Pip n Jay

Church Life January 2012

NEW issue New year, new challenges New ways of being on mission with Jesus How to be a disciple making new disciples

The

Church Life Pip n Jay

Jesus is working in us to bring new life

to the places in which we work and

live. Everything at Pip n Jay over the

coming months is based around that

simple but challenging idea.

Prayer together For our church life to be defined by

God's will for us, our top priority must

be to develop a culture of fervent

prayer and obedient practice of His

word.

It is vital that we listen and seek God

together, not just individually, to

discern what he is saying to us.

Everyone has a vital role in joining this

prayer, which will shape us as a body.

So please join us at Pip n Jay on

Wednesday 1st February, 8pm (and

the first Wednesday of every month),

to pray about the things the Holy Spirit

is asking each of us to do as part of Pip

n Jay.

Vision for the church At Easter I am looking forward to

sharing a clear God-given vision of the

next season of Pip n Jay's life. This will

be based on the

church I see, taking

into account all that I

have listened to,

observed, loved and

been part of, and it is

being shaped by our

time in prayer.

"Life on mission with Jesus" seems to

be the core of what God has been

calling us to. I believe that this is not

my invention, but simply what Jesus is

asking us to do. The big question

remains: what we do to live on mission

with Jesus in our different spheres of

life - including home, work and other

communities we are part of?

It is probably impossible to work this

out alone. Life on mission with Jesus is

more than anyone's idea of mission. It

is about God’s plan to transform the

world as we are changed by him

through loving relationships. This is

one reason why God has called us to

work this out together.

Sundays I believe that God is calling us to His

mission and bringing of new life to our

communities across the whole week.

On Sundays, we gather together as we

worship Jesus, affirming his priority in

our lives, and we receive resources,

encouragement and inspiration. We

spend all of the week on mission, but

we realise on Sunday that we are not

alone.

Other central meetings Our upcoming Wednesday 8pm meetings on January 18th, February 8th and March 21st are also important to help us clarify who we

are, what we value and where we are

committing to follow Jesus together.

Your taking part helps us grow our

understanding of the communities

God is working in, and helps you

answer the big question of what God

wants you to do, so please join us.

Discipleship and works in progress God brings new life to the world

through disciples, not just meetings!

Jesus made disciples and told them to

make disciples, growing in character,

learning to be more like him. The rest

all follows from this.

So while structural

details are still to be

decided, we are already

trying some new things

so that we can grow in

discipleship together.

For example, Re:source (Mondays 7.30pm from January 9th) is for people who are forming and working

out what it is to be on mission with

Jesus, beginning to gather and disciple

others as we do this.

My role and your role As God works this out with us, my

chief role is not preaching from a pulpit

to attract people in. It is to help you to

obey Jesus' words so that you can be a

disciple who makes disciples, growing

in faith and faithfulness.

If that sounds difficult, please

remember that this is not our idea or

our project. God is not asking us to do

the impossible in our own strength.

This is God's work in and around us,

and it brings new life.

God is calling us to His mission and bringing new life

In this issue 3 Discipleship and Re:source 4 Simple church planting 6 Neighbours and news 7 Prayer and praise 8 Our new publications

on mission with Jesus growing disciples growing churches January 2012

New life The big picture at Pip n Jay

Revd Tim Silk

A new Re:source for discipleship Bern Leckie writes:

No-one said it was easy to

follow Jesus.

Two ways to live (both wrong) From my own life I know how tempting

it is to sit back, comforted that I am

saved by faith alone. But then the Bible

says that real faith is seen through

action, so I’m tempted to overdo the

work and try to impress God. Neither

of these self-centred ways of life are

the way Jesus has called us into.

God has much bigger, better plans for

us, and to live them out we have to get

to know Jesus better, follow him and

become more like him. We call this a

life of discipleship, and it is for all of us.

A better plan Over a number of years I have found

that the best way to learn to be a

disciple of Jesus is to spend time

listening to what he says and putting it

into practice. That might sound easier

said than done, but it’s a fact that God

wants us to do this, Jesus said so, and

that means he can make it happen.

The key is not to limit ourselves to

what we can do on our own, dipping

into some teaching or trying a bit of

prayer and fasting, for example.

Instead we need to become more and

more open to what God is saying to us,

What’s new with you?

Where we are, where we’re going: from our central meetings so far

A process in progress... Where we saw ourselves

Why is God’s kingdom like LEGO? Find out at Re:source

and increasingly ready to put his word

into practice, even though we will find

this hard and make mistakes.

This is not something we can manage

on our own, so what can we do?

Learning together Re:source is a way to get together, share our experiences of following

Jesus, discover discipleship practices

which help us become more like him,

and be equipped not just to be

disciples but to make disciples.

Re:source is a practical programme, designed to help us learn through

experience and not just fill our heads

with ideas. We also want it to be so

inspiring and shareable that, if you join

in, it will be more of a struggle to keep

it to yourself than to pass it on!

Over six months we will meet Jesus in

a fresh way, growing in relationship

with him, each other and our friends

and work colleagues as we put word

into action. We will practice a wide

variety of worship, prayer and bible

reading styles, and aim for you to

discover more about what God is

calling you to do next.

You are invited! Please join us: Mondays 7.30-9.30pm from January 9th in the lounge. To book your place see Charlie Gardiner

Our daughter, Annie,

will be going

Secondary school this year. I

think she's the only child at

church who will this year. She'll

only just have reached her 11th

birthday 2 weeks before

starting. Pretty daunting!

Voirrey Guy

I am praising God for

the healing of my

brain lesion. My prayer for this

coming year is for God to

completely heal all remaining

tumours I have.

Rita Allen

I've a film coming up,

my first as a solo

producer! I can already see God

in the detail. Still need to raise a

bit more finance, but am

prayerfully watching and

expecting enough to shoot it at

the end of February!

Geoff Hall

Greg Sharples talks to Church Life about a new

way of doing church - or is

it an old way?

CL: What are you doing? Greg: Half of my week is spent training

for ordination—one day a week at St

Mellitus College in London, and the

rest of the time in self directed study.

The other half of the week, I am

supported by Pip n Jay to reach out to

neighbours and explore the planting of

simple church.

So what does that involve? Right now I spend one morning a week

in the Wild Goose crisis centre,

reading scripture with someone who

has committed to coming, and with

others interested. We read a chapter

of Mark’s gospel and ask:

• What most caught your attention?

• What does the passage show you

about God?

• What difference is that going to

make to your life now? and

• Who are you going to share what

you have learned with?

We talk about how things are going

with our faith, our friends and family,

and our work and productivity. We

share accountability about how God is

working in our lives - what are we

wanting, what are we committing to,

how is it going, and praying about the

things which are going on.

That sounds very structured... It sounds more structured than it is.

It's really quite a

chaotic

environment, not

the bible study

environment

church people are

used to.

Phones go off,

people get into

other

conversations, and they ask very

random questions like “What if aliens

created us?" It’s very different from

our church culture.

Who else do you spend time with? Ian Webb, manager of the Methodist

Centre on Midland Road, invited me to

spend time there. They take care of

vulnerable people’s physical needs, but

wanted help for their spiritual needs.

We do not run a tangible group there

yet, but there is a network of people,

and I am starting to see relationships

forming. People are saying they feel

valued because someone is taking an

interest. It is all about gently sowing

seeds right now - maybe being more

overt about studying scripture soon.

So how is it all going? I’m meeting people who are interested

in God. It turns out that most people

have some interest in God or a

spirituality or

something more

than they can see.

They are often put

off by religion or a

sense of what they

have to do - going to

church, stop doing

whatever... I am

asking the questions

of what does it look like to be all you

can be, and would God be part of that?

If God is full of love for us and has

freedom for us to live in, how does that

start to work out in our lives? What

does it mean to be a group of people

following Jesus?

Aren’t people interested in that already going to church? Most people have a concept of church

which is detached from relevance to

their lives. You can be engaged with

the reality of God and be in a pub and

have fun. There are lots of interested

people who are not in a church.

Most people have some interest in God or something more than they can see

What does it mean to plant

simple church?

What do you end up talking about? I ask different questions to different

groups of people. On campus, we have

talked about living life without limits,

and Jesus' role in that to minister hope

to the people around us. For them, the

access point to the gospel may be

being involved with something

significant.

Others with more

difficult

backgrounds are

less about

ambition and

more about peace

for themselves,

and they meet

Jesus through

being accepted.

Discipleship doesn't happen through

one conversation. The important thing

isn't the questions I ask, but how do we

move towards ongoing relationship

and friendship.

I'm trying to be sensitive to what the

spirit is saying in a situation, but the

bigger challenge is prioritising time to

build relationships and seeing that the

seed of God's word planted in

someone's life - a tiny encounter they

may have had with Jesus - doesn't get

robbed away or suffocated by other

things.

Who is responding to this? For some, the word looks like it has no

effect—for these people life is great,

and they don't think they need

anything more than they already have.

But most people have a desire for

more peace.

When I share testimony, it's not

stories of healings and miracles which

are most effective, but sharing

experience of finding peace for the

first time. People say that they would

like to be able to go to bed at night and

not be riddled with tension.

You have talked in church about finding “people of peace” - what does that mean? This is really important—it’s someone

who is open and responsive to Jesus,

and it comes straight from Jesus’

teaching about how to reach out to

others (Matthew 10, Mark 6, Luke 9

and 10). “Peace” here means a spiritual

greeting, and Jesus instructs disciples

to look for a person on whom their

peace rests. This is someone who is

responsive to God’s kingdom.

How do you find a person of peace? I might ask something spiritual like

“Can I pray with you?” More people

want to be prayed for, but a person of

peace will take a bigger spiritual leap.

It takes a bit of effort to discern people

of peace over time, and it is often

unexpected and

surprising. One of our

neighbours said they

would like prayer for

their knee when we

went carol singing—

they might be a

person of peace.

Another person was

quite aloof while we

talked but

conversation came alive when they

heard a bit about God’s kingdom. That

is what I’m watching out for.

The important thing is recognising that

this is about people’s responsiveness

to God and not us. We should pursue

relationships in a way which doesn’t

put people off, but we are looking for

where God is working with people. In a

person of peace, a word is sown and

they feed back about the difference

that it makes over a period of time.

What are your biggest challenges? It is hard to remember everyone I have

met in cold contact and pursue

relationships with them.

This is vital for lots of reasons. For one,

the enemy steals seeds which have

been planted - I know we need to do

more warfare on their behalf, praying

protection over them regularly.

I find myself asking “Am I the kind of

disciple I would want to see

reproduced?” And it can be hard

working out of a church culture where

some think we need a critical mass of

other Christians before we can start to

disciple others and join mission.

Isn’t it hard to do mission without much support? We need to understand that being on

God’s mission is not a special thing for

evangelists, but everyone.

If we only focus on God and Christians,

life gets stagnant. We miss out on part

of the life Jesus means us to have.

We can also misunderstand what

mission is. God’s kingdom is always

unfolding—it’s not a project we initiate.

It’s actually a lot easier to join in God’s

mission and find his people of peace

than to try and build a church by

If we only focus on God and Christians, we miss out on life Jesus meant for us

attracting people ourselves.

What keeps you going on a tough day? Fitness, and building up fitness when

I’m not fit enough. By that I mean I

need to live out of God's story of

scripture. A bad day is defined by my

fear, a good day by God's story.

There is something about this which I

don't look forward to - just like

exercise - but, like exercise, once done

it is life-giving. There is something

good about being obedient to God.

How can Pip n Jay people see you working locally or join in? I do a prayer walk in the Dings once a

week, claiming ground and seeking

what Jesus is saying and doing here.

My wife Sophie and I regularly go door

to door in the Dings, and you will often

find us at community events like the

Barley Mow pub quiz.

Increasingly when people ask to meet

up with me, I suggest we do it around

the Dings and work together.

We also run simple church training on

a Tuesday night. We get together at

home and share what we would expect

discipling people to look like. Then we

try it during the week, then feed back.

Our focus here is outwards, on mission

and things God is doing.

Some people we have met, who may be

people of peace, are people we might

not be able to grow a close relationship

with—including some older women

who are interested in a prayer life.

Serving and discipling them may

involve calling others, and people at

church may be able to help.

What can we pray about for you? There is lots of potential and

uncertainty at the moment. Most of

all, we need prayer that Sophie and I

would be able to discern people of

peace, and be obedient in growing

relationships with them. We also want

prayer that we would see a team come

together for this work, either from

church or from the harvest field.

Recommended reading for more information

“Organic Church” by Neil Cole,

published by John

Wiley & Sons.

Available from

pipnjay.org/books

Christmas presence Pip n Jay experimented with a lot of new things this Christmas. There were

dedicated Christmas services every week in December, featuring carols, thought

provoking videos made by Dan Gardner, and lots of testimonies about the difference God has made in our lives.

Reaching out, Bern Leckie told the Christmas story online through a daily “Advent Calendar” which attracted over 2,000 page views. We also met lots of neighbours

through craft events organised by Sheila March in church and Jo Wright at Knowle Community Centre, carol singing in the Dings and the city centre, and the

giving away of nearly 15 kilos of chocolates, mince pies and other presents to

shoppers as tokens of God’s love. We found some people of peace and will carry on

building relationships with them this year.

Chris Perkins organised the transformation of the inside of the church building, helped by many others, but the most talked about feature was probably the upside

down tree with Coke cans attached. What did it mean? Geoff Hall made it, and may share his thoughts if you ask him, but he will also be keen to hear yours.

We are very interested to hear your feedback about what went well this Christmas

and what could go better. You can email christmas@pipnjay.org or speak with Tim Silk, and you can revisit all our Christmas media at pipnjay.org/christmas

Most at Knowle Community Centre were not from church

Tower testimony

Part of Pip n Jay’s responsibility is

looking after a landmark building

which has housed worship in Bristol

for over 800 years.

When surveys of the centuries-old

tower showed that broken and

loosening pieces of stone on the

spirelets threatened to fall 80 feet to

the ground, work needed to be done to

stabilise the structure. At the same

time, other conservation was carried

out with a view not to need further

work here for around 50 years.

Martin Joinson prepared the plans, helped by church architect Chris Bond and wardens Bruce McKay and Simon Thorne. Over £130,000 was needed for the work and Ruth Richardson helped find much of this from donors including English

Heritage and the Gloucestershire

Historic Churches Trust.

Church members provided substantial

funding for this too, and now that the

cracks have been repaired, the

cleaning is done and about 100 new

pieces of Bath stone have been set in

by Wells Cathedral Stonemasons, it is

time to celebrate and thank you for

your vital contribution.

Bruce McKay said, “It has been a

tremendous team effort. If we didn’t

meet in this church we would meet in

some other building, but it is God’s

doing rather than ours that we have a

name and a building entrusted to us.

This is where we use the gifts God has

given us, and it is part of our testimony

that we look after what God has given

us. This is an outworking of God’s

purpose, and I hope to see God’s

kingdom expand from here in years to

come.”

On the Pip n Jay Prayer Radar...On the Pip n Jay Prayer Radar...On the Pip n Jay Prayer Radar...

Prayer for the UK Every Tuesday evening from 8 to 9.30pm in the lounge there is prayer for our nation. See Sheila McKay for details. Currently prayer is being directed to see Christ glorified in the church, and for Christians to speak out and not be deceived.

Close to home Gareth Williams, 30, came to Bristol nine years ago when he needed a fresh start and took a step of faith to develop a

career in catering.

Starting as a bartender and plate waiter, his skills and

contacts grew, and so did the responsibilities and high

profile of clientele - including high budget corporate

functions, serving celebrities such as Noel Edmonds, Carol

Vorderman, Lord Archer and Barry from Eastenders.

However, recent financial pressures have made a lot of corporate clients pull

out of organising functions, and Gareth has been faced with a challenge to

live on less, or find other work.

"Trying to develop a new skill is difficult when you are so used to the work -

and besides, my heart is in catering," Gareth said. So his perseverance

brought him work at Bristol Airport, the SS Great Britain and a range of

Christmas functions recently.

Stretching to meet the demands of these roles has led to long journeys,

unsociable hours and high pressure at the seasonal peaks. "I worked 88

hours in one week before Christmas - it felt good at the time but tiring like I

had hit a wall as soon as I stopped." Adding to the stress, January brings very

little seasonal work, and there is no guarantee of last summer's work being

renewed this year.

In the last few days, Gareth thought that he would have to sell his flat in the

Dings to make it through to summer, but he shared his situation and prayer

needs on Pip n Jay's Facebook group as well as with friends locally. Gareth

believes that God answered those prayers as he then received an offer of

financial help from his dad, as well as finding a lodger to help pay the bills at

home.

"What keeps me going in the stressful times is my journey with the Lord,

friends who stand by me, and people praying for me. If I didn't have faith I

would be hiding in a corner somewhere trying to struggle with it all by

myself."

Gareth's ideal goal now is to find a suitable full time job, and he would like

people to pray for this for him.

His other prayer requests are "for the Lord's strength to continue working

through me. I got really low two weeks ago but felt the Lord say to keep

going - he is holding onto me. I also need people to be understanding and

considerate of my situation. I need to work but also need time off and to

recharge by myself. I like to be with people, though I am not very outgoing

sometimes - I need people to accept me as I am."

Prayer for church Wednesday 1 February, 8pm is our next central prayer meeting for the church. Please put it in your diary and come!

Prayer for work and the city Every Tuesday lunchtime between 12 and 1 there is prayer in the lounge for our own work, our colleagues and the city. See Bern Leckie or Johnny Owen for details.

Madagascar Caroline

Thomas needs

prayer for

• wisdom in

all decision

making.

• financial provision - enough money

to run the base each month as they

look after orphaned and abandoned

childen

• health and protection for all their

children and staff

• that the process of registering as an

adoption centre goes smoothly and

well, with no problems

• for God's presence to transform

and change Madagascar, that they

get a legitimate elected President

soon who will run the country well.

What are you praying for? We believe prayer changes things and brings us closer to knowing God’s will.

You can share your prayer requests with others on our Facebook group or in the next edition of Church Life—email prayer@pipnjay.org

If you also have an urgent practical need, you can contact the Care Links team via Cilla Weir on 0117 924 7301.

Waiting for Waiting for your storiesyour stories Pip n Jay’s publications are changing. This is in response to your feedback

about how we share stories and information, and how well we reflect who

we are as a church.

Pip n Jay Diary is our new weekly sheet of vital information about what is happening each week. It’s all about what you need to know right now, from

“what’s on” information to the most important and urgent church notices.

Rose Taylor edits this, and needs your contributions by close of play on Wednesday for each new edition.

Pip n Jay Church Life is what you are reading right now. Every month we aim to bring you stories about people whose lives are being changed as we

follow Jesus. Bern Leckie is the editor, with Mark Butt, Ellen Haggan and Sheila McKay on the production team. Each new issue will be published on the first Sunday of the month, and we need your ideas and contributions a

week before that. We want this to be a bit like a newspaper, where if you

have a story you can just let us know, we’ll chat with you and write it up.

The church noticeboards are coming back into fashion! They will be increasingly used for things which might not be urgent enough for the

Diary but aren’t stories for Church Life. If you want to promote a concert or conference, for example, the best way will be to get a poster and ask the

wardens (Bern Leckie or Simon Thorne) to put it on the noticeboards.

If you are online, the fastest and best way to reach lots of other Pip n Jay people with your news, prayer requests or stories is on our Facebook group. No deadlines, instant posting and feedback—just remember it’s a public space, just like our building on a Sunday.

We are also redeveloping our website, which will mainly be for neighbours and visitors, sharing what God is calling us to be and do

together, and so they know how to join in if they would like to. The new

design will be released around Easter.

Why do all of these things? We believe that communication is increasingly important in our busy world, and that we expect high

standards in a media-rich culture. But most importantly, we want to glorify

God who has amazing news for us and our neighbours, and we want to

share that with all the talent, imagination and creativity he has given us.

Get in touch Email: churchlife@pipnjay.org

Editor: Bern Leckie Production team: Mark Butt, Ellen Haggan, Sheila McKay

facebook.com/pipnjay

@pipnjay

Next month The LOVE Issue Out Sunday 5 February Story ideas and contributions

needed by Sunday 29 January

What’s new with you?

Just started a new job

after 4 1/2 years

being at home with girls. Very

much from God so praying He

will enable me to be a good

manager and one that staff will

respect and see God in me.

Jill Willoughby