Psalm Readings

At this year's Stafford show 'his nibs' George the Parish Mission Director tried using the following verses as 'Psalm Readings'-you can read how below.

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers … what are humans, that you are mindful of them?”
Psalm 8:3,4.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul."
Psalm 23:1-3.

“The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 27:1

“I will instruct and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.”
Psalm 32:9.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8:- "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 34:8

“The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:18

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1

“Be still and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10

“Yet I am always with you, you hold me by your right hand.
Psalm 73:23.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105


I reckon this would work at any event where you have lots of unchurched people - Fayres, Garden Parties, etc etc. I printed off 12 different verses from psalms ( e.g. 27:1, 46:1 etc) about 12 to a side of A4 so each verse was on different coloured card. I set them out on a small picnic table, put a small stone on top of each pile to stop them blowing away and a sign that said "Psalm Reading take a card - free". Most people were quite happy to do so when invited to have a 'psalm reading'. I had only a handful refuse me. They are invited to choose a card, any colour. They then naturally read what is says and I ask if it means anything to them and explain it a bit. It's a wonderful way of connecting people with God. Just two stories from last Wednesday:
I was talking to a Methodist lady when Lynne suddenly came into the tent with 6 teenagers. They went straight up to the Psalm Reading table and took a card each and started reading them. Lynne was talking to them about it and I said to the woman, "Look 6 young people reading the bible!"
At the end of the day one young woman as just leaving the tent and I invited her for a 'psalm reading'. "Why not?" she replied and came across. "Pick a card, any card," I said. She picked up Psalm 34:8 and started reading it. As she did, I noticed her t-shirt said on it "Home Brew" and realised she was from the Home Brew tent. The psalm says, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." What a gift - it was so easy to talk to her about God.
We don't use it to ram the message down people's throats but just open them up to God and they can take the card away as a reminder of his word to them for today.
If you want to try it out, I can send you all the verses and sign by email so you don't need to type them all out. All you will need is some coloured card, some small pebbles, a small table, the right occasion and off you go.
I recommend it. Simple. Cheap. Brilliantly effective.
Have any of you used this? If so, please tell us how you found it.
Email me for the details. george.fisher@lichfield.anglican.org

You can also download a master document of all the Psalm Readings here; from where you can produce your own with some pretty coloured card and a nice tablecloth!

Mr Redeemer Lives

Hello all

I thought you may like this moving story sent to me this week by email.

A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?'
The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'.
They went on to complete the marathon together.
Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together.
One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.'
To which, his father said 'Yes' too.

For those who don't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever.
The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer bike
ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island, Hawaii.
Father and son went on to complete the race together.



Richard

Messy Church

Yesterday, I was with another 50-odd people hearing all about Messy Church, a really exciting new initiative endorsed by Fresh Expressions designed to attract young people and their carers for genuinely all-age worship.

The basic idea is to enjoy various fun craft activities based around a certain theme, a very short time of worship, and then have a shared meal together.
Why not have a look at their website and have a mooch round; there's plenty of good craft ideas at the very least; mooch on!

http://www.messychurch.org.uk/

That's got Cod Sall to do with Fresh Expressions.

Ahem!
A few great pictures here from Codsall's very special midweek service, StNics@StNics.
It meets actually not in the church building, but in the school that shares it's name; St Nicholas' First School.
Not a 'Messy Church' by name, but it looks like it by nature!
You can see a load more pictures here;
http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll218/LichfieldFreshExpressions/StNicsatStNics/

Boom-band-a-bang

Deton8 - a well exciting Youth Event that took place in Wonderful Wolves a couple of weeks ago. I meant to go, but I got waylaid. Apparently it was awesome.

Don't take my word for it; check out the video...



(Cool, my first video blog - next I'll be doing 3D interactive holograms)
(Or not)

Stig - coming to a church near you...

An entirely unreliable source telss me that ths Stig (yes that's right,the lanky mysterious chap on the left, has been zooming around the diocese recently trying to find a church that would make him feel welcome, with drastically differing results.



Problem is, most people now are getting used to that mysterious white helmet, so now he's joined up with our Mystery Worshipping team. That way no one needs know who he is!


Fact is, he cold be almost anyone, maybe even one of these...




If you'd like the Stig or another Mystery worshipper to visit your church, or maybe you'd like a go at being Mystery Worshipper yourself, just let Richard know...

St Editha's Prayer Trail, Church Eaton

This looks great!
loads of photos already up on flickr, so I'm not going to duplicate Peter Ashby's hard work, but do have a look at the page;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pegash/sets/72157606241110989/
It was set up to coincide with the Scarecrow Festival - what a great way of incorporating a spiritual dimension into a community event!
If you're keen, I can happily send you some details of the text that was used.

Harass you all soon!