The face in the crowd

At our recent Newfrontiers Prayer & Fasting gathering I had a slight inkling what it must be like to be a visitor to a Church on a Sunday.

In the refreshment break I stood there, and I looked out, and I really could not see anyone I knew.

Just lots and lots of faces.

What is more it felt like everyone else knew each other. People were talking, laughing, hugging, browsing books. Small groups of people were scurrying off into a corner to discuss something strategic. All around me, everyone else, and I felt a bit lonely.

What is strange about that feeling is that I must have known at least 50 people there to talk to. In future breaks I met several friends for coffee and a catch up. I went to the conference with a posse from our local region.

But at that one point in that first break I was just a face in the crowd and I would have given anything for someone to just walk up to me and say "hi".

If I feel like that, what do our visitors on a Sunday feel?

I have a policy of trying to speak to one new person every week. What we really need is everyone doing that.

Counting

We know how many people come to our Church services each week.

Because we count them.

It really helps us to get an idea of which kinds of things are supported well and foresee any changes in patterns which require a change.

At our recent Front Edge Sunday there were 355 present.

I find that exciting.

I am not sure why, but 355 seems way more than 349. Why? Because we are seeking God for 400 and so breaking 350 again feels like another step.

Sure, it was a big week, but the point is our building needs to be able to cope with the big weeks.

I am also pleased because our maximum layout before we went to two services was 360 chairs. 355 people on 360 chairs would have completely wiped us out, with far too little spare capacity.

On Sunday we were 172 and 144 adults on 233 chairs (and 39 children in groups). There was a bit more "wiggle room" for people. Lots of those people were guests, and had there been more there was space.

Just over 70,000 people live in the the boroughs of Shrewsbury. If we were by God's grace to reach the stage where we were 350 people every Sunday, that would equate with being 0.5% of our Town's population, although I realise lots of our people do travel in from outlying villages.

I am not interested in numbers as they don't prove anything, I am interested in people. And when those people respond to Jesus we can count them. What excites me about being able to count them is because they have become part of our number. So I am interested in numbers, because those numbers are people.

I don't actually care about statistics but I do care about the growth of the kingdom of God in this town through vibrant missional Churches.

We may have just touched 0.5% on Sunday, but could we have faith for 1%? Is that beyond the realms of what our God could do?

Exciting times...

Front Edge 2010: Sunday service

Adrian Holloway seems to appear in all sorts of places these days and we were delighted he agreed to come and preach at both our meetings.

We had delivered 2000 flyers locally and had been praying hard in advance. Lots of people were invited, including our whole Alpha Course.

The good news is just that, good news, so we want to share it.

Adrian preached excellently. We prayed for the sick. In each meeting people came to the front and said that the pain had gone. Backs. Knees. Hands. Shoulders.

A young woman from our Church who the day before could not even sit at the Front Edge conference and lay on the floor at the back. Her back was twisted and she was in considerable discomfort. By Sunday morning she was stood on the stage, standing up straight, saying the pain had gone!

When the call went out for people to respond and become a Christian or recommmit their life to God perhaps 20 came forward across the two meetings. I don't have exact numbers but I would suggest the many of those were responding for the first time and some coming back to God.

The opportunity is now there to follow up people and help them in their journey of faith. We know more people may come on The Alpha Course this week as part of their response.

A very good morning and an exciting way to conclude Front Edge for us.

I love being part of a movement of Churches that prioritises mission as a key part of what it means to be Church, and releases gifted people to go and help Churches and equip their people.

Front Edge 2010

We hosted the Newfrontiers "Front Edge" evangelism conference on Saturday. It was a great day, with guest speakers Lex Loizides and Adrian Holloway.

Seminar speakers included Steve Hurd from Huddersfield and Paul Brown from Bermondsey.

Suffice to say, it was an excellent day.

Great teaching.

Powerful exhortation.

Mission involves the word and the Spirit.

And then we prayed for 12 different evangelists going on to do Sunday preaching and praying for the sick in Newfrontiers churches across this region, from Birmingham and Stafford, down to Hereford and across into Wales at Wrexham.

I love the commitment of these evangelists to take Ephesians 4 seriously and use their gift to equip and encourage others in their witness.

Then having equipped the 150 delegates at the Saturday conference, they do go and preach the gospel in Churches so people can bring family and friends to hear the good news.

The thing that really struck me was a desire to reach people, a desire to retain good doctrine and a desire to step out in signs and wonders, which act as a pointer to the "gospel" we bring to people.

All in all, a great day!

Jonathan Aitken, Politics, Prison, Peace

Over 400 people attended Theatre Severn last night for an excellent talk by Jonathan Aitken where he told his story of going to prison and how his journey to faith has helped him get his life back on track.

He was witty, sincere, honest, humble and clear.


This was the biggest inter-church outreach event in the town that I can remember for a good length of time.

Supplementing it we have produced and are in the process of delivering 10,000 flyers across the town inviting people to Alpha Courses that start in the next fortnight.


So here we are: Anglican, Baptist, Newfrontiers and Apostolic Churches standing together and offering the good news to our town.

It is a good place to be, but is only the very start of an adventure of what we can achieve together.

Jonathan Aitken comes to Shrewsbury

I am really excited.

A few Churches here have grouped together to underwrite an initiative at our new theatre.

Jonathan Aitken is coming to share his story.

For some of us it is a big event before our Alpha Course starts.

For others it is an opportunity to host a social event and bring friends to.

For still others it is an interesting foretaste of what we can achieve when we work together.

The following morning he is going into the prison (now a category C prison) to share his story with the men there.

For me personally it is a bit nerve wracking as I am heavily involved in making it happen.

All in all, a very exciting project to be part of!

Fair Trade Open Day

Our Fairtrade Open Day on Saturday was a resounding success.

There was a big stall from Shrewsbury Fair Trade, as well as stands from Tearfund, The Body Shop, Stop the Traffik, The Fairtrade Foundation, Longden School G8 Group, the Bridges Charity and others.

The stall raised £1086, which for an event like this is really good.

Starbucks gave us free coffee and Co-op gave us free orange juice. Over 150 people redeemed their voucher for a free drink, many of them completely new faces responding to our publicity.

We did Fairtrade chocolate tasting too, which went down a storm. We did demonstrations of Fairtrade recipes, and also showed videos from Stop the Traffik.

The mayor was there, as was one of the local parliamentary candidates for the next election. It was an event that hit so many targets and definitely something we will consider doing again.

Delivering Leaflets

Using leaflets as a way of promoting a Church, or the activities of a Church has a number of benefits and challenges.

THE CHALLENGES

• Delivering leaflets through doors is boring. It is the "plod of God" with every step. You really have to believe in it.
• Delivering leaflets has almost zero obvious return benefit. The contacts made per hundred leaflets are minimal.
• Delivering leaflets costs a huge amount of time, and can cost a lot of money too if you can't design your oon and don't have access to a cheap printing firm.
  

THE BENEFITS

• Leaflets through doors are a great way of raising the "profile" of the Church in the area you leaflet. They probably won't respond directly, but they will tell the person they know from your Church that they got your leaflet.
• Leaflets are a way of reaching lots of people, personally, but not obtrusively.
• A decent flyer makes a giving a personal invitation a much easier proposition for members of your Church. Inviting someone to an event with a faded photocopied bent leaflet just does not hit the spot in 21st Century Britain. People have confidence if it looks the part.

This week we are delivering leaflets. We printed 2500 with all the community week events on and delivered 1800 through doors in our local area and other through our Church ministries and members.

Next up was 1000 Kidz Fun Day Flyers which went out via our Kidz Klub, Barneytots and Sunday morning as well as through local schools.

7,500 fairtrade day flyers were produced. These are going out through doors and in the town centre all this week.

10,000 A5 leaflets about the Church, especially focusing on our two services starting on November 8th have been produced. These are going out everywhere. The 1800 homes near our building are a start. This week we have taken four large estates int he town which have no evangelical witness whatsoever and leafleted them, for the fairtrade day and the Church. A team in the town centre has given out thousands more. We are encouraging cell groups to deliver them near where they meet and for people to use them to invite their friends to Church.

All in all, it is the scatter gun approach. Sowing seeds of information and showing that God's people do exist and are active.

Environmentally, Shrewsbury has fortnightly paper and card recycling so i am very confident the majority of those flyers will be recycled.

Economically, we use Riverside Press in Market Drayton and when 5000 full colour double sided postcards costs £90 it really does start to become accessible as a means of communicating. You cannot even photocopy them cheaper than that. They do national delivery too, tell them Dave at Barnabas in Shrewsbury recommended them.

So in the afternoons this week I have been out pacing the pavements of the estates of our town putting leaflets through people's doors. It is a thankless task. There is no meaningful response. But I know, for someone, somewhere, that leaflet could be exactly what they were looking for, and the start of their journey of faith, which makes it a very worthwhile venture, alongside all the other methods we have of making Jesus famous.

Quiz Night

Quiz Nights are fun!

They are a great, all age social event.

We had 80 questions, and 4 teams tied on 64 correct answers to share various confectionery prizes!

At our last quiz we had just over ten teams. Tonight we had 26 teams, almost all of 6 people or more.

We had set up 15 tables, and had 5 spares, and they kept coming, and coming, and coming.

We did not have another small table left in our entire church centre. Every kids table, toddler table. coffee table, you name it, we used it.

It was such a joy to see many groups of friends come. Friends from work, friends from the neighbourhood and again people from other Churches.

Our cell group had a "baking party" last night to make fresh cakes for everyone and they just about stretched to the numbers. As a group we have done this before, deciding as a group to put on a Quiz night as a way of serving the mission of the Church. It is a great way for all those in the cell to be able to support mission.

Kidz Fun Day

Our Children's fun day was a resounding success.

108 little faces were painted, which means there must have been close to 150 children there plus associated adults.

It was a hive of activity, with loads of great games and inflatables.

What hit me most though was the two blokes I shared car parking duty with. Both in their 40s, both saved and added to the Church in the last two years, both baptised, both already joining us on our mission to bless the community and make Jesus famous.

Personal faith is also being saved into the mission of God.

That is exciting!

Barnabas Unplugged

Last night's event went really, really well.

The venue was a cool music bar in the town centre. The age range was mixed and there were loads of guests, maybe 30% of the hundred or so who were there at some point during the evening.

People came and went, it got very hot, standing room only, it was almost uncomfortably busy, which meant it felt like a really edgy, busy music evening.

Musically we had everything from Green Day to Garfunkel, Snow Patrol to the Lion King.

What really thrilled me was a couple of people from other churches bringing their friends to our event, as part of their personal witness. That makes me really, really happy.

I would love the Church to once again be on the forefront of the music scene, instead of a being a niche market. Hmm, I wonder about next time.

Working Together, an appendix

Too much talking, too little action from me recently on this subject.

Until now.

7500 A5 flyers will be distributed within Shrewsbury by various Churches involved in running an Alpha Course this September, including about 2000 by us. This is a project I have chaired, with big hopes for future ways we can co-ordinate, publicise and grow our witness within the town.


I am really excited about what we can achieve for God by working together.

For those who like to stereotype newfrontiers Churches as not really working with others maybe this is food for thought? Of the six Churches represented one would not consider itself to be wholly evangelical, five would, three would be paedobaptist, three would be credobaptist, two have female curates who are currently leading the Church, three would lean to the complimentarian side at differing levels, there would be different levels of charismatic leaning, and one is led by someone who is a bit odd.

I think Alpha has a role to play as an agent for witness on the local church level, and agent of renewal within the Anglican communion and an agent of unity on an interchurch level, so i am really pleased we are doing this.

Quiz Night

I love Quiz Nights

They are just such a good way for people from the Church to get together and for people to bring their friends. We had about 80 people there in 14 teams. There must have been about 20 guests, including neighbours, parents and work colleagues. Lots of different cell groups brought a team, and our cell group did all the catering and preparations as our way of bringing a positive event into the mission of the Church.

It was "sowing" from Sowing, reaping, keeping, in a way that really works for us.

Here is the quiz: how would you get on?

Quiz Night April 2009

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FOUNDATIONS OF APOLOGETICS, VOLUME TWO:

STUART MCALLISTER: TRUTH & REALITY

The second DVD in the series introduces us to a new speaker and his style is quite different to Michael Ramsden. The concepts are so philosophical that it takes a bit of effort to follow the various definitions of reality and truth. It is less applied than the first one, as it seeks to set a foundation stone in place rather than give something instantly usable. I had to to really concentrate as it was less engaging.

The basic assumption is drawn from Col 1:3-6, & 15-22

The Christian message itself is a claim to reality and to truth, It does not allow for subjectivity at its core.

CS Lewis gets pride of place in the introduction to set up some context: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

There then comes a useful discussion and unpicking of various overriding postmodern claims regarding truth and reality, including Foucault, Feuerbach and Dawkins.

He deals quite graciously with the opposition to the Christian faith that comes from the various strands of postmodernism.

The discussion then unfolds with a really useful defence of the existence of truth and reality.

1. THE FOUNDATIONAL QUESTION: HAS JESUS BROUGHT ANYTHING INTO REALITY?

• The answer is fairly straightforward from creation!
• The propositional statements of the Christian faith are based on a sense of reality
• What do we mean when we use the word truth?
• Both accuracy and authenticity makes something true, or real. Belief does not make it true, truth exists in reality, not in people’s imagination
• Truth is non-contradictory, absolute, discovered, descriptive, inescapable and unchanging

2. THE ROLE AND INFLUENCE OF WORLDVIEWS

• Your worldview is not what you see, but rather what you see with, or what you see through
• The nature of what reality we accept or what truth we hold is linked to our worldview
• Worldviews can often contain logical flaws and inconsistencies
• Worldviews involve a human condition and the solution to that condition

3. THE HUMAN CONDITION

• Romans 1:18-20
• Without excuse, without defence, apologia in Greek!
• General awareness of God out there
• Humans suppress that truth
• Humans replace that truth

4. REFLECTING ON TRUTH AND REALITY

• John 8:31-32
• We must not allow a division between secular and sacred in their reality
• A worldview should be logical (does not contradict itself), factual (fitting the supporting facts) and viable (able to be lived)

5. TRUTH AND REALITY IF DAILY LIFE

• Colossians 4:5-6
• Show wisdom
• Speak with grace
• Respond to each person

This is however just short of an hour of spoken lecture with little visual variety and is very wordy so by 30-40 minutes my mind did start to wander a bit. Not because it was lacking anything, but maybe because the content is so conceptual is was quite difficult to pin it down.

GOOD QUOTES:

“Are we a product of time, slime and chance?”
We say “Jesus is the answer” but they have not yet asked the question

I am thinking about how these DVDs could be used as a resource for apologetics training within the Church and I think they could have a lot of mileage: it is just trying to maintain a balance between the applied and the theoretical to make it accessible to the widest amount of people. This is very theoretical, which some people will love, and others may not engage with.

FOUNDATIONS OF APOLOGETICS, VOLUME ONE: Part 2!

MICHAEL RAMSDEN: Asking Questions

These have come from the DVD which I reviewed yesterday, and is one of the best parts of the DVD.

7 reasons why asking questions is important:

1) ASKING QUESTIONS FORCES PEOPLE TO OPEN UP THEIR GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS:

• Luke 18:18-19
• Take the bit of what they do say, and turn it to Jesus

2) ASKING QUESTIONS FORCES PEOPLE TO OPEN UP THEIR CULTURAL ASSUMPTIONS:

• Matthew 22:15
• The right answer to the wrong question is still wrong
• Jesus redefines the question to unravel the cultural assumptions behind it

3) ASKING QUESTIONS HELPS EXPOSE FAULTY LOGIC

• Matthew 22 again
• Any answer would have been “wrong” in some way, hence it was a trap
• Forces them to question their own question

4) ASKING QUESTIONS EXPOSES MOTIVES

• Matthew 21:23-27 after clearing the temple
• Exposing motives changes the whole course of the conversation

5) ASKING QUESTIONS EXPOSES CONTRADICTIONS

• Matthew 22:41-46
• Show in inconstency in the questions themselves

6) ASKING QUESTIONS INSURES A CONVERSATION

• Makes people feel “heard” because they are being engaged with beyond set answers
• People don’t want to be talked at, they want to be talked to

7) ASKING QUESTIONS MAKES PEOPLE THINK

• The difference between an argument and a discussion
• Knowing people and making Christ known to them

Overall the point is fairly clear. Next time a non-Christian asks about faith, the real question is not just “what did I say” but “what did I ask”.

FOUNDATIONS OF APOLOGETICS, VOLUME ONE:

MICHAEL RAMSDEN: CONVERSATIONS THAT COUNT


This is a good DVD and a hearty start to what promises to be a very useful resource.

The premise is fairly simple: ask questions of their questions.

1 Peter 3:15-16 is the set text and somehow an hour disappears without ever slowing. These are my notes based on his key points. The whole lecture, which was given at Wycliffe Hall in Oxford is laced with personal stories, anecdotes and humour.

1) IN YOUR HEARTS HONOUR CHRIST AS LORD

• Teaching of the whole passage is holiness
• Apologetics is not an academic exercise as much as it is a spiritual discipline
• A defence is not just with words but with life

2) BE PREPARED

• Preparation is much like getting fit
• Not just a one off process like getting a degree, but actually “being” fit, being prepared for the moment they ask, at that time, and having a life that reflects the truth you defend, at that time

3) TO MAKE A DEFENCE

• Such as when Paul made his defence to Agrippa. Agrippa knew Paul wanted him to believe (Acts 26:28)
• A defence is actually an invitation: not just to say what is not true but to say what is true and call people to believe it
• We need to ask questions of their questions! Seven points of this will be given in a following post.

4) TO ANYONE WHO ASKS YOU

• People are asking
• We need our message to answer the questions people are asking
• Our lifestyle should provoke the questions 2 Cor 3: Living letters: what are they reading and does it provoke questions?

5) FOR A REASON

• The gospel CAN be explained
• Not just HOW we were saved but WHY
• Focus is entirely on the person and work of Christ: what convinced us?

6) FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN YOU

• Hope in Jesus
• An apologetic that does not come from and end in the person and work of Christ is redundant
• Our hope is different: Buddhism could have happened through someone other than Buddha. Islam could have happened through someone other than Muhamed. Jesus is our hope, on Him our hope rests

7) WITH GENTLENESS AND RESPECT, HAVING A GOOD CONSCIENCE

• We are talking to people God loves
• We should reflect His attitude to them
• Our only confidence is in Him, not in our own skill or knowledge
• Don’t fake answers
• Don’t patronise
• Don’t “win” discussion but lose the person

HIGHLIGHTS?

Some classic one liners from someone who evidently has hung out with J. John a bit!

“Sorry, your application to join the trinity has been refused”

“Take Christ out of Christian and all you are left with is three letters I A N. All you have left is Ian and he can’t save you!”

LOWLIGHTS?

He really does speak incredibly fast, making even filling in blank spaces in the accompanying manual quite a task! The pause button on the DVD is a godsend when actually trying to take down some of the finer details! I find his style utterly gripping, but I would imagine it would be a bit intense for some people to follow for the full hour.

THE CHALLENGE:

The key point that stuck with me was not making the defence of our faith “How” we became a Christian but rather “why”. What if in your testimony you had met a Buddhist not a Christian? You went on a Zen course not an Alpha course? Was it circumstances, almost fate, that made you “pick” Christianity, or a deep rooted discovery of the truth itself, of Jesus?

Telling our own story is important, but not at the expense of explaining the uniqueness of Christ and that we did not choose Christianity from amongst many but rather it consumed us by an overwhelming confirmation of truth found in Jesus.

Overall: an excellent start to a series that I think could be really, really useful in our Church.

"In a professional capacity"

On Wednesday I went to visit my doctor.

He asked where I worked.

"Barnabas Centre" I said.

"Oh, I am going there tomorrow" he replied.

We hosted a 2 day NHS workshop here, to which he was invited.

"Oh good" I said, "so you can come and see me in a professional capacity!"

He laughed.

I met him at their meeting and we had a good chat. More people use this venue for their meetings (community/non profit groups) than our Sunday attendance.

It definitely helps open the door of opportunity for discussion, and also helps shape our witness within our local community.

Cross Talk 26th February 2009

For publication in the Shrewsbury Chronicle: circulation 15,000 (approx)

Recent news reports tell of charities concerned that their donations will reduce because of the current economic climate, on top of a reduction in revenue from investments. The same charities are reporting that the demand for their services is increasing due to the difficulties people face in this time of recession. It seems a terrific shame that at the point of greater need in our nation the resources to help are shrinking.

That got me thinking about the role we, as Christians, and Churches play. In Shrewsbury The Ark Project, Isaiah 58 Project and Shrewsbury Christian Mission all work in different ways to help those without housing or in extreme poverty.

Other projects such as the Basics Bank at the Barnabas Centre help those in debt. Churches run all sorts of activities for the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable in winter in a time of financial hardship. Parent and Toddler groups and children's activities are helping families with younger children.

The Fairtrade Shop on St John's Hill allows us an opportunity to promote trade justice with other nations in a time of upheaval in world trade. Churches raise thousands of pounds every year for charities in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, South America, through larger agencies like Christian Aid, CAFOD and Tearfund or through activities like Trinity Churches in Meole Brace helping fund school buildings in Zambia.

Events like Soul Purpose in North Shrewsbury and The Noise in Bayston Hill see people actively looking to serve local people.

All of these, and many others not mentioned, help to express the love of God to those around and put our faith into practical action. Let us respond to the current economic situation by giving more, sharing more and doing more, as a blessing to the community in which we live and as a witness to Jesus.

Is our witness "Genuine"

A comment from Jon on this post got me thinking.

Personally I think the real issue is genuineness. E.g. 'Let's do a a pub quiz' - I'm there, whether it's in a church or not. But it has to be a quiz, not a covert operation to get me in church.

One reason 'men's ministry' struggles is because men are naturally suspicious...

I discussed this subject late last year but am moved to do so again.

I really, really dislike the "Come to an A,B,C,D whatever event on Saturday" and then in the small print * with a short talk about Jesus.

I remember vividly talking to a friend who had been invited by his Christian Union to a "Pancake party, with a short talk about Jesus". His point was simple:

"look, I like pancakes, and quite like the idea of a pancake party. I might be interested in a short talk about Jesus. But I am not interested in coming to one thing and getting another. Why can't they just be honest with me?"

I think this is where resources like Laurence Singlehurst's masterpiece "Sowing, Reaping, Keeping" really come to the fore. When we are talking about Jesus, let's invite people to hear. When we are having a pancake party, let's invite people to eat.

The "We are putting on this event to get you in a room so we can talk at you for the ten minutes at the end" way of doing witness is more akin to flogging Spanish timeshare holidays at a Cheese and wine evening or tours of Turkish carpet factories where they give you free shots of Raki.

I don't "just" want to do social events and never have the opportunity to explain the good news. Nor do I want to drive the articulated lorry of the gospel of over a small footbridge of a friendship too soon. Not without permission.

I do think our friends deserve the right to be informed of what they are coming to exactly, and then it is up to them to decide.

If our faith in genuine, then our witness certainly should be.

Impacting the Neighbourhood

This post from Marcus Honeysett got me thinking about serving the community and impacting the neighbourhood.

This got me thinking.

What is my "motive"? What is our "involvement"? How far is our "reach"? What would our "community" say about us?

This year has thrown up a few surprises for us with regard to how this Church is perceived.

• Firstly, the county council had a major meeting about youth work and they asked to host it here because we have the "largest youth work in the town", secular, church, or otherwise. We had not told them that. An upshot is in the new year the councillors are coming to speak to our 70+ teenagers about democracy, and our teenagers are going to pray for them and hear a talk about respecting government and what citizenship means (by me!).
  
• Secondly, the county council had a large important public meeting and needed an independent chair, and asked Martin, our lead elder, to chair the meeting.
• Thirdly, the press interest in what we are doing is growing, but more than that, there are now more press stories from other community groups who use our facilities than there are about Church activities.
  
• Fourthly, other people who have been to the Centre have started to use us in their publicity! Take this story about a lady with an Owl here. We started getting press associations and TV companies ringing up to follow the story, yet we have never heard of her and can only assume she came to a meeting here hosted by an outside group!

This subject got me thinking about the "Centre" programme for the last fortnight, outside of Sunday activities. Gosh it has been busy.

Thursday 4th
National Childbirth Trust: 25 people
Newfrontiers regional Leaders: 25 people
Early Years and Childcare Team Christmas Away Day (with lunch): 56 people
Friday 5th
Nursery Education Funding Working Group (with lunch): 11 people
Impact (Youth activities, Youth Alpha): 70 people
Monday 8th
"Outlook" Senior Citizen's Christmas Meal: 40 people.
Lip reading class, 6 people
Greyfriar's Badminton Club: 25 people
Tuesday 9th
Barneytots Christmas Party (with lunch): 90 people
Healthy eating course: 10 people
Wednesday 10th
"Taking Part" Christmas Party (people with learning difficulties / down syndrome). 45 people.
Early Years and Childcare team: 8 people
Thursday 11th
Senior Citizen's Forum meeting with Christmas Lunch: 77 people
Friday 12th
Mental Health Services (with lunch) :15 people
Post funeral gathering for a local resident (with lunch): 40 people
Impact (Youth activities, final week of Youth Alpha): 70 people
Saturday 13th
Kidz Klub Christmas Party (with food): 70 people
Jigsaw Choir Concert in aid of Shrewsbury Ark: Number unknown - over 50?
Monday 15th
Outlook senior citizens: 30 people
Lip reading course: 6 people
Greyfriar's Badminton Club: 25 people
Tuesday 16th
Children's Centre Services Christmas Party (with lunch) 220 people
Wednesday 17th
Mental Health team Christmas Lunch: 35 people
Thursday 18th
Carline Fields (Sheltered Housing) Christmas Dinner: 40 people
Friday 19th
Hazeldine Court (Sheltered Housing) Christmas Dinner: 38 people
Impact (Youth) Christmas Party (with food): 80 people

So excluding any Sunday stuff, we have welcomed 732 people to non church run events, serving them something like 627 lunches. We have welcomed 475 people to Church events - many of them are non church attenders, and 280 of them were also fed.

So I make that 1207 visits, receiving 907 meals, in 14 days, excluding Sunday services.

The aim of this is open hearted service to our community. There is no hard sell. We have Alpha Course posters, and Carol Service flyers, but overall - all this has very little "impact" in terms of souls saved or bums on seats on a Sunday. That is not why we do it.

An elderly lady in the sheltered housing next door told her daughter that she was looking forward her Christmas dinner at Barnabas Centre. Then she died. So the daughter came across, and asked, because her mother had so looked forward to celebrating her Christmas here, could they celebrate her life here instead. That was the highlight of this Christmas for me, to be the place where people come even in sadness, because they knew in life we did them good.

That is a gospel in action that opens the door for effective witness, and earns our right to explain what we believe, because it has already been expressed in love. yet all of them are "them to us" initiatives - reliant on a building, a physical presence and an army of volunteers. I wonder how I could gauge the "us to them" impact of these two weeks?