beauty in the city & a village chapel

Walking up the steps from the station we came across a bit of
waste ground and there standing proud was a most beautiful Sunflower set against the setting of our city of Sanctuary. It seemed very poignant and lifted the spirit. How did it get there? Did someone deliberately place it there to bring joy?

Nature has this amazing talent to transform landscapes even when people don't seek to do anything. So often cities are seen as places of concrete, tarmac roads, tower blocks. We are still invited by our creator to see it's beauty. To work with it to create a complementary use of nature thats allows for diversity.

 Our own back garden in Burngreave gives us the opportunity to try and make a difference to the environment. It attracts the wildlife and provides us with pleasure. Our own little sanctuary.










Last Sunday I led worship at our Warren Methodist Church for the final time. It too has been a special sanctuary for people seeking God, and a faithful community offering worship and service. This Autumn the building will close but the people will  move on to carry on worshipping and serving within our Chapeltown Methodist Church.
Just as nature has to adapt to the changing climate and work with humanity's creation, so does the Christian community.

time to play catch up

The opportunity to stop working caused by the delight of looking after a granddaughter who now is sleeping gives a moment to catch up on the blog.

Really disappointing as I type to see yet another beautiful tree being cut down on Abbeyfield Road. Its not diseased, just disturbing the pavement, forget the benefit its bringing to the environment. Do I believe these trees being taken down across Sheffield will be replaced? Wait till the council says its run out of funds!!!



Well we are making good progress now with out scheme for the church building at Firth Park Methodist. September should see the beginning of the roof works so that a third of the roof where we have most serious ingress of water will be renewed. Internally we will begin to remove the pews to create the floor space for an internal wall and the installation of soft play equipment. For this first stage of the scheme we are still looking to raise £80,000 and grant applications are currently going into funders. If as a reader of this blog, and you would like to support this scheme to provide a much deprived area of the city, then please get in touch all donations will be gratefully received and wisely used.

Our trial soft play fortnight proved to be a success and gave us great encouragement to keep going to create a bespoke centre for the community.

One good thing about the summer is a chance to take a break from normal routine and if possible get away. So a delightful week in Crete was had . Wall to wall sunshine with tempratures ranging from 38C- 32C so yes warm and the need to go into the pool or the sea. This time we did visit Knossos , The Minoan palace, which I found fascinating even in the blazing heat.

The Parent and Toddler group as Mosborough have been supporting the church in Ghana and their last lot of gifts finally arrived. Parents and children once again were overwhelmed. Just a reminder that small things can make a massive difference.









This past Methodist year we decided to try and create a Sunday night youth group for year 7+ once a month. Thanks to three other volunteers its proved a success and we ended the year with a BQ at the manse and parachute games in the park. If all goes well we will move to meeting once a fortnight and hopefully our numbers will grow further.








Now its back to the routine of circuit life and the current challenges we face in a climate of diminishing church membership. The new President and Vice president of the Church have asked the question of each church. Do you have a growth plan or a end of life plan?

The longer I serve as a minister I recognise that is exactly what I have had to ask all the way through my ministry. Even when I started and Methodism had the largest youth organisation in Europe the writing was on the wall. The lack of willingness to change and develop. To pool resources to generate the energy required to not just sustain the existing but undertake new work. It was obvious what would happen you didn't need to be prophetic.
So we find ourselves still with too many buildings often in the wrong places and many unfit to do the work we need to. A membership now down to 188,000 trying to sustain an institution that is unsustainable in its current form.

In the face of this the Sheffield Circuit is trying to express ministry in a variety of ways. The coming together of eight circuits was never going to be straightforward and its only now that a new momentum is building up. The appointment of a worker to reinvigorate children and youth work begins in October. They will not only organise key events, but identify new pieces of work, train, encourage and encourage existing workers among our young people. We have four pioneer workers lay and ordained in the circuit which again is a pointer to being open to new ways of being and doing church. We have many committed people who are still up for a growth plan. So even if the Methodist Church disappears it will leave a legacy of lives changed and continue to be part of God's work creating the Kingdom. So roll on the new Methodist Year who really knows what it holds?

Four out of four

Well we have managed to visit all four RHS Gardens in the one year. A trip to stay with our middle daughter Rachel saw us go on the next day to RHS Wisley.

 

What a brilliant place to walk within.

The canal looked super and must look amazing when all the water lilies are on the surface and in flower but it is only April.

Now this is meant to be the Queen and her partner recognise the likeness? 

Great to just stroll with daughter and chat.

The Glass house was fantastic both from the outside and within....

  

Bird of paradise looking good

Wonderful small flowers just breaking out in the warmth and light.

The lake helps to provide the water for the glasshouse which is super efficient.

Great rollng borders

Wonderful small areas drawing on a Japanese style.

Trees everywhere, Sheffield City council take note!

 

Of course Tulips in great swathes 

And some very odd looking fir trees

We will need to go back to see the grounds again to explore the gardens in a different season.     

So a post Easter week is over and its back to work tomorrow. Seven weeks of electionering  to look forward to !!

Plus the one in France.... We are just so lucky. However democracy is a great thing.

Tideswell

A day to recover from Easter saw a walk around Tideswell.

And what a treat to see this 

Just havng a rest with mum.

Catching up

The Easter holiday gives opportunity to stop and do nothing. Time however to look back on a number of weeks and play catch up on my blog. 

Harlow Carr looking stunning 

Hares or Rabbits squaring up for a fight! 

February half term and the chance to visit a Welsh Vineyard over looking Tintern Abbey.

It may be a ruin but you can still imagine what it must have been like at its height. 

Well you do have to test the wine!

A trip to Cardiff and the assembly building the slate and wood is a brilliant design. 

So time for a coffee, but no we were too late as the woman just served the person before  us!

So no welcome on the hillside here  - is it because I voted to remain?

It was birthday time with our Family Worship Centre and they went to town in decorations, singing and celebrating. One of the many hopeful signs at Firth Park is the fact the two congregations are going to explore creating a covenant relationship. 

Good news at last, we can now start to remove the pews and fittngs as we have conservation approval. So we may one day see this space transformed into two. A soft play centre for the community and new worship space that's warm, comfortable and accessible to all. It will be a space to do social cohesion work.

A trip out to Renishaw Gardens always worth a visit .

And of course a chance for tea and cake. 

Well we had never made it to Wentworth Castle Gardens so we did  which was a good job because they have now closed due to lack of funds.

Firth Park saw another two classes from Hinde House Lower School visit , and in groups they all made an Easter garden. It was of course the opportunity to share the story and look at art work that seeks to say something about God's story of love. 

Our own Sunday morning youngsters made this beautiful Easter Garden below.

So its been a busy Lenten period and Holy Week.

It began with tge ashing service at St Peters, with a three week lenten course ' is the cross necessary for firgiveness?' Then the joy of a Palm Sunday to an early Maundy Thursday communion I led at Dronfield. It was really encouraging   to see so many folk from different churches at  St Pauls Dronfield at 7am. Each day through holy week they gather at 7am. 

Then in the evening a simple meal at Firth Park so we could go out into the dark night like tise first disciples, to await Good Friday.

The procession this year saw a few teenagers trying to be clever shouting and pushing. It was however so appropriate to have a sense of people looking , jeering and laughing. Then in the evening at St Peters a Labyrinth for people to take time to reflect on their lives in preparation for Easter Day.

 

Malcolm had taken time to give our church doors some real focus with creative crosses. 

Easter Day itself saw the cross transformed by flowers.

Of course none of this is just about making us feel good . So sitting in the church are the parcels ready to go to Asebu In Ghana an expression of God's love and the need to go on sharing our rich resorces with others . 

Easter Day proved to be full on. Early morning communion at our Hatfield church followed by a service at Firth Park, and finally the celebratory service at our Dungworth Methodist Church  which is to close in June. No one can be happy about churches closing but our work and witness is never about buildings. Christian community changes and needs to keep moving. Death and Resurrection is part of our story . 

When our work in a set of buildings has been completed we need to move on in anticipation that we might once more become that subversive community that disturbs power and unsettles lifestyles.

So catch up complete and its full steam ahead for a general election. We may never know the true motivation for why the PM called one. We may have our own views on the reasons which firmly make us cynical. I can only hope, that the fears which were played upon that led to the vote to leave the european union, will not be played upon  again, to hide what is in fact going on in our society. We have a social care system that needs major investment but we have a government in denial. We have an education system being starved of funds while money is being provided for free schools not needed , and  a false story is being told of the need for Grammar schools which will only create division and not a cohesive society. We have an enormous need to build social housing but the lack of political will to do so. What we are not seeing is a shift to the values of God's Kingdom. Most strange that it was a PM , the daughter of a Methodist, who created a divided society , privatised everything going and used a war to gain popularity. Now we have the daughter of the vicarage who is once again shifting the balance of power to the right. So get ready for the poor to become poorer and the rich even richer. 

Hinde House School Visit

60 year 3's came to Firth Park as part of our programme of visitations from all classes over the school year. Looking at how Christians explore the nature of God in art. Once again their behaviour was excellent and really good ambassadors for their school.

After a brief look inside the worship space we moved into our Hub building to talk about and look at various representations of God from frescos to Icons, to tapestry. The youngsters expressed a variety of views of what they thought God looked like, and one boy helped to remind us all that we don't know what God looks like. That helped us then to move onto understanding that art doesn't tell us what God looks like, rather it seeks to speak about what God is like. A loving creator. One who invites us to share and who is prepared to suffer to show us how much we are loved. That God is not a man! 

Finally the two classes had the opportunity to make their own simple stain glass window. So I hope a number of childrens bedrooms now have them attached to their windows, and as the sun light from outside hits them, it will remind them of their visit and just maybe something of what we shared together.