It is a year since Shrewsbury Street Pastors first patrolled the town and last night there was a very good turn out at a service at Central to celebrate the first anniversary
.
There really was quite a lot to celebrate and it was good to hear from the street pastors, members of the local community and others, just how well the project is going. Speaking to the local MP and the town Mayor afterwards they were equally impressed.
During the first year of Shrewsbury Street Pastors not one patrol had been cancelled
To my surprise I found parts of the service very moving as people shared what Street Pastors or being a Street Pastor meant to them as individuals.
I was also struck that during the first year of street pastors alcohol related incidents had declined by 19% from the previous year and even more importantly there had not been one death in the river.So this is a ministry that has not only helped and comforted large numbers of people but also very possibly saved lives.
The 18 street pastors themselves come from a number of different churches in the town and judging from some of the conversations happening afterwards there are a number of other people willing to sign up
All in all a very encouraging evening for a great project
There was a good turnout of local church leaders from Shropshire for the Imagine day at Central yesterday.
The day was led by Neil Hudson from LICC who spoke helpfully, and with engaging humour, and very helpful power point slides about how churches can equip,envision and support their people to be fruitful on their daily front lines wherever they are.
There was a tremendous emphasis on the importance of making disciples and I particularly appreciated the very practical nature of the teaching.
We were being challenged throughout the day as to exactly how we could put the teaching into practice in our own local church context in order to equip people for the time they are not in church
It was also great to spend time with other local church leaders ,some of whom I had not met before
It was an excellent day and if you get the chance to go it is well worth the £15 that it cost per person. LICC IMAGINE details here
I was personally encouraged to see Central used for this day .It really lends itself as a building to this kind of event and 6 months on from the opening is becoming an increasingly busy place to be.;
We were surprised and delighted to receive a Mayors award for Shrewsbury Baptist Churches outstanding contribution to the community.The citation read out when the award was made was clear that the award was for the work with the community that we do in both Crowmoor and Central.
In truth I guess a great many other churches in the area, are doing similar or better stuff and could have recieved an award ,but all the same,it was nice to be recognised, because we are passionate about our community.
It was a great joy that the top prize in the community category went to Shrewsbury Street Pastors,they have made a great start and so many congratulations to them,it was richly deserved.
The other award winners ranged from the people at the Parks department who look after the wonderful flower displays ,to the Horticultural Soceity who put on the Flower Show.
In between were people who run dance classes for the community (including our own Pauline ,pictured below) and
a pub landlord who distributes free food to senior citizens , a lady who runs a stroke club and a guy who has created an amazing wildlife garden near a sewage works (if I understood correctly!).Young people and their organisations were also well represented- An amazing bunch of people who were the Big Soceity long before the term was even invented
We often hear the bad stuff but in truth there will be people like this in nearly every community and in austere times they offer huge hope for the future ,they also demonstrate the importance of building community and I feel the church has a critical role to play here
The awards were a certificate in
a frame The whole thing was of minimal monetary value but would be a great
boost and encouragement to everyone who recieved them. Saying thank you is
powerful- so well done to The Mayor!
On the way home we
did wonder aloud about doing a church awards ceremony ,we concluded it would be
great but not without its hazards!Anyone have any experience of doing this? Did
it work?
It has been a while since I updated people on this blog about Central ,so here goes!
It has been hugely busy since the Central openings. .Jude ,the manager of Central has been buying all kinds of equipment, mostly funded by very generous donations .
These include a large desk for the entrance, chairs for downstairs and a whole host of other things we need to make the building work properly.
Jude told me this morning that there is still some stuff she needs to acquire but we are getting there and there is a sense of God's provision.
There has been huge interest in the building ,whenever the doors are open people wander in and if we are able we take time to show them around.
The overwhelming reaction is very positive though people wonder if it is really a church sometimes " because it doesn't look like a church" That gives a bit of an opportunity to talk about what is church is and the God we serve.
Other people who look around are potential hirers who also love the building and we have many bookings without having ever put out any publicity at all (although we are turning our minds to that now)
It is a joy to meet people from charities and elsewhere who want to use Central and it is a great way of building relationships.
We ve already used the buildng for worship during Lent and indeed on Good Friday and Little Fishes our toddler group moved in last week and we are planning loads of other events and ministries there over the coming weeks and indeed years
So in summary a lot has been done , a lot of prayers have been answered but there is much still to do
you can read The Baptist Times websites take on Central here
Last Saturday we had over a thousand people through the doors for the second open day
It was a wonderful day !
I thought I would put a few photos on this site just for the record
People were so positive about the building and really seemed to get the vision and were delighted that we want to engage strongly with the community in which God has placed us
The space we own outside the building that borders the public pavement is going to be a brilliant place to do stuff for and with the community over the coming years
Last week we had the civic opening and church opening of our Central building
Today we opened the doors to the wider community and hundreds of people came!
They represented a wide cross section of society, old and young ,people on holiday ,folk from other churches, people who had been married in the church many years ago, people who once worshipped with us and now worship elsewhere and a host of others.
We took the time to chat ,to show them around the building ,to share our vision with them
They were almost all enthusiastic about what they saw and one or two even seemed overcome with emotion at the bright, welcoming and accessible building they were looking at for the first time.
A number of local musicians came and played either inside, or just outside. the building throughout the day and as usually happens the sound of music drew more people into the building
Today was mainly for adults tomorrow is mainly for children and we expect the day to be even busier. I am looking forward to it!
It is a lovely sunny day,I have a cup of good coffee in front of me as I write, but above all,,there is a powerful sense of passing a significant milestone when we had the Civic Opening of Central last night.
I thought it was a wonderful occasion shared with so many good people who had travelled the journey with us,who have endured the lows and can now enjoy the satisfaction that by the grace of God,this phase is complete.
The ribbon was cut by Anna and Elliot on the oldest and one of the youngest people in the church respectively signifying this is a church for all.
It was also great to have present many friends ,other Christian leaders in the town and elsewhere ,who have been, and were again last night, incredibly supportive!
We were grateful for the opportunity to say a heartfelt thank you to the architect, the developers,the amazing young people from the 6th form college who all competed to design our logo.
I felt the collaboration was just a sign of good things to come
It was also wonderful to see Roger and Lesley Sutton and to get the chance to chat to them over a meal afterwards.
Roger spoke briefly but very powerfully about the fact that we wanted this building to be a place for the whole community especially the weak and vulnerable, and assuring The Mayor ,councillors,the local M.P. and everyone else that we want to partner with them, as we seek to bless the community in which God has placed us.
Loads of people ranging from church leaders, to people who worked for Shropshire Council, commented on how helpful the talk was. I have no doubt it will help as we seek to develop these relationships in the future
Both Roger and Adrian from the Heart of England Baptist Association prayed poweful prayers of blessing on church and community alike
So onto tonight when we have the church opening, as together,and I hope with incredible joy we celebrate all that God has done for us.
After that, it is all about being the church God has called us to be in the town centre and in our other building at Crowmoor.
Our vision has never been about building a building, it is about building community ,sharing Jesus love, and together with others ,building The Kingdom of God in this community!
I have not blogged much in recent days as we have all been working very hard, to get the building open for the Civic Service on Friday and the Church Celebration this Saturday evening. We are excited that Roger Sutton is going to speak on both occasions and Lesley Sutton will also take part on the Saturday evening. They will be brilliant and the church weekend they led last year was not only helpful but formative as we planned the new building
There has been so much to do and Jude our Central building manager has been working flat out as have the rest of the team.
There have been exhibitions to prepare ,a race to get the sound and visual systems in before Friday, orders of service to plan and print and a 1000 other things to do ....but we are nearly there- I hope !
In it all there is a sense of thankfulness to God for the miracle of answered prayer.
As well as all this Susan and I have had the joy of welcoming Philip and Christina from the USA into our home. They are a great couple determined to pursue Gods call on their life,and it has been a pleasure to get reacquainted with them after 23 or so years since we first met, when we were all a lot younger!
Last night we got to reflecting on the past and we were excited to hear that the mission that happened way back in 1988 is still bearing fruit today.The ripples still go on!
I had to be in town today for a meeting about an exciting, if embryonic Christian project , that I may well blog about another day
On my way there I dropped into Central,arriving by coincidence at just the time a new coffee machine was being delivered.Tragically there was not enough time to try it out, so I will have to wait till tomorrow when the machine will be used for the first time!
While I was there I was astonished to see loads and loads of good quality crockery and cutlery which had been given us by a local hotel who had no further use for it ! This will have saved us hundreds of pounds
.
Only last week we were given a very generous gift to help equip the new building properly.
On top of all this we have had so much support,advice , help and encouragement from other churches and individual Christians
We have 2 opening services next week with Roger and Lesly Sutton speaking.
The first is a Civic Service and the second a celebration for all who have travelled the journey with us.
.It has been challenging at times but looking back we see the awesome provision of God and we know that He is Faithful! He is the God who Provides!
I havent blogged about the new Central building recently
Of course a lot has been happening as we and indeed others in the local community have begun using the building.
This has meant that we have got ot get all kinds of policies and proceedures in place and think abot fire drills kitchen equipemnt and a hundred other things . Much of this work has fallen to Jude, though she has had a great deal of support from others including other local churches who have been kind enough to give us lots of good practical advice
. We are also looking forward enormously to the opening events planned for next month with Roger and Lesley Sutton.
The comments about Central have been universally positive and the truth is we have an excellent new building ,the answere to the prayers of generations and a great facility to help us in our work and witness.
Yesterday we had our first communion service in Central at the start of Lent.
A good number came and we used Lesley Sutton's meditation as well as some stuff from Eternal Echoes -Sally Colemans blog Sally's blog
It was a joy to celebrate communion together. So much has happened since we last did that in the town centre, and though the road to this day was not easy ,we have indeed been blessed.
Afterwards I had the pleasure of meeting Matt ,the gifted young man from the local 6th form college who designed our logo- He is a talented guy and is coming to our opening.
When I started in ministry churches had noticeboards saying what church they were and also a place where you could stick a big handwritten or (if you were very modern )printed poster
I remember in Ross we used to send ours away to a firm in Nottingham to get them sorted.
Nowadays everyone is much more publicity conscious and many churches have noticeboards ,websites and logos
Our new church Shrewsbury Baptist Church is one new church operating in 2 locations, that is not unusual, but it does present an additional hurdle to be overcome when publicising meetings and events .
We thought it would be important to give each building a distinct logo
In the town centre one of the groups we want to work closely with is the 6th form college situated very close to our central building and with whom in the persons of Steve and Jude we were already building a partnership.
We therefore approached their art department for help and received a positive ,even enthusiastic, response and we dedcided on a compettition to design a new logo for Central
Steve and Jude met with a number of their students and shared,the kind of church we wanted to be and how we envisaged the new building would be used, and the students came up with a number of great designs.
The winner was a guy called Matt who came up with both the design and the strap line below it.
All in all it was a very positive exercise and we look forward to welcoming Matt and the other students to our opening where we hope to meet them and their families and make a presentation to them
We all loved this particular logo
To me it looks dynamic it represents movement and change and yet says we long to be at the heart of the community. The cross on the t is not original but it is very important too
There are some days in the many years of my Christian life when I have felt overwhelmed by the love and faithfulness of God. When it seems to me that what has happened is a direct answer to the prayers of many people, over many years, and that His grace has been poured out on undeserving people Yesterday was one of those days! The verse that came to mind again and again was from the psalms "The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."
Yesterday was handover day for the new building. That means it was the day when Central building was formally completed and passsed into the ownership of Shrewsbury Baptist Church.
It is the day when the electrics people and the alarm people and the developer explain how everything works.I was glad that Rob and Rob and Steve and Jude were there, because ,as those who know me well will testify, -I dont understand these things easily!
This process took a couple of hours until those who needed to understand everything did so.
I busied myself in that time taking photos and really just feeling a deep sense of gratitude to God and reflecting on the journey of the last few years, from the point where we had to leave the old building, because we were advised it was no longer safe ,through the warm welcome we received from the church at Crowmoor,to the uniting of the 2 churches for mission and becoming Shrewsbury Baptist Church ,until the reopening of our almost completely rebuilt town centre building "Central" yesterday (although the formal openings are in March)
It has been a painful,difficult and challenging journey but God is always faithful, even when we were weak and feeble. I certainly learned again the value of persevering
Anyway, once everyone was happy we shared a glass with Steve and John from the developers who have been amazingly helpful.
By a strange conincidence although Steve is not a church goer himself one of his ancestors helped carry Spurgeon's coffin at his funeral!
They then left us in the building and we were joined by some of our leadership team (sadly not all were able to come) and we prayed and gave thanks to God for His generosity and faithfulness
As I looked around the faces present I felt grateful for them all. Some have been with us just a short time and some for many years but the experience of not building a building, but building a new church, has birthed in us what Hirsch call a sense of communitas "Community born through struggle "
I am especially grateful for the encouragement, the love and the support they have given to Steve and I- They are a gift from God
Now we move into a new phase in the life of our new church as we seek to go where God calls, to bless people, and to share the gospel in word and deed
It has been a fairly hectic start to the new year. Got my sermon for Sunday finished and so this morning Steve and I met to discuss the leaders time away.
I am looking forward to this as we had a great time last year and it is always good to be away with great people discussing important things.
We have 3 priorities for this year they are
Discipleship (including prayer)
Putting down even deeper roots in the community
Children's and youth work
Our time together will be spent praying and planning around these topics and we are determined that our time at Shallowford House website here would not simply be a good time but will make a difference in Kingdom terms
Saw a version of our new logo for the Central building I will tell you a bit more about who designed it and the story behind it in another post.
A sneak preview
Anyway following that meeting there were chairs to carry down to the new building ready for the handover tomorrow
Having carried the chairs in and taken them upstairs in the lift , I enjoyed sitting in front of the large new window that looks out over the market hall in Shrewsbury and reflecting on just how good God is and on how far we have travelled in the last year
This Friday our new Central building is being handed over by the developers, although the formal openings are not until March.
I cant pretend I am not excited about the new building, and in particular the new opportunities that it brings for us to serve and bless our community; but I do remind myself frequently that it was Herod, and not Jesus, who was famous for building buildings, and what I am really looking forward to is the chance to connect with people who visit ,live in or work in the town centre.
We are also determined that the new building should be a place of prayer and we even have a small dedicated prayer room upstairs in the Central building .
We see this as vital as we want to not simply acknowledge, but to depend on God to do God's work in God's strength and not our own.
I haven't made specific new year resolutions as I am not good at keeping them, but I do echo this prayer in Townends hymn for my life and the life of the church I help lead.
I hope it will be your prayer too
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word.
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us;
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness,
That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith.
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory.
Teach us, Lord, full obedience,
Holy reverence, true humility;
Test our thoughts and our attitudes
In the radiance of Your purity.
Cause our faith to rise; cause our eyes to see
Your majestic love and authority.
Words of pow’r that can never fail—
Let their truth prevail over unbelief.
Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds;
Help us grasp the heights of Your plans for us—
Truths unchanged from the dawn of time
That will echo down through eternity.
And by grace we’ll stand on Your promises,
And by faith we’ll walk as You walk with us.
Speak, O Lord, till Your church is built
And the earth is filled with Your glory.
The new building is very nearly ready for hand over
One of the things we are now able to do is to show people who have travelled the long journey with us around the building
This morning it was a joy to show some of the more senior people the Central building(hope they dont mind me calling them that!)
It was thrilling to see the positive reaction they all had
The developers have done an amazing job, and we are very excited about all the possibilities the new building opens up
Pictures below
