Playing with textures
Entries from January 2009
The hazards of getting to work
30 January 2009 · Leave a Comment
The church I’m a minister of is set on a private housing estate. We are the only church on the estate, and we are regarded as this community’s church. We have about a thousand people coming through the premises each week to a variety of activities
- to play tennis, badminton or bridge
- to keep fit
- to come to one of our three youth clubs on a Thursday night
- to have dance lessons
- to meet with friends and have a coffee at our coffee bar, open each morning
- to attend the pre-school nursery
- to join in the activities of our various parent and tots groups
- or even to come to worship
And we are often involved in the various rites of passage of the families who live around us.
But where we are placed does have its hazards. The estate itself doesn’t have many pavements, and the roads aren’t well lit, so driving around, to and from the church, means that you need to be extra careful when it’s dark. Commuters pour out of the station early in the evening, in their dark coats, and they are very difficult to spot.
And on a morning such as this morning, when it’s extremely cold and frosty, I am aware that the roads are not gritted. Two or three times this morning I lost traction on the road.
Categories: community
Smoothies
29 January 2009 · Leave a Comment
We’re making smoothies at two of our youth clubs tonight. With Rock Solid the leaders are making the smoothies and the children are trying to guess what the ingredients are in each one. And with School of Rock we’re, perhaps foolishly, allowing the young people to make their own. We have all sorts of ingredients – the kitchen worktop looks like a fruit stall at the moment, plus there are fruit juices and milk and yoghurts in the fridge.
So it’s the healthy option tonight, but no doubt they’ll still spend their money on sweets from the tuck shop.
Categories: Church life
Tagged: smoothies
American Football
28 January 2009 · Leave a Comment
I’m a great American Football fan, and I’m looking forward to this Sunday because it’s Superbowl time. So I’ll be up late watching the game on television. And I’m so glad that the BBC is showing the game, so we won’t have to put up with adverts every few minutes.
I’m delighted that Phil is coming to watch the football with me. We’re going to be cheering for the Pittsburg Steelers!
Categories: Sport and leisure
Visits to school
20 January 2009 · Leave a Comment
I had a good morning this morning. I spent the latter part of the morning, and the lunch hour, in our local primary school, helping with a year 6 maths lesson, then eating lunch with the children before running a small chess club.
We have a great partnership with the school, developed over a number of years. And some of the children at the school come to our midweek youth activities. Since the departure of our Children’s and Youth Worker last year we have had to loosen some of our ties with this school, and others. But in discussions with our deacons it was felt important that we do what we can to maintain the partnership, and so I have been freed up to spend a couple of hours a week in school. I met with the head a couple of weeks ago and it was agreed that I should go into school each week on a Tuesday. And I’m also booked in to take a couple of assemblies each term.
It’s great to be able to meet with these children if a different setting, and also to spend time with some of the staff at the school. I come away from the school feeling so encouraged.
Categories: Church life · community
Tagged: school, youth work
Baptismal service planned for next Sunday
5 January 2009 · 3 Comments
We’ve got a baptismal service on Sunday which I’m very much looking forward to. Three of our teenage girls are getting baptised. They are a part of a group of seven or eight teenagers who started attending one of our youth clubs a couple of years ago, from a completely non-church background. They then started to come to church, and some of them have been a part of the church family for the last eighteen months or so. They are excited about their baptism, and have invited a number of friends to the service.
We’re going to import a second heater for the baptistry, to make sure that the water is warm enough – because our church sanctuary is generally fairly cold at this time of year. Though poor Jo, the first one to be baptised, will be hanging around a while in wet clothing, because they all want to support each other and see each other baptised.
So please pray for us, and especially for Jo, Annabel and Ellie.
Categories: Church life
