Heald Green United Reformed Church

Dear friends,

The season of lent is a time of reflection and self examination, and not by accident, is also the time of fairtrade Fortnight, which this year runs from 26th February to the 11th March.

The title for our own lent course this year is as you know from recent sermons, ‘The Power of Small Choices’, and by coincidence the theme of this years Fairtrade Fortnight is ‘Change Today – Choose Fairtrade’.

Choice is a powerful thing, and to many a luxury they are denied, so for those of us who have a choice, we also have a responsibility to use it responsibly.

The success of the Fairtrade movement is all about the power of small choices, and in no small way the Fairtrade movement owes much of its success to the church – that is, ordinary people like you and me, committed to making a difference – for Christ’s sake!

If during this lent season we look back and reflect on the growth of the Fairtrade movement and our involvement in it, we can see several stages of its development and our growing understanding of it.

First was the coffee no one liked and which only the most committed drank out of a sense of duty! Only for sale in churches and charity shops, and accounting for less that 1% of the UK’s total coffee sales.

Next came the Supermarket campaign, you may have taken part. Church members saved their supermarket receipts and after a period of time presented them to their local store with a note attached saying, ‘This is how much I spend in your store, and I would like you to stock Fairtrade goods, if not, I may have to start shopping somewhere that does’. It was simple, to the point but most importantly, effective; try finding a major supermarket today which doesn’t at the very least stock Fairtrade tea and coffee, if not a much wider range of products.

The next stage was strangely a much tougher task, and we still have a little way to go. Convincing people Fairtrade wasn’t a brand name in itself, but an award given to any product which met the strict criteria of the Fairtrade Foundation.

The problem was, so many people could remember their first encounter with Fairtrade coffee and said, ‘Oh I’ve had that stuff and I didn’t like it!’ We’ll today there is no excuse, there are dozens of different brands and blends of coffee all bearing the Fairtrade Mark, so why not try a few till you find your favourite.

And finally, the Fairtrade movement and the churches relationship with it has moved forward again to where we are today. We’re re-learning about the power of small choices AND that Fairtrade isn’t just a good cause that we support now and again, a product we buy only on the occasions when we are feeling charitable, but is a lifestyle choice, a Kingdom principle!

Once we know about Fairtrade, once we know the difference buying Fairtrade makes to peoples lives, and the misery some multinational companies are causing. Once we know there is a small choice we can make which we will hardly feel the effects of, just spending a few pence more, but which through the Fairtrade Mark we know will have real life changing effects in other parts of the world. Once we know all this, how with a good conscience as followers of Christ can we ever buy non-fairtrade goods again?

So this year I pray the Fairtrade movement takes another stride forward, as we as a church commit to saying, not only will we use Fairtrade goods in our church, but we will all strive to use them in our own homes, only using non-fairtrade products when there is no choice, and not when we simply choose not to!

Remember the power of small choices WILL change the world!

Mike

Dear friends,

It’s been an excellent year again for our Churches Together in Heald Green Youth Initiative and caféunity as the project has continued to develop apace, and go from strength to strength.

During this year we have

• Established the internet café as a viable venture at the heart of our community, which provides a safe and enjoyable place for all, but especially focusing on young people

• Further built on existing relationships and the goodwill of the wider community towards the work of our churches through our ministry at the cafe

• Built up a reliable, committed and capable team of volunteers who support the work of the café and the aims of the youth initiative

• Employed a qualified youth worker Lee Bassman, for two evenings a week to help us provide two sessions of evening youth work at the café for young people to meet, for educational, recreational, and leisure activities

• Put plans and funding in place for a second paid youth worker

• Begun a relationship with local Youth Offending Team

• Held Alpha courses at the café to promote understanding of the Christian faith

• Held ‘café style’ worship events to complement the existing ‘menu’ of Christian Worship in Heald Green

• Completed the refurbishment of the upstairs of the premises which is now generating additional income from room hire




During the year we have also with some sadness said goodbye to Phil Hassle, our manager since opening in July last year. The trustees warmly thank Phil for his contribution to the project and wish him well in his future employment.

As a result of Phil’s departure our thanks must also go to Norman for his much valued work over the summer and Dave’s continuing work as our part time café manager.

Finally, my thanks go again to all our many volunteers, donators and customers from this church, without whom the project simply would not exist.

If you have not yet volunteered and think you could, please have a chat with myself or any of the other café volunteers. And if you’re still to visit the café, well what have you been waiting for? It’s there for you to enjoy, I’m sure you’ll love it too!

Mike

Dear Friends

My last magazine letter was just before the June church meeting where we were to discuss proposed changes to our structures as a local church. Since then, and due to the enthusiasm of the church meeting, things have moved on quite speedily.

This week sees our next church meeting where we will elect new teams of elders, deacons and pastoral committee.

The nomination procedure I feel was a big success, not only in the high proportion of nomination forms returned, but also in the time, thought and prayer people put into making their nominations. I’m sure it has helped us as a church to all think about our leadership and the talents and skills of our membership more carefully.

However, what has also been great, are the many conversations I have had with people over the last few weeks as I asked them to consider serving on the various committees. Many people have been genuinely surprised and moved by being asked to serve their church, the process as a whole has also achieved what I felt was one of its main aims, to give a little boost in confidence to people as they serve our church.

Once the three new committees are in place it will obviously take a little while for people to settle into their new role, the pastoral committee in particular will take a while to work out how best to operate, but I’m sure things will soon be working well.

Of course, one other item which needs special attention is to express our thanks as a church to all those currently serving as elders. In reducing the elders from the current number 13 of to 8, it is going to be the case that some will not be asked to serve as elders under the new structures, at least not for the time being. For some this may be a welcome and well earned break, while for others not without a hint of sadness. There will of course be occasion for us to formally record our thanks at the church meeting, but I’m sure you will also thank your own elders for their efforts the next time you se them.

May I also add my thanks to all the elders who have helped me through my first three years of ministry here at Heald Green, but also, thanks in advance for the contributions you are still sure to make as elders, deacons, pastoral workers or much valued non-serving elders and members.

These changes however, are not the only changes I have been managing over the last few weeks. As I also said in my last letter, ministry resources are becoming increasingly strained across the district, in fact across the whole URC. As from District Council last month my terms of employment have been changed to include some research and study into evangelism and emerging church on behalf of the district. While this has always been an interest of mine, it is now officially timetabled for two days of my working week.

There is perhaps not enough space to explain fully what this will mean, but there will be time at church meeting to explain further my new roles. However, though it will certainly mean I’m around a little less, the work I am undertaking should be of benefit to our church as I research new ways for the church to reach out to the people around us.

I hope that you will be understanding as I try and rebalance my time, but also support me in these new roles, not only in your prayers, but on occasions when I will be asking the church to help me in my research.

With thanks in advance, Mike

Dear Friends

This week sees yet another important church meeting in the life of our church. The main item for our discussions together will be the Elders meetings suggestions for restructuring the leadership, maintenance and pastoral teams of the church. The ideas are in the pack, ‘A Church Fit for Mission – reforming structures’, (copies are available at church if you haven’t received one). The pack is the result of several months work on the part of the Eldership and myself.

The restructuring of this area of our churches life is important in order for us to be as ready as possible for the challenges ahead. There is no suggestion whatsoever that our current Eldership is not performing well, but only that there are shortcomings with the current structures which are not allowing people to offer their best or use peoples skills and time as efficiently and effectively as possible.

So rest assured that this is not ‘change for change sake’, wasting our time tinkering with structures for little benefit, but neither are these simple changes going to transform the life of our church in itself. These are just simple changes to structures.

However, these proposed new structures we hope will help things run even more smoothly and efficiently. Enabling those with practical skills to ease the maintenance burden on the Eldership, freeing the Eldership to focus on the future of our church and equipping us all to play our part in caring for each other as a church fellowship.

All these changes we hope will also help the church be a stronger fellowship as we face the challenges of growing in our fait and connecting more and more with our community, all with the real possibility of the time I have to spend working here being stretched more and more thinly as the strains on our District Council increase. The number of churches without ministers is growing, as is the number of churches each minister will have pastoral charge of. Already I am Pastoral Advisor at two churches in Burnage, and I have district responsibilities for providing information and support on Mission and Evangelism to the rest if the district, but all ministers in the district will soon have to do even more.

However, don’t be alarmed by this, these are the realities of being a United Reformed Church minister today and I am confident that less can (and will have to) mean more. The churches that will continue to grow in these challenging times are those making changes now, ensuring stronger local leadership is in place to working alongside ordained ministers.

As such, I am confident of a bright future for our church, as we continue to change and adapt to the challenges of being a vibrant United Reformed Church to our community in Heald Green. Sharing together the ministry of this church and planning for the future mission and growth of our church together.

God bless,

Mike