Parish Pump – November 2011

Parish Pump

Telling the journey – of YOUR faith

Parishpump.co.uk is partnering with the Association of Christian Writers in a competition for the best article about a faith journey.   Do YOU have an experience you would like to share?

The article should be up to 800 words and can be either an interview or a first person account, suitable for inclusion in a church or parish newsletter or magazine.

The competition, open from October 1, will close on February 29, 2012, and is open to all. Entries should be previously unpublished.

Prizes of £50, £30 and £20 are offered for the first three places. There will be an entry fee of £5 for one entry; £8 for two. No entrant may submit more than two entries.

The first round of judging will be done by members of the ACW committee, to produce a shortlist of the best 6 to 10 entries, all of which will be put onto the parishpump.co.uk website and available for anyone to use in their publications, with due acknowledgements.

The shortlisted entries will be judged by Anne Coomes of parishpump.co.uk together with an experienced journalist to be appointed by ACW. All those shortlisted will receive a year’s free subscription to ACW and to parishpump.co.uk. The winning entry will also be published in the Christian Writer, ACW’s members’ magazine, and on the ACW website.

TO ENTER:  send your entry as an attachment via email to admin@christianwriters.org.uk and send a cheque (either £5 for one entry, or £8 for two entries) payable to Association of Christian Writers to PO Box 551, Hounslow, TW3 9NX.  IMPORTANT: Please don’t forget to include details of your full name and address with both the email and the cheque. Acknowledgement of receipts of entry plus cheque will be sent by email.

 

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According to a recent survey, only 12% of adults know the Christmas story – and just 7% amongst 18-24 year olds. (ComRes survey see www.tinyurl.com/3byr2qt)

Real Easter Egg company reveals choccy Christmas tree campaign

A campaign to make the UK’s 20 million Christmas trees a bit more meaningful this December has been launched by the company behind The Real Easter Egg.

To help parents, grandparents and godparents communicate the Christmas story to the next generation, The Meaningful Chocolate Company has produced the UK’s first ever interactive set of chocolate tree decorations, based on the characters of the Nativity story.

Each box of Meaningful Chocolate Tree Decorations contains a limited edition Christmas card, a sticker set and six hand wrapped, high quality, Fairtrade chocolate decorations. The Christmas story, which can be found on the card, enables adults or children to read the story while placing character stickers on the decorations. Once completed, the decorations can be hung on the tree as a reminder of the real meaning of Christmas.

David Marshall, from The Meaningful Chocolate Company, said “We estimate that most of the UK’s 20 million Christmas trees don’t have anything religious hung on them. The Meaningful Chocolate Tree Decorations are an opportunity to buy a gift that allows the telling of the Christmas story at home.

“The card also includes an invitation for people to go to church to hear the Christmas story. So, not only is it educational, it’s also a piece of evangelism.”

The Meaningful Christmas Tree Decorations cost £3.95. Orders can be made through www.MeaningfulChristmas.co.uk or exclusively from Traidcraft. Orders should be made by mid November 2011 as supplies are limited.

Last year the Meaningful Chocolate Company launched The Real Easter Egg, the UK’s first and only charity Fairtrade Easter egg to mention the religious understanding of Easter.  By Christmas 2012 the company expects to have helped raise over £60,000 for charitable projects, as a result of Meaningful Chocolate sales. Find out more at www.meaningfulchocolate.co.uk

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Roll on Christmas!   Put your friends in a nativity play on Facebook

ROLL ON CHRISTMAS is the story of Jesus’ birth as you’ve never seen it before – an online, interactive nativity play on Facebook, set for release this month (November).

While the scene will be familiar – a smelly stable in Roman-occupied Bethlehem – the action, promise the creators, “ will be as much Marx Brothers as Mary and Joseph, Mission Impossible as Matthew's Gospel”.  Devised by the iconoclastic webzine Ship of Fools in conjunction with Bible Society and Jerusalem Production,  Roll on Christmas is a two-minute farce about the incarnation getting lost in the madness of Christmas 2011.

The stars of this chaotic animation are your Facebook friends – their faces cut out and stuck on toilet rolls depicting the usual Bethlehem suspects. 

“Anyone on Facebook will be able to cast the play," explained Ship of Fools editor Simon Jenkins, who wrote the script with co-editor Steve Goddard. "Which pal will you choose to play your mystical Virgin Mary or shopaholic wise man? Whose lusty lungs will make up your cacophonic choir of angels? Which of your friends would best fit love-to-hate, anti-hero King “Horrid” Herod and that door-slamming innkeeper? You decide."   

For those of any faith or none, Roll on Christmas will be free to pass on to Facebook friends, who can then cast their own friends in the same play.   A recent survey found that almost nine out of 10 UK adults logged onto the internet over Christmas Day and Boxing Day in 2010.  

Roll on Christmas will roll out from November until the end of December.  Follow on http://twitter.com/RollOnChristmas. 

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Stricken Pakistanis need help as the waters rise

One year after the lives of many Pakistanis were devastated by surging floods, once more they find themselves in distress, as large swathes of the country are again under deep water.

Up to six million people, mainly in the province of Sindh, have been caught up in the disastrous floods.  Hundreds of thousands of homes and millions of acres of crops have been swept away beyond recall.

Thousands of people are still in emergency camps, where facilities are often desperately inadequate; many more are camped in appalling conditions by roadsides. They are in acute danger from diseases such as malaria, dysentery, dengue fever, and diarrhoea.

Amid all this chaos and anguish, says the Barnabas Fund,  “our Christian brothers and sisters suffer all the more.  Already very poor, the loss of their homes and livelihoods leaves them with no means of support or survival. And they are all too often shamefully overlooked in the distribution of aid.”  

Barnabas Fund has sent grants  for its partners in some of the worst-affected areas to provide immediate aid to 886 Christian families with food packages and health and hygiene kits.  But many more Christian families are in need of this emergency help. Each parcel costs £32 and supplies the food and hygiene needs of a family for up to a month.  If you would like to help, please visit:  www.barnabasfund.org/uk

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Famine in East Africa

In July South Sudan became independent from the north. Not long after, the UN officially declared a famine in parts of Somalia. Across the whole region of East Africa, drought and hunger have escalated to such a scale that millions are starving and in need of aid in what is the worst drought in 60 years.  

MAF has been responding to the growing needs across East Africa since 1950, and continues to fly to support the new nation of South Sudan as well as the growing crisis in East Africa.

Every day, thousands of refugees are pouring into Dadaab refugee camp on the Kenyan/Somali border. Aid agencies are struggling to cope as the camp numbers reach 400,000 and people set up makeshift tents on any available land.

The MAF team has been flying in support of aid agencies, missions and government officials travelling to and from the camp,  seeking to help the people in desperate need.  Flights have also been taking people and food from aid organisations to parts of northern Kenya where drought has caused crops to fail.   Would you like to help keep MAF airborne?  Visit: www.maf-uk.org/

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Billy Graham reflects on the end of life

Billy Graham, the world’s most famous evangelist, has written a book on finishing life well.  

In ‘Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well’ , Mr Graham, now 92, shares his personal experiences of growing older.   “The best way to meet the challenges of old age is to prepare for them now, before they arrive.  I invite you to explore with me not only the realities of life as we grow older but also the hope and fulfillment – and even joy – that can be ours once we learn to look at these years from God’s point of view and discover his strength to sustain us every day.”  The Bible, he believes, tells us that God has a specific reason for keeping us here.

Billy Graham's publisher, Matt Baugher, vice president and publisher at Thomas Nelson, calls ‘Nearing Home’ one of the most important works Graham has ever written and one of his most vulnerable.  “Time catches up to all of us,” Baugher says. “At his age, with all that has come before, he is in a unique position to guide all of us on what it means to finish well in this life.  God bless Billy Graham.”

Mr Graham has preached the Gospel in person to more people than any other person in history. According to his staff, as of 1993 more than 2.5 million people have stepped forward at his crusades to accept Christ as their personal Saviour.   As of 2008, Mr Graham's lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped 2.2 billion.

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Cathedral worship

Unlike Anglican attendance generally, numbers attending cathedral services are increasing. Midweek attendance has more than doubled over the past decade, while Sunday attendance has wobbled but remained basically constant. The obvious question is, “Why?”

Various pieces of research offer some considerations. In one study, attenders at two different cathedrals said their main reason for attending (88%) was the “spiritual atmosphere” and the “feeling of peace”. Their second reason (86%) was “the choir” and “the music”. The location and the worship made a “contemplative atmosphere” (84%) which was “friendly” (80%).

These are high percentages, and are echoed whether a person regularly goes to church or not. In another study, this time of those visiting St David’s Cathedral in Wales, 77% of those who never normally attended church said they found “the cathedral uplifting”, while of those who only occasionally attended 84% said this, while for regular worshippers it was 95%. All three groups put “a sense of peace” as their second reason for attending.

Church attendance experts say that the figures suggest questions like:  Are our church services too irreverent, too noisy? Are our services too geared to entertainment, too non-stop? Should we pause and have a time of silence?

Further studies have compared the age of attenders at other cathedrals (Worcester and Lichfield) indicating their agreement or not with the statement, “You don’t have to go to church to be a good Christian,” which some 80+% of those under 30 agreed with, dropping steadily to 60+% for those 60 and over.

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OM Logos Hope welcomes 2 millionth visitor

The Operation Mobilisation (OM) vessel Logos Hope has recently welcomed her two-millionth visitor.    The milestone was achieved in the port of Penang, Malaysia when local businessman Maha Vishnu stepped on board. Waiting for him at the top of the gangway were Captain Tom Dyer (USA), Director Gian Walser (Switzerland) and cheering members of the 400 strong, all-volunteer Christian crew.

The arrival of the two-millionth visitor to Logos Hope comes just a year after the one-millionth visitor, Francis Mulbaha, stepped on board in Monrovia, Liberia.

The vessel is scheduled to sail to ports around Malaysia before docking in the Philippines at the end of the year. However, the opportunity to serve communities in these countries now remains dependent on sufficient skilled engineering staff being in place. Details about these current urgent vacancies can be found by calling 01691 773388 or visiting www.omships.org/engineers

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Your prayers wanted

Primi Quantrill, the editor of the Methodist Prayer Handbook, is looking for prayers for the 2012/2013 edition, Crossing the Chasm.

The handbook focuses on the theme of reconciling discipleship: living the peace of Christ in a broken world and being drawn into God’s programme of reconciliation within ourselves, our Church and our world.

Prayers should not exceed 120 words or 12 lines. Shorter prayers and prayers for specific themes or countries are more likely to be used.   Your prayers should be sent to the Prayer Handbook Editor, Methodist Church House, 25 Marylebone Road, London NW1 5JR (email:prayerhandbook@methodist.org.uk). The deadline for submission: 20 December 2011.   Full details at www.methodist.org.uk/prayerhandbook.  

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Churches and cathedrals invited to light Church Beacons on Monday 4th June 2012.

Churches of all denominations throughout the United Kingdom are being encouraged to take part in The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Beacons by lighting a special Church Beacon on Monday 4th June 2012, in celebration of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee next year.

In 2012, Her Majesty The Queen will become only the second monarch in British history to celebrate sixty years on the throne, the previous such monarch being Queen Victoria.

The vision is for thousands of churches up and down the land to gather their communities together for this happy occasion.   For more details, visit: 
 www.diamondjubileebeacons.co.uk/Diamond_Jubilee_Beacons/HOME.html

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International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church: 6 November 2011

More than 25 pastors are killed in Colombia every year, simply because they lead churches. Currently there are over 2,000 Christians in prison in Eritrea, just because they’re Christians. And in Iran there’s a stifling climate of fear among Christians, as they’re routinely arrested for no reason other than their faith.

For these and millions of other Christians in the Persecuted Church,  Christians across the UK are being invited to unite in prayer on the 6th November.   An International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) will be held in churches across the country.   For more details, please visit:   www.csw.org.uk/pray.htm

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Christmas,  2011 style nativity....

ChurchAds.net, in association with Premier Christian Media,  has launched its new poster campaign for Christmas 2011.  The focus, as always with the ChurchAds Poster Campaigns, is make the Christmas story relevant to those outside the Church's conversations at Christmas, and ultimately, to put Christ at the focus...

This year UK churches are being asked to support the 2011 Christmas poster which re-casts the nativity scene with trendy twenty somethings, designer fashions and luxury gifts.

In the poster the shepherds are represented by a cycle courier and plasterer. The Wise men are shown as three successful entrepreneurs and their gifts are iconic 'treasures' of modern culture: a Swarovski crystal perfume bottle, a Faberge egg and a replica Damian Hirst skull. All are 'sharply dressed'. But the traditional nativity arrangement is unchanged, with Jesus as its clear focus. And the message is 'However you dress it up.... Christmas Starts with Christ'.

The image, which features clothing from shops including Topman, Zara and Donna Karan, was photographed by Max Oppenheim, a prominent London based photographer who has shot campaigns for clients such as Max Mara and Virgin. The poster already has the support of key church leaders, including the Archbishop of York, and partners such as Premier Christian Media and The Jerusalem Trust.

Mike Elms, from ChurchAds.net, said: "This year we have a very simple but dramatic idea by showing the meeting of Christianity and high street consumerism, with Christ in the middle. With recent events in the UK and with millions of people heading for shopping centres in the final few days before Christmas there will be no better time to remind people that, behind all the consumerism,  Christmas Starts with Christ."

National Christmas Advertising fund   To maximise the impact of the message, ChurchAds.net is asking individuals and churches to make a donation to a National Christmas Advertising fund. The aim is to raise enough money to cover the placing of posters at bus stops, buy airtime for specially commissioned radio ads, and for the first time ever buy colour ads in national and regional newspapers.

Mike Elms said: "Last year we took the Christmas Starts with Christ message to 30 million people. We want to build on that and for the first time ever we are hoping to place ads in regional and national newspapers. Imagine the effect of the image as a colour advertisement in, say, the Daily Mail and Sunday Mirror, exposing an additional 8 million people to the message. It would be like sending 40 million Christian 'Christmas cards' to the nation."

Any individual or church can donate to the National Christmas Ad Fund by visiting www.christmasstarts.com

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Citizens Advice Bureaux coming to a church near you

Citizens Advice is working with churches and other places of worship across the country to make advice services more accessible, particularly for those living in remote areas. This will provide face to face advice in the local community rather than users having to travel significant distances.

A new guide,  ‘Faithful Advice: a guide for advice services in places of worship’, provides practical examples and guidelines for churches to set up face to face advice sessions on their premises.   The guidelines acknowledge that as the public sector cuts bite, churches can play a vital role in offering premises for advice sessions, particularly where there are no alternative sites available locally. The resulting services can save people having to travel up to 50 miles for face to face advice.

The Cathedral and Church Buildings Division of the Church of England and the National Rural Officers for the Church of England, the Church Urban Fund and the Methodist and United Reformed Churches have been working in partnership with national charity Citizens Advice to produce this guidance specifically for places of worship. More details from: 
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/aboutus/publications/faithful_advice.htm

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Church House Publishing launches app version of Bible reflections book

An 'app' featuring daily reflections on Bible passages written by leading authors is now available to the millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users. Quick and easy to purchase from the iTunes store, the Reflections for Daily Prayer app, produced by Church House Publishing as an alternative to its annual edition in book and Kindle e-book form, includes Bible passages, inspirational prayers and easy-to-understand reflections from leading authors, including Steven Croft, Jane Williams and Angela Tilby.

In a new online video guide introducing the app and how it works, blogging Bishop of Buckingham, the Rt Revd Alan Wilson, says: "I like this new app because it's giving people access to the Bible for themselves anytime they may like it. The content is absolutely first rate.”  
           
Taking daily Bible passages from the Church of England Lectionary, the Reflections for Daily Prayer app has the built-in flexibility of allowing users to go straight to today's Bible reflection, go to the contents list for all available reflections from previous days, search for Bible references and contributors, or search for reflections by date.

The app is free to download and comes with material for the following week and the previous fortnight.  The video guide is available from  www.churchofengland.org and  www.youtube.com/watch?v=atwXkDqJwvg.