January 30th

Thursday we went to Exeter to the Christian Resources Exhibition so that we could go to a couple of the seminars there. Ali went to one called 'A gospel of words or signs?' which gave her a lot to think about how to include deaf people into the life of the church. Jon went to a one entitled 'Why don't real men go to church?' which he found to be interesting. It was a good opportunity to hear about some different issues and other people's points of view.

Jon went to Open church on Friday lunchtime and attended the service on Sunday morning. It was good to have the links between prayer for the OMF missionaries that the church supports and Kang-San Tan (a lecturer from Redcliffe who was preaching) who used to work for OMF.

On Friday Ali went off to Eastbourne to the Children's ministry conference for the weekend. Eastbourne was actually sunny(!) but unfortunately the conference was very intensive so she didn't get much opportunity to see the delights (!) of the town - although early Saturday morning she did get a chance to go to the beach and watch the sun rise.

The conference had some really good seminars on puppetry and she learnt some great action songs with Duggie-Dug-Dug (that's Doug Horley who wrote 'We want to see Jesus lifted high' for those who don't know) - it was wonderful to see a whole auditorium of adults all getting involved and doing all the funny actions - the chicken dance song was particularly memorable! There was also very funny magic trick involving a square of cloth and a banana!

During the main teaching sessions they did show a couple of videos that were shown during the Children's ministry course last year at Redcliffe (good to see Redcliffe leading the way...) The most challenging aspect, apart from cramp from writing copious notes, was feeling lonel,y as so many other delegates had come in groups from their churches.

Gloucester Roads No Longer Safe

For anyone who hasn't read our Cheltenham blog, Ali has passed her driving test!

January 24th

First up - Ali passed her driving test on Monday after the blog was published - She is still in shock!

Second, we were at another pastors' meeting yesterday morning, followed by Jon going to the lunch club and Ali going to the Ladies Fellowship. There was lots of postive feedback about Jon leading the evening service on Sunday, but he was accused of being a Pentecostal by one lady! (This was a positive comment...!)

Jon went to the Christianity Explored course that began at Cambray on Monday night. It was a generally good experience but it was the introductory session. Hopefully he will be able to continue going along and see some more of the course. Seeing as it is based on Mark - the Mark course we did in the autumn term will be coming in useful!

January 22nd

Last Thursday saw us at Tiny Tots Plus again. Ali was asked to man the tea and coffee station but had a few problems working out how to pour coffee, not spill the milk and chat - who said multi-tasking was a natural gift for women? Jon got his hands dirty - literally! He dived in with enthusiasm to the craft activity which was painting shakers with the children. He only managed to get one mark on his trousers...hmm, is this a new skill he has acquired?
In the afternoon Ali went to visit a couple of the older members of the congregation with Don. It was a good experience and very interesting meeting them. She enjoyed finding a bit more about them and their involvement with the church. In the evening Ali went off again to go to the mission prayer evening. She was able to find out about the different people the church support in India, Nigeria, Bolivia and the UK. It is good to know the church is committed to supporting their missionaries in prayer.
Friday we were both at Cambray for Open Church where we both had the opportunity to chat.
Sunday morning saw an early start again with Ali going along to the Gateway Fellowship again. This has been running for around 18/19 years. There was a big group of people there and it was lovely to worship with them. Ali was joined by the rest of the family for the morning service and then we went to lunch with a couple from the church. This was a great time and we chatted with another family who had also been invited. It is good to get to know people a little better each time we see them and also to share a bit more about our journey. A quick dash home via Redcliffe for a birthday party then tea and Jon was off to church again to lead the service. This went really well and he said it was good to be involved. The music was different again in both services. In the morning the Junior Choir sang a couple of songs, and both services had drums, guitars, etc. and had a much more contemporary feel.

January 17th

Sunday last started early with Ali going along to the Gateway Fellowship at 9.15am which is a service for adults with learning difficulties. One lovely chap had seen Ali with her usual hat on around Cheltenham and told everyone there she had a hat. This was funny, but only because she wasn't wearing it! It was good to use Makaton to sign the songs - one lady thought Ali had picked up the signs very quickly, but Ali told her it was because she'd been using sign for a number of years and wasn't to do with some sudden ability! The people there were really friendly and welcoming.
Following straight on was the morning service where we were interviewed by the associate pastor, Fred and given an opportunity to share a bit about ourselves, what we hope to get out of the placement and what our plans for the future are. The music for the service was provided by a piano accompanied by three violins, a cello and a guitar! Jon read the morning's reading, our first 'proper' involvement in a Cambray service.
Evening saw Ali at church again, as it was her turn to read the reading. Music this time provided by the organ and a trumpet.
Tuesday this week was a review meeting with John, Fred and Don again. Good to spend some time with them sharing about what we had been involved in. Then Jon went with John to Oxford where John is teaching a five-week course on Christ in the Psalms, once a week. This course is a one- or two-year course run by several different churches to support people interested in ministry, building upon a course already in place in one of the anglican churches in Oxford. There is one full day per week of both lectures and practical teaching and is attended by about 40 people. It was really encouaging to see not just this number of people attending, but also the commitment from various churches to work together to train possible future leaders.
Ali, meanwhile, went to the lunch club again - really nice to chat with the folks there and find out a bit more about what they get up to.

January 2007 update!

We've just received the date for our interview for ministerial recognition - March 29th.

We'll both need to take a service between now and then, and someone from the ministerial recognition committee will have to sit in on them.

Please pray for both the services, the interview, and our preparations for both, particularly because it looks like this will all be happening while we're either on placement or very soon afterwards.

January 12th

Thursday saw us at the toddler group - a new experience for Jon, a more familiar one for Ali. There were quite a few people there and it was good to be able to chat with the parent/carers and get positive feedback about how the group runs. We'll be going along next week as well.

Friday saw Jon getting up really early to go to a breakfast meeting of the local evangelical church leaders. Jon said it was good to be able to talk with people from other church backgrounds about how they saw church and the issues they are facing.

Jon then went along to the church which is open for a couple of hours at lunchtime. There is an opportunity for people to drop in for a chat, but it is better attended in the summer when the weather is better.

While Jon was at church at lunchtime Ali went along to a ladies bible study. They started a new study on the Holy Spirit which was interesting. The group seems to be thriving. The children who come are looked after by another lady who does a wonderful job enabling the ladies to study while the children play.

January 9th

Yesterday evening Ali was invited to a meeting that was discussing arrangements and plans for a women's away day. It was very interesting to see how they view the importance of women in pastoral care within Cambray.
Today we began by meeting with John, Fred and Don to talk over what we'll be doing during the week. We then went along to the lunch club and got to know a few of the more mature members of the congregation. The food was great, and the club seemed well attended.
After lunch we went in two different directions; Jon went to the men's prayer meeting and Ali to the ladies fellowship meeting.
The prayer meeting consisted of about half a dozen older men, although some people were away today. Jon was asked if he would mind opening with a brief moment of devotions - five minutes before the start! It seemed to go OK, and it was good to spend time in prayer with these men.
The ladies fellowship was a well attended group. Two ladies shared their personal verse for the year and Ali was interviewed (but at least had had prior warning and was ready to be questioned.) Fred spoke about Psalm 138 and afterwards there was a welcome cup of tea!
This evening Jon has gone along to sit in on a deacons' meeting.

In the next couple of days we will be attending home groups, a bible study and the toddler group, so will be quite busy dashing back and forth to Cheltenham.

January 7th

OK, so we're on placement again, but not quite as far as Brisbane this time! This time we're at Cambray Baptist Church in Cheltenham.
And no, don't expect daily blogs this time because we are not 10,000 miles away, experiencing the delights of a foreign country.
For those who don't know, Cheltenham is about 7 miles away from Gloucester, so we won't have to travel far at all, and will be able to stay at home (the girls are still at school.)
That said, it is a little complicated because it means travelling to and from there every time we need to do something. We hope we won't clock up 20,000 miles over the next six weeks!
We started, sort of unofficially, by attending the services on Sunday.
Cambray Baptist church is interesting because it still has the 'traditional' English Baptist chapel layout - raised church organ, balcony on three sides, raised pulpit, etc...
There are a few mod. cons. such as twin, rear-projected video screens at the front, a fancy lectern that can be raised or lowered, decent chairs downstairs and good lighting.
The morning service was a fairly traditional style Baptist service, with most of the hymns being played on the organ, the kids going out after about half an hour, and tea and coffee after the service.
The evening service was a communion service, but was strikingly different. After the first hymn, the reading was read, then we went straight into the sermon. After the sermon, we sang another hymn, listened to some notices etc, sang a song, then went into communion. This was interesting because we ate the bread together, not when we received it, sang a chorus, then drank the wine as we received it, not together. This seemed really strange to me because every Baptist church I've ever been to, as far as I can remember, does this the other way round. We then finished with a hymn. The whole thing took an hour; half for the sermon, half for communion.
I was really impressed that they had decided to change the format of the communion service, rather than try to cram everything in together or have a service that ran for another thirty minutes.
Apparently the morning service isn't usually quite so traditional, but we'll see next week what the difference is.
So, a good start, glad for a different experience, hope it continues so positively.

January 2007

After a fairly stress-free Christmas and New Year, we're now on placement for the next six weeks. This time we are a little closer to home, just seven miles down the road in Cheltenham. We've set up a blog for the placement (click here), like we did for Oz (see here). We're not planning on updating this one daily, though!
The girls are back to school now, so we'll be trying to juggle school runs and placement.
That's all for now:)