outlook - st barnabas church, middlesbrough– growing in the prophetic – guidelines and good...
TRANSCRIPT
I have been thoroughly enjoying the various events
of our 125th anniversary celebrations. It is
particularly satisfying that the organ restoration has
been completed this year, thanks to a hugely
generous anonymous gift of £100,000.
Anniversaries are inevitably times of looking back.
Just last week someone handed me a copy of the
booklet that was produced for the 50th Anniversary
of the current St Barnabas building. It was in 1942,
the midst of the Second World War.
I was reminded again of all that the first Vicar,
William Dales, did during his fifty years at St
Barnabas. Not only did he see through the
completion of our building. It was largely thanks to
his indefatigable efforts that three daughter
churches were built; St James’ on Crescent Road,
St Mark’s in Grove Hill (now St Oswald’s) and St
Martin’s in Whinney Banks. Today they would be
called ‘church plants’. It was during Vicar Dales’
time that the organ was built at a cost of £2,000
and renovated for a further £2,000, an indication of
how times have changed.
Outlook Monthly Newsletter of St Barnabas
Parish Church of Linthorpe and Ayresome
September 2017
‘Go Forward’
By the time of the Jubilee
celebrations this was recorded of
the church:
‘So far this record is mostly about
buildings, but a much greater work
has been done during these fifty
years amongst multitudes of
people. Although the Church is
very large, it has always been a ‘full
church’, with real congregational
worship, and good music, with a
strong communicant life and
m iss ionary zea l . Eas ter
communicants have exceeded
1,400, a tax on Church and Clergy,
and the parish has been proud to
pay the largest quota to the
Diocesan Fund.’
Much has changed since those war
years, and indeed since the church
was built in the Victorian era, but I
hope the same spirit of worship,
excellence in music, community,
missionary zeal and generosity still
pervades at St Barnabas.
When I first became a Christian in
the 1970’s two film strips, both by
John Stott, one of the most
influential Anglicans of the last
century, were in common use.
One was a basic Christianity
course, the other a confirmation
course. As the tape recorder
played the voiceover the person in
control of the slide projector
would roll the strip on to the
appropriate slide at the right time
(in theory!). It was pretty high
tech back then.
The Alpha film course which we
are currently using has such high
production values and is set in so
many international and exotic
locations it is almost like watching
one of the Bourne films.
The presentation has changed, but
the essential message is still the
same; the wonderful good news of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
and all that God has done for us, is
doing for us and will do for us
through Him. God in Christ by
the power of the Holy Spirit is
doing a great work in multitudes
Vicar John William Dales
of people today and St Barnabas is
still playing its part in that.
That would not be so if nothing
had changed at St Barnabas and if
at some stage it was decided to
keep things as they were, as if
suspending them in aspic. As it is,
each generation of St Barnabas has
sought to preach the same good
news within an ever changing
culture. That often presents
significant challenges, not least in
deciding what can change in line
with society’s values without
compromising the gospel. (The
very welcome developments in the
ministry of women in the church
are a case in point.)
Looking back has its place, not
least if it reminds us of God’s
faithfulness and results in praise
and thanksgiving to him for all that
he has done. It also challenges us
to remain faithful to him and to
the task to which he calls us, as
our forebears at St Barnabas
remained faithful in their
generation.
But whilst we may look back, our
direction of travel must never be
backward. The motto of our first
vicar, ‘Daddy’ Dales, was ‘Go
Forward’. Close to his death has
wrote, ‘I have attempted greater
things than I have been able to do.
I still, however, want you to ‘Go
Forward’. I believe God honoured
his continual drive to discover and
move into God’s future.
As the church seeks God’s will for
its future under the leadership of a
new vicar, it can do to take the
motto of its first vicar as its own:
‘Go Forward’.
Erik
The Alpha Course A new Alpha Course will begin on Wednesday 13th September in the
narthex. During my time as vicar I have had the great joy of seeing many
people meet God and come to a life changing faith in Jesus Christ through
the various Alpha courses that have run. Many in our congregation can
testify to how Jesus met them through Alpha.
Alas, this will be my last opportunity as vicar of St Barnabas to be involved
in running an Alpha Course, but I expect and believe that God will be at
work through it.
Please do prayerfully consider whom you might invite on the course.
Could it be one of the five people you have been praying for since the
‘Kingdom Come’ initiative? Maybe someone completely different will come
to mind. Follow the hunch!
Evening Services in the autumn You will see from the programme card that we will have several guest
preachers at our evening services in the autumn. In our series, ‘City Vision’
we will be exploring the role of the church in the city in which it is set.
(Middlesbrough may not officially be a city, but in biblical terms a city is
defined by the density of its population, and so I think our town fits that
definition of city.) The series will
consist of sermons setting out
some of the things we discover
from the bible about the city in
God’s purposes, and also input
from those who are involved in
practical ministry to the town of
Middlesbrough. I hope it will help
us as we seek to discover God’s
vision for Middlesbrough and our
role within his vision.
From the Registers
Funeral at St Barnabas
16th August Arthur Edward Shaw aged 71
Going Deeper In order to give the maximum number of people the opportunity to attend
the Alpha Course (see above), there will be no ‘Going Deeper’ in the
autumn months.
Messiah As part of our 125th Anniversary Celebrations a performance of Handel’s
Messiah is to take place in St Barnabas Church at 7pm on Saturday 28th
October. A hundred strong choir, primarily made up of people from St
Barnabas Church and then friends who sing in the choirs who rehearse in St
Barnabas, together with a line up of talented soloists under the direction of
Gillian Sild, will perform this famous work.
There will be five rehearsals in church. If you are interested in coming to
sing as part of the choir, there are leaflets available from the narthex. Please
sign the tear off slip and return it to Alistair Bolton as soon as possible.
Mondays from 7.30pm in the Reid Room
11th September – 30th October 2017
This autumn we are running The Prophecy Course. Using a mixture of
interactive teaching, group discussion and opportunities to have a go
for ourselves, The Prophecy Course is designed to help all people to
hear from God and use the gifts of prophecy.
The Prophecy Course seeks to give “a solid, biblical foundation for
their understanding of the prophetic” and provide people “with the
confidence to step out and use the gift of prophecy.”
The course is open to all, whether or not you have any experience of
prophecy, and takes a down-to-earth accessible approach to the
following topics:
– Understanding Prophecy
– Tuning In
– Learning to Hear God’s Voice
– The Holy Spirit
– Values
– Growing in the Prophetic
– Guidelines and Good Practice
– Weighing Prophecies; Responding to the Prophetic
– Prophetic Ministry
We will be asking for a contribution to cover the costs of the
participant booklets (suggested donation £7).
More information is available on the accessible prophecy website:
http://accessibleprophecy.com/resources/the-prophecy-course/
To sign-up and for more details contact Sam Tyndall (sam@st-
barnabas.net)
Sunday 17th September
2.30 pm
at St Barnabas Church, Linthorpe
to celebrate 125 years of St Barnabas
followed by refreshments
All welcome
Songs of Praise
for Middlesbrough Deanery
Family Ceilidh There will be a family ceilidh on Saturday 14th October, 6 - 9 p.m. in the
church hall. Tickets will be available soon. Come along and bring your
friends. All welcome.
St Barnabas Church Office, 1A St Barnabas Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 6JR
Phone: 01642 812622 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.st-barnabas.net
Sunday 3rd September Normal morning service pattern resumes
Week beginning 3rd September Life groups meet
Monday 4th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church
PCC meets, 7.15 pm in the Reid Room
Thursday 7th September Men’s Fellowship meets, 2 pm in the narthex
Monday 11th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church
Wednesday 13th September Alpha Course begins, 7.15 pm in the narthex
Sunday 17th September Deanery Songs of Praise, 2.30 pm in church
Week beginning 17th September Life groups meet
Monday 18th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church
Prayer Team meets, 7.30 pm in the Reid Room
Wednesday 20th September Alpha Course, 7.15 pm in the narthex
Thursday 21st September Men’s Fellowship meets, 2 pm in the narthex
Friday 22nd September World’s Largest Coffee Morning, 10 am—12 noon in the
narthex
Monday 25th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church
Wednesday 27th September Alpha Course, 7.15 pm in the narthex
Friday 29th September Lydia Group meets, 2 pm in the Reid Room
Diary