b e l o n g - g r o w - g o

July 2011

the magazine of

Notice Board

Letter from the Vicar

Mission News

Meet the Architect

GAFCON

General Synod

Hope’s Place

BSOCS

11am Weekend

8am Service

Walter Dirks

Reviews

The Back Page

What’s inside?

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Notices BOOK OF THE TERM

AVAILABLE AT THE BOOKSTALL

We do not make requests of you because we are righteous,

but because of your great mercy - Dan 9:18

Our annual Prayer Week has begun! This coming week, September 4 -10 we will

have meetings in church every evening. Flyers are available and no other church

meetings will take place. Do try to get to at least one of these services.

SARA WADSWORTH Sara flies out to Israel on 24th August for a year. She will be working as a houseparent at a boarding school called House of Hope for disabled children in Bethlehem on the West bank.

SILVER ANNIVERSARIES

We send our warmest congratulations to

five Christ Church couples who celebrate

their silver wedding anniversaries this year,

Heather and Will Power;(March)

Janet and Rob Lee; (March)

Jean and John Diwell; (April)

Katharine and Richard Hill; (April)

and Jacquie & Paul Stevens.(October)

Here’s to the next 25 years!

Rupert HigginsOur love and support go

with Rupert Higgins as he has been appointed Vicar of St Mark’s, Talbot Village near Bournemouth. He will be licensed on September 30th at 7.30pm. Rupert is

very excited by the opportunities this parish presents where there are

many openings for the gospel.

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a typical home groupA group of 10 to 15 adults meeting each week in one of their home’s. On the surface, they have little in common - little reason to commit to meeting together so regularly.

There are people in their twenties through to those well into retirement; single and married; new Christians and those who came to faith long before other members of the group were born.

This is a Christ Church home group and - as bizarre as it may seem - it’s at the heart of how we live as God’s Kingdom people.

In many ways, the first century church looked much like today’s home groups - diverse groups of people, meeting in each other’s homes and united by their faith in Christ. Often, there would only be one such group in a city - with the next church being a day’s travel away. Yet it was as these groups learnt, prayed and shared their lives with each other, that God’s Spirit worked to build his people and bring the Gospel to the world.

The aim of our groups at Christ Church is similar. They are places where we can build strong relationships, in a way that is not possible on a Sunday.

Together we study and reflect on God’s Word, and support each other as we seek to live by it; we pray for each other and the things God lays on our hearts as a group; we go out to serve God in our neighbourhoods and the world; and, importantly, we have fun - groups enjoy meals, social events or weekends away together.

The diverse membership of the groups means deep relationships don’t always come easily at first - but that’s the point - as we meet and grow together we’re doing something profoundly counter-cultural. And in a small way we’re beginning to anticipate God’s new creation when the full diversity of his people live with him together.

There are approximately 30 home groups in Christ Church, meeting on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evenings in homes across the city. There are also day time groups meeting. Each one has its own style, with many serving together in a particular area of ministry or supporting a specific mission partner or initiative.

Most groups have a cross-section of the church membership within them, but there are also groups for international visitors, seniors and morning groups for women. Peter & Helen O’Donnell

If you’d like to know more

or join a group, do talk to

Cathy or anyone already

involved. Any of the

groups would welcome

newcomers to try them

out before joining.

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Picture the scene. Someone new to Christ Church asks you about Tuesday Central. How would you reply? Helpfully, the title does indicate two key aspects of Tuesday Central! It meets on a Tuesday, at a central location - in the Christ Church crypt. But would you be able to explain what really happens at Tuesday Central?

In many ways, Tuesday Central is set out to operate in the same way as a home group. We meet together to study the bible in small groups; we support and pray for one another; we are committed to equipping and helping each other to tell non-Christians about the good news of what Jesus has done for each of us through his death and resurrection.

There is no doubt that Christ Church can be a big and intimidating place for new people. Despite the great work that

the welcome team does each Sunday, the size of the church can often prevent new people feeling like they can become a valuable part of our church family. Just think back to when you were new to Christ Church! Ultimately, Tuesday Central aims to provide a platform for people predominantly in their 20s and 30s to actively grow in their faith at Christ Church, while also getting to know a group of people who are about the same age and are often at a similar stage of life.

However, what makes Tuesday Central stand

out is that it aims to provide all of these things in an

alternative, more informal way. Meeting at one

location means that each of the six small groups is able to interact with

each other week by week. This means that Tuesday Central really is a great place for new

people to quickly get to know a lot of other Christians. Whether over coffee at the beginning, or through responding to God through sung worship at the end of the evening, Tuesday Central provides a different environment for people to engage with one another as a part of our church.

tuesday central

The hope is that those who come to TC are able to belong, grow and go as part of the Christ Church family. It is important

that everyone is given the opportunity to belong through being part of small group, to grow and be equipped by becoming

rooted in the truth of God’s Word, and go on to serve God within our church family and the wider community. Matt Shortman

Tuesday Central really is a great place for new people to quickly get to know a lot of other Christians

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tom wright

Future lecture - “Apocalypse Now! The environmental crisis and the Book of Revelation”

Simon Woodman on 25 October 2011

After graduating at Oxford University in Greats and Theology, Tom Wright went on to do a DPhil on St Paul. Thereafter, he was: Assistant Professor of New Testament at McGill University 1981- 86; Fellow, Chaplain and Lecturer at Worcester College, Oxford 1986-93; Dean of Lichfield Cathedral 1994-99; Canon of Westminster Abbey 2000-03; and Bishop of Durham 2003-10. He is now resident Professor in New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of St Andrews. He has written many books, especially the Christian Origins and Question of God series and the “Everyone’s” series. He also writes in the press and broadcasts. Tom is married to Maggie and has 4 children and 3 grandchildren. He enjoys music and is a bad, but happy golfer!

Tuesday 11th January 2011

Lecture begins 7:30pm

Christ Church Clifton

Entrance fee £5

The four Gospels are well known at one

level and hardly at all at another. Most

churches have found it hard to hold

together Jesus’ inauguration of God’s

kingdom on earth as in heaven, on the

one hand, with his saving death on the

other. Yet the evangelists seem to think

they are part of the same whole truth.

How can we retune our ears and lives

to their full message?

For the Creeds and many Christians it

would be enough for Jesus to have been

born of a virgin, died on a cross and done

nothing else in between. So why did

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John bother

with all the stuff in the middle? Was it

just the “back story” of the Saviour? Or,

if as liberal theology has insisted it was

all about the Kingdom as a social project,

why the cross? How can we make sense

of the fact that the four evangelists seem

to think it all fits together? How, in short,

can we tune into what the gospels are

actually saying?

Further Reading by Tom Wright:Christian Origins and Question of God series, especially “New Testament and People of God” and “Jesus and Victory of God”“Surprised by Hope”“The Challenge of Jesus”“Evil and the Justice of God”

About BSOCSThe Bristol School of Christian Studies (BSOCS) provides teaching from a biblical perspective by high calibre teachers on a range of current issues. As an independent

body sponsored by a number of Bristol churches and colleges, its meetings are open to all. BSOCS is sponsored by Alma Church, Clifton; Bristol Baptist College; Bristol Christian Fellowship; Cairns Road Baptist Church; Christ Church Clifton; Church of Christ the Rock, Yate; Redland Parish Church; St Mary Magdalene Church Stoke Bishop; Trinity College, Bristol and Woodlands Christian Centre, on behalf of all Christians in the Bristol area and to complement the teaching of the local churches.

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Are you reading this at home? Are you sitting comfortably? Sometimes it is easy to take our surroundings for granted. Can you imagine being made redundant, falling behind on your mortgage payments and a family member becoming ill so you need to become their carer? It is a horrible thought, but for some people it is a reality.

People become homeless for a variety of reasons: domestic violence, house fire, illness and political and or social persecution leading to the need to leave a home country, to name a few. The result of being forced to leave their home, move into temporary accommodation and wait to hear about a new home is detrimental to people’s lives and children in particular, in almost every respect.

20 years ago when SPACE was set up, families who became homeless were put into B&Bs for lengths of time. The government aimed to end the use of

this form of accommodation for homeless families with children by March 2004. Most of the families referred to us at SPACE now are from local authority hostels, tenancy support officers, Shelter, Barnardos, supported Housing Associations and NextLink. SPACE really is a link in a chain to enable people re-establish a healthy life.

There is not much attraction to returning to an unfamiliar area and a house or flat with no furniture. Once you have the basic items to sleep, cook, eat and study/work, then you can start to look forward.

Members of Christ Church, Clifton help make this happen. The charity was founded by members of the church; our longest furniture removal and warehouse volunteers are members of the church and the church helps fund core costs which can be difficult to find funding for from other sources. Many members have also been involved with our Christmas project as well.

If you would like to know more about our activities, become a volunteer or donate furniture or private funds, however big or small, please contact the Operations Manager, Ruth Soandro-Jones.

Email: ruth@spacetrust.org.ukTel: 0117 907 5355

There is not much attraction to returning to an unfamiliar area and a house or flat with no furniture.

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Put ‘Joni Eareckson Tada’ or simply ‘Joni Eareckson’ into your internet search engine and it will come up with several thousand hits. She even has her own Wikipedia page! But who is Joni and why am I writing about her in this column?

Joni Eareckson was an American teenager growing up in the 1960s in a loving Christian family. She was very active, particularly enjoying horse riding. But her life was changed forever one day in 1967 when, as a 17-year-old, she dived into sea which was too shallow. She broke her neck and was completely paralysed. Angry at God, she questioned and wrestled with the truths of the Bible, searching to understand how God had allowed this to happen to her.

Slowly, she came to a realisation that this was part of God’s plan for her. She learned to draw and paint using her mouth. She published the story of her accident, Joni, and later played herself in the film of the same name. People began to respond to her story and the struggle she was having with accepting suffering in her own life and the life of others, so she wrote another book, A Step Further, in which she quotes from letters she had received from suffering people and discusses the nature of suffering.

Her ministry developed to such an extent that she is now the founder and president of Joni and Friends, an organisation accelerating Christian outreach in the disability community worldwide and has written over 46 books.

If you haven’t yet read any of Joni’s books, I would recommend that you start with The God I Love: A Lifetime of Walking with Jesus. This is her autobiography, tracing her life from early childhood to the present day.

joni eareckson tadaHer life isn’t just a source of interest for the sick or disabled - her quest is to draw closer to God, and she wishes to share this quest with the able-bodied and disabled alike. At every point, step by step, Joni places her faith and trust in God, and is brave enough to share with us her joys and her sorrows, her achievements and her defeats.

Joni’s writing has had a profound effect on my own Christian life; her story was one of the very first books I read on becoming a Christian. I urge you to get reading!

http://www.joniandfriendsnews.com/docs/bio_joni.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joni_Eareckson_Tada#References

Alison Capey

a ministry from brokenness

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Christ Church contacts:

Brownies - Nikki Dermot - 0117 902 3575Children @ Christ Church - Jane Simpkins - 0117 973 2593Christ Church Bookstall - Olivia Murray - 0117 973 6524Christ Church Recordings - Roger Watkins - 0117 969 8735Christ Church Website - Olivia Murray - 0117 973 6524Christianity Explored - Dan Clark - 0117 973 2128Community Centre - Nelly Davis - 0117 973 6524Discipleship Explored - Rupert Higgins - 0117 973 6524Evangelism at Christ Church - Dan Clark - 0117 973 2128Fifty Plus - Joan Grigg - 0117 942 8480Growing Christians - Rupert Higgins - 0117 973 6524Home Groups - Cathy Brodie - 0117 973 6524Marriage Course - Katharine Hill - 0117 973 6524Monday Fellowship - Nelly Davis - 0117 973 6524Mosaic/Student Group - Matt Rowland - 0117 973 1591Music @ Christ Church - Jonathan Bramwell - 0117 973 2011Mums' Groups - Ginny O’Conor - 0117 962 1981Newcomers and Welcoming - Cathy Brodie - 0117 973 6524Pastoral Care Team - Cathy Brodie - 0117 973 6524PCC - Olivia Murray - 0117 973 6524Prayer @ Christ Church - Cathy Brodie - 0117 973 6524Senior Members - Nelly Davis - 0117 973 6524The Hub (20s & 30s) - Wayne Massey - 0117 973 5220Tuesday Central - Wayne Massey - 0117 973 5220Women’s events - Cathy Brodie - 0117 973 6524Youth @ Christ Church - Neil Hopkins - 0117 973 9640

Our missions and mission partners - here and around the world:

Aquila - Patricia Holroyd - 07807 058479BCAN Homeless Forum - Val Moore - 01275 835489BISC - Bristol International Student Centre - 0117 915 9826Breakfast Run - Amy Carter - 07769 777097Bristol Nights - Alison Capey - 0117 950 5506Bristol Nightstop - 0117 924 4444Brown Bag Collections - Val Moore - 01275 835489Business Breakfast - Nick Ball - 01275 373555CALM - Paul Gibson - 0117 968 5810Caring@Christmas - 0117 924 4444Crisis Centre Ministries - Graham Donald - 07980 191933Easton Families Project - Gill Miles - 0117 955 5877Falcon Camps - Gill Miles - 0117 955 5877Filwood Hope - David Redshaw - 0117 963 4566Hope's Place - Carrie - 0117 968 6303International Visitors - Philip & Sandy Starke - 0117 330 7415Julian Trust - Jenny Oates - 01275 852806King's Kitchen Project - 0117 955 4318Global Mission Team - Janet Lee - 0117 973 5311Network Counselling - 0117 950 7271One25 - 0117 909 8832Pre School - Jayne Coller - 01275 392786Soup Run - Nick Ball - 01275 373555Space - Cathy Rodmell - 0117 907 5355Sports Evangelism - Neil Perrett - 07715 704956

who to speak to... who to speak to... who to speak to...

Christ Church Clifton, 16 Mortimer Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4EY. Tel: 0117 973 6524 Fax: 0117 904 7065Website: www.christchurchclifton.org.uk E-mail: info@christchurchclifton.org.uk

Contact us If there is anything you would like to contribute to this magazine, either by writing, interviewing, proof reading, photography,

or just wanting to be involved do let us know. Either write or e-mail f.a.o. Julia Patterson - thank you.

Congratulations to Justyn and Lucy McIlhinney on the birth of Sasha, David & Johanna Barton on the birth of Phoebe, Sherif & Mandy Wilson on the birth of Noah, Ian & Gayle Hallett on the birth of Jessi and Matt & Louise Rowland on the birth of Emily

Weddings 13th June - Mike Underwood and Ali Walsh27th June - Lawal Afuwape and Anna Miles11th July - Etienne Coetzee and Sarah Lambert18th July - Peter Skerratt and Alice Gibbs24th July - David Ashley and Jemma Davies25th July - Matthew Taylor and Gemma Jones25th July - Gavin Tufton and Anna Lloyd

family matters WEEK OF PRAYER 14th - 20th Sept ‘...you will call upon me and pray to me and I will listen to you..’ Jer 29:12

At Christ Church, from 14-21 September, we are calling the church family to make prayer a priority. God invites us to be part of His work on earth through our prayers -and we need His guidance, His help and His power in all we seek to do for Him.

There will be various ways of praying, as individuals and as part of our church community. The church will be open each day for individuals to pray through creative, interactive Prayer Stations. There will be daily Prayer Gatherings in the evenings, traditional services at other times, and a prayer walk on Saturday afternoon. Please plan to join us.

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