means asking the question “Who and how has God made me at this point in time?”  Like the Baptist we also need to know who and what we are not (and never have to be).

One of the healing experiences which we are invited to know deeply is that we are loved by God as we are, and that who we are is a blessing and gift to others.  Knowing this truth sets us free to live in and for God.  As Nelson Mandela put it, “We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.  It’s not just in some of us;  it’s in everyone”.  So, physically healed or not, mainly victorious or struggling, weak or strong, individually and together, we are God’s poiema, God’s masterpiece (see Ephesians 2.10).  God is taking every experience and working it together for the good of forming us to be a blessing to others.

Colin

What do You Expect at Your Age?

Being told “What do you expect at your age?” is unpleasant.  Indeed, it has become a campaign slogan for those against age discrimination.

As the General Election approaches care for the elderly has become a hot political issue.  In the ward around Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church 22% of the residents are over 65 years old.  The figure for Bristol as a whole is about 15%.  Walk around the church locality during the day and you will readily meet older people with whom to exchange smiles.  While many older people are still able to live in their own home, often a preferred option, there are at least 20 residential homes offering varying degrees of care.  At Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church, along with the young and those in middle life, older people are well represented at services (roughly 22 %) and at other activities.  Senior Circle on Thursday afternoons is a particular provision for the elderly.  While many older people appear to be thriving, some need varying degrees of support and can at times feel marginalised.  Do they experience ageism?

Care in both residential homes and hospital wards is generally of a high standard, as it is at home.  However, when visiting, you may at times have seen a cup of tea left cold, a meal uneaten, false teeth not in place and spectacles not being worn, all because they were out of reach.  In some way, needs have not been met and dignity has not been assured.  Suddenly we encounter age discrimination and we may be at a loss to know how to react.

An in-depth review has been undertaken of how the NHS and social care can effectively tackle age discrimination.  Headed by Jan Ormondroyd, Chief Executive of Bristol City Council and Sir Ian Carruthers, Chief Executive of the South West Strategic Health Authority, the report has been submitted to the Secretary of State for Health.  While good practice was praised, it observed that examples of ageism were found to be based on thoughtlessness and misplaced assumptions which meant that certain behaviour was not recognised as discriminatory.  A poll of doctors who care for older people found almost half of them believed that the NHS was ‘institutionally ageist’.

Speaking at the Bristol Old People’s Forum in January, Richard Gleave, who worked on the review, illustrated age-discrimination in Bristol, using the case of Joseph and Alice.

“Joseph is 77 years old.  He went to his GP because he was having problems with walking to the shops.  The doctor said that if he had been younger then he would have referred him for an operation on his hip.  His daughter was present and she intervened and so the doctor agreed to refer Joseph and he subsequently did have the operation.

Alice is 85 and lived in her own home with support from her daughter.  When the daughter became ill, the social worker and GP were concerned about the level of support that Alice would need to remain at home, even though she strongly wanted to remain there.  She was not offered the option of direct payments.  Alice was re-housed into residential care, where she died six months later.”

Several older people at the Forum felt that just being seen meant that they were marginalised;  a geriatric ward seemed to be their destination even before a diagnosis was made.  Attitude and behaviour were considered as important as outcomes.  Another example of age discrimination might be a requirement for early retirement on grounds of age, or not offering training on similar grounds.

When consultations are complete the law against age discrimination will be further strengthened, probably in 2012.  When you experience ageism personally it takes courage to speak out, though that can be done by relations or friends.  The overall challenge is to ensure that each of us, individually or as members of a family, a church or other organisation do not intentionally or unintentionally discriminate on the grounds of age.

Bristol Old Peoples' Forum is a voluntary organisation;  anyone over the age of 55 may belong.  Write to the Forum, c/o Age Concern, Canningford House, 38 Victoria St., Bristol, BS1 6BY, or telephone 0117 927 9222.  The next meeting of the Forum is on Thursday 25th March at 10.30 am at the Council House, College Green.

The report to the Secretary of State for Health is called ‘Achieving age equality in health and social care’, 22 October 2009, available from the Department of Health

Gordon Holmes

Family Church Psalm

In the Beginners/Infants group of Family Church we have been writing our own Psalm of Praise.  We have also made our own Praise Tree.  You can see both of these on the display board in the Carey Room – please go and have a look; we would love you to see them.

It occurred to me that much of the work of Family Church goes unnoticed by the wider fellowship, especially as we now have coffee in the foyer, so forays along the corridor are more limited.

These are the words of the Psalm we wrote, but it looks better on the display!

Our world is brilliant;  praise you Lord.
For Africa and other countries, and the people that live there;
For all the animals – frogs and toads,
Elephants with their long trunks and tigers with their stripes,
For kangaroos that jump and moles that dig their holes
For all the animals, praise you Lord.

For all the food we have that you supply,
The chocolate and cheese, the sweets and the crisps, coke and pizza;
For all the types of fruit we enjoy –
Bananas and grapes, strawberries and apples,
And potatoes – so many types of potato;
Roasted or mashed, baked in their jackets or turned into
Crisps and chips – praise you Lord.

You have given us a wonderful body and there are so many things we can do with it;  we can swim and jog, sing and run, skip and learn.

And in the world we live in, we have places to swim and beaches,
Sunny desert and freezing ice.
In these places different people live who are all your children.  Praise you Lord.

For our families and friends and mums and dads and for our friends
Here and all around the world, people that you love – Praise you Lord.  Amen

Rachel Hall

From Holy Boy to Holy Night

In 1990 a small group, including Heather Colbran, Maureen Cowley, Rachel Corbin and myself met to discuss the possibility of staging a church musical.  We decided to base the performances on ‘Holy Boy’ by David Palmer but because an element of drama was to be added we renamed the whole project ‘Cradle of Hope’.

Invitations were issued to church members to take part or volunteer to help in any way they could.  Eventually about 80 people came forward to act, sing or play.  The church was transformed with staging erected down one side of the sanctuary and all the seating re-arranged accordingly.  A number of performances were given and the whole project was a great success.

Until ‘Cradle of Hope’ we had no formal musical groups performing on a regular basis.  I approached Peter King and suggested that it would be good if we could keep the choir together on a more formal basis.  He agreed wholeheartedly saying that he would like the Choir to perform an introit on Sunday mornings “to prepare the congregation for worship”.  In other words he hoped it would make the congregation quieten down!

As a result, the Choir started rehearsing on Friday evenings and a whole new musical repertoire was discovered, learned and performed.  The choir gradually increased its range of music and it wasn’t long before secular concerts were being performed to raise funds for charities.  Christmas was an especially busy time with carol services and concerts being arranged on a regular basis.

Not long after this a junior choir called ‘Jubilate’ was formed with Sheila Cooper as conductor.  Soon both groups were sharing in performing introits on Sundays and singing in concerts and as a result their numbers quickly increased.

The number of musicians also grew and they began playing on a regular basis for services on Sundays and contributing to concerts as soloists and as an ensemble.  A very successful local band ‘Rock of Ages’ was formed on the back of ‘Cradle of Hope’ and two members also played in the band for ‘Holy Night’.

The participation of instrumentalists and the range of worship songs expanded as we tried to include different styles which catered for all ages.  This is still the subject of an ongoing debate!

Further combined performances were given such as 'In His Presence', 'No Greater Love' and Stainer’s 'Crucifixion'.

With the arrival of Steve Finamore a Music Committee was established to co-ordinate the music and worship with hymns and songs being chosen to fit the themes of services.

During the whole of this time my guiding light and mentor has been Heather.  She has combined the roles of Choir Secretary, Music Researcher and Accompanist with unfailing good humour leaving me little notes as to what I should be doing at rehearsals.  I am forever indebted to her for her support and encouragement.

More recently a singing group was formed to cater for people who enjoyed singing modern worship songs with wider range of music styles, but who did not want to join the choir.  This new group soon became established and shared with the Choir and Jubilate in singing introits and offertory songs.

In July 2009 Colin Norris suggested we should combine once again to give two performances of Graham Kendrick’s ‘Holy Night’ early in December.  Many of the original performers from ‘Cradle of Hope’ also participated this time.  Rachel Corbin was once again in charge of the drama and both performances were well received by an appreciative audience.

Well, I decided that, as I was approaching my 70th birthday in early January, ‘Holy Night’ would be my final performance as Conductor of the choir and of other musical presentations with the exception of the 2009 Candlelight Carol Service.

I have enjoyed every minute of the past 20 years and would like to give my sincere thanks to the members of the choir for their staunch support and regular attendance on Friday evenings.  Many of them have been in the choir from the start.

Perhaps I can make a plea at this time to encourage new younger members to join the Choir with its new Conductor, Margaret Johnstone, so that we can maintain the tradition that has been built up and continue to enhance the musical life of the church.

Finally, I should like to thank Peter, Steve and Colin for their encouragement and support.  Music has been and always will be primarily an enhancement to worship and your words of appreciation after the services will be remembered with gratitude and affection.

Paul Seath

Thank you Paul!

On a cold evening in January, the Choir met at Valentino’s restaurant to give Paul Seath our warm thanks and very good wishes on his retirement as Choirmaster.  We enjoyed remembering the range of music we had sung together over the years, from different styles of church music to the many secular items that were performed at our regular concerts.  Paul was more than able to facilitate this wide repertoire.

Paul has always been very committed to the Choir and has provided us with many enjoyable hours of music making, often adding interesting facts about composers or singers, and sharing items of general musical interest with us.

None of us ever auditioned, but Paul enabled us to make a musical sound together even if, on occasions, it took quite a few hours of hard work to achieve it!

We are very pleased that Paul will be continuing to worship with us.

Heather Colbran

Fair Trade

Tea project goes national
Three years ago Traidcraft Exchange, the development arm of Traidcraft, started a project in response to the crisis in the Indian tea industry.  It has brought about lasting changes, addressing some of the serious inequities which are a feature of in the tea industry in India.

The project targeted poor and marginal tea growers and workers in the Nilgiri Hills in the south of India.  Helped by the partner organisation CEC, more than 300 village societies were created, helping small tea growers to establish direct links with tea factories.  This has been copied in other areas, and has led to the formation of a national association which has been given a prominent place in the tea industry policy-making forum, helping more than 230,000 small tea growers, and their workers.  Now they get paid a full and fair price, and their leaves are weighed properly.  Better prices for growers have led to better incomes for tea workers.  So your purchases do make a difference in several ways!

Profits from the stalls at church are split between Traidcraft Exchange and Tearfund.  You can help Traidcraft Exchange in several ways.  If you are an Amazon customer, you may like to know that Traidcraft Exchange will benefit from a 10% commission on everything you buy if you access the Amazon site through the Traidcraft website, www.traidcraft.co.uk/amazon. 

The new teas range
Traidcraft’s new blends are designed to give vulnerable producers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and India the greatest benefit from trade and support.  The new range is, (naturally), top quality fair trade tea:
“Traidcraft Everyday is a full strength tea designed for perfect brewing in a tea pot or a cup.  The leaves produce a tea which is gold and mellow in colour, with a lively, refrehing flavour. The Everyday decaffinated blend has a golden colour and smooth flavour.  Traidcraft African Gold is vacuum-sealed to produce a gold tea with a fresh-from-the-fields flavour.”

You can decide whether you agree with this blather by tasting these teas at the Fair Trade Café on Wednesday 3rd March.  There, you will also see other new food and craft products as well as your favourite food items.

The Fair Trade stall will also be at the coffee morning on 13th March and after the Sunday morning services on 28th March and 25th April.

Rachel Corbin

Welcoming Students

Some of you will remember that, last October, when we went to the Downs to do our usual student-welcome event, there was also a group from St Mary's with their own welcome table.  Since then I have been looking at ways in which we could combine our resources and I recently met Mark, a student at Trinity College, who heads up student work at St Mary’s.  We had a very positive and encouraging meeting.

Mark's tutor group at the college has been assigned a project involving work with the students living in the Stoke Bishop Halls.  He has many great ideas, which he shared with me, and he is well resourced by the College.  He has proposed that we form a student work steering group with representatives from St Mary's and ourselves, together with some of the Trinity students.  We will then plan together the work that is currently going on and any future developments.

My meeting with Mark was so exciting because he seemed to share my vision for student work, and to offer distinct possibilities for realising this vision, at a time when it was beginning to look as if there might not be sufficient volunteers available to develop the work from Westbury alone.

It was great to be able to discuss our experiences with Mark and to share our hopes and ideas as well as some of the difficulties and frustrations that we have felt.  It was very helpful to be able to hear him say exactly some of the thoughts which I myself have concerning the goals of the project and the way forward.  I felt as if he was able to read my mind.

Mark is currently running evangelistic events on the Downs every Wednesday.  Already James has been along to help at one of these morning sessions where Mark and others go up to the Downs to meet with and chat to students as they walk to the university.

If you would like to go along to one of these sessions please let me know and I will put you in touch with Mark.

It is so encouraging to realise that God is working through us and our tiny efforts to inspire others to carry on and develop the work further and take it somewhere so much bigger than we could every have imagined on our own.

If you would like to know more, please email me or chat to me or James about it.

Ali Watson

News from Lawrence Weston Baptist Church

Our ageing premises continue to pose challenges.  We celebrated the start of 2010, not with a party, but by replacing our drains!  We have also replaced the fence along the side of our car park – for this a group of strong chaps, friends of one of our members, gave their labour free, thus helping us to keep the costs down.

As we go to press we are hoping for a good turn out of support from our cluster churches at our work morning on 27th February.

Our application for a BU Mission Grant has now been sent off; we hope that this will enable us to employ Mary Clark as our part-time minister in training during her second year at College.

We look ahead in our mission activities with enthusiasm.

We have set up a steering group to plan two pilot mid week services for families in the summer term, based on the ‘Messy Church’ model.

We have had to close Sing 4 your Supper to new members.  Up to 30 children now regularly attend.  The team look forward to bringing the children to share in the Easter Experience at Westbury.

Our homework club, BOOST, is hoping for more members as we continue to nurture relationships with our local secondary schools.  At our Tuesday Together club for the elderly, our ecumenical team are considering setting up a group to explore the Christian faith together.

The Jellie Tots team, with help from some of the mums are setting up a new ‘get fit’ group called Spring into Summer.  In all this we value your prayers and remain dependant on God’s enabling to show his love and effectively grasp opportunities to declare the gospel.  If you believe God is calling you to share in any of these activities, occasionally or regularly, I’d be delighted to hear from you.

Sheila

Common Ground

Clive Seward

Christian Aid Week

Yes, it’s that time of year when we all need to think about contributing to Christian Aid Week which this year is 9th-15th May.  We will be joining thousands of others who are determined to end poverty.  This year the focus will be on Haiti and elsewhere.

In the coming weeks I will be looking for a number of volunteers to help with the house to house collection.  So, whether you have collected in the past and would like to help again this year or if you would like to volunteer for the first time please let me know by speaking to me after the morning service or by e-mail or telephone.

Finally, you may like to know that it is possible to make a donation direct to the emergency appeal for Haiti through Christian Aid via the web site www.christianaid.org.uk.

Robin Macleavy

From Durham to Kanungu

At latitude -0.9425, longitude 29.7869 and 5879 ft above sea level lies a small village in south-western Uganda called Kirima.  It is the location of a project run by CHIFCOD (the Child to Family Community Development Organisation) a small not-for-profit organization based in the Kanungu district of Uganda.

Over 15 years, they have set up 4 primary schools, a secondary school and a college which, it is hoped, will be raised to university status.  The Great Lakes High School opened in 2008 but its popularity is such that they are looking to expand their facilities already.  A science block, an IT suite and a new classroom block are currently being planned.  However, there is no electricity to any buildings in the area.  Neither is there any government support or funding for these schools, so all the money has to come from donations from people in the UK or from the village’s income from coffee growing.

Why am I telling you all this?  Well, Durham University’s EWB (Engineers without Borders) society is currently organising a project to go and construct a small-scale hydro-electric generator using the stream that is already used for irrigating the coffee plants.  The plan is that it will generate enough electricity to power both the new IT suite (when it is built!) and a motorised coffee grinder to save time, labour and, hence, money.  This summer marks the start of the practical side of the project.  In June, 5 students are travelling out to start making links with tradesmen and locals, but also surveying the site properly as the information we have received from different people is only approximate and often contradictory, even from the same person.  The construction work will be carried out in the summer of 2011 and I hope to be part of that team.

So, to raise money for this summer’s expedition and to attack the total £30,000 for the project completion, I am going to jump out of a plane at 10,000 ft.  With a parachute and someone who knows what they’re doing strapped to my back, obviously!  I shall be doing this mad act in early May, but I would appreciate money pledges as soon as possible.

I shall be back in Bristol to request your money in person in April, but if you cannot wait to pledge some money, please email me.  Or speak to one of my parents.  I’m sure they won’t mind passing on hundreds of messages!  Many thanks in advance,

Andrew Corbin

Gifts of Flowers

If you appreciate the flowers in church each Sunday, you may like to consider donating the cost one week a year.  This could be to celebrate a birth or wedding anniversary, or to remember a relative or close friend.  Your flowers would be arranged as close to your preferred date as possible.  Please see Heather Colbran if you are interested.

Short Notes

On the Move
The following friends have new contact details, available from the Church Office:
   Cynthia Burridge, James & Helen Thorpe, Sam King.