Window of Peace

Window of Peace
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

We were pleased to celebrate the completion and unveiling of our third mosaic - Peace. It is fantastic addition to our series of mosaics, brightening up our corner of Manchester and sharing our faith, hopes and dreams with our community.

Recently, we received an encouraging email from Brian Raymond, the community artist who helped with the initial designs for the mosaic project.

“Whenever I find myself passing Lees Street, I drive down to see if the next in the series of mosaics has been completed. For a long time I have wondered what was happening to the mosaic-making part of the project – but – last week my patience was rewarded when the third stunning design appeared alongside the first two.

I must say I was very impressed by the standard of mosaic making. I am so impressed by the mosaic group’s dedication and endurance! I can only agree with the design changes they decided to make and am pleased they have the confidence to make these decisions as the project continues. Soon they will be designing and mosaic-ing all on their own.

Well done to everyone working on the project – what a brilliant Christmas present for the church.”

We hope that our third mosaic will be enjoyed by our local community and beyond as we pray for peace in Openshaw and around the world.

Click on the flickr photos for more pictures of our mosaics.

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

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.

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