June 14 - St Stephens

JUNE 2014
s t . s t e p h e n’s
s t . s t e p h e n’s
twickenham
twickenham
s t . s t e p h e n’s
s t . s t e p h e n’s
t h em o nth
s t . s t e p he n’s
twickenham
T W I C K E N H A M
twickenham
Text Message. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p2
Update from the APCM . . . . . . . . . . . . p4
A review of MOLO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p5
An update from the Drop-In . . . . . . . . p6
A Goodbye
MESSAGE FROM
The Emertons
Seniors Dates for June . . . . . . . . . . . . . p7
The Leadership Conference . . . . . . . . . p9
s t. s t e p h e n’s
TWICKENHAM
taking seriously…the
sufferings of God
in the world…that, I think, is faith; that is
repentance; and that is how one becomes
a human being and a Christian.’
t w i c k e n h a m As many of tyou
w iwill
c kknow,
e n hona leaving
m
St Stephen’s, Naomi and I, Lois and our
soon to be born second child, will relocate to Scotland for me to complete a 3
year PhD on Bonhoeffer in the Divinity
School at Aberdeen University. My hope
Jez Writes...
and
prayer is that it’s a decision that ultiThis month I’ve asked David Emerton to write the front page article of our
mately
will benefit the wider church and
church magazine as he and his family prepare to move on from St Stephen’s.
be
significant
in terms of God’s kingdom.
We will miss them all hugely. Please do come if you can to the ‘thank you’
But
over
the
past
number of months some
picnic lunch we are having for them on Sunday June 15...
words of Justin Welby have been hugely
most certainly is. All ‘such fun’ as a certain encouraging – ‘the utterly absurd is comDavid writes…
It doesn’t seem so long ago that I was comedienne would say.
pletely reasonable when Jesus is the one
I would be lying however if I said fun was who is calling you.’ On one level relocating
writing an article for ‘The Month’ introducing myself and Naomi to the the only thing to have marked my time at to Aberdeen feels quite absurd, but on anSt Stephen’s church family and now St Stephen’s, for these past 3 years have other absolutely right as I do believe Jesus
I find myself writing one to say good- also contained the darkest and most dif- is the one who is calling.
ficult days of my life. As many of you will
bye – how time flies!
And just to make sure that whilst I’m
It’s difficult to know where to start as know, not so long ago my mum died af- making friends with Bonhoeffer you are
there’s simply too much that could be said. ter an incredibly short battle with quite a too, I’ll be back at St Stephen’s from time
But some things do stand out: being part of rare and aggressive form of cancer. Grief, to time to do a few more Saturday mornand learning from a great staff team, albeit it seems, is not something you ever get ing ‘Text Message’ sessions. So it’s not quite
one that has a tendency to watch terrible over; only something you journey through, a final goodbye just yet!
films and play ‘monopoly deal’ to excess alongside those who love you, care for you
whilst on retreat (ask Ali Marshall…); re- and pray for you. For me (and for us as a
With much love
is
flecting on God, life and the church with our family) that journey continues to this day,
David, Naomi & Lo
current interns on a Wednesday afternoon; but I know that it’s one throughout which
travelling out to Uganda with Tearfund; be- we have been loved, cared for and prayed
coming a father (to Lois); trying out theo- for by the St Stephen’s church family.
So fun yes, but pain and suffering too – a
logical and biblical thoughts under the guise
of Life Group Leaders’ training (thank you paradoxical mixture, but one that is truall for your patience!), and gathering those ly reflective of life. And a mixture I think
leaders at Wokefield Park for a great week- which is crucial to that process of discovend away; teaching through books of the ering who we are in God and what he is
Bible on Saturday morning ‘Text Message’ calling us to. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the
sessions; and perhaps most significantly early twentieth-century German theologibeing given both time and space, and the an puts it, ‘it is only by living completely in
freedom, to discover more of who I am in this world that one learns to have faith…
God and what God is calling me to within [I mean] living fully in life’s tasks, questions,
the Church of England – something that can successes and failures, experiences, and
only happen in the context of a loving and perplexities. In doing so we throw ourworshipping community, which St Stephen’s selves completely into the arms of God,
s t . s t e p h e n’s
s t . s t e p h e n’s
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Month of Sundays: JUNE
Jez Barnes
During June we continue our ‘God
is...’ sermon series in our morning
services looking at some of the attributes or characteristics of God’s
nature. God is...love, great, holy, jealous, gracious, wise, good, etc.
At our evening service we conclude our
5 week series from the New Testament
letter to the Colossians looking at the life,
passion, freedom, maturity and growth that
a life lived in relationship with Jesus offers.
On Sunday 8 June the focus is our global
engagement work as a church and we’re
delighted to welcome back Dr Kiran Martin who is the founder and pioneer of
Asha - one of the charities with whom we
work in partnership. Kiran is an inspirational speaker with amazing stories to tell
of how the lives of some of the poorest
of the poor in India are being transformed
through the love of Jesus being demonstrated in practical ways.
Sunday 15 June will be a day of mixed
emotions as we say a huge thank you and
also farewell to the Emerton family. David
will be speaking at all three services that
Sunday and we hope that as many as possible will come along to the ‘thank you’ picnic
we are having after the morning services.
Please also note that the following
Sunday - June 22 - Alex Cacouris is being
‘priested’ in the afternoon at a church in
central London. A priesting takes place
one year after someone is first ordained
into the Church of England and marks the
moment when Alex is fully authorised to
perform all the duties of a priest in the
Church of England. Please do keep Alex
and the Cacouris family in your prayers on
this special day.
Text Message
8 JUNE - GLOBAL
ENGAGEMENT
SUNDAY
9.00Morning Worship 10.30Holy Communion
6.00 Informal Service
15 JUNE - GOODBYE
TO THE EMERTONS!
9.00Holy Communion 10.30Morning Worship
6.00 Informal Service
22 JUNE
9.00Morning Worship 10.30 Informal Service
6.00Holy Communion 29 June
9.00Holy Communion 10.30 Informal Service
6.00 Informal Service
David Emerton, Curate
In the last Text Message we saw how the nation of Israel,
after the death of Solomon, divided against itself – into a
northern kingdom, ‘Israel’, and southern kingdom, ‘Judah’
– and how the 10 tribes of Israel, as tribes, in consequence
of their worship of idols and the advancing power of Assyria, were tragically lost forever. And ominously, for the
story of God and his creation, the narrator of the book of 2
Kings (see 2 Kings 17.19) notes that the southern kingdom
of Judah hasn’t behaved very differently.
However, for a while Judah continues unconquered and the
monarchy there fares much better than the northern kings ever
had. In particular there are two righteous and outstanding kings –
Hezekiah and Josiah – who ‘turned to the Lord’ and ‘did what was
right in the eyes of the Lord’ (see 2 Kings 18 & 23). Hezekiah’s
successor however, Manasseh (see 2 Kings 21), promotes idolatry
and syncretism in Judah and becomes known for committing injustice throughout the kingdom.
Judah it seems is heading for the same fate as that of Israel. And
in 587/86 BC, during the reign of King Zedekiah, the Babylonians
march into Jerusalem, set fire to the Temple and reduce the city to
ruins, carrying the people of Judah off into exile in Babylon.
What had become of God’s great promise to Abraham that his
people would have a land and that they’d be a blessing to the nations?
Of God’s covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai? Of his promise that
the house of David would go on forever? What had become of God’s
purpose to redeem creation through his chosen people?
At this point
in the biblical
story we could
be tempted to
simply write ‘the
end’. Because
it certainly must
have seemed like
the end to those Israelites – the land God had promised
is now invaded and lost; the Temple, the place
where God’s glory was present is destroyed; Jerusalem, the city
of God, smoulders in ruins; and all because God’s people have
failed in their calling to live for him. It’s a disaster of true biblical
proportions.
Did you know that the three major prophets of the
Old Testament – Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah – all live
and work around this time? Isaiah ‘sees’ exile coming (Isaiah 1-39); Ezekiel is actually taken to Babylon
along with Judah’s ruling elite; and Jeremiah suffers
the horrific Babylonian invasion at first hand. Why
not commit to reading through one of these three
prophetic books this month and ‘live’ this turbulent
period in the history of God’s chosen people through
their eyes?
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All about
By Alex Cacouris, Curate
It was epic!
This year’s Rainbow Club ran the week before Easter (15 – 18 April) and I absolutely loved it! The theme was ‘Mega Makers’ and was based on a machine
that made everything that went into it bigger.
And so, over four days, we learnt through Matthew’s gospel, how God takes friendship,
trust, love and life and makes them so much greater through Jesus. We had 130 children
and an amazing team of helpers gather daily to sing (Ali Marshall and Sam White wrote
the anthem themselves), play games, make crafts, tell jokes and get gunged amongst many
other things. My personal highlights were: seeing children from right across our community
come in and discover more of Jesus, celebrating as twenty-four children responded to the
opportunity to invite Jesus into their lives, and being part of a dynamic and supportive team
made up of people from our church family aged from 13 to 96!
Thank you
so much, I
have really
loved this
week
Being on the team
By David Labouchardiere
Rainbow Club 2014 was a delight. My
highlights include: awesome worship
with all the children and adults singing, dancing and joining in the actions;
the fun time during creative craft
sessions followed by happy faces as
the children proudly showed off their
finished craft to waiting parents; chil-
dren being at home in God’s house;
the team praying, worshipping and
serving together in the morning and
at the end of each daily session.
Being on team was great, what could
be better than spending time inspiring,
blessing and teaching young people the
truths of Scripture?
A parent’s
view of
Rainbow
club
By Helen Booker
Those of us who have taken our
children along to Rainbow Club
will be familiar with the queue
snaking down the Church path
each morning. They can’t wait to
go back each day for more songs,
games, craft activities and - the
highlight of each day - seeing a
leader being gunged! Children
love meeting up with friends from
school and the local community,
many of whom don’t usually come
to our Church. To be there with
friends having so much fun is what
holiday dreams are made of.
Rainbow Club sows God’s Word in
their hearts with memory verses and
worship songs. It is a precious moment
when the children emerge clutching handicrafts telling you what they have learnt
about Jesus. As I wait to collect them, I
stand with parents and friends not just
from Church but also from the school
and local community. Pick-up and drop off
at Rainbow Club can be the closest some
come to the St Stephen’s Church family.
It would be good to thank
the Lord for answered prayer.
Those answers include:
• T
hat the children had
a fun and challenging time
• For seeds sown and watered
by word and song
• For a positive response
from children and parents
• That we had good weather!
• For our older youth taking
on the baton of leadership
• That we had a great
programme of events
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J U N E 2 014
Update on
Annual
Parochial
Church
Meeting
By Jules Morgan, Director of Operations
and Development
On 28 April, members of the church gathered for the Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM). It was an opportunity to elect our Church Wardens, Parochial Church
Council (PCC) and Deanery Synod members and to review the St Stephen’s annual report and annual accounts
together.
David Emerton began the meeting by sharing a brief thought
about worship from Revelation chapters 4 and 5. During the
course of the meeting there were reports from Jez, Martin Duffy
(Treasurer) on finance, Mike Quinlan on fabric, goods and ornaments and Tony Dixon who gave an overview of what the Deanery Synod do. There was also a time for questions and answers.
Elections took place as follows:
Sarah Mumford and Alex Pett were re-elected as Church Wardens for 2014/15. There were 7 places open for election for the
lay membership of the PCC. Susan Bourne had resigned from the
PCC earlier in the year due to other commitments and Fiona
Smith, Annette Duffy, Martin Duffy, Bea Millard and Alistair Batemen had all completed their 3 year term of office. Both Martin
Duffy and Bea Millard were re-standing for election for a further 3
year term. Four new congregation members were also proposed
for election, namely Chris Brecht, John Parrish, David Tennant
and Josie Goble. All six nominees for lay membership of the PCC
were duly elected at the meeting. The five current St. Stephen’s
representatives on the Deanery Synod - Tony Dixon, David Parish, Mike Quinlan, Anne Warren and Mike Wilkinson – also stood
for re-election for a new term of office and were duly elected at
the meeting.
St Stephen’s PCC for 2014/15 therefore stands as: Teri-Anne
Cavanagh, Robert Hardy, Jeannie Mee, Helen Chen, Steve Nixon,
Sandra Jennings, Hugo Foxwood, Carol Fletcher, Jean Moorhouse,
Martin Duffy, Bea Millard, Chris Brecht, David Tennant, John Parrish and Josie Goble (all PCC lay members). Ex-officio members
of the PCC are the clergy team (Jez, Sonja, David (until July)
and Alex), the lay readers (David Wilson, Gena Smith and Steve
Fletcher), PCC Secretariat (Jules Morgan and Catherine Johnson)
and the 5 Deanery Synod Reps (Tony Dixon, David Parish, Mike
Quinlan, Anne Warren and Mike Wilkinson).
The ‘Offices’ of the PCC were ratified by the newly formed
PCC at its first meeting in May and the membership of the Standing Committee was also finalised.
Electronic copies of the 2013 annual report and the 2014 meeting minutes will shortly be available for downloading from the website www.st-stephens.org.uk or by request from the church office.
St Stephen’s
Men’s
Breakfast
review
By James Tomba, Operations intern
Back in March around 90 men from St Stephen’s and
the wider community got together at The Aleksander
for a morning of teaching and fellowship. Nicky Lee
came to be with us and spoke on healthy relating in
our relationships and friendships.
Everyone commented afterwards on the great atmosphere.
It was thankfully a sunny spring morning, as, let’s be honest,
getting up early on a Saturday isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (or
maybe that’s just me!) But of course it was well worth it.There
was a real buzz right from the off, lots of chatter and laughter,
plus a fantastic breakfast.
Something that particularly struck me was a wonderful
phrase Nicky shared with us.This is definitely food for thought:
in all our relationships, whether friends, family or partners, we
often concentrate on my needs and their faults. But instead, try
to focus on my faults and their needs. This is a challenge that I
personally would love to be able to live up to.
I think we all left feeling inspired and encouraged. Seeing so
many men come together to spend time getting to know each
other, and discuss these issues openly, was a great experience.
I’d really recommend you keep an eye out for forthcoming
events for men at St Stephen’s, and would wholeheartedly encourage you to come along and join us.
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Who’s Who on the
St Stephen’s staff?
Name: Ali Marshall
A review
of the first
MOLO meeting
By Becky Cornwell
I mentioned recently to a friend that
I’d been to an evening for mums of
little ones at our church. Her response reminded me of how blessed
we members of St Stephens so often
are. She expressed surprise that there
are enough of us to warrant targeting such a specific group. Praise God
there are. And just as it is always good
to meet with others experiencing
similar life circumstances, it is good
to meet with other confused mums
who are also staggering around in the
dark trying to find answers to questions like ‘how far away is space?’ or
‘is everyone in Australia upside down?
as they’re walking to school with less
than no minutes to get there.
So this is Molo, mums of little ones who
are sometimes a little (and sometimes exceedingly) tired, stretched and confused,
meeting together to share, worship, listen
and minister to each other in a loving, safe,
child-free and Godly environment. It is
a place of blessing. For me personally the
blessings started when I set my eyes on a
few heavily laden 3-tier cake stands (I’m
hard pressed to turn up to any event that
doesn’t promise home-made cakes) as I
entered the church building. But the blessings continued,Vicky led us in beautiful worship that filled the church and in turn filled
me with a sense of God’s tender love for
us women. This was followed by a talk by
Anna France Williams who began with the
words ‘God loves women!’ Her encouraging message led us into a time of reflection
and ministry. The ministry was led by those
who have trodden the path, the old mums,
or as they like to be called, mums of older
ones! To be prayed over by those more experienced was yet another blessing.
So as Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 2: 19 - 20 to rejoice in each other, let’s
get together as a community of mums and
stand with each other as we seek God’s
wisdom in parenting little ones.
The next MOLO event is on 23 June
7.45pm with speaker Mari Graves
Official Job title: Youth Pastor
Date joined the staff team: 10/04/10
What were you doing before you joined the
staff? Youth Pastor at Holy Trinity Brompton
In your role here what do you spend most
of your time doing? I spend most of my time
in my role planning and running youth events
for our 11-18’s, in addition to meeting up
with team and youth, and running our youth
venue at 30 Crown Road for teenagers after
school. I also get to lead and be involved at
the 6pm service and am involved a bit with the worship and wider
leadership side of things too.
What do you enjoy most about your role? Seeing young people grow and mature
in their faith and begin to become leaders themselves. Building teams and working with
amazing volunteers also blesses me greatly, we couldn’t do it without them!
Which church services can you usually be found at? The 10.30 running our
younger youth and also at the 6pm service sitting with our older youth.
An update: Behind the scenes at
Crossway Pregnancy Crisis Centre
By Karen Pitchford
For my situation, it was helpful to have someone just simply to listen and not judge. Just
talking to someone was a massive help (Client)
Recent encouragements are:
• Our first Prayer Breakfast - a chance
to meet those who pray for us and
share our plans with them.
• Very much needed laptops bought
with the help of grants and a
generous donation.
• A successful Auction and Cheese
& Wine tasting evening
Challenges we face:
• A recent critical report of pregnancy
centres by Brook means we need to
make sure organisations who might refer people needing our support know
that our services are non-judgemental.
• St Stephens generously lets us use The
Crossway, but we need bigger premises
as well as money to pay for them.
• A fall in client numbers partly because
our website isn’t mobile friendly
Current
plans
include:
• Raise our profile
particularly in
Hounslow, where the need for
our support is greatest
• Set up a post abortion support group
• Improve our website and use of social
media.
• Develop our sex and relationships
package to include areas such as
pornography
There are many ways to support us
– volunteer, set up a standing order,
come to an event, or pray for us.To
find out more call 020 8892 8483
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J U N E 2 014
Thursday Night Drop-In
By Ron Bushyager, Associate Pastor
Move over MasterChef, the Thursday
Night Drop-In is the place for a great
culinary experience.
When I recently asked the guests which
meals they prefer most on a Thursday
Night, many replied: ‘All of it! We like all
the food here.’ I heartily agree! To those
individuals, small groups, and life groups
who help us cook on a Thursday night—
Thank you. You make the evening a very
special experience for our guests who
have come to know St. Stephen’s as a place
of warmth, kindness and hospitality. Recently some of our long-term meal providers have stepped down, so we are looking
for others able to cook for a Thursday.
MasterChefs are encouraged to be in
touch, but we would love anyone who enjoys preparing food or who has a heart to
support our guests to be involved.
Our cooks are sometimes individuals,
but usually a few friends or part of a life
group. Some cook the large meal for 40
whilst others cook our smaller vegetarian option. Some prepare the meal on the
Thursday itself whilst others make the
meal the day before and leave it for our
team to serve. It might be that you want to
try it out as a one-off cooking on a Thursday Night, then decide if you can do it more
regularly (e.g. termly). If so we would love
for you to be in touch by emailing Mandy
Turner: mandyturner@st-stephens.org.uk.
We can help with the menu and quantities
as well as covering the cost of food.
The food is just one part of the dropin that guests enjoy and keep coming back
for. Each Thursday night we offer encouragement, practical support and prayer to
individuals who are typically finding life
hard. Our team is able to speak about
Jesus and improve someone’s physical circumstances. Please pray for our work and
be in touch should you ever want to dropin yourself and see the ministry in action.
Talking
with God
By Ron Bushyager
Over the last several weeks St. Stephen’s has been leading a new course on dealing with depression. We finished
the course by looking at depression and faith. Someone
who is depressed can find it hard to pray for many reasons. They may feel on their own with God and others,
and without hope. They will have trouble concentrating
and may struggle to settle in peaceful prayer.
Here are some thoughts on prayer for those who are depressed – or for any time life feels overwhelming:
Many words are not necessary
A simple, repeated word or sentence like ‘Jesus’ or ‘Father, let
me know you’re here.’ can be all that is needed to open up some
space, to be still and meet with God.
Pray with Honesty
In prayer ‘we bring our real self to the real God’. If we are full
of doubt or life is too hard, God still wants to meet us. Over one
third of the psalms are prayers of lament; it is essential that we
bring our desperate feelings to God in prayer as well as aspects of
life that feel more together.
Lean on the support around you
A favourite piece of Christian music or prayer over audio, a
walk through a garden, sitting in a church, asking for prayer from
someone else, a physical thing to hold when praying, these can
all connect you to something outside yourself that feels more
secure. Prayer is about relationship and sometimes we need to
reach out and take in support from elsewhere to establish a foundation where God can then take hold of us.
And of course, for anyone struggling with depression or feeling otherwise overwhelmed or stuck, the pastoral ministry at St.
Stephen’s is here to listen, to support and to pray. Just drop me an
email to be in touch.
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St Stephen’s
St Stephen’s
Staff Vacancies
Internships
the staff team
2014-2015 now Join
for these full and
available in: part time positions:
Worship, youth,
Children & young families,
Operations & administration
For further info or to request an
application pack please contact Jules Morgan
at julesmorgan@st-stephens.org.uk
Buildings & Site Manager (part time)
Premises & Facilities Manager (full time)
Safeguarding Officer (part time)
To find out more, please contact Jules
Morgan at julesmorgan@st-stephens.org.uk
Closing date 20 June, Interviews w/c 7 July
Seniors Datelist: June 2014
All events in Centenary Room
Monday 2
12.30Monday Lunch Club
14.15 Arts & Crafts
Wednesday 4
14.00Chairobics
Wednesday 11
14.00Chairobics
Thursday 12
10.30Healing Service with
coffee afterwards
Thursday 5
10.30 Seniors Life Group on
truthful integrity
Monday 16
12.30Monday Lunch Club
(Annie’s team cooking)
14.15 Arts & Crafts
Monday 9
11.00Monday Fellowship trip
to Syon Park (contact
Victoria Byrne by June 3)
Wednesday 18
14.00Chairobics
Thursday 19
10.30 Seniors Life Group on
discernment and discipline
Monday 23
14.30Monday Fellowship
‘Gardening at Battersea
Park’ – Mike Wilkinson
Wednesday 25
14.00Chairobics
Thursday 26
10.30Healing Service –
Communion;
bring & share lunch
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J U N E 2 014
Mission
Impossible?
In 1974 Cambridge University’s Christian Union held a mission that
was to have a significant impact on people who attended it. Mike
Quinlan was part of the team organizing the event and recently
went along to a 40-year reunion of the mission. He tells us a little
about it and what happened…
What were you doing in Cambridge
at the time of the mission?
From 1971 to 1974 I was a student at
Queens’ College, Cambridge studying
Engineering.
How did you get involved with the
Christian Union in the first place?
I came from a Christian family (my father
was a Vicar), went to church every Sunday (sometimes three times), had been
baptised and confirmed in the Church of
England and had even responded to a call
to go forward at a relay of a Billy Graham
Mission in 1966. And yet when I arrived at
Cambridge I found that there were students who had a much closer personal
faith that affected every aspect of their
lives. I was taken by friends to meetings
of CICCU (Cambridge Inter-Collegiate
Christian Union) and started re-reading
the gospels for myself and came to a more
personal faith around Easter 1972. In 1973
I was appointed as an assistant secretary
of CICCU. My responsibilities including
arranging venues and stewarding events
(very little has changed in 40 years!)
Can you tell us a bit about the vision
for the particular mission in 1974?
CICCU organised a week of mission every
three years so that every student should
have the opportunity to attend one. The
missions were led by a well-known speaker
and past speakers had included D.L Moody
in 1882 and Billy Graham in 1955.
Who was the main speaker at this
particular mission and how were
people invited along to it?
In 1974 the speaker was David MacInnes
who was on the staff at Birmingham Cathedral but later was vicar of St Aldate’s in
Oxford. David’s son, Harry, was much later
a curate at St Stephen’s and led our first
church plant to All Soul’s, St Margaret’s. I
was personally involved in a fringe event – a
play written and produced by Murray Watts
who went on to co-found the Riding Lights
Theatre Company and has written plays
and films including ‘The Miracle Maker’.
Did the mission feel significant at
the time?
We received reports back through the
Christian Union that about 100 people
had become Christians at the time. This
was obviously a cause for great rejoicing
though I don’t remember any particular individuals whom I knew who had responded in this way.
There’s recently been a reunion –
can you tell us about this?
I was invited to a reunion on 11 February
2014, exactly 40 years after the mission. I
was sent a list of the 50 or so people who
were coming. Although I recognised some
of the names there were other names
whom I knew of, but didn’t realise were
at Cambridge at that time. This included
Nicky Gumbel, Nicky Lee, Nick Hills and
Ken Costa.
There was an extensive time of sharing
stories after a buffet meal together and it
emerged that Nicky Gumbel and Nicky Lee
were both first year law students at Trinity
College Cambridge in 1974. During the
mission both of them became Christians.
Nicky Gumbel went on to develop the Alpha course and is now Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton. Nicky Lee, with his wife Sila
(who had also attended the mission on the
last night), developed the Marriage course
and the Marriage Preparation course and
is also on the staff of HTB. Nick Hills is less
well known but was later involved in leading Justin Welby to faith. Ken Costa was a
first year graduate student at my college
Queens’ in 1974 and came to faith some
time later. He went on to become chairman of Lazard International bank and is
chairman of Alpha International.
What do you feel looking back on it?
I realise that you never can tell what the
outcome of any effort that we make for
Jesus and the Gospel will be.We may never
know this until we are with Christ in heaven. I was fortunate to hear some of the
stories that came out of that mission but it
reminds me of the need to keep pressing
on to tell others of the good news and to
leave the outcome to Jesus.
At the reunion David MacInnes
summarised four points that were
key to the 1974 mission which
stand true today:
1.A Passion for Christ
2.A Commitment to Prayer
3.Readiness for Spiritual Battle
4.The right combination of
the Word and the Spirit
J U N E 2 014
themonth | 9
The HTB
Leadership
Conference
By Jonny Newton,
Worship & Media intern
Where do you even start with reviewing something like this!? The amazing
setting of the Royal Albert Hall? The
great keynote speakers? The 6,000+
delegates joining in? Or the encouragement of seeing and hearing what
is happening in the wider church? All
are just a snippet of LC14.
It was such a blessing being part of the
host team standing on the streets welcoming people, greeting & meeting new faces and
reconnecting with old friends.A real encouragement that God is building a united front
not just in this nation but all over the world.
I could fill the whole of The Month with
my highlights from the conference but if
I had to pick just one without a doubt
it would be the extremely open, honest
and humbling interview with Rick & Kay
Warren. Not wanting to be cliché but
it changed me. See it for yourself here
lc15.alpha.org/node/73
By Gilly Charkham
How to distil two days of kaleidoscopic stimulation, joy, challenge, worship
and fun into 150 words... hmm.
Notes from the Prayer Seminar with
Brother Luigi Gioia, Roger Bretherton &
Pete Grieg:
We don’t need to be holy to pray. Bring
everything to God; the good, the bad and
the ugly– he’s big enough to take our anger,
jealousy, greed, lust, pride etc. Be honest.
He’s not interested in a shiny façade and
he’s not fooled by one either.
Brother Luigi Gioia quoted this and I
like it: “I seldom pray for more than twenty
minutes, but I seldom go more than twenty
minutes without praying”. Short prayers,
said in haste, matter (ask me for Roger
Bretherton’s stories). We don’t need to be
highly articulate in prayer – God reads our
hearts and hears our sighs.
To teach children to pray: Age 0 – 5,
telling them that God loves them is vital.
Further theology can wait. When you pray
with them, be real.
By Annette Duffy
It was a joy to be able to attend the
HTB Leadership Conference with a
group of friends. This seemed especially appropriate as the overarching
theme elaborated by Nicky Gumbel in the opening talk was friendship, with God and with one another,
based on Jesus’ words in John 15 v 15,
‘I no longer call you servants… instead I have called you friends.’
For me, there was much to inspire, challenge, encourage and move, but what I found
particularly helpful and humbling was the way
in which several of the main speakers spoke
out of their own deep and sometimes extremely painful circumstances with immense
honesty and transparency, unafraid to share
their vulnerability as well as their experience
of God’s presence in the depths.
When talking about the trauma of the
death of their son last year, Kay Warren,
wife of Rick Warren, who together were
two of the main speakers, shared her very
favourite quote, ‘Circumstances may appear to wreck our lives, but God is not
helpless among the ruins.’ He continues to
work out His plan of love.
By Catherine Johnson,
Vicar’s P.A.
I attended just the first day of the
conference this year as I was lucky
enough to have been given a free ticket for the Royal Albert Hall dress circle! There was a real buzz as the place
began to fill up on that first morning
and the band led us in worship.
It was amazing to think how far some
of the people there had travelled. Nicky
Gumbel began the conference by talking
about the importance of friendship in our
congregations and how communities were
built on friendship and vulnerability. He
pointed us towards the way Jesus formed
friendships and how he had an inner circle of a few very close friends, then the
12 disciples, then the 72 etc. The second
half of that morning was incredibly moving as Rick and Kay Warren shared the experiences of the past year since their son
Matthew had tragically died. The emotions
were very raw but they spoke incredibly
helpfully about the grieving process and
about removing the stigma of mental illness. There was a real sense of openness
and vulnerability about all the speakers
that I heard that day and it was a real privilege to be there worshipping God with
6,000 Christians from around the world
(not to mention over 30,000 who were
watching on line!).
10 | t h e m o n t h
J U N E 2 014
Turning over
a new leaf
‘The Book Of Job’, by Raymond P. Scheindlin
Review by David C Tennant
The Book of Job must be one of the most read and most
loved stories in the Bible.The story is so human, and one
in which we can readily identify with the protagonist. It
is a story of unjustly losing everything held dear and
yet ultimately having all those losses, and more, restored. It is a tragedy but with a happy ending
and we all love happy endings.
It is audacious; Job’s
anger with God
and his three
friends treads
delicately
around our own
attitudes towards God:
our moral outrage, our selfpity and our indignation at
God’s righteous anger.
Would Like to Meet…
Huw Beynon
How and when did you
first come to St Stephen’s?
I started playing drums at St.
Stephen’s evening services
when Nick started his new
role as worship leader and
that was that really!
At which service/s can you
usually be found?
6 o’clock, and rarely the
10.30am
What do you do for work?
Music things. I teach drums,
play drums live for artists and
events, record music, produce
and programme music, engineer and mix.
What did you dream
of being when you were
a child?
Pilot, builder, policeman, fireman, you name it, at some
point I probably wanted to be
it! I picked up the drums from
the age of 8, and as soon as I
realised that some people do
that as a job then that was the
one for me.
Where would you go with
a Time Machine?
The 60’s. I feel like I’ve missed
out on a lot of great live music
from that era, and it seems
like a pretty cool time to be
around.
The scariest thing you
have ever done?
It’s a difficult one, I try not to let
anything phase me too much.
Probably moving to London. It’s
so different to my family home
in rural Leicestershire. I always
knew it was the right choice
though, making it easier.
Scheindlin’s book satisfies
two curiosities. A longer
than usual introduction
gives an historic perspective to a story that predates
the Babylonian Exile (587 B.C.). The setting of this
story is deliberately vague but certainly is outside Israel and
in all probability is pre-Mosaic. Probably written in the 5th or
4th century B.C. in the Persian province of Judea this book of
poetry has continued to be told down the ages appearing in
Jewish, Christian and Islamic literature.
This edition is a translation from the original Hebrew. Faithful
to the poetic spirit of the original manuscript, it is a pleasure to
read, different in style from that of the NIV Bible, but not lacking in integrity.The introduction and the notes at the end of this
book add vibrancy to this edition, enhancing the enjoyment of
this ancient tale and the reader’s knowledge of the text.
What was your favourite
holiday?
A couple of years ago we
went to Aruba, a small island
in the Caribbean. Literally my
perfect holiday.
What’s the subject that
makes your brain hurt?
Maths. I used to be really
good at it, but as soon as
A-Level maths started it
was just too much.
What did you eat
for breakfast?
Toast, but I guess it was technically lunch as it was at 2pm...
Which Sports Team
do you support?
Leicester City (Football) and
Leicester Tigers (Rugby).
What’s your perfect day?
A sunny one, outside, with
food, and music.
Crisps or chocolate?
Crisps
Listening to music
or playing music?
Playing
Indian or Chinese
Takeaway?
Indian
Relaxing or Exercising?
Hahahahaha relaxing.
What would your three
Desert Island discs be?
Dave Matthews Band - Live At
Central Park
Foy Vance - Joy Of Nothing
Biffy Clyro - Only Revolutions
J U N E 2 014
PACT
By Julie Dakin
It’s hard to tell where Africa’s wealth goes
when there’s a lack of accountability and
public scrutiny – and corruption is shrouded
in secrecy. That’s why the best way of tackling
it is to maximize transparency
Bishop Munga from Tearfund partner CCT
(Christian Council of Tanzania).
Ben Niblett, Tearfund’s Head of Campaigns, joined the last PACT
[Prayer and Action Changes Things] meeting in April to tell us
more about the Secret’s out campaign.
In 2011, developing nations lost £1 trillion through illicit, corrupt and secretive money flows, a huge amount
that could be spent tackling poverty in the
world’s poorest
countries.
t h e m o n t h | 11
This year, the G20 summit will take place in Australia and Tearfund’s Secret’s Out campaign needs our prayers and actions to
make sure G20 leaders challenge corruption. The campaign is
about achieving transparent leadership among world leaders and
corporations in order to stop the scandal of corruption that’s affecting the world’s poorest people. Corruption is a major factor
in keeping the world’s poorest people trapped in poverty.
In June, the G20 countries will meet to discuss the agenda for
the summit, so now is a crucial time to pray, send/ sign partitions
and meet our MPs. Then in November, 20 of the world’s most
powerful leaders will be in one place at one time, and they’ll be
making key decisions.
So Tearfund are encouraging UK Christians and churches to
add their voices to this campaign and lobby government, asking
the Prime Minister when he goes to Australia to champion greater transparency.
Corruption is a daily reality that traps millions of people in poverty. It deprives communities of wealth and prevents people from
experiencing life to its fullest. Half of the world’s people live in
countries rich in oil, gas and natural resources. We can give thanks
for the abundant world that God has created, yet also acknowledge
the secrecy and corruption, which often prevents communities
benefitting from this wealth. Please pray that Christians around the
world, ourselves included, will play an integral part in speaking out
against corruption. And pray that new laws will be made to challenge the corruption that breeds poverty and mistrust.
Those of us who made the PACT meeting in April were able to
pray for this issue of corruption and sign petitions to encourage
our government to act.We would love it if more of you could do
that and have left Tearfund’s petition cards at the back of the
church. Please sign and either post or leave in the box provided and a few of the PACT group will take them with
them when they visit Vince Cable on 13 June. Tearfund’s campaign links to a wider EXPOSED Global
call whose petition can be signed on line: https://
signup.exposed2013.com/. The more we join
together in speaking out to governments,
the greater the impact we have.
Speak up for those who cannot
speak for themselves, for the
rights of all who are destitute
Proverbs 31:8
12 | t h e m o n t h
J U N E 2 014
Notices and events
St Stephen’s
Golf Society
David & Naomi’s
Leaving Lunch!
Sunday 15 June,
After the 10.30am service
Friday 20 June 5pm, Richmond
Golf Club, Sudbrook Lane
Bring and Share picnic in Marble Hill Park
(in the church if it’s raining!)
Contact colin.smith@macegroup.com
Future dates:
Saturday 26 July (1pm) Woldingham
Friday 15 August (5.30pm) Strawberry Hill
Saturday 13 September (1pm) The Drift
St Stephen’s
Walkers
We welcome golfers of all standards –
friends, relatives and work colleagues are
welcome and events and fun, relaxed and
often memorable!
Saturday 21 June
We will be enjoying two walks! 5 mile
morning walk 'Standing Hat' which
is easy gravel path on the level, then a
5 mile walk in the afternoon, Brockenhurst Park and Roydon Woods, slightly
more challenging in the heart of the
forest. We will drive between the 2
walks (approx 5 miles) and have lunch
in Brockenhurst on the way. Meet at
9am at post box outside church,
and contact Gena Smith
(genamsmith@gmail.com or
020 88941087) for further details.
To join the mailing list please email Philip
Rodgers: rodgers.cpy@blueyonder.co.uk
PACT
Monday 9 June
Next walks:
19 July, 6 September, 4 October,
8 November, 6 December,
and Christmas walk
on 27 December.
Also coming up…
St
Margaret’s
Fair
Saturday 12 July
Join us at the St Stephen’s Tent in
Moormead Park for some Summer fun!
We will be taking time to learn a little
more about Children in Institutions. Across
the globe 8 million children are living in
institutions that deny them individual love
and care. More than 90% are not orphans.
They are separated from their families
because they are poor, disabled or from
an ethnic minority. As a result, many suffer
lifelong physical and emotional harm. Please
join us to pray and see where we can take
action. Meeting is at 7.45pm for an 8pm
start in the Crossway.
Welcome Tea!
Sunday 8 June & Sunday 6 July
If you’re new to St Stephen’s come and
join us at a Welcome Tea with a member
of our clergy – we’d love to meet you!
a n d f i n a l ly. . .
Wit, if not wisdom
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit,
Miles Kington
wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Church Office: 30 Crown Road, Twickenham TW1 3EE
p: 020 8892 5258 e: info@st-stephens.org.uk w: www.st-stephens.org.uk