It's been a while since I last posted, but here's what's happened during the last 5 weeks:
I got back home in the afternoon, a big difference between Franklinville and Crewe, but good to be home anyway.
My plans for the new service at Coppenhall have come a long way during the two months I've been in America, and also the five weeks I've been back in Crewe, and also through two more meetings with David during the time back in Crewe also.
First of all, the new service will be called Re:Generation, it will run every other Wednesday between 7:30 and 8:30, starting on 6th February, at Coppenhall North Street Methodist Church. The first part of the service will be worship, led by our worship team, which includes the Re:Generation worship band, and a person who leads us in prayer. The worship will be made up of a group of worship songs, and also a congregational prayer, where the congregation has the opportunity to ask for something specific to be prayed for.
Afterwards, there will be a short 'opening' talk, lasting between 5 and 10 minutes, which will introduce the theme for the evening's service, and also the main biblical ideas relating to the theme. The congregation will then split into smaller groups, around 6 people, to discuss what has been said, lead by a group leader. The main idea the 'group discussion' is based upon, is the success of the Alpha Course, which uses the same approach, and also the idea that if through Re:Generation, we are hoping to bring people to faith, what better way to do this than to allow people to openly ask questions and discuss their ideas with people who are already Christians.
The themes will be grouped into series, each lasting about 3 or 4 services. At the end of each series, we will have a sermon, rather than a group discussion session, to 'wrap up' what's been discusses during the previous weeks. This will normally be lead by a local preacher.
We are still discussing what the best way to end the service is; up to now, the two ideas are to either have the Re:Generation band play another worship song at the end, or to have a short spoken ending followed by some quiet music played through the speakers.
Promoting the service has gone really well, I'm talking with the leader of the C.U at MMU in Crewe, hoping she will help promote Re:Generation at MMU, we've been on page 38 of the Crewe Chronicle (23rd Jan), and also page 2 of the Crewe Mail (23 Jan). I also had the opportunity to give every church leader in Crewe a promotion pack during a joint service for all churches in Crewe a few days ago.
So Re:Generation starts in less than two weeks time, I'm sure that with so many people praying about this, everything will go fine. Depending on the success of recording the service (since it's failed to record everytime so far), I'll upload a clip of the band playing, and the main spoken parts too.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Leading worship with the youth band
Well, the day which the youth band has been preparing for 6 weeks actually came today. And depending on how you look at it, it was either a distaster, or an interesting time of worship.
Our other guitarist and bassist never showed up, and so we went through the soundcheck sounding a bit different to how we liked, but still sounding good. We ran through the four songs we were playing, and they sounded pretty good!
Then I took the band into a side room, and eacham member of the band prayed seperately. By the time we had finished praying, it was 10:45, and so we got into the band area just as the service started. The notices were read, and I stood up to play the opening chord, and no sound came out. In fact the only sound that came about was the sound of people laughing (since it was probably quite a funny sight)! I can remember laughing, and just saying "the Lord will provide". And he did, he provided me with an accoustic guitarist who was willing to give me his guitar. Although I think by the way I took it from him, he probably didn't think he had too much of a choice! Dave Johnson is one of the youth leaders here, and he's pretty new to playing accoustic guitar, and he practiced hard for this service, so I'm really thankful he took it all in a good way. So the whole worship was done with me playing accoustic, and the rest of the band did great, since everythin else went perfectly.
I looked out at the congegration a couple of times, and they were all worshiping God. And the job of a worship band is to draw people closer to God in worship, and so however it was done, (and it wasn't how I expected), we still did that, and so it all worked out great, and even though we had to do things a bit differently to how we planned, it was an amazing service, and everybody enjoyed it!
Below are some audio clips of how the worship went. (And for all you silver surfers out there, if you can't hear it, turn on your speakers!). And the start's pretty quiet, so you might need to turn your speakers up.
Our other guitarist and bassist never showed up, and so we went through the soundcheck sounding a bit different to how we liked, but still sounding good. We ran through the four songs we were playing, and they sounded pretty good!
Then I took the band into a side room, and eacham member of the band prayed seperately. By the time we had finished praying, it was 10:45, and so we got into the band area just as the service started. The notices were read, and I stood up to play the opening chord, and no sound came out. In fact the only sound that came about was the sound of people laughing (since it was probably quite a funny sight)! I can remember laughing, and just saying "the Lord will provide". And he did, he provided me with an accoustic guitarist who was willing to give me his guitar. Although I think by the way I took it from him, he probably didn't think he had too much of a choice! Dave Johnson is one of the youth leaders here, and he's pretty new to playing accoustic guitar, and he practiced hard for this service, so I'm really thankful he took it all in a good way. So the whole worship was done with me playing accoustic, and the rest of the band did great, since everythin else went perfectly.
I looked out at the congegration a couple of times, and they were all worshiping God. And the job of a worship band is to draw people closer to God in worship, and so however it was done, (and it wasn't how I expected), we still did that, and so it all worked out great, and even though we had to do things a bit differently to how we planned, it was an amazing service, and everybody enjoyed it!
Below are some audio clips of how the worship went. (And for all you silver surfers out there, if you can't hear it, turn on your speakers!). And the start's pretty quiet, so you might need to turn your speakers up.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Skiing
I really recommend working in the US, you go to concerts, beaches, and now even skiing! Makes me wonder what people do for fun...
Bob Chaney and Christian, one of the guys from the youth group took me to West Virginia on Friday, to do some work on a printer again and then to go skiing. We got to the ski resort at about 5pm, half an hour after the slopes closed, so we checked into a hotel and decided to spend the whole next day skiing.
That night we got some dinner, checked out some of the shops, (the shopping wasn't my idea this time!), and then we went for a swim in some of the outdoor pools! Christian and I decided to jump in one of the pools, and then jump out, and see who could stand out of the pool the longest. The first person to jump into the hot tub which was next to the pool (or the first person to die) lost. The loser got to sleep on the floor. Bob called it off though not long after we jumped out for fear of us catching hypothermia. So we went in the pool for a bit, and then in the hot tub for quite a while as well. Then we found out there was another two pools around the side of the hotel, so we decided to walk around to check them out. We probably stayed in the pools for around 2 hours.
After breakfast at Starbucks the next day, we hired out skis and boots, and then went on the slopes. Bob decided it would be best if he didn't ski, just in case something happened to him, and so it was just me and Christian skiing. I only fell over once as well! But that was to avoid two snowboarders who decided it was a good idea to sit in the middle of a blind corner and have a chat. In fact, there were many snowboarders who just decided to sit in the middle of the slopes for a rest. Maybe it's a snowboarder thing, because it appeared all the people with skis on had more sense, and sat on the side of the slopes if they needed a rest. We probably got on the slopes at 10, and I came off around 4.
Here are some of the photos we took:
I wasn't really cold...
When we walked from the first swimmig pool, round the hotelto the other one, I thought it would be quicker if I didn't put
my shoes on. And I was right, I've never run so fast in my
whole life! I didn't have any feeling up to my knees though after.
The towel was frozen solid
Outside one of the pools
West Virginia Mountains
The evening on the first day
Christian was so tired after the trip, he said he didn't care where he slept
Me in my ski gear
In the pool. My hair was actually frozen!
Mini Christian!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Normality has once again ascended upon Grays Chapel...
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Visiting prison
On Wednesday, Doug took my mum, Pat and I to Asheboro jail, for a Thanksgiving meal for the bible study group there. We met loads of great people, many of who were totally committed Christians. Many of the people I talked to said they became a Christian whilst in prison. The majority of the people were in prison because of drug offences.
One guy I talked to said he had a good, stable, and well paid job working in business, and he thought a few small drug deals could bring in more money, and he just got greedy. We also met a guy called Harrison who had a multi-million dollar estate, a thriving funeral business, and a slightly odd view of the world around him. He said he wanted my mum to find a music studio and a wife for him... So I gave him her number. After the thanksgiving meal, a guy called Theodor led us in singing some praise songs. He made an impression, because this Sunday, he was in Grays Chapel leading the call to worship! While we were there, we also managed to orgaise the next exchange - I hope David likes prison food...
My mum trying to negotiate with Harrison about finding
him a wife - she really didn't want to!
Harrison again
One guy I talked to said he had a good, stable, and well paid job working in business, and he thought a few small drug deals could bring in more money, and he just got greedy. We also met a guy called Harrison who had a multi-million dollar estate, a thriving funeral business, and a slightly odd view of the world around him. He said he wanted my mum to find a music studio and a wife for him... So I gave him her number. After the thanksgiving meal, a guy called Theodor led us in singing some praise songs. He made an impression, because this Sunday, he was in Grays Chapel leading the call to worship! While we were there, we also managed to orgaise the next exchange - I hope David likes prison food...
My mum trying to negotiate with Harrison about findinghim a wife - she really didn't want to!
Serving up the meal
Harrison again
The bible study group
Last day of the miner's strike
The day after Thanksgiving is when people get up at 4 in the morning to be lining up outside shops at 5, so they can make the most of the sale. And so since my mum and Pat liked shopping so much, I thought we'd do that... Well I met them halfway with the times, and we got up at 5 instead!
So at about 7:15, we were in Burlington mall, we had breakfast in Starbucks, and then spent maybe 2 and a half hours in the mall before driving to Durham, to a shop called Guitar Centre, and then to another mall in Durham (we 'stumbled across this one, honest...). After lunch in Subway, we drove to Raleigh, where we went to another mall and another Guitar Centre! And so at about 7:00, we drove back to Amber and Kenneth's house. The only problem we didn't foresee was how we were to transport all the things we bought back to Franklinville (my truck has no boot). And so with barely enough room for my mum in the back as it is, we piled what seemed like an ever increasing amount of bags around and on top of her. After everything was in the truck, all you could see of my mum was her head!
And so for a person who doesn't really 'do' shopping, that's my year's worth done, and in the process, I made two women vow they would never enter another shop with me again...
Result!
So at about 7:15, we were in Burlington mall, we had breakfast in Starbucks, and then spent maybe 2 and a half hours in the mall before driving to Durham, to a shop called Guitar Centre, and then to another mall in Durham (we 'stumbled across this one, honest...). After lunch in Subway, we drove to Raleigh, where we went to another mall and another Guitar Centre! And so at about 7:00, we drove back to Amber and Kenneth's house. The only problem we didn't foresee was how we were to transport all the things we bought back to Franklinville (my truck has no boot). And so with barely enough room for my mum in the back as it is, we piled what seemed like an ever increasing amount of bags around and on top of her. After everything was in the truck, all you could see of my mum was her head!
And so for a person who doesn't really 'do' shopping, that's my year's worth done, and in the process, I made two women vow they would never enter another shop with me again...
Result!
Thanksgiving
On Thursday, the we had about 20 people staying at the parsonage to celebrate thanksgiving together. There was Doug's 3 brothers and his sister, and their families! From Wednesday night through Friday night, my mum, Pat and I stayed at Amber and Kenneth Ward's house (there wasn't enough beds, airbeds, sofas, caravans or trailers to fit us in the parsonage!). We had 'loads' of fun with their two boys (4 and 2), they showed me every one of their toys, and then played for hours!
On Thursday, we went over to the church for Thanksgiving lunch (there wasn't enough chairs in the house for us all, and we had to use an industrial sized kitchen!). We had a 'huge' turkey lunch, and then after, we went back to the parsonage to sleep, watch football, and look in the papers for what's in the sales on Friday.
Looking at what's in the sales
On Thursday, we went over to the church for Thanksgiving lunch (there wasn't enough chairs in the house for us all, and we had to use an industrial sized kitchen!). We had a 'huge' turkey lunch, and then after, we went back to the parsonage to sleep, watch football, and look in the papers for what's in the sales on Friday.
Looking at what's in the sales
Making smores - toasted marshmallows, with
chocolate, in between two crackers
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