CEBC LEADERSHIP TEAM UPDATE - Review of 2010

What a year it 2010 has been for us!

January – Saw the arrival in the Gambia of school equipment collected over many months.

February – Two of our church fellowship visit the Gambia and the village community who were to receive the school equipment.  There was much excitement (we saw the video clips) and some embarrassment by Matthew and David at the “lordly” welcome given to them.  Are we still collecting? yes we are – some first aid equipment has been sent and our next shipment should include computer equipment as well as a photocopier.

March – As we continued on our journey towards appointing a Minister, for us at CEBC a major challenge was becoming apparent. We felt God asking us to reflect upon our church rules to enable the leadership team and members to seek the right person rather than the right man.  Over a series of many weeks we were able to gain views upon bible teaching and have open lively debate.  Through dialogue, prayer and discussion we have now been able to make this change and thank the members and fellowship.  We also launched our Mum and Tots project (see the April Blog) which has been great – we have been able to get alongside Mum’s at the local school.

April – Was business as usual (if there is such a thing).  Like other churches during the year we have seen some of our fellowship move to other places of worship and have had new people come along.  Much like the pruning of a fruit tree or vine, as we read in Ecclesiastes 3 there is a natural season for such things.

May – it was all systems go preparing for the Pop Connection Church and School project.

June – the Pop Connection folk were here at the local school.  What a brilliant week that was.  It was so evident to see God working through the Pop Connection Team.  With much electronic equipment and great enthusiasm from the school, teachers and our church the concert was held (following 4 days of practice and of course the cutting of the CD).  The church was at bursting point – so many mums, dads, grannies and Aunties etc. It’s important to highlight that the message of Gods’ love was not in any way diluted and I am sure some that came were challenged.

July – a little respite but preparations were underway for our King of the Castle Holiday Club.

August - Yes it happened the Holiday Club unlike any other. The whole outline for the weeklong event was written by the leader of our children’s team and what a success it was.  There were two main characters Hester and Lester (Court Jesters) who were to say the least a bit wacky. Upon the back of this event was have been able to lunch children’s Activity Sundays.

We also held our first Sunday Brunch (phew!).  A great leap of faith sparked by some preaching (thank you Dave from Vale Community Church).  The mornings are great its an opportunity for us to “serve” in the real sense of the word have a chat and enjoy being in the community. 

September – The local primary school had a new head and it has been great to get to know her and offer our support.

October – School Harvest in the church. 

Some of our fellowship supports the local speedwatch activity.  Those who come along  chat to the team while we are “doing our thing” it’s good to have discussion. So much so that with one of the speedwatchers we were able to have quite an open debate about our church. Our speedwatch involvement has enhanced our relations with the local community police – we thank them for their support.

November – Nearly at the end of the year but we upped our Minister recruitment drive.  We felt God was calling a part time person to work alongside us for around 3 to 4 days a week. So it’s watch this space for more details!

December – We were involved in the local Victorian Fayre and were able to support the school with some fund raising.  Thanks to some very artistic folk we were able to exhibit a dressed tree as well.

Reflecting on the year that was 2010, we have had highs but there have been lows as well.  One of our dearest and longest serving members of our fellowship died at the age of ninety-one.

Whilst the things we do can sometimes seem mundane - its community, and we thank God for our involvement both at the local level and in other areas. 

As we look ahead to all that God has planned for us in 2011 we ask that you hold our church in your prayers and as always we would be glad to see you at any time.

God bless

Church Secretary

CEBC Leadership Team Update - April 2010

We seem to be so busy and much has happened since our last Blog article.  We are thankful for the support of the fellowship and perhaps like other leadership teams and churches who are going through the process of seeking a new minister we need to keep reminding ourselves of the power of prayer and of the need to wait on God’s time and not our own.

As we continue on our journey towards appointing a Minister we need to ask the question do we ask too much of such an individual? – who, to quote an knowledgeable scholar “is not the Angel Gabriel”.   Not wanting to fall into a trap of ‘spreading the minister too thinly’, reminds us that each and everyone of us has a part to play within the body. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12 v12:  The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.

Over Easter some of the fellowship have been to Spring Harvest (a Christian retreat/conference) and have been challenged by the teaching in relation to “The Bible/Church through Different Eyes” - Debating issues around the church being equipped for the 21^st century. Reading this you might think that we are not a go getting church – nothing could be further from the truth. 

We are moving forward and are reviewing our young people’s programmes; we are working closely with our local school and have a joint Mum and Tots project plus involvement with the ‘Pop Connection’ project.

Last Sunday our ‘stand in’ drummer was only eight year’s old (but excellent!) – At the other end of the spectrum our music desk operator was 72 years old.  We are so fortunate in having people who will bend and flex. We have a blessed assurance that with God’s help our little church of some 36 members will grow in grace and love.  Why not come along and see for yourself.

Church Secretary

CEBC Leadership Team Update - Jan 2010

After all the excitement of Christmas we are looking forward to a challenging New Year.

 Although we are missing our former Minister and are finding during this time of interregnum that there is lots to do, we have been blessed with much excellent teaching and thank God for bringing so many wonderful preachers to us.
At the moment we are going through James and last Sunday we were able to reflect upon Chapter 2. There is a clear lesson for us all here as in one sense this is a potted guide as to how we should live our Christian lives. We wonder however whether there are any other churches like ourselves who sometimes might be afraid to admit that we can be judgmental and do not always see behind outward appearances.

 How many times do we pray for the poor and needy and will help by responding to appeals either for food or clothing etc. but when such a need hits us in the face do we justify our lack of action by rationalising that offers of help through the relevant official channels have been provided or indeed rejected. Do we then as church walk away and say well it’s nothing to do with us?

Here’s the rub brothers and sisters – right on our doorstep are examples of need therefore we must ask ourselves what would Jesus have done. If you go to a door with a food parcel and can see that the children are dirty that Mum might still be in her dressing gown in the middle of the day and that dad is a young man in his early teens what judgement do we make? Verse 8 in James says Love your neighbour as yourself” This loving can be very difficult when to the outsider this same family might in our view be abusing the social system, perhaps not trying to find work and are quite happy to live off the “state”. I suppose we need to ask ourselves “how do such situations occur” and why is society seeming to break down.
Let’s go to another door which when opened reveals a well dressed proud elderly couple, who have food, clothing and on the face of things seems to have all they need. Do we think – “they must be OK” or do we look behind the immediate - are they lonely – do they need a friendly visit now and then.

Now as a reader and you would be correct in saying “but churches can’t do everything” and you would be right, but we can pray, we can use our resources wisely and we can search our hearts to determine why we do things – is it for Gods glory or our own


As a church we are going to be reflecting upon our member’s convenant. If you read this blog we ask that you pray for our convenant group and ask for God’s wisdom so that 2010 can be a year where we do truly love our neighbour as ourself.

Church Secretary

CEBC Leadership Team Update - Nov 09

The Leadership team attended the Global Leadership Summit on 9th and 10th October which was great but on our first day Matthew one of our Deacons played a game of hunt the car key which is not one of his major skills. However after much coaching from his wife, and of course us, he was able to locate the said keys and off we set for Watford.

The two days were excellent and prompted some interesting debate between the leadership team. Much focus was around children and how to do “church” in a global recession with the question should churches to go back to basics. (Isn’t it amazing how God puts you in the right place at the right time for CEBC the last month has been a time of reflection and planning for the future).

Like many churches we have challenges in relation to resources not the least of which is our desire to increase in number especially in relation to attracting young families. We have an excellent Sunday programme for young people as well as other activities in the week. However despite trying and trying and praying and praying we seem to struggle.

We had a Christmas shopping evening this week for Heroes at Home, which was a great success. Like many of you we are planning our Christmas events and look forward to our Nativity which is performed by a group of lower school young people together with the puppets from our middle school club Rock Solid. It’s a really good all age service – if you are around why not come along on Sunday 6 December at 10.30am – you could even join us for Christmas fellowship lunch after the service. It’s a bring and share event - there is always plenty of food for everyone – with absolutely the right balance.
Now we cannot claim that this miracle of planning is anything like the feeding of the five thousand, but none the less we thank God for the fellowship and fun that we have.

One of our members is involved in the Graham Kendrick Concert on 21st December at the Bedford Corn Exchange. Our Street Angels who work with other churches to patrol the streets of Bedford on Saturday nights are amazing – it’s great to see how relationships are building with local night clubs and others.

On this cold damp November day there is a glow on the horizon. Like you brothers and sisters we look forward to celebrating the miracle of Jesus birth we wish you a joyous advent and a really Happy Christmas – ooh what an exciting time!!!!!

CEBC Leadership Team Update - Oct 09

It has been a month since we said farewell to our Minister Richard. We had the opportunity to attend his induction at Upminster on Saturday and whilst wishing him well there was an element of sadness. However we know that God has his purpose for our church and of course Richard.

It’s been quite a hectic time for the leadership and fellowship. The church has been involved in our Village show. We had an Aunt Sally Stall, Bric a Brac and Children’s activity tent. The Christian Motor Cyclists Association also supported us - we are very fortunate in having strong links with them through our Moderator and fellowship. Through the village show we were able to support Christians Against Poverty and the local school. This weekend a group of young people are going to Fort Rockie with our Youth Leaders – not sure who is more excited the young people or the leaders.

We have had a visit from our regional BU Minister who has guided us through the first stages of an interregnum, and whilst this is not something new having had our Minister with us for eight years some of the leadership’s brains needed a little “oiling” (creek)!

The leadership are attending the Global Leadership Summit at the weekend and look forward to some stimulating seminars and challenging dialogue (it would be right to say that the leadership are quite a vocal lot but get on really well together).

We had our harvest last weekend and were proud that a member of our Lower School Stepping Stones team who is seven year’s old played drums with the music group and actually gave a bit of an uplift to Come Ye Thankful People Come. Everyone got stuck into the service with some Duggie Doug songs - all in all it was great – we brought toiletries to support a local charity that house homeless people – the church smelt very fragrant.

So friends what is our challenge for the future – perhaps we need to take a lesson from Paul who stepped out to where the people were – if churches stay in buildings then what hope for the future. May God’s Grace be with you and may His strength uphold you . Amen

A Missionary People

As we come to the end of our series looking at the church under construction it seems right that we remind ourselves of the primary purpose of the church. It was CS Lewis who once said that “the church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ”. Tim Chester wrote: The gospel is good news: a message to proclaim, a truth to be taught, and a story to be told.
This understanding shapes us into a missionary people who follow a missionary God. We are made for a mission as Rick Warren would say.

That our God is a missionary God cannot be ignored. The church was born in mission and grows only through mission. Mission is an expression of God’s own heart for those he misses most, those who are far from him but never out of his reach. It was the Holy Spirit who called for Paul and Barnabas to be set apart for a special missionary task, but it also the Holy Spirit who empowers the church to continue in its mission.

A Missionary People

If we trace the life of the early church we see:

Spirit Inspired Movement

We need boundaries, we need frameworks, but we ought never to forget that we are a movement. Hinted at in the “go” language used by Jesus and expressed as the early church fulfils the words of Acts 1:8

Intentional Engagement

Paul engaged the culture in a dialogue.

Incarnational Influence

A third aspect of the missionary movement is that it is lived out among the people we are trying to reach.

How do we live as a missionary people?

Proximity

First of all we have to be near enough to touch lives and understand them.

Presence

Somehow we have to find ways to be both near the people we are reaching and among the people we are reaching.

Partnership

Partnership with God.

To become fully involved partners with God we need to:

Pray

The three-open prayer: open doors, open my mouth, open hearts

Prepare

Peter writes: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have

Play your part

Share the story, live the story.

Find out what you do best and do it in a way that makes a difference.

Changing styles

You may have noticed in the last post that I've presented the main bullet points with a brief introduction and conclusion without a lot of text in between. I thought this might be a more helpful way of sharing the outline in order to generate questions and personal exploration.

Previously I've left in much of my notes but of course the notes don't really tell you the whole story of what was said. This way I hope you can focus on the main ideas without the intrusion of my explanations!

This is a rather late change given that I'll be leaving Bedford in September and I'm not preaching in August. That means that next week, assuming I post my outline for the last in this current series, will be last post on this blog.

I'm not sure whether I'll continue to post sermon notes when we move or not, but if I do I'll put a link on this blog to the new one for anyone who might be interested in what I'm doing.

It may also be that someone at Cotton End chooses to take over putting notes and stories (I never really got around to doing the later) about what God is doing in rural Bedfordshire somewhere on the internet. Given that this blog comes under my personal blogger profile, it's likely that it will fall into a deep sleep before quietly shuffling off the radar. Or maybe it will get rebranded and relaucnhed later in the year. Who knows!