Back to Church Sunday 30th September 2007

It has been estimated that up to three million people in Britain would go back to church if only they were invited. With this in mind, the Diocese of Manchester launched 'Back to Church Sunday' three years ago, and the scheme has proved so succesful that it has been adopted nationally. The evidence suggests that, on average, 12 people per church respond to the invitations to come on Back to Church Sunday, and many become permanent members (for a church the size of St Martin's that would mean increasing our average adult Sunday attendance by over 15%).

Back to Church Sunday will be taking place on 30 September 2007, and this year St Martin's will be participating in this scheme.

How does this involve you? The most effective way to attract people to church (maybe for the first time), is to offer to accompany them to church. I therefore want to issue you a challenge, over the next four months, I would like you to pray for three or four people who do not currently attend church, who you can invite to St Martin's on Sunday 30th September. At the end of June we will be distributing invitation cards for you to invite your friendsd to church.

This is a wonderful opportunity for us to really grow the church, and it is something we can all do. Please do pray about this scheme, and for the people you will invite.

Simon

The Journey of Life

Our Christian life is often referred to as a journey. This is not a bad analogy, as it begins at some point when we recognise Jesus as our Saviour and Lord; and ends when we arrive at our appointed place with Jesus in eternity. Whenever I hear the expression “Our Journey” it conjures up mental images of a crowded station platform and piles of luggage being loaded onto trains while crowds of people wait expectantly, heading for some exotic destination.

The difference with our journey of faith is that we have the Head Porter with us, Jesus. “Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest (Matt. 11: 28)”. Like most travellers we take with us unwanted baggage, perhaps physical or mental difficulties, or emotional scars. But unlike most travellers we do not have to struggle alone under the weight. Jesus will bear that load for us if we allow him.

Today some people from our church will take the first step of their journey of faith by being confirmed at Lichfield Cathedral. I hope that they will allow Jesus to share their burdens on their journey. We, as members of the same church family, can also play our part. We can pray let they have a safe journey without obstacles or hardships. Also we can keep watch and be ready to assist if they seem to struggle or tire.

For those being confirmed today may God bless you and bring you his peace.

Yours in Christ, Richard

Change

What is change? My world is continuously changing. Different people, different problems, different challenges, life is full of change. Sometimes good, job promotion, new baby, new mobile phone with all the gadgets on it; sometimes bad, redundancy, family illness, my computer’s stopped working But that’s life!

But is that all there is to life?

I’d like to change the world for the better, feed all the starving people, bring relief to all the oppressed, abolish poverty at a stroke. We have the technology surely we can do it!

But it doesn’t happen. Why not? Is it too big a job? I might as well give up now.

The world can be changed, not by expansive and extravagant gestures but by changes in individuals. By people’s attitudes to each other, people seeking to help each other rather than seeking to get one over on each other, by individuals looking to each others needs rather than being blinkered by there own desires, by loving one another. By loving one another as God has loved us.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3 v 16)

That seems massive, that someone like Jesus would allow himself to be killed to show how much God loves us and that even our worst behaviour and actions can be forgiven. I couldn’t do anything like that. But the bible tells us we don’t need to.

“.. a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, though it is less than all the seeds that are on the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up, and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the sky can lodge under its shadow." (Mark 4 v 31 -32)

All big changes start from a small beginning.

Pray to God to show you what small change you could make in your life, one that could lead to a mustard tree, whether you see the outcome or not. But be careful, ‘you might not get the answer that you wanted to’!

St Martin's Prayer Link: Holy Trinity, Batu Gajah

The Revd Jesvinder Singh, Minister of Holy Trinity Church, Batu Gajah

In a very exiting development, St Martin's church is developing a prayer link with the congregation of Holy Trinity Church in Batu Gajah in the state of Perak in West Malaysia.

The purpose of this link is primarily for our two churches to support one another through prayer. Holy Trinity Church is based in the town of Batu Gajah which has a population of 34000 people situated 24km from the state capital of Ipoh. The name Batu Gajah, which literally means "stone elephant" in the Malay language, is presumably derived from 2 large stones boulders that resembled elephants found along the Kinta river. The town is famous for it's tim mining, and has a significant Chrinese population.

The history of Holy Trinity goes back to 1884 when chaplaincy work started in Batu Gajah mainly looking after the planters who were in and around the town. However, after 1910, Rev. H. C. Henham took the intiative to start ministry among Tamils, the ministers used to travel to Batu Gajah from Ipoh. The old wooden Church building remained up to 1990 when a new building was constructed. There is also a mission church called St Andrew's in the Kinta Valley.

Holy Trinity Church has a mainly Tamil congregation, the church itself is open evangelical with a sacramental focus. The congregation is drawn from a middle socio-economic background with more and more people being from professional sectors. The Church has grown through difficult times and now has grown to an average Sunday attendance of around 90-100 adults and with about 20 children for the Sunday School. Jesvinder, the Parish Priest, arrived at Holy Trinity in November 2004, and married his wife Caroline in May 2006. The challenge facing Holy Trinity is sharing the gospel and growing the congregation larger. The church has adopted the Diocesan Mission statement : Mission as Transformation (2006-2010) with a special focus for each year. The theme for year 2006 was Transformation of Individuals in Christ and for the year 2007 the theme would be Transformation of Families in Christ. The word transformation has been stressed into the hearts and minds of all members. The hope of the people of Holy Trinity is that their partnership with St Martin's will open up the view of the church to ministry and mission, which is my hope too.

Please hold Jesvinder and the people of Holy Trinity and St Andrew's in your prayers. For further information, including photos of Holy Trinity, please follow the link from our website (http://walsallstmartins.2day.ws/walsallstmartins/section/5PrayerLinkHolyTrinityChurchBatuGajahMalaysia/).

Simon