A "cafe service"

During the last three months I have been on an horrendously busy assignment that has involved quite a lot of long distance commuting. One of the joys of working around the country is that I get glimpses of Christians at work well away from my own circuit and Sundays.

Over the last few months I have worked near to St Paul's Hammersmith, an Anglican Church, serving a thriving area of West London. They open at lunchtimes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays making a welcome oasis of tranquility in a busy commercial centre.

On Wednesday's they hold a short lunchtime service for the nearby business community. Before Christmas they used the tradition format of rows of chairs facing the lectern. This proved to be difficult because fitting in lunch (especially important after a long early morning commute) and worshipping somehow didn't always work.

Over the last two weeks they have used the "cafe format". Last week I wasn't expecting it and had made arrangements for lunch elsewhere. I must admit that juggling a hymn sheet whilst drinking a cup of tea didn't seem to work.

This week though, better prepared, I took my sandwiches into the church about ten minutes before the service and was able to combine the two.

Better still, the church officials had apparently picked up on the difficulty of hymn sheets mixing with food and drink and used a powerpoint hymn screen, making everything much more easier.

Now that I've tried the cafe format twice, I must say that it can work. This was obviously helped by the quality of the music (good) and the short talk (also good).

However I think it has to be in context - during a busy working day it seemed appropriate, I'm not certain it would work on a Sunday morning at the Tat Bank Road Methodist Church.

If you are working anywhere near Hammersmith on a Wednesday, pop in to "St Paul's at One" and don't be afraid to take your sarnies.

Sorting out electronic communications

There's a slight chance that my personal situation is going to change in future weeks, so I've put a bit of energy this weekend in reviewing my own church's electromic communications.

I've had a little play with my own church's modest website.

Using the services of our freinds on YouTube I have added some new features.

One page is devoted to the origins of Methodism using three excellent short films about John Wesley.

A second page is devoted to a collection of the favourite hymns of those of us at City Road.

I must say I really enjoyed the two or three hours it took to pull that collection together!

Alas, not much time for posting over the next few days but I will leave you with one of my favourite YouTube finds - a very old hymn in a very modern setting.

Keep the money in Bearwood

Here in Bearwood we are fortunate to have three of the finest local councillors serving anywhere in British local government. Steve Eling, Ann Jaron and Bob Piper do a superb job on our behalf

In today's Bearwood Bulletin they make a very strong local point:


Abbey Ward councillors are urging
people to support local traders and try to
help them over the ‘credit crunch’.

Councillor Bob Piper said, “It is vital to the
local community that we try to sustain the
vitality of our local shopping centre. We
already know Rosebys, Woolworths, Adams,
Firkins, Atticus and the HSBC bank have
gone from Bearwood in the last few weeks.
A number of other smaller shops have also
ceased trading.

It is all down to footfall and if
people are not using the shops we risk losing
them all together. We would then face the
prospect of becoming a sort of ghost town
with a series of boarded up shops.
“I think everyone knows the pattern of
shopping has changed over the last 20 years
and more and more people are doing a big
weekly shop in supermarkets. We are not
going to reverse that trend, but there are a
number of traders in Bearwood who could be
sustained if people shopped locally for some
of their groceries at least.

“We are aware that some smaller traders are
really feeling the pinch and if people we to
buy things like fruit, bread and meat in our
local shops it could make all the difference
for them. Fortunately we have attracted
Argos and Aldi in recent times or else I would
dread to think what the likely impact might
be.”

Of course, it isn’t just the Bearwood shopping
centre that is affected. In Kings Heath in
Birmingham, for instance, the Traders’
Association is predicting the loss of anything
up to 100 shops closing over the next few
months.

But if we want to keep our shops in Bearwood
we need to try to ensure that local people
choose them rather than travelling to out of
town supermarkets. Shopping locally is good
for the environment because it reduces the
amount of travelling, it maintains employment
levels during difficult times, and empty,
boarded up shops attract crime and
vandalism.

Would you Adam and Eve it?

I find this story hard to believe, but he was a Young Tory so it could be true.

Given my current work situation there will be no posts this week...sorry to my regular readers but it is a question of priorities.

Made in Smethwick

Local readers may be interested in this item from today's Sunday Mercury highlighting the town's rich industrial heritage.

Looking forward to 2009

I have a feeling I am not alone in wondering what the New Year will bring.

This morning I joined Birmingham's Christ Apostolic Church (Bethel) for their annual New Year's Day service. As always the mood was upbeat as we thought about the challenges ahead for 2009.

The CAC(B) in Birmingham is committed to praying for Revival and did so this morning with enthusiastic commitment.

I have some real concerns for 2009.

There is no doubt that unemployment will rise during the first few months of the year. I get fed up with middle class clergy saying that the economic downturn should be an opportunity for some sort of spiritual advance as people put aside material things. I can understand that for people in "safe jobs" (though the safest jobs these days seem to be in the church). However I've seen many friends and their families destroyed by unemployment. I just hope that in 2009 Church leaders think carefully before they preach.

This morning I was rejoicing to the family that the US was about to have a Black President. Someone pointed out that before the inauguration something fatal could happen to the President elect. We really need to pray for that man.

My email links with Israel tell me that there is a concerted effort underway to persuade Israeli civil society to call for peace. Let us hope this is successful.

Meanwhile the personal challenge will be to remain in business. I pray and I work. I keep saying to myself that possibly I don't need to earn as much and then I think of my biggest item of annual expenditure.....

....our church has had it's troubles in recent years. I can't go into details but it feels that we carry an enormous burden. Sometimes in Methodism people get dewy eyed about our inner city witness: they forget that this witness has to be self supporting and that the inner city is often the dumping ground for society's and the church's problems.

So 2009 will be a difficult year, one in which we need to cling closely to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ.