Effective Groove

'Effective Groove' - A Fund Raising Gig For People In Need. 'For One Night Only' Olu Rowe got together a highly talented bunch of musicians and singers to give up their time and create a few grooves 'n' tunes for a fund raising gig on Wednesday 30th November 7.30 pm at Chase. 'Effective Groove' consisted of a six-piece band and five singers who covered Soul, Motown, and Dance songs. All the musicians  donated their time for free. All the money raised will be donated to causes supported by our church abroad. An audience of around sixty were treated to a brilliant night. Thanks to Olu and 'Effective Groove'.

Kind Of Funny

We had a comedy and supper night with award winning comedian Andy Kind (see www.andykind.co.uk) Described by The Scotsman as 'Terrific', and by BBC online as 'A future star', Andy has been featured on BBC1, ITV, Channel 4 and national radio. In addition, he has been asked to support the likes of Tim Vine and Milton Jones on their national tours. Andy engaged his audience with a stunning and spontaneous routine which was obviously not a routine! Tickets were £10 and included drinks and supper (Jacket potato with salad and choice of filling - chicken curry/vegetarian chilli/tuna mayonnaise/cheese and baked beans). We had ice creams in the interval for a quid. Profits will go to Becky's XLP fund - a youth charity http://www.xlp.org.uk As a footnote, Church & Community worker Steve Bridge opened the show to warm the audience up as they were cold. He was kind of funny.

Totally Weird Or Totally Wired?

Technology!  Totally Weird Or Totally Wired?   They have their first mobile phone at the age of 7 and by the time they are teenagers, half of all their written communication will be by text message. They spend more time online than watching TV and seven out of ten have their own website or social networking profile. They are as likely to upload their own videos as download music and they spend up to three hours a day talking in internet chat-rooms and instant messaging. This is where young people 'live' in 2011, a new digital world that is changing what it means to be a teenager in Britain today. This is just the beginning. However, this world is weird to many of us who are responsible for safeguarding and caring for young people. Totally weird for some of us (lol)!  How can parents, churches and youth workers not only understand what is happening, but also change the way we work with young people to take account of it? Last night (24th November) Chris Curtis and Matt Summerfield from Urban Saints presented a high-quality, interactive, enjoyable, challenging, 'Totally Wired' evening event which explored some of these key questions:     What should parents and youth workers know about the digital world?     How are young people spending their time online?     What impact are online social networking sites having on young people?     How will mobiles and the internet develop over the next few years?     How can we help young people to stay safe online?     How can Christian youth and children's work adapt to the online world?   Are you 'Totally Wired'?

11.11.11

11.11.11  The numbers could look like war graves all in a line. Nearly a hundred years ago brave men were fighting in what is known as the 'Great War'.  Armistice Day, also known as 'Remembrance Day', is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed at Compiegne in France for the cessation of hostilities between the Allies of World War 1 and Germany, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918. I have been to the place at Compiegne, just outside Paris where the historic meeting took place. My daughter Jo has been to the Somme and visited the special memorial site for one of the War's bloodiest battles. It is calculated that around three million men were involved in the fighting during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 alone; some 1,200,000 were killed, wounded or missing in action. The horrors of war are incalculable. Remembrance is mixed : The pride and the pain felt as the loss of all who have died in wars and conflicts involving British, Irish & Commonwealth forces as well as civilians during these last 97 years is remembered. In the world of football, England play Spain in a 'friendly' this Saturday (12 November). The FA, England's football authority, would have liked a poppy sewn into players' white shirts in remembrance of the fallen. The world governing body of football, FIFA, has banned this and even instructed the referee not to play the game if England do not obey the edict. FIFA eventually allowed poppies on black armbands to be worn in memory of the fallen. Regardless of such political prohibition - poppies or no poppies - we will remember them.

Fire works!

Fireworks! I almost thought Guy Fawkes had come early last night - well at 4am this morning on the 4th! Thunder and lightning! Wow! The earth moved! Crash, bang, wallop! Loud! Yes! Louder! I sometimes think Christians need a wake up call! We so easily slip into the old routine. Maybe God wants to wake up His Church to be fired up with Holy Spirit. Charisma - the renewing work of the Spirit never allows the Christian to settle for the routine. I want to see the works of God in our churches. Fire works!  Come, Holy Spirit!