ENTERPRISE - May/June 2008

From our Student Minister

I have just returned from India where I, along with five other students from Bristol Baptist College, spent seventeen days.  We stayed in the BMS Guest House in Kolkata.  The Guest House has a beautiful garden which is an oasis in the heart of the city.  Kolkata is a noisy, dirty and smelly city.

To drive though the streets is to experience certain anarchy.  Cars, taxis, buses, trams, auto-, cycle- and hand pulled rickshaws, and pedestrians all jostle for right of way.  Even double beds and refrigerators can be perched on people’s heads as they run in step together down the middle of the road.  No one seems to worry other than the visitor or foreigner, for there are no rules of the road.  You just place your hand on the horn and drive.  There are signs around the city, “If you drive like hell you will get there sooner than you think.”

It is a city of contrasts.  You can visit the plush shopping malls with all the latest clothes and goods but, outside, an estimated million people live on the streets.  Everywhere you turn there is rubbish piled up and crows, dogs, cows and rag pickers join together searching through it for their survival.  Kolkata takes recycling to another level.

For much of our trip we visited mission projects in the city and further afield.  On one occasion we travelled south to the Bangladesh border where we saw at first hand new house churches set up in the villages.  It was a real privilege to see many being baptized.  A commitment to Christ can pose many challenges, for some are persecuted for their faith, often even by their families.  People lose their jobs and children are thrown out of school.  On some occasions members of a family will hold a funeral.  And some are beaten or even killed.  However, their faith is an inspiration, something that I will never forget.  Their passion for Christ and the gospel will live with me for a long time.

During a visit to one mission we were told that the new worshipping groups are only called a “church” when they start to have a positive “impact” on the surrounding community.  One church we visited in the slums in Kolkata was initially persecuted badly by the Hindu neighbourhood.  At that time the whole neighbourhood was also being terrorised by criminal gangs.  So the Christians made contact with the gang members who in turn gave their lives to Christ.  The neighbourhood was transformed.  Members of the Hindu community now have enormous respect for the church.  Now that is “impact”.  It made me wonder how many of our churches in Britain today would be called a church.  I wonder what we need to do to have real impact, so that we might transform our communities.

There are certainly a number of things that I have learned on my trip that I hope will have impact on my future ministry.  A passion for spreading the 
gospel, the importance of telling our own story and a confidence in God and the power of his message expressed through us.

Sam

What’s Happening at Lawrence Weston

We shall be having two work days at Lawrence Weston in May, Saturday 24th and Saturday 31st.  I’m sorry that this is half term week but please help if you can – if only for an hour or two.

We need to empty the sanctuary to enable the floor to be sanded and then put it all back together again a week later.

We are delighted that this job can be done at this time because we have a wedding on 14th June at 4.00pm – the first wedding at Lawrence Weston Baptist Church for seven years, and also because it will make such a difference to the sanctuary [no more splinters for the children!].  Please pray for Kim and Rob for their big day.

We shall also be painting the new toilet for the disabled – (we’re legal at last!) thanks to a grant from the BU "Against the Stream" initiative.  They have been very kind to us:  you may remember that they paid for the new kitchen last year.

Sheila

Introduction to the Norrises

At a Special Church Meeting held on 1st April, members voted to call Revd Colin Norris to the pastorate.  Here, Colin introduces himself and his family.

In 1984 Colin left a purchasing manager job in the defence industry to respond to a call to offer himself for Christian ministry;  he completed his training at Spurgeon's College in 1990.  Since then he has led Baptist churches in Godstone, Surrey and Fleet, Hampshire.  Wherever possible he has engaged in mission with other churches, and he was active in planting a now thriving ecumenical church at Elvetham Heath, a large new development near Fleet.

His concern for faith to be connected with the whole of life led him to train - and train others - in counselling and small group leadership, and more recently in spiritual accompaniment where he helps people to find and respond to “God in all things”.

Since 2003, following life-changing studies for an MA in Christian Spirituality, he has been Pastoral Director of Green Pastures, a centre for renewal and wholeness near Bournemouth.  Although stretching, further studies for a professional doctorate in ministry are greatly benefiting life and ministry.  Colin currently unwinds by devouring novels, running along local beaches and enjoying a glass of wine - though not at the same time!

Colin and Alison married in 1988 in Chichester having met there while Colin was working in the Baptist Church as a student minister.  An experienced infant teacher currently teaching in a special-needs school, Alison has also worked as a pastoral care worker in a school in a relatively deprived area, supporting and counselling pupils, parents and staff.  She loves music and drama, occasionally finding time for both.

Like Alison, their three nearly grown up children are passionate about music.  Emily and Lucy play flute and bassoon, and also sing and act a bit - most 
recently, together with Tim, in a school production of Les Miserables.

Currently taking GCSE's, Emily and Lucy are about to begin A-level studies at sixth form.  Tim plays piano, guitars and sometimes drums - and sings a bit 
too - especially if it's Michael Bublé!  He is currently holding an offer to study at Surrey University - ostensibly to study law – though we've noticed that it would be a very easy journey from there to Chelsea's football ground!

Keeping the Dream Alive

It was a handshake to remember.  A silver braided white policeman shook hands with a quiet black woman.  The place - Westminster Abbey.  The event - a service on 4th April 2008 to mark the 40 years since the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jnr., the American civil rights leader.

Martin Luther King was a Baptist preacher who kept hope alive, said Joel Edwards, General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance, in his sermon.  “You cannot know King,” he said, “without his God.”

The processions and splendour of the Abbey were a far cry from Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin Luther King began his ministry and where he spoke in support of the victims of racial discrimination on buses.  His life ended in Memphis after a speech in support of a strike of sanitation workers.

A few months before the gun shot he had launched Dr King’s Poor People’s Campaign.  Some of his words, read at the service by Commissioner Elizabeth Mateur of the Salvation Army, representing the Free Churches, included, “I got my inspiration from a man named Jesus, a Galilean saint who said he was anointed to heal the broken hearted.  He was anointed to deal with the problems of the poor.  And that is where we get our inspiration.  And we go out in a day when we have a message for the world and we can change this world.”  To him it was a tragedy that Christianity was failing to see its revolutionary edge.

The unexpected invitation for me to be at the service, and at a preceding conference in the Methodist Central Hall, came from Churches Together in England.  Through its programme, ‘Set All Free’, worship and study materials were published for use during the marking of last year’s 200th anniversary of the end of the transatlantic slave trade, some of which were used by this church.

“Keeping the dream alive” was an appropriate theme for the day.  It recalls Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech which has continued to resonate worldwide since he addressed thousands of peaceful civil rights demonstrators on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington in August 1963.  Speaking of the denial of the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit happiness for all, he ended with his dream that one day “all God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last; thank God almighty; we are free at last.”

How do we keep the dream alive?

One way is to read that speech in full. Copies of it are available from me.  Also see www.mlkonline.net/speeches.html.  Another way is to honour him.  The Abbey has done so by placing a statue of him over the West Door, one of a group of statues of martyrs of the twentieth century.

More demanding responses could be based on further understanding our local circumstances.  Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church is set in an area of Bristol where it is all too easy to live without much ready awareness of the social deprivations experienced by many black people and ethnic minorities.  Nevertheless, most of us do live or work near areas of ‘urban priority’.  I have been reflecting on a table of Bristol’s 35 electoral wards detailing 2004 Indices of Multiple Deprivation [these include crime, income, health, education, employment, housing, environment and access to services].  The order given is from the most deprived wards to the least: Southmead (4th) Kingsweston including Lawrence Weston, Coombe Dingle and Sea Mills (10th), Henbury including Brentry (11th), Westbury-on Trym (33rd), Henleaze (34th), and Stoke Bishop (35th).

That handshake.  It took place as Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, was walking up the choir aisle to his place.  He suddenly stopped to shake hands with Doreen Lawrence, mother of London teenager Stephen Lawrence, whose murderers have yet to be brought to account.  Poignantly, during the service one of three wreaths, laid in honour of innocent victims, was placed by Kathleen Kirby-Jones, mother of Michael Jones, a student murdered on 20th March 2008.

Gordon Holmes

Notes from our Treasurer

Offerings to 31st March 2008
Offerings for the year to 31st March 2008 amounted to £99,450.  This is very slightly less than last year, but more than I was expecting in the dark days of January.  As there were 53 weeks in the year, the weekly sum was quite a bit less than last year.  Most of our income now comes on a monthly basis, proving once again that we need to be careful how we use statistics!  The original budget for the year was £108,750.  Rent income and the tax refunds are over budget, but so too are many of our expenses, and we will not have any surplus this year.

AGM and Accounts
Do come to the AGM on 15th May.  Last year several people commented that they found the new format of the accounts, supplemented by a couple of “management accounts”, a little clearer.  If you are one of the many whose eyes glaze over at lists of figures, do look afresh at the accounting information, which is planned to be available with the annual reports from organisations on the Sunday before the AGM.

A Present from the Chancellor
The Chancellor has introduced a transitional relief for charity Gift Aid claims, which in practice means that our reclaim for the next three years will be based on the old 22% tax rate.  Hallelujah!  Another thought; gifts to charity are one of the few items still eligible for 40% relief.  If you pay higher rate tax you will benefit from the remaining 20% relief (up from the 18% of the last tax year).  In some circumstances it is possible to elect to give the charity the repayment which arises.  Speak to me (in confidence, of course) if you are interested in this.

Offering Packs for the Year to 31st March 2009
I hope these will be available by the time you are reading this.  If there is a delay in getting them out to you I shall ensure that forms to revise your standing orders are made available.

Most of us are now giving in a tax-efficient way.  We are able to reclaim tax on an incredible 91% of our offering income.  If you are new to the church and wondering what this is all about please have a word with me or with Alan Kemp to learn more about the schemes we have in operation.

Phillip Corbin

Fair Trade

Did you try any new products in Fairtrade Fortnight?  If so, do let me know what you thought of them.

The Fairtrade Café held at the church on 5th March was another happy occasion, and thanks are due to my wonderful team of helpers for a very tasty range of Fair Trade teas and cakes.

The next Fairtrade Café, with an extensive range of gifts, will be on Wednesday 12th November!  Book the date in your diaries now (dare I say it) for your Christmas shopping.

There is a new Traidcraft catalogue available, although copies seem to be rare.  Please let me know if you would like to look through one.  New products now stocked on the stall include Olive oil from Palestine, Peanut butter, Caramel Fairbreak bars, Apricot and cranberry muesli and Tropical dried fruit.

The stall will be in the hall after the morning services on Sundays 11th May, 1st June and 22nd June and at the coffee morning on 17th May.  Come and make a difference and do encourage your friends to come along as well.

Rachel Corbin

Rachel’s Psalms

During an evening service which Gill Kirk and I led recently I used some poetry or “psalms” that I have written.  After the service I was asked to publish them in Enterprise.  So, here they are.  The first is something I wrote at Westonbirt, one of my favourite haunts.

I find you
In the iridescent colours that are the signs of Autumn’s death,
in the mewling of the buzzard as he soars into the blue,
in the dew-dropped weaving of a spider’s deft design,
in warm October sun that filters through and lights upon my face,
in birdsong and in breeze which lifts the grasses, sifts the leaves
and blows cobweb strands of silk across the meadow,
in the space that I have found here that is filled only with peace – 
no sense of rush, no agendas here save breathing in
the earth and sky and air,
I close my eyes, inhale your love and feel your presence holding me,
And call to mind your mercy and your grace,
giving me this,
giving me you.

I wrote this second psalm in the Children’s Hospital while Mark was ill with meningitis.  I was lying on a pull-out bed, crying as he slept, and words kept whirling round in my head;  they wouldn’t leave me alone, so I got up and went to an adjoining room where I wrote this:

The tongue is struck dumb,
the muse silenced,
the mind too numbed beyond imagining
to tell of what has happened

My heart is weeping – lies battered in its chamber
while all around the pulse of life reverberates
and tells me he is safe.

Eyes weep, tears fall and there is no strength
to stem them, nor desire.
I cannot withhold from them their outlet
nor staunch the pain from which they bleed within.

Fear, that enemy and false companion
who has stalked me over tide and time
is lukring there once more.
And in the deepest watches of the night
does beckon coyly to me
revealing the fragility of my tenuous strength.

For that has now eluded me entirely – 
I am a husk of breath, a shell of woman, 
a wisp of life swept aside by this new tide
and I must sleep before it claims me
as it claimed me once before.

…. And yet … the muse is after all not silenced.

Rachel Hall

Tribute to Lily Gane, 1911-2008

Lily was a member of our church from the time when it was planted just after the war, until to her death earlier this year.  She had been a member of Hendon Baptist Church having been baptised there when she was 18 years old.  During the war she moved to Bristol and started working at the Bristol Aeroplane Company, where she stayed for 36 years.

Lily’s start in life as the youngest of three children was beset with health problems, but despite the odds, she survived, developing a strength of character and determination, which was so characteristic of her life.  Despite missing out on early schooling, a clear musical ability was discovered and nurtured and she was accepted at the Guildhall School of Music at the tender age of eleven.  At 21 she became a licentiate.

Lily’s work record was exemplary; she served as personal secretary for several senior managers and directors, and she was known for her efficiency, and her meticulous organisational skills.  In 1977 on her retirement, she was warmly commended by her boss, and it was clear she was held in high regard.

Lily served in church life with the folk at Senior Circle alongside Marjorie Siggs and the team.  She was loyal and faithful in her service, and when her health deteriorated so she could no longer continue, she maintained a lively interest in all that went on at Westbury, right up to the days before her death, enquiring, from her visitors, after the many people she knew and loved.  She will be greatly missed.

Liz Dawson

Westbury Baptist Pre-school

Since our Pre-school opened in 2003 we have been delighted by the enthusiasm and dedication of the staff.  We have always felt that the children were happy and that they were being well nurtured in a safe and caring environment.

So, we are delighted that the recent Ofsted inspection confirmed this.  To quote, "The provision is good.  Children are well cared for and their individual needs are effectively met.  Children experience a wealth of activities that promote and extend all areas of their development and learning.  Children benefit and flourish as a result of the good partnership between staff and parents.  The quality of leadership and management is good.  Staff work as a cohesive team in their implementation of the Foundation Stage curriculum.  They create an effective and improving setting where children feel safe, feel good about themselves and make good progress towards he early learning goals."

And you thought they were just having fun!

These were just some of the comments made in the report.  If you wish to read the whole document you can see it on the www.ofsted.gov.uk internet site.

Thanks to all the Pre-school staff, and to Mary Hughes for the wonderful administrative work, and to Phil Corbin for managing the finances.  It is good to have the support of the Management Committee and the wider church family showing God’s love for the families who use our Pre-school day by day.

Margaret Pinnock

Crisis Centre Ministries

Thank you for your support of the Wild Goose Café in City Road.  The goods that we supply are much appreciated by the customers and the staff.  Do look out for the Café newsletter which is put out in the narthex regularly.

Many of the clients of the Café are, or have been, homeless, often as a result of drug or alcohol abuse, or through family breakdown.  Employed staff and volunteers show God’s love to the clients giving help, practical advice and, where necessary, referral to appropriate agencies.

Please continue to fill up the green box in the narthex with non-perishables, at any time but especially on the days when we have morning communion services, and pray for the work of the Wild Goose Café.

Margaret Pinnock

Gifts of Flowers

28th Bristol Brownies

We began the second half of the term by making Mothering Sunday cards.  The Brownies then made vouchers to put in them promising some sort of treat for their Mums such as doing the washing up or keeping their room tidy for a week.  I do hope all their promises were honoured!

Some of the girls came along to support us at the joint Brownie and Guide Coffee Morning helping on the cake stall and running a colouring competition, which was won by Erin Stephens.

Our main focus for the remainder of the term was the Friend of Animals badge, which all the girls have been working towards.  To start this badge we had a visit from the outreach department of Bristol Zoo who brought along a selection of invertebrates.  Nearly all the Brownies were brave enough to stroke a tarantula and hold African land snails, stick insects and cockroaches.  All the girls went home with a renewed enthusiasm to take care of all animals not just the furry, cute ones!

As part of the badge the Brownies had to find out about why animals become endangered or extinct and what we can do to prevent this, they made leaflets explaining how to care for a pet, learned about what camouflage is for and painted their own camouflage, which they used to make animal masks.  We were also visited, to the girls’ great excitement, by two very sweet puppies:  Rachel Corbin brought in her Cocker Spaniel and one of our Brownies brought in her West Highland Terrier and we learned something about the responsibilities of pet ownership.

Julie Cutler (Brown Owl)

Short Notes

Catherine Batterbee
Pat and Bob Battarbee and family wish to thank all of you at Westbury for your prayers, cards, flowers and support given over the past two months, since their dear daughter, Catherine, became ill.  These have all been of great comfort during this sad time.
Thank you once again. God bless you all.

Open Garden
You are invited to view an Open Garden at Apple Grove, Stone
on Saturday 14th June between 2.00 and 5.00 pm
Come and see where plants for our Coffee Mornings are produced as well as many trees, shrubs, flowers, fruit and vegetables.
Plants for Sale and Refreshments will be available
All in aid of the Building Fund for the new Entrance to the Church
For more details speak to Sheila Brooks

Scouts' Coffee Morning
Plants – White Elephants – Book stall – Fair 
Trade stall – Car wash – Project Return stall 
Cakes – Coffee
- all this at the Scouts Coffee Morning on 17th May!
Proceeds to Scout funds, Project Return and Christian Aid.

Christian Aid Week:  11th – 17th May
The theme of Christian Aid Week this year is "Climate Change and Pentecost". 
If you would like to help with the house to house collection in the streets around our church, please contact Robin Macleavy

Birthdays
The following friends will be celebrating their birthday in May or June with a donation to the BMS Medical Fund:
Jean Trump, Freda Dupe, Jenny Dean, June Pearson, Maggie Crisp, Lizzie Hull, Catherine Preston, Lee Hall, Ian Dawson, Terry Wright, Brenda Darling, Valerie May.