‘If you love me, you will obey what I command.’ (John 14.15)

St Mary Magdalene  Cowden 25^th May 2014

Acts 17.22-31

Psalm 66.7-18

John 14.15-21

‘If you love me, you will obey what I command.’  (John 14.15)

This almost sounds like the sort of thing parents say to their children.

However, that isn't a bad place to start.

For we are the adoptive children of God, our Heavenly Father.

We are not orphans.

So, this leaves us with two questions, two very important questions. Probably two of the most important questions you will ever consider in your life.

‘If you love me’ is the first question.

The implication here is that whether we love God or not is a matter of choice.

There are those who would say that God accepts everyone and in the fullness of time everyone will be brought into His Kingdom.

I would want to argue that if heaven is a reality then hell has to be a possibility. In saying that I do not want you to have an image of heaven and hell portrayed in some of the more lurid medieval pictures.

I do not want to say much more than the presence of God being what we call heaven, and the absence of God being hell.

Love of God then becomes our very own free will choice.

We can choose to love God or we can choose not to love God.

I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this but of course it is worth considering just what we mean when we say ‘we love God.’

I love a good quality glass of brandy, I love running, and I love a whole host of things that bring pleasure and enjoyment into my life.

However I would say the same thing but mean something different when I say I love my wife, albeit she does bring pleasure and enjoyment into my life.

There is something far deeper and richer in this love and in English only having the one word can leave us puzzling over just what we mean when we say we love God.

Certainly love of God brings pleasure and enjoyment in life, but I hope it goes well beyond that.

Love of God is expressed in Scripture under terms of a covenant.

The analogy of marriage is helpful here, bringing to mind of course the language of ‘Song of Solomon’ and the Book of Revelation with the Church as the bride and Jesus the bridegroom.

For in a marriage covenant a binding agreement is freely entered into. One person gives themselves totally to the other despite the circumstances that may befall along the way.

I entered into such a covenant marriage with Jesus on the 1^st January 1975. On that day I invited Jesus to be the Lord of my life and resolved that year to become a Christian – a Christ One.

St Augustine wrote, ‘if Jesus is not Lord of all he is not Lord at all.’

So, let me ask some more questions…

Do you love God, and is Jesus Lord of your life?

Does your whole life revolve around Jesus?

Is God your first thought in the morning and the last prayer at night?

What part will God play in your life this coming week?

Do you know the reality of the Holy Spirit in your life?

Do you know the life giving energy that flows from being filled with the very Spirit of God so that you can say, ‘it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me?

If you love me – well do you?

And if you love me, you will keep my commandants.

I want to briefly mention two commandments that Jesus gives us.

Both are deeply, deeply challenging and we can really only hope to begin to fulfill them if we do love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our mind – i.e. every fibre of our being. Furthermore we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

‘Love one another as I have loved you’ is the first command I want us to think about.

Winchester Diocese has just elected to bring the Rule of St Benedict into the heart of their life, to have this Rule inform everything they do.

One of those Rules is to greet and treat everybody as if they were Christ.

A few weeks ago I was on a Conference for Anglo Catholic Charismatic’s, ‘On Fire Mission.’

 

When discussing the veneration of the Host during the Eucharist I put the point that if we so venerate the sacred mysteries of Christ’s body and blood in the elements of the bread and wine, if those elements are then consumed by someone, then surely we ought to continue in the same veneration for those elements that have now become en-fleshed.

‘Greater love has no one than this that they lay down their life for their friends.’

So, loving others as Christ loves us is a tough and very demanding commandment.  I know that I fail at this on a regular basis and need to come back to God and say sorry and ask for forgiveness.  But I continue to seek, continue to strive, continue to try and be more loving and caring and seeing the Christ in the other. 

I really don’t think God asks anything more of us than a full hearts intention and a willingness to grow more and more like Christ day by day.

As we read in Ephesians 4.13

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ

What a goal to aim for, what a Saviour to lead us on, what a powerful indwelling Holy Spirit we have available to us just for the asking and the receiving and opening ourselves up.

The second commandment I want us to consider is ‘go and make disciples of all the nations.’

What has sometimes been called the Great Commission, which in many ways has become the Great Omission!

In the passage from Acts we heard of the story of Paul at the Areopagus seeking to do just that.

This story warrants a whole study on its own and provides brilliant training material for evangelism.

This is Paul in the market place. This is Paul looking and seeing and observing the prevailing culture. This is Paul drawing attention to the things he has seen, the altar to an Unknown God, and later in addressing the crowd quoting from one of their own poets.

Now I can’t imagine many of you will find yourself in anything like the position that Paul finds himself in here.

However each and every one of us should be prepared to speak out about our faith.

1 Peter 3.15

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…

How are you doing on that one?

I was leading a training session with some young people the other week. As part of the exercise I invited them to tell the group how they became a Christian?

I would be delighted if each and every one of you came to me after this Service and told me your story, of how you became a Christian and what difference that has made in your life. How you are seeking to love others as Christ has loved you, how you know of a certainty the indwelling Holy Sprit in your life.

However it might just be that you have never given yourself fully to the Lordship of Christ in this way. Never run into the arms of the Heavenly Father, felt his kiss upon your cheek and heard the words, you are my beloved son, you are my beloved daughter in whom I am well pleased. You may never have experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit. 

Well rejoice, because today you have that choice laid before you.

In a moment I am going to invite you to close your eyes whilst I say a prayer. As I say this prayer, if you want to give your life to the Lord for the first time, then please echo the words in your heart.

You may also wish to echo the words if you want to rededicate your life to live under Christ just and gentle rule, under His supreme Lordship.

Living Lord Jesus I am sorry that I have been living to please myself rather than you. I acknowledge your supreme Lordship and invite you to become the first in my life, above all others and all other things. I acknowledge your sacrificial love in dying that I might be called a friend of God, a death that takes away all my wrongdoing. I ask for the Holy Spirit to come into my life, to fill my whole being, so that from today I can say, it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.

This is my hearts desire, this is my solemn oath, and this is my sacred vow, from this moment onward I will seek to serve only you, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Discover more on www.christianity.org.uk

Soldiers of the Lord!

On holiday recently I was reading ‘Red Cloud’ – his story. ‘Red Cloud’ was a Native American (Indian) who in the mid 1880’s led a large band of warriors from many different tribes in battles against the ever encroaching ‘white man and his ways.’  It was in many ways the last throw of the dice and ‘Red Cloud’ himself ended his days living as a ‘white man’ accepting the inevitable.

In the story ‘Red Cloud’ battles in particular against Colonel Carrington who had been dispatched to guard the top end of the Bozeman Trail just south of Montana. His first task was to build a fort. To establish the Garrison Carrington needed three principal things. He needed a ready supply of new recruits, a good strong cohort of active soldiers and an infirmary for the wounded and the

dying.  Naturally being in such a far flung place none of the first two were in regular supply whilst the third, the infirmary continued to expand as more soldiers were wounded and fell victim to battles and skirmishes to say nothing of the privations of frontier life in the mid 19^th century. 

So, what happens if we translate this idea to a regular parish church?

Could we not ask and ascertain what our strengths are, how many recruits are coming on through, how many active soldiers do we have that we can call upon and how many are in the infirmary?

If our churches have rather full infirmaries, does this not tell us that what we are able to achieve as a Garrison is going to be limited? 

Therefore, no matter the quality of the Garrison Commander, unless he/she has the active soldiers to engage in battle, their effectiveness will be limited.

What is the answer? Well, certainly one way is to draft in a new cohort of active soldiers. In Brighton we have seen this work to good effect at an HTB Church plant developed first out of St Peter’s in the centre of Brighton and who have recently sent another cohort of troops to Whitehawk. (Although sources tell me that Whitehawk are struggling a tad without a strong Garrison Commander.) 

One of the reasons why the Native Americans were eventually beaten back was because they were fighting with bows and arrows against ever developing Spencer rifles, ‘the guns that shoot twice.’

Some of the Old Guard, some of those in our infirmaries, who do need loving and caring for, can find change to new ways of doing things difficult to accept.

In some ways we need to grow up alongside the infirmary new ways of being church that are more adaptable and better suited to 21^st century culture.

However there are stories told of a completely different and unexpected outcome. Such is the story of the Tube Station in Cornwall. Here a very small group (of mainly ladies) embarked upon a journey that would lead to the total transformation of their little Methodist Chapel to become a Surfer Café and Church, a real Fresh Expression of Church.

All models and analogies begin to break down at some point and this Garrison analogy is no exception.

However as it stands, it might help to give an insight in the very practical reasons why church growth may be difficult.  There may well be too many people in the infirmary who need loving care and not enough active soldiers and too few recruits coming through. 

To move from soldiers to farmers and to recall Jesus’ words…

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest.”

    

Captain's Log March 2014

Soul by the Sea continues to play a big part in my ministry at the moment. One of our developments is offering Road Shows to churches and groups. This is a short cameo piece based on John 9, the man born blind. My part is to give a short presentation on Soul by the Sea and on a couple of occasions I have also been invited to preach. We have presented Road Shows to Holland Road Baptist Church Youth Club and Portslade Baptist Church during their Morning Worship, a Roman Catholic Church Saturday Night Mass and a couple of Anglican Churches. We are of course nearly there with our Flagship presentation, The Brighton Passion. This year we have just two presentations on Easter Sunday afternoon outside St Peter’s in Brighton.  By way of a prequel we also have a Palm Sunday procession along the seafront. I spent one Sunday afternoon with the cast rehearsing. The dedication of cast members is amazing, they have been gathering on Sunday afternoons for fours hours for several months. Even if you don’t live nearby you can become a Friend of Soul by the Sea Community and get behind this endeavour to relive the Jesus story in the public domain. www.soulbythesea.org.uk                                     

   

The first Sunday of Lent saw Jane and me visiting our friends at St Peter’s ad Vincula, Wisborough Green. As we reflected on the story of Jesus being sent into the desert I offered this acrostic…

Led into the desert

Equipped with the Word of God

No to the evil one

Trust in God the Father.

I also invited everyone to write their names on small wooden crosses. When the offering was taken up the crosses were also collected. We then distributed them in what I referred to as Simon of Cyrene exercise, i.e. everyone was invited to carry someone elses cross during Lent and pray for them. At the end of the Service a man approached me and said his nine year old daughter had the cross with my name on it and might I suggest something she could pray during Lent. Very humbling.

Telling our story is a key part of sharing our faith. I had the real joy of leading a Workshop on this subject as part of the preparations for a Horsham Town Mission in May. Most of the material I used is available on the Arthur Rank Centre web site on the rural evangelism course ‘Journey to Faith.’

http://www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/publications-and-resources/rural-evangelism

‘Evangelism should be a heartbeat not a hiccough’

Hope 14 offers some fantastic resources encouraging churches to engage in meaningful mission throughout the year. I joined Revd David Guest at Broad Oak and then All Saints Heathfield for their ‘Third Dimension Service’ and preached and presented the opportunity Hope 14 offers. I have also recently refreshed our own Chichester diocesan Hope blog…

http://chichesterhope14.blogspot.co.uk/

Church Army Mission Community - it was great to meet up with colleagues in London for a Regional Day. We heard of how Church Army is developing along the Four Pathways and also plans for a new style of training. If you are an Evangelist or would like to support the ministry of Church Army then do check out the web site for how you could become a Community Member along one of the Pathways. www.churcharmy.org.uk

Mothering Sunday – Jane and I made our way over to Eastbourne on the morning the clocks sprang forward to join The Haven and to lead their Morning Service. I found some fabulous resources and a Service outline on the Mothers’ Union web site. In particular the material called ‘Hand to Hand’ is brilliant and offers families a way of exploring matters of faith at home. This is an area that is of concern for those who run things like Messy Church with people only pitching up once a month. It puts the exploration of faith and the passing of the story to our children back into the home. I also suggested they have a Family Prayer Pot. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if families coming to church brought their Family Prayer Pots so that they could be offered up during the Service/Liturgy or whatever style or way seems appropriate. I really like the idea of a row of Prayer Pots in front of the altar.

http://www.mothersunion.org/

Captain's Log February 2014

“You see but you do not observe” says one of the modern manifestations of Mr Holmes to the doughty Watson. That is a key point I tried to get across for the Readers Course ~ Contextual Mission. So the session began with a short walk around the area with a sheet of things to note and observe that gives hints, tips and clues as to who might live there, shop there or have businesses in the area, etc.  A simple lesson but one often overlooked because we can become so familiar with our patch that we see but no longer observe. This is of course (not observing) a natural feature of conserving energy because we are ‘at home’ and so dangers are less of a threat.

(For a phenomenological study of this concept try and get hold of a copy of A GEOGRAPHY OF THE LIFEWORLD 1979 by David Seamon – dated but the principles remain the same)

Have you signed up for Hope 2014? We had a very encouraging gathering in London when around twenty Hope Practitioners gathered together to tell stories of what is happening in their areas. There are a lot of great resources to help engage with the Commemoration of World War One.  www.hopetogether.co.uk

I promoted Hope 14 at the February ‘Kairos’  at St Peter’s ad Vincula – this is becoming a regular feature in my diary which is great because it is always good to encourage these good folk who are currently without a vicar.  



Soul by the Sea continues to keep me busy with Planning Group meetings and Road Shows including one this month at Holland Road Baptist Youth Club. Another one was at The Church of the Good Shepherd Dyke Road Brighton and it was a delight to be invited to preach as part of the ‘presentation’    www.soulbythesea.org

In the UK the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association UK is going to launch ‘Search for Jesus.’ This is an email based initiative currently running in the US where enquirers can ask questions. I am undergoing training to be one of those first responders to enquirers.  It was good to visit the BGEA UK centre of operations to meet with Mark from the USA outlining how the programme operates there and what it is hoped it can achieve here in the UK.


Brighton Half Marathon

Yes, I managed to get in under two hours – just! 1.58.59.  I couldn't believe the gorgeous weather considering how awful it had been. Best of all however is the £55.00 raised for Off the Fence. As Paul Young OtF CEO said, this money saves lives. www.offthefence.org.uk



‘If you don’t know where you are going, you might end up somewhere else’  Great to spend sometime with St John the Baptist Hove as we reflected on the past three years and then considered the next three year Mission Action Plan.
 

Then to round of the month a visit to Northampton to deliver a Rural Evangelism Workshop as part of the Arthur Rank Centre ‘Rural Ministry Course.’  I always get such a buzz from delivering this workshop. www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk
Direct link for Rural Evangelism Course...
www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/publications-and-resources/rural-evangelism

I am very much hoping and praying as I look for a new post that outlining this Course will be a key element. Therefore I would be delighted to hear from anyone who would like to invite me to run the Course and allied material in their area.

Captain's Log February 2014

Wow, what a crazy month January was, I don’t seem to have had time to catch my breath since starting back to work on the 6^th January.

The first Sunday I was in my home Church, St John’s Hove and assisting with the Eucharist was on the 2nd February. Every Sunday in January I have been out and about at other Churches.

A number of those visits have been in support of Soul by the Sea www.soulbythesea.org.uk during our Road Shows. 

We are pressing ahead albeit we are in real need of Administrative Support, more actors and funds!  It was a delight to join with others during the last month for the Passion Trust Conference in London. Passion Trust www.passiontrust.org is an umbrella organisation that helps and supports those who are seeking to mount a Passion Play. There are over 80 Passion Plays of various shapes and styles across the country. As part of the development of Soul by the Sea we are gathering together on the 2^nd Thursday of every month in a pub in Brighton. This is simply a time to come together and enjoy each others company and build up relationships.

It was a delight on the 14^th January to meet with colleagues of the Church Army Chichester Cluster to celebrate Founders Day. This is the birthday of Wilson Carlile the Founder of Church Army. Great to hear from colleagues of the ongoing work and ministry of the Church Army, founded in 1882. This was followed by a fabulous lunch at The Moorings Pevensey Bay.

January saw the launch of the initial report of the Church Growth Research programme ‘From Anecdote to Evidence.’  

http://www.churchgrowthresearch.org.uk/

It was a real privilege to be able to gather in London for this launch that put some empirical facts behind what had been hunches and best guesses for a number of us who have been working and thinking around Church Growth. Some of the findings are deeply challenging and warrant serious thought and consideration by all dioceses in their planning and strategies. 

One of the important factors is that of engaging with children and young people and helping them to remain engaged with the Church. I still think above all else however we need to help people establish a living personal relationship with Jesus.  That has to be a top priority as children grow from a vicarious faith to an owned faith. I had an opportunity during the month to be able to play a small part in that fostering of spirituality in children. I was part of a ‘team’ who mounted a School Prayer Space at Hurst Prep School. 

http://www.prayerspacesinschools.com/home

It was an amazing privilege to be able to take two/three children at a time and help them explore and interpret the interactive prayer stations.

One important factor in seeing Church Growth is Fresh Expressions of Churches. We had our Mission Shaped Ministry Course reunion and lunch in January. It was great to catch up with people again and to hear of some very exciting developments in a wide variety of settings and contexts.

Also had a trip to High Wycombe to meet with Simon Martin, Arthur Rank Centre Training and Research Officer. He and I put together the Rural Evangelism Course and this was an opportunity to review the course.

www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk/publications-and-resources/rural-evangelism

Lambeth Listening Days

This was the title given to a series of days held at Lambeth Palace convened by Canon Chris Russell, Evangelism Advisor to  Archbishop Justin Welby.  Evangelism is one of the Archbishop’s top three priorities. These ‘Days’ brought together from across the country a wide range of ‘Evangelists’ from all church traditions. Chris is seeking to get an overview of what is happening across the country. It was very stimulating engaging with people like Bob and Mary Hopkins, Jonny Baker and Bishop Stephen Cottrell among many others from Missioner Networks.   My strong play of course was for rural evangelism not to be ignored!

Prayer Diary February 2014 ~ some of the stuff I am doing...

 Monday 3^rd

In the evening leading a session on Contextual Mission for the Readers Course.

Tuesday 4^th

London for a gathering of Hope 14 Regional Practitioners.

Thursday 6^th

Soul by the Sea Committee in the afternoon and a Road Show in the evening to the Holland Road Baptist Youth Group

Friday 7^th

Sussex Prayer Breakfast

Sunday 9^th

Leading ‘Kairos’ Service at St Peter ad Vincula Wisborough Green. In the afternoon attending the Plough Sunday Service Chichester Cathedral.

Monday 10^th

Meeting with my friend walking towards ordination.

Tuesday 11^th

Spiritual Directors Introduction Course. (Part of ‘facilitators’ team.’)

Thursday 13^th

Soul by the Sea Community Gathering in the evening

Sunday 16^th

Brighton Half Marathon – raising funds for Off the Fence who minister to the homeless and vulnerable.

Sunday 23^rd

Preaching at The Church of the Good Shepherd Dyke Road Brighton. This is part of a Soul by the Sea Roadshow.

Tuesday 25th

Spiritual Directors Introduction Course. (Part of ‘facilitators’ team.’)

In the evening speaking to Cuckfield Deanery Synod on ‘Welcome.’

Wednesday/Thursday 26^th/27^th

Rural Ministry Course Arthur Rank Centre

Leading Workshops on Rural Evangelism

Family News – bit worrying at the moment with Joe who is taking part with an Outdoor Mountaineering Course with Cotswolds in the Cairngorms. As part of this venture he is also planning to have three days solo trekking. 

Daniel, Tracy and baby Kerryn have moved across the road to a bungalow which will give them more space. Daniel also starts back into a teaching post this month.

Tabitha is leaving us slowly! She is spending more and more time with Marcus and now they are planning a holiday together!

Jane is now working almost full time at Mile Oak Primary School. She has proved to be a valuable asset to the school alongside of course her continued support of my ministry.  She is my musical other half!

Thank you for all your support and prayer.

The Next Thing?

                                           

 

Casting a Vision to serve & support the Rural Church

Captain Gordon Banks CA Diocesan Evangelist Chichester Diocese

Church House Hove East Sussex BN3 4ED 01273 425686

gordon.banks@chichester.anglican.org.

Under the proposed restructuring in the Diocese of Chichester the post of Diocesan Evangelist will cease to exist in 2014. I am seeking to develop my current ministry in service and support of the rural church for the next five years when I will be 68!

The Proposal…

Appointed to a rural benefice as part of a team as Lay Minister/ Evangelist/Associate Minister in an accommodating diocese.

Also to be commissioned to deliver training on rural evangelism across the country using as a base the ‘Journey to Faith Course’. Available as a download from the Arthur Rank Centre. www.arthurrankcentre.org.uk. This essence of this training would be to train trainers. Although the Course is available as a download and is designed to be ‘easy to deliver’ people would gain confidence if they went through the Course with one of the authors. (1) Allied to this would be highlighting other resources available, especially from the Arthur Rank Centre and the Rural Evangelism Network.  www.ruralevangelism.net

Added into to this new appointment would be study/research.

Possible funding partners could include… (2)

a) The host diocese

b) The Arthur Rank Centre

c) The Church Army

d) Evangelist Support Scheme (ESS) operated through Church Army

e) Consultation Fees

 ­If you think you might be able to assist in moving this proposal forward I would be delighted to hear from you.

(1) I am a co-author of this course along with Simon Martin, Arthur Rank Centre Training and Resources Officer

(2) Please note at the time of writing (January 2014) none of the proposed funding partners have given any indication or undertaking that they wish to participate.

Captain's Log December 2013

New Year ~ New Hope ~ New Challenge

This well known extract of poem ‘The Gate of the Year’ quoted by King George VI in his Christmas Day broadcast in 1939 feels so apposite at the moment.

 “I feel that we may all find a message of encouragement in the lines which, in my closing words, I would like to say to you:”

I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,

"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."

And he replied, "Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."

May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.

On January 6^th I returned to Church House Hove after being on leave since the 19^th December. It was good to put to one side all the unhappiness and uncertainty and disquiet at Church House for awhile.  However on Christmass eve I was struck down by sickness and diarrhoea. Jane and I went off to Tenerife on the 26^th and the ‘problem’ continued on and off for about another four days during which time I seemed to have spent more time asleep than awake!  I eventually pulled around to something like ‘normal’ to enable us to celebrate the New Year in style.  We returned home on the 2^nd January and I had to have a quick turn around as I had accepted an invitation to lead and preach at the Church of the Ascension Westdene (Brighton) on the 5th January.

Having been told on the 29^th November about the restructuring at Church House and that once a consultation period is over the post of Diocesan Evangelist will cease to exist life has become ‘interesting.’  The proposals are extremely radical and include the deletion of the whole of the current Youth & Children’s Team and replacing three full time Officers with just one linked in with Education/Schools amongst other changes to the current Admin team.

Therefore alongside the busyness of ministry I am trying to assimilate this unexpected news and all of the allied documentation. 

Two runs in early December. The first one was a very short 5k Santa Dash alongside Hove seafront that was just so much fun and we got a free Santa outfit to run in as well!  This set me up for the next day and the Mince Pie Ten. This is a tough multi-terrain ten mile that includes one very steep climb for just over a mile at the 6 mile marker. The conditions were near perfect and I was delighted to shave off a couple of minutes from previous years.

 

 

Rural Ministry - a trip to Church House Westminster to meet with Jill Hopkinson (National Rural Officer) and a small group of Rural Officers. This ecumenical group have been meeting for a few years now putting together a set of ‘papers’ which seek to offer some initial theological reflections on certain aspects of rural ministry. I was delighted to hear that following the General Synod motion calling for ‘Intentional Evangelism’ to be placed on the agenda of every parish a Task Force has been set up and there has been a request for someone to speak for the rural church. So often there is a strong centrifugal pull towards the sub-urban, urban and city and rural churches can easily get overlooked. Rural evangelism and rural ministry needs a different approach and rural proofed resources.  I am meeting with Simon Martin of the Arthur Rank Centre on the 28^th January to review the Rural Evangelism Course ‘Journey to Faith.’ We would welcome any comments to add into our review – you will find the Course as download on the ARC website. www.arthurankcentre.org.uk

 

 

City Ministry – ‘Soul by the Sea’ (www.soulbythesea.org) continues to grow and develop as it seeks to serve all the Churches across Brighton & Hove.  New into the mix is the Soul by the Sea Friends, a regular monthly meeting of the Soul by the Sea Community in a local pub and we are just about to launch our very first Emagazine. Plus rehearsals for Brighton Passion Play 2014 are just about to get underway alongside numerous Roadshows to various churches across the city. It is very exciting to be part of this emerging Community and so much of what we are seeking to do chimes in with the latest Grove Booklet…

Ev 103 Mission-shaped Unity: Missio Dei and a New Way of Being Churches Together

While the drive for ecumenism that characterized the Council of Churches for much of the twentieth century saw mixed results, the recent impact on evangelism of Missio Dei theology has had unexpected consequences for Christian unity.  This booklet explores Missio Dei and how it is currently shaping changes in Churches Together at national, regional and local levels. It aims to raise questions that will inspire readers to bring about new ways of being churches together.