Family friendly thoughts

I been thinking (you know I do it too much) about family friendly Church. As always my thoughts go off in all directions and I've ended up thinking more about families than Church.

At the moment my latest 'obsesion' is a Facebook group I've created for 'The Cook Family' - that's the relatives of my Granny and Granpa.

This is them with their eight children. My Dad is the youngest - sitting down at the front.

Their children, grandchildren and great grandchild live round the world - USA, Austraila, New Zealand, England and of course Scotland.

It's been faciating to 'meet' cousins on Facebook and share family photos - getting to know people who are part of my family even tho we've never met.

This is one of my favourites from the early 70s - it's my Grandpa arriving in New Zealand as he sees one of his sons for the first time in 20 years.

I found it really moving to see this for the first time - there's such a lovely look on his face.

And as Kev pointed out - how amazing to capture that precise moment on camera.

Blog hopping

Had a good evening evening wandering around blogland in a deliberate attempt to find something new and interesting.

This is my find of the night. http://www.beyondrelevance.com/

I'll be visiting again to have a good look round.

Still waters

A couple of months ago Kev and I took the plunge and joined the gym.

We'd looked at a few places and in end the end picked the nicest (and most expensive) one. It's a bit of an extravagance but, as we have a cheap holiday lined up for this year, we decided the money would come from the holiday budget. We have friends who were already members and they'd convinced us it was like being on holiday all year.

There were two things in particular that 'sold' it to us

- the facilities and activities for kids - it really is 'family friendly' and

- the heated indoor and outdoor pools.

We've had plenty of use from the outdoor pool these last few weeks. And when the sun shines, the water looks like this.

It's warm enough to use even when it's not very sunny and you get the best of both worlds. Outside, at one with nature - grass and trees, blue sky, birds and a gentle breeze. And crystal-clear, warm water that comes from an artificial (but highly efficient) filtration, heating and chlorination system.

And I'm 'blessed' every time I swim - thanking God for the beauty of the sun on the water and the efficiency of the water heater.

It's rare to have more than a couple of people in at once and several times I've had the whole pool to myself.

But not so this Bank Holiday Monday.

The club had a 'free' weekend. People brought friends and family along to enjoy the freebie - and we did too.

So the pool and patio area were very busy. It was noisy, the adult-only Jacuzzi was full of kids and the clear water was looking more opaque than crystal .

On Tuesday, as I was on my own again in the pool enjoying the peace and the somewhat clearer water, I decided that I prefer ed the exclusivity.

But that's a bit selfish really - I don't need a whole pool to myself.

And there's something a bit sad about a pool designed for lots of people to enjoy having only one person in it. On Monday there were lots of people there - having lots of fun.

Of course the whole purpose of the 'free' weekend is to get new people to pay to join the gym. And no matter how much I like swimming on my own, the gym will not be viable if there are not enough people 'investing' in keeping it open.

Have you worked out where I'm going with this?

Do we want to keep our Church 'clean and tidy' - untroubled by people who don't know the rules?

Or are we willing to throw open the doors and learn to live with the literal and metaphorical mess?

I have to admit that sometimes I just want the exclusivity - but I know that's not what we were designed for and ultimatly, it's not a viable strategy.

New Brighton Carnival

Matthew - number one old fan and would be heckler. He didn't get that when Dan spoke to the audience he wasn't speaking directly to him - and he wasn't inviting feedback.

Can you see the extra 1.8 mega pixals in first shot?

No? They are just to to the left of the ice cream van.

Tennis - anyone else?

Tennis Girl Uploaded on May 2, 2008 by Balakov http://www.flickr.com/photos/71447254@N00/2460255572

One: It's not funny to make funn of my speeling.

Two: Maybe.


Three: I've been busy facebooking with your meat-eating teenager.


I'll ring you.



Love H

Messy Church - reply to Johnny

Johnny said "Looks like Walton's had quite a journey!"

Indeed we have.

I've been thinking about a response to this comment. Something along the lines that we are still on the journey. (And that's part of the messyness I guess.)

The phrase 'Becoming the kind of Church (Corps) God wants us to be', has cropped up along the way.

And it that context, I was wondering today when we will reach our destination. And how we we know when we have arrived.

Of course we will never get to the end of that journey because there will always something more or something better that God wants from us - or for us.

A bit like a treasure hunt really - once you get to a particular point there is another clue to be revealed - and that sets you off in a slightly different direction.

I like working out the clues :-)

But I know some people would prefer to go straight to the end.

But where's the fun in that?

The future's bright

I picked up our new phones today.

I am already slightly confused but looking forward to the 5 megapixels - that's 1.8 more than I have now!

1.8! - I know, it's a lot isn't it.

Tennis anyone?

Kev and I are having lessons!

Who knows where it will end.
I am almost completly hopless - but it's great fun.

Messy Church again

Or Blue serge II

It's a long time since I wrote about messy church here.

As per my comment on Blue serge, some more thoughts and a picture on what it means to be a Salvation Army Church (Corps) in 21st C.

I've looked through my pictures to find one that illustrates where we're at - or where I think we're up to. (As I said before, these are my personal views only - who knows what everyone else thinks. ) There is a 30+ piece Brass Band in the middle of our hall.
It is not a Salvation Sally Army band. No-one is wearing uniform.
The band is playing Sally Army music, conducted by a Sally Army BM.
Some of the players are active members of a Sally Army Band.
Some of the players are active members of the Sally Army but not a Sally Army Band.
Some of the players occasionally go to the Sally Army.
Some of the players haven't been to the Sally Army for a long time.
The Euph player is a confirmed Anglican.
The band has no name and no formal membership rules.

Bit messy really.

To the right of the drummers head you can see the traditional Sally Army crest. When we re-furbished this room a couple of years ago we didn't have a crest on the wall. Some people were very unhappy about this - so now we have one.

The lights are Ikea style standard lamp - frequently used for the 'soft lighting' effect we need for social events . They work OK but we could do with a few more as it's its a bit too dark - and the extension cables have to be taped to the carpet. Not very state of the art - bit messy really.

Just above the base drum you might be able to see people are sitting round cafe style tables - and just to the right people are sitting on the comfy sofa's from the lounge. It's great to have the informal seating - but a pain to move all the chairs and carry the sofas in and out again.

The picture was taken during an informal evening we had last week. Drink and snacks - coffee and cake. Informal - but with a full-on brass band! But it worked surprisingly well. The Bandos enjoyed the refreshments and the chatting. The people who thought they didn't like brass bands had a great time and loved the live music.

No-one paid a penny to get in - all that for free!

I'll leave you to get your head round all of that - but I think it's a parable for where we're currently at.

Thanks Dad for the pictures.

Messy Church 2007 - an update

Back in 2007 I posted here about a Sunday night meeting I'd organised.

Re-reading this led me to some comments I made in response to Andrews's blog here.

It's been interesting to re-read my thinking from about 18 months ago as I'm preparing a post on where I see we're up to now - or where I think we're up to.

You have to remember these are my personal views only - who knows what everyone else thinks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Andrew Thanks for this.

It really strikes a cord with me. I blogged here about our Sunday night meeting.

It was fun and noisy. It took a fair deal of prep in terms of putting together pictures and film clips etc and cost a quite bit of money to do free supper and fireworks. Uniform was optional - all bar two opted out and couple of us wore jeans and informal logo stuff.

This was the second year we’d done fireworks and like last year there were lots of people there who wouldn’t normally come to an Army meeting. Over the past few years we’ve become a Corps that can do special events like this (both Sunday meetings or Sat/Friday nights) quite well. We generally provide free or reasonably priced refreshments, good live music (Band, Songsters or informal groups) and a friendly welcome, sometimes with designated hosts.

Our informal mission statement could be “Any excuse for a party”.

But after the special events are over we go back to the (hopefully) beautiful but probably inaccessible services you describe, fully (well almost fully) kitted out in our uniforms.

I’ve a feeling that as a corps we’re on a journey towards a more relevant meetings for both new and old and non members of our corps. This has been going on for several years but I sense the pace is quickening. We’re certainly in a period of transition and uncertainty. I’m hoping we can work out how we provide regular “church” for Dads who don’t know they’re expected to take their hats off and Mums who don’t know their expected to keep their toddlers quiet.

But we also need to provide the in-depth teaching and space for reflection, decision making and public commitment (at the mercy seat?) for our existing folk.

And for me this raises loads of questions about what that is, and how we get there. I wonder if, as a corps, we are willing to give up what we like for the sake of those who are currently excluded from Church in the way you describe?

But I’m also concerned about those corps members (not just the older ones), who grieve the loss of the traditional Army meeting (whatever that is).

I’ve long been a fan of all-inclusive worship - difficult but not impossible to do. But some of our recent events have left me wondering about its limitations. So I’ve been thinking about the ideas behind Holiness and Salvation meetings - different meetings for different purposes and different people. I’m drawn to the idea of regular meetings aimed at and designed for people who don’t usually come to Church - not for the committed members of the corps but planned and delivered by them. With meetings for the committed members of the corps, allowing them to worship and be discipled in a way that makes sense to them. But this raises more issues.

The tastes and needs of everyone within a group won’t be the same - and either group could be segmented into further sub-groups. Even within the people who already regularly our corps there is range of preferences. So do we need to provide a whole range of meetings?

But to return to the point you make, maybe our priority needs to be the “ordinary people” first.

Thanks for helping my thinking.