Easter 2010

Messy Easter 2010
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

This Easter has seen many signs of new life at Lees Street.
It has been a busy, messy, reflective time, as we have tried to explore the Easter story in different ways. Through our Maundy Thursday Agape meal, Good Friday and Easter Sunday services, we recalled the events of Easter, being free to ask questions and see the story in new ways.

We also shared the Easter Story through our new groups at Lees Street.

Our new group Inspiration reflected on the events of the Easter story by thinking about endings and beginnings. We shared our own stories of endings and beginnings and discussed our thoughts and questions about the Easter story.

We were pleased to welcome new children and adults to our Messy Church Easter celebration. We enjoyed painting eggs, making chocolate nests and egg puppets, decorating Easter magnets, and creating a New Life banner. We also explored the different feelings in the Easter story - from happiness to anger, from despair to hope.

You can see photos of what we got up to by clicking on the Flickr photos. We are trying out Messy Church on Saturdays. The next dates are 15th May , 19th June.

With a little help from friends...

With a little help from friends
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

you can achieve a lot!

We are putting the finishing touches to our Faith mosaic window. A dedicated group of people have been working hard this year on our second mosaic. It includes a row of terraced houses, with rays of sunshine and heart-shaped trees, representing the church seeking to be the light and breath at the heart of the community. Higher up, there are images of communion, the food we share in faith, and symbols of baptism - the waters of new life - and weddings, and the Bible, with a shepherd's crook reminding us of Jesus the Good Shepherd who guides us. It is a striking picture with a background of blue, which contrasts colourfully with the mostly red Hope mosaic.

So, we are half way there. Watch this space for Joy and Peace...

You can see more pictures of the mosaic by clicking on the Flickr badge

Shaping the Future - Living it Now

Johannesburg: dusk or dawn?
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

This is going to become a major theme! It matters, because churches are usually playing 'catch-up' - not only in terms of using one bit of technology just as the next one is going out of fashion, but more generally, we tend not to be 'ahead of the game'. (Incidentally, a BIG THANKS to Sheryl for creating this blogsite - a huge leap forward, which really helps us to play the game!) So what would be involved in seizing the initiative, so we once again shape the future?

After all, that's what 'the kingdom of God' is all about - when Jesus urges us to see what a different future looks like, in which the last are first, in which the hungry are fed, the humble inherit the earth, and enemies are loved, and he dares us to live it now. What this means for churches is that we should have a vision, not only for our own church-life, but for our society and the world too - how do we want things to look? And we should say and do things which specifically strive for that vision in the here and now. In some respects, we do this already, but we can be bolder ... so, what is involved in encouraging us to believe in shaping a new future?

Graham

Anne's Diary

Lees Street Amateur and Musical Dramatic Society recently presented a play about the life and diary of Anne Frank.

It was a moving way of bringing to our attention the wisdom and courage of the young writer, Anne, a Jew, who hid with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, though ultimately they were betrayed and she died in Bergen-Belsen, just weeks before the war ended. But it also brought to mind the situations where persecution and hatred persist.

Anne wrote this: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” It is quite a thought for us. So what about the Anne Frank Declaration:

“Anne Frank is a symbol of the millions of children who have been victims of persecution.
Anne’s life and death show us what can happen when prejudice and hatred go unchallenged.
And because prejudice and hatred harm us all, we declare that:
We will stand up for what is right and speak out against what is unfair and wrong.
We will try to defend those who cannot defend themselves.
We will strive for a world in which our differences will make no difference –
a world in which everyone is treated fairly and has an equal chance in life.”

Let’s not just think about it

Easter: putting us together again

Easter Cross
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

On Good Friday, we marked the way in which the breaking of Jesus' body was mirrored in the breaking of his community. This was signalled most clearly by Peter's denial of his Teacher - he was cutting himself off from 'the body of Christ'. And as Jesus died, we read that the women 'stood at a distance'. Others fled, or hid, and stayed silent. But Easter signals the healing of the body - just as Jesus is risen, so his community rises to new life. The disciples on the road to Emmaus start talking things through; they are open to the wisdom of an apparent outsider; they are hospitable again, despite their inevitable fears; they share bread; and they go and share good news, once their eyes are 'opened'. The body is being restored! And so it is with Peter - in John's Gospel, chapter 21, Jesus gives him chance to put right each of his three denials, and he re-commits to feeding Jesus' sheep ... the journey can go on; for the body is restored. This is good news: Even through the very worst things, there is hope as God chooses and uses broken and fragile people to be agents of good news. So it is that, in 1 Corinthians 15 (vs 12-20, 42-44), we are encouraged because 'what is sown in weakness is raised in strength, what is sown in dishonour is raised in glory, what is sown physically is raised spiritually.' The risen Christ is 'the first-fruits' of this hope: so there is more to come ... each time we are broken, we can be restored, to go on and share good news. Otherwise, we are left with nothing; so thank God, who puts us together again, and again, to carry on being compassionate, forgiving, as wounded travellers seeking peace and justice together.

Abolition Act - act against slavery again

One of the best things in the resources for the commemoration of the abolition of the British Empire's slave trade (in 1807) has been the information about the lesser known "abolitionists". William Wilberforce did not achieve it on his own. We have rediscovered Olaudah Equiano, the former slave who travelled Britain, telling his story. We have rediscovered Harriet Tubman who escaped slavery but returned to help free a further 300 people through the 'Underground Railroad', the network of secret contacts and safe houses. Also there was Hannah More, a British writer who inspired many women to join the movement. They remind us of Shiphrah and Puah in the Book of Exodus, chapter 2: Egyptian midwives who undermined the Pharaoh's instructions to kill the newborn male Hewbrews. For freedom was not won by Moses acting alone! So, on 25th March, the anniversary date, Lees Street looked at the call of Moses: faced with a burning bush, revealing God's presence, he 'hid his face'. How true that we want to hide our faces from the realities of slavery - which still goes on - and from God's call to us to act, again and again. But faced with God's call, the God who has been there throughout the ages, the God who hears the people's cries and seeks a way for freedom to be brought into being, Moses found himself saying, "Here I am." So we too must hear the cries, hear the call, and see where we are ... here we are! So we made our paper chains, symbols of enslavement, joining with other churches doing the same thing, and we signed the 'stop the traffik' petition, and our remembrance of one 'abolition act' became a commitment to abolition today. Moses and Wilberforce did not act alone; Shiphrah, Puah, Equiano, Tubman, More, countless others ... and now, hopefully, we add our own names to the movement for human freedom, again and again.

Click on these links for more info. Set All Free or Stop the Traffik

Window on Hope

After months of hard work, we are proud and pleased to unveil our first mosaic - Hope.

We hope that it will be enjoyed by everyone who sees it and show our commitment to sharing God's love with our community.

Click on mosaic to read more about our project.

Happy New Year vision!

Happy New Year to you all! Even though it can be said without much thought, it's still a greeting of goodwill. It's not just words; it's a way of reaching out to one another. So, for us at Lees Street church at the beginning of 2007, where will our hopes and goodwill lead us? In Proverbs 29, verse 18, in the old Authorised Version of the Bible, it says "where there is no vision, the people perish." Later, more accurate translations put it this way: "where there is no prophecy, the people cast off restraint." The idea is that, 'prophecy' - or the discernment of God's word, God's ways - encourages people to be 'restrained', to 'stay true' to their calling. The alternative is: without vision, without prophecy, without God's word, people become reckless - they head off 'doing their own thing'. Obviously, people disagree greatly about the implications of this - one person's restraint is another person's recklessness! - but still there's the crucial idea that, as people of faith, we're called to root what we do in the vision God offers to us ... a vision of happiness, yes, but more importantly a vision of compassion, justice, peace, healing and hope.

"I am shocked" - in a good way!

Our Christmas Carol service was a good occasion when members of both the church and the Musical Society came together, sang traditional and new carols, took part in Christmas sketches, and prepared a simple cradle with strips of cloth. One highlight was the Nativity Play performed mostly by adults, but they did it as though they were infant school children, with Joseph's catchphrase being "I am shocked" as the events unfolded. It's easy to forget the shocking message - that God did not come to us with force and power, or with big boots on, but even through the cries of a vulnerable baby we witness God's relationship with us - and it's easy to squander the hope of such a message, burying it under busy-ness, tinsel and seasonal stress, but the hope remains: a new world is possible, if we follow the example of the Prince of Peace, if we love our enemies, if we forgive one another and put the needs of 'the last' first. Shocking, eh?

Peace One Day

21 September has been adopted by all UN member states as an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace. We are invited to share with people all over the world in commiting to peace and global unity.

It seems timely particularly with conflict in the Middle East and alleged terrorist plots in our own country that at Lees Street we come together to celebrate hope and make our own commitment to peace.

You can find out more info at www.peaceoneday.org.uk

You may also be interested in reading about the Archbishop of York, Rev. Dr. John Sentamu and his week long fast for peace. Click here