Gordon's May News

I seemed to have hit May at full speed and not stopped, and no sight of any let up until the end of July.

I had the great privilege to attend the Press Launch for The Boat at Thornham Marina. Visit The Boat web site for more details of this fantastic Cultural Olympiad initiative. http://www.theboatproject.com/  The Boat was also seen off in grand style after being berthed at Brighton Marina for a week during the Brighton Festival. The Bishop of Horsham, the Rt Revd Mark Sowerby in full regalia blessed the boat as it prepared to sail to its next destination. This was followed by a Service in the

Market Square

involving Sea Cadets and the hymns being led by a local Salvation Army Band. Various schools took part and created their own boats and prayers and aspirations, some of these written on rice paper were cast into the sea. Check out the diocesan web site for some remarkable pictures of this outstanding event. http://www.diochi.org.uk/ (look under News)

The Church Army Chichester Cluster said farewell this month to Capt Ron Bradford upon his retirement. We had a good turn out and after a morning of sharing and praying for each other we went across the local pub for a splendid lunch.

Christian Resources Exhibition at Esher seemed a bit ‘thin’ this year with some notable gaps. More than likely a sign of the serious financial constraints we are all living under currently. I did however manage to meet up with some friends and in particular Ross Coad promoting Storykeepers DVDs. Check out http://www.storykeepersedu.com/

If you don’t know where you’re going you might end up somewhere else! It was great to assist in an Away Day for Christ the Lord Broadfield. This was a follow up to a Growing Healthy Churches Angels Morning Peter Scofield and I ran for them earlier in the year.  We were helping them try and discern their particular calling. After a morning spent thinking we then moved after lunch into exploring the theme with crafts, games and drama. I love this way of doing things, using both right brain and left brain. I also got the opportunity to run a short Games session for some of the children. I have not done this for some time and it was great fun.

School Assemblies are also something I don’t do much of these days. However Fr Andrew and I went along to St John the Baptist School (Roman Catholic Primary) in Brighton to encourage them to get involved with The Boat project which they subsequently did with great enthusiasm.

Sadly I had to take three days to make a trip to Blackpool on the sudden death of my Uncle Peter.  A fit man in his very early 70’s he discovered that he had cancer after checking out jaundice. It was a great privilege to be asked to offer a spoken tribute at the funeral.

We travelled back on the Saturday and on the Sunday I was dressed in blue tights, red shorts, a Superman T shirt and a red cape, looking a bit like Superman’s granddad! I was taking part in the Heroes Run raising money for Africa schools project and also Off the Fence, a local charity that works with the street community. 10k in 57 minutes.

Then to round off the month we had the last planning meeting for the South of England Show. I travelled down to Petworth to meet with a steering group engaging with the Torch Relay. I helped set up and then took part in the Boat Blessing Ceremony. I led a module on Mixed Economy and Cultural Engagement for a One Day Mission Shaped Ministry Taster Day. I also helped with the Church & Countryside Annual One Day Conference using some of the material from the Rural Evangelism Course available on the ARC web site. http://www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/ 

Then all next week we have the South of England Show and so have been busy trying to get ready for that as well!