Day 4: Sheffield, Sunday night and Monday at St. Thomas Crookes Church

We arrived on a rainy night (not sure how that is different from most other days/ nights in England!) for 7:00pm worship at St. Thomas Crooks Church. It is an interesting building with a mix of new and old sections. The original church survived the bombing of Germany during World War II but when you see the names on the wall plaque, you see many of the people did not. The church has a long history and a bright future in an area where once again few know who Jesus is or what he did for them.

Worship on Sunday consists of "traditional" and "contemporary" worship styles and the times are:

8:30 AM prayer service

9:30 AM young children and their families 

11:00 AM families, students and people of all ages 

7:00 PM College students

Every weekday: prayer at 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM

We joined about 300 students for worship at the 7:00 PM worship. Excellent music and movement during worship to create a meaningful time of gathering. Worship is described this way: "Worship is a time where we expect God to show up and be present and if God does not show up, something is wrong." They expect to have concrete things they can point to that God does in the lives of people. They pray for it, they look for it, they celebrate it as individuals, as a church and as a staff.  

Pictured below is the staff of St. Thomas. The man and woman in the front are the Rev and Mrs. Mick Woodhead.

What do you notice about the people in the picture?  

The staff, and it might not be as apparent from this photo is...young...like 20's something young. I was one of the old American's visiting! These people are raised up and are on fire for the Lord. They are mentored and trained (more on that later). 

By the way for my pastor friends who might be reading this: you might know the name Mike Breen or 3DM, This was Mike's church he was the pastor some years back. The discipleship and missional community DNA is big in this church. Go to their website and see how this church is organized and you will see how this is a very different model of "church" than American church. http://stthomascrookes.org/who-we-are/church-churches/

So what was one take away because I have pages of observations!

Bath everything, EVERYTHING in PRAYER!!

This church, this staff does nothing without prayer first. The staff and anyone who wishes to come for prayer at the 9 and 3 gathering times for 30 minutes of prayer come. The staff pray over and over again during staff meetings after each topic is discussed. They have taught the congregation to pray the way the staff prays. Prayer is as normal as taking a breath. During the worship service, they have what is termed "concert prayers". Concert prayer is where everyone is asked to pray about some particular thing for X amount of seconds and everyone prays out loud their own prayer to God. There is a time of prayer after the service where staff gathers to pray with anyone who wishes. There are prayers for healing and anointing with oil (as encouraged in scripture to do). You may be wondering if there are "corporate" prayers lead by the worship leader and yes there are and also sometimes the worship leader will even close out a time of concert prayer. Everyone knows how to and participates in prayer. I know because I was not praying sometimes and looked around at the people gathered because I wanted to see if this was being embraced by the people, and it was! 

(I know I am bad! 😊) 

As I said prayer is as natural as breathing and people are not afraid to pray or ask for prayer and God is expected to answer those prayers in some way even if its a "no". As I moved through the week this was a common practice at every church and ministry we visited. In the week we were there we prayed a lot and for people and ministries we did not know and guess what? IT DID NOT MATTER if we knew them or not because we know Jesus and they are our brothers and sisters in Christ and those ministries are His mission!

We were also prayed for and were given some words of the Lord to hold and see what God might do. This week I struggled with some back issues which is not generally an issue I have. I also struggled being away from my wife especially since she finally made it to our Florida home not much time before I had to depart on this trip. She is still in need of prayer but I guess I did not realize how much I needed prayer in the midst of praying for others and praying for her. 

I was gifted this while in England. 

It is gently used as it had been in a person's pocket for some time. Now it is mine each day. A reminder of many things from this trip as well as the many promises of God.

God's Peace and remember...pray without ceasing!

Pastor Andy 

If you would like to see about a 7min. clip from worship at St.Thomas click on the link below. Sorry, but it was recorded by me on my phone so the quality is so so at best. 

https://youtu.be/srbdq_-RUCs

Day 3 Birmingham: Sunday Worship

GAS STREET CHURCH

St. Luke's

10 of us loaded into 2 taxi's Sunday morning and off we went to worship at St. Luke's Gas Street Church. It is in a post-industrial area of Birmingham. Little in England seems to be torn down and completely replaced but instead, the buildings are re-purposed. Gas Street church is no exception. This was not an office building but a working plant/ transfer station that was responsible for piping natural gas to homes and street lights decades ago. The inside comes complete with its own rail track where tanker cars would pull up and into the building.

Worship was vibrant and highly participatory. It was multi-generational but definitely on the young side of couples with young kids (Early elementary school to infant). 

People arrive early for coffee and tea and a social time in the "narthex" area. sometimes the worship is a family worship where all the kids come and sometimes the kids are separated out and have a lesson time of their own. 

This an area of the Gas House that has just been re-purposed and they are preparing to open up for use. 

 This church is part of the Anglican church body. It was started about a year ago by song writer, Tim Hughes. 

That may be a familiar name if you are into Christian Contemporary music. He is a well-known musical artist who received a number of Dove awards (like a Grammy) before he was 30. In 2013 he became an Anglican Vicar which is like a pastor in our church tradition. He worked for Holy Trinity Brompton in central London which is known the founding church for ALPHA educational materials written by Nicky Gumbel, a priest in the Anglican church. Tim, who we met while there came with about 25 other leaders from Holy Trinity Brompton to Manchester to start the Gas street church. 

So what was one of the key things I took away this day?

Healthy churches plant healthy churches. I said this in my opening blog but its worth repeating. Holy Trinity Brompton which we visited later in our travels has started over 30 churches since about 1989. The churches they plant, plant churches! I saw this over and over again through out the week at every church we stopped it. 

Gas Street Church under the leadership of 38-year-old Tim Hughes is about a month away from breaking off a group of about 30-40 people and starting a church in a city about 30 minutes away. They do not have feelings of "competition" or "turf" or "sheep stealing" because they know when they start new they reach new. The Anglican church has been dying for decades. Less than 6% of the population is of any faith tradition yet I see God building something new. For Vicar Tim Hughes and Gas Street Church, that something new is working with local police and bar owners in this post-industrial depressed area to help those who have had too much "fun" to find a safe way home, or into the church to sober up, warm up, and clean up. For Gas street church its planting new to reach new.

More insights on a number of these things will come in the days ahead. Next, we boarded the rail system for a couple hour train ride across the English country side to Sheffield. The trains move too fast to take pictures. Sorry! 

Day 2 Birmingham

2nd Day Take Away...

I know this is not the best quality photo but let me ask you a question...

What do you see in this picture? 

This is in the center of the shopping district in Birmingham. Thousands of people each day (not an exaggeration) are here shopping and entering into the trains in this cities major hub to travel across country or in order to go to work across town. Public transportation is huge and well done throughout all of Europe I am told.

When I took this photo I tried to capture two things: The spire of a very large and old church in the back ground and in the foreground a man on the left with his Bible folded back yelling at people over a P.A. system about going to hell. To the right, another man supporting him as the two try to beat people over the head with a 2x4 of God's "love". (LAW!)

In this picture, we see Pastor Ron at the church doors of the Anglican church, St. Martin of the Bull Ring. The same church which I took a picture of its spire previously. The church doors were locked and the times of prayer and worship were printed on the board to the left but also to the left...

...was this. Tucked in the corner of this beautiful old church. 50 feet from the front doors of the church was a camp, the home of a homeless person. A human being loved by God and that Jesus laid down his life for so he or she might have eternal life...  

Don't be too quick to pass judgement my friends for this could be anywhere even your own church property. 

Today Dr. Hunter spoke to us concerning many things and it was a day where we spent our time with him and his very wonderful partner on ministry, Tracee Swank who also shared much with us. What stood out to me today was this: When did Christian people begin to love a church more than love people? 

I have heard people say many times: "I love my church" or "I love my pastor". Please, I understand the feelings and emotions behind it. I know we love God and love to come to church to worship and be refreshed and renewed each week but for what? 

Dr. Hunter challenged me on this today. He reminded me of what I had learned from N.T. Wright and our history as Christians. Christians were often the people who loved and prayed and cared for others no one else gave a hoot about. When plagues and sickness ravaged through the cities and lands be it Rome in the earliest days of Christianity or Germany in the 15th century, it was often the Christian people who stayed behind while others ran for the hills. Those Christians sometimes got sick themselves and died. There were times when the people they cared for got better and when their loved ones or friends returned from the hills after the plagues passed and found them alive asked: How? Who? Why? 

Jesus was praised and the number of believers grew. 

When did we loose our way? When did we forget the words of Jesus when asked what is the greatest of the 10 commandments answered; 

Love God.

Love others.

I was struck by the scene of the tent outside in the cold and 50 feet away from the locked, big wooden doors of the church. I wonder what Jesus thinks? I wonder for those who are skeptical about the Christian faith think when they see this if they themselves even notice! I come from Alaska where homelessness is epidemic. Some refuse to be helped but most are never engaged by caring people who are not trying to fix them but just care for them as a human being, one of God's children. 

Today I saw the Christians yelling at people as they passed by about Hell. I saw Muslims with their tables of literature and prayers being chanted out loud. I saw Jehovah Witnesses passing out books about creation. These three different belief systems competing for people walking by. Was that like what St. Paul encountered on Mars hill? Maybe we should stop competing and yelling and get back to what Jesus did. Remember what he did? 

Cared for the lost. 

Sat with the sick. 

Feed the poor. 

Jesus Loved People.

Have I wrecked your day?

Mine was wrecked!

(and that is ok!)

Jesus sometimes wrecks us so we can see clearly and change. 

For it is never, ever too late to change thanks to Jesus.  

God bless, Pastor Andy 

Day 1: Birmingham

OFF TO ENGLAND...

I am sitting here between experiences and have decided to blog as I am able about each day to help those who sent us here so that they might be challenged as

we are in our faith. Be forewarned, I want to blog each day but with the schedule that may not be possible. I also hope you would consider asking me questions once we return for we know when we experience things, part of that experience and learning is digesting and looking back on what happened. we ask ourselves; "What God is saying to me (trying to show me) and what we will do with what He is showing us". 

I have never been to England. It is different here in many ways. No washcloths in the hotel. No cover sheet between the base sheet and the comforter. Guinness is popular, but it is an Irish beer. Toilets have two buttons- one for "solids" and one for "liquids". It reminds me of the movie "Meet The Focker's" but with a system of buttons!

We arrived late in the afternoon in Birmingham after a full day of flights getting us here from the States. We hit the ground running. I snapped a few photos from our hotel room because we did not have time to walk around. As you can see it is a very different city than we may be accustom as we live in the States. Yet, much the same for it is filled with human beings loved and created by God and busy living life.  

Dinner consisted of fish and chips and mushy peas! The peas were great! Others in the group had a variety of items as the 10 of us sat down after a long travel day. Shortly after we sat, two others joined us from a local church we will visit later called Gas Street church. Josh and Katherine are a young couple in their mid 20's. Josh is pictured below speaking with Dr. Kent Hunter of Church Doctor Ministries. Dr. Hunter is a speaker, author and one who has a keen sense, honed by experience and the Holy Spirit that makes himself available to churches to come and evaluate where a particular church is at and what might need to be rethought and refocused. The church can do many things but not all of them are as profitable to GOD's kingdom work. Dr. Hunter is a great set of outside eyes that see clearer than those living in the system.

Josh and Katherine are extremely solid in their faith and very spiritually mature. They spoke about their role in their church and as leaders in Worship Central. https://www.worshipcentral.org

They work under the pastor and train up future worship leaders and musicians. They do it in large conference styles, small groups and emersion academies. They have set up hubs to teach in other countries as well as having the chance to come here and be immersed in the community of teaching and spiritual formation. They teach theology, the theology of worship as well as music theory. This was all great information but for me what struck had little to do with what they said about Worship Central. 

1. Josh was like any other kid in America as a pre-teen and teenager. He would come and sit in church and it was fine but really did not connect. He was given by the church, a chance to serve in a meaningful way to him...through his musical abilities. He said he was living a dual type of life. He went to church but his friends really did not know it. God challenged his heart to go have fun with his friends or really step up. One day as a teen instead of just playing, they put a mic in front of him. At 16 he was totally sold out for Jesus. Life changed for him. He now is part of the leadership in his mid 20's of Worship Central.  4:00am I am laying wide awake unable to sleep. I have tried to in almost every church to involve young people in worship. Involve them in something more than just holding an offering plate, lighting a candle or saying "hi" at the door. Involve them in something they were passionate about and where they not only have an opportunity to connect to the pastor but also connect to older people who have spiritual wisdom and maturity that can mentor them. We as a church, in every church I have been in suck at this. Josh was brought into and worked with others who poured into him. Sometimes it was the pastor. Sometimes it was other musicians but he was freed to use his gifts and for Josh, it was life changing. Josh, who is a twenty-something is so spiritually mature and God is using him in His kingdom work in wonderful ways as he does the same as was done for him now through Worship Central. We continue to loose our younger generations and bemoan the fact that the younger generations are not in the church. What do we expect when we have just wanted them to come in and sit down, be in youth group but be quiet until when... when we randomly decide it's time for them to be involved and expect them at 30 or 40 to step into leadership?
2. Healthy churches plan healthy churches. Gas Street church came from the church in London called Holy Trinity which is a key church in the Alpha program. Later in the week, we will visit this church. Josh came along with a very large group from Holy Trinity to bring that healthy DNA and plant at Gas Street. Initially, it hurt Trinity to send this group to Birmingham and Gas Street. I see two things happened. First, Trinity although initially was hurt, it opened up Trinty for new people to get involved in leadership and brought in new DNA (ideas and energy) to Trinity. Secondly, Gas Street was blessed and was given enough solid DNA to make a good start so that it could thrive with the Holy Spirit. 

So, my first 2 hours and this is my first takeaway. May God stir in you some Holy Discontent! More  later! God bless and God's peace in knowing He is the Lord of the church. 

Pastor Andy