August 2010 - FX ARCHIVE...

Sorted

Church Army evangelist Captain Andy Milne first launched Sorted in 2004. As a keen skateboarder he got to know the area's young skaters, many of whom went on to become founder members of the youth church in north Bradford. Now skateboarding is just one of many activities they enjoy every week, explains Andy.

We meet on Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights, and we'll see an average of 100 young people during that time. About 25 to 30 get together for the Monday youth congregation from 7.15 to 9pm but they are very active and help set up the equipment and run the whole thing really – including worship, teaching, prayer, and activities in between. The age range is 13 to 20.

On Tuesday night, we meet in a different place – at the Salvation Army – and have five different groups with anything up to 35 people there. Each group is led by two young people. Sometimes there is a discussion around a Bible passage and sometimes they work on a fund raising project but the idea is to try and provide a place where they can really talk about their faith and what they can do with that faith. It's more discipleship focused. When they get involved in leadership it really helps their understanding. If they run it themselves, they really own it and the energy triples.

Fridays will see us have a testimony, short talk for about five minutes and then different activities in the various rooms. Last year we asked the young people what they wanted to do at this session. We have to be facilitators in it – otherwise they are going to get bored. There's quite a wide age range for this one, it's about 11 to 20, and the older teens run it with some adults as well. We can get 40 or 50 people coming to that.

One room is used for things like live music sessions; there is also a café with a tuckshop, and games on offer like softball and table tennis. We have people doing dj-ing with mixing and that sort of stuff. It's amazing when you look back to see how things have grown since were first given use of a portakabin in the grounds of a school. Some of the young people have been coming to us ever since.

What tends to happen is that kids come through their friends or schools to Friday evening sessions because it's very open, accessible to anyone. Then they get to know people and when there is a bit more trust they tend to move into the other two groups.

When we started, one of the ways I was able to build relationships was through the skateboarding but it's quite a small part now. It has been good to see a lot of young people come from very different backgrounds to be part of this and I have been privileged to witness young people having experiences of God on a Monday night, come to faith and develop into leaders and disciples.

Some local churches realised they hadn't got the resources to do something similar themselves but felt they could support something that's Kingdom work by allowing us to use their buildings. They show their support for us in practical ways.

We are in the process of setting up Sorted 2 about a mile-and-a-half up the road because we realised that about 80% of those in Sorted 1 were from the same school of around 1200 pupils. The second school in the area is the sixth largest secondary in the country with about 1800 students but it is currently being extended so will be even bigger. It is multicultural and multiracial.

There was a real sense that God was asking us to go there. Then one lady had a picture of God giving us a key, opening up something that hadn't been open for some time. People were amazed when we were then invited to go in. As a result we started working with youngsters there and developing groups. We now see about 30 young people every week in Sorted 2. It’s a massive thing for us.

In the last year, a Church Army team has been drawn together to oversee the whole thing. People from local churches also act as adult volunteers for each Sorted, and it all makes a tremendous difference because the work through the schools is growing all the time.

Another exciting development for us is to be granted a Bishop's Mission Order. It means we are now seen as being on an equal footing with other churches and it also clarifies what Sorted is all about in this part of Bradford. The BMO was first mentioned about three years ago when it was noted that Sorted is not a seedbed for something else or an extension to another church. It's a church in its own right.

That could clearly be seen earlier this year when six of our teenagers were baptised by the then Bishop of Bradford, Rt Revd David James, in the River Wharfe. A further five then joined them to be confirmed and take Communion by the side of the river in Ilkley. We find that the young people often have an experience of God before they follow him. Rather than a gradual intellectual process, they often have an encounter with God and begin to make sense of it later.

Going back to where it all started, I have now written a book about skateboarding called The Skateboarders Guide to God in which I try to connect the Gospel with skateboarding mentality and language. I hope to get it published so that it may possibly help others along the way.

Whitehaven café church

Innovative cafechurch has come to Whitehaven. Methodist minister Philip Peacock takes a break from the lattés and cappuccinos to explain what it's all about.

It is late afternoon in Whitehaven on the second Sunday of the month. The last shops are closing and most people are heading off home. However, on the corner of King Street, the doors of Costa Coffee remain open and people are being welcomed inside. A poster in the window makes the invitation clear: 'Come along to cafechurch after hours'. The aroma of coffee permeates the air as orders are prepared by Costa staff. Tables have been pushed together so that groups of about six people can sit easily to converse.

At 5pm people are formally welcomed, the theme for the evening introduced and a quiz circulated for groups to work on. There is a buzz around the tables as a consensus is reached on an answer for each question. A run through of the answers follows, with the presentation of prizes for the winners (normally something edible) and for those who performed least well (usually something humorous). A visitor is introduced who speaks for about 10 minutes on the subject for the day.

Discussion follows, the earlier quiz having broken the ice for the groups. Questions are fed in at each table, as required, by a facilitator. Any materials for circulation are brought round during this time: slips for prayer requests, cards detailing the next gatherings, flyers for people to take to invite others along, follow-up resources for the theme. At 5.55, the session is rounded off with a brief comment giving some Christian perspective on the day's topic. Details of the next month's meeting are given out and slowly people drift away home, with the majority of the evening still free.

Whitehaven cafechurch started in September 2009 and was launched to offer a different kind of Christian experience from what was available within the town, as a means of reaching out to people who have stopped going to church or who have never gone. Consultation had taken place at an earlier stage with the various denominations in Whitehaven. Someone had gone on a training day with the cafechurch network. A leadership team had been formed, comprised of Methodists and Pentecostalists.

Registration with the network had followed and through it contact was made with the local Costa Coffee. Negotiations with the management had ensued covering various practical issues. Posters, flyers and event cards, using the cafechurch templates, had been circulated and other media were used to supplement this publicity. Themes have included: Looking after the planet, Image, Carols@Costa, The language of love, Just chocolate! and Crime on our streets. Outlines for some of these were supplied by the cafechurch network.

Attendance has been between 16 and 37 but it’s usually 25-30. This has been made up of Christians leading the cafechurch, other churchgoers who have shown an interest, and the target group mentioned above. The number of people in the latter category has ranged from one or two up to 10, with some coming on more than one occasion. The hope is for an increase in the proportion of this group on a regular basis and then to offer the possibility of a separate meeting where people can explore at more depth what it means to be a follower of Jesus today.

The prayer requests received have been prayed for afterwards. A few of these have been to do with people asking prayers for specific people who might come on a later occasion. At least one of these prayers has been answered positively. Contact has also been made with Costa customers who are drinking up as we are arriving and others who have come in while we have been meeting. We have been able to explain to them what we are doing and invite them to join in, if they so wish, or stay in a reserved separate space to eavesdrop and meet with their friends.

So what do people make of cafechurch? Here are some comments from people who attend:

It’s not at all like church – you're talking about issues that relate to everybody.

It's a fun way to do church.

You have an opportunity to say what you feel – which you do not have at church.

It's a good way of meeting new people in the area.

It's easier to invite someone along than to other churches.

From Costa's perspective, Karl, the manager, observes:

It's pretty enjoyable for the staff as well – they like to get involved in the quizzes.

Whitehaven cafechurch is still in its infancy, but we are grateful to God for the journey so far and look forward to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Living Room – update

Students used to flock to the Living Room at Southampton but time, and the initiative's leader, has moved on since then. Nick Hutchinson, youth and student pastor at Highfield Church in the city, explains more.

When I arrived The Living Room had been going for a couple of years and, for a while, it was still very powerful with lots of interesting things going on. Its leader Zoe Hart had the original vision for it but – as so often happens – when the leader goes, that vision and enthusiasm can begin to decline.

Also we have to remember that student stuff moves on so quickly; if you keep on doing the same thing for two or three years, you start to lose it connection with the people you're trying to reach.

We employed another student worker and he soon realised that a lot of those coming to the Living Room by that stage were people he recognised from Christian Union and other churches in the area. To find out more, he put together a survey for everyone who came along over a three to four week period. He was proved right when about 80% of those attending completed it and we found that the vast majority, up to 70/80% of them were Christians.

We were meeting at 8pm on Sundays, immediately after the evening service times of many churches. So The Living Room had simply become another place for Christians to hang out on a Sunday. Those not really connected to church at all were very few in number.

A further student worker, after a year or so with us, suggested changing the meeting time specifically to attract non church people. We moved it to 7pm and tried it for two university terms. The impact on numbers was immediate. The Living Room attracted 140 at its peak; we had been running at about 80 to 100 on average but after the time change it dropped to 20 or 30 maximum.

In all honesty we didn't really have a problem with that. Having a smaller number of definitely 'non churchy' people getting together during the 6.30 service time meant you could build some genuine friendship and relationship but – in the end – it lagged. It needed a critical mass of people to be there to give it some energy.

From April 2010 we started to hold our Midweek Student Gathering on Wednesday evenings in the lounge at the church centre but I wouldn't say there was anything of fresh expressions about it now. As we had lost momentum with it so much it felt like we were starting from scratch but what has been good is that we are building friendships with students who are Christians. We usually get between 10 and 15 people from 5pm to 7pm for a meal and to pray, worship and have a Bible study together.

This gathering is much more of a pastorate thing and the smaller the group, the better the interaction. Of course our vision is for growth but if we get to about 30 we want to multiply and create two midweek student gatherings to run in parallel.

There are lots of challenges along the way. For instance, it is very difficult to get commitment and steadfastness from many of the students; we call it the 'flaky syndrome'. We have actually lost a lot of our team and have been trying to recruit new members but it's really a struggle. Maybe one of the side-effects of providing something that's really good, like Living Room was, is that people expect everything to be done for them without realising that it is because of student volunteers that it happens and will continue to happen. How do we encourage people between the ages of 18 and 35 to commit themselves to something and help to make it happen? All too often they may say they're going to come and be part of an event but then ring up at the last minute – they can't make it because they’re at a concert/going out/whatever it may be.

I'm sad about the fact that what The Living Room did in its original form was to draw in people who were not engaging with church in any other way, whereas now we are only connecting with people already connected with church. However we are doing a year of mission at Highfield Church and all the new projects that have sprung up are happening outside of the church building.

I think that God is saying to us:

do fewer things on Sunday;

do fewer things in the church itself.

One of the things that these new groups have shown us again is that we have to get away from the model of 'come to us'; we have to go to them.

Living Room

Zoe Hart, student worker, reports the work of the living room.

At Highfield Church, Southampton, we have a history of welcoming students to worship with us. But over the last few years God has been stirring us up to much more as we have increasingly felt the reality of the mission field.

Across the campuses of the two Universities in Southampton are over 40,000 students – away from home, looking for life and most of them about as far away from church as you can get.

No longer are we in an age where students are coming away to study with a basic knowledge of Christianity and some past involvement in church. Most don't even really know who Jesus is and many have never been inside a church building. The reality is that the culture among students today is pagan and with less than two percent of them going to church – the mission field is huge.

The exciting thing is that the Gospel is totally dynamic and powerful in this context. Students today are looking for something tangible and authentic – something that will show them Jesus.

Our vision at the living room is to create a place into which students without a church background can come to know the transforming power of Jesus. the living room is church for people who never normally go to church.

Our values are 'loving God, loving each other and loving the lost', quite simple really: The Greatest Commandments and The Great Commission. These values shape everything we do.

What we do on a Sunday evening isn't rocket science either. We meet at 8pm in the building next door to the main church which we set-up to be as relaxed and welcoming an environment as possible.

We have a café with steaming hot chocolate and great food every week – essential in building community. It is open all evening for people to sit and chat or opt out of the worship.

After the main food is served, we aim provide an environment – through worship, teaching and ministry – into which the Holy Spirit can work. This is integral to our original vision to be an authentic community of worshippers. Although we use language that people will understand, we believe that true worship and loving community speak volumes into the post-modern culture of self.

These are exciting times. the living room has grown dramatically over the last two years from around 40 students about 140. The original vision seems to actually be happening. I say 'actually' because we can often put a lot of effort into ministries, having limited faith in the fact that God is powerfully at work and is able to do more than we can ask or imagine.

It is an incredible privilege to be part of something where God is bringing along people who don’t yet believe. And these students, through chatting with team members on a Sunday, as well as fortnightly socials and weekly cell groups, are really becoming part of the living room community.

We regularly have a number of students on the fringes of faith as well as a handful of determined atheists who have had their worlds shaken.

One previously cynical student emailed me recently saying this about his experience of the living room, 'I must say, I found it really emotional, but I'm not quite sure why. I was really choked up. I'm hopeless at describing emotions; but it just felt like there was something else there, something more than a collection of people. And I felt a connection.'

Our prayer continues to be that what we do will be much more than just a gathering of people in a cosy environment. We long to see people making commitments and beginning a path of discipleship.

We want to be a place where, as it says in Isaiah 41, the thirsty who search for water will find it.

We have always been conscious that what is happening is part of a much bigger journey. It was an incredible encouragement to have that confirmed by a previous vicar of Highfield who, 28 years ago, had a vision of a large number of students meeting in the hall next door to our church at 9 o'clock on a Sunday evening. When he came to visit and saw that original vision happening he was thrilled!

Of course as with everything we do – the living room is just a part of God's much bigger story – not a new story but an ancient unchanging one – and it is our role to express that story, as Jesus did, in a way that is fresh and dynamic to the culture we find ourselves in.

Kairos

The Kairos Centre has opened its doors as a building for the community in Grange Park, Northampton. It's a dream come true for project chairman Charlie Nobbs and the start of another chapter in the story of Grange Park Church. Anglican minister Charlie tells the tale.

It has been such an interesting journey for us all at Grange Park Church. What started off as a germ of an idea has become a reality in the shape of a central place where people can get together from all walks of the community for all sorts of reasons at the same time.

We have worked with many people along the way but, most recently with South Northamptonshire Council, to transform an empty shell of a building into a much-needed facility. It is the vision of Grange Park Church to follow the call of Jesus to be the good news to Grange Park and beyond – and the Kairos Centre will certainly help us in that.

As an Anglican and Baptist Church Local Ecumenical Partnership we meet together on Sunday mornings in Grange Park Community Centre in a nearby part of the village but the Kairos building, in a parade of shops opposite a doctors' surgery, is the base for our church office and coffee shop.

The Kairos Centre is not a church – it’s a place where people can have 'kairos' moments. Kairos is ancient Greek for a critical moment in time, a moment when God draws near and the opportunity to take new direction or restoration is available. Jesus uses the word in Mark to announce the drawing close of the Kingdom as he starts his ministry.

Our vision is for a place that provides facilities and a home for the existing church family, provides services and relationships with the wider community and ultimately will be home to future fresh expressions of church. We are just relaunching a café style evening service and hope to develop an after-school club fresh expression and maybe even a film church – as and when we are able.

The larger meeting room can take about 60 people and there is also a quiet room; a place where people can have 'kairos' or just find some peace from the hectic pace of life. The lounge area also has a coffee shop currently open four mornings a week as well as a small meeting room and the church office. These rooms can also be used for affordable conference/meeting facilities.

Lots of people these days are concerned that new housing areas run the risk of becoming soulless dormitory estates, but we are working hard to combat that. We also hope to develop a menu of wellbeing and lifestyle events, such as advice on debt management, counselling, social events for adults and children's and youth activities.

Looking back, and I was just coming to the end of my curacy in 2001 at St Giles Northampton when it was suggested I could maybe do a church plant in this new housing area.

I gathered a few people together but the Baptists had beaten us to it! They felt that God had called them to plant a cell church at Grange Park and we had a similar sense of calling to what God was doing so we joined forces and started to gather a team.

Just a few hundred houses had been built at the time; you could walk around the place in an hour or so and knock on every door. I joined the parish council, while my Baptist colleague helped to set up Neighbourhood Watch in the area and got involved when the primary school was being built.

Initially we were church planting with a traditional Sunday service plus small groups model rather than a fresh expression, but we were keen to connect with those who might not usually attend a traditional church and focused on young families.

To launch the first public worship, we did a holiday club type 'thing' called Kidzone. There was no building to have anything in and all the issues with child protection were getting to be a bit of a nightmare so we set up a 'camp' around one of the school playgrounds – we had lots of gazebos and each gazebo was an activity zone. Naively we thought that all the children and parents who flocked to Kidzone would also flock to church the following week. That didn't happen but what we did notice was that groups of parents would be chatting together while waiting for their children and the conversations would be along the lines of 'Where do you live?', 'O I'm just round the corner from there, come and have a coffee.' We had stumbled upon community building as a means of being good news to Grange Park!

Kidzone has continued and grown as an annual event and we usually get 400 to 500 children over three days in the last week of the summer holidays. As our aim is to be good news in the community, Kidzone is something that has worked very well in letting people know there is a church, that it is good to have it and begin to build relationships.

The other area in which we have seen very encouraging results is through the work of health care professionals. We got to know one of the health visitors and she said that all of the doctors' surgeries were over-run with depressed new mums. We suggested she use our home for appointments with the mums and so Talking Point got up and running on Thursday mornings. My wife Charlotte has been very instrumental in helping to develop something that has become phenomenally successful.

Visitors are offered tea, coffee, cake and a warm welcome. They just meet and chat in our lounge, comparing birth experiences and sleep patterns. The Health Visitors love it because they can see eight or more at a time; the mums love it because they make friends and realise they are not alone. There aren't many babies born in Grange Park that haven't been through our house!

The good news is that the Health Visitors believe Talking Point has significantly improved the mental health of struggling mums as it is a network which picks up different people. We now have various Talking Point groups in and around Grange Park. We use cell principles and organise a social night for the parents without their kids; it welds them together as a cohesive group.

Midwives in the area have also picked up on Talking Point, telling mums-to-be about it as a place to go after the birth. Things shifted again when one of the people coming along to the sessions asked about getting their baby baptised; another wanted to do an Alpha course.

The upshot of that is a group called Stepping Stones which we now run fortnightly on Tuesday mornings in the Community Centre. We make it clear that it is run by the church but it is all very informal; we offer a breakfast of croissants and orange juice for carers, mums and children, hear stories told from the Bible in creative ways, and provide a craft activity. We say it's an opportunity to take a stepping stone towards God. I would say Stepping Stones is a fresh expression of church; it has been going for nearly four years and we regularly get about 50 mums and their children.

That in turn has developed because several mums said they wanted to find out more; their children were asking questions they didn't know the answer to and the parents also thought of the Bible stories as being a 'good thing' to teach the little ones.

To meet that need, we offer a five-week introduction to Christianity course through a DVD series called Journeys. As a result, a number of people have come to faith, some continue in that faith and others disappear.

The Kairos Centre now offers further possibilities in our life together in this community. I believe God wants us to be blessed through it and in turn bless Grange Park and beyond.

Sacred space on the beach

Summer holiday season is in full swing and the Sacred Space on the Beach initiative in north Yorkshire is welcoming up to 200 people during each of its weekend sessions. This follows a successful pilot project last summer.

Revd Sam Foster, fresh expressions pioneer minister for Scarborough Deanery, developed the idea from previous 'sacred spaces' in urban areas. She designed postcards to give out to passers-by and the invitations have led to tears of joy and sadness. Many visitors to the South Bay, Scarborough, and Filey beaches light candles in memory of a loved one, to give thanks or celebrate something. They have spoken of their love and grief after bereavement and tragedy while some have celebrated loving marriages and anniversaries.

Other work led by the Deanery fresh expressions team includes Summer Soul, running until Thursday (August 12th) at North Bay. Summer Soul is led by young people aged 16 and over from local churches who serve the local community and holidaymakers with games, drama, and fun activities.

A Healing on the Beach team comprising Christians trained in healing ministry also meets outside The Sands development, North Bay, every third Sunday at 2pm.

The remaining Sacred Space sessions will take place on August 21st and 22nd from 8.30pm at South Bay Scarborough, and September 4th and 5th at Filey (8.30pm).

(Media) Musician Mark is chaplain to Bloodstock heavy metal festival

Pioneer minister and heavy metal aficionado Mark Broomhead will lead the chaplaincy team at Bloodstock this week.

Mark, who has played bass for the past 21 years in such Christian Metal/Rock bands as Exoria, Fire Fly, Detritus and Seventh Angel, is heading up the 15-strong welfare group at the Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival from Friday (13 August) to Sunday. Billed as the UK’s No1 heavy metal event, Bloodstock – now in its tenth year – will host more than 80 bands across three stages.

An ordained pioneer minister in Chesterfield, Mark contacted Bloodstock organisers three years ago to ask if they needed a chaplain on the site. He has been in charge of welfare provision ever since.

Basically we look after anyone who is not in need of hospitalisation or under threat of arrest,

said Mark.

Some people lose their tents for one reason or another, for instance. We're just there 24 hours a day for whenever people a helping hand or a chat or a safe space to recover from a little over indulgence.

Organisers are expecting 12,000 people during the festival at Catton Hall, Derby. Among the headliners are twisted sister and Opeth; on the New Blood Stage on Friday 13th bands will include Morgue Orgy while Flayed Disciple is part of Saturday's extensive line-up. Festival goers can also have a go at Metal Karaoke.

Mark often wears his dog collar while wandering around the site.

The collar offers instant identification and people seem to be fine with it. I have not been burned at the stake yet so it must be OK. Bloodstock does tend to focus on the darker side of metal, and there are some openly satanic bands though there is a huge range of music. It is fantastic to be involved.

Mark was ordained as Deacon in Derby Cathedral at the end of June 2008 and priest in July 2009. His main focus was to lead a fresh expression of church called Sanctum based at the St Barnabas Centre in Danesmoor. Sanctum's worship style is heavily influenced by rock culture and activities have included putting on gigs, starting a small record label and recording a rocked up Christmas carol album.

Mark was recently licensed by the Bishop of Derby, Rt Rev Alastair Redfern, to begin plans to develop an accessible form of church to appeal to Alternative sub cultures in Chesterfield town centre, possibly to be based in a club or a bar.

River in the City

The vision for River in the City is to create new ways of 'being church' for people who work, relax and live in Liverpool City Centre. Pioneer minister Keith Hitchman envisages a growing network of small communities in workplaces, cafes, and many other areas.

Liverpool ONE is one of the biggest shopping centres in the country. Its 42 acres includes 160 shops, more than 20 bars and restaurants, a 14-screen cinema and a park. It is the largest city centre regeneration project in Europe.

River in the City will seek to serve those who visit, work and live in this development but it will also be there for anyone in and around the Liverpool city centre. The slogan for Liverpool ONE is 'Love the City'; the aim of River in the City is to follow Jesus' lead and to love the city in his name, demonstrating that love in useful and practical ways.

The Diocese of Liverpool is looking at a model of church that doesn't involve a large number of people coming together in one place but sees groups being established around a common interest – whatever that interest may be. In a world of choice and change, people form groups with others who share the same interests and views on life. It is through these groups that they discuss and ask the big questions and I want to help people to do that.

This is about taking church out of the church building and into the workplace environment. It's about growing faith where life happens and life happens in the workplace and places like the city centre.

It's interesting how people see my work. Someone recently described me as 'the travelling vicar.' In a sense I suppose that's what I am! Other things are also important here. I have already been asked the key question of what football team I support. My son has chosen Liverpool because I don't think we'll survive without supporting a team from the city but I'm going to stick with my own favourites, West Ham. That means I don't have to be a 'Blue' (Everton) or a 'Red' (Liverpool). Anyway if you add the blue and the red together you'd probably get the claret colour of The Hammers!

Culture is changing so rapidly that, for me, fresh expressions is not an add-on. It is vital. We're mapping out the way the Church will look over the next 200 years and that's exciting, but it’s also disturbing for people I think. The line that comes to me is from the book of Acts, 'these people are disturbing our city'.

Supportive bishops, deacons and those in leadership in the Diocese mean there is a growing understanding of what it means to do church in new ways and be church in new ways for a new time. I love the fact that there is a strategy for pioneer ministry here and the imagery of Lake and River – with the river of fresh expressions flowing into the lake of the inherited models of church. There's something very holistic about that.