The last blog .....

I said I would blog about the event that took place on Saturday morning and so here it is ....
For me this was a culmination of all the work I had been doing since September. By and large it was the same parents and children who came on Saturday with a few more from the church. There was about 22 children and 20 adults (including the organisers)

What a morning we had! Easter egg decorating, card making, crafts including making Easter chicks and eggs, colouring in, Easter egg hunt, refreshments etc and everyone took part - the adults enjoyed it as much as the children. It was a bit like Messy church and it worked!

During Holy Week a 24/7 prayer room had been set up and it was open on Saturday morning adults and children alike were moved having been in it! While standing outside I overheard a child say - come and see how Jesus died - I was moved as she dragged a grown up into the prayer room!

I'm glad this "experiment" "project" call it what you will has finished on such a high note! I should also add that at our Good Friday service which was a Tenebrae service I was amazed that some of the folk from Saturday morning (who don't come to Sunday worship) came to it! So there have been positives all round. On the down side I won't be around to follow this work up and build on it. I've enjoyed the experience, learnt from it and can use all of this in my new place of work ....... maybe the blog will continue after all??.....

The end ..... or is it?

During the past few weeks I have reflected on what the hopes were of the women who began to come on Saturday mornings way back in September.
They hoped to learn new things!

Well, we've learnt few new things .... how to bake scones, how to make muffins, how to make chocolates .... and eat them all!! That's what we've done over the past few weeks. I've been able to use the gifts and talents of other members of the congregation to do this which has been really good.

Last Saturday was the last! The children's club finished then so that's when we finished too. We met and chatted over coffee and hot cross buns, discussing aspects of Easter among other things.

Does it end here? Frankly I've no idea. All I know is my part in this experiment ends. I move on in a few months. So what remains? Thursday mornings continue with nearly the same people but with a couple more from the church who like cross stitching - this has been good to encourage fellowship, share life's joys and struggles as we talk and stitch around the table.

What's new? This Saturday, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, something akin to Messy Church will happen (I'll Blog later about that). I've had nothing to do with this other than plant seeds, encouraged people to use their imaginations and given them the freedom to experiment.

Saturday is a family day with Easter egg hunts, decorating Easter Eggs, crafts, food & drink, all based around the Easter message. A prayer room has been set up for Holy Week and it is hoped to use that during Saturday morning as people move about! This has been good because I have had a back seat in the planning! I'm just encouraged that people have seen what I have been trying to do on Saturday mornings and hopefully are prepared to experiment even more!

The end. (for now) ...

Attractional v Incarnational ...

"A truly missional church will be both incarnational and attractional," so says Stuart Murray in his book Planting Churches page 13 ..... and I say Amen!

I understand that few if any will be attracted to church events unless they are regular church goers but a missional church will "want to attract people to Jesus" (Murray) so its priority is "to equip its members to incarnate the gospel in all areas of society." (still Murray)

On the one hand I'm encouraging those that I work among (ie my congregation) to be Jesus in all aspects of their lives wherever they go.... incarnational. Their eyes have been opened to a fresh understanding of an aspect of evangelism through Bill Hybel's "Just walk across the room".
On the other hand I hope I'm attracting people to Jesus through the attempts of what Saturday and now Thursday mornings offer!

The Saturday mornings will cease before Easter but the Thursday mornings will continue for as long as those coming want!!

Requests for prayer have been made to me from those who come on Saturday mornings so the door is opening for those spiritual conversations or else they wouldn't ask for prayer! Going back to the Bill Hybels dvd that I've been doing at the Bible study .... he said to a colleague ... I'm not going to heaven without you ...... that is my heart for those I've got to know over the past few months!

I can only imagine .......