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We want to recognize the changes and challenges this year has held for each young person. We also celebrate their growth and for some the exciting opportunities which await them as they head of to University. On the night there will be a live band, a silent disco, a scalextrics racing track and a whole lot more!
Tickets cost £10 for all this including food! Please RSVP by the 11th June. Or alternatively ring or text 07852388530 to let the youth team know you are coming.
The suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena on Monday night has shaken so many people. Today I have felt and been aware of a stunned quietness around. Experiencing this in Leeds may be because this happen close by in Manchester, or maybe because it happened at an Arena concert which many of us would go to.
Then come the messages…
From someone who knows someone effected
From people expressing strong opinions
From people offering to help
From people pulling together.
Now is a time to pray for the strength of spirit in Manchester and across the country. Also, to pray for comfort for those who have lost so much. We give thanks for the care, hospitality and courage of Police and emergency services as well as community members.
Terrorism seeks to spread fear, to undermine society from the inside out, it seeks to divide us to control us. Horrific events take our breath away and cause us to loose our focus.
So, what can we do?
We can recognise that there are people of hate, but they are not us. We can be strong together. It seems to me that it is vital to keep talking and listening to one another at times like this. To say what we know and what we feel. This is a counter to fake news, isolation and rumour.
We can also talk about our experiences. This incident will disproportionately affect children and young people. By definition younger people have gone through less so have less experience and context to relate to. I heard the Andy Burnham (the mayor of Manchester) and Richard Leese (the leader of Manchester City Council) talk of the things the people of Manchester have been through in the past. It is so helpful to talk of things we have been through before and gain perspective and strength from that.
Cities in England have been through bombings and atrocities before. People have been through personal tragedy.
I find help from the paraphrase of a Proverbs, which is obviously old writing that has been tested over time:
“When you are disappointed and your hopes are deashed, the heart is crushed, but when hope for the future comes true it fills you with joy.” Proverbs 13: 12
We are light years from joy but we are experiencing hopes dashed and hearts crushed. Hope remains and grow, even though sorely tested.
Let us pray, talk to one another, share feelings and experiences. Let us consider the traumatic stories unfolding before us and the great resilience which will shine through. Life cannot go on as if nothing has happened, but life does go on more carefully, intentionally and more hopefully.
Graham Brownlee, May 2017
After what must seem like an endless drag up Stonegate Road I can only imagine the relief that the near on 9,000 runners in this year’s Half Marathon dwhen they saw that once again MBC was stepping in with a much needed sustenance.
Okay, so maybe jelly babies and popcorn aren’t the top of every athletes dietary plan but I can assure you that for many they were exactly what the doctor ordered.
Below is a gallery of images captured as the runners streamed past us.
After two years worshipping and ministering here at MBC Caroline Brown said her farewells on Sunday when she told the church that she was “returning to her roots.” In other words, returning to the Church of England, but this time with the intention of becoming a priest.
Revd Caroline began her final Sunday standing on the roundabout watching out for her sister who was competing in the Leeds Half Marathon. It was then a quick sprint in to church to announce her news.
Surrounded by members of her Home Group and also by regulars at our Monday Morning Café Caroline was thanked for all the work she has done here at MBC and wished God speed as she takes her next steps in ministry. 
Once again MBC’s Plant Sale has proved a great success. With only a few specimens left unsold and with a very healthy contribution coming from the donations for coffee and cake Jenny Dixon and her green fingered team are well on the way to sending more than £1,000 to this year’s chosen charities.
From the word go there was a steady stream of visitors each of whom left us carrying considerably more than they had brought.
Simon on the Streets and The British Heart Foundation are this year’s beneficiaries so very soon a cheque will be heading their way.
Alongside Jenny’s adult helpers there was this year a new member of the team… 10 year old Nikou Mohammadai who when not helping arrange the cakes was our assistant photographer. In fact, so good were her pictures that almost half of the images in the gallery below are hers.
So all in all a good day, once again many thanks to Jenny and all the team… see you all next year.
I don’t know about you but sometimes life just gets on top of me. I know it’s happening when I shout at the kids and can’t focus on a task at hand, when I am talking to someone but my mind is wandering even though I really want to be present in the moment.
At times like these I realise that I have lost my focus. For when I retreat into my ‘cave’ and try and find some time to listen to God all I can hear are the earthquakes, wind and fire around me. I am doing most of the talking and God, well I expect he is listening and trying to say something. It isn’t until all that noise around me stills that I can hear the voice in the silence. The Hebrew word for ‘still’ is only used three times in the whole New Testament, it alludes to a calmness that comes after activity that could be seen to be frightening. It is a word that exudes peace and a definite presence.
The peace and calm, the stillness that is experienced in the prescence of God Almighty is overwhelming but not in the same way as the things going on around us. In fact his presence puts everything back in its place and reminds us that God is in control. We are not alone, everything doesn’t depend on us, God is our strength and our provider, and He never allows us to take on more than we can bear.
So this Friday, I invite you all to come along to Messy Church and find out more about this God who brings calm and stills the storm. Our God who is able to do immesurably more than we could ever hope or imagine.
Cas.
Just over a year ago a campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College in Oxford (above) was in the headlines, as it tackled the apparent honoured prominence given to an architect of apartheid. In the past week European athletics has proposed striking off records set before 2005, because drugs tests at that time weren’t up to today’s standards.
Apartheid and drug cheating cannot be condoned but it seems to be a bit of a gesture to assume that such actions will change a great deal. Indeed, it is easy to be wise after the event.
It seems that the greater value and yet the harder task is to reshape our current attitudes and future priorities.
It strikes me that Jesus was repeatedly pressed to apportion retrospective blame when faced with the injustices of his day. He refused to fall into this trap. Instead he focused upon attitudes, what can be done now, hopes and the future. “This happened so that God’s work might be revealed…” “Blessed are the poor, for yours in the Kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger now, for you shall be satisfied”
In speaking in this way Jesus turned us to what is happening in the present, and what can be hoped for. He also directly confronted those who were oppressing in the present rather than those who had got away with it in the past. This turns us away from gestures and towards ongoing behaviour and what we seek to build for ourselves and future generations.
Now Christians can fall into a similar trap when reviewing our difficult past, as individuals and church, and when facing disconcerting passages in the Bible. Once again, their uncomfortableness should not be cheaply expunged but rather help us to be real about the past and better able to engage in the present.
Graham Brownlee, May 2017
This coming Sunday, May 14th, runners taking part in the Leeds Half Marathon will once again be streaming past us at just about the time our Sunday morning worship starts. This means you will need to plan your journey carefully as there will be a certain number of road closures.
However, unlike in previous years this time MBC finds itself sandwiched between two feeding/water stations which means there will be no need for us to give out drinks. We are though keeping up the tradition of handing out jelly babies. If you want to help just turn up on Sunday, make your way onto the roundabout and join in the fun.
Sorry about the missing newsletter. A couple of weeks ago IT gremlins somehow managed to sabotage our last issue by wiping all the stored images from the website library. However, we are pleased to say normal service has been resumed and provided they don’t strike again there will be a newsletter tomorrow (12 May).
In it you’ll not only find links to a few new stories but also some which if you haven’t visited the website directly you may have missed.
Although some of us might have felt a bit like Brenda from Bristol, when the General Election was announced, it remains a great opportunity for us to build the power of Leeds Citizens and advance our campaigns.
We are running a special action over the next month to make the most of this and are asking for your help to make it a success.
Leeds Citizens is organising meetings with candidates in all Leeds constituencies in the run-up to June 8th. We will be asking them directly to:
1. We need volunteers to join the teams to meet with candidates in their local constituency. The teams will be briefed and supported by our Senior Organiser, Tom. If you live in one of the following constituencies and would like to take part please contact us now:
2. We need organisations who are willing to host a meeting with a candidate on their premises. All we need is a hall or meeting room, nothing fancy. If you’re able to host, please let me know ASAP.
3. If you are a leader in your community, please promote this opportunity to people in your community and send us a list of people who want to join the team. We want to match people to meetings within their own constituency, so please ask volunteers to note their constituency (or post code, if they aren’t sure), so they can meet the right candidates.
4. For those who can’t make these specific events, but are attending other hustings or meet a candidate on the doorstep, we will be providing a short briefing on our campaign areas with key questions for candidates, to help you contribute to this action and keep candidates on their toes!
We are prioritising this action over the next month as it has potential to help advance all our campaigns. Please let us know if you can volunteer ASAP. We need to move quickly.
Please also remind people to register to vote. The deadline is Monday 22nd May. You can register online at: www.gov.uk/register-to-
As much as we seek relationships with elected officials, the most important office is the one which we all share: citizen. Let’s use this election period, through voting and action, to build a bit more trust and participation in our democracy.
