Beacon ‘Cast-offs’: After the success of our ‘Yarn Day’ a few months ago we have decided to
hold another. The ‘Cast-offs’ will be meeting in the Music Room on Saturday 3rd March between
10am and 3pm. Feel free to drop in anytime and stay for as long as you like. Bring a packed
lunch. Tea, coffee and cake provided. Bring your knitting, crocheting, sewing etc. Instruction
and help given to beginners. See Kate Slater or Sue Gladman for details.
News
News items for public viewing
When do I grow up?
Becoming an adult means…. “being responsible… doing what you want… going to clubs… not taking your washing home to your mum etc.etc. When you have kids, at 12 or 13, when you think you know everything, when you get a job, when you start going to college… people live their lives a lot longer before you get married.”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-42745813/becoming-an-adult-what-it-means-to-you
Recent studies show that adolescence now lasts from age 10 to 24.
There are reasons for this:
Young people continue in education longer
Parenthood and marriage are being delayed
Because of the degree of change in society and the changes in career patterns young people settle much later into stable patterns of life and work.
This means that very few young people find a settled pattern of work and home life at 18 and are likely to be searching for this through their 20s. Then once you get a job and find a career research says that you are unlikely to follow that for more than 10 years. People are increasingly changing career once or twice, or more in adult life.
There is a developmental lesson in all this – people are still forming their spiritual, social and personal identities well into their 20s. In many way people take on adult roles and responsibilities later.
Then we look at childhood studies tell us that adolescence begins younger too – from the age of 10. If you couple these physiological changes with earlier exposure to social media, we see that children/ young people are socially interconnected and physically changing somewhat younger.
In the light of this maybe we (adults over 40) should change our thinking and practice in the following ways:
We should recognise that the formation of identity happens over a longer period and is not done and dusted by 18.
We should recognise that young people aged 10 – 30 are creative and interconnected people and avoid being frustrated by their slower formation or patronising them as people who just can’t grow up and take responsibility.
We should embrace the multiple changes of career and patterns of work through adult life and enable people to think through the choices, vulnerability and creative opportunities this presents.
In Christian organisations and churches, we should consider the following:
We may reconsider the tight definition of youth work away from working with 11-18s. We should explore work among 14s to 30s.
We should take greater note of the transition period experienced by children between the ages of 10 and 14, which straddles school structures (unless you remember the days of middle schools).
Because of the diversity of young people and the degree of formation and change we should be much more flexible and collaborative with the young people we work with.
Finally, if life in today’s society is much more about ongoing formation, finding space and change then we should relax and not expect all life long commitments and decisions to be signed and sealed before someone reaches 18. We should rightly encourage people to choose their faith direction before 18 but some will not. Some will make a choice and then revisit it later, others will make formative choices later. Both are fine.
The Bible talks in the following way:
11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13: 11 – 13 (NRSV)
Maybe we need a little less of over 40s assumptions and anxiety and a touch for faith, hope and love.
In any case.
Becoming adult – can you put an age on it?
Graham Brownlee, February 2018
Leeds Street Angels
Rewind to Easter – it’s not too late to join our team
It was way back in 2004 that Jan Fennell, then MBC’s Children’s Pastoral Worker, ran our first Rewind to Easter programme; fourteen years on it remains as fresh as ever.
In a little over a weeks time, and over four ninety minute sessions near on four hundred year five school children will visit Moortown Baptist Church to hear and see first hand what for a Christian Easter is all about.
Rewind to Easter employs a tried and tested blend of specially written teaching material, craft, quizzes, video, story telling and drama. However, with the exception of Cas Stoodley, our resident Children’s Worker the Rewind team is made up entirely of volunteers. So if you could spare some time on either or both Tuesday the 6th of Wednesday the 7th of March why not come and join us… it’s great fun and it’s unbelievably rewarding.
You can contact Cas either here at church or by emailing her cas.stoodley.mbc@btconnect.com
Leeds Lent Prayer Diary 2018
The Leeds Lent Prayer Diary is a great resource for prayer and information on Christian initiatives across the city. MBC has a limited number of copies available. One for each house group with some for individuals.
Suggested donation £1.25 from Kate Slater or Graham Brownlee.
First come first served.
An update on MBC’s Beacon Cafe
MBC’s Beacon Cafe, open here at church every Monday morning, is going from strength to strength; not only with new people coming almost every week but with many regular attenders bringing along friends and neighbours.
“Staffed” entirely by volunteers (more are always welcome) each week we have craft activities, there is always a selection of board games, a growing library of books, lots of conversation and of course some amazing cakes (all free but donations are appreciated).
For the last year or so we have been focusing on being a well-being space and we have a core of people who are there every week to listen to people if they would appreciate someone to talk to.
At 12pm we always close with a short but valuable time of prayer, and since we started this has grown from six to eight people to upwards of thirty.
So if you are at a loose end on a Monday morning please come and join us – you will be most welcome. If you would like to know more about Beacon your contacts are Kate Slater or Janis Armstrong.
As PULSE moves from Commitment to Kindness we look back at a month of both physical and faith based endeavour
Today (Sunday January 28th) we closed our morning Service by welcoming three of our children’s groups back into church to share with us what they had been learning about throughout January.
Collectively Faithbuilders, Inters and Excavate, that’s all our children aged between 5 and 11 operate under the name PULSE. And based on a passage of scripture from 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 8: “Training the body has some value. But being godly has value in every way. It promises help for the life you are now living and the life to come” they have been working their way through a programme that combines tough physical exercise with four equally challenging tasks namely: practicing hearing about God, practicing praying to God, practicing talking about God and finally practicing living for God.
The project is so designed that what ever is being discussed on a Sunday can also be talked about at home throughout the week; with both the children and their families being encouraged to fill in and return their own, personalised log books.
Below is a short video which leads you through January and which shows you step by step each of the four different exercises.
Today’s Service finished with the church praying for the children and then the children praying for the church; hardly rocket science but a rare and most welcome two way engagement.
In February PULSE moves on to engage with what the bible in general and what Jesus in particular has to say about Kindness. If the commitment the children have shown to Commitment is anything to go by I can safely predict that from here on in not only will Moortown Baptist Church itself be awash with it but so too will lots and lots of local homes.
https://youtu.be/4cyfXvRcWCg
Engage with ENGAGE and discover how from Ukraine to Sudan and from Mozambique to the Thai-Burma border BMS World Mission is transforming lives
Originally called The Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen, BMS World Mission as it’s now known works among some of the most marginalised and least evangelised people, in some of the most fragile places on earth.
Its aim is to bring life in all its fullness through seven key ministries: church, development, education, health, justice, leadership and relief.
Founded in 1792, BMS alongside a whole raft of partner organisations now works on four continents and is supported by both individuals and by local churches from not only here in the UK but across the world.
Over the years, here at Moortown Baptist Church we have not only seen a number of our members go off to serve with BMS World Mission, we’ve supported them as individuals and the society itself in a number of different ways.
For instance some of us make one off or regular donations, even more have signed up to the BMS Birthday Scheme; on your birthday you receive a card but you send BMS a gift. We collect postage stamps, get sponsorship for fun runs etc. or we host Coffee for a Cause events.
Nowadays the best way to keep up to date with everything that’s happening with BMS World Mission is to sign up to receive its ENGAGE magazine. Published totally free of charge three times a year you can arrange delivery either through the post or on line by visiting https://www.bmsworldmission.org/get-involved/stay-informed/engage/
Recently, during a morning service Roger Robson the BMS World Mission Secretary here at MBC gave us an update on our contact with and support for the organisation. If you missed Roger’s presentation or you feel this is something you could support please have a word with him.
The most recent edition of ENGAGE, Issue 40, comes complete with a 2018 Prayer Guide. Although, sadly, for security reasons some World Mission workers must remain anonymous this in addition to highlighting 365 prayer points really does personalise matters by not only introducing us to a number of individuals and families but also to the specific projects they are involved with.
Messy Social – give it a whirl, 3pm this coming Sunday
Our first new style Messy Church – Messy Social is at 3pm this coming Sunday, 28th January. This will be an opportunity to hang out, play pool, table tennis, football, board games etc. All that and a hot meal!
As you would expect we are always glad of more help so if anyone would like to get involved in our Messy Church team please see Cas or Graham.