Me and God - Video

Another chapter has been spoken in our telling of faith stories. Our youngest member - the maker of many of our greatest cuppas - has recorded a new video about her faith. As the words of a young woman with learning disability it speaks for itself. We are all further challenged in our discipleship and faith sharing by the openness and honesty with which she speaks.

This was recorded for her to use at her confirmation service so talks about the church, her faith, and her sense of calling....

Her struggle to get smooth sentences out means its a bit disjointed visually - the film editing has been done by an extreme amateur - me!

As a group we've been distracted by a couple of other events in the last few weeks but are looking to developing out telling about Jesus along with our blanket and some jam making during June.

Newcomers and faith

Possibly some of the women are talking more about their faith in their daily lives. I say this because over the last couple of months they have brought 3 different people to worship on Sundays, one of whom is attending regularly.

By a fascinating set of circumstances, one of these is a woman we prayed for regularly during 2009-10 when she was seriously ill, and the other 2 are neighbours of a family who are also beginning to attend Sunday worship.

It seems ironic that work aimed at developing Church beyond the walls of Sunday and the institutional structures may be resulting in fresh interest in approaching God through traditional worship.

Although the women have invited at least 2 people to join them on Thursdays this has not yet been productive. I guess this is a good thing as the women are going to be at the ecumenical Lent course for the next month so our more normal meetings are suspended. I am also minded that the period of transformation we seem to be in on Thursdays may be at a stage which requires stable membership. My decision to attempt to work with this group and support transformation probably requires the women to feel secure in a new identity before they will successfully offer hospitality to new members.

© Dave Walker

Testimony Effect

The testimony was great!

I'm not speaking particularly about the impact of the story... I'm talking mostly about the impact of the telling on all the members of the group. The woman who told her faith story is so full of the experience, and the sense she had of God's presence - which all the other members of the group who were present could see. She told her story again today to the woman who missed the service, and everyone was able to re-live the event.

She was asked lots of extra questions, both about her story, and about what it was like to stand up in front of people. She talked of how it felt (she had found it a very good experience) and was telling everyone else to have a go. Even the most timid member of the group was starting to think about it by the end of the conversation. One recounted a part of her own story which linked in to the conversation.

I thought back to 2 1/2 years ago when I lead a series of interactive services on the 'Time to Talk of God' report. At that time not one of them was able to tell anything of their story to each other... the most personal thing they said was about enjoying going to Easter People some years previously.

I wonder if their will be opportunities for the women to develop this during the Lent course, as we will not be meeting until after Easter.

Telling Faith Stories

Out of the talk of testimonies God is growing something.

Some half formed reflections, leading to some half formed thoughts, led to a conversation.... the outcome is a member of the group will tell parts of her faith story at a pancake party cafe worship.

The woman has never told much of her story to anyone, and she asked to meet and talk about it.

We sat over several cuppas and, with encouragement, this amazing story of meeting with God and being changed emerged. The Holy Spirit was palpable as she told of a mystical meeting with Jesus, but the most powerful part of the story was her realisation, for the first time, that over the following 50 years she has been shaped by the Spirit within her. We held each other as the awesome power of God's transforming grace was revealled to us.

I left the question: 'How has our conversation today changed things?' but I sense I already see some of the answer. She went off to 'normal' life aglow with God's light shining out from within her.

I believe both of us have been changed by the encounter, and I suspect that this sub-plot will have a significant impact on the longer term story of our group.