Hallelujah He is Here - Chataway

[DutchOma]

Well here you are then I don't post often, but just to save Nickel a job...

That's just it TUO. We have such opportunity to 'get' to people through the shop. And because we are next to the church and have a space next to the worship area that is not church, but not shop either (our Open Door Centre) we have incredible opportunities. The only difficulty is that we are often short of manpower and it asks a lot of the church.

First of all, sorry, MHD, I missed your post that said that it was a small space, not suitable for a shop/cafe type scenario... and thus my entire post was mostly meaningless. In that case, I'd have thought any kind of service that people would need: so, yes, debt counselling, but also maybe other practical things... help with filling in forms, for example (for people who may not have English as a first language not sure how much of an issue that is where you are , elderly people or anyone who struggles for whatever reason), advice on local services for anyone new to the area or struggling or lonely (e.g. lists of toddler groups, clubs, day centres for the elderly, that kind of thing... which, I know, are available in other places too, but people are often very bad at going looking for these things themselves, especially if they are already finding day-to-day life difficult). Even if the space is small, would you be able to provide cups of tea and a chat in a warm place for homeless people or those in B&B accommodation with nowhere to go during the day? I don't know... it's quite hard without knowing the community. Does any of that sound feasible.

DO - that does sound amazing...

Thanks for that link, Mary. I guess that was the kind of thing I was thinking of. (The 'academic' in me likes that it's a 'proper' Bible with age-appropriate notes, rather than a simplified version... though I do realise that I need to think more like a 10-year-old in these things sometimes.) Is it next Sunday that your dd is being confirmed, too?

Tuo - I know exactly what you mean by putitng htem into a position of vulnerability - coming into a new church is sooo daunting - especially as all the well-meaning regulars descend like vultures (or so it seems ) on new people.

My favourite bible is the Good News Bible - it's written in normal english, but doesn't try to contemporise it (some of the "living" translations will date very quickly!) - it's done exactly like a proper bible, with verses and footnotes, but it's not dredgy. It has the little headings so that you can read just the story you want, like "jesus goes to the temple" etc. And it's got a brilliant index (hardly any bibles have indexes these days), so you can lok up what you want "ten commandments" "crucifixion" "parables" etc, and be taken straight to it.
I think it also has readings on themes, but not the lectionary.
good news bible

i got mine when I was 10, and it's still the one i use above all others.

youth bible different covers

i know i hate to link amazon, but the good news bible has a look inside on it, so you can see what it's like

this version of the GNB seems even more child-friendly

Thanks Nickel. That looks really good. I really appreciate that. (And I promise to go shopping in a real local bookshop you're about 250 miles away from me, so not yours, I'm afraid rather than ordering on Amazon!)

But if you order it now Nickel will send it and you will have it next Sunday easy. She is remarkably quick.

Now, if you order form the Hive, which I linked, they will send it to you and the local independent bookshop closest to you will receive a small commission.
I'm a member of the hive, so if you log in, and you really want to support me instead, you can choose my bookshop as your "favourite" bookshop.

So, there is that option if you don't want to order it from me. (but if you do, you can pm me)

I didn't realise that you did mail order, Nickel. Sending a PM now...

DD is being confirmed on the 27th TUO. I sort of grew up with the Good News, so I already think it is dated :o, cos it reminds me of the 80s!

I suppose the concept is a bit!

but the wording just works. It reads more like a story being told, or like a normal person talking, rather than like a "bible" which is how the NIV sounds!

thanks Tuo :)

My DC still like their Good News versions. I am thinking of getting the Youth Bible for dd though now as GN getting a bit young for her I think.

Thanks so much for all your thoughts. They have helped a lot. We are wondering whether now is not the right time and the space not the right space - as you have said - cafes etc seem to work, but it is hard to imagine anyone coming through the door for the kinds of things we are thinking of, in this community - TUO you did help because thinking about our community in the context of what you are saying we realise it is not the kind of place these things would work in - basically an affluent dormitory type estate - no homeless, no poverty, nothing like that at all - so hard to think what would work. It is good I think to consider these opportunities but we are not at all sure at this one at this point. Plenty of other things going on as it is :) We have a leadership team now and things are going ahead, slowly but still great. And hard too.

I've just bought the NCV Youth version for my nephew (nearly 11) in the hope that it looks cool evough to read and it will last him a while (and I got it from my local christian bookshop instead of mail order :))

mhd - i'm now 36.
(still use my GNB - even against other translations - if you read KJV, NIV and GNB next to each other, you get really good rounded translations and you can use the different phrasings as a springboard for discussion.)

well done newlark wll done

hi all, only just recovering from a visit from the parents and also had lunch with PIL yesterday!
MIL told me yesterday that I will need to get some interviews at theological colleges from September onwards in order to get a place with them next year September! As they already have a waiting list...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh that means I will have to do the interviews heavily pregnant! That's going to be interesting...

Blue wow they have waiting lists already? What colleges are you looking at?

When we went to mission college I was 8 months pregnant for the open day and DD1 was 4 weeks old at the interview! Fortunately it was DH who was the potential student but spouses had to be there but no tricky theological questions for me

Yes! apparently they brought the deadline date of the Bishop's Advisory Panels forwards this year, and lots of people missed out on places to start in September and will have to wait till next year...
Top of my list is Ripon College Cuddesdon, followed by Westcott House Cambridge... then I'm stuck...

Good luck Blue... I would say better to have the interview before the baby arrives than after... PG-brain isn't great, but post-baby-brain is worse!

Err... sorry... Just realised that doesn't sound very supportive. I mean, I know you'll be great whatever, but - in terms of your own preparedness - before might be better than after. Wishing you all the very best, anyway.

MHD... Have been thinking about your post. I think you've been put in a very tough situation. I have lived in a place like the one you are describing and it was the most soulless place I've ever lived. On the other hand, I bet that there are plenty of lonely people there, precisely because of the soullessness of the general ambience. Not entirely sure how you reach out to them, though. But I'm full of admiration for your work.

- that's so true about the brain!

MHD - this is probably just something that you've already thought about but would something for new mums work? When I had DS1 we'd not long moved to our house which is in an area not too different to the one you've described and there seemed to be nothing for little babies. Plenty for toddlers but nothing for new mums. As all my friends were still working full time the days seemed to drag a bit and I would have loved to have gone to something aimed at new mums. Also, leading on from the thread in AIBU, it seems that groups aimed at people like new mums are being cut if they are in "nice" areas so that the money can be targetted elsewhere. i just thought there may be a lot of people with little babies who've got the time and the energy to go to something new, whereas people who are mortgage slaves at work all day may not. Something else that worked well in our area was a toy library. That is, it worked well until the resources were targetted elsewhere ...

Thanks jaffa. That is definitely something we have been thinking about. The problem comes, as usual, in the lack of venue - there is nothing at all in terms of community space - one 'comminity room' attached to one of the schools which is used full time as a nursery so inaccessible anyway. The only possibility is opening up homes which is not so easy for groups such as new mums groups etc. You're right, there is very little here for new mums, my neighbour has a baby and has to drive out to a nearby town for her groups. There are no toddler groups either. It's something I feel passionately about as I used to run one but feel so frustrated at the lack of space for anything at all, and cross with the builders for only caring about profit and not community cohesion. Of course one day we will build a multi purpose church centre with tons of community space and baby and toddler groups galore but until then......it is tough!!!

We are more and more coming to the conclusion the way to go is relationship building, slow burn and meeting in homes, until something bigger one day comes together, at which point we will look into other possibilities...but for now serving the community is restricted to what we are doing - ie schools work, committees, parish council etc etc.

Blue, wow, waiting lists already - I've forgotten the timeline of how it all went for us but think it was fairly last minute. exciting though! :)

Jaffa's idea is good. I felt very isolated when I was home with DS. I had no family nearby and no friends that had babies/young children. All activities aimed at mothers with babies/young children were held in the mornings. We were hopeless in the morning! Just couldn't get out of the house. I ended up driving 13 miles to another town to get to a mother and baby group that was held in teh afternoons. I didn't go many times because everyone there seemed to know each other really well and I felt like an outsider.

is there nothing in the council offices?
leisure centre?

Nothing in the local area nickel, the council offices/leisure centre etc all a drive/bus ride away. Nothing immediate at all - miles of new build, some schools and shops. that is all.