Monday, May 28, 2007

Wake up and smell the coffee

At Lees Street we support Fairtrade so we encourage you to watch 'Black Gold' to find out more about the coffee trade.

This film is showing at the Cornerhouse in Manchester, 8-14 June and at cinemas across the country.

Click on the trailer above or the link below to find out more about the film.

Black Gold Movie

Thursday, May 24, 2007

We Are A Mosaic


An All-Age Mosaic
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.
I love this picture - Kathleen's smile, Victor's concentration with the hammer, Lewis ready to help out. It says a lot - particularly that, not only are we in the process of creating our second large-scale mosaic ("Faith"), but we are a mosaic ourselves! At Lees Street, we are like different sized, different coloured, different aged pieces, sometimes a bit broken, sometimes shiny, often with rough edges, sometimes difficult to fit together, but still all coming together to make something more beautiful ... but of course, the difference between the mosaics on the wall and the real-life mosaic is that we will never be finished - there is always room for more pieces, with more colours, more rough edges, more unique gifts to add to the overall picture. So let's celebrate our creative mix! Graham.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Shaping the Future - Living it Now

This is going to become a major theme! It matters, because churches are usually playing 'catch-up' - not only in terms of using one bit of technology just as the next one is going out of fashion, but more generally, we tend not to be 'ahead of the game'. (Incidentally, a BIG THANKS to Sheryl for creating this blogsite - a huge leap forward, which really helps us to play the game!) So what would be involved in seizing the initiative, so we once again shape the future?

After all, that's what 'the kingdom of God' is all about - when Jesus urges us to see what a different future looks like, in which the last are first, in which the hungry are fed, the humble inherit the earth, and enemies are loved, and he dares us to live it now. What this means for churches is that we should have a vision, not only for our own church-life, but for our society and the world too - how do we want things to look? And we should say and do things which specifically strive for that vision in the here and now. In some respects, we do this already, but we can be bolder ... so, what is involved in encouraging us to believe in shaping a new future?

Graham

Friday, May 11, 2007

Christian Aid Week: 13th - 19th May 2007

Next week is Christian Aid Week when all over the country, people will be collecting money and sharing stories of how Christian Aid is making a difference in developing countries.

This year the focus for the week is El Salvador, South America where poor communities are at the mercy of natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes. Christain Aid is working with partner organisations to help families and communities cope when disaster strikes.

You can find out more about Christian Aid from their website. Click on link below or on the envelope to see how your money can multiply.



Thursday, May 10, 2007

What do Insight Group get up to?

At our recent AGM, children from our Insight Group shared what they had done over the last year.

They enjoyed sticking, colouring, drawing, painting, planting, playing with the toys, shaking instruments, making things with playdough, playing games, having a sports day, creating a powerpoint presentation for a service, reading in church and creating displays of Noah's Ark and Jesus' Miracles.

What does Sing a New Song get up to?


Sing a New Song
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.

Sing a New Song meets once a month on Wednesday evenings.

Anyone is welcome to come and sing new and familiar songs.

The group helped choose the hymns and songs for a Sing a New Song book which is used regularly in services by our minister, Graham and also visiting preachers.

Over the past year, the singing group have shared new hymns and African songs in our morning services and have performed at the 'Lees Street Unplugged' event organised by the Musical Society.


'Our meetings are very lively and we usually have a laugh (sometimes we can become quite giddy) and this does cheer us up' - Margaret

What does Women's Guild get up to?

Women's Guild of Christian Service is a group of women that meet on Wednesday afternoons. Their sessions usually include a time of worship and a speaker. Over the last year, the talks have been on a wide range of subjects from roses to The Da Vinci Code to travels in America. Highighlights have also included piano classics from our organist, Robert and a healing service. The Guild have also collected shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and are collecting money to buy a goat through Farm Africa.

What does Chat and Craft get up to?

Chat and Craft meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month and are a small group of people who get together for chat, craft and fellowship. They always have good fun with laughter and stories.

Over the past year, they have made all kinds of things including flower table decorations, God's Eyes which can be found in Latin American churches and pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. They have also recently planted little tubs of flower and herb seeds which will bring new life to our church.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Sticking together!


Sticking together!
Originally uploaded by Lees Street.
We recently had a fantastic weekend with some "visitors from the east" - Rev Michael Heaney, the General Secretary of the Congregational Federation, who works in Nottingham, together with Rose and their son Sam, joined us for a social evening on Saturday 21st April, and led worship on the Sunday morning. On the Saturday, we enjoyed 'foods of the world' and three of our members led us in a quiz about their home countries (Denmark, Sierra Leone, and Malawi). Michael also shared stories of his experiences of the family of the Council for World Mission, our global partnership of churches. He particularly focused on how different cultures do meals, not least Communion, to help us reflect on the rich diversity - and the challenge to break down barriers. We closed with singing "For everyone born a place at the table". As several people remarked, it was one of the best evenings we have had at Lees Street. And then in worship the next day, by reflecting on the life of John Newton, the author of 'Amazing Grace', Michael helped us think about "unlocking" our good news, unlocking our gifts, to rid ourselves of the chains which hem us in or hold us back - as individuals and as churches. Afterwards, as pictured, Rose and Michael added to our second mosaic - "Faith". It was great for Lees Street to meet representatives of the wider church, and it was a wholly positive time of togetherness.