Lejog

 So it's finally upon me. 2 days in and just about still standing. 

Land End John O Groats in aid of 3 charities linked to my children 

Been hard two days lots of rain...even more hills. 

But I'm still going. Still eating loads of carbs and still hopeful! 

Checkout Twitter or Facebook for more details.

https://www.facebook.com/stephen.newell.16

https://twitter.com/revgoonersteve?t=FgSwaqXBkk0OlmuR2FjYZg&s=09

 https://www.justgiving.com/team/Stephen-LEJOG-challenge

Big thanks to all those who've supported me. The total now tops £2000. Which is great. 

Hopefully I'll get there! 

Day one: Mini Job Change retreat

 A chance to sit and do some bible reading, all the better for knowing the next job is to begin clearing the loft. Yuk

1st reading....remember what God has done in the past....ie an invitation to reflect. 

Devotional reading: be attentive... perhaps God is trying to tell me, listen...look...I'm already at work. Jesus in John 4 reminds his disciples you are only reaping because others have sown. Reflect on that...nothing is original as such.... look back, be attentive...see what God is already doing. 

A walk along the River

 

Recently I went for a walk by the river, nothing remarkable in that; except that I realised this walk represented my response to the biggest issue that we all face.

 

I wonder what you consider your biggest issue? Perhaps your choice of life partner or maybe a new job, or the decision to have a family, or move house. These are all huge and important personal issues, yet I would argue my river stroll related to something far bigger. Perhaps I'm talking about world politics or Brexit, or Afghanistan, or ... Covid! 'Surely Covid as this issue has so dominated our society. 

 

No my wander along the River Frome was of course about climate change.

 

In May I was contacted by an 'interfaith' group linked with Extinction Rebellion who were planning a pilgrimage from Bristol to Glasgow for the COP26 summit to join others crying out for Governments to address the climate crisis NOW. They asked if they could use Zion United Church in Frampton to sleep over on the 1st day of their pilgrimage to Glasgow.  I said yes, for a start I believe in hospitality, but I'm also convinced we MUST act on global warming.

 

Now perhaps all you've 'heard' is XR (Extinction Rebellion) and you're thinking, I approve of their aims but I don't like their methods, blocking roads etc.  In truth my thoughts were similar, but this particular group was clear, this was a walk of pilgrimage, not blocking roads, just crossing a large number of them. So rather than just hospitality, I decided to walk with them. I had a lovely day. I met ordinary, lovely people who loved the world in and were determined to encourage us to cherish it. I discovered 'mass craftivism', I walked the Frome Valley Walkway, all 11 beautiful rain swept miles. I discovered that XR begin with 1 key demand, that the media tell the truth, about Climate Crisis and also about their actions: If they block a road, it's big news, if they protest peacefully against a multinational company with a high carbon footprint, no one hears a word!

 

Anyway I will certainly be watching COP26 with renewed interest, hoping for progress. I will watch for the 1.5 mile long scarf (mass craftivism!) representing the 1.5°C target set at Paris. I'll leave the last word to Iszi, a poem which she shared at our open evening reflecting the events of our day's pilgrimage...
 

We will roar like the motorway

We will arrive like a sharp sharp shower of rain

And flood the paths of life with love.

We will carry our faith like flags

And our truth like banners

We will share our care like food

Carry each others burdens and stories

We will be a tribe without boundaries

But bound to the land.

We will slip and slide through our human frailty

But find our feet in the good rich clay.

We will accept the nettle stings along with the blackberries

And we will walk to Glasgow.

We will walk with the love we are given along the way

We will speak with the words we have heard

And we will roar louder than the motorway.

We will walk to Glasgow

And carry our rejoicing home.

 

View from a NEEDY world

              I know what you say you want, but what do you NEED? If someone were to ask you what you NEEDED right now, how would you answer? I think my answer may refer to my morning with the dog. I gave her a big hug, which was great, then I imagined rather than hugging her I was hugging my children. That was lovely for a moment, then I thought about a ‘socially distanced’ walk with my children (w5hich may be the next steps..… and it didn’t feel quite so good.)

Of course I hear some, indeed many of you say, you are lucky Stephen, you have a dog (and a cat as it happens) and a wife… we are all alone.

I could respond, that those who are alone, are blessed indeed… as this time becomes an opportunity to turn, loneliness into solitude, perhaps the most important spiritual journey of all.

(I begun this journey whilst abroad and struggling to live alone many many years ago… the journey is outlined as a chapter in a truly wonderful book, called Reaching Out, by the late Henri Nouwen.)

              Anyway back to our present reality, everyone has needs. I believe that is inherent in our make-up. We were never MADE for independence. For the moment if I may dispense with our physical needs, of food, sleep, exercise etc. I want to concentrate on what I believe are our ‘deepest’ needs. Another way of referring to these is our deepest longings. In the study, These Three Things that we are exploring at the moment, we are offered a window into our deepest longings, to feel secure, significant and of value. This is a theology of the human person that has deeply influenced my life, based on teaching by the late Selwyn Hughes. Here’s a quote from the book I’m encouraging you to buy and read: These 3 things, by Mick Brooks,

‘When we really think about what is it we long for in life, we keep on coming back to these three things: security, self-worth and significance. The more deeply we are loved, the more secure we feel. The more we are valued, the more self-worth we experience. And the more we understand that there is a point to our existence, the more significant we feel. When all three needs are met by human love the soul begins to flourish….. but’

              Human love and support, the fellowship of family, friends, church and colleagues can all help to meet these needs. Sadly these same fellowships, can also radically undermine them. However even with the proverbial ‘best will in the world’ the argument of this book is that human love alone can never fully meet these needs. There comes for all of us a moment of ‘existential’ lostness. I believe this is part of what is meant when the writer of Ecclesiastes says, ‘He has also set eternity into the hearts of men.’ Please don’t switch of at this point, and think Stephen is going too deep. This isn’t about anyone else, this is about YOU, your deepest longings, your heart of love and indeed those places where your heart is still longing to be loved.

              For me this is why the Gospel is so wonderful, genuinely good news. Because God offers us a love that can deeply meet these longings in our hearts. We don’t earn this by making ourselves secure, or by establishing a portfolio of goodness that makes us significant, or even by acting to show that our lives are of great worth. As a child is loved by their parents, so we are simply made to receive God’s love. As John says, ‘This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us.’ God’s love for us was never passive, he is the one who created, who called, who came, who loved us so much as to die. At Pentecost we remember God also fills us. Our lives are significant, secure and of value because God has made them so. Indeed he has made it so that all life is of value… for he breathes his life into us.

              Lockdown, and indeed coming out of Lockdown is hard. But as Sue reminded us in her sermon recently from Romans 8… nothing can separate us from the love of God…. You are loved and so your life and all life is held secure in God’s arms, we are significant to God, so much so that he weeps and came himself to find us, there is a point to our lives, because he has made us for a relationship, with him by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and with others by the overflow of love.

              I hope you will allow me a diagram to finish: This love that meets our deepest needs really can impact the whole of our life, indeed the whole of life. Here is a standard, , SPIRIT, SOUL, BODY diagram of the human person, but it also includes the teaching that Selwyn Hughes articulated that our thinking, our choosing our feeling and indeed even our physical bodies are all connected to our inner sense of security, significance and self-worth. If you’d like to explore more… please do buy Mick Brooks’ book, These Three Things and discover for yourself the impact that knowing God’s deepest love can have on your life.

Stephen

Practising Hope in a time of Uncertainty

I will  share briefly my story: At the beginning of this Pandemic I was faced with three challenges, firstly my children and their partners were working in the front line, albeit in other parts of the country. My elderly Father is increasingly dependant on Debbie and I. And the church was clearly not going to be able to continue as 'normal.' When stuff happens in the news I normally pride myself on getting clued up to what is happening. In this instance, the more I knew, the worse and more anxious I begun to feel.  I thus had to make a decision, what would I do about my ANXIETY. I decided upon the one thing that I ought to do all the time: Prayer. (after all I am a minister!)

My first concrete action was a commitment to myself that I would not begin each day in anxiety, after reading about all the latest deaths. I would begin each day drawing close to God and praying for those I love, near and far, and for all those who are serving us during this crisis. It turns out, for me at least, this was a very good decision! My levels of anxiety dropped, and I was much better able to support my loved ones, and indeed cope with the myriad of changes that seemed to come each day. It also turned out that I had chosen a pathway which suited 'lockdown' rather well. I listened to astronauts, arctic explorers, soldiers and even Monks who had all lived in isolation, say that a crucial aspect of surviving isolation is to create a rhythm in each day and week. Morning, Midday and Night Prayer did this for me, alongside the very different rhythms that soon developed on a Sunday and weekend.

Of course I am not suggesting that I have lost all my anxiety. Not at all. However within a rhythm and practice of prayer and reflection, I  stumbled upon a reality that I am quite sure has helped me. To this end, I would like to invite others to join me in this Ancient Practice. I have decided to make myself as available as I can to anyone in the Frampton, Coalpit or Winterbourne area who wants to explore a practice of prayer.

I call it: Practising Hope in a Time of Uncertainty.

If you would like to find out more please contact me via Zion United Church's website or phone line: www.zuchurch.co.uk or 01454 776618.  at present I am arranging these meetings 'virtually' and will offer this help to anyone who is willing to honestly admit that 'there may be a God!'

I pray God's blessing and healing upon you and all you love, and I ask that you too may find a pathway to Peace in a time of great Uncertainty.

With love

Stephen Newell (United Reformed Church Minister, Zion United Church, Frampton Cotterell)

Corona Virus letter

To the church of God at Zion, scattered among our communities, yet united in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you. (1 Thess 1:1)

This is one of the strangest weeks of our lives. In response to the dangers of Covid-19 we are of course cancelling all of our services.  In weeks to come we may offer  opportunities for private prayer in the sanctuary, whilst maintaining strict rules on social distancing. However for now, our building is closed. However you the church are needed as much, if not more than ever.

We remain in the season of Lent, and whilst our 'normal' expectations of Easter have been shattered, we are indeed in a 'Lentern' wilderness. I implore you during these wilderness wanderings to make sure that you resist the temptation merely to look after yourself, we are the people of God, we are called to love one another. I know we cannot visit and express that love in so many of the established ways, but I hope that all of us will make sure that we keep in touch, using whatever technology appropriate, particularly with those who LIVE ALONE and are rightly self-isolating.

For the wider community efforts are being made to make sure that any self-isolating, will be able to receive shopping, or pick up from pharmacies, or receive phone calls. In Frampton alone over 170 volunteers came forward from Facebook, in less than 24 hours. Covid-19 is a wicked virus, but it is heartening to see the community response. I am one of the co-chairs of this steering group. (Please pray for us.)

There are many pressures on us all at present, but also some opportunities. Many of us are not as busy as we'd expect to be. I encourage us all to build a fresh rhythm of prayer and personal devotion.  It's strange, we have asked God for years to show us 'new ways of being church,' well now we are having to find them. Going to church on a Sunday can no longer define what we are as Christians... We need new patterns and practices. With so much interaction now barred, could we reasonably build a routine of Morning, Lunchtime and Evening Prayer: an almost monastic discipline. Indeed some of us must be feeling that we are 'confined' to our prayer cells!  Attempting this prayer discipline has been a great  help to me over the last few years: how about refreshing or taking on a new devotion, as we stand together and ask God to have mercy on us, and bring healing. Here is a link to the prayer I use.  https://www.northumbriacommunity.org/offices/how-to-use-daily-office/ 
I particularly urge you to join me in prayer at 12 noon. Either using the daily office link above, or simply praying the Lord's Prayer. (Others are encouraging prayer at 19:00 hours to stand against Covid-19.)

Although there are no live Sunday services at Zion the churches together in England have nominated this Sunday, Mother's Day, as a day of prayer. All are encouraged to light a candle (if safe to do so) at 7pm (19:00) and place it in a window of our home as a visible symbol of the light of life, Jesus Christ, our source and hope in prayer.

Lord Jesus,

In the midst of a storm,

You said, ‘Peace be still.’

Bid our anxious fears subside,

Sustain your church in faith, hope and love,

Bring our nation through this tumult,

Grant wisdom to those with heavy responsibilities,

And healing and hope to those who are infected.

Amen.

Also the Methodist church and the URC have produced prayer and worship materials, including livestreamed services, which I will offer links to below.

Finally although we feel in a wilderness, we may yet discover that our God is GOOD.  Please contact us if you have any problems.

Your brother in Christ

Stephen

Links for Worship from Methodist and URC church: please click these links and follow instructions etc.

In the future we may open Zion for prayer and reflection and in future weeks I may produce a podcast for those who can’t bear to miss my sermons… but for now God is leading us to find new ways to worship and serve him.

URC  link devotions.urc.org.uk 

Methodist link here.     (PS I don't know whether these links will work... if not go via Zion's website www.zuchurch.co.uk  

God sets the lonely in families

Families, don’t you just love them? Well sometimes we do. I’m sure the Queen, who is clearly devoted to ‘The family’ must be left pondering as for the second generation in a row things have gone a bit haywire. As a rule I try to avoid talking about the royal family. My views and those of others can be quite at odds. I am an avowed democrat who believes we are all equal. I dislike privilege and elites in any form. That notwithstanding I have a level of sympathy with the characters involved. Especially given the level of public scrutiny that they are under.

So what’s gone wrong? Well as we all know when things go pear shaped in our families it’s complicated. Things are no doubt said that shouldn’t be said, and they are heard in a way which was not probably exactly as intended, resentments and frustrations grow and bingo… a family is in turmoil. It may help to consider what families are for, why they are actually so precious to us. I consider one of the greatest things about families is that they are places where we should feel that we belong. The very essence of what it means to feel ‘At Home!’ They should also be places where we can be challenged and encouraged. This is the heart of our formation as people. We all develop when given the right balance of encouragement and challenge. Sadly finding that balance is less easy, especially as we all seem to need varying amounts at various times in our life. My children have sometimes commented that I was too strict, and at other times too soft! However family should also be places where it is OK to be ourselves. Once we have to ‘put a mask on’ we are not really feeling at home. Family ought to be the place where it is OK to fail, at least sometimes.

I wouldn’t dare speculate what’s happened in the royal family. After all, if I get it wrong I could be sued, or worse, hung drawn and quartered for TREASON!! However it troubles me that one aspect seems to be that Megan Markle, or Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex doesn’t feel as if she belongs or fits in. Is it because she’s American, or Coloured or because she’s a ‘commoner?’ I doubt anyone really knows for sure but we all know how uncomfortable it can feel not to fit in.

Anyway leaving that particular family aside, hopefully to discover reconciliation, what does all this mean to us? Well family principles are the same for us all, the only question is how wide we understand our family to be? Is our family, nuclear, or extended, does it include the people who live near us, or our friends? What about our country is this a family where we feel we belong, where we are nurtured and challenged and where we can be ourselves?

I have the privilege of being a church leader. I often describe the church as being a family, or at least we should be. A place where people feel they belong and can be nurtured and be honest to themselves. Another aspect of family which is true of church is we intend to be multi-generational. It doesn’t always work but when it does, it’s great. For the young to learn from the ‘older’ and the old to learn from the young. I am proud that I think most of the people who are part of the church feel that it really is good to be ‘together!’ The challenge I keep trying to give us is to extend our family. By this I don’t mean just getting more people to come along, although of course we hope people would feel welcome. But how can we extend that sense of belonging to others around us? The Bible says, ‘God sets the lonely in families.’ However we live in a time of great loneliness, too many feel isolated and ‘not included,’ which creates the opposite of nurture, it creates anxiety and fear. In Frampton we have the excellent ‘Good Neighbour Scheme’ where volunteers simply try and befriend those who have become, often with age, more isolated. It is great, but it is the tip of the iceberg.

So my thought for the month is simple…love your family. Yes of course those near and dear, but look around you in your neighbourhood or in your workplace. Does someone need to feel that they belong? Can you encourage them or challenge them to see things in a new way, can you help them to feel that it’s OK for them to be who they are? If there is a yes to those questions then my challenge is clear, go for it. We do have a problem in our ‘family’ our society. Too many are lonely and isolated feeling they don’t belong. Maybe you are even one of those. But in ‘families’ most of the ‘solutions’ are internal, not just what will others do about it, but what can I do. So pick up the phone, or send an email, or even better bake a cake and ring on a doorbell or meet someone for coffee. If all that sounds ‘too much.’ You could start by something as simple as a smile and greeting, every little helps!

Stephen Newell (Minister of Zion United Church, Frampton Cotterell)