MAYC Rethought and Relaunched

MAYC, the youth section of the Methodist Church, has agreed that it will now be known as "MAYC - Supporting Youth Work in the Methodist Church". 

Alpha Course Controversy

The Archbishop of Canterbury gave the Alpha bible study courses their most glowing endorsement yet by launching the latest series.

However, the marketing methods used to sell the courses have been 

The decision was taken by the Council for Methodist Youth Work (CfMYW), representing all the groups which MAYC works with. 

This change acknowledges that in the sixty years since its foundation MAYC has evolved from its initial presence in youth clubs to a much wider role, which includes youth develop- ment and training courses, campaigns work and various music projects. 

As part of these changes MAYC has launched a new web site.

BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott has reported that some claim that Alpha's use of modern marketing techniques aligns it too closely with the world of marketing and commerce. 

On the other hand, a course called "Journey" has been prepared by the Reverend Dr John Vincent of the Urban Theology Unit in Sheffield.  Dr Vincent believes Alpha presents too narrow a version of Christianity, and one too centred on what theologians have said about Jesus, rather than allowing students the freedom to draw their own inspiration from studying Jesus's life and teaching.

See BBC web site
 

(see original article in web site of Methodist Church of Great Britain)

 
Methodists Sponsor On-line Church

The Methodist Church is the primary sponsor of the Church of Fools, a three-month experiment in an on-line church, launched by Ship_of_fools.com .

The Church of Fools is shown on-screen as a 3D animated church building. Visitors pick a cartoon character, walk him or her into the church, sit in a ‘pixel pew' and interact with other visitors through speech bubbles. The church is open 24 * 7 for prayer, discussion and exploration, but at scheduled times a short act of worship will take place, led by a minister, with a guest preacher.

Jonathan Kerry, Co-ordinating Secretary for Worship and Learning at The Methodist Church, said: “The Methodist Church is trying to meet the challenges of the present day. We want to engage seriously with the ‘missing generation’ of under-40s, and explore new and fresh forms of being in church. The Internet is a major source of information, news and debate, and we feel it could be a way of involving people in church life.”  Sponsoring the Church of Fools comes on the back of the 11th Commandment Initiative, jointly organised by The Methodist Church and Ship of Fools, which was a text messaging competition aimed at finding out what matters to young people. 

A US-style Harvest Thanksgiving at Wellspring

Wellspring Church held a Thanksgiving supper and church service in honour of their American minister, Rev. Randall Smith, 

The following morning, the main church service had a strong Thanksgiving theme too.  The service was led by Rev. Randall Smith with the support of his good friend Rev. Kathy Lamon who had travelled especially from Washington in Georgia, USA. 

Randall's sermon explored the origins and history of American celebrations, from the Pilgrim Fathers onwards.  Kathy described the part that Thanksgiving had played in her own life and that of modern Americans. The congregation sang one traditional Thanksgiving hymn, 'Come thou fount of every blessing'.  Later, Kathy preached on the same theme at Key Green's evening service.

The aim of these occasions is that through the sharing of culture we can all grow in understanding and in spirit.

Church of Fools
Early progress report 

by
Simon Jenkins, 
editor of Ship of Fools

This is a 3D church with a crypt downstairs, where you can log in as a cartoon character, sit in a pew, talk to other people from around the world, kneel, cross yourself and take part in regular, short services.  It is a cross between a computer game and an 11th-century Romanesque sanctuary.

One week into the experiment, 8,000 people were entering the Church of Fools each day (that's a cathedral's worth), and there were some lively theological discussions in the crypt and heartfelt prayers being exchanged. On the minus side were sorties by small groups who wanted to post racist slogans and religious abuse, and to experience the joy of shouting the F-word in a church.

By the first Wednesday, Church of Fools had to shut to outsiders its pulpit, lectern and space round the altar to stop less than religious types giving messages definitely not from the Almighty.  The Church introduced a team of 12 'Wardens', armed with 'smite' buttons which can be used to eject people who log into the church simply to cause trouble.

The church is now offering services of morning and evening prayer (UK time) each day, and the response from visitors to the cyber sanctuary has been mostly positive.

Church of Fools
End of Term Report

The Church of Fools was launched as an experimental online church, sponsored by The Methodist Church.  

from Ship of Fools

The experiment ran for three months. See above for Methodists Sponsor On-line Church and Church of Fools Early progress report .

Thanks are given to all the supporters, regulars and visitors who made up the congregations, and especially to those who contributed to the collection plates.

So what happens now?  Ship of Fools have decided to continue the Church of Fools and explore whether there's a long-term future for the project.  The team who ran the church evaluated the experiment and took some time off after three months of hard work on the task.   

Alcohol at
Central Hall

Westminster Central Hall is now free to apply for a licence to serve alcohol following a decision by the Loughborough Conference to lift the ban on alcohol in churches where a significant part of their work and mission is as a 'conference centre'.

Rev Martin Turner said the conference centre side of their mission and work was consistently turning away people of all sorts, and therefore "seeming to judge them because we were unable to offer hospitality which included a glass of wine – the sort of hospitality that many of us would offer in our homes".

Key Green Christmas Fair and Jumble Sale

This ever popular event raised roughly £535 for church funds.  As always people came from far and wide, as the high reputation of the sale has travelled by the 'grape vine'.

The sale is famous for offering anything from a wardrobe, bed or desk, to cakes and soft toys. 

Refreshments were also on sale and the hall was decorated beautifully with flowers.  There was also a tombola.

Frank Dean, Key Green

Our Civic Year

by Douglas & Hilary Parker, Mayor & Mayoress of Congleton Borough fc

What a year, or rather what a thirteen-and- a-half months we had.  We attended almost 300 engagements during our term of office.  These covered a wide variety of events and venues, including play schools, homes for senior citizens, hospitals, youth organisations, conferences, bike rides, fairs and civic services and balls. We even had to test grave-digging machines.

We would like to thank all those people who have helped to raise funds for our charities.

These are...

Mr Turner said that it had become clear that the issue also applied to a small group of Methodist premises where a "significant part of their mission and work was to offer hospitality through a professionally-run conference centre".

The amendment excluded worship areas and made it clear that the supply of alcohol was for a specific event only.

[from www.methodistrecorder.co.uk]

Remembrance Day Memorabilia

The Remembrance Day Service at Trinity is rapidly becoming one of the major events in the church's calendar. 

To a considerable extent this is due to the annual exhibition of wartime memorabilia put on each year by Keith Hassall.  It has now grown to considerable proportions and features photographs and stories of local people as well as uniforms, equipment, general items from the period, models and a host of other exhibits.

'When you wish upon a Star', and 'Heart Start'. 

We feel very humbled by all the help we have received.  

The Mayor's chosen charity fund raised over £13,000.  The money went towards eight defibrillators to be placed around the  borough.  In addition, over £6,000 was donated to 'When you wish upon a Star'.

Doug Parker
[from Trinity Messenger]

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