Two churches share how they have got involved in helping Ukrainian refugees page 10
aILOR’S SURReNDeR
Navy veteran tells how God came on board his life in Hong Kong page 12
eMeMBeRINg aLTeR
Our tribute to Revd Dr Walter Riggans who died in June page 19
SHaRINg HOpe
Our President Mark Taylor starts a new series on outreach ideas
TO ORDER REFRESH:
There are three issues of Refresh each year, available on annual subscription at £30 incl. p&p and the Yearbook. Email: admin@congregational.org.uk or tel: 0115 9111460 for details.
“…looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God’s peace be with all of you” (Romans 15:33, The Message)
Evangelism does work!
I hope you have noticed that in the last three issues we have had a regular feature by a very experienced evangelist, advising on outreach.
This ‘Casting Your Nets’ series continues in this edition, and we have expanded on the theme by including a piece on outreach ideas by our Federation’s President, Mark Taylor, and news of a new evangelistic resource which I have produced.
We make no apology for focusing on evangelism, as Jesus commanded us to ‘go and make disciples’ –and people need the Lord.
Sometimes evangelism can be a hard slog – it may take a long time before we see the fruit. But that doesn’t excuse us. Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” not “Take off your shoes and relax on the settee.”
But be encouraged. Evangelism is working!
Retired university maths lecturer John Hayward has analysed the last five years of church membership statistics and found that, while older denominations and those with a liberal theology are declining, churches that are evangelical and prioritise evangelism are growing.
Of the 19 groups in his survey, the fastest growing is the charismatic Vineyard network, at 6 per cent a year, closely followed by the Redeemed Church of God (Pentecostal) at 4 per cent. The other growing denominations were the FIEC, New Frontiers, Elim, 7th Day Adventists and the Free Church of Scotland – all either evangelical, Pentecostal or charismatic.
The fastest declining denomination is the Welsh Presbyterians (6 per cent loss), followed by the United Reformed Church (over 4 per cent) and the Church of Scotland (3 per cent). The Church of England, Roman Catholics, Methodists and Baptists are all shrinking too.
Refresh Magazine, ISSN 2634-2987, is published by:
The Congregational Federation, Congregational Centre, 8 Castle Gate, Nottingham NG1 7AS
Tel: 0115 911 1460
www.congregational.org.uk
Registered charity 264839
Editor: Andrew Halloway. Design and print: Verité CM Ltd. www.veritecm.com.
Please contact the Editor if you would like permission to reproduce any content.
All Bible quotes are from either the NLT or NIV.
This magazine is printed on paper from a sustainable source.
Hayward says this pattern hasn’t changed in 20 years, and “the main factor in church decline is the lack of conversions”.
How many people become Christians depends on how many Christians are “infectious spreaders of the good news”, he says, adding that if the fastest growing churches maintain this potential to convert, “they could reach five times their current number by the end of the century. But they would have to keep this value for 80 years. Quite a challenge!”
The Congregational Federation does not appear in Hayward’s research, so I can’t satisfy your curiosity in that respect! But as I’m sure all our churches agree – our reason for existence is to lead others to the Lord, and our continued existence depends on it.
Andrew Halloway Editor a.halloway@ntlworld.com
Contents
1 From the General Secretary LOCAL CHURCH NEWS
2 Hosting Ukrainians
4 A church of eight denominations!
6 Vision Day for four churches
7 North-east churches’ fun day
8 Brazil team in Wales TESTIMONIES
9 A hospital chaplain
10 Finding God in the Navy FEDERATION NEWS
12 Tribute to Walter Riggans
14 Serving the Community Awards
16 Grant restores garden
17 A very musical Lent
18 Remembering our Queen EVANGELISM
19 Sharing hope by President Taylor
20 ‘Jesus Unmasked’ – a new resource
22 Casting Your Nets series
PLUS. . .
24 Heroes of the Faith series
26 Vacancies & Tips for life online
27 Break time
28 Book reviews
29 Prayer Diary & Puzzle solutions
From the General Secretary
Joys
and sorrows
Welcome to another edition of Refresh and what a year it has been, one full of joys and sorrows.
The joys have included visiting so many churches, having great conversations and seeing the 50th Anniversary calendars on notice boards.
Some highlights included visiting the Rea Valley churches. Whenever there is a fifth Sunday in a month, Pontesbury, Marton and Minsterley Congregational churches come together to worship and have fellowship over lunch. They are supporting one another and looking for ways they can help each other in their own mission programmes. It was wonderful to be able to enjoy the garden at Pontesbury and see the new summer house, and the wonderful garden at Marton and how they both bless their communities.
It was also a very special weekend in August, when Yelvertoft Congregational Church hosted Nordelph Congregational Church and brought their drama group Fensong to perform Daniel Jazz. When the Congregational Federation was established 50 years ago, at the heart of it was supporting and encouraging each other and this was a great example. The performance was funny and entertaining with a dramatic start and powerful ending. The final, moving song was titled Rescue – written by Lauren Daigle.
Nordelph Congregational Church’s Fensong group at Yelvertoft
So as we head into winter I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for all you do. I hope you have a wonderful season of Advent and Christmas. May it be filled with opportunities to share the good news of our saviour Jesus with all in your community.
May God bless you.
It was also a joy to visit Chinley Chapel and hear about their new ‘gracious space’. Every Friday morning they are supporting the Ukrainian family hosts and the Ukrainian families in their community. They provide space, refreshments, clothes and Ukrainian food.
May Assembly was also a weekend full of joy. One of my personal joys was opening the doors of Carrs Lane Conference Centre to find a line of people waiting to come in. To have the room full and vibrant with conversations and seeing people face to face was such a blessing. It was also a joy to welcome children from our churches in their own Assembly; thank you to everyone who brought and encouraged children to come.
As well as joys though, I have experienced my fair share of sorrows. There has been so much loss this year and the sudden death of my colleague Walter Riggans has been so very difficult. Thank you to everyone who sent messages, which were a great comfort.
Yvonne Campbell
Yvonne with Hilary Stephenson, a member of Pontesbury Congregational Church
Hosting Ukrainian friends in our home
By Rev Joy Leathers, retired Accredited Minister
new friends with me
and our relatives,
the Platinum Jubilee
‘Sing to the Lord. . .
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.’
Psalm 96:2-3
Please do share how your church is supporting any Ukrainian families in your area. Email the editor: a.halloway@ntlworld.com
What was your reaction when the war in Ukraine began back in February?
After the initial outrage came the possibility of the government plan, Hosts for Ukraine.
Having talked with many in my village and beyond, most of us wanted to reach out and help the Ukrainian people as they made their way to the UK. How can we help? So many have said: “I cannot host like you but I really want to do something to support them.”
My village school, the church and many in the village have reached out and contributed to what happened next.
Brian (the vicar and my husband) was fired up one Sunday about how we could help house some Ukrainians in our vicarage, now all our large family have got their own homes and families.
He received a call from God and soon I too had a call from the Lord to put ourselves forward to host one or maybe two families.
On 23 May 2022, we welcomed two families into our home, having had so much help from all of my village. We received a double bed and mattress; some gave duvets and new covers. A group from my church came the day the Ukrainian families were due to arrive and arranged the rooms with me. They looked like hotel rooms by the end of the day!
The school provided uniforms and the families in the school provided welcome baskets for the children and beauty boxes for the mums.
We have had a very busy and enjoyable time and feel this is a great blessing. Not only can we help them but they give to us in so many ways, and are a wonderful blessing to us.
The two families comprise two mums and two seven-year-old little girls. The girls are full of fun in spite of the horrors they left behind in Ukraine. They came to us willing to fit in with not only us but everyone in the village.
The mums now have jobs and the girls are enjoying school. We have settled into a routine that also involves all of us going to church weekly.
Our wonderful new friends left families and friends behind in Ukraine who are still living with the terror of war in one of the key cities of Ukraine. They have a saying: ‘Today it’s all good; be happy.’ And we all live with joy in our hearts in the house.
This all happened after the death of my father and a long illness resulting in retirement from my CF Free church. I was in a waiting place with the Lord. I cried out to him to tell me what was next. But as a gentle, loving-hearted heavenly daddy, God allowed me time to grieve and receive the healing that comes from the waiting time. Psalm 40:
‘I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.’
Our
(left)
enjoying
He just said to me: wait. Soon it was a case of: “Joy, you are on a red light right now.” “He turned to me and heard my cry. He set my feet on a rock.”
After three years of waiting, God said in church one day: “You are on amber; wait and look for my next ministry in and through you.”
Then one day in May 2022, God gave me the green light. “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.”
God spoke to me in a service, through the words: “I will hold your people in my heart.”
I cried through the rest of the service, knowing that God was calling me to hold our Ukrainian brothers and sisters in my hands to God.
Immediately (the same day), all problems were lifted in getting a group of families who needed hosting. By the next day we were talking to the mums and children who are now our very close friends.
I know that many Christians have answered the same call. Not everyone can host a family, of course, but if you know people who are doing so, you can help and support them. Be a listening ear and offer meals and Christian fellowship.
If you are thinking, “What can I do? I’m only one person; what difference can I make?”, remember
what happens when a mosquito gets in a bedroom. It’s buzz means you cannot be in the room without being aware that the mosquito is there.
Be the mosquito.
Even if only one of you says ‘how can I help?’ God blesses us more than we can ever know. “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.” The compassion for Ukrainians is strong in this country. Allow God’s compassion to overwhelm you today.
May the Lord truly bless you as you pray for the friends in and from Ukraine.
‘Lord, bring your peace in Ukraine and Russia. Amen.’
Helping Ukrainians meet together
By Hilary Biggin, newcastle under Lyme Congregational Church
When our fellowship heard of the situation in Ukraine, like many we wanted to help – but how?
Eventually we hit on the idea of providing our large hall for social interaction – the idea being that Ukrainian nationals housed in Newcastle and surrounding areas would have the opportunity to meet each other and hopefully form new friendships. The host families would also have the opportunity to share experiences and exchange ideas.
It was felt this was an excellent idea and there have now been several meetings, held monthly in the hall on a Saturday, and in August we were also able to organise a barbecue with the help of our local rugby club. The guests bring along a little food they particularly like and everyone shares – it’s a very happy, noisy time! In addition, we host a music teacher on Saturday mornings who gives singing lessons to the Ukrainian children.
Our two Ukrainian mums with their girls on the first day they arrived
‘Allow God’s compassion to overwhelm you today.’
A fantastic Ukraine cake
One of the Saturday meetings
A church of eight denominations!
Llanfair Uniting Church certainly lives up to its name
Llanfair’s Good Friday Pilgrimage from St Mary’s Well to the Amphitheatre, to Mary’s Statue and back to Llanfair for our Easter Play
By sharon Rees, secretary at Llanfair Uniting Church
Who would have thought when I arrived in Penhrys as a volunteer over 30 years ago that I would still be living and serving God here in 2022?
What a wonderful privilege it was for me to meet Norah and John Morgans and a group of friends from the community of Penrhys at the Council of Churches for Wales’s Mission Conference in April 1991 and learn about the exciting new venture. The church was moving from an old shop in the community centre to a renovated block of maisonette flats to become Llanfair Uniting Church.
Llanfair is unique as it belongs to eight denominations – the Congregational Federation, the Presbyterian Church of Wales, the Baptist Union of Wales, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Union of Welsh Independents, the Methodist Church in Wales, the Church in Wales and the United Reformed Church!
Llanfair has close links with the worldwide Church – especially through the Council for World Mission (CWM). Through CWM and the organisation Time for God, we have been blessed with the opportunity to welcome so many people as volunteers from many different countries, including Jamaica, South Korea, India, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Hungary and particularly from Madagascar. They have enriched the life of Llanfair and Penrhys a great deal and have grown from their experiences of working with the church in an underprivileged community.
After being a volunteer during my first year at Llanfair, I was appointed as an Education Worker. Today, I have a wide variety of responsibilities and my
work from day to day is busy, often challenging in different ways, but very worthwhile. Our local volunteers and I have the opportunity to be ‘good news’ by helping our brothers and sisters to fulfil their potential and to show that God loves them in the midst of their experiences and difficulties. I live in one of Llanfair’s four flats – the only resident at present. We would be very happy if there is anyone from a church who would like to join us to do some voluntary work for a week or two, a month or longer.
Pastoral care
The people of Penrhys are friendly and generous, in spite of the challenges many of them face in their everyday lives. As in so many communities in the UK, the lasting effects of Covid-19 on the mental and physical health of people of all ages are considerable and concerning.
As Llanfair is literally at the heart of the community, the pastoral care provided here is vitally
important – whether by welcoming a class of children from Penrhys Primary School for Monday morning prayers, pouring a cup of coffee and listening to the worries of customers in our Community Café (open three days and two evenings a week), helping a child with maths work in our Homework Club (three sessions a week), distributing food parcels to vulnerable individuals and families, or joining in our Wellbeing Walk on Friday afternoons. This weekly walk (whatever the weather!) makes the world of difference to all of us who take part as we enjoy the beautiful scenery of the Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr valleys and the opportunity to share our experiences and concerns.
In December last year, we organised a Christmas fayre in the chapel. We had a variety of stalls and Santa gave gifts to the local children in the café. The money raised was to support the valuable work of the charity, Money for Madagascar.
Volunteers
Like so many churches in the UK and Ireland, we are busy during the month of May with our Christian Aid Week activities. Last year, a girl called Carly (then ten years old) and I enjoyed taking part in the house to house collection. Although the weather was wet and quite cold that week, we were pleased that we had a positive response and people were glad to have a chat on their doorstep, which was really encouraging. Carly was keen to help as her ambition is to be a Christian Aid worker in the future. We hope and pray that one day she will fulfil her dream.
We are blessed at Llanfair with a faithful and extremely committed group of local volunteers who work hard in the community by helping and supporting in various ways. Several have difficulties themselves with their mental health, and it’s a privilege to witness their confidence and self-esteem growing as they realise that they really are making a difference. Most join us for worship on Sunday and/or Wednesday afternoons and they have become a close group of friends.
This year has seen Llanfair become even more a centre of our community of Penrhys with weekly housing surgeries, local housing meetings and councillors’ surgeries taking place here. The cafe has become busier in both the daytime and evenings, with children, adults and families coming together to relax, chat and play games.
We’re delighted that we now have a lot more local volunteers working with us to support our community activities. The youngest is Harvey Jay at ten years old, who was one of the children who received a medal and certificate for taking part in a beatboxing competition during our three-day event with Above and Beyond (an arts project funded by the Welsh Arts
Council). Helping at Llanfair is building confidence and self-esteem and developing the skills of our friends, who are truly making a difference in God’s name.’
I would like to end by quoting our friend John Morgans (he and Norah served faithfully in Penrhys for many years until they retired in 2004) when he said: “The way the cup of coffee is poured in the café is just as important as the way we pour the cup for Communion,” which is certainly true today.
Ten-year-old Harvey, a Llanfair volunteer, pictured receiving a certificate for beatboxing
Children from Llanfair Uniting Church on a fun day out to the Dance Studio at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay
‘The test is not the way things appear on the surface but the quality of the relationships, prayer, learning and mission which is enabled through existing or developing networks of community.’
Vision day for six churches
By Adrian Burr, Accredited Minister
In July, Guilden Morden Congregational Church set up a Vision Day to enable people to spend time with God, seeking his vision for their churches and for themselves.
The representatives from four Congregational churches and two other local churches were warmly welcomed with coffee and later an excellent lunch, and led in our thinking by Guilden Morden’s minister, Tony Frost, and our Congregational President, Mark Taylor.
We shared strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to our churches (SWOT analysis) and then broke into groups. After being challenged by the ideas that ‘church is the people and not the building’ and that ‘a Sunday service does not make a church’, we were encouraged to ask ourselves and each other:
What is church?
What is church for?
This was a time for respecting each others’ opinions and ideas, listening, sharing ideas and questioning with kindness. We asked ourselves: Are there things we must not change?
Are there things we could/should change?
The results of this included such ideas as a community choir; pub theology – where general questions are posed on the internet and people come along and bring their ideas; a film club discussing a previously watched film (see Mark Taylor’s article on that in this issue); a Bible book club, meeting to discuss a previously read Christian book; a children’s
midweek Christian club; church in the community, such as services at village halls or community centres; getting involved with the groups that use the church premises so that we can be a witness to them; and services on days other than Sunday to fit in with busy life schedules.
There were very few things we felt we must not change, including our theology and our affiliation to CF and gathering together somewhere and somehow to worship and praise God!
We were intrigued to see that Guilden Morden have a ‘Bring and Share’ table outside their church where people bring and take food for free, totally unmanned, which seems to working well.
During the day we heard this quote from Steven Crofts book, Transforming Communities:
“The test is not the way things appear on the surface but the quality of the relationships, prayer, learning and mission which is enabled through existing or developing networks of community.”
Mark closed our time together with some highlights from the New Testament story of Philip being guided by the Holy Spirit to lead an Ethiopian eunuch to Christ. He brought out the points that we should go to where God sends us, go to the person God leads us to, listen to them, and then be prepared to tell out our faith.
You can follow Mark’s presidential year on the CFPresident22 Facebook page titled Full-bodied Hope – Mark Taylor’s CF President Page.
If you would like to hold a vision day for your church, email the General Secretary and Yvonne will send you more information. It is a chance to think as a church through the power of the Holy Spirit about how your church can grow and serve the community in different ways.
Tony Frost, Minister at Guilden Morden Church, leads the Vision Day
Fun in the North East Area revamps its Assembly with Fun Day
By Robert Waddington, Vice Chair of the north east Area executive
Do disciples vote with their feet? Evidence suggests that they do. In the North East Area we have become all too aware of the dwindling numbers attending Area Assemblies. But we are not alone! The URC finds its Synods less well attended and Methodist Circuits are discovering people are staying away.
We discussed it at length before we realised that if we didn’t do something about it the Area as an entity would simply fade away. It’s not rocket science –people are just bored rigid with tedious business meetings which do nothing to build people or the churches up.
At our last Area Assembly we agreed to slim down the whole organisation and to reduce the two Assemblies to one. We empowered the Executive, with increased communication with the churches, to deal with the mundane though necessary work which increasingly puts people to sleep. It’s an experiment constantly under review, ready to be tweaked with lessons learned. It may not be perfect but it was, ‘Do something or die’.
The Executive meets with a mixture of face to face and time-limited Zoom meetings. (There’s nothing like a ticking clock to focus the mind!) Zoom also permits us to meet together at short notice if something needs to be discussed.
The result of our deliberations? An ‘Area Fun Day’ with the sole purpose of building relationships between Area churches – no hidden agenda. There would be minimal business, with the emphasis on enjoying our faith rather than wading through treacle.
For our first venture in July, we met at a conveniently placed Methodist church for all the attractions Scarborough has to offer. The church had
and the kids had a great time too!
good parking facilities and refreshments on tap all day. People came and went as they pleased, enjoyed the beach, funfair, shops, ice cream and so on. At 3.30pm we were back together in the church, entertained for half an hour by John Gaughan (former member of Herman’s Hermits), and then we had a time of worship. All done by 4.30pm, away by 5pm, with friendships renewed, new friends made, and a commitment to do something similar (but not the same) next year.
Success? Yes. Increase in numbers? Yes – just shy of 80 per cent of Area churches attending. Good to do something just for the joy of it? Without a doubt, and it’s put the fun back into belonging.
Fun and fellowship: Helen Keighley, Minister at Harden Congregational Church in West Yorkshire (right), with church member Haley Meares on the beach
‘Good to do something just for the joy of it? Without a doubt, and it’s put the fun back into belonging.’
Bouncing back: attendance at the Area Fun Day in Scarborough exceeded the previous Area Assemblies,
Prayer and Bible study with the Brazil team at the Bethesda church
Welsh church hosts team from Brazil
Bethesda Cwrt Sart Congregational Church in Briton Ferry, south Wales, helped DNA Mission UK host an outreach team from Brazil this summer – something they have done several times before.
The aim was to visit chapels without pastors (around nine) and they also visited two primary schools. There was also a beautiful time of fellowship with some of the Bethesda members when they joined the Bethesda Soup Club and Prayer and Bible study time (which meets every Friday).
The leaders of DNA Mission UK, David and Adriana Beddows, are grateful to God for Bethesda Cwrt Sart and their willingness to help them to bless Wales.
Adriana shares some of her story: “I am a Christian missionary from Brazil to Wales. God brought me here 21 years ago and Bethesda Cwrt Sart supported me when I was in the Bible College of Wales in Swansea (2000-2003) and I have been with them ever since, helping however I can.
“Through DNA Mission UK we give assistance to chapels without pastors and part of this assistance is to bring missionaries from Brazil to visit these
Brazil team 2022 members Allane (Baptist Church), Sara (Living Church), Gabriel (Congregational Church) and Anderson (Congregational Church) from the north-east of Brazil with Adriana Beddows (second from right)
chapels, usually during the month of July. Bethesda has been helping us for some years now, which we are ever so grateful for.
“I also come from a Congregational church and my husband grew up in the Church of England and we both now attend Bethesda Cwrt Sart in Briton Ferry.”
Church café reopens
Like many churches, Steeple Bumpstead Congregational Church in Haverhill, Suffolk, had to close its café during the pandemic, but the church was delighted to be able to reopen their Chapel St Café in March. It provides free food and drinks.
In the April issue of their Reaching Out magazine, the church celebrated the relaunch after being closed for two years. The report said the café is “supported by a great team of willing and welcoming volunteers. Lots of lovely customers came in and out, some staying all
morning, enjoying the company, cakes and Wayne’s bacon rolls!
“Children also had a good time playing with toys and games in the children’s room, and craft in the patio room which proclaimed: ‘The Lord’s love is fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.’
“Chapel St Cafe brings us together in loving service and outreach in the community, by all of which we, ‘the church’, are very blessed. But more, and most importantly, our God is glorified.”
Prayer and Bible study with the Brazil team at the Bethesda church
Steeple Bumpstead’s Chapel St Café
Reluctant hospital chaplain finds working on the wards ‘the best job I have ever done’
By Vincent Carrington, retired Accredited Minister
In all the years I served as pastor of North Street Church in Taunton, the job I liked the least was hospital visiting.
I also had a lady who absolutely loved visiting people in hospital, so whenever I heard there was a church member there, I rang Joyce, gave her the details and within minutes I would see her scurrying past my house on her way up to see the patient.
After I retired, and the customary few months of doing very little, I looked around for something to do and a friend told me the hospital were looking for a bank of chaplains but to be honest, that was the last thing I wanted to do!
However, I decided to give it a go and it has turned out to be one of the best things I have ever done.
Every time I’m in hospital, I meet new people with amazing stories and see wonderful examples of courage from patients, as well as dedication and commitment from the staff.
Jesus said: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for a friend.” I saw this in action as a man with terminal cancer chose not to undergo treatment that might delay the inevitable for a short while, because it would be more traumatic for his family.
I also get opportunities I never had as a pastor in 26 years of ministry. One day I walked into a side room on a cancer ward and introduced myself as a chaplain. The man replied: “I’m an atheist but I have questions and I’m going to ask them until I get too tired to go on!”
He lasted about 40 minutes and, at the end, thanked me and said: “You have given me lots to think about.” Sadly he had gone home before I got another chance to visit!
I also spent time with a man who had grown up in Russia, and as a young man was an atheist because that was what the regime told him to be. Old people were allowed into church but guards outside the building used to turn young people away. However, his mum was a Christian and shared her faith with him despite the persecution that it would bring if found out. Through his mum’s faith and teaching, he became a strong believer.
It is stories like these that make this the best job I have ever done, plus the advice my friend gave me: don’t ask people how they are, ask them what they would be doing if they weren’t in here! It really works!
Vincent Carrington in his hospital chaplain’s shirt
‘I
get opportunities I never had as a pastor in 26 years of ministry.’
Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton
How God came on board my life
On Remembrance Day we will once again be remembering the sacrifices of those who have served in our armed forces over the years. Peter Relf from Higham Congregational Church in Kent, who turned 90 this year, recalls how he encountered God while in the Royal Navy.
It was a Thursday evening in early 1953 and I was a 20-year-old sailor. My ship (HMS Cossack) had docked in Hong Kong.
Although in a different time zone, Thursday evenings were prayer meeting nights that my father attended and although I didn’t know it at the time, I was on the agenda. His prayers would be answered. . .
I was bored and broke. I went onto the upper deck which was deserted. I have no idea why I went up on deck or what I might have been thinking about, but I am sure it was not about religion, but that was when it happened.
It was an experience that it is hard to describe
or explain. In the book ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ a man called Christian has a large bundle on his shoulders that is causing him great distress. The book goes on to tell how he loses it. That’s how it was with me – one minute I was there looking at life in the harbour, thinking about nothing in particular, and the next minute I felt a large bundle descend onto my shoulders. It was very real, even though I could not see it with my natural eyes.
My immediate reaction was: “What’s this?” Straightaway I knew the answer. It was ‘sin’; it was my life.
A few nights previously I had climbed into my hammock and told the Lord, shedding a few tears, that I was sorry for the way I was behaving, and that I would change my behaviour as from the next morning. This was the second time I had prayed in this manner but it had not had any effect on my lifestyle.
When I was 14, I had raised my hand in a meeting when the preacher asked if anyone wanted to accept Jesus as their Saviour, but nothing happened. Later, while serving at HMS St Vincent aged 16, I was confirmed by the Bishop of Portsmouth. Again there was no change in my life and now, after many regretful actions, I had given up hope of ever knowing what it was like to have the faith my father spoke of. Obviously, although I did not realise it, my prayers had been heard and my reaction was to think about what I must do. I found a few churches and a couple of Reverends in a telephone directory, but they did not seem to present an answer.
HMS Cossack – the C-class destroyer Peter served on in the 1950s. Launched in 1944 and broken up in 1961
Peter as a Boy Seaman in 1948
On Sunday I decided to go ashore. I had no money and nowhere to go but I just had to take a walk. I left the dockyard and followed the main road until I came to a small cul-de-sac that I must have passed many times but had never noticed before. I stopped on the corner and looked up the street. At the far end was a small sign with ‘Gospel Hall’ painted on it. I knew that that was where I had to go!
I approached the door and saw a board advertising the meetings and noted the time of the next one. Then I heard some young people laughing inside, so I went off back to the ship for my tea. The last thing I wanted to do was mix with people who were obviously happy!
After tea I went ashore again and headed straight for the Gospel Hall. About half-way there, I literally stopped dead in my tracks as I realised that churches take up a collection and I was broke. (In fact, that particular chapel did not take up an offering during the service.) It seemed as if someone was trying to dissuade me from going, but such was my concern about the Thursday evening experience that I just had to keep going.
I sat through the service but have no idea what the preacher said. Afterwards a man approached me called Bill Elliot, a missionary. He said: “Are you saved, brother?” I just looked down at my feet and replied: “No, I’m afraid not.”
I met with Bill several times as I tried to sort myself out. Two weeks after my first visit to the hall, I told Bill: “I have made my mind up. If the Lord wants me, he can have me. I’m giving up.” That was it; I was surrendering my life to the Lord and now it was all down to him.
Monday came and as usual we lashed up our hammocks, had breakfast and scrubbed out the mess. Then I was detailed with another lad to wash the ship’s side – hanging over the starboard bow with a bucket of soapy water between us.
Just before 10am it suddenly dawned on me that I was different. I realised that I had not had a slanging match with any of my mess mates and no foul language had passed my lips. I had not used the ‘F’ word once! This was a miracle. I had tried to moderate my language several times before but never succeeded.
I suddenly realised that the Lord had accepted me. He loved me and wanted me and had changed my life. I was filled with joy and began to sing little choruses that I had learnt in Sunday School years before; I just could not help myself.
Although I do not recall doing anything to attract attention to my new found faith, three days later a devout Catholic approached me and said, “I hear you have gone religious,” to which I replied: “I suppose you could put it like that.” He then said that if I was
going to be religious, I should at least join the one true church. I asked him which one was that and he replied: “Catholic, of course.”
I did visit a Catholic church and took some of their literature but it did not square with the Bible. What my shipmate did not realise was that I had not ‘gone religious’ but had been ‘born again’. I was a new creature in Christ Jesus. I did not need religion as I had met the Jesus of Calvary. As the Bible says: “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Hong Kong became a different place and I felt at home when I went ashore to different meetings. Someone gave me a Bible and I found it hard to put it down; I had a hunger and a thirst for the Word of God.
The Lord was so good to me and I was so blessed as I met with my new family.
I have had my failings in the years since, but God is good. When I left the Navy I settled in a local church, became a Sunday School Superintendent and Church Secretary. Today I am still the Secretary at Higham CC, but I have given up driving as I celebrated my 90th birthday on 26 May.
The Lord has kept and blessed me for 69 years. He eventually led me into a position as a lecturer in a Merchant Navy college. I was training young people for a life at sea. Several lads used to come to my home for tea on Sundays and came to church afterwards. I also served as a Special Constable for 11 years.
When I was 58 I had an accident when I came off my motorbike but the Lord was there and I took medical severance. To say I have not worked since is incorrect. I worked as a local volunteer and there was my church work, but now I am beginning to feel my age and just potter in the garden!
‘“I have made my mind up. If the Lord wants me, he can have me. I’m giving up.” That was it; I was surrendering my life to the Lord and now it was all down to him.’
Peter today, who lives in the village of Chalk near Gravesend
‘He loved the teaching and he supported everyone – tutors and students –with ease.’
Tribute from the Congregational Federation for Revd Dr Walter Riggans
Our dear colleague in the Congregational Federation, Revd Dr Walter Riggans, died suddenly on 9 June, aged 68.
Walter was a tutor, mentor, confidant, preacher in our churches and a great friend.
His title was the Learning and Development Manager and he started over five years ago and easily established himself as part of the Congregational family. The office in Nottingham will never be the same without his constant banter and expertise in coffee making and drinking!
Walter was responsible for the Congregational Institute in Practical Theology course that is for anyone in the Congregational Federation. He worked confidently with York St John University to make the course the best it could be. He introduced new modules, new methods and new assessments.
He loved the teaching and he supported everyone – tutors and students – with ease.
He initiated our own graduation event, started new student induction days and made everyone who was part of the course feel valued and enthusiastic to learn. He was immensely proud and protective of every single student.
The training weekend in June was an emotional weekend. It was able to go ahead because Walter was
so organised – too organised! I delivered the welcome notes he had already prepared. He was precise and covered every detail. Walter was excited about the changes that he had worked so hard to develop and was ready for more dramatic expansion in Higher Education that would have a huge impact on new courses and validation
I love that on his last day he was in York for a celebratory event with the university.
Not only did Walter have the huge responsibility of the course, he became immersed in the life of the Federation. He became a member of the Nottingham centre church and loved their fellowship. If he was not there on a Sunday for worship he would be visiting another CF church and leading worship there. His biblical knowledge was astounding. We only learned after he died that he had written commentaries on the book of Numbers and Hebrews, both now purchased and in the CF library.
His last service was at Greenacres Congregational Church, who since the pandemic have been live streaming and recording their services every week. It is a wonderful blessing to have that recording of him forever, and just brilliant that he jokes about no photos so his family wouldn’t see him in the red shirt and white tie. It is also bittersweet that he talks about
Walter presenting the ministry certificates with Yvonne Campbell at the Congregational Assembly in May
getting used to his kingdom of Fife accent because it is the first thing we will hear in heaven.
Walter also worked on wider CF training days for those in ministries and shared his wisdom and wit. Walter was always able to make people laugh, and when I rang round staff to share the news they all shared the laughter and fun they had had in their last conversation together.
It was a blessing that we had all been together for the May Assembly in Birmingham. Walter was outraged that we might have made him wear a t-shirt that Luzia Watt had specially designed for the children’s assembly, and he was not amused by the giant cuddly piglet from Winnie the Pooh that sat outside his office for a few days. He swore it was getting closer to his door, which just made us all wind him up even more and giggle amongst ourselves. We enjoyed winding him up as much as he teased us.
The banter with Neil was the best. Neil had been helping him with uploading some biblical plays he had written and Walter teased Neil – “Oh by the way, if you have any bright ideas about how to improve the text, keep them to yourself.” We can hear him saying it now.
Walter was a respected member of the staff, church support team, CF family and wider ecumenical circles. He will be missed beyond words. In his tribute, Alan Marsden, the Minister at Martin Top Congregational church, said Walter has gone from the Kingdom of Fife to the Kingdom of Christ. We all knew how much he loved Fife, but he’s home now in the Kingdom of Christ and we thank God for all he did and all he meant to the Congregational Federation, churches and colleagues.
Retirement
Revd Steve Woods has retired as Minister of Tabernacle Congregational Church in Haverfordwest.
In their September/October newsletter, the church gave thanks for Steve. Church Secretary Pat Bannister wrote: “Revd Steve retired as our Minister, conducting his last pastorate services on 28 August. Revd Steve, we as Tabernacle members and friends have greatly appreciated your ministry, fellowship and friendship over the years
you have been with us. We delight in the fact that as a fellow member of Tabernacle we will not lose that friendship and support, and pray you may enjoy many happy, healthy and well-deserved years of retirement with your family.”
Revd Dr Walter Riggans, 1953-2022
Walter when he was teaching in Jerusalem
Jill Holmes (back row, centre) with three service users (Richard, front right, and twins James and Thomas – holding the plaque), Thomas’s carer Al and Richard’s mum Debbie (who nominated the project for the award) with the Serving the Community Award
‘Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.’
Serving the Community Award winners
the serving the Community Awards, sponsored by Congregational Insurance, celebrate the In this 50th anniversary year for the Congregational
Stambourne Chapel Care
Stambourne Congregational Chapel in Halstead, Essex, has won a 2022 Serving the Community Award for their local care scheme. Stambourne Chapel Care was born out of a concern for people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Jill Holmes, Project Lead, explains what the service offers and how it works.
Matthew 25:40 (CEV) In February 2021, Stambourne Chapel Care was formed with a grant from The Lottery Community Fund. Myself and the minister of Stambourne, Adrian Burr, set up the project following the impact the pandemic had on a lot of vulnerable people.
Two guys at the Wednesday club for people with disabilities tidy up the churchyard
We were delivering weekly service sheets and having ‘doorstep’ chats with people who were isolated, lonely and/or needing support from statutory agencies such as GPs, Social Care or the NHS.
The idea was to employ volunteers to carry out various tasks identified by myself as the Project Lead. Referrals are received from social prescribers and community agents as well as the individual or their family.
We were looking to complement other agencies, not to duplicate any services already available, so some of our work is to signpost people to the most appropriate agency. All our volunteers are DBS checked and we take up references as well as meeting with the volunteer prior to them becoming involved with a client. I meet with the referred person to complete an assessment of need before introducing the volunteer to the client.
I am the only employed person but as a retired Learning Disability Nurse with over 30 years’ experience of working for the NHS, I have experience of working with families, children and statutory agencies, as well as private and voluntary agencies.
We also run a group for people with learning disabilities and/or mental health issues. This group has three members and one gentleman comes with two carers due to his needs. This is a group that is appreciated by carers and parents as it provides some valuable respite as well as meaningful activities for those who attend.
Earlier this year we were nominated by a service user for the ‘Serving the Community Award’ and were successful in receiving the award along with £2,000, which was used to update the chapel kitchen to environmental health standards so that we could provide a weekly meal for our service users.
We now have six volunteers, and we are in the process of recruiting two more. We support about 40 people with various activities such as shopping, transport to appointments, support in appointments, emotional support through difficult life events, befriending and dog walking.
winners reach out to the vulnerable in society
hard work of churches that demonstrate extraordinary commitment to their communities. Congregational Federation, two projects have been recognised.
Awards ceremony
The cash prize for Stambourne was
comfort and fellowship.”
Upper Killay Congregational Church
Swansea’s Upper Killay Church received their 2022 Serving the Community Award for the outstanding work of reconnecting with their community after the Covid lockdown period. Led by prayer and listening, they investigated the specific needs of their community and identified the people most in need. The Church then went the extra mile to pull together the specialised resources needed to fill the gaps.
Sonia James, deacon and outreach worker, explained to Congregational Insurance how Upper Killay’s project came about: “It became obvious to us that there were two groups who were really struggling during lockdown: the older generation with most of them having to isolate and shield, and new mothers with babies and young children. Children were parted from their friends; they weren’t able to go to the playgrounds to play. New parents were not able to access support from their families, or to meet with other new mums.”
For young families, they developed a mums and toddlers group. Breakfast is served, followed by a variety of fun activities for the children. These include stories, songs, and action songs that everyone participates in.
The popularity of this group has meant it now meets two mornings each week. It has grown to become a place where mothers can come together to share their experiences and provide mutual support. The church has been a great resource for school-
age children as well. It ran a winter wellbeing scheme with art and craft and dance and drama teachers funded by Swansea City Council. With art class on Tuesdays, and dance and drama on Wednesdays, the children were able to enjoy a range of enriching creative activities.
Alongside the winter wellbeing classes, the church runs an after school club every Thursday. Snacks are provided, and activities include songs, dance, crafts, and a Bible story.
For the older people of the area, the church began a programme of afternoon teas and coffee mornings. As part of the afternoon tea offering, the older church members cook lunch for the community. This is the only organised activity for older people in Upper Killay.
“This is a wonderful example of how a relatively small church can have such an immense impact in its community, making a real difference to the lives of local residents,” said Margaret Slater, Head of Marketing for Congregational Insurance.
Upper Killay’s deacon Mair Woolston and children’s worker Sumi (Esther) Heo accepted their prize at the same ceremony.
The Federation’s General Secretary, Yvonne Campbell, said: “I want to thank Congregational Insurance for sponsoring this award programme that enables us to champion these wonderful churches and their great work. It’s really a joy for us to be able to reward these churches who have given so much to their communities. The funding through the awards goes to ensure these church programmes can continue to benefit people in need.”
Look out for Serving the Community Award application forms for 2023 which are coming soon.
Upper Killay’s busy pre-school
BEFORE AND AFTER:
The overgrown space before Crediton Church got to work on their garden (below) – and two photos of the amazing transformation of one area into a vegetable garden (opposite)
Grant transforms garden
By sue Polley, Crediton Church Administrator
After attending the ‘If Only’ buildings webinar last year, we applied for the £500 If Only CWM Grant and have used it to renovate our garden.
Last year we decided we really had to do something about the land at the back of our church because the grass was shoulder height. It looked terrible and so wasn’t a great witness to our neighbours, and because of Covid we felt we really ought to make use of it as an outside space is more healthy than inside space!
We held a garden working party in September 2021, when quite a few of the church family came along with tools and managed to clear and tidy up all the outside space. But of course we knew it would all grow back again if we didn’t make a plan to keep on top of it.
So this year, God blessed us with Carol and Sue. Carol is hard of hearing and wanted to do a job which she could just get on with whenever she wanted to, so she offered to mow the grass. She then decided she would also love to grow vegetables in the garden and then give them to the foodbank – which runs from our church manse. So, we used some of the grant (£159.14) to create raised beds at the top of the
garden, where Sue and Carol could start to grow veg. Also, late last year a local youth organisation was offering picnic tables (among other items) to youth clubs, so that youth events could be held outside and not inside where Covid infection was more likely. So Dave, our youth worker, applied for a table and we were given two! So we are going to use the rest of the grant money to lay a patio area in the garden, so that one of the tables can go on it and Carol doesn’t have to mow underneath it.
We have a quote for £375.48 for all the materials and two of our congregation are going to lay it. This means we will only have to use £34.62 of our church money to achieve both these things – so we are most grateful for the grant.
There is still more we need to do – for example, we need a fence at the bottom of the garden to stop anyone falling off the edge! And we have some large tree roots to dig out. But it’s wonderful that we are now able to use a large space that was completely useless this time last year, to know that Carol and Sue are feeling fulfilled, and that we are supplying extremely fresh veg to the foodbank.
So again, many thanks!
Starter Grant helps special Lent programme
Union Chapel in London celebrate Lent with range of events inspired by Martin Luther King
By Vaughan
Revd Dr Martin Luther King Jnr., way back in 1956 as his engagement with civil rights was just beginning, said: “The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community.”
These words inspired Union Chapel’s Lent reflections of 2022. We used this special time in the Church’s year to reflect on who we are as a community and what we aim to be. It proved to be truly inspirational as well as thought-provoking.
Each Sunday drew upon a sermon title of Dr King and we were treated with special music from both our regular and guest musicians. Union Chapel Voices, our own gospel vocal group, contributed both as individual soloists and as a group. We also have a quartet of professional singers. Music was especially composed for us by Anthony Fort, one of our regular organists. We also heard Bach’s motet Jesu Meine Freude from Eclectic Voices, an Islington based choir.
Former President has been preaching for over 70 years!
Ian Gregory presented with his certificate by Hilary Biggin
Revd Ian Gregory from Newcastle Under Lyme Congregational Church was presented with a certificate on 22 May for long service in the Congregational Federation.
Each Wednesday evening saw an open space evening with a speaker, meditation and music. On Ash Wednesday we had an introduction to the thinking of Dr King from Richard Reddie, one of Dr King’s biographers. Evenings also focused on our relationship with creation, the LGBTQ+ community, and women. On one very special evening we invited local groups and the whole Union Chapel family for an evening of food and music called ‘Meet your Neighbour’.
In place of our weekly Bible study, always held online, we had a course exploring the ‘beloved community’ in greater depth. Beginning with looking
the beloved community through the beatitudes of Jesus. The following weeks included thinking about power, humility and the church and the narrow way of Jesus. The course concluded with our understanding of being a missionary community and how we see ourselves within the beloved community.
Two very special evenings were held in the main Chapel. One was a showing of a rarely seen documentary: King – A Filmed Record – Montgomery to Memphis. It was a real privilege to be given access to this film directed by renowned Hollywood directors Sydney Lumet and Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
The other evening took place on Good Friday. Entitled ‘Beloved’, it was an evening of poetry and music for the Easter Weekend with our own Union Chapel Voices and actors.
We are truly grateful to the Congregational Federation for financial support and feel blessed to have been able to share Dr King’s vision within our congregation and with well over 750 people who took part.
Hilary Biggin, Secretary of the church, presented Ian with his award. She says: “The certificate was in recognition of Ian’s 38 years serving as a Minister in the Federation. He did in fact preach his first sermon at the age of 17 and has recently celebrated his 89th birthday, so quite a feat!
“He served as our minister at Newcastle for 19 years. Ian also served as President of the Congregational Federation from 1998 to 1999. He also founded the Polite Society and has a public house in Newcastle named The Polite Vicar after him!”
Jones, Minister at Union Chapel
We thank God for the life of Queen Elizabeth II
By Yvonne Campbell, General secretary
Queen Elizabeth II was a constant in my life and the lives of most people in our country.
Some of you may have met her, but I never did, although I have been in her company and have been in a crowd hoping to catch a glimpse. She was elegant, beautiful and lived with integrity. She spoke about her faith, read her Bible and was a wise counsel.
She had a lovely smile and everywhere she went she encouraged and inspired as she listened and learned from the places she visited. She will be missed by so many.
I know she was 96 and frail, but as we saw her greet the new prime minister just two days before she died, it was a shock to hear the news. As Christians we take comfort that she is now in glory with her Saviour and we give thanks knowing she died peacefully, with family, in a place she loved.
Her influence over the country and the Commonwealth will remain for a long time. The work she did was not always seen by us, but she was the most respected monarch in the world and I am so grateful for all she did.
I was at the training weekend in Nottingham when I heard the formal announcement. It was a privilege to pray and ponder with our students and tutors, and for the first time sing, ‘God save our gracious King.’
On behalf of the Congregational Federation we have sent our deepest sympathies to the Royal Family and we pray for them and all who will be affected by her death.
We pray wisdom, comfort and strength for our new King Charles III and for all who have new roles and responsibilities in the coming months.
Thank you to the Free Churches Moderator Helen Cameron who represented us and also read a prayer at the funeral. Helen was also part of a church leaders gathering and was able to personally give our condolences to the new King.
Thank you to all the churches who opened their doors for their communities to have a quiet space to pray and reflect, who set up books of remembrance and have played a part in helping people in their grief and uncertainties.
Queen Elizabeth II: 1926-2022
Photo: Julian Calder for Governor-General of New Zealand/Wikimedia
SHARING HOPE
President Mark taylor explains some outreach ideas that could work for your church
Film Club
We have just celebrated the tenth birthday of Film Club at Newark Congregational Church.
What’s Film Club? It’s like a book club but with films. Each month a member of the group takes it in turns to choose a film to watch, the members of the group all watch it (we generally pass DVDs around the group but some watch on streaming services where possible) and then we meet up to talk about it. All the films are mainstream – we don’t select ‘Christian’ films to watch.
At our discussion groups one person acts as a coordinator who chooses some clips (typically four or five) to watch again on the evening and who also links discussion topics to the selected clips. Everyone then has the opportunity to join in the discussion.
When we started out the group met in our home with around ten people. Then, two years ago, lockdown stopped that happening and after a couple of months we re-started via Zoom. We now have over 20 members and an average attendance of around 16-18. There is no way they could fit into our lounge so we are now committed to being an online group.
The key thing is that there is no expectation regarding faith on the people who attend. Although the majority happen to be Christian there are some who are not church attenders and at least one is an atheist. The discussion topics are similarly not overtly Christian, but many of them touch on ethical considerations.
A few months ago our choice of film was the excellent ‘Eye in the Sky’ starring Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman. This is a story about terrorism in the Middle East and the use of drones in warfare – full of meaty topics for discussion. Here are some of the things we chatted about:
What gives Western nations the right to intervene militarily in other countries?
The difficulties of making political decisions when there is no ‘right answer’.
Whether decisions are made on their ethical merits or on how they will play out in the news media.
What is an acceptable level of collateral damage from military action – can it be reduced to an equation?
Should emotion play a part in decision-making as well as logic?
So what part does this activity play in the outreach of our church, and how does it fit in with my Presidential year theme of ‘Hope’? I suggest a few things:
It encourages the Christians in the group to apply their faith understanding to real world problems and to talk them through, rather than just being talked at.
It allows for differing views to be put forward and for people to be swayed by the arguments. It introduces Christian worldview(s) to the non-Christian members of the group without them being preached at or having the Bible thrust at them.
It’s a church-based activity that is unthreatening and not off-putting to engage with.
It allows church people to develop their leadership skills. (From being exclusively led by me there are now three people confident enough to lead the sessions.)
It’s good fun and lets people see that Christians are ordinary people too.
If we are to bring the message of Jesus Christ to 21st century people it is (in my view) no good continuing to offer them just a 19th century model of church. Film Club is church just as much as Sunday morning worship.
Eye in the Sky – one of the movies discussed at Newark’s Film Club
President Mark Taylor
Unmasking the real Jesus – for those who don’t yet know him
Yvonne Campbell asks Refresh editor Andrew Halloway about a new evangelistic booklet he has written – ‘Jesus Unmasked: Fact-Checking the World’s Greatest Influencer’
In our last issue, Congregational Federation President Mark Taylor said there is hope that our churches will flourish “because I am convinced that, despite the fall in numbers that identify themselves as Christian, there is still great interest in the figure of Jesus Christ.”
A recent survey* of 3,000 UK adults confirmed this. It found that although only six per cent of the population identify as practising Christians, ONE IN THREE non-Christians say they want to know more about Jesus Christ.
With that openness in mind, Andrew Halloway – the editor of Refresh and Good News evangelistic newspaper – has just published a booklet that helps Christians to tell their friends the truth about Jesus. Yvonne asks Andrew more about it.
Yvonne: With loads of material about Jesus on the internet and in bookshops, why is there a need for something new?
Andrew: I believe there’s always a need to share the good news about Jesus in a way that is contemporary, fresh and relevant to the current generation – so ‘Jesus Unmasked’ is a full colour, short booklet rather than a book, and is illustrated throughout. But the need today is even greater, in our post-Christian society where evangelists find that most people know very little about Jesus, and what they do know is often inaccurate because of the untruths that have been pushed around on the internet in the last 20 years or so.
A survey back in 2015 showed that most people in the UK think Jesus never existed. They are tragically misinformed. Yet, as this year’s Talking Jesus survey showed, many people are still intrigued about Jesus and open to learning more. So I’ve written ‘Jesus Unmasked’ to counter the false impressions about Jesus that many people have innocently taken onboard. Like the BBC fact-checking the statements of politicians, I’m fact-checking the claims about Jesus for them.
Also, if people google to find out the truth, all they come across is a rash of conflicting opinions, so it’s incumbent on us Christians to get the truth in their hands. If we don’t do it, who will? My booklet is designed for Christians to give away – it’s a quality design yet low cost.
Yvonne: What in particular is in the booklet that you think non-Christians really need to know?
Andrew: There are some things in it that even most Christians need to know. For example, I come across Christians who have absorbed the atheist propaganda that the Bible was written long after Jesus lived, so it can’t be accurate. Or they have been told that because it was written by the Church
Jesus Unmasked, published by Good News newspaper
that it is biased and so can’t be trusted, or that there is no evidence for Jesus outside the Bible. All these things are simply false and there is plenty of historical evidence to show that. So these are the kind of facts I want people to know – both nonChristians and Christians alike.
Yvonne: Is the booklet just about the history or is there more to it?
Andrew: It’s not just the historical evidence. I also show why the life and teaching of Jesus, and ultimately the resurrection, form a strong argument that Jesus really is God. And at the end I challenge the reader to consider the facts and discover a relationship with Jesus for themselves. *Talking Jesus report, 2022
An extract from‘Jesus Unmasked’
Introduction
Social media influencers today have millions of followers and set trends in fashion, food, fitness and even faith.
But they all pale in comparison with the influence of one man – Jesus Christ. . . Two and a half billion followers and growing!
Historians agree he has had more impact on the last 2,000 years than any other human being.
Time itself is measured from Jesus’ birth. The Christian terms BC and AD have been swapped for BCE and CE in academic circles, but the dividing point remains the same. Time still pivots around the life of this ‘Time Lord’.
But is it all based on fact or fantasy?
In our age of fake news and conspiracy theories, what’s the truth?
Social media algorithms feed us only the stories we want to see, so if we are not careful we end up living in an echo chamber – never hearing the other side of the story.
With Jesus Christ, so much that passes for truth is far from it, but it’s vital to know the difference.
Some people used to think magic mushrooms (psychedelic drugs) were responsible for the Jesus story; now they say he was an alien. The Bible does
say he came down from heaven, but not in a UFO!
Still others think the Da Vinci Code novel is true and Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had kids. None of this stacks up, but there are plenty more theories about Jesus.
In a 2015 survey, 39 per cent of British adults did not believe Jesus was a real historical person and 22 per cent thought he was a mythical or fictional character (Talking Jesus study, Barna).
Some say he was just another Jewish messiah who failed to defeat the Romans. Others think he was a great spiritual teacher, or even a prophet.
The main source of information about him – the Bible – claims that Jesus was God come down to earth as a human being. It has been attacked more than any other book in history, yet it is still the world’s bestseller every year.
If the Bible’s account is true, its claim that God is real and accessible through Jesus has massive implications. But if it is false you can ‘stop worrying and enjoy your life’ – as an atheist bus advert once said.
So what do you think? Was he a mere man, a massive myth or a mysterious messiah?
Let’s unmask the real Jesus. . .
If you would like a FREE copy of Jesus Unmasked, please email admin@ congregational.org.uk and we will send you one. This full colour booklet normally costs just £1 plus £1.25 p&p, or 80p each when buying a pack of 5 at £6.50 incl. p&p. You can order copies and read the whole booklet online at goodnews-paper.org.uk/ jesusbooklet.
Jesus stands above all others in terms of influence on the world
Evangelism made easy for everyone – honestly! (Part 4)
In this series, evangelist Revd Andy Godfrey explains a new training programme for churches called Casting Your Nets, which equips ordinary Christians to respond to Jesus’call to‘cast your net’on the right side of the boat – where the fish are. This time, Andy shows how effective listening is vital in sharing the Gospel.
Paying attention to what people are saying is vital in conversations
In recent years, some dramas broadcast by the BBC have received complaints because of their sound levels. People wrote in to say that they could not hear the dialogue, that it was muffled and inaudible. Similarly, the speakers in flat screen TVs are often inadequate, and the sales of sound bars and home cinema systems have boomed as a result. What’s the point of watching something if you can’t hear what is being said?
A central part of Outreach UK’s evangelism training programme, Casting Your Nets, is a session on the ‘Listening’, and might not be what you are thinking of when you hear that! Yes, we do want people to listen to us. We want those who don’t believe in Jesus to hear what we have to say and to be listening to our gospel presentations and preaching. Outreach UK, however, is saying that it is equally important that we, in turn, listen to those who we are trying to reach. In fact, it’s crucial.
The training manual puts it like this: ‘Listening is one of the biggest keys to personal evangelism.’ If you can’t listen to them, why should someone listen to
what you have to say? Listening requires us to listen from the other person’s point of view rather than from our own. Each one of us has opinions, so when we are listening, we are sometimes tempted to make assumptions about what the other person believes or needs, and those can be wrong assumptions. If we are not really listening to what people are saying to us, we can’t begin to understand their problems and share with them how the gospel is the answer to their needs.
Effective listening helps us to: build and develop relationships; explore the other person’s world or point of view; understand what is happening to them; encourage them; make well-informed decisions, and to show love and respect. It also helps us to understand why that person wants or needs to talk to us in the first place!
This is a vital part of the evangelism training offered through Casting Your Nets. Sometimes as Christians we are so quick to jump in with the message of the gospel when talking to people that we miss what the other person is trying to tell us.
Cultivating the habit of being an effective listener is vital for sharing the gospel. What does it take to become an effective listener?
Casting Your Nets teaches that effective listeners are:
Patient, not interrupting or trying to complete sentences for the one who is speaking
Aware of their own body language, and that of those who are speaking to them
Not afraid to clarify, show and establish true understanding
Genuine
People who regard what they hear as confidential.
People are looking for others to listen to them. We often need someone to whom we can talk to in confidence, knowing that what we share will go no further. Someone who will laugh with us, weep with us, help carry our burdens and be genuinely interested in us – in who we are and what we are going through. If we can establish trust and confidence with someone then, when it comes to our turn to share the gospel, we may well find that they are much more willing to listen to us.
The course also identifies poor listening habits. It lists them as follows:
Being in a hurry
Not paying attention
Constantly interrupting
Feeling defensive or guilty
Having preconceived ideas as to what the other person will say
Wanting to offer ‘advice’ or ‘solutions’ when you haven’t been asked for them.
So, here is the question?
What kind of listener are you? How good at listening are you?
Are you a good listener or a poor one?
We simply need to be honest with ourselves when it comes to this particular topic. If I am a poor listener, then I need to do something about it! Listening to people can be of greater help than rushing to their aid practically. The minute we begin to listen, we are communicating acceptance, respect and validation of them. The person who is known to be a good listener will most likely be a person who is listened to! The secret of listening is to reflect on what we have heard and record it in our mind as highlights, which are summaries of what we have heard.
Some years ago, I was leading a family service in a local church. During the first part of the service, I had a quiz which was the children against the adults. One of the questions I asked the adults was this: “How many animals of each kind did Moses take into the Ark with him?” Straight away the vicar’s wife put her hand up and said: “Two!” Once the giggles had died down, I pointed out to her that she hadn’t listened to the question. Moses and the Ark?! She could have saved herself a lot of embarrassment that day if she had just been listening more carefully.
How about you? If we want to share the gospel effectively with others, we first need to be the kind of person who lets others share their world with us. We have to be willing and able to listen to their needs, their arguments, their point of view and their concerns.
Good listeners are great evangelists.
Plutarch, the Greek philosopher who lived just after Christ, put it like this: “Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.”
In Luke 8:18, Jesus said: “So pay attention to how you hear” (NLT) or “Therefore consider carefully how you listen” (NIV).
‘If we want to share the gospel effectively with others, we first need to be the kind of person who lets others share their world with us. . .
Good listeners are great evangelists.’
J John has just published a Heroes of the Faith book, available at canonjjohn.com/shop.
HEROES OF THE FAITH
A series on inspiring Christian lives by one of the UK’s leading evangelists, Canon J John Sisters of Sinai
Victorian ‘Bible hunters’ Agnes smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson were two identical twins who made one of history’s most stunning scriptural discoveries, yet even in Christian circles their names are not well known
Agnes Smith Lewis and Margaret Dunlop Gibson defied every convention of the Victorian era to make remarkable contributions to biblical scholarship.
Agnes and Margaret Smith were born in 1843, in Irvine, Scotland. Their mother died shortly afterwards, and they were raised by their father in a Presbyterian Christian home. Defying any constraints on women’s education, their wealthy father sent them to private
whose language they learned. Soon the twins had mastered French, German, Spanish and Italian, and gained a passion for language and travel.
When the twins were 23 their father died, leaving them an enormous fortune. Now totally independent, the sisters decided to travel up the Nile, a daring venture for unmarried women. On their return they moved to London where, rejecting any frivolous social life, they gained reputations as women writing and studying languages. After mastering modern Greek, they travelled to Greece in 1883. Back in England, Agnes began studying Arabic and Margaret married James Gibson, a former church minister with a love for languages.
This was a time when the trustworthiness of the New Testament was being attacked, with accusations that it had been written several centuries after the events it described. A response to this was to seek out older manuscripts of the New Testament and one – the Codex Sinaiticus – had been found at the Greek Orthodox monastery of Saint Catherine, deep in the harsh desert of Sinai. But were there other even older manuscripts? To find out, the sisters decided to visit the monastery in 1886 but got no further than Cairo. Shortly afterwards, Margaret’s husband died after just three years of marriage.
outsiders
The twins then moved to Cambridge where Agnes met and married Samuel Lewis, a university librarian and archivist. Through him they became acquainted with scholars in biblical studies and ancient languages. The sisters were outsiders in every way: female, Scottish, lacking university degrees and, in a largely Anglican setting, determinedly Presbyterian. They were also firm believers that the Bible was indeed God’s word written. Nevertheless, the sisters’ intelligence and language skills won them friendship and acceptance.
In 1891 Agnes suffered a tragedy identical to that of her sister when her husband died. Widowed and again independent, the sisters planned a new visit to Sinai. In preparation Agnes studied Syriac, a dialect of the Aramaic that Jesus spoke, and both learned how to photograph documents. In 1892, after a week’s demanding travel by camel from Cairo, they arrived at Saint Catherine’s monastery.
Their fluency in modern Greek gained them a warm welcome and they began examining manuscripts. One they found was an ancient palimpsest – a volume made of pages where the original words had been erased and a new text written on top. With much excitement, Agnes recognised that the almost illegible underlying text was that of the gospels in Syriac.
The sisters carefully photographed pages and, on their return to Cambridge, their discovery aroused intense interest. An immediate follow-up trip to Sinai with scholars was arranged and soon the whole manuscript was carefully copied and demonstrated to be another early witness to the reliability of the biblical text.
Respected
During the following years the sisters made several more trips to Egypt and Sinai and added to their discoveries by purchasing old manuscripts. Back at Cambridge, despite having no formal academic qualifications, the sisters became accepted as authorities on biblical texts and their research was published in numerous important volumes.
Outside their work with texts, the sisters were also involved in many other ‘good works’: they part-funded a new Presbyterian college at Cambridge and quietly and generously contributed to church work and poverty relief. Globally respected in their later years, they were awarded honorary degrees from a number of universities (but not Cambridge!) in Britain and elsewhere. The sisters lived well into the 20th century, with Margaret dying in 1920 and Agnes in 1926.
The twins soon became largely forgotten figures, often unfairly portrayed as no more than eccentric women who had accidentally stumbled on valuable manuscripts. In fact, they knew what they were looking for, had the skills to find it and the ability to recognise it when they found it. In recent years their importance has been recognised, helped by a splendid and sympathetic biography — The Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Discovered the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice.
We may find it hard to relate to the story of Agnes and Margaret. Few of us have their extraordinary gift for languages or their seemingly endless wealth and, thankfully, the patronising masculine superiority that they had to endure has largely disappeared. What should speak to all Christians, however, is the way that the twins were good stewards of all they had been given by God.
First, they were industrious in their stewardship. They could easily have frittered away their time and money, but they didn’t. They were ceaseless in their good works: learning languages, planning trips, writing publications and engaging in every kind of charity.
Second, they were audacious in their stewardship. Even today, most of us would be unwilling to go on camel expeditions to deepest Sinai. There was a boldness to what the twins did that should inspire us. And let’s not overlook that quiet, persevering courage required for ‘outsiders’ to make their way into a rather cosy academic community.
Third, they were judicious in their stewardship. The sisters didn’t simply throw their finance and energy at any and every needy cause. There was strategy in their actions. Their faith told them that ancient texts would be vital arguments against scepticism and that such manuscripts had to be sought.
Agnes and Margaret were clearly remarkable women. They believed that their duty was to use the time, talents and treasure they had been given by God for his kingdom. Would that more of us had such a sense of their responsibility before God!
‘They
believed that their duty was to use the time, talents and treasure they had been given by God for his kingdom. Would that more of us had such a sense of their responsibility before God!’
Paintings of Scottish twins Agnes Smith Lewis (left) and her sister Margaret Dunlop Gibson by John Peddie
Congregational Federation opportunities
CHURCHES SEEKING MINISTERS
Full-time – Ardrossan (Scotland); Greenacres, Oldham – part-time considered (North West); Southwick Christian Community Church (South East); Springhead, Oldham – part-time considered (North West).
Part-time – Dereham: Cowper Memorial (Eastern); Elstow Bunyan Christian Fellowship (East Midlands); North Nibley (South West Midlands); Oakamoor (North West Midlands); Shillington (East Midlands); Stalybridge (North West); Witney (South West Midlands).
Non-Stipendiary – Frampton (South West Midlands); Oban Congregational Church (Scotland); Penrhys, Llanfair Uniting Church (Wales); Ebenezer Independent Congregational Chapel, Tredegar, Gwent (Wales).
NW Area Church Support Worker; NW Area Youth & Children’s Worker. All details can be found under Opportunities For All on the CF website.
TIPS FOR LIFE ONLINE
The Gospel Online
By Neil Chappell, Social Media & Website Officer, Congregational Federation
‘The Gospel Online’ is a new book written by Ben Horrex (10Publishing, 2022) taking a look at what it means to be a faithful Christian in a digital world.
The author writes in a very clear and concise manner, and at just over 120 pages this book is an easy read. Ben contemplates five topics – Identity, Name, Word, Body and Community – and approaches each one in the same manner of looking at the biblical principles, weighing up the pressures and pitfalls and stating what our goals should be.
Whilst this book would be an ideal read for a teenager or twenty-something, it really is essential reading for any Christian attempting to navigate their way through the digital world we live in. It is full of useful tips and sensible advice and is fully grounded in the Word of God.
In the first topic – Identity: Being Authentic –Ben talks of how sometimes our online connections and communities threaten to become the most important part of our lives, overshadowing our relationship with God and who we truly are. At the end of this first section he concludes: “The goal isn’t to force the gospel down the throat of everyone you meet, but to live as a child of God and make sure that identity is visible to others.”
We think that this book is such a delightful read that we have EIGHT copies to give away. You might have a number of young people at your church you could share it around. Or you might want to give it to someone to encourage and help them. All you need to do is drop me a line – via email or to the office,
both addresses are at the bottom of this article –and we will send a copy off to you. It might be nice to hear what you make of it too.
Don’t forget you can contact me anytime to talk about your church’s website or social media presence. I’m happy to help:
Train your brain or just take a relaxing time out with these puzzles. The solutions are on the inside of the back cover (don’t cheat!).
Crossword
Across
1. Large edible flatfish (7)
5. Lady from Thyatira [Acts 16] (5)
8. The 23 Across who had a vision at Joppa (5)
9. European island nation (7)
10. Judas, son of James, comes in this order in Luke’s list of apostles (8)
11. American state (4)
13. ‘You refined us like ------ ‘ [Psalm 66] (6)
15. Deliver sermon (6)
18. ‘In Christ alone my ------ is found’ [hymn] (4)
19. Birds Solomon’s navy brought him every three years [1 Kings 10] (8)
22. Surrey town (7)
23. This disciple was called ‘the Zealot’ (5)
24. Age of the child Josiah when he became king of Judah (5)
25. Eyelash cosmetic (7)
Wordsearch
Can you find 25 different sports? Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally.
Down
1. Short lines used to join words (7)
2. ‘Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the ------ ‘ [hymn] (5)
3. Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and ------ “ [Matthew 11] (8)
4. The number of camels Jacob sent to Esau [Genesis 32] (6)
5. Vegetable (4)
6. Basic Greek monetary unit prior to the euro (7)
7. Relating to hearing or sound (5)
12. Small bulbous plants (8)
14. Type of plover (7)
16. Biblical cry of praise or joy (7)
17. Free from sin (6)
18. Large crowd (5)
20. Punctuation mark (5)
21. Adult male deer (4)
Sudoku
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3 x 3 box contains the digits 1 to 9
REVIEWS
Murder Before Evensong
By Revd Richard Coles
Reviewers: Christina Hitch from Guilden Morden Congregational Church & retired CF preacher Fred Hoddinott Christina says: “This thoroughly enjoyable book could be described as a cosy mystery but there is more to it than that. Richard Coles’s experience as a vicar enables a sympathetic portrayal of the main character, Daniel. Daniel is rector of a small parish in the late 1980s. The descriptions of his very dutiful and thoughtful acts of worship leave no doubt as to his faith and his understanding of what is necessary to achieve the right result in certain situations is very human. It is good in this day and age to read a book where Christianity is not mocked and where the main character can be described as a good man.”
Fred says: “The title alone is a little daunting and curious enough to justify perhaps just a small peep into the first chapter. My small peep caused me to complete the book in quite a short time! I found myself very drawn to his plot and it is some time since I have been placed in a position of not wanting to close the book until the next day. This is a wellstructured mystery and it very cleverly builds until it is solved. I commend it to you.”
Published by W&N, 2022. Available in most bookshops. Price at Amazon: £9.00
Race for justice: the struggle for equality and inclusion in British and Irish churches
edited by Richard s. Reddie
Reviewer: Christine Denwood, Wimbledon Congregational Church
Critics have suggested that racial justice belongs to a social justice agenda which swallows up the resources that should be directed to mission and evangelism. Far from it – writes the South Asian Christian, Sivakumar Rajagopolan, in this book: “Racial justice is integral to gospel proclamation because we cannot preach a gospel of reconciliation if we don’t take steps to practise it.” By delving into their experiences, the 16 contributors to this book, who represent a wide range of denominations in Britain, describe how their particular part of Christ’s church has been impacted by racism and how far relations between different races and cultures have
shaped our history, our townscapes and our everyday life. There is no chapter from the Congregational Federation but our excellent Spring School this year introduced us to Professor Anthony Reddie, brother of the editor, whose “groundbreaking research and writing has been an outstanding contribution to the challenges of achieving racial justice” (page 38). I enjoyed getting to know the different writers. A few pages from each one cover decades of dedication to make community life better.
Published by Monarch Books, 2022. Available in most bookshops. Price at eden.co.uk: £7.27
Graham, a CF Accredited Minister, weaves together themes around Empire, liberation and decolonial practice with an exploration of the nature and scope of church community, interreligious engagement, pioneering, and worship. Available from most bookshops.
Shades of Black: The Origins of Colour Consciousness in the Caribbean
By Clifford Hill, Alton Bell and nigel Pocock. Foreword by Rowan Williams
Published by Handsel Press, 2022. Price: £15.00 plus p&p
This book describes how colour consciousness has shaped the experience of Caribbean immigrants to Britain. Rev Dr Clifford Hill is a sociologist and founder of Issachar Ministries. He is also an Accredited Minister and was a founding member of the CF. It can be obtained from Issachar Ministries –email info@issacharministries.co.uk
The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.
During November please pray for all who have lost their way with life.
Pray for those struggling with mental health issues, addictions, debt issues and those involved in crime gangs.
Pray for those who work to support those with these issues, pray they have the right skills, good training and enough funding.
Pray that our churches will and can support where they are able.
Pray for the Council of the Congregational Federation. Pray for a clear vision and that decisions will be made to help move things forward.
DECEMBER
Isaiah 9:6b, NLT
And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Pray for this season of Advent, that the message of Jesus, the message of hope, is not lost amongst the busyness of Christmas preparations.
Pray for all those who work in retail, that they get a good work and home balance.
Pray for the churches of the Congregational Federation; pray their Christmas services will welcome new people from the community.
Pray for all those leading services, that they will be inspired to share the Christmas story in a new way and enjoy the season.
Pray for the staff of the Congregational Federation; pray there is good communication and good relationships and support.
JANUARY
2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT
Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! Pray for those starting something new – a new school, new job, new baby, new home or new church. Pray for those struggling to adapt to change. Give them courage and strength.
Pray for those grieving a loved one, having to live life differently and feeling alone.
Pray for our Government. Pray that they work well together, they see the reality of life in the UK and work to make things better for the poor and vulnerable. Pray for justice.
Pray for Christian unity in the UK and around the world. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is 18–25 January – pray the resources will be used and people will attend the services and prayer groups. Pray for the local churches in your area, how you can support each other.
FEBRUARY
1 Corinthians 13:13, NLT
Three things will last for ever – faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is love.
Pray for married couples, for those in new relationships, those going through divorce, those in abusive relationships. Pray for love, peace and protection.
Pray for those who work in counselling and guidance services. Pray wisdom over them.
Pray for the Accreditation and Pastoral Care Board of the Congregational Federation that meets this month. Pray for people to step into these roles so those in ministries and those in our churches can be supported, encouraged and prayed for more.
Pray for the Ukraine – one year since the war started. Pray for those who are now living in new places, those trying to rebuild their lives, and those living without their loved ones. Pray for peace.
MARCH
Psalm 7:17, NLT
I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High. Praise God for his majesty, his power, his grace. Give him the glory.
Thank God for your life, for his endless blessings.
Praise God for the wonders of his creation.
Thank God for all you have that makes life good.
Thank God for your church, the building, the people and everything that happens there.
Thank God for the Congregational Federation, the history, the offices, the staff, the volunteers and the structures.
World Day of Prayer focused on three UK nations
Congregational churches were among those involved in the World Day of Prayer (WDP) on 4 March. This year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland were the focus of the WDP (Scotland has its own WDP organisation) and the service was prepared by women from the three nations on the theme of hope.
The WDP is an ecumenical movement set up in the 19th century by women in the USA and Canada. The WDP service is held on the first Friday of March. Although written by Christian women from around the world, it is a gift to the whole church, who come together to worship on this special day.
Next year’s WDP is on 3 March and is for Taiwan. For more information see www.wwdp.org.uk
TO ORDER REFRESH
An annual subscription for next year’s 3 issues, including the Yearbook, is £30 incl. p&p. Email: admin@congregational.org.uk or tel: 0115 9111460 for details.
‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’
