Rose Wood

I woke up at 5 O'clock again this morning.  It's becoming a habit, brought on because I am faced with lots of things that I have no control over. Anyway I woke up thinking about Rose.  It wasn't a dream but a waking moment if you know what I mean.
Let me take you back to the late 1960s; to Underhill Road in East Dulwich.  Rose was a lady we sometimes saw passing the prefab.  She was very tall, walked faster than Billy Whizz and always wore a headscarf.  She was no Audrey Hepburn, but the type of lady you saw walking up and down our road all the time.  She was also a nervous person but the only glimpse you got of that was the rate at which she chewed her gum (Maxi Mint as I recall). She had three children - David, a middle one whose name I can't recall and Wendy who was my age (about 9).  I always thought they were lucky because they lived in a real house made from bricks and they had a front room which they never used. Rose was full of life and more energy than a power station and when she looked at you she caught your attention and fixed your gaze. It was like she could see into your very soul.  She was more together than my mum and for that I think I admired her.  Then one day she lost her sparkle.  In hushed tones my mum told me her husband had been run over on his moped going to work.  What made it worse, she said, was that he had been run over by a lorry that rolled back on him in a traffic jam.  As a 9 year old I agreed that this death was cruel and worse than being killed by a car.  I don't think Rose would have agreed somehow.
This morning at 5am I had the overwhelming desire to go back in time and hold Rose's hand.  I haven't thought about Rose for 40 years and in the dark of my cold silent bedroom I wanted to travel back in time and hold her hand and tell her it will be alright and things will get better and that Jesus is here to help you and he will restore the years the locusts have eaten and ...I can't.  I hope somebody did back in 1969.

Is there enough evidnece...? Part I

Can I just make one thing clear (please)?  Being evangelistic is not the same as being missional.  I had a conversation with someone recently and it was soon obvious that we were not talking the same language - more of this later.
However, these are just terms.  What is important is our relationship with God and how that is lived out, day to day.  When I was growing up and 'learning my trade' in a solid and very sound Baptist church in Bromley, a question was often posed to us teenagers: 'If you were arrested and stood trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?'
This little question has gone out of fashion now but it is still pertinent and perhaps is worthy of being resurrected. I think it is an important question because it goes to the heart of being missional and I don't think we have ever really come to terms with what it means to live out our lives as followers of The Way. If we had, we wouldn't be writing about what it means to be missional or arguing about the demise of the Church in the West.

Did he really say that ?

Yesterday saw protests directed against the government in London.  Photographs and news reports did not make good viewing.  This morning BBC TV broadcast an interview with Professor Martin Povey from University College Union who had participated in the demonstration against increasing tuition fees.  He said, 'the atmosphere was absolutely marvelous'.  I had to stop and take notice here.  He sounded like some World   War I general glorying in war although this is unfair in retrospect.  He then said, 'we need education.  We need a future.  I think some people got angry, and frankly understandably so when you see your life being taken away...'
I wonder if the families of dead soldiers would see paying for education as a life or death scenario. I wonder if the soldiers who have no arms or legs due to IEDs and terrorism would see the professor's comments the same way. Come on, Prof.  you're supposed to be the cream of the cream.  Start thinking of others like these soldiers did, eh.

How good are you at saying no?

The phone rang and I was busy.  Not recognizing the phone number and being intrigued I answered it.  'Hello this is Bob from the Halifax.  Can I confirm this is Timothy Moore speaking?'  Well, there was no problem with admitting who I was and I thought I might get this testing question right. 'Yes' I confidently replied.  'Are you the Timothy Moore who lives in Shepley?'  'Yes'.  'Can I ask you to confirm your date of birth for security reasons?'  At this point and with work pressing on me I felt the need to ask why a stranger purporting to be from a bank (boo, hiss) wanted my date of birth.  'For security reasons'.  'But I know my date of birth.  You phoned me, I didn't phone you.  Why should I give you my date of birth?' I asked him again.  the reply was predictable. By now I'm a bit ticked off.  'Are you selling me something, because I didn't phone you and never asked to buy anything?'  'We do sell products' he said.  It was his turn to be confident with his reply.  'Well I don't want to buy anything'.  Bob was a tad huffy now and said a curt goodbye and the phone was once again free, as was I to get back to work. I felt bad for not giving my DOB and for leaving Bob on a sour note.  Why? It's funny how innocent people can quickly feel guilty for not giving over personal information. It's not as if he had a gun to my head and all I had to do was put the phone down.  I used to be good at saying no.  What's happening to me?  Am I becoming too Christian or just losing my youthful playfulness or something worse?

Services in December 2010

December 2010

December
5th:   Scholes Communion 10.30am
10th: Scholes: Carols around the Christmas tree 7pm
12th: Shepley Drama 10.45am
        Gatehead Carols and brass band 3pm
        Shepley Christingle service 6.30pm (this is always fun!)
18th: Shepley Cafe carols 6.30pm (a very relaxed family service             with video clips, quizzes and coffee)
19th: Brockholes Communion 10.30am
        Scholes Carols by candlelight 6.30pm
24th: Shepley Village carol service with Shepley Brass band in the village
         Gatehead Christmas Eve service 9.00pm
25th: Shepley a short morning service 9.30am
         Scholes a short morning service 10.30am
26th: NO SERVICES TODAY IN THE CIRCUIT

I'm back !!!

I thought that with all the changes that are happening it was time I got back to the blog to keep everyone updated.
The story so far...
well, I finished the Masters degree. The dissertation went down well (with some people and I'm sorry to all the Fresh Expressions people who might not have agreed with the research. If you want to know more, just ask me) and I've been asked to give some lectures and to publish some articles although time is a bit short. and I might not do that.
But more importantly, the circuit is moving on and things are changing fast - praise God! The trouble with change is that it is all well and good when it only affects others, 'yes! We need to change!!' The trouble is when it affects you personally :( However I am very pleased to announce that i will now be taking on pastoral charge of two more churches - Wooldale and Brockholes so now I have 5 churches which is much more like the Methodist norm.
I will update the changes when possible on the blog. As I want people to know where I will be preaching I will update the blog in a three monthly cycle. Hopefully the circuit will create its own website and this can revert to a conventional blog again, but until then...