PENTECOST PRAISE

Sunday 19th May is PENTECOST SUNDAY.

And Bradford city centre will play host to an exciting festival of the Holy Spirit, seeking to bring together Christians from across the district and denominational spectrum...this will be an excellent opportunity to pray for the city, in the city, in the beautiful City Park, beside the Mirror Pool.

There will be a family fun day feel from 3pm, with activities and stalls

At 4.30pm a family picnic

Culminating in a worship service at 5pm.

I am excited to be leading the worship band at the service. We've brought together an exciting and talented bunch from across Bradford...it will be brilliant!

Hope & Gamble...it's started!

Sorry to keep banging on about this, but now it's started it would be rude to not remind you what you might potentially be missing out on.
Last night saw the Cathedral full, which in itself is an amazing spectacle!

You know something's caught people's imagination when congregants are arriving with over half an hour before the service starts. Normal church services are like film screenings - you know if you arrive five or ten minutes after the start you won't have missed much - maybe the notices! This is not like a usual service...

At 7.25pm the Band (the Hope and Gamble band...hmmm...we do need a better name!) played 'I've come to wash my soul'...a little known Graham Kendrick number from a few years back....(although as I write the name Graham Kendrick I can already sense Robin was right when he said this was a more radio 2 event than radio 1)

At 7.30pm on the nose (again - rare) we started.

Robin and Sue traded jokes and amusing anecdotal stories of their sporting prowess - related to the overall Olympic-related theme of 'More Than Gold'.

We then enjoyed a period of worship (Crown Him With Many Crowns sung with enormous vigour by the congregation!); interviews with Richard and Paul Walker - Bradfordians, brothers and both vicars (you can follow Paul on Twitter @paulwalker71); then a beautiful song by the talented John Froud.

The H&G Band then led the congregation in 'At The Foot Of The Cross' leading into 'My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less' - both songs not usually sung across Bradford churches but picked up easily.

Robin then spoke with pathos, humour, clarity and passion about the difference Jesus brings. He used the metaphor of a mile race - typically four laps of an athletic track - and he encouraged us to think about where we all are...in the main (without being cruel) many people last night would be late lap 3/lap 4 - sobering. But with his visual aids Robin demonstrated the stark reality of eternal life with Jesus.

In response we sang Amazing Grace - with an opportunity to respond individually as well - either for healing prayer - or to commit to a life with Jesus.

As a team member, it is sobering to see God at work - to reflect on how this one event, these evenings, sometimes just fragmentary moments totally transform a person's entire life - forever.

Perhaps you might want to bring someone - or bring yourself. 2 nights left: 7.30pm at Bradford Cathedral.

HOPE & GAMBLE

At a loose end this weekend? Feeling a bit listless?

You should check out: Hope and Gamble.

Starting tomorrow night, at Bradford Cathedral, and throughout the weekend there is going to be something special happening.

Sue Hope and Robin Gamble are presenting three evenings of what they are calling ‘Christianity with a Light Touch’. This is an opportunity for us to hear the good news of Jesus for ourselves and for our friends. An opportunity to hear afresh the challenge and comfort of the gospel.

The evenings are a mix of worship (brought by yours truly), performance (the legendary John Froud), interview, media, and talk.

This event was held in 2010 to much aclaim. See here for 2010's flier...

This year's theme is: More Than Gold

Each night starts at 7.30pm

Friday 18th May - The Race of Life

Birth, childhood, adulthood and growing older. It's all one big adventure, a journey, perhaps even a race against time.

Saturday 19th May - Not a Sprint, but a Marathon

Day after day, year after year, uphill and downhill, great times and difficult ones. And somehow, Jesus being alive and sharing the journey with us, offering healing, strength, inner peace and direction when we get lost.

Sunday 20th May -More Than Gold

Can we all win medals, or something even greater?
And if we can all be winners then why is Jesus the loser?
This is the time for the real you, the deep down you to draw close and receive something more than gold.

The event starts at 7.30pm each night...but (and I exaggerate not) you should come early to avoid bad seats!


About Robin and Sue:

Robin Gamble is Priest-in-charge of Idle and Bradford’s Diocesan Evangelist. Prior to that he was Canon Evangelist for Manchester Diocese. He is well known for leading St Augustine’s Church in Bradford from a congregation of 30, worshipping under a leaking roof to over 300 people worshipping in a completely renovated building, incorporating a cafe and public library. Robin was the originator of ‘The Gospel according to Queen’, ‘Bart Simpson meets Jesus’ and the Da Vinci code events.

Sue Hope is Priest-in-charge of Shipley, St. Paul’s and is also Adviser in Evangelism to the Bradford Diocese. Prior to that Sue was in parish ministry for nearly twenty years before becoming Sheffield Diocesan Missioner. She was a Canon of Sheffield Cathedral and is a member of the College of Evangelists and a Six Preacher of Cantebury Cathedral. Sue has vast experience both as a parish Priest and Rural Dean.

Living as a minority

Our bishop, Nick Baines, has blogged today on comments he's made about being a minority. I think this is a very important debate to had - how do we function as a 'national' church if we're a minority. However, I'm not sure about Nick's suggestion that we should look to the Muslim community as an example. This is my response to Nick:

This may seem somewhat facile but is it not more appropriate to think of
dwindling Christian communities as early church, where they were more
mission-orientated and certainly a minority?

There is a fundamental difference in the histories of the two faiths. Christians look back to an early church that was persecuted; Muslims look to a more triumphalist origin. This creates a different mindset.

I agree with your final paragraph that there are important challenges facing the church, but what conclusions could we draw from the Muslim community?

It is certainly true that parishes in Bradford are overwhelmingly outnumbered, made all the more frustrating when members of the congregation 'drive in' to church on a Sunday having left some time ago when the tide of immigrants became a worry. (This is a worrying trend, perhaps - Christians who feel called to worship in an area but not live there?)

The concern is that we end up with a siege mentality if we compare ourselves with our Muslim brothers and sisters. Churches don't think of being active, rather it's about protecting their church, the culture and congregation. We are about maintenance not mission.

Instead, we should, as you suggest, see the opportunity, which is to rethink our strategy of outreach, how the building is used by the community, how we present the gospel, how we seek to find culturally relevant ways of presenting Jesus. These are all things the early church did. I am not, as a Bradfordian, convinced we see this in the Muslim community around us.

Perhaps I'm not seeing this in the same way?!

What do people think?