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Shelley Dring to head up MBC’s children and families work

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Shelley Dring who starts her new job on April 15th comes to MBC with a wealth of experience. We asked her to introduce herself… 

Hi I’m Shelley and I am very much looking forward to taking on the role of Lead for Children and Families here at MBC. I feel the experiences I’ve had in the past along with my passion for seeing creative all age communities flourish, will help me to bring something new to MBC and support the vision at this particular time. 

After gaining a first in Psychology at Bangor University (the welsh one!) and a PGCE at Lancaster (with some office work in between) I became a primary teacher in Leeds. I followed this with a few years of self employment and worked as a dancer, fine artist and community practitioner. During this time I became the children and youth adviser to Bradford Diocese and supported church initiatives and conferences in teaching and participating in creative worship including Spring Harvest, New Wine, Boys and Girls Brigade, Edinburgh festival and Global Day of Prayer, London and Berlin. I love to dance and I am on the core team of Movement in Worship (Miw.org.uk) and recently enjoyed leading all age workshops at Big Church Day Out.

                                      Shelley, Nathan, Rowan and Daisy Dring

Along with my husband, Nathan, I’ve been on the leadership team of a church in Leeds for 13 years and have learnt a lot about accessible church and church growth in diverse all age communities. This was a busy time but it included becoming a lay reader in the Church of England and completing some theological training, pioneering a ‘fresh expression’ of church called Genr8 (along with a team) leading worship, playing clarinet, leading dance workshops, setting up a prayer room, developing accessible Sunday church programmes, co leading a parish CPAS growing leaders course with my Dad and planning a community fashion show to name a few. Oh I also had two children during that time.. who came after a long struggle and a lot of prayer! I was also grateful to co lead an enjoyable (mostly sunny!) week with MBC at your Moorlands church holiday along with Nathan d and a very Rowan.

I’ve spent the last 11 years working for Leeds Museums and Galleries as a Learning and Access Officer, based in a 500 year old Tudor Jacobean Mansion known as Temple Newsam House. The objective of my job was to bring the house and it’s collection ‘to life’ to as many people as possible. Temple Newsam was gifted to the people of Leeds back in the 1930’s, so it was important to make sure that all aspects of Leeds communities felt welcome there.

During this time I set up a learning programme for primary and secondary schools, university partnerships, school holiday activities, developed teacher training, joined with community organisations on creative well-being projects and helped create exhibitions. One of my favourites was working with a group of local people from Osmondthorpe, East Leeds and following one lady’s comment that “I didn’t think a place like this was for someone like me,” I was inspired to work with them over the following year to support language skills, new hobbies and to build confidence and parenting skills using the House and the objects inside.

All of my work over the years has relied on developing good relationships, encouragement, communication and creativity so I am really looking forward to getting to know people at MBC, partnering with them and with those communities who are or could be connected to us to see what we can do! I’m passionate about inter-generational communities, using creativity for well-being, inspiration, problem solving, purpose and identity in God and how we can support each other as Gods family to build a better world.

In my ‘spare’ time I like to dance, paint, do interesting gym classes, see live performances, try different foods, go out with friends and family and visit museums and galleries. I’m also part of a book club and even though I sometimes fail to finish the book I very much enjoy the discussions!

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those of you here at MBC who have made me and my family feel so welcome. I value your prayers at this time of new beginnings.

 

 

Being With – Graham’s blog

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We have embarked on a series of services on Sunday mornings looking at ‘Being with’.

Try this thought – God’s chosen goal from creation onwards has been to be with us. From walking in the Garden of Eden – to being present in the Holy Spirit, from being in the temple to being among us in Jesus Christ. God has always willed to be with us, there is no place God would rather be and no better place for us.

The thread running through this is that being with God is not a state of fellowship, spiritual depth or a warm feeling on the way to something else. It is our destination.

There are many tasks before us and many things to be done. These are times when we work together to achieve something or work for others to make a difference. These are vital and essential actions – whether in campaigning for social justice or going out in evangelism. But they are actions on the way to a greater goal that people will dwell in relationship with God enjoying time, openness, hope, love and justice.

This perspective puts overcoming isolation, breaking down barriers and sharing reconciliation at the heart of the gospel. We can become so preoccupied about our tasks and actions for people and we can forget what they are about in the first place.

Here are a couple of subtle ways in which seeing things in this way deepens some of our core messages as Christians:

“God had to come personally to live and die for us.” We explain that only God was good enough to make this sacrifice, but thinking is terms of ‘being with’ we can also say that God had to come and do this because being with God is life as it was always meant to be. If God isn’t fully present in bringing salvation, then it cannot be life as it should be. It is simple as that – it has to be God!

In the midst of the toughest pastoral situations, we find ourselves searching for a credible prayer: “May God be with you” we murmur, wondering whether this is enough. We are conflicted that we couldn’t pray that God will heal and step in and change everything. But thinking in terms of ‘being with’ we realise that God being with us, is not a second-best option when facing a lack of healing – it is the best it is the way of living and experiencing life as God intended. This is not to negate the possibility, power and importance of healing and watershed changes but to realise that they are steps on the way to God being with us.

I guess to paraphrase Jesus – believe in me because I am with you and you know me and if you have to trust me because of the miracles and things I do. Have a read of John 10 and see that the debate Jesus was having there was to show that belief is first and foremost about knowing Jesus and trusting – as sheep know a shepherd.

So, in this current series on Sundays we are taking a look at what this means for us as Christians, for our connections with other people and for wider society. To consider that in all our endeavours it is the will of God to be with us, among Christians, in the midst of society and through all creation.

Graham Brownlee, March 2019

Addressing the needs of people in Leeds: LMFS promotes its work at the Lent Prayer Diary launch

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The city wide launch of the 2019 Leeds Lent Prayer Diary, an event to which the Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store were invited proved fertile ground for MBC’s homegrown charity. By providing the opportunity to network and share their story with over a hundred guests the Store’s manager John Gamson and its chair of trustees John Sherbourne didn’t waste a second when it came to distributing flyers and promotional cd’s. 

The Leeds and Moortown Furniture Store was born here at MBC in 1986 by a small group of people who through the course of their work began to realise that the way in which certain benefits grants were changing meant that a large number of people – some living just a stone’s throw away from church – were unable to afford to buy even the most basic items of furniture.

The rest, as they say is history; thirty three years of addressing the needs of people in Leeds has seen the registered charity grow from three or four people using car boots for collection and cellars for storage to one of the city’s most respected support groups which is now based in a 10,000 sq ft warehouse and is making more than 1,000 collections and free deliveries a year.

Of course the charity can only keep going if people, people like you, donate their unwanted furniture. So if and when you replace a bed, a sofa, a wardrobe or for that matter any other item of furniture call 0113 2739727 to arrange a free and convenient collection.Printed above is a copy of Gemma Bonham’s Prayer for Leeds with which the Bishop of Kirkstall, the Rt Rev Paul Slater opened the evening. Please take time to read it.

The Leeds Lent Prayer Diary 2019 Launch was jointly organised by Leeds Church Institute, Leeds Christian Community Trust and PrayforLeeds. 

 

Fairtrade Fortnight – 25 February to 10 March

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Here at MBC we marked the start of Fairtrade Fortnight by once again inviting Roger Robson and his Beehive team to hold a Fairtrade stall following our morning service. If you thought that buying Fairtrade and Traidcraft products was simply a way of restocking your chocolate drawer whilst at the same time doing a bit of good you’re selling the programme short; supporting Fairtrade and Traidcraft is participating in a long running, world wide campaign to bring about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. 

To underline the seriousness of the task in hand here’s an extract from the Fairtrade website: For two weeks each year, thousands of individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to celebrate the people who grow our food, people who live in some of the poorest countries in the world and who are often exploited and badly paid. This year we are focusing on the people – in particular the women – who grow the cocoa in the chocolate we love so much. 

£1.86 is the amount a cocoa farmer in West Africa needs to earn each day in order to achieve a living income. Currently, a typical cocoa farmer in Cote d’Ivoire lives on around 74p a day. Almost all cocoa farmers in West Africa live in poverty.

For the women the situation is even worse. They may plant and harvest on the farm, look after children, carry water, collect wood, cook and clean for the family, and transport the cocoa beans to market but often with fewer rights than men. 

This is why we at Fairtrade are campaigning for a living income to become a reality for cocoa farmers in West Africa. If we can work together with governments, chocolate companies and retailers to make the commitments and policies necessary, then we can make it happen.

Roger will be running another Fairtrade stall here at MBC 0n Sunday March 31st which seems to me to be just about the right time and place to buy your Real Easter Eggs. In the meantime The Beehive will also be holding their annual coffee morning and Fairtrade Fair on Saturday 2 March at Chapel Allerton Methodist Centre between 10am and 12.30. 

For more information about the Fairtrade movement, and particularly Fairtrade Fortnight visit their website at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/en/get-involved/current-campaigns/Fairtrade-Fortnight

From March 3 there will be two Sunday morning services at MBC

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This coming Sunday, March 3, we’re moving back to holding two Sunday morning services. The first at 9.30am will be 45 minutes of quiet worship, prayer and reflection.  This will be followed at 10.45 by the more familiar model of our children and young people going out to their groups after half an hour or so while the rest of us stay together. Once again we’ll be freeing up some time at the end of this service for prayer, discussion and occasionally the odd “special” feature. 

However, one important thing to mention is that unlike in January when on the third Sunday we held two Communion services, in March, on week three (that’s the 17th) there will be just one Communion service during the second service with the early service being replaced by a light church breakfast to which everyone is invited.    

Theology and Culture: An African Perspective… Joe Kapolyo to deliver the 2019 Whitley lecture here at MBC

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On Wednesday 6th March, here at Moortown Baptist Church,  Joe Kapolyo will be delivering the 2019 Whitley Lecture. He will be speaking on the subject of “Theology and Culture: An African Perspective.” From his experience and reflection Joe observes that the majority world is where the church is growing and explores the need for theology from the majority world to be respected and new and good thinking developed.

MBC is the seventh stop on this eight venue lecture tour. The event begins at 7.30pm and Joe will be basing his talk on the following abstract:

It is now an undeniable fact that, demographically speaking, the centre of gravity of Christianity has shifted to the southern continents from its traditional heartlands in Europe and America. This is at least the third time that such a shift has occurred. The first saw the Church base move from the Middle East centred on Jerusalem to Rome in Europe and then from Rome to northern Europe and America. It is anecdotally suggested that the average Christian at the moment is a thirty seven year old Ugandan woman. We celebrate these facts and rejoice in the Lord that the southern continents of Africa, Asia and Latin America will have the privilege of playing host in significant ways to the Christian faith.

The heart of the argument of this paper concerns the need for African (Asian and Latin American) cultures to yield their deposits of grace in the service of the Gospel and theology. We will argue that the traditional distinction between theology (which should rightly be named as European or Enlightenment theology) and its privileged position over against so called contextualised theologies is not only false but dangerous.  At best this has been and continues to be an instrument of exclusion; excluding African (Asian and Latin American) cultures from serious theological discourse. At worst it is an act of arrogance and even oppression. But it is also an unnecessary self imposed limitation in that it resists the development of a theological culture that embraces all of God’s people on earth – the mosaic that represents every tribe, language and nation. Geologically, people mine precious minerals from the earth.

The miners do not create the deposits of copper, gold or diamonds; they simply exploit them for human benefit. Similarly, there are deposits of grace that God has left in every culture. These must be exposed and exploited in the service of theologies that will reflect the vast spread of humanity on earth, create new disciplines that will strengthen the Church and spur it on to fulfil the commission to go to all the nations of the world and make them disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Joe Kapolyo is the recently retired Lead Minister at Edmonton Baptist Church, London. Previously he has served as Principal of All Nations Christian College; Principal of Theological College of Central Africa (TCCA), Ndola, Zambia; Pastor of Central Baptist Church (Harare, Zimbabwe); Pastor of Ndola Baptist Church (Zambia); Schools worker with Scripture Union Zambia. 

He currently chairs on the Board of Ulting Trust Overseas and until August 2018 was a member of both the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the BUGB Trustees.  Joe’s publications include ‘The Human Condition, Christian Perspectives through African Eyes’ in the Global Christian Library series, published by IVP and Matthew in the one-volume African Bible Commentary.  Joe is married to Anne and they have two grown up daughters, and two grand children.

Night Shelter – April 15th to 29th

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NIGHT SHELTER for destitute asylum seekers: is once again being hosted at Moortown Methodist church from Monday 15th April until Monday 29th April. This will be the fourth year that the project has been hosted as a joint venture between the CTMAS Churches.

There are many different jobs for volunteers, each requiring a varying amount of time and involvement to suit individuals/families. The main roles are:

Evening welcomers/hosts (6.00 – 10.00pm), Evening meal – provide & serve (6.30 – 8.30pm), Overnight (10.00pm – 7.00am) and Breakfast hosts (7.00 – 9.00am). Other roles include, setting up, laundry and possibly transport, and, of course, financial donations to support the work of the Night Shelters.

There will be an Information/Training session for volunteers at Moortown Methodist Church at 7.30pm on Monday 1st April. To volunteer or to seek further details, please contact Ted Britton on 07515 996871 or edward.britton@ntlworld.com.

In the meantime, please do mention the Night Shelter to your friends and ask if they would like to help in any way.

Riding Lights – The Narrow Road – Passion Play, Tuesday 16th April

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“Amid the heat and beauty of ancient Palestine, a man stands on a dusty road. An extraordinary journey will take place, retracing the footsteps of Jesus through a world of miracles and madness, violence and liberation…..”

Riding Lights Theatre Company will be performing their Passion play ‘The Narrow Road’ here at MBC on Tuesday 16th April and tickets will be on sale shortly. However, in the meantime we are appealing for anyone who can offer overnight hospitality to one or two of the actors on the night of the performance. There will be five actors in total.

If you can help please see Kate.

“Spes durat avorum” – Let the hope of our ancestors endure – Graham’s blog

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The motto of the high school I attended in my youth was “spes durat avorum” which translated means “let the hope of our ancestors endure”.

Now as a teenager that never struck me as the most spiritually insightful or the most exciting motto one could have for a school. But looking back now I think it is one of the best.

My school was the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Hexham – now a High School – founded in 1599 by ancestors who had hope that in founding a school they would give greater opportunity for poor children; provide good education for a growing merchant and farming class in Northumberland, to extend learning to more children and as Good Queen Bess looked down on us in the dining hall – to make sure a good protestant grounding was shared by all.

In this sense the ancestors who founded my school hoped to bless children and society through education. It was a benevolent and charitable purpose. I imagine they expected the curriculum to equip the children to find employment and contribute to a flourishing and stable society.

Now many years on, what do we hope education will bestow on our children? Is the same as in 1599?

The needs of society and our understanding of education have certainly changed in 420 years. But I venture to say that we still have great ambition for learning. Yes, it is to gain knowledge, but it is also to gain wisdom and understanding. Not just to know stuff but to grasp why. I hope it includes shaping values with character and not just skills. I desire young people to be grounded as resilient people and not just prepared for a specific job or exam grade.

This is not an impractical hope, in fact it is thoroughly pragmatic and rational. I know that young people in school today will not have one career for their whole working life, they will have 2 or 3 at least – so they need to gain flexible tools for living through education. I also recognise that as we get older we become hardened and resistant in our values and character. The time to be formed is in our youth. So schools need space to develop, to explore and to practice values.

It is a challenge to blend practical and relevant education with the nurturing of character, values and resilience. But more than ever this is what we should offer our children. This is what I wish to bestow on future generations. This is what I hope we can find in our schools – primary, secondary and colleges alike.

The challenge and opportunity to shape character and nurture values is not one left to schools alone. It is a responsibility shared by communities and families too. So I hope for stronger partnership between families, churches, other institutions and schools for a better and fuller education.

It is an aspiration that demands all our efforts. I believe that to work together in new and innovative ways would be an outworking of the same dream that our ancestors had when they founded my school all those years ago.

In this way may the hope of our ancestors, who built education in this country endure.

 Graham Brownlee, February 2019

 

Training course shows how and why safeguarding is a matter for all of us

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Over the last couple of Saturdays Margaret Brownlee has delivered two safeguarding training sessions to a total of more than sixty people. Based on the Baptist Union’s bespoke safeguarding programmes; Safe to Grow, which focuses on safeguarding children and young people and Safe to Belong which looks at safeguarding issues among adults the events were crammed with important information not only in regard to safeguarding those in your care but also to protecting yourself. 

The BU website describes the purpose of this Level 2 training course as enabling people:  

  • to have confidence in responding to safeguarding concerns about children, young people and adults at risk within the church and know what support is available if needed
  • to build a greater understanding of safeguarding and why it is important within the church context
  • to be aware of different types of abuse
  • to be champions in safeguarding

Here at MBC we appoint certain people to specific safeguarding roles; that’s a picture of our team above. So if anyone ever has any concerns please contact one of the team and pass on what ever it is that’s bothering you. 

In fact that was the message Margaret repeated time and time again: “if something feels not quite right and it’s keeping you awake at night pass it on. Not however, to one of our ministers but to one of the safeguarding team.” 

We have added direct links to both the Safe to Grow and Safe to Belong in the opening paragraph but for more information on safeguarding issues visit https://www.baptist.org.uk/ and follow the links to safeguarding. 

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