Arise Sheffield! | Issue 2 | Spring 2022

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A IN RISE G JO , PR Y A 1-3 TO YER Y 1 M O -W A R UR C A L K CH OM , A 20 M ND 2 2 UN ITY !

Sowing Disciples Bishop Pete Wilcox on the Parable of the Sower: “Let’s make disciples, not just converts.”

SHEFFIELD

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SPRING 2022

New Christian café to open Find out when and where.

Miracles on the margins What happens when a person convicted of a violent crime sneaks into a Bible study group?

Editorial

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As I put the finishing touches on this Spring 2022 edition of Arise! magazine, I’m drawn out of my flow by the lyrics of a song I haven’t heard before. “Shadow covers the people, but glory rises now. Lift your eyes, look around, Arise.”

(Arise, One Hope Project, 2017) As the lilting refrain carries my mind away from the day’s tasks, I feel like I’m standing on one of the hills of Sheffield, looking over the city and watching God’s glory rise like the Sun. Arisers, I am so thankful for each and every one of you.

What a gift to be able to see God’s glory rise in Sheffield together. God has a plan: for each of us, and for our city. As we prepare to arise, prayer-walk and bring joy to our communities together this March, I’m reminded of Beth Craggs, Editor the words of St John Henry Newman: “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.”

This edition is overflowing with inspiring stories of Sheffielders who are faithfully doing the work that God has committed to them, through their work with the vulnerable, their care for our environment, their heart for mission. Each of them is different, but what really strikes me as I hear their stories is how much they have in common.

As you read, I pray that you feel encouraged to rise up even more boldly, in the knowledge that you are a vital part of the Body of Christ here in our city.

Finley Hammatt

is a journalist at Together for Sheffield.

He joined the team after taking a leave of absence from his History degree at the University of Sheffield.

Hailing from the South, he enjoys and appreciates the friendly culture in Sheffield and takes pleasure in reading and watching films in his spare time.

Jake Fields

is the videographer and photographer for Together for Sheffield. He studied Media Film Production at Stafford University and graduated in 2020.

Sheffield-born, Jake is always looking for ways to make a positive difference to those around him. In his spare time he enjoys watching documentaries.

Jake and Fin’s roles at Together for Sheffield are fully-funded by the government Kickstart programme supporting young adults into work. Please pray that they continue to thrive as they share their time and skills.

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Contents

JUMP-START Arise 2022

Arise 2022: What’s it All About?

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Unity Takes Flight: Churches Involved in Arise 8 Who’s Rising Up?

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Food for the journey

Churches on a mission

Bless Greystones with Alistair and Catherine Stevenson

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Bringing Hope with Jo Willis

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Eco Church: Looking Up and Going Green with Clare Loughridge 50 An Audacious Faith with Josh Cocker

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Practising the Presence of God

by Pippa Baker

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A Place of Refuge in Handsworth

by Deji Aloba

Sowing Discipleship by Bishop Pete Wilcox

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Re-imagining Mission at Victoria Hall

by Jonathan Haigh 56

Seasons in the Church

by Bishop Ralph Heskett

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Bloom Where You’re Planted

by Joy French

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Discipleship Done Differently Sharing Faith Simply

by Giles Holloway

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Growing Faith at Home with the Basran family

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Lights for Christ with Hannah Sandoval

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Approaching Climate Change with Christ with Rachel Mander 26

On the Streets, in His light with Rachel Hall

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Happy Healthy Neighbourhoods

by Ben Woollard

Discipleship From the Home

by Nick and Marjorie Allan

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The Mother of All Vigils: Celebrating Easter the Ancient Way

by Father Lee Marshall

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Living the Biglife by Peter Dunn

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News, Events and Opportunities

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Pray For Our City by Rachel Hall

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A Personal Rule of Life

by Hannah Sandoval

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A New City by Andrew Senior

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Faith lives

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S6 Foodbank: Faith in Action with Jayne Franklin and Chris Hardy 32 Front Line Stories from Ronan Walker 34 City of Sanctuary: Creating a Culture of Welcome with Blessan Babu 36 Open House: Serving Sheffield with Dave Stout and Bess Popplewell 41

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ARISE 2022: in 60 seconds SHEFFIELD NEEDS YOU.

SCAN NOW TO RISE UP.

Last year: Over 1,000 followers of Jesus from over 150 churches rose up to prayer-walk every street in Sheffield during March 2021.

Thank you!

This year:

Share:

We know God hasn’t finished with Sheffield just yet. From 1-31 March followers of Jesus will Arise, prayer-walk, and bring joy to their communites.

Feel emboldened to share your faith as together we give out Arise Easter cards, eggs, and more through your church community.

Prayer:

What could happen in our city if each of us reaches out to someone new this month? We will be asking the Holy Spirit to help us find a neighbour or colleague to connect with more deeply this month.

Through the Arise prayer-walking app, we will set our city aglow with prayer. Mark your prayer-walk route on the app and watch the streets of Sheffield glow brighter with each blessing.

Care:

A massive thank you to the entire Arise community for inspiring this magazine. Thanks in particular to each of our Arise supporters, and everyone who has worked to bring this edition to life:

WRITERS: Nick and Marjorie Allan, Deji Aloba, Pippa Baker, George Bingham-Davis, Beth Craggs, Peter Dunn, Joy French, Jonathan Haigh, Finley Hammatt, Rachel Hall, Bishop Ralph Heskett, Giles Holloway, Father Lee Marshall, Hannah Sandoval, Bishop Pete Wilcox, Ben Woollard. INTERVIEWS: Ben Ashworth, Blessan Babu, Rebekah Basran, Josh Cocker, Jayne Franklin, Chris Hardy, Clare Loughridge, Rachel Mander, Bess Popplewell, Alistair and Catherine Stevenson, Dave Stout, Ronan Walker, Jo Willis, Ben Woollard.

CHRISTIAN ADVERTISERS: Birkdale School, The Family Works, Ferndale Garden Centre, Home for Good, Mark Willoughby, My Build Coach, Plumbline Podcast, Social We Talk. PHOTOGRAPHER: Jake Fields. ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS: Unsplash: Anton Velchev, Benjamin Elliott, Brooke Cagle, Cassidy Rowell, Connor Mollison, Eberhard Grossgasteiger, Gonzalo Facello, James, Josh Applegate, Matt Palmer, Mauro Lima, Mic Narra, Mona Eendra, Nathan Dumlao, Nigel Cohen, Rebecca Peterson, Serhat Beyazkaya, Tomoko Uji. iStock: Hennadii. DESIGNERS: Ben Ashworth, Mark Stuckey. PROOF-READER: Roger Hoyle. COORDINATOR: Cat Wiffen

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Arise 2022

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT?

by Ben Woollard

If I told you there was a city known across the world for its culture of compassion, would you want to go there?

A city where the name of Jesus was often on the lips of its inhabitants. I visited it recently, and I was shocked - perhaps wrongly - to discover that Christians here are known for their love, for one another and everyone else.

Don’t get me wrong: not everyone agreed with all their views, but there was

a deep appreciation for followers of Jesus. Notably, almost everyone living there knew someone who followed Jesus; they had been offered prayer by them, invited into community by them, they worked with them, were in the same family or had close Christian friends.

As in any city, there was a diverse array of churches and denominations, but the difference here was that believers practised the art of building bridges instead

of walls. They had strong individual identities but they also recognised that God was displaying His wisdom - in its abundant variety - through other churches. In humility they listened to each other, learned from each other.

They did not water down doctrinal truth, but instead allowed love to empower their pursuit of a common ground. They sincerely sought to be one body under one head: Jesus.

Believers in this city

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seemed grounded in a confident assurance of who they were in Christ. They knew the individual gifts they had been given and lived them out boldly. They made courageous steps to live out their faith in the workplace, at home and in public spaces. They sought to be a faithful Christian presence across the city. They found unity in turning their eyes upon Jesus, and glorifying Him. I wanted to find out more about the journey that followers of Jesus in this city had taken, so I asked around. Apparently, the road had been long, but worthwhile. Church leaders and believers in the city had been praying for unity, on and off, for decades, taking opportunities to work together when they presented themselves. Meanwhile church-led ministries such as foodbanks, counselling and debt advice projects were growing. As momentum grew, they started actively seeking to build deep and trusting relationships across church communities. Christians chose to speak well of one another and assume the best when they didn't understand a particular denominational quirk.

They refused to allow differences of opinion to stop them working together on the things they did agree on.

And then, they went one step further. At a time when things felt dark and locked-down they decided that their city would become a prayer room, and every street a prayer station.

After all, they had been planted in this city and they wanted to grow and bloom there for the glory of God. They sought the prosperity of their city. Their faith in God’s promises moved them to intercession.

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They prayed on every single street of the city. Working together, moving as one body; one church made up of hundreds of different campuses. They prayed for every household, for the marginalised, the hurting. But they also prayed for God’s grace, because they knew their own flaws. They did this year after year, faithfully persisting for the good of their city. Because of their consistency, people in the city started to take notice and become open to their message of Hope.

They knew that Jesus was and is the answer their city needed.

Their faith moved them to action and opened hundreds of doors into supporting their communities in powerful ways. Previously the city had a reputation for dividing quickly over small issues, but over time that changed. It was almost as if by deciding to be more cohesive the church blessed the entire city with more cohesion.

Where is this city?

It’s our city: it’s Sheffield in 2030.

If we want it to be. Arise is our statement: as Christians in this city we believe this can become a reality. As we step out onto our streets to pray and bring joy to our communities in March, we are making a prophetic declaration that as believers, what - and Who - we have in common is far greater than what divides us. That our love for Jesus and our city is enough to help us overcome our differences. We long to see the people of Sheffield come to know the love of God found in Jesus. We are not the answer: God, and His Gospel is. Let’s Arise and join with Christians and churches across our city this March.

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Arise 2022

Arise, prayer-walk, and

BRING JOY TO YOUR COMMUNITY!

LAUNCHING ON 26 FEBRUARY, 7PM LAST YEAR… Over 1,500 believers from nearly 150 churches rose up together to pray for Sheffield. These Arisers were emboldened in their faith in a new way. They formed new local relationships, and as a result people around Sheffield encountered Jesus for the first time. People who took part told us that they felt more purposeful, connected, and energised.

We know God has not finished fulfilling His purposes in Sheffield, so this year like the persistent widow from Jesus’ parable - we're continuing to pray to see Sheffield transformed.

GET INVOLVED: PRAYER We will be prayerwalking streets around the city, marking our routes on the Arise app.

The more times a street is walked, the brighter it will look on the map.

The vision: to set every street in Sheffield aglow with prayer between 1–31 March 2022.

SHARE Local churches and small groups will be bringing joy to their communities in their own ways. Some will be giving out Real Easter Eggs (chocolate eggs containing the true Easter message) and Easter cards, others will be hosting community events, or decorating their windows with Easter messages.

CARE We’re inviting you to connect more deeply with someone. It might be a neighbour, work colleague, or a fellow parent from their child’s class. Could you invite this person for a coffee, or for a meal at your house?

Arise relies on supporters like you: scan now to learn more

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We thank God for this beautiful picture of unity in our city.

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Akron Church of God • St Michael & All Angels Hathersage • Bethesda • St Peter’s Parish • Christ Church Gleadless Church • St Peter’s Church of St Mark, Greenhill • Church of St Mosborough Francis of Assisi • St Saviour’s • Philadelphia Church • Dronfield Baptist Church • RCCG Church • St Thomas Church Amazing Grace Wincobank • Gleadless United Tabernacle • Reformed Church • St Thomas Bushfire Ministries • More • Hillsong • St William of RCCG Sheffield • Christ York • Mosaic Church Central, Abiding Ministries • Leeds • Stephen Hill Methodist Redeemer King Church Church • New Christian Covenant • Christ Church URC • Stocksbridge Christian Centre • Stocksbridge • Saddleback Audacious! Sheffield • The Everlasting • Church of All Saints • Arms Ministry (Other) • Christ Church Share Pioneer Ministry Walkley • The Michael Church, Lowledge (Parson Cross) • Church of • Galeed House Community Centre • The St Mary the Virgin • Sheffield Vine • Holy Trinity Millhouses • The Way Chinese Christian Church • New Testament Church of God • URC • Crossgate Community • (Other) • Cornerstone Benefice • Whirlow Sheffield Church of the Nazarene Spirituality Centre at the Chapel of the Holy • Fountain of Life Christian Centre Spirit • Mosborough Methodist Church Hall • • Shiloh United Church Of Christ Winners Chapel International Sheffield • Harvest Apostolic Worldwide • Gatehouse Field Ministries • Word of Life (Other) • Cemetery Road • Shiregreen URC • Hampden Baptist Church • Zion URC Church • Oughtibridge Parish View Church • St James Church Church • Mount Tabor • God’s Righteousness Bible • Hathersage Parish Church • St Church International • Nether Green Methodist Church James Norton • His Church! • St • Church Army • St Patricks Church • Our Lady of James Woodhouse • Liberty Lourdes • Hillsbourough Tabernacle Congregational Church • St Leonard & St Mary, Church • Dore & Totley Christian Fellowship • Christ Victory Armthorpe • Mosborough Elim Church Stannington • Salvation Army Sheffield Assembly • Church • St Margaret’s & St Citadel • St Vincent’s MissionHub • Sheffield Attercliffe Centre of Thomas’ Church • Mother of Elim Central Pentecostal Church • Tapton Hill Mission • Millhouses God Catholic Church • St Congregational Church • Oaks Community Methodist Church Mary’s Church • New Hope Church • Trinity URC Church • Sacred Heart • Calvary Deliverance Community Church • St Church • Meersbrook Park United Reformed Ministry • Whiston Parish Matthew’s Church • Church • Church of the Nazarene • Church (St Mary Magdalene) • St Luke’s Church Lodge Moor • Wesley Hall • Dore & Totley URC Church • All Saints Totley • St Francis Church Bramley • Crown of Life Community Church • St Peter’s Ellesmere LEP • Sheffield Citadel Salvation Army Church • Church of Christ Darnall • City of Refuge Foursquare Church • Lansdowne Chapel • Bents Green Methodist Church • Hillsborough Baptist Church • Christ Church Pitsmoor • St Albans House Christian Community • Gleadless Valley Church • Central United Reformed Church • Wisewood Methodist Church • Christ Church, Hillsborough & Wadsley Bridge • The Crowded House • Greenhill Methodist Church • Bethel United Church of Jesus Christ Sheffield • Arbourthorne Community Church • Sheffield Central Elim Pentecostal Church • Living Waters Christian Fellowship • Our Lady Beauchief & St Thomas • Richmond Church • St Gabriel’s Greystones • The Vine St Bartholomew • Southern Light Community Church • Totley Rise Methodist Church • St Vincent’s • South Sheffield Church • Christ Church Endcliffe • St Marks Church • St Polycarp’s • St Paul’s Church, Parson’s Cross • St Timothy’s • International Christian Worship Centre • Heeley Parish Church • Antioch Community Church • St John’s Park • Emmanuel Church • Meadowhead Christian Fellowship • Network Church Sheffield • Spa View Community Church • Elim Pentecostal Church (Church on the Corner) • King’s Centre • Wadsley Parish Church • Sheffield Vineyard Church • Grace Church Sheffield • St Chad’s Church • All Saints Ecclesall • Christ Church Dore • St Philip’s • Christ Church Central • Christ Church Fulwood • Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Owlerton • C3 Hope • Rock Christian Centre • St Thomas Philadelphia (NCS) • City Church Sheffield • The Well • STC Sheffield Scan this QR code

Unity takes flight

to see a list of all participating churches arisesheffield.org/churches

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Arise 2022

ARISE!

WHO’S RISING UP?

“The work before us is rebuilding,” says Dave Ducker, father of three and minister of St Philip’s Church which he runs with his wife Sarah.

He speaks about the dual responsibilities of church leadership and fatherhood, which are very different but have “definite overlaps’’. Dave “sees church as family” and hopes that how he raises his children “is not a million miles from how he tries to love and serve the church.”

In both roles Dave tries to bring to the fore the principle of accompaniment, as he prefers getting alongside people in order to lead.

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ways to be more visible and When he first heard about a positive presence in their Arise last year, Dave thought communities.” that the organisers were “a group of brave dreamers”, Looking to 2022, Dave sees but had some reservations this year as one of transition. about the scale of the project.

“We live in a “I probably had watershed time. questions about During the It was amazing how much pandemic, all of to see Arise we could do”, life - including Dave reflected. finding creative worship - was However, since ways to serve the disrupted and then he has as a church, our community in seen the fruits community is word and deed of Arise. “It was now picking amazing to see up the pieces how many other people got of some of the things that involved… finding creative we lost, or that have been ways to serve the community displaced.” His prayer is that in word and deed, whether more people will get to know that is giving out Easter eggs Jesus and know God is with or cards or finding other them this year.

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Margaret Howells is an enthusiastic advocate for the Arise community.

Well before Arise launched in 2021, she saw a vision of a website and felt that there would soon be a new movement to connect churches around prayer. When she first encountered Arise she was thrilled that Arise had fulfilled this and when it launched in February, she was delighted to get involved.

During the March prayerwalk, Margaret went above and beyond. When - two

days into the prayer-walking - the whole of Margaret’s S10 area had already been earmarked for prayer-walking Margaret ventured further afield, blessing anything from industrial estates to country lanes as she went.

In addition to finding many lovely spots around the city to pray - such as Parkwood Springs - through walking Margaret noticed a connection between the Arise community’s flow of foot traffic on Sheffield’s streets and the five rivers of Sheffield,

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both sustaining the city in different ways.

Margaret shared that prayer walking has been a pivotal experience in her faith because she saw the power of prayer in “bringing Heaven to Earth”.

Through her involvement with Arise Margaret says that she realised more and more that God always has a plan, which will more fully be revealed to us over time. To this end Margaret encourages all of us to pray this March for God’s plan to be revealed in Sheffield.

God always has a plan, let’s pray that He reveals it to us.

Ben Ashworth first heard about Arise in January last year, when he was commissioned to design the Arise Easter cards.

The cards were sent to every home in Sheffield with a heartwarming message of hope and a new beginning around Easter. Ben was

already a regular prayerwalker in Parson Cross, and so joining in with Arise felt very natural. During Arise 2021, as Ben sought to prayerwalk the small streets that others had missed, it struck him how “God notices each of us”, even if we feel small or insignificant. This March Ben hopes to prayer-walk areas of

Arise reminded me how God notices each of us, even if we feel small or insignificant.

Sheffield he doesn’t know so well. “I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will lead us to the right people and things as we prayer-walk this March.”

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Food for the Journey

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Practising the presence of God

by Pippa Baker

I am blessed to work with the Church all over the UK which means that I spend many hours – and a fair bit of money – on train trips.

Towards the end of last year living out of a suitcase had begun to take a toll and as a result, I had missed a couple of my trains. For some reason this really grated on me, and I ‘lost my cool’ more than I would like to admit.

A week or so later, I was heading to the station again when my plans were disrupted by a cancelled cab and I realised I was about to miss another train. Memories of my recent frustration popped into my mind - and

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the temptation to misplace my peace arose within me again - so slightly halfheartedly I turned to the Holy Spirit. “OK Lord, I want to live differently today: help me be at peace and to live in your presence.”

I quietly ordered another taxi and thought I may as well try to get on the next train to London, knowing my ticket wouldn’t be valid. As I boarded the train, I prayed again, “Lord, send me a nice ticket inspector who will be alright with this situation!”

When the inspector entered the carriage, I sensed this deep peace in my heart: if I had to pay the extra fare -

even if it would have been a real stretch for me - God would provide. When the inspector reached my seat I explained what happened and waited for his response.

His eyes crinkled up into a smile behind his mask as he replied, “No worries love, these things happen!” I was so relieved, and thanked him, mentioning I had been praying for a friendly ticket person. The next thing I knew, he had upgraded me to first class, and handed me a free coffee and a sweet treat.

As if that wasn’t enough of a blessing, my excitement reached a climax as I noticed that the label on the snack read ‘Heavenly Bakes’. It’s

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safe to say the inspector didn’t quite know what to do with such an enthusiastic Christian!

Of course, not every hardship finishes with first class upgrades and chocolate treats, but the real miracle that day was the peace I felt in knowing God was with me.

Living aware of the presence of God significantly changed my day.

In that moment on the train, I was reminded of the astonishing and life-changing mystery of Christmas, when Jesus – God in flesh – was born into a messy, smelly, dark stable, revealing the truth about how he wants to be born into the messy, smelly, dark parts of our

hearts. Sometimes, as we move on from Christmastime into the new year, it’s easy to forget that we’re doing so with Jesus born afresh in us.

He has declared so powerfully that he is Emmanuel, God with us – and that invitation is for us to truly live with him and in him every day.

That’s the offer I feel the Lord extending to me this 2022 – practising His presence, living in His spirit and relying on His strength. I know that not everything will go my way, but my God is with me, and His presence changes my daily living. Do you want this too? I believe this is for you! There’s a great book about this called ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’ by Brother Lawrence – a simple

Food for the Journey

but deeply profound 17th Century Carmelite Friar. It’s a very small book with some very large truths. May we all, over these coming months of 2022, come to be more aware of the Lord with us, and live in His kingdom of joy and peace – even on train journeys.

Full time missionary, Pippa Baker worked in the Advertising industry for 6 and a half years in Central London. In 2017 she felt the call to quit her job to pursue a life working with the Church all over the UK. Her passion lies in helping the next generation follow Jesus daily. She helps lead One Hope Project, a creative collective encouraging fresh expressions of worship in the Catholic Church.

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Food for the Journey

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SOWING DISCIPLESHIP:

The Parable of the Sower

Bishop Pete Wilcox Diocese of Sheffield

If we make a habit of a lively daily time with God, we will end up as good soil, as sure as day follows night.

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One of the unusual things about the Parable of the Sower is that Jesus also gave us an interpretation of it. In all three versions of the story (in Matthew 13:1–9, Mark 4:1–9 & Luke 8:4–8), it is immediately followed by a key to help us understand and apply it (Matthew 13:18–23, Mark 4:13–20 & Luke 8:11–15). Jesus rarely did that: mostly, he left his parables open-ended for his hearers to ponder; he let his stories speak for themselves.

Interestingly, the only other example was also a parable about sowing seed: the Parable of the Weeds in Matthew 13:24–30 (with the interpretation in 13:36–43).

Anyway, in the Parable of the Sower, the key to the story is that the four types of soil which Jesus describes are the conditions not for conversion but for discipleship – not for receiving the Word Jesus proclaims, but for allowing it to grow in us and bear fruit in us over time, and in particular in seasons of difficulty.

Of course, it’s vital for the Church to proclaim the Gospel, in such a way that people become Christians.

But in our efforts to evangelise we must not depart from the emphasis we find in the Gospels. While of course Jesus calls people to himself and looks for their decision, his call is not just to turn, to convert, but to follow him. Our priority must always be to make not so much converts for Jesus but disciples for him: to help people to grow up to maturity in Christ and in turn to play their full part in the mission of God in the world.

And what Jesus offers us in this parable is a snapshot of three of the conditions which can most often threaten our growth in discipleship, our maturing to full potential as his followers, and one condition which most often enables that to happen.

Jesus refers first to those who hardly get started in the Christian life. They hear the message, but they don’t

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understand it. For whatever reason, they’re like a trodden down path, hardened so that the gospel never really penetrates, it just sits there on the surface so that the Evil One is able to snatch it away.

Jesus doesn’t explain how people get to that point – my guess is bitterness mostly, or cynicism, and even more dangerously, complacency – where a person is so sure they’re right that they’re no longer truly open, and before they know it they’ve shut down on God and shut out his Spirit.

Then Jesus refers to those who make a good beginning with Jesus, who hear his word and receive it with joy, but who fall away when trouble comes and persecution in the world. This is what Jesus calls rocky ground. Trouble and persecution are different.

Trouble just means difficulty.

This pandemic is trouble.

Many young Christians will have found it hard to keep up in following Jesus over the past 18 months. But persecution is more than difficulty: it’s hostility, it’s when people have a go at us precisely because we follow Jesus – whether people at work, or people at home. For us, it’s not often the state, as it is for Christians in other parts of the world: but most of us will be tested by hostility at some point and it’s a key moment in our discipleship.

Much more threatening in our culture, at least until this year, has been not difficulty, but ease; not hardship, but

comfort and plenty. Jesus warns about the threat which his followers will meet in the thorns. Actually he speaks not only of what he calls the lure of wealth, but the cares of this world, which means the stuff which worries us: health and relationships and debt. These are the things which compete with Jesus for number one place in our lives, or distract us from him.

And then there’s the good soil, in which the word so takes root that it multiplies.

I honestly think Jesus is being a bit mischievous here. You see, you could read the story and conclude that the seed had no real choice where it fell, and the soil had no real power to change itself, so the sowing of the seed was just bound to result in the sort of different outcomes Jesus’ describes – and so by the same token, Christians will either grow to fruitful maturity in Christ, or they’ll fall by the way, and that’s all there is to it.

But surely Jesus didn’t tell this parable just so that we’d think ‘Oh yes, that’s true: I recognise that as an accurate description of my experience: not every Christian who hears and accepts the Gospel lasts the course’. Surely Jesus told it to challenge us? And if Jesus meant this story to challenge us, it means he thought that there are things we can each do in order to locate ourselves in the good soil. As his followers, we’re not just passive seeds!

Food for the Journey

So how do you become seed sown in good soil? By making yourself as open to the Word of God as you can be – the Word of God in Scripture and the Word of God enlivened by the Spirit. Daily, we can present ourselves to God, with our spiritual ears open, attentive to what God is saying to us. We can do it by reading our Bibles, and we can do it in prayer. If we make a habit of a lively daily time with God, we will end up as good soil, as sure as day follows night.

And while I believe that the primary application of this parable is to the individual Christian, I do think it also applies to the local church.

The parable challenges us to ask ourselves, ‘Is the Gospel flourishing in me, personally – or am I at risk of proving fruitless for Jesus?’, but also ‘Is our church providing good soil in which the disciples of Jesus can grow, or not?’

It seems to me that one of the challenges for every baptised Christian, as we emerge out of this wretched pandemic, will be for us to take stock of our faith and to ask ourselves how we are doing. Are we now well placed to grow up to maturity in Christ? And the same challenge faces every local church: are we now creating the conditions in which our members can grow to maximum fruitfulness in the Gospel?

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SEASONS in the Church By the time you receive the present copy of Arise!, the holy season of Lent will be upon us. Lent, of course, is one of the Church’s seasons that we mark and celebrate throughout the Church’s year. So why the seasons, anyway?

Bishop Ralph Heskett Diocese of Hallam

...the seasons of the Church help us to see better the many-sided wisdom of our God and the many different ways that he shows his love for us.

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There is a long tradition in the Church of the observance of different seasons. At a time when people were poor and without access to education, the Church’s festivals and the cycle of the Church’s year provided a means of teaching the story of God and his actions in human history.

Because of our human frailty and limitations, it is impossible to grasp the whole mystery of the God we worship. So, in her wisdom, the Church has given us different seasons to enable us to reflect upon and to grow in understanding and appreciation of the many aspects of the God we worship.

In the Catholic tradition the cycle of celebrations, prayers and readings is divided into six seasons,

each emphasising a different aspect of the life of Jesus. So, by means of the annual cycle, the Church celebrates the mystery of the life of Jesus from his incarnation to the day of Pentecost and the expectation of his coming again. The sequence of feasts and festivals becomes an annual pilgrimage as we move from the crib to the foot of the cross and to witness the resurrection. Let us briefly remind ourselves of the journey we make through the year and why.

During Advent, we are invited to prepare to celebrate that moment in history when our God stooped down and took on our human flesh to express his love for us.

During the Advent season, too, we are invited to do this by reflecting on the threefold coming of Jesus: in the prophecies of the Incarnation and Birth; his coming to us daily through grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, the second coming of Jesus at the end of time. The joyful expectation of Advent, of course, culminates with the Christmas season.

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These few words are prompted by the fact that we will shortly be entering into the holy season of Lent.

The focus is on the threefold discipline of fasting, prayer and almsgiving. It is offered to us as a way of preparing ourselves to die with Christ on Good Friday and rise with him on Easter Sunday (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). Over the years, I must admit that I have not welcomed this season as warmly as I could have done!

Lent leads us into celebrating the greatest feast in the Church’s calendar – Easter.

Paul reminds us: “If Christ is not risen our faith is futile and we are still in our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14). During the Easter season we are invited to celebrate in Christ’s victory over sin and death and share in his victory. The great season of Easter culminates in his Ascension into heaven and the descent of the Holy Spirit, and the beginning of the Church at Pentecost.

In between times, the prayers and readings that are used in public worship enable us to walk with Jesus as he preached, taught and worked

Food for the Journey

miracles and to hear once again his call to us to be the Light of the World.

In conclusion, the seasons of the Church help us to see better the many-sided wisdom of our God and the many different ways that he shows his love for us.

To help us grow in an appreciation of the seasons, a question that we might profitably ask Jesus in prayer as we move through each of the seasons is “How are you showing your love for me at this time – in this season?”

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Food for the Journey

ARISE!

Bloom

WHERE YOU’RE PLANTED

by Joy French Joy French is the Oversight Minister for the Hallam North Mission Area and Priest in charge of St. John’s Owlerton.

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Several years ago, my husband and I were leading a Messy Church in a school on the Wybourn estate. It was something that we absolutely loved – many families were regularly attending each fortnight, and almost all of them had no other connection with a church. It was a time of immense learning for us, and a time when we regularly saw God working in people’s lives.

One day, we decided to prayerwalk the estate. Our youngest son was still in a buggy, and it was a beautiful summer’s day. We had almost reached the end of our walk, and as we rounded a corner, we saw a garden which made me gasp! It was filled with the most incredible poppies.

They were of almost every colour, with flower heads as big as dinner plates, and there were hundreds of them. In the middle of the garden, stood a toothless older man, appreciating the beauty of his gardening skills! I couldn’t help myself, and in the moment, I blurted out “Your garden is so beautiful!” The old gentleman came over to me, snapped the seed-head off one of his poppies, and handed it to me across the garden fence. “You see that seed?” he said, “Inside this is the seed for thousands of flowers – if you plant it, you can have thousands of flowers too.”

As I walked away with the gift of my precious seed-head, I couldn’t help but think that the moment felt heavy with prophetic imagery: The seed had come from the community we were journeying with, the promise was there that the seed would do what it is made to do – bloom and create new

Food for the Journey

life! We were longing to see exactly the same.

seen all of human life for all of time - is not shaken.

I told this story at church when I was preaching several weeks ago, and two days later, I received the invitation to write this article, reflecting on the verse in John’s gospel that says “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24)

The pattern of the Kingdom of God is not a pursuit of comfort and stability, but rather, a rhythm of death and resurrection. A seed going into the ground looks like death – there is darkness, decay, an emptying and silence…we hold our breath and hope… and then there is growth, new life, flourishing and beauty. These truths of God are woven deep into the fabric of our natural world.

I’m conscious that at the moment, so many of us are feeling overwhelmed. Life has been hard for the last few years, Covid has pushed services such as health and education, that were already close to breaking point, into uncharted territories.

When I look around church on a Sunday, I see the faces of faithful people who are serving God wholeheartedly, but who are also tired and asking new questions about life, faith and the church. It feels as though everything familiar has been shaken and many of us are longing for some breathing space.

As I prayed about this verse, I had an overwhelming image of people in darkness, trying to breathe, feeling suffocated and as though there was no way out. It was quite a scary image. I heard the words, “You might feel like you have been buried, but really, you have been planted.”

This is a challenging time for us all. When the things that have been familiar to us and that we have put our security in are shaken, we can feel overwhelmed, as though we can’t breathe. But the God of history – the God who has

Jesus does not promise us an easy life (in fact, he actively promises us “trouble”), but he also reminds us to “take heart, I have overcome the world!”

(John 16.33).

In this time of trouble, I am offering you the encouragement to “bloom where you’re planted.” It may be that you feel buried right now, but there is the promise of new life ahead. God is like my toothless Wybourn gardener, always tending proudly to his seedlings. It is not our responsibility to make everything grow, but we do get to be a part of the garden.

I wonder what blooming looks like for you right now? I know that right across Sheffield, the master gardener is busy planting seeds and watching them burst into flower. Even in the darkness and uncertainty of being planted, we know that new life is on its way.

While Joy was praying she was impacted by something she saw and it ministered to her. As you prepare to prayer-walk, be open to God’s blessing and ask him to bless your neighbourhood.

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Food for the Journey

A Personal

ARISE!

Rule of Life

by Hannah Sandoval

I wonder, how many times have you heard the invitation that Jesus offers to his followers at the end of Matthew chapter 11?

It’s the passage where Jesus says ‘come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’ Perhaps, like me, you’ve heard these words so many times that you’ve become a little bit immune to them. What does it actually look like to come to Jesus and to receive the rest that he gives? When we come to Jesus, accepting him as our Saviour, we find rest and salvation in him once and for all. Jesus’ invitation can also refer to us coming to him every day of our lives: walking with him, receiving from him, allowing him to sustain us on our Christian journeys.

I often find it helpful to read familiar passages of scripture in different translations so that I can hear the words afresh, and appreciate their meaning again. For this particular passage, I’ve found Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in ‘The Message’, really useful. Verses 28-30 read: “Are you tired? Worn out?

Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

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Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Christians throughout history have found it helpful to be intentional about the way in which they follow Jesus.

Developing a Personal Rule of Life provides an One way A Personal Rule of opportunity of keeping life is a simple set of to take a step company habits and practices back and with Jesus, of walking that a person chooses look at the with him and to adopt to structure habits and practices we working with their journey of already have him, is to discipleship. in our lives, think about and consider establishing what we might keep, change a set of habits or regular or add to align ourselves rhythm that helps to bring more closely with Jesus. our attention back to Jesus It’s important to note that again and again. This is a Personal Rule of Life isn’t sometimes called a Personal intended to be a burden, Rule of Life, and is an idea but we may need to work to that we’ve picked up on in stick to it. Jesus says to us the Diocese of Sheffield. As ‘I won’t lay anything heavy people are thinking about or ill-fitting on you’ (MSG). It how they are being disciples, needs to be something that is we’re encouraging them helpful for us, and something to consider developing a that can be flexible and Personal Rule of Life. change as our circumstances A Personal Rule of life is a change. simple set of habits and In the Diocese of Sheffield, practices that a person we’re using the idea of being chooses to adopt to structure Lights for Christ to promote their journey of discipleship. discipleship, and have This idea isn’t anything recognised three key areas: new – having a framework or pattern to one’s life with 1. Keeping company with Jesus has been common Jesus, which we’re calling among Christians for ‘receiving Christ’s light’. centuries. Some people This is all about being might call such a set of with Jesus – in prayer, in practices holy habits, spiritual worship, in reading the disciplines, or practising the Bible and receiving from way. Whatever you call it, him as we take part in

Food for the Journey

communal worship.

2. Walking with Jesus, which we’re (unsurprisingly!) calling ‘walking in Christ’s light’. This is about becoming more like Jesus and trying to emulate his character as we go about our daily lives.

3. Working with Jesus, which we’re calling ‘reflecting Christ’s light to others’.

This is about how we can show the love of God to everyone we meet by trying to do as Jesus did.

You might like to think about how you are already doing these things, and how you might be intentional about doing more of them. Perhaps you could decide on one new thing to try for each of these three areas.

To support people to do this, the Diocese of Sheffield has put together a series of resources on developing a Personal Rule of Life.

You can find all of these resources online at www. lightsforchrist.uk/ruleoflife, plus details of any upcoming workshops.

Hannah Sandoval is the Lights for Christ (Discipleship) Enabler for the Diocese of Sheffield. She is also a teacher working with Deaf children. In her spare time you might find her playing her harp or in one Sheffield’s many rock climbing gyms.

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Food for the Journey

ARISE!

A NEW CITY

by Andrew Senior

As I think about the poverty and the need in Sheffield, I remember that Jesus’ love for me cost him everything, just as the widow’s obedience to God cost her everything.

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One day there will be a new city, perfect and complete.

It will have walls of jasper with foundations decorated with every kind of precious stone, and a great street of gold, as pure as transparent glass. It will be a city without suffering, without injustice. The most incomprehensible thing is that the city will be God’s dwelling place among his people. Not as an inhabitant of the city, but as the source of its eternal light and life. In the city “no longer will there be any curse” (Revelation 22:3). “There will be no more night” (Revelation 22:5). Its inhabitants will not struggle in adversity against hunger and poverty and the indifference of their fellow human beings. Instead, they will see the face of God himself.

The centre of Sheffield is changing. It is changing all the time. Today I walked from the Peace Gardens, down Norfolk Street, through Fitzalan Square, along Haymarket and Waingate and over Lady’s Bridge. Tower cranes, walls of scaffolding and heavy plant machinery abound. There are rubble flatlands behind wooden hoardings, piles of gravel and stacks of portacabins. Some buildings have vanished without trace and everywhere new buildings are under construction. Admittedly,

the changes keep me interested, but as I walked I wondered why there’s money to refashion the city centre, seemingly on a near constant basis, when so many people in Sheffield live in poverty.

The economics of it are more complex and nuanced than I appreciate – perhaps - but it’s hard to ignore the imbalance and the straightforward injustice.

My destination was the Tesco Extra on Savile Street. A few times a year I volunteer for the Burngreave Foodbank,

ARISE!

taking one of the twohour shifts that run over a weekend, staffing the collection point and handing out foodbank shopping lists to arriving customers. I stand at the top of the moving walkway, smiling and saying ‘We’re collecting for the local foodbank today, if you’re able to donate any of the items on the list’ over and over again.

Shopper responses vary.

Many are positive and they donate at the end of their shop – sometimes a whole bag or even, on occasion, a whole trolley. Some appear indifferent and seem to take the list because it’s easier than not taking the list - but make a donation nevertheless.

Some don’t engage at all.

Some don’t understand the intention: ‘I’m all right, thanks,’ is not an uncommon response (‘but that’s the point,’ I want to say). Some say they can’t donate: ‘We survive on a basic pension’ I was pointedly told today.

back through the city to my office. As I passed new shop fronts, freshly pedestrianised streets and rewilded areas, I wondered again what it would take to reorientate the city’s priorities so that the needs of those obliged to access foodbanks were met. I suspect a lot would need to change; corporately, municipally and socially.

But the tin of tuna fish had brought to mind another offered gift.

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.

“Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

LU K E 2 1 : 1 –4

In noticing the widow, Jesus noticed the least of the least, and more than that, he commended her actions. It is a radical declaration. The actual amount the widow I wondered why gave was not there’s money to important refashion the city to Jesus; his centre, seemingly concern was with the total on a near sacrifice of her constant basis, gift in obedience when so many to God. She people in Sheffield gave all she had, everything she live in poverty. had to live on.

And then some donate in the singular – one tin of beans or one can of tomatoes or one packet of pasta. There is something especially moving about these donations; shoppers who are unable to give much, but, undeterred, give what they are able to give. Today, it was a tin of tuna fish.

After my two hours were done, I retraced my route

Jesus commended her because, in obedience to his Father, he too gave all he had. And he had everything.

Though he was “in very nature God”, he did not

Food for the Journey

“consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross.”

(Philippians 2:6–8).

As I think about the poverty and the need in Sheffield, I remember that Jesus’ love for me cost him everything, just as the widow’s obedience to God cost her everything. The command of Jesus is that I love others as he has loved me (John 15:12–13). So, as I wait for God’s new city, what do I need to give up in order to show greater love?

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

R EVE L ATION 2 1 : 1 –4

Andrew Senior lives in Sheffield and writes short fiction, poetry and reflections on faith: https:// andrewseniorwriting.weebly. com/

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Including the launch of

Friendly Fellowship, Wonderful Worship and Powerful Prayers

26 February 2022

With brownies and refreshments.

Opening at 7pm for 7.30pm start.

Philadelphia Conference Centre 110 Portland St, Sheffield S6 3BN

thefillingstation.org.uk www.arisesheffield.org

Together we can find a home for every child who needs one homeforgood.org.uk Our Yorkshire and North East Lead, Emma Chaldecott, would love to hear from you!

Email emma.chaldecott@homeforgood.org.uk to find out how you can make a difference in the lives of care-experienced children. We all have a part to play.

Home for Good is a charity registered in England and Wales (1158707) and Scotland (SC046972) and is a company limited by guarantee (9060425).

Faith Lives

ARISE!

Approaching

Climate Change

with Christ

A conversation with Rachel Mander

by Beth Craggs

Rachel Mander has been on a journey, in more ways than one. When she met a group of Christian climate activists at university, Rachel was not convinced that their vegan lifestyle was entirely necessary. “To prove a point,” says Rachel, “I decided to go vegan for Lent. And for almost the entire forty days I was certain that I would go back to my normal diet at Easter.

But during Holy Week, things started to change.”

Now, just five years later, Rachel is a full-time climate activist. Last year, she coordinated the Young Christian Climate Network’s COP26 Relay, which saw Christians across the country join together to walk a route

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from June’s G7 Summit in Cornwall, to November’s COP26 in Glasgow. She has worked with Christian environmental charities A Rocha and Hope for the Future, and roadblocked busy London junctions with Extinction Rebellion. She speaks at events around the country and has been a guest on podcasts such as Nomad and Field Notes.

Rachel had just returned from COP26 when I spoke with her. The Summit had been an emotional rollercoaster: the joy at arriving in Glasgow having successfully completed the Young Christian Climate Network’s Relay walk swiftly transforming into pain at the disappointing outcomes

of the talks. “But Bishop David Atkinson talks about a theology of hope, that can walk the way of Gethsemane before it reaches Easter,” reflects Rachel, “And that allows me to maintain hope.”

I personally found my conversation with Rachel to be both really encouraging and really challenging. Rachel has not been a lifelong environmentalist - “I don’t even like animals that much!”

- but she humbly allowed God to lead her in a new direction.

Listening to Rachel made me realise that I can’t continue to let a lack of time, knowledge, or experience excuse me from making more environmentally responsible choices. Here’s a snapshot of our conversation:

ARISE!

What’s one of the most pivotal moments in your faith journey so far?

The decision of faith that I made in sixth form. I grew up in Birmingham, and my parents started a money advice charity, while I was at school. Up until that point, I felt a bit cross sometimes when I saw Christians going to church, but not living particularly challenging lives or making courageous decisions in their faith. It seemed like there was a gap between people’s faith and their actions.

But then I saw my parents step out in faith with their charity, and I saw some really incredible things happen.

There were times when people in need would access my parents’ charity because they’d prayed and then dialled random numbers into their phone. So understanding the reality of God in quite a tangible way, led to my own decision to follow Him.

How does your identity as a Christian inform your work as a climate change activist? Do you ever feel like those two things are held in tension or are they aligned?

They do align for me because they’re both very connected to my understanding of the world and my experience of it. When I moved to London after I graduated, I really felt some of the tensions between my Christian faith and my climate change activism. At that time, I didn’t understand the anger that

people sometimes expressed, and my instincts at that point were to think, “No, my Christian faith means that I’m happy, and I have hope for this.” And I do have hope for it. But in the years since then I also see that things are going really wrong. And I think the Christian faith should be able to speak into this really clearly and say, “Actually, we know that this is a broken world.

And we know that there’s redemption, that actually as Christians, we’re called to be a witness now to that redemption, rather than just being passive about it.”

I think a lot of Christians know that for themselves individually - you wouldn’t suggest that you didn’t need to care about your holiness now, because you’d be made perfect in the new creation.

But sometimes we have a tendency as Christians to do that with the earth. I’d love more Christians to have the courage to live out that witness to redemption, not only in our own lives but also in how we relate to the rest of the world.

The other thing is that a lot of the reasons for environmental risk and degradation are actually linked to our exploitation of other people.

Cheap wages, resource extraction, consumerism, and the way that governments are being lobbied by industries that see profits as the bottom line, instead of people’s lives. I really would love to see Christians speak more into that and say, “Actually, no, some things are sacred, and they don’t belong in the marketplace.”

Faith Lives

What do you say to Christians who aren’t sure whether they should be concerned about climate change?

I start by saying that the Gospel is Good News. It’s good news for us, and it’s good news for the earth. And in sharing about Jesus, we’re sharing that good news, which doesn’t apply just to us, it applies to everything. But actually, we’re telling people that and witnessing to it in a context in which the Earth is experiencing a breakdown in seasons, in weather, in soil and growing crops. And we’re going to see that brokenness even more over the coming decades. And so actually, our faith has implications for how we respond to that context and how we talk about Jesus in that context. And so it’s relevant - not just because it’s about the wellbeing of millions of people around the world in the coming decades - but also because we can’t communicate what the gospel is in this context, without also understanding climate change and acting faithfully in that context.

I know a lot of the Arise community are already deeply passionate about justice. What do you say to people who already have a ‘cause’, and aren’t sure if there’s room in their lives for another?

Climate change is a threat multiplier. I can basically guarantee that whatever your main cause is,

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Faith Lives

climate change will be affecting it, even if your cause is something that doesn’t seem immediately related.

For exanmple, gender issues: we know that in the wake of climate-related disasters, it’s women who suffer most.

Sexual harassment always spikes. And the same with migration or Sheffield being a City of Sanctuary. Migration is going to increase rapidly across this century, because there will be areas - especially around the Middle East - that will become uninhabitable for humans. And that will have huge implications.

Another thing that comes up a lot is people dismissing environmentalism as very much a ‘middle-class’ issue, which I do on one level, totally understand. But

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actually your emissions are correlated very closely with your income. So, not only is it the wealthiest people who have the most responsibility in terms of reducing their carbon footprint, but also, when disaster strikes - like we’ve seen the pandemic the people who suffer most are those who’ve been in more insecure employment, or who already face barriers in accessing health care.

It can be hard to know what best to do to help in the face of something as big as climate change.

What are some steps we can each take to slow climate change?

From a personal perspective, the top three things you

can change are diet, travel, and money. Reducing your meat consumption, avoiding flying, and, if you’ve got a pension, it’s likely that it’s giving money to fossil fuel companies. So, looking at those things, and also, if you’re in a workplace, you can not only sort out your pension, but influence your whole company’s choice of pension provider.

In a church context, the Diocese of Sheffield is working on becoming a recognised Eco-Diocese through the charity A Rocha.

That requires a percentage of churches in Sheffield to become Eco Churches. I’d love to see more churches in Sheffield go on that journey.

It’s open to churches of all denominations. There are

ARISE!

already a couple of churches in Sheffield who have their Silver Eco Church Award. So talking to churches who are further ahead in the journey and learning from them would be great.

Then in terms of the city itself, Sheffield has an action plan for how it’s going to respond to climate change. Currently, it’s just a written report, and it’s going to need some help progressing from that into real actions. So signing up for Sheffield City Council’s updates on their progress in addressing climate change would be a really great start.

You might have heard of the new Local Area Committees: it would be great if people could attend those and consider climate in relation to their local area. Also, join in with your local environmental groups. It would be great to have a very strong faith representation calling for climate action within the city.

Could you recommend any books, podcasts, etc, for people looking to learn more and take the next steps in care for our planet?

A great place to start is Planetwise by Dave Bookless, which is getting slightly older, but is very relevant. It’s structured like a Frequently Asked Questions, covering how climate change fits with Christian faith. If you like podcasts, there’s a two-hour special called Everybody Now, which is very long, but really good. Any podcast that

features Hannah Malcolm will be worth listening to.

Her blog has a page of recommended reading, called ‘Ecology for your theology bookshelf’, so if you’re keen to find out more I’d definitely recommend that list.

Arise is calling people to prayer-walk their local area this March. With your recent Climate Relay to COP26, did you have any spiritual experiences while walking?

Walking with the Young Christian Climate Network recently reminded me that Jesus did a lot of walking.

When you read the gospels, and it says that Jesus and his disciples went to another village: they didn’t get a car, they walked down a road for however many miles and it was dusty, and it was hot. Walking is very human.

And it’s a very good pace for journeying with God, in both a physical way and also a spiritual way. In terms of the Climate Relay, walking with other people is a really good place for conversation. I also think there’s something about what you notice and observe as you walk, that gives you the time to be attentive to the world around you: I think being attentive to things is a really good spiritual practice.

What’s been bringing you closer to Jesus lately?

Recently, it’s been through interacting with people

Faith Lives

from lots of different denominations through the Young Christian Climate Network and at COP26. We’ve been having ecumenical services and I’ve really been struck by the depth and breadth of Christian faith.

At COP I had dinner with a youth activist who lives on the permafrost in the Arctic Circle and someone else who lives in the Philippines, whose home was destroyed

by Typhoon Haiyan. And just seeing all the different experiences and expressions of faith and just thinking, “Wow, there’s literally no other reason that I would have this conversation with you other than something that we share very much in common, which is an encounter with Jesus.

Do you have any prayer requests for the Arise community?

Please pray that at a governmental level we see the response and planning that we need, even just to meet our existing climate change commitments.

And also, please pray for organisations who are a Christian presence or witness in the environmental space, that they would really excel in the work that they’re doing. Finally also that more Christians would start on this journey towards greater care for our world, and for the strengthening of Christians and churches who are already making this part of their discipleship.

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Faith Lives

ARISE!

Happy Healthy

Neighbourhoods

by Ben Woollard

A healthy happy neighbourhood is one where the air is good to breathe, children can play, schools are safe and communities are well connected.

Christian and member of St Philip’s church - launched a campaign for cleaner air in our city after discovering he had lung cancer, having never smoked a cigarette in his life. He regularly took part Unfortunately, many areas in local park runs, and when of Sheffield do not live up he noticed his running times to this standard. Because getting worse, he went to of the depth and breadth the doctor, who diagnosed of the causes and effects of him with lung cancer. When environmental problems, investigating the potential campaign groups can causes, he struggle to discovered We would like to be heard. If work with Sheffield’s that Sheffield’s only there carcinogenic was a single environmental air may have call to action, groups to help paint led to his presenting cancer. He a clear vision of a simple learned that changes we happier, healthier unlawfully can all make in future, and to mark dangerous our daily lives out the steps we can levels of to help make all follow to get there. nitrogen our areas dioxide, carbon into happy dioxide and fine particulate healthy neighbourhoods. matter in Sheffield’s air is We would like to work with damaging our health. Air community groups across pollution affects every organ in Sheffield to help paint a clear the body in a plethora of ways; vision of a happier, healthier it increases rates of diabetes, future, and to mark out the cancer and asthma for all steps we can all follow to get age groups and is particularly there. To invite people from harmful to children. across Sheffield to be part Following his diagnosis of something constructive: and awakening to the issue building happy healthy of air quality James threw neighbourhoods, together. himself into campaigning.

James Wilson - a committed

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His tireless dedication, even with his life-limiting illness, inspired and educated many people. He died in 2021, and while his passing is a great loss for his wife, children and Sheffield, he continues to be an inspiration for us to improve our air, our green spaces and ultimately our neighbourhoods.

James was not the first to suffer from an illness rooted in poor air quality. But what if his life and legacy could inspire us to turn the tide? The communityled development of happy healthy neighbourhoods could help. There are simple things we can do to adapt our local area and our lifestyle choices so that all of us can enjoy our neighbourhoods more. “The happy healthy neighbourhood campaign is a great way to keep up the momentum of James’ work to reduce air pollution in Sheffield and extend his legacy in improving the health of our families, friends and neighbours”, explained Happy Healthy Neighbourhood campaign team member Jona West.

There are many routes we could take to our happy healthy neighbourhoods.

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What is important to us is that we make the journey an empowering one. That is why the James Wilson ‘Happy Healthy Neighbourhood’ campaign embraces a variety of methods.

to physically block pollutants from busy roads, calling for an emissions charge on vehicles entering the inner ring road of the city, subsidising electric vehicles, the signs encouraging people to turn off their car engines while waiting, altering the city’s traffic flow to divert traffic away from populated neighbourhoods and push it onto main roads. All of these measures help us to reclaim our streets.

It focuses on a common ground we can all agree on. Surely everyone wants to live in a happy healthy neighbourhood? A place where children are less likely to get knocked down Low-traffic neighbourhoods on their way to school, are just as they sound: they and neighbours feel more stop our comfortable streets being crossing the Monitors placed dominated street to say around Sheffield by traffic and hello? Is this found dangerously allow them a message high levels of to be used as that the many social spaces. different nitrogen all over climate the city; in various The goal is to create trafficcampaign and locations measuring free hubs action groups connected can work levels above 40 around the together on? micrograms per city. Free from To empower cubic metre, which through-traffic, the people is equivalent our streets of their local can then be communities to smoking one to work cigarette every day. converted to be more peopletogether for a friendly and less car-friendly better area? by building safe spaces to If communities want to create cycle, making the pavement a better neighbourhood wider, building seating and perhaps then they will be growing plants. Furthermore more willing to accept some these traffic cells can be linked disruption to their current up by safe crossings and quiet routines. Let’s invite the streets to create a welcoming communities of Sheffield to network around the city. be part of a solution that may The implementation of low come as a natural by-product traffic neighbourhoods would of seeking cleaner air in their not just help our physical and own areas. mental health, it also has the A grassroots campaign will potential to rejuvenate our help join up some of the things local economies. A Walkley already taking place in the city. forum survey found that Some great work is already 74% of visits to independent underway, such as the use of businesses on South Road green screens in city schools

Faith Lives

were already either done on foot or on a bicycle. A lowtraffic neighbourhood would aim to increase footfall on local highstreets, making the communities happier and more prosperous.

In 2017, monitors placed around Sheffield as part of the East End Quality of Life initiative found dangerously high levels of nitrogen all over the city; in various locations measuring levels above 40 micrograms per cubic metre, equivalent to smoking a cigarette a day. These levels breach the UK’s legal limit and are poisoning Sheffield’s residents. Unfortunately the city council is hesitant to begin implementing lowtraffic neighbourhoods: they are cautious of community backlash and unsure of the support they will have.

To begin, let’s define a happy healthy neighbourhood together. Next, we need to invite communities to sign up to be involved in reshaping their neighbourhood and be empowered by the process.

Next we need to invite their ideas for their local area and realise their vision for a happy healthy neighbourhood.

It is understandable to feel burdened by ecological issues, but we should be reminded to bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2) and work together for a healthier city. A host of leaders around Sheffield are already working together to do so. If you feel excited about creating happy, healthy neighbourhoods across Sheffield and you would like to get involved, email me: ben@togetherforsheffield.co.uk

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BY GEORGE BINGHAM-DAVIS Faith Lives

S6 ARISE!

Foodbank: FAITH IN ACTION

by Finley Hammatt

S6 Foodbank has been bringing people together throughout its 10-year history. From its roots in 2011, in the wake of a financial crisis and ensuing austerity, S6 Foodbank now has eleven locations across the city, and it is continuing to expand. For founder Chris Hardy and manager Jayne Franklin, though, the foodbank is about more than feeding the hungry: it’s about faith in action. We spoke to Chris and Jayne about the role that their faith plays in their service to the community.

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“The entire organisation was divinely inspired,” reflects Chris. Within a week of becoming a Christian - back in 1999 - Chris heard God talk to him, telling him to “feed the city”. At first he resisted, remembering thinking, “This sounds right boring!”

Looking back, however, Chris says, “God was taking me on a journey through what I needed to go through. And am still going through… to get ready really for what’s coming.” For Chris this involved dealing with his violent past and anger issues with the help of Christ, his

wife, and a counsellor. “Still, every day, I have to make a decision about which Chris I want to be.”

Eventually Chris did accept God’s call to feed the city.

As a member of St Thomas’ Church, Philadelphia, Chris was struck by the way that St Thomas’ responded to the needs of the community through its social programmes. Initially, Chris was involved in one of the Restore projects run through the church. “I was meeting people who were coming in saying that they were hungry, that they needed food, so I

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moved on the need of the community.” Chris connected with the Trussell Trust and began a foodbank; first feeding a handful of families out of a single building on Cross Bedford Street. Since then S6 Foodbank has “exploded” and is now serving thousands of households.

Always humble, Chris refuses to take credit, saying, “Yeah, it looks impressive but I can honestly say it’s God who’s done it, not me.”

Jayne’s story takes a different path. “My first charity role was as a Debt Centre manager, helping people with their debt. I was reaching out to people experiencing poverty, wanting to help them practically but also wanting to give them opportunities to find out more about Jesus, and welcome them into a community.” Jayne was also overseeing all the social action ministries in her church. However, Jayne’s work was transformed during the pandemic. “The pandemic hit,” she recalls, “and like anywhere else, a lot of our projects had to close down, but overnight, our foodbank exploded.”Since then, Jayne’s role has been in helping S6 Foodbank grow to meet this demand, to “ensure that people experiencing poverty in our city are at least getting food.”

embody its values brilliantly.

Jayne says that the work of the charity has spiritual significance for her, because “if Jesus was physically here now, and we could see him, he would be at the foodbank.

He’d be sitting on a table chatting to people and just being with them.” Creating a unified and supportive community is an essential part of the foodbank for Jayne: “For me, it’s always been about getting alongside other people”.

As I speak with Jayne it’s clear that prayer is foundational to her life and social action.

When asked if there was anything she’d like the Arise community to pray for, she listed off several requests in

Faith Lives

quick succession, smiling with a tear in the eye. “I’m so thankful for the donations given, either financial or actual,” she says, sharing that she has been “blown away by the number of people who’ve offered to volunteer.” She prays for the broad range of people she has worked with though the foodbank; “I’ve loved working together with other organisations, whether they are faith communities or not, and whether they are professional agencies or not.’’

Jayne invites us all to pray that the supply of food to the foodbank remains strong and for those in poverty in Sheffield who are humble enough to ask for help.

Jayne sees her work with the foodbank as one part of her spiritual mission to “see heaven invade earth”. “I get teary every time I think about the volunteers,” she shares, explaining that the foodbank volunteers are absolutely essential to the project and

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Faith Lives

ARISE!

Front Line Stories

by George Bingham-Davis Accounts as a Prison-Chaplain

Tales from Hallamshire Hospital

Ronan has been the spark for many people’s encounters with Jesus. During his time as a prison chaplain, Ronan met a hardened criminal, convicted for a violent crime, with a reputation for being involved in many illegal activities in and around the prison. During one of Ronan’s Bible study sessions, this repeat offender - who had snuck in without the knowledge of the prison staff - had a profound incident whilst Ronan was reading a scripture. Much to his surprise - and that of the others gathered - this seasoned criminal started weeping.

During his time working in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Ronan would pray for healing from Jesus for anyone he encountered. One day, as he was moving some filing between offices, he happened upon a woman who had injured her back while moving boxes. Ronan offered to pray for her, and immediately her back was completely healed.

From then on, the man was enraptured with the teachings of Jesus, coming to every Bible study, always hungry to learn more, and even bringing others along with him. He was utterly transformed, and one evening even led a peaceful march around one of the wings, chanting ‘You need church.

Come on, you need Jesus.

Jesus loves you, Jesus died for you.’

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The story spread, and before long, Ronan’s office was flooded with new people.

One woman came to Ronan in a panic, suffering from a terrible migraine. She asked to be healed, and when Ronan prayed for her, her pain disappeared completely.

Even those who were not physically healed often had some kind of profound experience. One of those Ronan prayed for, a blind man, came to Ronan a few months later, telling him that, even though he could not see with his own eyes, God had seen him, and come to him in a big way, changing his life and his world for the better.

In the taster edition, we shared an article about local evangelist Ronan Walker as he prepared to move away from his home city. Here are a few stories of the lives he touched during his time in Sheffield.

ARISE!

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours; yours are the eyes through which Christ’s compassion looks out onto the world, yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good and yours are the hands with which he is to bless now."

TERESA OF AVILA

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City of Sanctuary: Creating A CULTURE OF WELCOME IN SHEFFIELD

by Beth Craggs

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When Blessan Babu was fifteen, he attended a secret gathering of Christians in his Keralan village. What happened there completely changed his life. Now settled in Sheffield with his wife and two sons, Blessan works for City of Sanctuary, and is a local hub group leader at City Church. I caught up with Blessan to learn more about how his faith influences his work with refugees and asylum seekers.

A blessing to the nations

school, even in the local shops - people would say, ‘Something’s changed about you. What’s happened?’ Even though at the time I didn’t think anything had changed, looking back I can see that that was a really significant point in my life. Recognising that calling doesn’t mean that everything was smooth and easy from then on: far from it. But it was the start of something new.”

The power of that encounter at the Charismatic gathering led Blessan to start an organisation in India called ‘Blessing the Nations International’, and he began to travel to areas such as Africa and the Middle East to train and empower Christian leaders.

“One of the big pivotal moments in my life was when I was filled with the Holy Spirit. I was fifteen, and the main church in In 2008, Blessan met and my village didn’t believe in married Katherine, and the work of the Holy Spirit, together they moved to so I was expelled from Cambodia, where they the congregation. I had worked together in a New heard of a small gathering Frontiers church plant. As of Charismatic Christians they prayed about where nearby, so even though I was to move next, Blessan and forbidden from joining them, Katherine felt drawn to I decided that I would visit Sheffield. them in secret.

“Katherine had At the very ...people would completed her first gathering, Masters degree say, ‘Something’s one guy was sharing the changed about you. in Sheffield, so we decided word, and he What’s happened?’ to move pointed at to the UK. me and said, Unfortunately, even though ‘Young man, you will be a Katherine is British, and blessing to the nations’. And I we were married, I had a was just trying to hide myself little bit of difficulty with because if word got out that immigration. Initially, my I was at this meeting I’d be application was refused, in big trouble. But ever since which was really tough for us. then, I have felt God’s calling This was my first experience to the nations. of the hostility of the Home “After that meeting, wherever Office to people from other I went - in my village, at countries. But looking back

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at it, I can see that our God was using that time to help us understand the hostility of the immigration system and how much people can suffer while being caught in the system.

“When I finally arrived in Sheffield, I was exploring how I could continue to travel and train leaders in other countries, when God suddenly opened my eyes.

I felt Him say to me, ‘Look around you - you don’t have to travel to other countries to bless nations: they are here, on your doorstep. So I started to look across the city to see where I could serve people from other nations, and I came across an opportunity to volunteer at City of Sanctuary.”

City of Sanctuary Sheffield “Now, City of Sanctuary (CoSS) is not a ‘Christian’ organisation, but its values are wonderful. For people seeking sanctuary (refugees, asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers), CoSS has a Wednesday drop-in at Victoria Hall. Rather than

Faith Lives

looking to act according to sending vulnerable people God’s heart, not just what’s in all different directions to the various agencies that on trend. And God is love, He can help them, CoSS created is just, He is kind. God is so a platform. often thought of as the Lord They are able We should be looking of Lords and to tell people, King of Kings, ‘You don’t to act according to but we see need to go God’s heart, not just in verses like to twenty what’s on trend.

Psalm 146:9, different or Zechariah places: you 7:10 that He’s also associated come here, and we will bring with the marginalised, everyone here.’ Citizens including the poor and the Advice Sheffield, the Red needy, widows and foreigners.

Cross, solicitors, MPs, ASSIST: they bring everyone together to start serving, doing everything they can to make sure that people are looked after and served well.” Within “We have so many examples CoSS, Blessan now works at of Jesus connecting with SPRING (Sheffield Project people on the fringe. It was for INtegration and Growth). controversial then, and it’s This initiative focuses on controversial now, but that is supporting people who the beginning of where God’s have recently been granted heart is. Jesus himself spent refugee status. time with tax collectors and I asked Blessan how his faith prostitutes, but if you look at influences his work with the church, it’s a bit different: refugees and asylum seekers, going to the fringes of society and he responded, “One of often becomes ‘someone the things I’ve noticed is that else’s ministry’ rather than churches in the West seem to being a core practice for all be quite influenced by what’s believers. in the news, or social media, “If people on the fringe come but we need to have a firmer into our church buildings, foundation. We should be the survival rate can be really, really minimal: they often feel suffocated. That is why for me I think it’s really important how Jesus said, ‘God has anointed me to preach the Good News to the poor, and to bind up the broken hearted.’ This morning I was reading the story about Jesus clearing the temple, and he says, ‘My house should be called the house of prayer for the nations,’ and after he’s cleared everyone

Reaching out to the fringes

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Faith Lives

out, many lame and sick people came to him to receive healing. Before, they couldn’t get in because of everything in the way. Reflecting more deeply on the story, in order to worship at the temple people had to convert their coins from Roman currency to the temple currency. In our context, maybe we ask people to change their language style, their worship style, their interests, so if people on the fringe come in, they may actually find our ‘nice’ church a really hostile place to be.

When we essentially say, ‘you need to buy this temple currency before you can be part of us,’ people from different ethnic backgrounds or different classes might think they have to change their culture to be accepted.

“Sometimes when everyone is responsible for being welcoming, it means that nobody’s responsible: everyone thinks, ‘someone else will do that’. And so the same person, or family, continues to be left out. We really need to change that.

At the heart of all of this is creating a culture of welcome.

It’s really important. So, this is why I do what I do - God’s association with the poor and needy, Jesus’ life and ministry, and even moving into the picture of the early church in the Book of Acts: you can see the pattern. It’s not just a good idea: it’s God’s heart.”

When I ask Blessan to share some highlights from his work with refugees and asylum seekers, he tells me, “I’ve really felt the power of God’s favour as I’ve worked at City of Sanctuary. I’m grateful

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to God for the amazing staff - frequently hostile - system, team and volunteers, 40% of while I have a comfortable whom have lived experience home. But at the same time of seeking sanctuary in the I see the vulnerability of the UK. Working with the Home families I’m working with, see Office, or with housing that they’re created in God’s providers, cases that would image and likeness, and I normally take a long time to have to come to terms with resolve are being addressed the fact that I can’t always fix more quickly. Recently we the whole system. But every were trying to secure shelter day I ask for the grace to for a refugee family who had deal with the issues in front been living in a car boot for of me. That’s the everyday three months. According obedience of trusting in God.” to one of the I ask how many mental health people City of case workers, a ...every day I ask Sanctuary have mental health worked with for the grace to team raised deal with the issues this year, and this issue to the Blessan replies, council but they in front of me.

“Around 1,000 were getting individuals; nowhere. Then nearly 200 an email about it dropped families. Through SPRING, into my inbox, and as I began we work in partnership with to explore it with the help of the council on housing, with some proactive volunteers Citizens Advice Sheffield for and my colleagues, things support with benefits, with started to fall into place.

New Beginnings for help I’m so insignificant in the with education, employment system, but for some reason and empowerment, and God allowed me to help SAVTE (Sheffield Association bring a real breakthrough to for the Voluntary Teaching that case. That’s God’s heart of English) teaches English. spilling out into the city, the Then we have an open hub council, into the places of on Mondays, Tuesdays, and authority, God’s Kingdom Thursdays where people can coming in a new way. come in and sit in the warm and have a cup of tea and a meal and just be together. On Wednesdays, we host a drop“And day-to-day, I just look to in with a clothes bank. We do serve the people who come everything we can to make through the door at City of Sheffield a place of welcome.”

Sanctuary. I just try to fix the What does Blessan wish that next problem, then the next more people understood one. Slowly, bit by bit, people about supporting refugees will find shelter, have food to and asylum seekers? “I eat, be able to access heating, think, first of all, we need to and then it’s amazing to see connect with God’s heart their smiles. It can be hard for all people. Instead of sometimes knowing that doing ‘handouts’ we need to people suffer because of the

One step at a time

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work hand-in-hand with the vulnerable in our city to give them a ‘hands-up’. Working in partnership with other organisations is also really important here: look around to see what charities already exist and support them instead of reinventing the wheel.

“Something I’m really passionate about is empowering leaders to set a culture of welcome in their churches. In Ben Lindsay’s book We Need to Talk About Race, he describes how leaders set the culture in their churches. And part of creating that culture of welcome is also about intentionally raising up leaders from different socio-economic and racial backgrounds. A

great example of this is in Acts 6: when the Hellenistic Jews were being neglected, the church appointed people from that cultural background to deal with that situation. So in a multicultural society like ours, rather than asking another middle-class, university-educated, guitarstringing person to take the next leadership position, empower people from other ethnic or class backgrounds to lead. Not only will that help with developing a culture of welcome in your church, that person may well also be much better at reaching out to their community.”

When I ask what’s been bringing Blessan closer to Jesus recently, he answers, “Scripture, of course, and the

Faith Lives

teaching in my church, but also my wife. I’m so grateful for her: she keeps me on the right track, reminding me not to be driven by my own passion, but by the heart of God. I’m also really grateful to God for a bunch of friends from church and outside.

They have a listening ear, and a heart for encouragement.”

What would Blessan like the Arise community to pray for?

“Please pray for our leaders and authorities: the City Council, the UK Government, that the decisions they make will be decisions that protect the vulnerable. Please pray that each of us will do what we can to make our city, our churches, and our homes a place of welcome for all the nations.”

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Faith Lives

ARISE!

Blessan’s Recommended Reading Open these links on your smartphone by scanning the black and white boxes with your phone camera, or alternatively type the full page titles into your internet search bar.

RESOURCES & INFORMATION

MISSION

Right to Remain

Asylum Journey Sheffield

Toolkit

Sheffield Local Insight

Refugee Action

Community data about services in your area

An in-depth report about the Nationality and Borders Bill

Resources for global ministry

Unreached Network

Jubilee+ Refugee Network

Migration Yorkshire

Church organisation with missional and intervention information

Research and activism

VIDEOS

Honor Shame

DONATE Margins to Mic Unreached Network

Raj Saha Talks ChristCentral Churches

City of Sanctuary Sheffield

Care4Calais

Sheffield stands with Afghanistan City of Sanctuary Sheffield

No Refugee Alone Welcome Churches

BOOKS Global Humility: Attitudes For Mission

by Andy McCullough

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We Need to Talk About Race

Hope in Times of Fear: the Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter

by Ben Lindsay

by Dr Timothy Keller (particularly the chapter titled ‘Hope for Relationship’)

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Faith Lives

Serving Sheffield Earlier this year we popped to Woodseats to hear about an exciting project bringing new life to the Open House community space. We met with team members Bess Popplewell and Dave Stout, who joined the Open House trustee board in 2021 having spent a few years supporting the charity in voluntary roles (along with their other halves Tom and Beth). They told us the story of Open House, and how they got involved.

How long have you lived in Sheffield?

DAVE STOUT

I’ve lived in Sheffield for just over ten years now. It’s easy to remember because I moved here to get married to Beth who runs Golddigger Trust, an amazing charity supporting young people’s wellbeing. We’ve got a couple of girls aged 2 and 5, and Sheffield is now very much our home.

BESS POPPLEWELL I’ve spent 11 years living in Sheffield with my husband who was born and raised here. Despite starting our married life on the other side of the Pennines, we always knew we’d come ‘home’ to settle. We’ve lived in Woodseats for 8 years now and have two children.

What influenced your decision to join Open House?

BP

I remember sitting round

Beth & Dave’s kitchen table dreaming about a place where we could extend our own open door policy. PreCovid, our house always had people coming and going, helping themselves to drinks and joining us for food and company. Our kitchen table became a significant place for community building and sharing God’s love with our neighbours. When we were talking with Beth and Dave, we felt called to do something on a slightly bigger scale. Woodseats seemed like the obvious place to try although we were aware of Open House and the role it previously played in our community. By this point, Open House had been closed for a few years and in quite a state of disrepair so as a starting point we approached the trustees to see what was happening. What we didn’t want to do was step on any toes; we’re about collaboration and partnership

and we wanted to join and support the project rather than “compete” with it.

DS

Then last year things started to shift following a few fallow years and we thought it was the right time to step up onto the trustee board. We’re looking forward to opening the coffee shop this year so, as is always the case, it really feels like God has had the timing in control even though it has been a little frustrating waiting for what feels like such a long time.

What has been bringing you closer to God lately?

DS For me, music is always a massive part of my relationship with God. At the moment I’m finding myself seeing and experiencing God in music that might not necessarily be trying to achieve that as the principal aim. So for example, I love ‘Symphony’ by

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Faith Lives

Clean Bandit featuring Zara Larsson, that’s got real vibes and I think it’s really powerful lyrically. Similarly, ‘Good’ by Jake Isaac is a really beautiful love song, but it’s got a depth and richness that can be an expression of that connection we find through the work of the Spirit.

BP

Learning what Church looks like during a pandemic has been a really interesting process for me. As a family, we’ve not been able to access our church services in the “normal” way and so we’ve been driven to find new and extra ways of being with and serving God as a family in our local community.

Seeing practical expressions of faith and developing new relationships has been incredible. I love hearing how God is working with other people and celebrating His goodness with those around me. I think in this time, God has helped me reset my expectations of what I'm called to and I regularly recall Micah 6:8: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

What is the Open House project?

BP When it opens, Open House will be a home away from home; a place where people can have a great cup of coffee (other beverages will be available) and amazing cakes, but it won’t just be a coffee shop. Our guests will be welcomed and served by a team of people who love Jesus and who are ready to share His love with them.

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When we imagine the shop being open, we see a place where the Spirit dwells and where people will feel His presence and experience His love. We want to create a space where questions can be asked and where everyone is welcome because we believe that’s at the heart of the Gospel message.

Open House will work with the local churches and Christian outreach projects to provide this space; we’re not interested in doing this alone!

What inspired the project?

DS Open House started back in the 80’s creating a welcoming community space for the people of Woodseats to experience the love of God on the High Street. It was a home for many people during those first couple of decades but by the late 2000’s the building had become unsuitable and it had to close.

A new set of trustees took it on and then a few years later we joined in as well, and we’ve always wanted to keep close to that original vision of being light in the world.

BP The belief that God is present in the everyday is what drives the team forward.

Jesus did a lot of his ministry with food and at tables and so we believe that it can be as simple as that. We feel God calling us to create a space where the ordinary can meet the extraordinary.

What guided you to locate the project in Woodseats?

BP Open House is 100% Woodseats. It always has been

and always will be home. The building is right on the High Street (Chesterfield Road) and it’s an ideal place to be a witness of God’s love, hope, and promise. God provided the building originally and despite considering moving the project elsewhere, He continues to speak into the location. Of course we would love for Open House to be a resource for all of Sheffield; we’re excited for churches to run away-days or hold community groups in our upper rooms, and we can’t wait to fling wide our doors for people to experience God and our community. Who knows where God will take us, but right now, he’s working in Woodseats and so here is where we’ll stay!

What have been some high points in the project so far?

DS

I guess a real eye opener has been hearing about the impact Open House has already had on so many people over the years. And some really surprising connections as well. This sort of project can draw people in from across a whole host of different backgrounds and it’s so powerful to hear of how God moves in people. The other real high point has been the weekly prayer meetings.

BP Yeah, they’ve been really amazing. Each week we meet on zoom and we pray for our local community and the building developments. This prayer group only started in the Autumn of 2020 but it has been such a valuable and encouraging online space. For

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Faith Lives

me personally, it has kept me connected and accountable and I am so grateful that others are able to be involved with Open House at this part of the project.

How has the local Christian community responded to the project?

BP

They’ve been amazing. So many people have memories of what Open House was and when they hear of the plans for the renewed Open House they really reaffirm the calling of God on this project, and that’s been such a driving force for us to keep going when it’s been hard.

Have there been any very specific answers to prayer?

BP

Absolutely! Easter 2021 was a huge turning point for Open House. I think a lot of us involved in the project had grown weary with the lack of progress and were starting to feel hopeless. But in God’s perfect timing, he prompted some conversations which resulted in a large grant that meant the project could continue (both with the financial input and a new found motivation). Not only that, after years of trying to get the right people involved, this time was also the season where God provided a contractor, an architect and a structural engineer who were all a perfect fit for Open House and excited to be involved. We’ve all kicked into gear with a fresh spirit and are so grateful for that time, which was very difficult but

incredibly fruitful.

When do you hope to open?

DS

Well, the building work has started so if all goes to plan we expect to open during the summer months. We’ve got a great team working on the project from the architects and surveyors right through to the contractors and everyone is pulling in the same direction, but as we all know building projects often have a timeline of their own making so we’re holding on to our deadlines lightly.

How can Christians support the project, both now and in the future?

BP

We are still a little short of our desired financial goal so donations would be absolutely amazing. If people would like to give then they can visit our website www. openhousesheffield.co.uk and all the details are there. But to be honest, what we’ve all learnt through this project

(something we all knew but what is so easy to ignore) is that when a project is rooted in prayer that’s when everything starts to align. As I mentioned earlier we have a weekly prayer meeting on Zoom and we’d love for people to join us (details are in the ‘What’s Next?’ section of the website).

Do you have any prayer requests for the Open House project?

DS As Bess said we are still looking for donations to enable us to open as soon as possible, so that is a key need.

But also we’d love prayer for wisdom around how to support our community in Woodseats once we’re open as the way we interact with the community will significantly change. There are so many opportunities and deciding what we should do - and what we shouldn’t do - is going to be one of the really big questions we’re asking over the coming months.

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Churches on a Mission

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Bless

GREYSTONES

Whether it’s making wellbeing parcels for local schools, or litter-picking on local streets, the congregation at St Gabriel’s church in Greystones are truly blessing their community. We went to get the story behind their most recent programme, appropriately named ‘Bless Greystones’.

It was a busy Sunday morning when I arrived at St Gabriel’s.

The church regulars are ready and waiting. Families chat excitedly, itching to get started. The organising team have clipboards in hand. The team here are all part of the Bless Greystones initiative, a plan to renew love, hope and faith in the community.

Fueled by the love and hope that Jesus gives, the church family are serving Greystones in practical ways, by helping out wherever they can.

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“The whole thing started because we saw how people were being affected by Covid,” church leader Alistair told us. “Even just coming out of lockdown, we knew that people had been hit hard by the isolation. People needed to know that they were not alone, and you can’t just expect people to know they can come to church for that, you’ve got to be prepared to go out to show them that they are loved.”

So the motivation is simple and clear, but the name, Alistair informed us, was just as important when it came to sending the right message.

“When coming up with a name for this scheme, we chose to use the word ‘Bless’ over other relevant words like ‘love’ or hope’. Those were implicit in our message, but we felt that ‘bless’ was the key word because it tied back to

by George Bingham-Davis

God’s message to Abraham: ‘I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.’

(Genesis, 12:2, NIV)” Abraham was invited to have faith in God and “be a blessing” in a time of strife, and now St Gabriel’s hopes to do the same for Greystones, sharing God’s blessing through their love for their community.

Alongside the family - and school staff - care packages they prepared back in January, Bless Greystones have been collaborating with many organisations around Greystones, Alistair tells me.

“We’ve been helping to support a number of local groups and practices, like Greystones Medical Centre and Bingham Park Community Group. We’ve

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of lockdown. “We’ve really sent out volunteers to help loved what Bless Greystones with things like delivering is doing.” One of the new supplies to vulnerable people, additions told us. “We came gardening, and putting on as a family, because we covid-safe outdoor events wanted our kids to see what for young families,” adds mission can Alistair’s wife look like in your Catherine, who community, coordinates People needed to Bless know that they were you know? It’s not necessarily Greystones. I’m not alone, and you something chatting with can’t just expect you have to her while she hands a young people to know they go to another family hot can come to church country halfway across chocolates in for that, you’ve got the world to Bingham Park do: it happens after a morning to be prepared to of litter-picking. go out to show them everywhere.”

“The seeds that they are loved. And it’s not we’re hoping just new faces to sow are to that Bless let the community know that Greystone and St Gabriel’s we - and through us God - are are welcoming in. They’ve there for them.” recently been nominated for a national award!

Bless Greystones’ efforts have certainly been paying Ecclesiastical Insurance’s off. Many of the people we ‘Good News’ competition spoke to were newcomers to celebrates stories of hope St Gabriel’s, who had joined and ingenuity in trying times. the church since the easing

Churches on a Mission

This contest promotes and celebrates the efforts that churches have made to serve their communities, and the entry from Bless Greystones took the regional title for the North. This won them a grant of £1,500 to spend on further community projects, and qualifies them for the national competition, at which an additional £6,000 grant is on offer.

Bless Greystones are by no means resting on their laurels, though, and new community projects are frequently being planned. “A member of our congregation recently set up a ‘Cuppa and Cake’ event for people living alone or seeking company and new friendships. This event runs every Friday from 2-3pm in our church hall, and is a great opportunity for anyone who struggles with loneliness or just needs a listening ear.

We’re also exploring the idea of a community zero-waste shop.” Catherine tells us “We’ve set no boundaries for what we’re willing to do for our community. More than anything, we want people to experience the transforming love of Jesus and come to know him. So as long as we continue to show that love in action to those around us, the sky’s the limit really!”

The national winner of the Good News competition is decided by public vote and Bless Greystones would love your support. Vote for them by heading to https://www. ecclesiastical.com/church/ competition/, scrolling down to St Gabriel’s entry, and clicking ‘Show Your Support’.

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Churches on a Mission

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BRINGING HOPE with Jo Willis

by Finley Hammatt

Jo Willis became the leader of C3 Hope church in June 2020 and has been working hard to evangelise through innovative programmes, youthful worship and work both within and outside the church community. We caught up with the fatherof-three to learn more about how he came to faith and how he puts his faith into action at C3 Hope.

Jo grew up in a Christian home; “My parents love God, and did a lot of work with the kids’ ministry at our church; I always kind of had a faith”.

However for Jo, a pivotal moment in his walk with God was at the age of fourteen, when he went to a Christian youth festival called Soul Survivor. At the festival, there were talks on a broad range of Christian topics, but one stuck out. “I can remember a moment, one night where the guy was talking about Isaiah 6:8.” In the verse Isaiah hears the voice of the Lord asking who will go for Him, and Isaiah responds. Jo recalls a similar moment, saying,

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“There was a call, you know, asking who will go, and I stood up, saying ‘I’m gonna go, send me. Of course, the reality is it hasn’t all been plain sailing since then: there have been rocky times for my faith,” he shares. “But through the church I’ve seen God move in supernatural ways.

It’s been mind-blowing to see.

But also humbling to know that… whatever I do, God is sovereign over it”.

Devotion to Christ can be expressed in so many ways, and Jo demonstrates this through his work at C3 Hope.

“I pray that my church will be a beacon of hope, especially when it’s dark”, he says. The community work at C3 Hope takes place through the Hope Community Foundation, a conjoined charity. A central role of the charity is to feed people. Jo described the system as a “food ladder”. For the most vulnerable people, the Foundation provides up to four emergency food hampers although that programme is means tested and the aim is to try to move

people on to the community grocery. In the community grocery people pay three pounds and are able to choose from a wide variety of products. Jo describes the community grocery as a place where “people get a bit more dignity”.

But this is not the only way that C3 Hope serves the community. Jo mentors young people, the congregation does litter picking around the S2 area, they have set up a community nursery and a pay-what-you-feel café.

There’s also a jigsaw café for over 55s which aims to reduce loneliness and alienation, problems which Jo has seen skyrocket during the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Bible talks about God putting the lonely people into family”, comments Jo, which is something he has tried to bring about, saying that “family is one of our core values”. Jo believes that the church has to “not just talk about family, but really become family and look out

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Churches on a Mission

for those who don’t have any family”.

The community that C3 Hope has cultivated brings people together who might not otherwise have connected.

Jo shared a story about one Sheffield man, who had recently been told he had only six months left to live. He had no family or community to turn to but when he saw a sign on the side of the C3 Hope building which read “Togetherness is our church”, magazine and other projects he wanted to find out more, coordinated by Together and started attending services for Sheffield. “I’m a very regularly. There was another collaborative person. I’m couple who were active encouraged by Arise because members of the C3 Hope it’s the first time that C3 has community, and volunteers at really felt like it is part of a the Community Grocery. They united church around the city. longed to go to the beach but This has been so illuminating could not afford to take a trip. because in a church, you can The man heard about this get so caught up in what wish and offered to take them you’re doing that you forget, with him for a ‘final trip to the there are beach’. This hundreds and was the start It feels like there’s thousands of of a wonderful other Christians a new desire for a friendship who believe the for the three unified church... same thing. It of them who the reality is, we’re feels like there’s now meet up on the same team a new desire regularly. for a unified doing the same I ask Jo what church across thing. Same mission, the nation. he thinks makes C3 different methods.

The reality is, Hope different. we’re on the “We’re all very same team doing the same happy clappy, and it’s loud. thing. Same mission, different And it’s in your face, which I methods, maybe. It’s just wild love.” However he also sees to think that we’re able to the value in other styles of be part of something bigger worship, commenting, “I than just ourselves. At the think that there is something end of the day, it doesn’t beautiful about silence and matter what name is on the letting God speak, that we door, we are the church. And really need to tap into.” so being part of the wider church in Sheffield during Because of C3 Hope’s Arise 2021 was awesome.” sense of mission to the city, Jo is excited about Arise

For Jo, ‘Hope’ is more than just a good church name: it motivates everything he does. Looking to the future, Jo is equally hopeful, and is praying for clarity of purpose and opportunity. “Particularly for the Foundation, one big prayer request would be to work out which are the doors that God has opened, and what are the opportunities that we could just walk into?

Because the opportunities are there, I think. What I’d like is discernment to know what is a good thing, and what is a God thing. Recently people have been opening so many opportunities, but as the Foundation we shouldn’t be doing things that other charities are already doing really well, when we could just support those charities instead. As a Christian, bringing glory to God is my main goal so my hope for the future is that more people become disciples of God. Because there is a big difference between making Jesus your Saviour, and making Jesus your Lord.” The hope at C3 is that their work will help more people to do both.

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Churches on a Mission

ARISE!

ECO CHURCH: How St Andrew’s Psalter Lane is looking up and going green

by Finley Hammatt

A Rocha Eco Church Awards An award available to churches of all denominations that reach set environmental standards in the management of their church buildings and land, the congregations’ lifestyle, community and global engagement. Find out more about A Rocha and the Eco Church awards at ecochurch.arocha.org

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ARISE!

Churches on a Mission

Discussions around climate change can feel intimidating.

Concepts such as degrees of warming, species extinction, carbon emissions, and air quality are often presented without enough context, which makes them hard to grasp. When the stakes are so high, and each of us individually has so little impact, it can feel very tempting to simply bury our heads in the sand and to try to avoid thinking about climate change. However, there are Christians who in their unswerving hope and faith in God - have been taking tangible steps to make their churches, congregations and neighbourhoods more environmentally-friendly.

St Andrews Psalter Lane has recently achieved a Silver Eco Church Award from Christian conservation charity A Rocha, in recognition of the steps that they have taken to make their church and community more environmentally responsible. We met up with St Andrews’ Church Warden and Communications Officer Clare Loughridge to find out more about how churches can play a role in combating climate change.

Clare Loughridge, church warden for St Andrews, tells us that the congregation’s ecological evolution began under the previous vicar, who founded an eco-group within St Andrews about 14 years ago. Since then the movement has grown, propelled by active members of the congregation such as Clare, her mother, and others including the Diocesan

Environment Officer Dr Cathy Rhodes.

Operating under the principle that “every little helps”, St Andrews Psalter Lane has made a series of small changes to become more environmentally-friendly.

The church has insulated its windows to reduce heat loss, it switched to using energyefficient LED lighting, and has created a community vegetable garden to support bees and other local wildlife.

Additionally, the church board has recently approved the purchase of solar panels and is investigating installing heat pumps to reduce the church’s reliance on gas.

These are not the only changes: church services at St Andrews Psalter Lane are increasingly centred around ecological themes.

“We regularly talk about the creation story,” says Clare, “How God created the Earth and that now it’s ours to look after.” For this reason the church’s monthly family service quite often has a creation theme. Moreover, the eco-group regularly encourages the congregation to be responsible stewards of the earth, promoting lifestyle changes such as reducing reliance on cars, conserving energy, and recycling, among other things.

“Everyone’s really in favour of becoming more environmentally aware,” reports Clare. “There have always been members of the church who were very keen to be green, but we haven’t had any major problems persuading others to support the changes.”

Clare encourages us to pray for our politicians: “Although we can all make the little changes ourselves, it will be policy change that makes a difference in the end.” The Eco Group at St Andrews Psalter Lane has spoken to their local MP about climate change, and actively campaigns for more environmentallyresponsible government policies. Clare also asks us to pray for the people, often in the Southern Hemisphere, who are increasingly affected by climate-related disasters which we in the developed world are responsible for.

2 Chronicles 15:7 reminds us to be strong and not give up, because our work will be rewarded. For Clare Loughridge, this reward is “about the children and the future…if we want our children to have a safe and healthy place to live, we need to act now.”

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Churches on a Mission

ARISE!

An

Audacious Faith

by George Bingham-Davis

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ARISE!

With the official opening of Sheffield’s !Audacious church taking place in February 2022, we spoke with Pastor Josh Cocker about sowing seeds in Sheffield.

Churches on a Mission

location? The answer is simple: the seeds for a new home here had been planted long ago, when Glyn and Sophia started their pastoral journey here in our steel city.

Josh has found these changes more energizing than challenging. “As people we can be good at finding a place to settle, working our lives to be comfortable and convenient. But every “They were pastors here so often God loves to come for over a decade, before Now, sharp-minded readers and dislodge they moved might remember a short us, shaking to launch article in our last edition Faith isn’t just about us to grow !Audacious sharing news of a new church talk or far-flung greater levels church in sprouting up in Sheffield of trust and dreams: it’s about Manchester, so by the name of !Audacious reminding the seeds were Church, a plant from the action. It’s about us there's so planted a long same series of churches taking a step, doing much more to time ago. The based in Manchester. For this adventure what we can do, city has always some, it’s a whole new of faith. believing God will been close to experience. For others, as Deuteronomy their hearts Josh tells us, it has been a come and do what 1:6-7 says, and so as a long time coming. only He can do.

“You have church it feels “As a church, we have a heart stayed at this more like we’re for the UK and Europe,” he mountain long enough. It coming home than coming informs us. “Our church is time to break camp and to somewhere new.” founders - Pastors Glyn and move on.” This was a great For Josh, while living in Sophia Barrett - are incredible encouragement to us during Sheffield might be a new apostolic leaders, and our move and a challenge experience, moving cities planted !Audacious church in that faith follows, it doesn’t is not. Josh has been Manchester in 2007, knowing settle. relocating across the country we would go on to plant in It was a big leap of faith for throughout his life. many other locations. So it Josh and his wife to move was always a matter of when, “I was born in Nottingham, with their two young boys not if.” living there for about 10 - to Sheffield, especially years, then moved with my Glyn and Sophia’s vision for after living in Manchester parents to Stratford-upontheir church certainly seems for the last fifteen years. But Avon. I always to be coming that’s just a part of Josh’s wanted to be true. With Every so often God journey with God. “Faith isn’t a musician as three locations just about talk or far-flung loves to come and a teenager, I’d in Manchester dislodge us, shaking played drums dreams,” Josh tells us. “It's alone, a about action. It’s about taking us to grow greater in the worship campus in a step, doing what we can do, team, which Chester, and believing God will come and levels of trust and helped keep new campuses do what only He can do.” reminding us there’s me in church in Sheffield, !Audacious meets each so much more to this through Cardiff and Sunday evening at 6pm, my high Geneva, it’s adventure of faith. at the Best Western Quays school years. safe to say that Hotel. Find out more about After I finished studying answering the call of God has !Audacious church at already begun to bear fruit for music at college, I heard www.audaciouschurch. about the possibility of this church family. com/sheffield or !Audacious church planting in Why was Sheffield chosen through social media @ Manchester, and I just felt this as the latest !Audacious audaciouschurchsheffield calling to be a part of it.”

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Churches on a Mission

ARISE!

A place of refuge in Handsworth

By Deji Aloba, leader of the Men’s Fellowship at City of Refuge Four Square church, Handsworth

Psalm 46 is a strong biblical passage that reminds us that even in the face of trouble, God is our refuge and strength. Psalm 46 says “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble”.

The reality is that there will be difficult times, but God promises to be our refuge.

This is why at City of Refuge, Four Square church, we try our best to reach out to our community. Our vision is to make an impact for God, here in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, by helping people understand the enriching messages of eternal hope given to us by Jesus Christ through His words and deeds.

Our church is a part of Foursquare Church, Great

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about the love of Jesus Christ.

Britain, and our pastor is Reverend (Mrs) Abi Alabede.

Our church is very keen on Her vision is that our church reaching out to people: we should be a place of refuge believe that working in the for all. Everyone community is welcome, should be an Our Lord and regardless of important part age, beliefs, or Saviour Jesus of our lives as background.

Christ spent most Christians. Our We have a Lord and Saviour of his time in variety of groups Jesus Christ that engage the community spent most of with the local preaching and his time in the community in a community sharing the love variety of ways: preaching and of God. our Handsworth sharing the love Children’s Bible of God. He did club, Evangelism Outreach not spend his time in the Team, Soup Kitchen and synagogue: He was active in Charitable Deeds group and the community and that was a Nursing Home Outreach how he impacted the world.

Group. Within all these The Handsworth Children’s groups, our focus is to impact Bible Club is an initiative to the community positively reach children beyond the with love and to tell them

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traditional church service.

Our focus is to study the Bible and see how the message in the Bible can be applied to the everyday challenges that children have to deal with in their daily lives. We are not ignorant of the negative messages and pressures that children face in schools, on the internet and through social media. Some children are faced with adult decisions at a very young age. The Bible Club is open to children from the ages of 7 to 16 years. Our vision is to let them have a good understanding of how much Jesus loves them.

Matthew 16:19 says, “Let the children come to me and do not hinder them for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

of the Bible Club and we also have a lot of fun activities for the children to enjoy. The Bible says in Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go [teaching him to seek God’s wisdom and will for his abilities and talents], Even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Amplified Version). If our children are brought up right, we feel that when they grow up they will become more valuable members of society.

Our Evangelism Outreach Team serves our community by going out on the street in and around the city centre to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. We don’t tell passersby about “Church” but about the love of Jesus and how He died for our sins. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye We hold our Bible Club into all the world, and preach meetings every second Friday the gospel to of the month every creature.” at our church We feel that We encourage premises from showing the love people to learn 7pm – 9pm. of Jesus Christ more about During this God’s love by 2-hour session, is the way to get sharing tracts we teach the people to know and praying children how to Him and love him for the city of pray and share Sheffield. We the word of God like we do. sometimes from the Bible, come across a variety of engage in Bible quizzes, and people who have had most importantly learn how negative experiences of the to deal with the variety of “Church”: we try to share the pressures they face in their love of Jesus and let them daily lives. They are taught know that no matter where to respect societal laws and they think they have got it show the love of Jesus Christ to everyone they come across. wrong, the Love of God is there and that Jesus has Once a year, we meet up with already paid the price by all the other children from dying for our sins. Luke 19:10 the different Foursquare says, “For the Son of man is Churches in the UK for an come to seek and to save that annual summer camp. The which was lost.” summer camp is a more The evangelism team works detailed and intense version

Churches on a Mission

closely with our Soup Kitchen team and usually has a session every Saturday to give out food to members of the community that need it most.

This weekly drop-in had to pause due to COVID-19 but we still work in partnership with other community groups to provide for the most vulnerable.

Our nursing home outreach program was designed to support the elderly members of our community. Some of them don’t have many opportunities to talk to others and in some cases their families aren’t able to visit them as often as they would like. We visit the nursing home and engage with the residents. Some of them would like to be able to attend church, but have not been able to, so they enjoy the fact that we come to them and sing hymns and gospel songs with them. We pray with some of them and just in some cases listen to them tell us stories about their lives growing up, the places they’ve visited and about their families.

This is our church, the City Of Refuge: we welcome anyone and everyone. We feel that showing the love of Jesus Christ is the way to get people to know Him and love him like we do.

If you are interested in being a part of what we do, please visit us at 217 Handsworth Road, S13 9BH. Our services take place every Sunday from 10am (Bible study and Sunday School) and the main service starts at 11am. We look forward to seeing you.

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Churches on a Mission

ARISE!

Re-imagining Mission at Victoria Hall The church at the heart of the city with the city at its heart

by Rev. Jonathan Haigh

Victoria Hall is an iconic building in Sheffield.

It stands on the site of the original church that was opened by John Wesley at the very start of the Methodist movement. It is a well of blessing and a place that represents arguably one of the most significant spiritual revivals our country has ever seen. Ten years ago, however, Victoria Hall was nearly forced to permanently close its doors. The stock market crash had meant that local businesses collapsed, leaving the properties that we let to them standing empty.

This added a lot of strain to our already-tight finances.

In addition to this, the

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changing needs of our ageing congregation made the city centre location less attractive.

We began to explore selling Victoria Hall, but when we discovered that it would cost tens of thousands of pounds just to maintain it while it was sold, we realised we couldn’t afford to close!

More importantly, God had not finished with this well of blessing yet, so we reimagined its mission. And so, the Foundry was created as a not-for-profit company to manage the building - with its many rented rooms - and the main church, which is also used for concerts and conferences. This means that the Methodist Church - now

tenants in their own building - are able to focus on prayer, mission and growing a new church community.

As the Methodist Church, we fully support an ecumenical approach to this. We want to grow the Kingdom of God with our mission partners.

We are a small, tender and vulnerable group. On Sunday mornings we are prayerfully seeking to grow a community of disciples fit for mission. The small faithful remnant now meets online during the week for prayer and Bible study, the result of which becomes the theme of the shared worship on Sunday mornings.

On Sunday evenings, we host Oasis, which is a completely

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ecumenical service that we share with the Salvation Army, Church Army and Pentecostal church. We welcome everyone but have a particular mission to the vulnerable and the homeless.

We eat together, share together in conversation, then we worship together. We mainly use online resources, and we sit on sofas. The teaching from the Bible is led by informal conversation and we always offer a prayer response. We welcome up to 30 people each Sunday night.

There is a growing sense of community. We are always open to welcome anyone to partner with us if they have a vision for mission in Jesus’ name in the heart of the City.

Churches on a Mission

On Sunday evenings, we host Oasis, which is a completely ecumenical service that we share with the Salvation Army, Church Army and Pentecostal church. We welcome everyone but have a particular mission to the vulnerable and the homeless. We eat together, share together in conversation, then we worship together.

If you would like to find out more about Victoria Hall, the Foundry, or about the Sunday evening Oasis services, visit https://www. victoriahallmethodistchurch. org/

The Reverend Jonathan Haigh is a minister at Victoria Hall Methodist Church in Sheffield city centre, and Greenhill Methodist Church in the South of the city.

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Sharing Faith

Simply Why should we share our faith?

by Giles Holloway In the previous edition of Arise! magazine, I wrote about who we share our faith with, but this month I want us to think about why we should share our faith: what is our motivation?

Over the twenty years that I worked as a science teacher, I would always have to try quite hard to identify other Christians in my workplace.

When I put out an email or announcement in the staffroom that I was starting a workplace time of prayer, a few believers would emerge but otherwise I don’t think I would have known who the Christians were. Why is that?

I think that from a very early age we learn that our culture doesn’t really endorse being excited about faith, and it’s ingrained in the British psyche not to shout too loudly about religion or politics. The causes of that run deep in

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our country’s history, but it seems to me that the reason we don’t wear our faith on our sleeve is that we don’t want to stand out from the crowd. We see this all the time in our culture, where we gloss over obvious issues like racism or sexism until a few brave individuals share their story, and suddenly all those who had similar views but remained in the shadows feel empowered to speak their mind.

What if the same could happen with sharing our faith? When we are willing to make our faith known and truly represent Christ, we also empower others to speak for Him. I’m sure we can all think of a time when someone has been holding court with a group spouting off their deeply held view as if no one could ever think otherwise and then a brave soul pipes

up and says, “er actually, I disagree… I think …” and suddenly we find the majority actually have another view.

So, why share our faith with others? Let’s start with perhaps the most famous verse of them all – John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This verse demonstrates that at the heart of our faith is a God who is motivated by His love for humanity. Secondly, it shows that He is a sending God: He sent the best He had – His Son - and not only that: His Son sends us since He is back with the Father now.

Thirdly, He desires that all are to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4): He is a saving God and He is not content with the status quo, He sends all of us out so that every person of every

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and we like to respond to our nation has the opportunity heart’s desire. Our heavenly to respond (Matthew 28:19).

Father knows this and that is Now, rescuing an entire why He sent His Holy Spirit. planet is no mean feat – He He said to His disciples “Peace has been onto this well before be with you! As the Father has Greta Thunberg and David sent me, I am sending you.”

Attenborough. How on earth And with that he breathed on can we achieve that? Well, them and said, “Receive the Paul puts it nicely in Romans Holy Spirit.””

10:14-16: (John 20:21-22) “Everyone We see this all the The Holy Spirit who calls on time in our culture, helps to soften Jesus will be our hearts saved” if they where we gloss over have heard obvious issues until a and give us a passionate of Him! And few brave individuals love for the that will only happen if share their story, and people around us. It is the someone has suddenly others feel Holy Spirit been sent empowered to speak who ignites to share the their mind.What and reignites Good News. our first love, if the same could So, as we approach happen with sharing giving us the desire to share Arise March our faith? with others 2022, why the love of should we God that we first received for share our faith with others? ourselves.

The first answer is because I’m sure you’ve all been our God is a loving God, who around a baby Christian who wants to save His people, and can’t stop telling others about He has chosen to send us in their newfound faith – it’s order to rescue them. This is the truth and it appeals to our infectious. Perhaps we’ve all been there, but many mind – it is the theological believers get to a stage where and reasoned response. But our natural passion fades, we are also emotional beings

Discipleship Done Differently

life takes its toll and we are tempted to stay quiet; at this stage it could feel like a duty rather than a pleasure. If this is the case for you, then hear the words of Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Father God wants to revive and renew and refresh from the inside out until His spirit flows out of us. Hence if you have not shared your faith simply recently, then don’t feel condemned about it. Just fall in love with Jesus all over again; invite the Holy Spirit to work in you afresh and reassert your commitment to spending quality time with Him through His word, rest, Christian community, prayer and praise. He will rekindle the flame within you. Bless you.

If you’d like to be more confident about sharing your faith, look out for the Sharing Faith Simply courses taking place on Thursday 3rd and 10th March 2022. Make sure you’re subscribed to the Arise Send Out to be the first to hear more details.

Giles Holloway is the minister at King’s Centre, Nether Edge, and a member of the Arise team. He has three children with his wife Naomi; he is a former head of science and is passionate about golf, cycling and live music.

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Discipleship Done Differently

ARISE!

The Basran Family:

GROWING FAITH AT HOME

by Beth Craggs It had been a bit of a hectic morning at my house. I had hoped to get up early to spend a few minutes in prayer, but instead had snoozed my alarm and was running late. One of my kids refused to get dressed, another had misplaced a water bottle. I’d snapped at the third for blocking the hallway. I started thinking wistfully of the Days Before Kids, when my time was my own, my sleep was sufficient, my patience well-stocked. By the time I met with Bex Basran, my list of personal regrets for the day had reached the double figures. During the interview, though, I began to see things with a completely different perspective.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

(Galatians 5:5,22-23)

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Every time I think about the hour I spent in the company of the Basrans, I’m reminded of some verses from Paul’s letter to the Galatians. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:5,22-23) Throughout the – sometimes noisy, often chaotic - interview, Bex’s

youngest two daughters climbed on and off her lap, their contributions to our conversation ranging from “Mummy, can you read this birthday card to me?” to “Mummy, when was this photo taken?”. While Bex shared her story, her experience, and wisdom, I watched in wonder as she demonstrated each of these fruits in the ways she responded to her little ones.

I left the interview feeling really humbled by Bex’s honesty about her faith and family, and the insights she’s gained from parenting her five daughters, aged 8, 7, 5, 4, and 2. Not only that, but so much of what she shares boils down to serving God in every situation, which is something that anyone can aspire to, whether or not they have young children.

Here’s a snippet from our conversation.

What brought you to Sheffield?

I came as a student to study history, and ended up staying on as the student worker for my church (Wycliffe). Before long, Sheffield just felt like home!

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Can you share a moment that’s been pivotal for your faith?

Well, faith affects everything, doesn’t it? God changes your life completely. My faith affected me as a teenager: when my mum had cancer and when my sister had an eating disorder, it was really good to remember that God was in control and that He knew what He was doing, and that He was looking after me. My own father had died before I was born, so just to know that whatever happened to my mum, God would look after me, was a big comfort.

Then, my choices during and after university were all shaped by God. I was very much involved in international student outreach and telling people about Jesus. After finishing my role as student worker, I spent some time as an office temp. While I was doing the photocopying and making coffee, God was teaching me that I can serve Him and praise Him wherever I am, and whatever I’m doing. I was able to be a witness to the other people in the office.

Later, I became a teaching assistant, because the hours meant that I had the energy to continue having people over to my house for Bible studies in the evenings, and going to the International Cafe [a meeting hub for international students]. So even though I had thought about serving God by training to become a teacher, I realised that it would mean giving up all the other ways

Discipleship Done Differently

to arrange to meet up, and actually, the realization that I God has definitely changed can’t do it all has thrown me how I view myself, too, back on to really wanting to especially since becoming a pray to God to ask Him for mum. I realised that quite a help every day. Because I lot of my identity had become can’t do it caught up on my own! in the work I look at the I realised that quite a I did with day ahead lot of my identity had international and think “I students become caught up in don’t know and other the work I did with how I’m ministries, going to do international students and being a all that! God, mum slowly and other ministries, please send took all that and being a mum slowly somebody away, until to help me took all that away. it was all I or give me could do some kind just to care for my kids: there of supernatural strength wasn’t space for anything because I can’t do it on my else. For a while, I felt really own.” hampered by my children, Then there’s also all the but then I realised that complex questions that people actually this is just a different have been coming out with as phase: that God has given a response to Covid, such as, me these children now to tell “Why bother with church?” and about Jesus. I was reminded “Why has it all gone wrong?” It that I didn’t need to earn His has really just impressed upon love, and that for now, the me the fact that God’s the only place that God wants me to one who knows and He’s the share my faith is within my family. At the same time, I can only one who can give those answers. Remembering that also keep fulfilling my earlier makes me really want to read callings by continuing to His words and sit and listen to open up my home to others, what’s being said in church and inviting them into our on Sunday because there’s family. no one else that makes any of that make any sense. So the What’s been bringing you enormity of everything being closer to God recently? crazy messy, has really thrown me back on Him. Coming out of lockdown, that I was already serving.

suddenly life became very busy again, and seeing so many people being broken and struggling, I found it quite easy to feel really overwhelmed by all the need.

My diary started filling up with events, my phone was full of people who wanted

I’ve also just started reading a book called Love your Church,

by Tony Merida, which is so encouraging, about how to love your church and team, and to see why God has put us together, and how He wants us as a team to serve Him.

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Discipleship Done Differently

How do you bring your faith into your family’s daily routine?

My husband Alex and I are always looking for opportunities to talk about Jesus and God, what He’s done and how He wants us to behave. Often, it comes up when the kids are fighting: we talk about God’s forgiveness and His love for each of us, and how we need to respect each other because He’s made us.

We need to forgive each other because He’s forgiven us. That Jesus died so that we can be forgiven. And sometimes, in the middle of all the screaming and anger, when I’ve got really cross, I’ll try to stop, and pray out loud, and say something like “Sorry for screaming at my children and feeling that I need to control this situation. Help me to give thanks for them, help us to get to school on time without shouting at each other.”

Also, Alex recently bought my oldest two girls (they’re aged 8 and 7) one of the XTB Bible Notes, and they work through that together in the evening: one of them writes and one of them reads. Sometimes that in itself causes some fighting because one of them will want to read the prayer or something when it’s the other one’s turn. So when that happened the other day I had to interject with “God doesn’t want to hear you saying a prayer to spite your sister. He wants you to sort out your relationship with your sister first, and then you can talk to Him.” Then with our five-year-old, we’ve just started a book

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called Everything a Child Should Know About God. Each section is very short: it might be something like “God made the world, He made everything in it and He made us.” Then it has a verse for you to check out in the Bible, so you look it up and read that.

It takes less than five minutes but it’s kind of ideal, just a thought for the day and a moment to learn about God. With my pre-schoolers, I’ve really appreciated going to toddler groups at local churches - there’s MiniKidz at City Church, Sticky Fingers at Christ Church Endcliffe, Wycliffe Church has Noah’s Ark - and they’re all lovely for sharing a Bible story and some child-friendly Christian songs that we can sing together throughout the week.

Alex really loves singing to the girls, so he’ll often spend time with them singing their favourite Bible songs, or teaching them new hymns, as part of their bedtime routine.

Do you have any family traditions around Christian celebrations like Easter and Christmas?

We try to join in with whatever our church is doing to mark the celebration.

Last year we got the Real Easter Eggs, and the Real Advent Calendars, which come with chocolate and the Bible stories of Easter and Christmas. We all loved those as a family; reading the sections of the story, doing the activities together. At our church we also had an athome Easter egg hunt, where

each clue would be related to a part of the Easter story. That was really fun!

At Christ Church Endcliffe for these past two Christmases, we put on this event for the whole community called The Christmas Experience, which is an immersive walk through the Christmas story. You meet the different characters and hear their stories, and they’re all dressed up. The girls really enjoyed it: it brought the Christmas story to life for them.

Have you had any moments with your kids when you’ve seen them start to live their faith?

I’m beginning to have those moments with my older girls. My eldest - she’s 8 - is a real questioner. I used to worry about that and think that it was a bad thing. But now I see that she’s not doing it in a critical way: she questions because she wants to understand and make everything make sense in her head. So now, when she asks a question, I might say, “Well, what do you think? What do you know about God that might help you answer that?”

Then my second – she’s 7 – is very much not a questioner, but I’ve really enjoyed listening to her work through the XTB Bible Notes with her elder sister because they have to discuss the answers together, and it’s been great to hear their thought processes as they work through these questions about God and the Bible on their own.

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How has having kids helped you grow in your own faith?

He could just as easily turn around to me and say “Oh, I’m sorry that I blessed you with the one thing that you actually asked for. I’m sorry I think for me, having children has really highlighted my own that I blessed you abundantly with more than you actually sinfulness. There are all these small people demanding your wanted initially.” It made me realise that I’m just like the time and attention. They are Israelites in Exodus. We can not thinking about you, they look at the story of how God don’t care if you’re exhausted.

They just need you to respond brought them out of slavery and provided them with food to their needs. And so that’s and water and everything reminded me how much I they needed, and when they need God’s grace. complain it’s so easy for me I often think of a time when I to think, “How terrible they was walking up the road back are, how ungrateful”, when home from school with all actually I’m just the same five girls. And and I really one of them need God’s I used to print out had been grace. I need complaining sermon notes and Him to forgive all the way me every Bible verses and back. She was day, because stick them up on my here I am complaining and coffee cupboard, so complaining complaining, about my life whenever I went to about make a coffee I would when actually everything. In I’ve been given be reminded of what so much, and the end I just snapped, and I we’d been learning. even if I lost it shouted at her all, I’d still have in public down reasons to rejoice because the street. I said “I am so sorry God is always there. that I have collected you from school, that I have given you How do you carve out time a snack, that I’m bringing you home to give you tea and let for your own relationship you watch TV if you need to. I with God? am sorry that I care about you I try to snatch moments every day and try and make throughout the day; if I realise sure that you’re okay.” And that everybody’s happily then I stopped short because playing or they’re watching the I suddenly realised, “I am TV and I don’t have to make tea shouting at this child that I yet, I’ll try to take a minute to prayed for.” sit down to read the Word. I’ll I longed for children. I really also try to make the most of the wanted them. And suddenly I opportunities through church: realised that I was in essence for example, there’s a women’s saying to God, “Why have Bible study group during the You given me children? They day on a Friday which is great disobey me all the time.” And

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because I’m slightly more awake than during evening Bible studies. Also, after all the girls are in bed, I sometimes listen to songs from CityAlight. I find them so helpful as a way to meditate on scripture.

And for a while, I used to print out the notes we made for the international students – that had the Bible verse, sermon, and thoughts for the week – and I would stick them up on my coffee cupboard. That meant that whenever I went to make a coffee or tea I would have a reminder of what we’d been learning, and that was really helpful. I want to start doing that again soon.

As I watched Bex’s faith express itself so beautifully through the love she showed her children, I thought back to my own morning, my wish for more of my own time to spend with God. I realised that the answer was right in front of me: I can share my faith right here and now through showing love to the people God has brought into my life. When I feel like I’m messing up as a parent, or as a follower of Jesus - often both at once - God’s still there, ready to forgive me when I ask.

His grace is sufficient, even for tired parents.

Bex talks about learning that she can serve God wherever she is, whatever she’s doing.

Can you find a new way to serve God in whatever places you find yourself this month?

As Bex reflects about feeling unable to do everything, and leaning on God each day, where might God be prompting you to lean more on Him in this season?

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LIGHTS FOR CHRIST

by George Bingham-Davis

Hannah Sandoval talks to us about the Diocese of Sheffield’s Lights for Christ initiative, and taking those steps to have a personal connection with God.

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If you’re a part of the Anglican tradition, or you’ve been to a church recently, you may have heard about ‘Lights for Christ’. Maybe you’ve heard your vicar speaking about it.

Perhaps you’ve seen a new leaflet amongst the other flyers. Maybe the phrase even stirs a memory at the bottom of your mind. Don’t worry, it's not déjà vu! It’s the name of

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idea that faith only happens in church,” Lights for Christ Enabler Hannah Sandoval tells us. “And I think we sometimes need help to recognise that The idea to launch Lights it’s part of our everyday lives. for Christ was born when And so we want the Church to nurture the of England Jesus doesn’t say, gifts of lay-people produced a ‘You could be a so that they can national report light of Christ, you play a full part for its Dioceses in their church and Parishes could be a light communities in 2017. Titled of the world’: he and be a witness ‘Setting God’s says, ‘You ARE the to the people People Free’, light of the world’. they interact with the declaration in every area of set out to help their lives.” millions of Christians live out The Diocese of Sheffield’s their best lives as disciples answer to this question - how of Jesus, by equipping them to help people find God in with the tools they need to their everyday lives - is the follow God in their day-to-day Lights for Christ initiative. lives - at work, at rest, at the The name is taken from school gate – wherever they the service of baptism in find themselves. the Church of England, in “We’re trying to challenge the an initiative from the Diocese of Sheffield aimed at helping believers to walk more intentionally with Jesus.

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which the newly-baptised are encouraged to ‘shine as a light in the world to the glory of God the Father’.

“The thinking was that, regardless of which part of the Anglican church you’re from,” Hannah explained to us, “if you’ve been baptised, you’ll have heard these words before, and you’ll have been given this candle that symbolises that you are a light of Christ. Jesus doesn’t say, ‘You could be a light of Christ, you could be a light of the world’: he says, ‘You ARE the light of the world’. It's not an optional extra.”

Read more about Lights for Christ and Personal Rule of Life in Hannah’s article on page 20 and visit the Lights for Christ website: www.lightsforchrist.uk

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On the streets, in His light A story of faith in our steel city

by George Bingham-Davis

Picture this: It’s a chilly afternoon. You’re walking through Fargate. Empty shops and offices surround you. People hurry past, but the hustle and bustle feels hushed somehow, the city itself seems sombre, soulless.

Then, as you pass St. Marie’s, you hear an acoustic rendition of ‘As it is in Heaven’ or ‘Spirit lead me’ coming from the stalls next to Sheffield Town Hall, bringing a little life and light back into the empty precinct.

If you’ve heard that, chances are that you’ve stumbled on the brave-and-bold street ministers from St. Phillips Church, led by Rachel, Anna and Andrew. This faithful trio and their friends have been on the streets of Sheffield, talking to people about Jesus, blessing them and sharing the Word.

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“Anna had been coming out on the streets ‘treasure hunting’ for a few years before we properly started this,” Rachel tells me. “Treasure hunting is where you ask God for clues about who He wants you to speak to and pray for, then you write them down and go looking for the people He’s told you about. Andrew’s also got a passion for going out and speaking to people about Jesus, and preaching on the streets. [Keen readers might remember Andrew’s Prophetic Challenge from the Autumn 2021 issue of Arise!]

“Since coming out of COVID, it’s felt like these big parts of town have just felt… empty.

I mean, what’s happening here? Where’s the life gone?

So the three of us teamed up, with the hope that we would be a presence in the city centre that brings hope and light.”

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That was certainly the case when I popped by one Saturday. Rachel was on mic and guitar, worshipping amidst the afternoon shoppers. Andrew and some others were handing out gospel tracts, talking to passersby about their faith in Jesus. Anna - when she wasn’t on her treasure hunt - was talking to all sorts of people, families, the homeless, pedestrians. All while keeping an eye out for clues from God. “I actually had one this morning,” She tells us. “I was praying this morning that today would go well for us, and He sent me this image of a trolley. And as we were getting set up here, one of the first people I spoke to was a woman with a trolley. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw her!”

People from all walks of life came and talked with the street ministers: some had faith but were struggling with vices and addiction, some were fellow Christians who were happy to see the Good News being shared on the streets, others hadn’t been to Church in a long time.

So, what’s the next step for the group? “We want to continue to be a ‘God presence’ in the city centre and are looking to partner with others too.” They are also getting advice and training from more experienced street ministers which has been a big priority for them, especially as their team grows.

“We actually got in contact with a guy called Wayne,

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who’s a preacher based in Rochdale as a part of an organisation called ‘Go and Tell Ministries’,” Rachel told us. “He joined us on one of our sessions to give us some training, and he came with this giant speaker and microphone blaring gospel music out. While it was a very different model from ours, we were really energised and encouraged by his ideas and personal testimonies from his outreach in Manchester.”

The group is connecting with other evangelistic street ministers around Sheffield.

“We’ve got contacts across the city - that are now part of a WhatsApp group called Sheffield Street Ministries so we can invite and inform each other about when we’re potentially out on the streets. Martin Jacobs from St Thomas Crookes and The Church in Weston Park joined us for a session recently, which was great.”

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the street evangelists at Fargate and their wonderful web of fellow disciples. A web of light and faith in God, spreading across Sheffield for those who want to see and hear Him. “It’s not up to us to convince people,” Andrew told us as he waved goodbye to an older gentleman to whom he’d been speaking. “We’re just here to be witnesses to what God has done in our lives, and to listen to others’ stories.”

If you’d like to get involved in street ministry, Rachel would love to hear from you. Email hello@arisesheffield.org to get in touch.

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Discipleship from the home Excerpt from The XYZ of Discipleship: Understanding and Reaching Generations Y & Z by Nick & Marjorie Allan (published 2020) available from www.xyzdiscipleship.com and all online retailers

Generation Y (born between c.1981-96) and Generation Z (c.1996-2014) are sometimes called the ‘missing generation’ from the UK Church, yet they are thriving and expanding their influence within the rest of society. Can we bridge the gap? Can we understand the cultural landscape they inhabit and work out how best to reach them with the gospel, helping them to become disciples, that is, followers of Jesus?

In these days of Covid restrictions, life in the home has become our focal point.

It also presents a fantastic opportunity for discipleship from the home or even the kitchen table.

The younger generations may apparently be connected to hundreds of people and may have 24/7 contact with others in this digital age and yet be the loneliest generation to date because of the lack of

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contexts in which they have meaningful relationships.

Since Covid and lockdowns, loneliness and a raft of mental health issues are undoubtedly worse.

Today’s culture is the most information-connected, yet the least relationallyconnected ever to be formed.

In today’s urban culture it is possible to spend an entire day surrounded by people – and speak to nobody.

This is because connection and community are two totally different realities.

You can be connected to hundreds of people and still have no meaningful relationships. There is a big difference between friendship and authentic community.

Only fifty years ago in Britain we benefited from a richness of community life that has virtually disappeared. It has supposedly become virtual, but it has, in fact, become a

thing of the past.

This is where the Church has such an opportunity!

We are part of something beyond ourselves. It is not an organisation, it is an organism, a movement, circulating the planet over the last 2,000 years.

Movements attract people.

The worldwide Church is a community of people with a cause beyond themselves.

And it is permanently open to newcomers. Within any average local church community there are tremendously powerful connections. Connections more real than our

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contemporary digital culture could ever dream of. True conversion to Christ means you have one faith and are baptised into the one family, as the apostle Paul writes in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:5-6).

Community life requires us to give of our time, our tables, our pockets. People’s lives can be broken and require our time, our attention and compassion. Yet it is through sharing our personal lives that the kingdom life often flows most powerfully.

Growing up in Dublin in the 1970 and 80s, hospitality was central to our family’s culture: life revolved around the kitchen table. The sense of local community was very strong. We knew our neighbours, most families attended the church up the road, schooling was local.

Nobody had a lot of spare cash, a lot of life was shared.

Ireland was all about people.

People’s news, people’s families, people’s tragedies and triumphs.

Looking back, I realise that what I experienced and have sought to replicate during my adult life wasn’t simply about being Irish. These dayto-day practices were rooted in my parents’ deeply held Christian principles forming a rhythm which allowed the kingdom of heaven to break out on earth. Many tears were shed around my mother’s table, dreams were conceived, and relationships mended.

Stories of the past were retold and faith grew. Big prayers were spontaneously prayed and hope rekindled. New introductions were made

and relationships blossomed, lessons were taught and hearts were healed. There is no other context quite like community around a table.

The first church was a meal around a table. Jesus ate with His disciples, ate with those closest, ate with sinners and the lost. The most intimate conversations happened around the table, eating together, including Jesus’ final instructions to His disciples on what was about to follow (Matthew 26:17-30). The Church at its core is a community around the Lord’s table.

This is where the Church can be a solution and play a fundamental role. Eating together is central to our faith and heritage, however foreign it is to British culture today. In our own home we have found that an opentable culture where we regularly include young people is hugely attractive to young adults. It helped us to make a practical decision.

For several years pre-Covid, and slowly beginning again in 2022, the Allan family had a regular rhythm of ‘Tuesday tea’ where others will eat with us. We invite single people who might otherwise eat alone on other occasions to enjoy the blessing of banter and a loud table of teenagers!

We invite teenage friends of our children with working parents, many of whom will rock up several times a week. We invite people who have appeared at our church and are new to the city, and therefore know no one. Urban life can be so lonely. We have found that opening up our home to others has enriched

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our family. We are never selfsufficient.

We also deliberately invite young adults and students that we are keen to have in our orbit. Those who might benefit from being introduced to ‘family’. Those who God is asking us to deliberately spend time with.

Leaders of the future and/ or ones who might benefit from homely love and our occasional wisdom.

Some of our very best discipleship happens around our range cooker and our kitchen sink.

Because this generation longs for a sense of family, whether they are Christians or not, they will often create support networks of pseudo families that offer the sort of social and emotional support they desire. How wonderful that at the heart of the Christian faith is ‘a Father to the fatherless’ (Ps. 68:5) and an invitation to ‘come home’.

We are so grateful to the families who opened up their homes to us when we were in our twenties. Around those kitchen tables we processed our theology, our callings, who we would marry, who we would vote for, how to avoid having an affair and those grown-up things of life that we otherwise did not have a natural context to speak about.

There has not been a better time for the Church to provide a place of belonging for all those that yearn for it, a place that mirrors that first community of believers in Acts 2. As society redefines family, I think it’s time for the Church to rediscover it.

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The Mother of all Vigils

BECOMING PRESENT WITH CHRIST After mentioning some of the Catholic church’s Easter traditions in his article in Autumn’s Arise!, some of our readers asked Father Lee to share more about them.

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The Easter Vigil was first dubbed the Mother of all Vigils in the Roman Missal (the book used for the celebration of Mass).

It’s the most important moment of the year for all our Christian communities and each Church marks it in a unique way. Catholics wait in anticipation through the liturgical year for this Sacred Triduum – one single act of worship that spans three days, from Maundy Thursday to the Easter Saturday Vigil. It is the crux of our joy and faith.

The community looks forward to experiencing this extraordinary time together, with lots of music, prayer, and grace. The Sacred Triduum is the climax of Holy Week where we celebrate the Paschal mystery - the Passion, death and Resurrection of Christ.

The thing that excites me the most about the Triduum is the way in which we enter the Paschal mystery; we’re not simply ‘re-enacting’ the events that took place two thousand years ago, like some kind of theatrical play.

Our celebration of the liturgy makes the event ‘present’ to us and we to it. In a mysterious way, we are there with Christ and his disciples; we are part of the event.

On Holy Thursday we gather with Jesus and his disciples for the Last Supper. We

experience Jesus washing our feet, as he did with the first disciples on the first Holy Thursday. We relive the moments that Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist with his disciples. We walk (symbolically: we all move to another part of the Church) with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane and then wait with Him in silence, usually until midnight. We often share the disciples’ experience of trying to stay focussed and are haunted

by Jesus’s words: “Could you not stay awake with me one hour?”

We gather again in the Church at 3pm the next day, Good Friday, to celebrate the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The Church is bare, everything has been stripped away or covered, we now enter the heart of Jesus’s suffering. Like other Christians, we fast on this day, we stand as the Passion narrative is read in its entirety from John’s Gospel, we pray and intercede for all peoples, then we adore the Cross on which our Saviour died. After the Good Friday service, we leave the Church in silence and then we wait.

There is a sense of profound sadness for what we have just

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witnessed and remembered, but also excitement: no matter what else we are doing in our lives we wait and fast. I always feel close to Mary the Blessed Mother at this time; Mary was the one who waited for the Resurrection of her Son, on that first Holy Saturday. On that day, she was the community of believers, so we wait with Mary, full of sorrow and full of excitement.

This eerily intense period that cloaks us lasts until the Easter Saturday vigil. After the sun sets, a new fire is lit and blessed. From this powerful blaze, the Paschal candle is lit and carried into the dark church. And so, we experience a new beginning with the Resurrected Christ. We read up to seven readings and sing psalms from Scripture, we then renew the promises of our Baptism. This is also the moment when new members join our community. Finally, with great joy and praise we celebrate the Eucharist.

Father Lee Marshall is the Chaplain of St. Vincent’s Mission Hub in the Catholic Diocese of Hallam. stvincentsmissionhub.org Instagram: @stvincents_missionhub

As you reflect on this, think about your own Easter traditions. How will you be present with Jesus this Easter?

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Living the

By Peter Dunn

How did Biglife begin?

About 20 years ago my good friend John, then a business man, was given a book to read by an elderly woman in his church. Reluctantly he took it and then a week later, the night before he was sure that he would meet her in church, he thought that he should at least skim through it. He picked the book up and found that he couldn’t put it down. One phrase struck him, “Are you leading an ordinary life for yourself, or a big life for God?”, and so Biglife was born. John came to see that he had opted for an ordinary life. Yes, he went to church faithfully, he enjoyed fellowship, but there was something missing in terms of what it really meant to be a follower of Jesus. A few years later John ended up in India with another friend of mine called Ben, a Bengali

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man with a career in banking.

There, with Ani, a vegetable grower and Mr Mondal, an electrician, Biglife really took off.

But what is a Big Life?

Ordinary people committed themselves to living a Biglife and today there are millions of people across the world who are part of what some term Disciple Making Movements (DMMs). They are ordinary people committed to the Lord, and to making disciples who in turn make more disciples. Biglife is a multiplying movement that is focused on empowering and equipping disciples to make disciples who make disciples.

I first encountered Biglife about 12 years ago. Initially I thought this was just a uniquely Asian phenomenon, but over time I came to see that it was at its heart a

movement of God rooted in the Bible and the principles and practices of Jesus in making disciples. Then, two years ago I came onboard with Biglife as their European Director, and moved to Sheffield with my wife Jane to live the Biglife out for ourselves. Setting aside the rest of Europe, we have seen about 40 groups start in Sheffield and across Yorkshire in the past 2 years, as people have come to faith and others have committed themselves to the lifestyle of being disciple makers.

The house-church movement in China is perhaps one of the earliest of the more recent expressions of DMMs. As the missionaries were expelled from China in the 1950s, so the “professionals” left and ordinary people with simply the Bible in their hands put things into action. They had no manual for church

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planting or great strategy, but simply the example of Jesus and the early church as they found it in the Bible.

Ordinary people filled with the Spirit and committed to a lifestyle of discipleship did the things that Jesus did and so a movement was launched. A key theme that I am seeing in movements across the world and in Sheffield is the release of ordinary people to actively share faith and disciple others. This resonates with the model of Jesus and his first group of followers – fishermen and tax-collectors - leaving everything to follow him. They were ordinary people who turned the world upside down!

The book of Acts puts it like this, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary people, they were astonished and took note that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). Like those first disciples, DMMs are marked by the courageous and continuous sharing of faith with others. Often this starts with friendship and expressions of genuine care.

In our own Sheffield street this started with inviting some neighbours for a meal, in which spiritual matters just naturally came up in the conversation. We then agreed to meet to discover more about faith in the Bible and over time we have seen lives transformed.

One recurring theme that we are encountering is people who say, “I am not religious but I am spiritual”. Sadly this often means that they are not looking for spirituality in the

church, but nevertheless they are open to conversations where they are. Our focus is to equip people to share faith, and for them to go into their relational network (family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, acquaintances) in order to do that. We equip people to share faith and to disciple one-to-one or in small groups. Movements are more focused on dispersion than attraction in their mission emphasis.

Over the past couple of years it has been exciting to train others in simple ways of sharing faith and of discipleship. Simple things multiply, and so by training in these tools we are seeing ordinary people feel more confident in stepping out as disciple makers. “What you are saying Peter, is that I can do this”, said two women in Yorkshire and they promptly went out and shared their faith with three friends in the context of a Discovery Bible Study (DBS), and saw them come to be followers of Jesus themselves. What is important to remember too is that discipleship is not just about conversion, but about people continuing to grow as disciples through encountering God in his word and being empowered by his Spirit.

My observation is that we grow as disciples in action rather than in passive approaches focused on the accumulation of knowledge.

It is much like riding a bike, that is not learnt by watching a video, but by getting on the bike and having a go. This is the approach that Jesus

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took with his disciples. So, in our approach to discipleship we invest heavily in a few relationships to lovingly support, encourage and hold one another accountable.

The early church mostly seems to have met in homes and in small groups, and this is where we put our emphasis in terms of the best environment for discipleship, where there is dialogue and interactive relationship.

To be honest, we are really only at the beginnings of working things out in a UK context, but there are some really encouraging signs.

One friend said to me, “I am doing this not because it is dramatically successful, but simply because it is right”. Disciple making is not for the enthusiastic few, but for all of us as followers of Jesus. Recently, when asked by church leaders for a closing thought, I said “Pray”. Disciple-making is not some technique or formula, but happens as we commit ourselves to prayer and to keeping in step with the Spirit.

Please contact me on p.dunn@big.life if you want to pick up a conversation or engage with some of our training.

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News, Events, Opportunities

ARISE!

Oughtibridge churches united!

“In October, Oughtibridge Chapel fully united with Oughtibridge Parish Church to form one church family. Why? Simply because we believe the same gospel, want to pursue Christian unity and believe we will be more effective in reaching our villages together than apart. Our first few months as one church have been fantastic and we’re continuing to see God growing our church and blessing the mission Jesus has given us.” - Revd Chris Tuffnell

A Chance to Bless ‘Bless Greystones’ St Gabriel’s Church in Greystones has reached the national final of Ecclesiastical Insurance’s Good News competition with their Bless Greystones initiative. They have been serving their local community in practical ways since the start of lock-down, creating care packages, delivering groceries, litter-picking, and gardening. The winner of the Good News competition is decided by public vote: please support St Gabriel’s by visiting https://www.ecclesiastical.com/church/ competition/ and voting for them.

Join the Arise magazine team!

We’d love your help in making Arise magazine even more powerful, filling it with inspiring stories. If you love to write, edit, interview people, take photographs, and would be willing to share your skills with us we’d love to hear from you.

Equally, if you have an idea for a story, or a suggestion for a Sheffielder we could interview next time, send an email to Beth at: Hello@AriseSheffield.org

Can you help grow Arise?

Followers of Jesus like you are supporting Arise with regular donations to help us to keep on encouraging and inspiring each other. Every supporter also receives a free printed copy of Arise! magazine, direct to their door. www.arisesheffield.org/donors

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News, Events, Opportunities

Don’t miss these events springing up in Sheffield: 26 February 7pm - Arise 2022 Prayer-walking launch: at the Filling Station, St Thomas Philadelphia 1 March - Arise prayer-walking app goes live, recording your prayer-walks across Sheffield and the surrounding areas.

3 & 10 March: Sharing Faith Simply course running over two evenings on Zoom 5 March: Sharing Faith Simply course running in-person, Kings Centre Tuesday evenings throughout March: Local prayer meet-ups - North, South, East, West and Central Sheffield, over Zoom Weekends throughout March: Group prayer walks - North, South, East, and West Sheffield Saturday 2 April: Arise celebration Sign up to The Send Out to receive reminders and updates about these events and more: www.arisesheffield.org/join-us

Change the lives of local young adults!

More than 40 believers across the city have been supporting local young adults in their first jobs.

Sharing their wisdom, experience and networks, they are helping these young people to change the course of their lives. Could you do the same?

This is an amazing opportunity to share wisdom and faith. Mentoring requires one hour per week or fortnight for six months. Training is provided.

Email: Kickstart@togetherforsheffield.co.uk

Sheffield Leaders in Prayer Sheffield Leaders in Prayer is a monthly crossdenominational gathering for Senior Church leaders and Ministry Leaders to meet and eat together as they pray for the welfare of our city.

All denominations welcome - let’s gather together in unity as we pray for our city.

We would love you to join us.

Please email Ben@togetherforsheffield.co.uk to find out more.

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Will you rise up?

Sign up to receive Arise Send-Outs: regular emails packed with news and opportunities from believers across Sheffield.

Register in February and we’ll send you a link to download your Arise 2022 prayer-walking app as soon as it goes live.

arisesheffield.org/join-us

Let's join together to pray for the unified church in Sheffield and Arise 2022 this March.

Arise, shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

I S A I A H 6 0 :1

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of All, who is overall and through all and in all.

E P H E S I A N S 4 :5 –6

We pray for ARISE 2022 May your church arise throughout Sheffield and believers join together in prayer and mission this March.

We pray that we would be one, that love would bind our hearts and our unity as believers would bring a blessing on this city.

We pray that you would strengthen church leaders at this time, encourage them in their ministry and bless them with what they need.

Empower your church to pray boldly and may every street in Sheffield be saturated in prayer.

Enable us to share our faith courageously with those around us and for many people come to know you, Jesus.

Glorify your name in our city, Jesus!

Your will be done and your kingdom come!

Amen!

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Are you encouraged by what you’ve read in Arise? Do you long to see Sheffield transformed? Our city needs you! Say ‘yes’ to unity and become a supporter of Arise today*. Your regular donation will help bring Christians together for the sake of our city by:

Sharing the gospel across Sheffield

Supporting city-wide prayer-walking

Helping your community rise up

We also send every supporter their own printed copy of Arise! magazine.

Give today and help Sheffield Arise:

arisesheffield.org/yes *We need at least 64 more regular supporters to ensure Arise can continue into 2023 and beyond. Will you be one of them?