Changing the Conversation

I met Kaye and Jane on the train home from this year’s Baptist Assembly in London. I knew where they’d been because of the packets of fairtrade biscuits poking out of their bags - we were all given chocolate chip cookies as part of our lunch during the Saturday Day Conferences.

Soon I was sitting with them and chatting about the conference they had attended. The title was ‘Pass it On’ and taking part was the newly appointed Baptist Union President Chris Duffett.

“Chris told us stories of giving out free fruit marked with the fruits of the holy spirit,” Kaye told me,  “standing in the market with a sign offering free hugs, leaving a pile of stones in the high street – each one marked with an encouraging Word of Hope - and then watching as God guided individuals to the message He wanted them to receive...  These words sent tingles down our spines and we felt filled with a ‘get up and go’ feeling – this motivation of wanting to ‘give this a go’!!

Giving out roses as part of a Big Hearted Tour event

 “With those words ringing in our ears we went out to eat our lunch under the shadow of Big Ben... as we sat there a man approached us and clearly wanted to chat... so we did.  “Jane offered him a sandwich and the three of us joked together about the weather, tourists, inane engaging chatter really. 

“He then told us that he had been working really long shifts and that he had hurt his back badly when he chased a burglar out of his garden - it was at that point that Kaye had an out of body experience and heard herself asking if he would like us to pray with him... he laughed and walked away.  Not put off, Kaye called after him and he agreed that we could pray for him after he had gone... so we did!!  We could not quite believe it when he came back… we both felt that he was probably embarrassed, and we were pleased he had not just scorned and left.”

By the end of the train journey, Kaye and Jane had begun a conversation about God with the young student who was sharing their table. They had also offered their church, Clarence Park Baptist, as a venue for a very special WEBA training day on Saturday 13^th October. We’re calling it Big Hearted Living.

Chris Duffett will be joining us as part of his Big Hearted Tour of WEBA, and sharing some of his unique brand of street art with us in Weston-super-Mare. Conversations with strangers, however, aren’t everyone’s cup of tea – and there are other ways we can all change the conversation about God.

Table Talk takes the form of a game you can play with any group of friends

Table Talk is a simple game you can play with the family and friends you already have. It provides a safe place for people to begin to have conversations about the important questions in life, from ‘how do you live a meaningful life?’ to ‘how rich are we?’

Paul Griffiths will provide an opportunity to play Table Talk at Big Hearted Living, as part of his seminar How People Journey to Faith.

There will also be seminars by Alisdair Longwill (about transitioning your church into a mission-shaped congregation) and Stuart Earl (about doing youth work in a Big Hearted Way)

If you want to live every day as a disciple of Jesus Christ, this day is designed for you. Clarence Park Baptist Church is within easy walking distance of Weston-super-Mare railway station, and it’s also accessible from the M5. The cost for the day is £5 per person with big discounts if you bring a group of four or more. You can book online   at bigheartedliving.eventbrite.co.uk or go to http://www.webassoc.org.uk/event_det.aspx?id=380 to download a postal booking form.


This article originally appeared in the Autumn 2012 edition of WEBA news.

Good listening at a crucial point

This is a story about being salt and light in an inspired and innovative way - providing a listening ear to detainees at the local police station.

Gill Putnam wrote this article for the newsletter of the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and it was sent to me by Jenny Collins of Clarence Park Baptist Church in Weston-super-Mare who is also involved with ChAt, an ecumenical group of volunteers from the town's churches. 

When first launched in 2005, ChAt (Chaplaincy About Town) was set up as a confidential, non-judgemental listening ministry and signposting for all people in Weston-super-Mare town centre, regardless of faith, background or lifestyle, making visible God’s love and concern for all his creation. Described by Bishop Peter Price as “an exciting way of living out the gospel”, we had very little idea of how exciting it was to become!

An ecumenical project, with some 30 volunteers (and a vision to increase the team to 90!) drawn from all Christian denominations, ChAt has grown and found its niche in the life of the town. Whilst still working from shop premises and focusing primarily on ministry to individuals, ChAt has also developed other strands of ministry, and works with other groups in the community, including North Somerset Council, the Town Council, the Town Centre Partnership, Weston BID, Somerset Racial Equality Council, the Black and Ethnic Minority Network, NS Alliance for Cultural Harmony, NS Faith Forum, the Children’s Centre, as well as a number of nursing homes. 

The latest step has come at the request of the Police for us to provide a team of ChAt Custody Chaplains to visit any detainee at Weston-super-Mare Police Station. After months of planning and training the team, which includes both ChAt Chaplains and Street Pastors, the project was finally operational on 16 April 2012. Cllr Roz Willis, Chair of ChAt, Volunteer Chaplain Reg Hiscox and I, the Lead Chaplain, went to Weston Police Station for the launch at 8.00am.Before 8.30am the first detainee asked for support and I was in a cell! Less than an hour later, the detainee, who had been held for most of the night, was focussed and calm, had a plan to seek professional help on returning home, and was in a much better state of mind for the police interview.

We have these encounters at a crucial point in the life of an offender, a time of regret, remorse, shame, and a time of longing to make life-changing decisions. Through good listening and signposting the person is empowered, lives can be transformed and new beginnings made.

We come to every listening session with faith that three people are present – the speaker, the listener and God; it is His presence and peace in the session which makes these encounters different from those with other professional aid agencies.

With the Custody Chaplains as a pilot scheme in Weston-super-Mare, the Police hope it may be possible for the service to be offered in other custody suites in the Avon and Somerset area in due course.

We are now ready to increase the team of ChAt Custody Chaplains. We shall be offering a ‘Come and See’ information stand at our Coffee Morning on Saturday, 1 September, from 10am at the Boulevard United Reformed Church, Weston-super-Mare.. If you would like to know more, please contact me or simply come along on the day. Those who wish to join the team will be asked to provide two references, one of which will be from their church leader who has known them for at least one year, attend an interview, have an enhanced CRB check, and attend a training day on Saturday, 13 October.

As to the future, talks are already taking place regarding the possibility of recruiting and training a ChAt team who will specialise in ministering to nursing homes, particularly those for dementia sufferers, and this team would serve not only the patients but also their families and the staff.

If you would like more information with a view to taking any part in this exciting adventure for God, I’d love to hear from you. Please contact me on 01934 643533 or 01934 416917, email me , or call into ChAt at 67 Meadow Street, WsM, BS23 1QL.


Revd Gill Putnam, Lead Chaplain and Trustee

Chaplaincy About Town (Reg. Charity No. 1101541, Co. Reg. 07868068)

Coming back to God's fold

When I asked for stories for the WEBA Baptist Times supplement a few weeks ago, Carole Sampson of Clarence Park Baptist Church kindly wrote down her own story for us. It reminds me of something obvious - that a simple invitation to a service may be a crucial turning point in a much longer story for the person we're asking. 

Gladys Aylward was one of Carole's

 childhood heroes

 I was introduced to God by my parents, who had an active church life before I was born. They sent me to a good church school and the attached Sunday school. I learned about Missionary work through a comic, ‘GIRL’, where I met my heroes, Gladys Aylward, David Livingstone and Albert Schweitzer. 

When I was ten years old, my godmother introduced me to her own church in the town; a church seeped in the High Anglican tradition. I then met The Rev. Roland Taylor, who had been a missionary in British Honduras (now Belize). He prepared me for confirmation, introduced a Youth Club to the church and fostered my belief. I became a teacher of Religious Education in a church school in the East End of London, attended the High Anglican Churches in Bethnal Green and Leytonstone. 

After working for The Children’s Society,  and a failed marriage, I lost my way. Church life had lost its allure and the members of the church appeared to be less than I had aspired to. So, I decided to go on alone, abandon formalised religion and pray to God on my own.

Little did I realise that my second husband had made the same decision.

His mother was a Roman Catholic, so he was brought up in that faith, attending Catholic schools and churches. He was occasionally allowed to go to services with his father who was the Church Secretary of Trinity United Reform Church in Redland, Bristol, which was better suited to his temperament. But, he too was disillusioned with ‘the church’.

Retirement had to brought us to Weston-Super-Mare and a Health Club. It was here that we met three delightful people. As Christmas drew near, two ladies invited us to the Christmas services at Clarence Road Baptist Church. When we entered the church, we were welcomed with genuine pleasure, discovered that the third ‘delightful person from the Health Club’ was also part of the church and that CPBC shared LOVE and CARE for ALL because of the love of God. We were accepted, and invited to become involved with God’s work. 

We are now back in God’s fold, ready to do our mission for Him, with the help of prayers and fellowship.

Jenny Collins, who passed this story on to me, adds this:

"Carole’s account doesn’t portray the wonderful enthusiasm she and David have since coming back to God’s fold. They were excited to be part of the T4 team in the summer and we will be blessed as they work amongst us with the skills they have to offer as they serve their Lord. As a church family we are thrilled that they have made their spiritual home with as they have now been accepted into membership."

Jenny Collins of Clarence Park Baptist Church told us about their Bible Reading Fest:

CLARENCE PARK BAPTIST CHURCH
Bible reading today from 9.00am - 9.00pm
These details were on a poster which was outside Clarence Park Baptist Church, Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare from the 19th to 24th September. Members and friends of the church came together to read the Bible from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation.  Altogether it took seventy five hours during which time people passing by were able to hear and see this form of faith and witness. How? With the use of a loud speaker and the readers sitting in the foyer with the doors open.  Some passers by came in to listen, others took part in the reading and some came in for prayer for their situations.
Those who took part in reading from the Bible were blessed, one said, “It’s been a wonderful week. I’ve learnt so much and had fellowship with people I don’t speak to very often on a Sunday."  Another, “From now on I’m going to read the Bible out loud."

Home Mission Giving News

On Tuesday this week WEBA tried to hold its AGM.

Unfortunately there weren't enough church representatives present to vote, and so we're going to stage a re-run at the final 3 in 1 Event at Clarence Park Baptist Church on Sunday 19th June.

I felt a little sorry for those who had given up their evening for a meeting which will have to happen again, but we went through the substance of the agenda anyway, and one really useful bit was Gordon Hindmarch's summary of where WEBA is in regard to Home Mission.


All Baptist Union churches are encouraged to give at least 5% of income to this fund so that mission can be enabled across the country.

Recently, WEBA has been one of the highest giving Regional Associations. This May WEBA churches gave £22,228, which we think is brilliant considering the financial climate and the uncertainty faced by so many. There's really only one explanation: you, our churches, trust God, and you really believe in the growth of his kingdom.

What's really interesting, which Gordon pointed out on Tuesday, is that the 2010 total for Home Mission Giving in WEBA (£258,742) was so very close to the total we received that year ( £ 257,431 ) in terms of grants for ministry, projects, special grants to church planters and chaplains, and to the Association itself. So, as your church gives to Home Mission, mission in this region moves forward. A big thank you is due to all of you who make and approve the decisions to give. If you want to find out more about giving to Home Mission, please contact Gordon Hindmarch via the WEBA office.

"We've started on a journey with these most beautiful of people"

Grace Tucker, Pastoral Leader at Ruardean Hill Baptist Church in the Forest of Dean, followed our feature about work with people with Learning Disabilities with this lovely Christmas story:

 

We are a small rural fellowship with just seven members but have a big heart to know and make known the love of Jesus in our community.  During this year we have developed relationship with two local residential disability homes.  One of the church members has been visiting the homes and conversation developed around the possibility of their coming to the chapel for a special Christmas celebration. 

 

     In September we started a JAM club for 9 – 13 year olds and so we asked  if they would like to help.  They would! Their task was to help simply tell the nativity story, dress up, help with the singing and hand round the mince pies afterwards – this they did admirably! 

Musical instruments were handed around, everyone was relaxed and joined in the fun. 

 

    Just before we served the mince pies we ran an impromptu nativity story that we had shared earlier in the week with our Toddler Group – guests were given  a sheep, a camel, baby Jesus, the three gifts etc., to bring to the front and place by the crib at the required time.  This time the story was interspersed with Mary had a baby, twinkle twinkle little star and bar bar black sheep.  There was much fun and laughter and everyone wanted their picture taken!!  

  

Some of the more able residents learnt that we were holding our Christingle service on Sunday and  a ‘make your own Christmas Wreath’ the following Thursday – they’ve asked if they can come back!

 

   I am sure we’ve started on a journey with these most beautiful of people – we are asking God that he will continue to use us, small as we are,  to touch their lives and the lives of their carers.   

 

Reaching Out with No Limits

This article appears in the Winter edition of WEBA News, our quarterly printed newsletter. Thanks to all those who spent time on the phone to me, enthusing about working and worshipping with people with learning disabilities - and to those I didn't even get round to speaking to. Please add comments about your own church's experiences!

Ruth

It’s Sunday morning in the Crown Inn in Minchinhampton. Rose, the landlady, serves regulars on one side of the bar, some of them watching a group from the local Baptist Church on the other side, who are just finishing a Bible Study. This group now head to the function room at the back of the pub, ‘the barn’, where another group of adults have been busy with a hands-on activity. Now everyone moves to separate tables for prayer. After this, there’ll be a cooked lunch, and Rose, who provides the room for free, will also do all the washing up, simply because she thinks that “it’s wonderful what you’re doing in there.”

This is Specially 4 U, a group run by Minchinhampton Baptist Church in Gloucestershire, and it is only one of many similar groups around WEBA. They are responding to the social and spiritual needs of one of the largest unreached people groups in our country—those with learning disabilities. The group leaders I have spoken to all agree on one thing— serving this particular group of people  brings benefits to a much wider circle, both within the church family and outside.

Specially 4 U began as part of a fresh expressions initiative at Minchinhampton Baptist Church, and it has continued at the pub, running alongside the usual Sunday morning service. John Barnard, who has always fought for his own daughter to be recognised as an ‘ordinary’ person, is one of the organisers. He explains that the Bible Study in the bar came about was included for those not involved with the activities.

“We’ve had people from church come along who are obviously in a bad place—people feel more comfortable here.”

Many participants come with carers, often from residential homes. “The carers used to sit and read newspapers”, says John. “Now they join in.”

While the Crown is a fantastic venue for these services, its size means the group’s outreach is restricted—they can’t go out and actively invite more people living in the community. John feels that they will need to move back to the church building eventually, and would like the church to make this a more integral part of what they do.

John admits there can be a tendency for churches to be more comfortable isolating these groups from the congregation— “people think something is going to happen they can’t cope with” - whereas actually those with ‘learning disabilities’ can help us overcome some of the inhibitions that limit our services. Group members at Specially for You often interact with the Bible story by contributing stories of their own. When the music group sings, others tend to come to the front and sing with them. After this, he says, “you know that ‘ordinary’ church will be less of a spiritual experience for you.”

Jacky Newman’s son Tim has Downs Syndrome, and when she wondered what to do about the fact that he just didn’t fit in to the youth group at Southwick Baptist Church, she realised that here was a vast group of unreached people. She has now been leading their No Limits group for about thirteen years. The group meets three times a month on a Tuesday— two of those are social evenings, and one is a time of worship and sharing. There are about 16 group members, six of whom are active church members, and several have been baptised.

Jacky, too, remarks on the spiritual benefits of worshipping and learning with those with learning disabilities— “they come up with things you’d never thought about” - and that this kind of mission reaches a wide circle of people outside of the church: “The group has attracted more people into the church, and for some people it gives them a role within the church—something they can do.”

Gordon Cloud, who runs the Build Club at Clarence Park Baptist Church in Weston-super-Mare, agrees with this:

“I think what we do with Build is probably the best outreach thing we do in the church. It’s the fringe people—carers, houses, families—they’re seeing that the church is a caring place to be.” This group has also been running for about 13 years, and has the same format of two social events and one Bible Class every month. The group puts on its own outreach events—a concert with cream teas, a Christmas party. They are a well integrated part of the church family and take part in services, running two or three songs and doing readings.

Gordon is convinced that many churches are missing this opportunity to serve Christ and their communities. While many people with learning disabilities enjoy church and see it as an accepting place, they could be catered for more specifically:

“I think there’s a place in every church for a group of this sort, the way you have a group for children. Churches cater a lot for children but they don’t always cater for people with disabilities.”

Getting Started

• The Build Club at Clarence Park is named after the support organisation of that name—the Baptist Union Initiative with People with Learning Disabilities. They offer  conferences, a twice yearly newsletter, resources, and support and advice. We’ve enclosed a BUild flyer with this newsletter, or you can contact David Buckingham on 01782 618966  to find out about joining.

• Causeway Prospects  is an ecumenical organisation dedicated to providing “advice, training and resource materials to equip churches for effective ministry and outreach among people dearly loved by God and often marginalised by society” Their website is www.prospects.org.uk or you can contact them on 0118 951 6978.

• Several of the people who we interviewed for this article are more than happy to chat about what you might be able to do at your church:
• · Gordon Cloud can be contacted by email at gordon.cloud@googlemail.com or on 01934 628312. He would be willing to undertake informal training with people from local churches.
• · Sue Wright also worked with the Clarence Park Build Group and now serves on the Build Committee. “We need the churches to know there are people with a wealth of experience they can come to” she says. You can contact Sue at  davidsue@headland1.plus.com or on 01934 420719

 

• · If you’re starting with very few group members and want to find more, it’s possible to get the group listed with Social Services. People with learning disabilities and their carers put together a care plan which includes ‘spiritual development’ - social services may be grateful for a group they can refer people to.

• · If you’re in Bristol, and your church needs a cleaner, you could offer a local person with Learning Disabilities the dignity and satisfaction that comes with work. A Clean Sweep is a co-operative owned and run by people with Learning Disabilities, and supported by Mencap. Contact them on 0117 9653492,  or see the WEBA website opportunities page for more contact details.