New Year's Walk, Celtic Prayers and Coffee?

We would love to suggest a walk for SofaChurch bods on Saturday 3rd January, which I can lead, and put together some Celtic Christian bits for an appropriate spot.

Target would be Bosley Cloud (also known just as "The Cloud") near Congleton. A short walk, amazing views, accessible for most.

After that a short drive to an ancient churchyard near Rushton Spencer which is in an interesting situation in the landscape, some oddities and a very unusual grave. Perhaps there, or inside (I know where to obtain the key) say some of the Celtic prayers as SofaChurch corporately and individually reflects on the year past and to come, bearing in mind the outreach plans for 2009.

We could finish with a picnic tea, watch the sunset (weather permitting), there's a Holy Well, brilliant Neolithic Tomb - all a short way away which could be visited, a pub, or something more cafe-ish back in Congleton en route home.

Obviously lift sharing is imperative, but here's offering to piece it together. I've done this before for others (minus the Celtic bit) but otherwise is easy enough.

Also, being January 3rd, The Cloud should be less busy than on January 1st...

Thoughts, anyone?

Faith and Depression

I've recently been diagnosed with a long term form of depression called dysthymia. It has affected me since adolescence and throughout my adult life. Suddenly a lot of the lifelong problems I have with relationships - horizontal and vertical, as it were - make sense.

Given it's something we don't talk about openly, especially as Christians, I am talking about it. More specifically I'm keeping a blog on this depression HERE which will include posts concerning its effect upon my faith, life, relationships, and God's healing through the various means he uses.

Everyone Welcome

Saw this on Fail blog earlier on and thought I'd share it...

christmas party photos

What a laugh! The pics are on the SofaChurch Flickr page here.

SofaChurch Christmas party

The good news: we're throwing a Christmas party for all the SofaChurch gang & their families on Thursday 18th December at our pad from 6.30pm*. There will be buffet nosh,** drinks, music and games.

The bad news: it's fancy dress; theme: film characters. (There'll be a prize for the best costume.)

* Earlier start so little people can come too

** Party food, so have a sandwich before coming if you're a big eater

Children of Men

December's film on the second Thursday (11th) is 'Children of Men'. A tale set in troubled times with the coming of a baby who could bring hope and light. Some want that. Some do not.

Sound familiar?

Homer, Cartman and Bob Part 2: South Park

Next week on the 4th December we'll be looking to find God in the cartoon South Park. Read that sentence again if you need to - it isn't the most obvious choice, perhaps, but I hope you will be surprised. It is very rude and provocative (over 18s only I'm afraid), but incredibly sharp and insightful. They touch on Christianity fairly frequently, picking away at the rubbish bits. It's very funny too.

CafeChurch

On Thursday 27th November we'll be hearing about another exciting new development - Jo and Andy will be sharing their vision for a outreach church to meet in Costa Coffee. This will run alongside SofaChurch, and the two will be closely integrated. Jo and Andy will run the evening like a CafeChurch meeting might go to give us a flavour of what it will be like, and there will be a chance for questions and discussion.

Values

After Sheron's excellent session last night I got thinking about how it might be useful if we had a statement of our values as SofaChurch. Not in any sort of sign-up-or-else manner, but as a reflection of the sort of things that most of us believe.

To get things moving, Susie and I had a think and came up with these ten statements, which we'd love your feedback on. If you have any suggestions for alterations or additions then please please let me know (preferably via email at andy@sofachurch.com rather than as a blog comment). If you like it please let me know too, don't mind that done in public through blog comments... We'll discuss it in person one evening too, for non computer people, and hopefully come up with a consensus.

God

1. We try our best to follow Jesus - his actions and words

2. We welcome challenges that sharpen our understanding of God and are not afraid to ask difficult questions

3. We look for traces of God in the everyday, including the secular media, and encourage creativity as we recognise that God is creative

People

4. We welcome, accept and listen to everyone regardless of belief, sexuality, background or anything else that might lead to alienation in some churches

5. We are not judgmental as we acknowledge that we are all far from perfect ourselves

6. We value friendship and express our faith in our care for each other

Church

7. We recognise the importance of the Bible but have different opinions as to how we interpret it and how literally we read it

8. We try to create a physically comfortable space

9. We deconstruct man-made church traditions and avoid practices that exclude people without much church experience



10. We are open to being wrong about any of this

The Matrix

I'm terribly excited by this one. The film for November (13th) is The Matrix.

One of the best Science Fiction films of recent years, laced with allegories and commentaries on the nature of life, the universe etc, coached in spiritual language - it is an excellent celebration of post-modern thinking and spirituality.

It's also ground breaking in its effects and a downright compelling story from the outset - so even if the deep stuff bypasses you - come along for what I commend as one of the most superlative films in a long time (even if its sequels do not approach the spirit of this first of The Matrix films).

Homer, Cartman and Bob

Tonight is the first in our three part series looking at representations of Christianity in cartoons. We'll be looking at The Simpsons tonight, then South Park and finally God, The Devil and Bob.

Tonight's rating is PG.

Hope to see you there.

foam testimonies

Andy's babysitting and I'm let out of the house for the first time in 8 months. My outing of choice? To see you guys again. Aw.

So I'll be 'doing' this week's arty thing. We're going to chop up fun foam and make images that say something about how we first met God. Then, if folk are up for it, we'll share with each other what happened and what the pictures represent. (But don't let that stop you from coming if you're not happy doing it!)

Can't wait.

p.s May have to turf everyone out by about 10pm, as Kitty gets me up at 5am in the morning... groan!

SofaChurch at Wistaston Green

Work is proceeding really well at the first SofaChurch offshoot at St Mark's church, Wistaston Green. We will be holding our meeting there on November 20th to share ideas for a vision for the new room, thinking of ways in which it can be used to be good news to the surrounding area. We'll also hear some or all of the feedback from the Cafe Church training day that several of us recently attended. It should be an exciting evening.

You can find out how to get to it here.

Communion

Tonight's SofaChurch will be a communion led by Rev. Jenny Henshall. It will hopefully be a very creative and reflective evening.

Do all paths lead to God?

This Thursday (November 16th) we're looking at the age old issue - Do all paths lead to God?.

If so, why did Christ have to die, suffer and rise again?

If not does Christianity end up being a 'Christo-facist' faith where all other beliefs are 'false religions'?

If so, what happens to the imperative to get out there and share the Good News?

If so, does that mean that evil dictators get in to heaven as easily as Mother Teresa?

Lots of complicated issues and wrangling - but so important to think about.

If you aren't confident on these issues, do still please come along for the exploration; I am quite confident about a friendly and vigorous exchange of opinions while thinking these things through - who knows - we may even get some new insights!

Are Aliens a threat to Christianity?

Would the confirmation of the existence of alien life on other worlds be the end of Christianity as we know it? What of messages purported to be from God sent via aliens? Does the Bible mention flying saucers or even refer to sex with aliens? What of UFOs, abduction and the likes? Was Jesus an Alien?

A film here (a bit creepy if you're not used to it, so probably best no minors around) gives the increasingly standard Christian response on the matter.

I present a different opinion in my honours thesis which I did for my theology degree, receiving an A grade and resulted in quite a few speaking invites and even attending a phone in on UCB Radio. You can read www.christianity-aliens-and-ufos.org.uk and have a skim through the issues involved.

We'll bat some of the issues around for stimulating discussion in mid May. So get thinking and ready to ask questions where none have asked before...

October 14th-16th: A significant alien event should be happening in the next few days according to some...

Film Nights...

Had an idea for a film night, but can't remember by the time you're at the next SofaChurch? Then leave a comment here... currently suggested (by me, to be honest! So let's have some others...) :

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy
• The Wicker Man
• Monty Python (various!)
• Keeping Mum
• The Matrix
• V for Vendetta
• I, Robot
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  
• A series on superheroes
• Seasonal films like "Muppet Christmas Carol"...
  

2001: a space odyssey

9th October - Stanley Kubrick's classic film.

Beautiful visuals and music, very sparse and atmospheric. Plenty of spiritual meaning. Plus my mum's old boss made the stewardess hats. Do you need any more of an incentive to watch this film?

Biblical authority

Hi everyone - I came across this list a while ago, and Tim's comments have prompted me to ask you all this question. Which of these seven models best reflects your own personal understanding of scripture? I hover somewhere between 6 and 7 myself (bang goes my speaking career in evangelical churches). I don't want to have an official SofaChurch 'doctrine' on this, and I would hope that we could accommodate all of these views.

1. The Bible is the Word of God and is, therefore inerrant (free of all error and entirely trustworthy in everything which it records) and has complete authority in all matters of theology and behaviour. It is 'God-breathed' and its human authors were channels of the divine Word. The Christian's task is to discern accurately what the Bible teaches and then to believe and obey it. Reason, experience and tradition should be judged in the light of the Bible, not the other way round.

This view is concerned to safeguard the conviction that the Bible has its origin in God. It works from the premise that God cannot be the author of error, and therefore the Bible cannot contain error. To give undue status to any other source of authority is to exalt fallible human insight over the infallible Word of God.

2. The Bible's teaching about God, salvation and Christian living is entirely trustworthy. It cannot be expected, however, to provide entirely accurate scientific or historical information since this is not its purpose. Nevertheless, it provides the supreme rule for faith and conduct, to which other ways of 'knowing', while important, should be subordinate.

This view also stresses the divine origin of Scripture, its supreme authority for Christian belief and practice, and its priority over other sources of authority. But it holds that reliable information on, for example, historical or scientific matters may not fall within God's purpose in giving the Bible.

3. The Bible is the essential foundation on which Christian faith and life are built. However, its teachings were formed in particular historical and cultural contexts, and must therefore be read in that light. The way to apply biblical teaching in today's very different context is not always obvious or straightforward. Reason is an important (God-given) gift which must be used to the full in this process of interpretation.

This view emphasises that the Word of God contained in a collection of books written in times and places very different from our own cannot simply be read as a message for our own situation. We must work out by the use of reason how far and in what way the ancient text can appropriately be applied to the modem situation.

4. The Bible's teaching, while foundational and authoritative for Christians, needs to be interpreted by the Church. In practice it is the interpretation and guidance offered by Church leaders and preachers which provides authoritative teaching. Church tradition is therefore of high importance as a practical source of authority.

This view is concerned to stress that the people of God, the Church, existed before the Bible and that the Bible therefore does not exist independently of the Church. Interpretation of the Bible is essentially a matter for the Church community, and especially its appointed leaders, rather than for private individuals.

5. The Bible is one of the main ways in which God speaks to the believer. However, the movement of God's Spirit is free and unpredictable, and it is what the Spirit is doing today that is of the greatest importance. The Bible helps to interpret experience, but much stress is placed on spiritual experience itself, which conveys its own compelling authority.

On this view, to give too high a status to the Bible may prevent us from hearing what God is saying to us today. We should be guided principally by the convictions which emerge from our own Christian experience as individuals and as a church community, which on occasion will go against the main thrust of the Bible's teaching.

6. The Bible witnesses to God's revelation of himself through history and supremely through Jesus Christ. However, the Bible is not itself that revelation, but only the witness to it. Christians must therefore discern where and to what extent they perceive the true gospel witness in the various voices of the Bible. Reason, tradition and experience are as important as the biblical witnesses.

This view emphasises that the Bible mediates the Word of God but is not identical with the Word of God. We can discover which parts of the Bible are God's Word for us only if we make use of all the resources of reason, church tradition and experience.

7. The Bible comprises a diverse and often contradictory collection of documents which represent the experiences of various people in various times and places. The Christian's task is to follow, in some way, the example of Christ. And to the extent that the Bible records evidence of his character and teaching it offers a useful resource. However, in the late 20th century it is simply not possible to obey all its teachings since these stem from very human authors and often represent the ideology of particular groups or classes in an ancient and foreign culture. Reason and experience provide much more important tools for faith and practice.

This view also stresses that the Bible was written by people addressing particular times and situations. But, guided by the insights of, for example, feniinist and liberation theologies, it further argues that before we can discover in it God's Word for us we must strip away from it those elements which betray the vested interests of particular groups, for instance, the interests of male dominance or of political and economic power-blocks.

Change at Crewe

Further to Susie's Trifle on My Dungarees blog, this is a website / image blog I've been working on as a hub for my personal and business interests. Images primarily focussing on Crewe, but with links to my main online activities. Hopefully you'll find some nice pictures, interesting links perhaps, and insights into my rather strange world.

A little more tweaking will happen to the site very soon, especially on the talks, and I intend putting on regular image updates largely from around the Crewe area. I purchased the domain name perhaps over a year ago I think, and reckon it's one people will remember more easily.

If interested, please visit www.changeatcrewe.com

The Bottom Line

No, not talking VPL or whale tails here, but what is the bottom line as far as Christian faith content and practice is concerned for SofaChurch?

I ask 1) for communal clarity and 2) because of arriving at a place of personal honesty which may or may not dictate the acceptability of my faith in certain contexts. This is a bit rambling, disparate perhaps, but has been bubbling away under my surface for some time.

By means of disclaimer, this text is entirely my own opinion and neither reflects endorsement nor accepted doctrine by individuals and denominations associated with SofaChurch.

Now the main reason for these musings is this. For the first time since my early teens, any sense of vocation to church ministry has gone. I don't know if it's revoked, dead, or gone on holiday, but in the three months I've suddenly found myself with no mental picture of myself involved ministry. Ever. Strange, but it's given me a lot of confidence and determination to get on and do that which I have already found within myself to do.

The spiritually castrative effects of some theologies which I have been observing is also really rattling my cage and further convinces me that, as far as I am concerned, conventional Christianity is a dead vehicle in terms of relating to people and to God. I meet enough people who also feel that. The church needs nothing short of a new reformation.

I continue to feel drawn to more engaging spiritualities for my outlook- Quakerism, or even pushing further towards Druidry. As my Facebook belief description says "Work in Progress".

I retain a strong belief in Christ as The Logos (John 1:1) - the undergirding principle of The Universe in Whom all things hold together, and was incarnated a full, vulnerable human being, died, and resurrected. For me that's about as far as my Christian faith goes if I'm totally honest with myself. I don't believe in the efficacy of prayer; I see it primarily as a psychosomatic benefit for the cognizant pray-er and pray-ee. God knows (and I know he does) when I last sat down to read the Bible and actually get anything from it either.

I can talk the talk, and I can get evangelistically aroused and gush forth 'the right theology', but it's not me.

I am a pantheist - God in everything and everything in God loosely speaking (I might even go so far as animist of sorts), a universalist - all paths leading to God - and while I believe coming to an articulated faith in Christ can help, the pantomime of Church life tends to cancel out the Good News Christ is supposed to bring.

Is SofaChurch able to accommodate a heretic, yeah, maybe even apostate in some eyes such as me? I keep trying to accept the way things are commonly held to be, but it just doesn't add up for me. I feel a huge fraud, with people thinking I am ABC, when in fact I'm XYZ.

Also hanging over my thoughts of recent months are these three musings, the latter two being more relevant to the bottom line thing:

1) As far as our time and culture are concerned, Church and Christianity are just not able to cater for men between late 20s to early 50s unless you fit a particular model. Children, OAPs, and women of any age find a communal niche. Any male friendships, if there are enough of them, are those forced into 5 to 10 mins of tea / coffee time after the important service has subdued all sense of community once a week. Church really is not the Good News it ought to be. Even more so if you're a man in the middle bit of life.

2) I'm still trying to work out where SofaChurch sits regarding Scriptual authority, in view of general acceptance that there are parts of Scripture which are less reliable or contradictory on non essential matters.

3) I would reckon the group is welcoming and open to homosexuals, though I wonder how it would fare if we had an active homosexual couple join us?

SofaChurch:girls - and we're off!

We had our first SofaChurch:girls meeting last Tuesday and it was just fab: a real treat to get together, talk a bit about what we're hoping to get out of our get-togethers and start to get to know each other on a deeper level. I can see it's going to be a valuable chance to be more honest about where we're at, ask for help when we need it or offer others a helping hand when things are fine with us. 

Meetings (they're not really formal enough to be called that) are open to all females of SofaChurch age (20's to 50's+) whether you attend SofaChurch or not. They're every Tuesday at 10am at the Fishes' house (email if you need directions).

p.s: Sorry to use a picture of myself; I realise this looks a bit vain, but I didn't want to resort to the usual hot chocolate/sunflower/hugging women cliches... ;o)

Songs of Praise?

On the first Thursday of each month we have a meeting that is geared at people who haven't been to SofaChurch, or any church for that matter, before.

We ran a series called Modern Day Prophets where we looked at four unlikely people who might be speaking for God in today's culture, whether they realise it or not. See here for more details:

Banksy
Borat
Scroobius Pip
Mr Benn

However, all good things must come to an end, and our new series starting in June will be called Songs of Praise?

The idea is that each month we will listen to mainsteam songs from a different decade, looking for ways in which they might speak of God. For example... Madonna's Like a Prayer.

Sixties - 5th June
Seventies - 3rd July
Eighties - 7th August
Nineties - 4th September
Noughties - 2nd October

Each evening one person with a special interest will MC, but it would be great if people brought along CDs of tracks that mean something to them. There will be some postcards soon that can be given out to people who might be interested in coming along, or click here to download an image that can be emailed to people.

In the meantime, it would be good to brainstorm a list of songs - please leave your suggestions in a comment for this post.

Two answers

Thanks to everyone who managed to share their ideas. The consensus seems to be that while not everyone personally rates the 'discussion' evenings as their favourite of the four different meeting styles, many do enjoy them and find them challenging and stimulating. Many people cannot attend every week anyway, and some choose the discussion evening as one to skip, others prioritise them. So, I think that we will continue as we are. When it gets to me being on my own discussing quantum mechanics we'll perhaps think again.

As for the slogan, I think we'll go for it.

Word painting (100th post by the way!)

For September's creative worship evening we had a go at 'word-painting', a term coined by John Ruskin to describe the process of spending time looking at something that moves you and writing a detailed description of it. We broke off and found objects around in SofaChurch and the old church attached to it and word painted. After we read them and discussed how God could speak through this creative exercise. Here is what we came up with:

She sat solitary and imposing, stretching forth to some unseen shaft of light. Its silence was deafening but its mood spoke volumes. The silent and attentive witness to the ponderings of man, wise but unspeaking, seeing and not saying. Its soft broad leaves, gently caressing the air, like the hands of a knowing mother, quietly waiting in the background.

Still, calm and settled in a small self contained vacuum. Oxygen and hydrogen mix clear, as prisms of light glimmer and glint through the crystal incisions of the vessel. Angled reflections refract and bend the mind’s eye, some things are seen as others are unseen. Droplets of life’s fluid solution cling firm to the sides, not to be wasted, but to rejoin the clarity of the pool at the base or, to find the ultimate destination and create energy and vitality anew.

Shiny burnished blackened wood. Bearing scars to past performances. Rows of yellowed ebony and ivory silently attentive. Open and receptive, anticipating contact. A respected elder, upright angular and awkwardly posed, promising sound echoing, thunderous rousing, vibrating, filling, consuming, transcending the physical form in worship.

The only light spills from a spotlight outside. The small panes have purple around the edges but the middle has been eroded, the opposite of sanding paint off wood. Three paned are etched with a pattern of flowers geometrically arranged with squares with only the corners drawn like a monochrome Islamic tile. Other panes have similar patterns but they are fainter. The window chills when you look up at it all. It has been here much longer than me. Not many people will see it like this - it stands alone through the nights, unconnected to the the other ones, year on year. It is fragile; glass and thin wood. The replaced panes suggest violent moments. But it is strong enough if someone repairs the damage. Someone must look after it from time to time, painting the wood to prevent it from rotting. It stands tall, quiet, cold. But it is ready to let the light through when the sun rises.

SofaChurch:girls

Right - we've decided: we lasses are going to get together every Tuesday morning at 10am for coffee, chat and prayer. All SofaChurch ladies very welcome! We'll meet at my house (easiest by far for our youngest lady... high chair, toys and cot on hand) Drop me an email if you need directions.

Sorry to exclude you lads, but we've decided we need a place to talk girly (and moan about you). Perhaps you could start SofaChurch:boys? Talk about DIY, Top Gear etc. (Cue very cross email from Tim... ;o))

Two questions

Hi everyone - I'd like some opinions on a couple of ideas if you have a minute to respond.

I've noticed that numbers have been very low for the two recent discussion evenings - space and the god particle. I have come up with three possible reasons. One - people have just been busy. Two - the topics have not been interesting enough. Three - the whole idea of having a discussion evening isn't very appealing. Now, the answer probably lies somewhere between all three of these. There isn't much we can do about the first, but as for the others... We could look at whether we change the discussion evening on the third Thursday of the month for something else - alt worship perhaps. We do discuss ideas on other evenings after all. Anyway, I'd like to hear what would suit you all better.

Second idea - I came up with this as a possible tagline for our advertising... SofaChurch - physically comfortable, spiritually challenging. What do you think? Twee? Unneccesary? Descriptive? Misleading? World changing?

Thank you, hope to see you all soon.

worship

Here's an excerpt from a speech given by the late David Foster Wallace, printed in the paper today. I thought he has some interesting ideas; see what you think.

"There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, "Morning, boys, how's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, "What the hell is water?"...

...Because here's something else that's true. In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship - be it JC or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths or some infrangible set of ethical principles - is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. 

If you worship money and things - if they are where you tap real meaning in life - then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you. On one level, we all know this stuff already - it's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, bromides, epigrams, parables: the skeleton of every great story. The trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness. Worship power - you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart - you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.

The insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they're evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default settings. They're the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that's what you're doing. And the world will not discourage you from operating on your default settings, because the world of men and money and power hums along quite nicely on the fuel of fear and contempt and frustration and craving and the worship of self. 

Our own present culture has harnessed these forces in ways that have yielded extraordinary wealth and comfort and personal freedom. The freedom to be lords of our own tiny skull-sized kingdoms, alone at the centre of all creation. This kind of freedom has much to recommend it. But there are all different kinds of freedom, and the kind that is most precious you will not hear much talked about in the great outside world of winning and achieving and displaying. The really important kind of freedom involves attention, and awareness, and discipline, and effort, and being able truly to care about other people and to sacrifice for them, over and over, in myriad petty little unsexy ways, every day. That is real freedom. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default setting, the "rat race" - the constant gnawing sense of having had and lost some infinite thing.

I know that this stuff probably doesn't sound fun and breezy or grandly inspirational. What it is, so far as I can see, is the truth with a whole lot of rhetorical bullshit pared away. Obviously, you can think of it whatever you wish. But please don't dismiss it as some finger-wagging Dr Laura sermon. None of this is about morality, or religion, or dogma, or big fancy questions of life after death. The capital-T Truth is about life before death. It is about making it to 30, or maybe 50, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. It is about simple awareness - awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, that we have to keep reminding ourselves, over and over: "This is water, this is water."

David Foster Wallace

The God Particle

On Thursday 18th September we'll be discussing the current Large Hadron Collider experiment in Geneva and see how it intersects with and informs our faith. One of the main aims is to discover the Higgs Boson, nicknamed the 'God particle'. Might it create black holes on the way? Will it cause the world to end? Will we find God, or will we find out more about about him?

Film night - Pulp Fiction

Stick with me on this one... Pulp Fiction is an amazing film about grace, about undeserving people being forgiven. It is also a masterpiece of film, incredibly cleverly done.

That said, it isn't suitable for children (sorry), does contain a lot of bad language, and is quite long. So if you are up for it, we will need to start to the film quite promptly in order to have some time after for a discussion.

One

SofaChurch was one year old yesterday; we had the first meeting on September 6th 2007. Many thanks to everyone who has been involved over the year. I hope you've enjoyed it and met God in some unexpected ways - I have!

trifle on my dungarees

Inspired by Mrs. Prev, I've started a little blog, with the hope of feeling vaguely creative while my days are too baby-filled to actually create anything proper. 

It'll be a scrapbook of thoughts, poems, general ramblings - not a diary as such (afterall, no one wants to read "got up ridiculously early, picked up baby's discarded toys, wiped baby's puke off shoulder etc" day after day...)

Come and visit and leave me a hello or two!

Playdough worship

This evening (28th August) is a chance to get creative, relax and go back to our childhoods while we play with playdough and see what we can make with it!

The theme for our creations will be 'My favourite Bible story' and we have six different colours to work with, plus a selection of cutters and rolling pins.

Everyone is welcome, so come along and squish, squeeze, roll, cut out and sculpt!

The Prayer Thread

Put your needs for prayer on here, if you wish. On the comment form you can tick the 'anonymous' box if wanting to keep things confidential, or just not identifying your requests with yourself to the world wide web. This thread can be deleted, edited and reposted as needs and time require.

Space

This Thursday (21st) we'll be discussing the latest understanding of the universe, including star explosions, the big bang, the big crunch, black holes, parallel universes... Led by our astronomer-in-residence, no prior knowledge required. If weather permits we might even venture outside and look at the stars.

Family film night

As its the summer holidays, we thought we'd make this month's film open to children too. We'll watch the film through and then see how it relates to our faith. All very welcome.

Cinema

At least 3 of us will be seeing The Dark Knight together Weds 13th August 8.45pm showing. Leave a comment or send a mail if you are wanting to join us and be in on the final arrangements.

This summer sees some cracking films come out. Batman is already receiving good reviews on many levels, and is billed as 'one of the best bloke movies ever'.

Prince Caspian is less dark, but has a lot of theological meat in it for those who have ears to hear.

Now, there's the X-Files film, "I Want To Believe". Storyline is unknown, but the series had this whole tag line concerning evidence and the choice of belief, and the desire to believe even if the evidence is not entirely compelling.

If you want to see these films, or others not mentioned ,with SofaChurch bods, give a shout here. I'm tired of going to the cinema by myself and having no one to talk to the films about!

Wednesdays are good priced in Crewe, and if you wait a couple weeks after release and go to a later showing, the cinema is quite quiet too.

Help - Andy's neglecting me

I am blogging on behalf of all the plants in the SofaChurch room. We are being treated dismally. Andy bought us to brighten the SofaChurch room (which we've been doing marvellously) but we're now being sorely neglected.

We watch week after week as Andy sits there, sipping happily on his cup of tea, while we remain parched and gasping. We need help. We need one of you to commit to watering us each week, as we've frankly given up hope of Andy ever remembering us. 

Barbecue -July 31st

July has a bonus fifth Thursday, and we are going to have a sunny summer barbecue at our house - see me for directions, but if you can find SofaChurch you are very close. We'll provide the meat side of things (thinking nice free-range sausages from Cheerbrooks, mackerel, lamb kebabs) but if others would commit to providing some other element of the meal we'd be grateful. Please let me know so we don't end up with too many duplicates. It'd be useful to have a rough idea of numbers too, so please let me know if you can/can't come. Thanks!

Tidying up the Backses

We didn't get to complete tonight - but made another big impact, and removed some really offensive material. Even had some Polish folk give us trifles and English folk make us a brew - much appreciated!

We're going to need to arrange a final visit (says he) sometime. Do we fix up a Saturday or Sunday afternoon? Next five Thursday month isn't until October... If so, how about having another barbie afterwards, weather permitting?

I've really enjoyed taking part in the tidy ups - a time for chatting, laughing, making a difference - ie fellowship. A shared purpose based on faith.

SofaChurch @ Crewe Central

Folk may be interested to know that plans are repeatedly being considered to bring a SofaChurch style meeting to Christ Church in Crewe centre.

Probably in tandem with a CafeChurch which will hopefully be held around the corner at Costa. Plans yet to be drawn up for sure, but the vicar keeps making encouraging noises about SofaChurch at Christ Church.

A few of us are hopefully on a CafeChurch training day in October, and after a couple more PCCs perhaps we'll be a step closer to knowing what and when (if you're interested, do shout, though places are limited and we're not even sure if the booking is successful yet).

If we go where people are and ensure the cultural trappings of our faith don't get in the way of them Knowing Jesus, The Faith has a bright future. Be encouraged.

SofaChurch at Christ Church I would hope to have a tag line to help differentiate it from the Mother SofaChurch. Linking in with Christ Church's railway history would be good, in my opinion; a few ideas below:

SofaChurch - Interchange
SofaChurch - Crewe Central
SofaChurch - Waiting Room

Anyway, so yes, there is hunger out there (and in here too). It's just getting palatable food where people need it which matters, and God Willing, we're getting much closer to doing what we ought to. Be encouraged.

SofaChurch fun trip

We've been wondering, following on from the recent discussion on community - would anyone be interested in a little SofaChurch excursion?

This could be something along the lines of... hiring a minibus for a day, driving to a beach, having fun, picnicing, fish and chips or barbecue in the evening, coming home.

Or, more adventurously, a weekend away - possibly camping, or hiring a big house somewhere if everyone could comfortably afford it.

We think it would be much fun, what does everyone think?

Healing Revival?

This Thursday we'll be talking about the 'Healing Revival' currently generating much interest in Lakeland Florida, and it's British counterpart in Dudley, with reference to similarly styled ministries.

Todd Bentley is billed later in the year to "personally release to the UK all that God has been doing in Florida" at the NEC.

Is this really healing? Is it yet another Christian Celebrity to put their shadow over the Person of Jesus? What's all this Angel stuff anyway? Is he really kicking people in the gut? Are we being a bunch of cynics, or carrying out the mandate to use our heads, hearts and spirits to work out what's good, bad, or indifferent?

Some interesting reading on The Reachout Trust here concerning all this.

Whatever, the adage about the baby and bathwater springs to mind; but even if you want to keep the baby, you need to get rid of the bathwater...

The middle bit

(I thought I'd bump this interesting question up from a comment to a new post for everyone to think about.)

Hi there all you sofa churchers. It's Mandy Wibberley from North Street church. Sorry I haven't been able to join you all since the birth of sofa church - sorry for me not for you all !!! You all seem to be having a great time both spiritually and socially. I'm a regular visitor to the website though and love it and what you're all doing.

With 3 teenage boys and a husband who works shifts, the time is just not there on Thursdays to join you. I have a drum lesson to attend just at the time you meet. Not for me you'll be relieved to hear, but with our 15 year old.
I'm also involved with the youth work and Re:Generation in our church. Re:Generation is at the other end of the scale to Sofa Church - loud band praise music, very modern, with a 21st century message. If any of you are interested, Andy can fill you in. He plays guitar with us sometimes.

It seems to some that the trend seems to be either one end of the scale or the other i.e Sofa Church or Re:Generation. We had 40 folk with us last time - some of those completely new to church. The middle bit, with the hymns and sermon - well what can I say ? Is it dying out or does it still have it's place, and if it does, for how long and for how many?
Well, sorry to go on, just wanted to stay in touch and to say I miss Sofa church. If the drum lessons change I will be with you again. keep up the good work and I will keep on visiting the sight with interest. Let me know what you think about "the middle bit" if you think it's relevent.

Film Night: Leap of Faith

The film this week is Leap of Faith; entry on Internet Movie Database is here if you want to know more...

Greenbelt

Susie, Kitty and I have decided to go this year again. Anyone fancy joining us? August bank holiday, full details here.

Can you pray for someone to die?

I thought about doing a SofaChurch meeting to discuss this question, but wondered if there was enough mileage in it. Perhaps we can start the discussion here and see how we go...

On Sunday I led a prayer at St Stephens' church asking for victory for Morgan Tsvangirai in the forthcoming presidential vote in Zimbabwe. When I got home I read in the news that he had been forced to quit from the election due to the violence that his followers have been experiencing. Robert Mugabe said afterwards, "Only God can remove me now".

This got me wondering. Is it ever right to pray for someone to die?

Hybrid embryos and Saviour siblings

This week we'll be discussing some of the ethics of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, recently passed in Parliament. This includes the creation of human/animal hybrid embryos, and selecting IVF embryos to grow into children for the express purpose of being a tissue donor for en existing poorly child. Discussion will be led by our medical correspondent, Andrea.

Kitty's baptism - thank you!

Hi all!

Wanted to drop you a line to thank you all so much for being there at Kitty's baptism service a few weeks ago. I was so touched to have you there supporting us. What a lovely bunch of friends you are.

Thanks too, for all the fab pressies! Claire, your money box has pride of place in her room and if anyone didn't get to see the absolute work of art that Jo created, just ask. It's easily the most lovely thing I own (oops - Kitty owns...) 

The Life of Brian

The next film night (Thursday 12th June) is The Life of Brian. If you've not seen it before, it's a very funny film. If you can handle the strong language and the irreverence, it's also making a serious point or two about human nature and those who follow Jesus the Messiah - not the Messiah himself. "I say you are Messiah, and I should know. I've followed a few". It's still causing arguments even now - see IMDB for the film's entry.