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Minister’s Letter Dear friends,

ell what a lot has happened since our last 'Journey' was printed. The British people have voted in the Referendum and life is set to change. What we cannot yet really tell is what the outcomes will be - short term or long term.

Whatever our vote, and whatever our feeling on the referendum outcome, our calling remains the same. We are called to know God, to trust God, to stand for unity, love, welcome, to share the love God has lavished on us, and to trust that God can bring good from anything offered in faith to God. Whether you are disappointed or delighted by the outcome of the referendum, our calling as disciples is unchanged. The world is always changing, our lives are always changing. New concerns, new joys, mundane days, plateaus in life, high points, low points. One of our callings is to stay faithful to God whatever is going on, and however we are feeling. I offer some hymns verses for our encouragement: Have faith in God, my heart, Trust and be unafraid; God will fulfill in every part Each promise he has made... Have faith in God, my mind, Though oft your light burns low; God's mercy holds a wiser plan Than you can fully know. (Bryn Austin Rees (1911-83) Through all the changing scenes of life, in trouble and in joy, the praises of my God shall still my heart and tongue employ. (Nahum Tate, (1652-1715) and Nicholas Brady (1659-1726), 1696) And finally, This, this is the God we adore, Our faithful, unchangeable Friend; Whose love is as great as his power, And neither knows measure nor end. 'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last, Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home; We'll praise him for all that is past, And trust him for all that's to come. (Joseph Hart, 1712-1768) Whatever is going on in the world around us, in our country, in our church, in our homes, and amongst our family and friends, we are called to know God more, to trust God, to be united in Jesus and share the love we have found with others. This isn't always easy, but we can encourage and support each other, and lean on God. I pray that as we continue to journey together - whatever is happening - that we will hold fast to God and to our calling.

Peace to you, Ruth

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Sunday Worship during July and August

Sunday 3 July 10.30am Morning Worship, including the Lord’s Supper, led by Tony Malcolm Followed by First Sunday Lunch Sunday 10 July 10.30am Morning Worship led by Richard Becher Followed by Church Meeting Sunday 17 July 10.30am Morning Worship led by Ruth Yorke Sunday 24 July 10.30am All-age Morning Worship led by Diana Cullum Hall Sunday 31 July 10.30am Morning Worship led by Peter Woodall Sunday 7 August 10.30am Morning Worship, including the Lord’s Supper, led by David Walton Followed by First Sunday Lunch Sunday 14 August 10.30am Morning Worship led by Ruth Yorke Followed by Church Meeting Sunday 21 August 10.30am Morning Worship led by Mark Aldridge Sunday 28 August 10.30am All-age Morning Worship led by Lynn Weaver

Feedback Please!

We are trying out a new cover for the July/August Journey, and hope to add some different topics in the future editions. If you have any comments or suggestions to help the team in any way please email or write to us. Many thanks Pat D Editor or Carol KA secretary of the Journey Team P.S. The committee would welcome some new faces too! We meet in September.

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Notices

A Year in Community: September 2016 - June 2017 - An invitation to come and share in the rhythms of life in a residential Christian Community in the heart of Birmingham City Centre. An opportunity to live a life built around a routine of daily prayer, to be in community, sharing life with others, and to volunteer with a variety of projects in the city. Open to those of any age and any denomination. More Info from info@carrslanelivedcommunity.org.uk Summer Spectacular 2016. Join Birmingham’s one and only homeless choir on Friday 15 July, 7.30pm at mac Birmingham for a night of heartwarming, singalong fun. Tickets £10 (£7 conc) 0121 446 3232 www.macbirmingham.co.uk,. Or contact sally@choirwithnoname.org 07794 100938 for more details.

Sunday 31 July 3:30pm - 7:00pm The congregation from Nether Whitacre Methodist Church would love to invite you to their ramble and barbeque followed by a service by Peter Bates. Why not enjoy a lovely afternoon in the country? Make Lunch - 28% of children in Birmingham are receiving Free School Meals. But when schools stop for the holidays, so does the food. MakeLunch is a network of churches working to fill the holiday hunger gap. Our Kitchens are run entirely by volunteers with a vision to see children looking forward to, not dreading, their school holidays. More info from www.makelunch.org.uk, Contact hannah@makelunch.org.uk. Find us on social media (MakeLunch) Saturday 6 to Monday 15 August. Taize Pilgrimage 2016 from Birmingham by coach. Cost £200 – age 17-29yrs. See taizebirmingham@gmail.com.

Professor John Hull, who died in July 2015, was a long-time member of Carrs Lane and will be remembered in a memorial event to be held on Wednesday July 20th at 7pm. There will be music, thanksgiving, memories and the first showing in Birmingham of the film ‘Notes on Blindness’, based on John’s book Touching the Rock. All are welcome, but we advise booking your place beforehand at office@carrslane.co.uk Two reviews of the film follow.. ..

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The blind man who taught himself to see anew

n 1983, the British theologian John Hull finally went completely blind. By the time the last flicker of light died he had already developed survival strategies.

In 1980, when his sight first began to fail, he had asked: “How do blind people read big books?” and received the depressing answer: “They don’t.” So he requested that friends and colleagues make recordings of numerous academic books on cassettes, and for several years sought to master ‘all of those little tricks’ that would let him navigate a new world without sight. What came with Hull’s total loss of vision, however, was a desolate spiritual crisis: “It was at this point I realised that I had to think about blindness because if I didn’t understand it, it would defeat me.” His reflections in his audio diary – which became the basis for a book, Touching the Rock, and now this documentary – chart his progress from deep despair to an eventual sense of transfiguration. One might imagine that a film about blindness would heavily test the ingenuity of film-makers and the limits of the audience. Yet what emerges is an absorbing and moving exploration of the nature of sight, a sense that most of us use constantly but rarely contemplate. The directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney have employed actors to lip sync the recordings Hull made of himself and his family; the results have a dreamy but powerful cinematic quality, reminiscent at times of Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. This is a dispatch from the frontline of blindness, but also of domestic life; Hull’s own descriptions – often forced to bypass visual imagery – attain an unusual intimate poetry. The soundtrack includes the voices of his wife, Marilyn, and children one Christmas, with Marylyn struggling to keep festive joy afloat as Hull feels the blackness of blindness sucking him under: “I had a desperate feeling of being enclosed, of having to get out.” Later, solutions begin to provide their own satisfactions. Hull – who died last year – talks of walking his small son to school and their tender parting game, which takes account of the fact that the common ritual of goodbye waves is useless to them: “He shouts out ‘Bye’. And I shout ‘Bye’. And we keep up this echoing chorus until his voice becomes faint. I love this.” By concentrating on the other senses, Hull’s observations drive home the familiar in fresh ways. Perhaps the most beautiful scene comes when he records “A note on the experience of hearing rain falling”, conveying with great please how the intricate patter of raindrops on separate surfaces creates “a blanket of differentiated and specialised sound”. After listening to it through Hull’s ears. You will never hear rain in the same way again.

The Catholic Herald

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Notes on Blindness

ho knew that a tale of blindness could be so visionary and so beautifully photographed on screen? Nots on Blindness is based on audio recordings made by the English academic John Hull, who lost his sight in 1980, and

thereafter brought incredible insight (or perhaps an internal in-sight) to his predicament, reluctantly embracing it as a gift. This is not just a tale of struggle and courage, a relearning of the world’s signals, however, but also a moving portrait of family life. Hull and his wife Marilyn, eventually had five children. John saw only the first two, but his sensations, recorded on old C-90 cassettes, of the moment when he holds and smells his newborn son in 1985 are universal: “I like feeling his little nose; holding one foot.” We see the new baby too, since the documentary’s directors, Pete Middleton and James Spinney, have actors lip-sync the years of Hull’s recordings (rather like Clio Barnard did in The Arbor). As the darkness descends, the last thing Hull sees is a dark church spire against a bright sky, and his mood lowers too. At first his live is taken up with practicalities – at one point he has 40 volunteers recording academic books for him – but soon his mind hungers for the visual stimulation he still has from dreams: “Every morning I wake up blind again.” He finds himself lost, literally and metaphorically on a visit to his parent in Australia, when he hears his daughter screaming for help and cannot find her. He is conscious of smiling and that smile no longer being returned: One is sending off dead letters.” Yet there are strange compensations, and in one of the film’s virtuoso visual and aural sequences, the effect of rain on the ears and the landscape is shown: the sharp splat on rood tiles, the plops in puddles, the riffling of leaves, and suddenly a 3D mental picture emerges of the scene in hard and soft sounds. The cinematography sometimes leaves the viewer peering in the gloom, trapped in Hull’s life, then looking at a messy Eighties living room bathed in the nostalgic colours of a faded Polaroid. “Cognition is beautiful,” says Hull, and this film gives the sighted a chance to understand the darkness. As well as going on limited release, the film is available from Curzon on Demand.

The Times Film Review

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PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

MESSAGE FOR THE MONTH OF RAMADAN AND ‘Id al-Fitr1437 H. / 2016 a.d.

Christians and Muslims: Beneficiaries and Instruments of Divine Mercy

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

1. The month of Ramadan and ‘Id al-Fitr is an important religious event for Muslims around the world, focused on fasting, prayer and good deeds, and is esteemed by Christians, your friends and neighbours. On behalf of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Christians all over the world, we extend best wishes for a spiritually rewarding fast, supported by good deeds, and for a joyful feast.

As is our cherished custom, we wish to share with you on this occasion some reflections in the hope of strengthening the spiritual bonds we share.

2. A theme that is close to the hearts of Muslims and Christians alike is mercy.

We know that Christianity and Islam both believe in a merciful God, who shows his mercy and compassion towards all his creatures, in particular the human family. He created us out of an immense love. He is merciful in caring for each of us, bestowing upon us the gifts we need for our daily life, such as food, shelter and security. God’s mercy is manifested in a particular way, however, through the pardon of our faults; hence he is the one who pardons (al-Ghâfir), but the one who pardons much and always (al-Ghafour).

3. To underscore the importance of mercy, His Holiness Pope Francis declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy to be celebrated from 8 December 2015 to 20 November 2016. In this regard he said: “Here… is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favorable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone, everyone, the way of forgiveness and reconciliation” (“Homily”, 11 April 2015).

Your pilgrimage (hajj) to the Holy places, mainly Mecca and Medina, is surely a special time for you to experience God’s mercy. In fact, among the well-known aspirations addressed to Muslim pilgrims is: “I wish you a blessed pilgrimage, praiseworthy efforts and the pardon of your sins”. Making a pilgrimage to obtain God’s pardon for sins, both for the living and dead, is truly a salient custom practice among believers.

4. We, Christians and Muslims, are called to do our best to imitate God. He, the Merciful, asks us to be merciful and compassionate towards others, especially those who are in any kind of need. So too he calls us to be forgiving of one another.

When we gaze upon humanity today, we are saddened to see so many victims of

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conflicts and violence – here we think in particular of the elderly, and children and women, especially those who fall prey to human trafficking and the many people who suffer from poverty, illness, natural disasters and unemployment.

5. We cannot close our eyes to these realities, or turn away from these sufferings. It is true that situation are often very complex and that their solution exceeds our capacities. It is vital, therefore, that all work together in assisting those in need. It is a source of great hope when we experience or hear of Muslims and Christians joining hands to help the needy. When we do join hands, we heed an important command in our respective religions and show forth God’s mercy, thus offering a more credible witness, individually and communally, to our beliefs.

May the Merciful and Almighty God help us to walk always along the path of goodness and compassion!

6. We join our prayerful good wishes to those of Pope Francis for abundant blessings during Ramadan and for a lasting joy of ‘Id al-Fitr.

Happy Feast to you all!

From the Vatican, 10 June 2016

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran President

Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.I. Secretary

Message from the Methodist Church Sisters and brothers in Christ,

write to you from the Methodist Conference in order to act upon a resolution which it passed on 7 July 2016. What follows is the text which the Conference agreed should be read in all our churches as soon as is possible.

The statement is also shared on our website www.methodist.org.uk/nationallife where it can be turned into an email which will be automatically sent to your local Member of Parliament. The Conference also encourages the Methodist people to send this letter to their MP, and also to join the campaign to wear an empty safety

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pin as a badge symbolising solidarity against racism (please see www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36661097 for details). The 2016 Annual Conference of the Methodist Church passed a resolution containing the following text: The United Kingdom, as a result of the referendum on 23 June 2016, has voted to leave the European Union. In this time of very significant change and uncertainty there is a need for leadership which seeks the common good and encourages people to work together, to respect one another and to uphold the dignity of all. The Methodist Conference believes that the British Isles are enriched by diversity and celebrates the contribution made by those who have come from other parts of the world. The Christian tradition calls for respect, tolerance, love of neighbour and hospitality to the stranger. All bear the responsibility of speaking and acting for healing, reconciliation, and mutual respect. The Methodist Conference abhors and deeply regrets those actions and words which incite hatred and lead to the victimisation of groups within society and notes with concern that such actions and words have been normalised in recent public discourse. Believing that racism is a denial of the gospel and that to stay silent when others are abused is to collude with those who seek to promote hatred and division, the Methodist Conference calls:

on the Methodist people to challenge racism and discrimination for a political debate which neither demonises any nor leaves the vulnerable

(the foreigner, the immigrant and refugee) in danger of victimisation. on political leaders to work together for the good of the whole community

putting the needs of the nation before party politics. on all those in positions of power and authority to hear the voices of those who

have been marginalised and alienated and to respond to them in ways which offer real hope for the future.

With gratitude for our continued partnership in the gospel,

The Reverend Gareth J Powell

Secretary of the Methodist Conference

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Notes from the Organ Bench PART I

Review ver the past few months, we’ve been extremely lucky to have some additional musicians joining us occasionally in services. Laetitia Van Wyk, an outstanding cellist from South Africa, is doing a Masters at Birmingham

Conservatoire and volunteered to play when able. Anna Knessl is from Germany, doing a technical Masters degree and here on a placement until September. She has become a valued choir member, and the experience has helped to broaden her choral experience. Cristinel Bacanu (originally from Romania, now based in Birmingham) has also made some occasional appearances, both in concerts and in services, and never fails to delight with his incredible violin playing. Lesley Knowles (oboe) and Liz Wrighton (flute) were also able to join us and share their wonderful talents. It’s been a privilege to work with such gifted musicians, and their contributions have made such a difference to our music making. I’ll be aiming to engage them regularly in the future, where possible, and to invite other musicians to join us, too. The Choir has been singing regularly on the first Sunday of each month (except August), and we have enjoyed exploring some new pieces, and revisiting some favourites. The Singing Group continues to sing on the third Sunday of each month (except August). Discouragingly, Singing Group participation has been low in recent months (7-10 people). I propose that the Singing Group needs at least 12 people consistently attending in order to remain viable. Last year I carried out a survey to gauge opinion on whether the group should continue beyond Phil’s retirement: the results strongly indicated that the congregation wished for the Singing Group to continue. So, come and sing! I shall monitor attendance over the next few months and review the viability of the group in January 2017. Remember, it needs at least twelve voices consistently attending to remain viable. Upcoming events A new concert series will begin in September, in a somewhat different format to previous series. At the time of writing, I’m checking final details and will publish the programme in due course. Opportunities to Participate As mentioned above, the Singing Group would particularly welcome new (or lapsed!) members. This group caters for all abilities - from those who know they can sing, to those who think they can’t (but are willing to be proved wrong!). It’s just a 09:45 rehearsal on the day, with no other commitment. We don’t sing in August, but please do consider it for September and beyond. Any feedback? As always, feedback (both positive and constructively critical) is appreciated. See me on Sundays, or email me at music@carrslane.co.uk

Wishing you a very musical month! Tim Batty

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More Notes from the Organ Bench PART II

y the time you read this, most at Carrs Lane will be aware that I finally graduated from my PhD on Thursday 7th July, from the University

of Birmingham in Edgbaston. (I’ve included a picture as proof!) Graduation is always a splendid occasion, and it was wonderful that my parents could make it down from Scotland to be part of it. Upon presenting my ‘Graduand’ ticket to the ushers at the ceremony I was duly directed to Seat 1, which – terror of terrors! – meant I was first in the ceremony. Fortunately, the staff gave me explicit instructions regarding proceedings, and, summoning my very best chorister training, I managed to process without falling over the Chancellor or tripping over my gown. Three fellow hydrogeology researchers and one other earth science researcher from my department also gained their PhDs in the same ceremony; and, Lindsey Van Gemeren – with whom I co-founded ‘In8 Voices’ – received her PhD the day after. They each deserve hearty congratulations. A number of people have asked me recently what field my PhD is in. It’s definitely not in music! My thesis is entitled, “Examining the Use of the Partition Coefficient in Quantifying Sorption of Heavy Metals in Permo-Triassic Sandstone Aquifers”. Quite a mouthful! I realise, sympathetically, that this won’t mean much to many people - nor should it. Briefly, the research was concerned with improving the way in which heavy metal contamination of groundwater is assessed and remediated. Heavy metals – like cadmium, arsenic, mercury, lead, and others – are widely used in manufacturing batteries, electronics, and many other things. Unfortunately, they pose a serious risk to human health and the environment above certain concentrations. Such is their prevalence in industry that many parts of the world, including parts of Birmingham, have a real problem with contamination. It is up to hydrogeologists to figure out the extent of contamination and engineer solutions, using an array of tools and calculations such as the one I’ve been involved with. I was trying to improve it because the current methodology is widely criticised as giving false outputs. I’m glad it’s over. I have mixed feelings about the whole experience and have much to reflect on. Nevertheless, I’m beginning to draw a line under the areas I can: I took particular delight in archiving the last remnants of paperwork the day after graduation! In the coming months, I’ll endeavour to publish the results of the work in journal papers, since the thesis, at approximately 27,000 words, is rather lengthy and unwieldy to be immediately useful to the industry. There may be a conference or two, in addition. Yes, it means more work - undoubtedly voluntary - but I feel the research

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would be wasted if I don’t. This will necessarily be a lesser priority than finding employment and sorting out some other stuff, but new research does have an expiry date, so there is a degree of urgency nevertheless. I’m now job-hunting in earnest, and really can’t say where that will lead at present. I’m exploring several options with the guidance of a careers advisor at the University. Until I gain clarity on that, I would ask people not to draw premature conclusions: I will be delivering business as usual in the music department! When I know more, I’ll be sure to say. I have been humbled by the degree of support given by Carrs Lane, other friends, and my family during this journey: it wouldn’t have been possible to complete the project without such help. I’m extremely grateful. And yes, I suppose you may now call me ‘Dr’, though I’ll probably blush! I promise I won’t get a big head.

Tim

Leslie D Gale Award

he third presentation of the 2016 Leslie D Gale awards was made by Mayor Grecian Emma Irvine at the busy Tab Café, held in the Tabernacle Church. Emma volunteers for many groups within the

town including the Tabernacle Youth, Cam and Dursley Youth Forum, the local scout group and is a school governor at Cam Woodfields. Emma also finds the time to sing and plays with a range of music groups for the church and community benefit. Emma received the award in recognition of her continued volunteering to these groups, and for her Outstanding Service to the Community of Dursley. The Town Council would like to thank all those who nominated our award winners this year and to those who helped make the presentations successful.

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Justice Matters How much does justice matter to you?

ustice matters in trade and business. A few irresponsible British

companies are abusing or exploiting people abroad – and getting away with it. Traidcraft has seen examples of appalling abuses including toxic pollution which destroys people’s livelihoods; people forced to leave their homes to make way for new mines or plantations; and people threatened with violence if they challenge or question what is happening. People who work for, or even just live near, the operations of

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The Church @ Carrs Lane

looks forward to welcoming

TRAIDCRAFT’S BIRMINGHAM ROADSHOW

on Monday 5 September 10.00-4.00

It will be an opportunity to view all crafts in the Autumn Catalogue

and be inspired by presentations from Traidcraft staff.

For more details see www.traidcraft.co.uk or email fair-trade@carrslane.co.uk

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some British companies abroad are suffering. We wouldn’t find this acceptable – why should they? There have been 303 allegations of abuse by 127 British companies over the last ten years – but not one prosecution. That needs to change. At the moment, there’s a gap in British law which means that it’s almost impossible to prosecute big companies for causing serious harm abroad. We think this needs to change – and some relatively simple changes to the law would make a big difference to people suffering in developing countries. And would improve company practice across the board. More than two-thirds of British business leaders agree that companies operating in developing countries should be held accountable in the UK for any harm they cause there. But we need to raise the profile of this issue, so that the government realises it is something that matters to voters. That’s why we are aiming to collect 25,000 names on our Justice Matters petition.

Here’s what the petition says: Some irresponsible British companies are abusing or exploiting people around the world and getting away with it. We the undersigned call on the government to update the law so that large UK companies can be prosecuted for the most serious cases of causing harm abroad. If justice matters to you, add your name to Traidcraft’s petition, which you can find on our website traidcraft.co.uk and help us make a difference.

Please sign the petition either on line or at church next Sunday. If you could take a sheet and get 10 more signatures that would be great. Joan Davies

Traidcraft Magazine Summer 2016

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Standing in the Gaps

n Thursday 10 March, our first Standing in the Gaps networking event brought together about 40 people at Birmingham Central Baptist Church. There was input from our hosts about a Job Club they run in their church.

There was also time for interaction and meeting others to share knowledge and experience. Some of those attending were people whose churches run Ignition Job Clubs. We discovered each club is very different each other. We also heard about Restore’s Equipping for Work programme designed to help refugees and of resources offered by Christians Against Poverty. Through our discussion there was a common concern about the difficulty of developing appropriate IT skills for those seeking to become employed. Many expressed their commitment to building up the confidence of those they support so they are more ready to meet the challenge of the workplace. Special thanks to Patricia White from Jericho Foundation, Sarah Turner of Thrive Together Birmingham and Revd Paul Tyler of Birmingham Central Baptist Church for partnering with Birmingham Churches Together to help make the event a success.

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Birmingham Churches Winter Night Shelter

he Birmingham Churches Winter Night Shelter is a community of individuals, churches and organisations who work together to provide emergency accommodation, food and support to homeless people in Birmingham during

the coldest winter months, welcoming them into them into our churches and offering hospitality, food and a bed. The Night Shelter has now completed its fourth full year and once again we have been blown away by the generosity, enthusiasm and hard work of everyone involved. The project grew significantly this year from seven to fourteen churches, from a variety of Christian traditions and denominations and this enabled us to stay open for 85 consecutive nights. We also welcomed a new outreach team into the project. This took us to four teams as well as five new churches who provided transport to the guests during the project to take us to a total of eight transport providers. In total: over 400 volunteers from across the city helped to run the project - thank you. Over the 85 nights we provided 1020 bed spaces to 28 different homeless men who had all been sleeping rough before entering the shelter. We shared dinner with them and also provided breakfast in the morning and sought to supplement meeting these physical needs with support and signposting advice to relevant organisations better placed to help with certain needs. We further strengthened our relationships with other organisations in the city that work with homeless people all the year round and were able to link our guests to some of these services. We have been blessed by the time spent with our guests and the conversations, games and laughter shared together. We celebrate the positive impact during the 85 nights for the guests as well as the four who are now in accommodation. However we also recognise the growing numbers of those sleeping rough and will continue to respond to this need in light of the Biblical mandate to care for and love the marginalised as demonstrated in the life of Jesus Christ. Thrive Together Birmingham has been involved with this initiative since 2012 when it first began and currently provides the central coordination for this initiative. For more information about Birmingham Churches Winter Night Shelter visit the website: www.bhamchurchesnightshelter.org.uk or contact David Bebb at bhamchurchesnightshelter@hotmail.co.uk

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TLG: Transforming Lives for Good

stands for Transforming Lives for Good – which is what the organization has been doing in Birmingham now for over a decade. This innovative

Christian charity has been working with local churches to provide alternative education centres for excluded and at-risk secondary school pupils. TLG centres cater for teenagers at a crisis point in their education, offering a tailored curriculum in a smaller-scale environment with high staff to pupil ratios. There are now three such TLG education centres around the Birmingham area, which together have helped hundreds of young people to get back on track with their learning. More recently the charity’s leadership team have been looking ‘upstream’ at the factors that lie behind children and young people’s educational disengagement. Working with experts in primary education the Key Stage 2 phase (7-11 years old) was identified as a time when Early Intervention can be offered with the potential to deal with issues before they become full-blown. A package of Early Intervention training and resources was developed and is now available to local churches, through which volunteers can be equipped to coach a child in-school for an hour a week, with remarkable results. The final piece of the jigsaw comes with recognising that behind every struggling child there is often a struggling parent. But how to reach out to these parents without them feeling ‘got-at’? TLG offers a solution in the form of a short, down-to-earth video course that local churches can run in their own building or on the school campus. Its premise is that all parents of school-aged kids need help sometimes, so why not get together help one another through the ups and downs? Readers can find out more about the charity and its programmes online at www.tlg.org.uk - where they can also watch some really heart-warming and inspiring short films telling the stories of transformation experienced by young people. Enquiries can be directed to partnerships@tlg.org.uk.

TLG

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CIGB: God’s skills for God’s Glory Almighty God, who through our Lord Jesus Christ, the master carpenter, did in wood and nails purchase our salvation, wield well your tools within the workshop of your world; pardon and forgive us all our sins, that we who come to you rough hewn, may here be fashioned to a truer beauty by your hand. Amen. This summer the West Midlands Combined Authority is due to be brought into full existence, and one of its first tasks is to tackle the issue of skills and jobs in the West Midlands. The area remains near the bottom of the national league for skills and work. Many churches are already involved on the skills agenda, through Work Clubs and School Support. Churches and Industry Group Birmingham and Solihull is encouraging churches and to help drive up ambition amongst our peoples. Churches themselves benefit from talents and training: in organisation, maintenance, communications, teaching,.. not least from builders and architects: one of the first people in the Bible to be described as filled with ‘divine spirit’ was Bezlalel (Gen 31:1-3), the craftsman of Moses’s Tabernacle. Church flower festivals this summer align the beauty of nature with human craft. Next Generation Awards: Birmingham Civic Society will be awarding prizes this summer to secondary school children across Birmingham for their active citizenship, as part of this ambition. Some churches also do this in their own locales.

St Tom’s Job Club

Our Job Club offers support in a relaxed, friendly environment for people who are looking for work. We offer tea, toast and a listening ear. Help is given on a one-to-one basis with job search, Universal Jobmatch, CV’s, completing application forms and preparing for interviews. The club runs on Wednesdays, between 9.30am and 11.30am in St. Thomas’ Community Centre, Garretts Green Lane, B26 2SA. Volunteer helpers with experience of training or being involved with job clubs would be most welcome. Telephone: 0121 743 7040 or Email: sttoms.jobclub@gmail.com

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2016 Carrs Lane Lectures in Radical Christian Faith

Bishop John Shelby Spong was one of the speakers in our inaugural series of lectures in 2000 and he returns this year to speak about his latest book: Biblical Literalism: A Gentile Heresy, published in March. He is a retired bishop in the American Episcopal Church and a celebrated liberal theologian. Over the past four decades, he has become a pioneering, definitive voice for progressive Christianity.

Immersed in contemporary biblical scholarship, he speaks and writes passionately about his lifelong commitment to the Church and his personal journey from old traditions into new visions of what it means to walk the Christian way. A prolific author, his insights offer ‘a dialogue between yesterday’s words and today’s knowledge’.

In his latest publication, Spong invites us ‘to look at the gospels with a brand new set of eyes’. He uses the gospel of Matthew to explore the literary and liturgical roots of the New Testament, with its grounding in Jewish culture, symbols and storytelling tradition, to explain how the Jesus narratives would have been understood by both the Jewish authors of the gospels and by the Jewish audiences for whom they were originally written.

Spong explains why a literal reading of the New Testament not only distorts the original message of these books, but also renders them unintelligible to the citizens of the twenty-first century. He makes clear that it was only after the church became fully Gentile that readers of the gospels took these to be events of history, thus distorting their essential symbolic meaning.

I’m delighted Jack and Christine accepted my invitation to come back to Carrs Lane; it will be a real joy to welcome them for what promises to be a most memorable day. Tickets are now available, price £20, to include light refreshments throughout the day and soup at lunchtime.

I need your help to publicise the day! The flyers are printed…please take a bundle and give one to anyone you think might just be interested. Posters can also be printed if you have somewhere you could display one or know anyone else who could use one. Below is an extract from Jack’s weekly column to give you a flavour! Julie Grove Addressing the National Conference of the American Humanist Association 23 June 2016 They gathered at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Chicago, some 500 delegates strong. By and large they were a well-educated group made up largely of professional people: doctors, lawyers, business leaders and academics. Their single most identifying mark, however, was that they were overtly non-religious – perhaps anti-religious. I had been invited by this organization to receive an award and to address this conference. I shared both of these privileges with one other person. His name was Dr Jared Diamond, a renowned scientist and former professor at UCLA, who is the author of numerous books. I was to receive the Humanist Association’s

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annual “Religious Liberty Award.” Dr Diamond would be honoured as “The Humanist of the Year.”

I found it a fascinating experience to enter this conference, as I did, as a representative of organized religion. Clad in the purple shirt and clerical collar of my profession, my wife and I presented ourselves at the registration desk above which was a banner that proclaimed “Good without a God.” I felt very much like a Mexican immigrant might feel at a Trump rally!

I thought about that banner’s message and I did not disagree with it. I have known and respected atheists whose lives were not only good, but noble. The quality of goodness does not depend on a belief in God. Perhaps what I understand better than that is that the opposite of their slogan can also true. One can be “evil with God!” I thought of the anti-Semitism that has been the great “contribution” of the Christian Church over the centuries. I recalled that the Crusades were organized by the Vatican to kill “infidels,” which was the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries’ word for Muslims. I thought of Christianity’s complicity with slavery, the “Bible Belt’s” support of segregation, the church’s denigration of women over the centuries and the abuse of the LGBT community of people by organized religion. Yes, one can be good without a God and one can be evil with one. It is also true that people can be evil without a God and good with one. Having a God or not having a God seems to me to be no guarantee or even an indicator of goodness.

I discovered that the reason I had been chosen to receive their “Religious Liberty” award was related to two things. One was the role I had played over the last fifty years in the various battles for justice, as people of colour, women and the LGBT community struggled for full acceptance in the life of our church and country. The other was what they perceived to be my attacks on the kind of religious literalism with which most of them grew up and were today in vigorous rebellion against. I found it fascinating how familiar they were with my writing. I have discovered many times that those, who are themselves most overtly anti-religious, are also deeply, sometimes even emotionally interested in the religion they claim to reject. Carl Sagan, who was what I call a “God-intoxicated atheist,” fitted that category.

At the banquet during which the awards were given, the two honourees spoke. During my presentation, I walked them through just a bit of contemporary biblical scholarship. The Bible is a human document, written between two and three thousand years ago and it makes assumptions that no one today can still make with any intellectual credibility. The earth is not the centre of a three-tiered universe, God does not live above the sky. Human beings were not created perfect, only to fall into “original sin.” Stories of a virgin birth are not about history. Miracles, people need to recognize, do not enter the story of Jesus until the 8th decade of the Common Era. Thus for anyone in the church to speak of the Bible as the “Word of God” becomes irrational. One surely does not want to blame God for all of the things in the Bible. For me, these statements are so mundane, so commonplace in the field of academic biblical studies that they are not even debatable. The fact is, however, that to my audience that night, they had never heard a representative of the Christian Church say these things. My talk received a standing ovation and elicited a number of questions to which I was given the privilege of responding.

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I am sure that Professor Diamond’s address was far more tailored to this group’s expectations than was mine. I, nonetheless, found his address absolutely fascinating. He spoke on the two reasons that, in his mind, belief in God no longer made sense. The first of his reasons came from the field of evolutionary biology. Human beings are “developed animals,” he said, not a special creation. He illustrated that with the discoveries of genetics and with the fact that all of us today carry some of the genes of Neanderthal people in our makeup. The idea that there is something unique, godlike or eternal about human life has, he suggested, no basis in science. The second reason, which in his mind destroyed the possibility of one being able to believe in God, came from the field of astrophysics. In the vastness of the universe, inhabited by perhaps as many as a trillion galaxies, the evolutionary probability is that intelligent life exists in many more places than just on planet Earth. This means, Dr Diamond suggested, that life is a product of nature and that God is little more than a human myth.

I am not unfamiliar with either the field of evolutionary biology or astrophysics. I have read extensively in both areas. He told me nothing about which I was not already familiar. What did surprise me about Dr Diamond’s address, however, was that the God he believed to have been destroyed by these two areas of exploding human knowledge is a deity in whom I too have not believed in for decades. This brilliant man was still operating out of a concept of God that represented what I would call a 4th grade Sunday school mentality. How could he be so learned in one field, and so limited in another? The answer to me is quite clear. The Christian Church, in its institutional form, makes little or no effort to educate its people theologically. Adult education in most churches is naive, juvenile and easily forgettable. It does not address the great issues of our day for fear of being controversial. It does not reflect the knowledge available in the Christian academies, keeping that knowledge secret from most congregations. It does not free the Christian faith to engage the knowledge revolution that is rampant in our generation. How can one in a post-Darwinian world, for example, still talk about human life being created perfect only to fall into original sin? The Christian Church in almost all of its forms continues to protect from challenge, the childish fantasies of most churchgoers. We would rather have our members quiet and placid than stirred up and questioning.

Because some of today’s Christians have a sentimental attachment to the liturgical patterns of the past, which portray God in pre-Copernican terms, as an external being, living above the sky, possessing supernatural power, who enjoys being flattered (we call it praise in church) and who is moved when we human beings grovel like slaves before this deity on our knees, begging for mercy, does not shield us from the fact that this God is no longer believable. That God will never be resuscitated. Our only choice is to accept this deicide or to transform, in a radical way, what the word God means. My presence at the gathering of the American Humanist Association made the choice quite clear. Christianity needs to have churches and clergy who understand the issues and who are prepared to address them.

John Shelby Spong

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National Inter Faith Week

Dear Friends

ational Interfaith Week, this year occurs between Sunday 13th and Sunday 20th November, for which the Birmingham Council of Faiths have again agreed to coordinate the Birmingham programme.

The aims of Interfaith Week are to strengthen interfaith relations at all levels; increase awareness of the different and distinct faith communities in the UK, in particular celebrating and building on the contribution which their members make to their neighbourhoods and to wider society; and to increase understanding between people of religious and non-religious beliefs.

In 2015 many kinds of organisations organised 12 very different activities in Interfaith Week (see the attached report). This year, we are keen to encourage even more organisations to take part, including faith communities; places of worship; community and voluntary groups; interfaith bodies; youth groups; education institutions; hospital chaplaincies; museums; City Council and businesses.

Some of the activities which have been successful in the past include interfaith discussions on topics of interest; exchange visits between different places of worship; open days in places of worship; interfaith walks visiting different faith buildings en route; events focusing around food; faith school open days; Student Union events to consider the environment or other topical subjects; seminars focusing on health issues; and many more.

We are keen to ensure that activities are coordinated to avoid duplication and that they are publicised, including insertion on the Birmingham Faith Map, and appropriate websites. It is not too early to start thinking about organising an activity. Please contact us to discuss your suggestion, or if you are at the planning stage please send the details to Dr Peter & Mrs Jean Rookes, Birmingham Council of Faiths, c/o BVSC, 138 Digbeth, B5 6DR.e-mail pjrookes@gmail.com, or phone 0121 477 2282 or 077 033 360 88.

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Please send your contribution for next month’s Journey to the Editor, Mrs. Pat Davies, The Church @ Carrs Lane, Carrs Lane, Birmingham, B4 7SX

or by email to office@carrslane.co.uk.

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Energy and Freedom Part 2 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INITIATIVES Individual governments are making their own significant investments in attaining Sustainable Energy for All objectives. US AID’s Power Africa initiative has attracted commitments of $43 billion from over 120 public and private sector partnerships from around the world. The UK’s DFID Energy Africa Campaign concentrates on solar energy and small-scale off-grid systems: “Together with African governments, investors, businesses, NGOs, think tanks and other donors, DFID will work to increase investment in off-grid energy firms, overcome regulatory barriers, foster innovation, and accelerate delivery of solar energy systems to households across Africa. The French Development Agency, AFD, noted that since 2007 it had invested 6.8 billion Euros in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects around the world. Many nations are investing in research and development for electricity generated by renewable resources such as wind, sun and tide. The whole question of reliable storage of electricity is especially important in this area, because incorporating this power into the grid is complicated by the potentially large variability in output that these sources produce. So it becomes important to find ways to store this energy and release it in predictable amounts when it is needed. The Paris Climate Change conference saw the launch of Mission Innovation, a coalition of 20 governments each of which committed to double its investment during the next five years in research and development of clean energy technologies. This public support for a revolution in renewable and sustainable energy sources is linked with the Breakthrough Energy Coalition of 28 leading global entrepreneurs, investors, philanthropists and businesses who have made a commitment to invest ‘patient capital’ to develop technologies that draw on the research coming out of the Mission Innovation labs. This is more than business as usual – the Breakthrough Coalition’s goal is to invest in ways that stimulate a diversity of innovative approaches, only some of which will ever be expected to become operational and profitable. NEW ECONOMICS INITIATIVES Part of the Energy for All focus is concentrated on a massive expansion of small-scale, locally managed networks and grids delivering clean, renewable energy to fuel households, local services and businesses – and a new generation of cars, trucks, planes and buses. In this approach the impetus to provide energy for all is combined with a focus on enhancing democracy and freedom, particularly in economically disadvantaged communities. Micro solar, wind or hydro power stations are being developed by small, locally-based companies as well as cooperatives, community-owned plants, home-based systems and local or national government-owned facilities. Writing in The Guardian Anna Leidreiter notes that renewable energies have the potential to contribute to a more equal distribution of wealth. “The fossil fuel-based energy system is characterised by complex, centralised infrastructures where the fuel is transported to the power plant, and energy production and distribution is

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controlled by very few entities. The supply chain is vertical, and the benefits are shared only among a few stakeholders. Most renewable energies offer opportunities for more decentralised energy production and consumption. They have a horizontal supply chain and require innovation in infrastructure and energy markets. New stakeholders – including citizens, farmers and small businesses – are entering the system. They claim ownership rights and have direct impacts on the implementation.” Frankfurt in Germany is leading the way as it implements a plan to produce 100% of its energy consumption from local and regional renewable sources. In a district of 1 million people, Kasese, Uganda, international NGO’s are supporting a local plan to provide a mix of locally generated and maintained renewable energies to all by 2020. Only 7% of the population had access to the electricity grid and the vast majority used firewood and charcoal for cooking and kerosene for lighting. Since the project began in 2012, 50 clean energy businesses have started. The New Internationalist reports: “Renewable energy co-operatives have hundreds of thousands of members and are building and installing their own solar, wind and small-scale hydro projects from Indonesia to Costa Rica. They own three-quarters of Denmark’s wind turbines, and are growing rapidly in Spain, Britain and elsewhere; in Germany, more than half of renewable electricity generation is owned by citizens, co-operatives and community groups.” FUTURE POSSIBILITIEST There is today a massive investment of creativity, will, political and economic resources in meeting the vision of a future world powered by sustainable energy available to all people everywhere. The intensity of this investment and the depth of understanding of exactly what can be done to achieve this vision in the next 15 years suggests that we are on the verge of a new energy era. An examination of new research into subtle energy fields, drawing on the wisdom of the perennial philosophies of east and west, suggests that there may still be much more to unfold before 2030. Unleashing the Genie: Free Energy? Following on these positive developments in sustainable energy projects, we turn now to the question posed in the introduction to this newsletter as to what would individuals, groups and nations do, if energy suddenly became essentially free? Most people would probably experience two reactions. The first is incredulity at the idea; the second is a growing amazement at the implications for the individual, for the whole of humanity and for all life on earth. Incredulity arises because the concept of ‘free’ energy seems to contravene the laws of thermodynamics. There is also the fact that history is awash with the ideas and designs for perpetual motion machines proposed by deluded eccentrics and amateur engineers. Nevertheless the esoteric thread in many spiritual traditions proposes the existence of a realm of subtle energies beyond the physical, sometimes called the etheric. This suggests that the theory of free energy is sound and that, in time, devices powered in this way will be invented, developed and available to all. A PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE. The entire global trade and financial system at present thrives on manipulated

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desire, leading to increased consumption. Anyone who takes their own spiritual growth in hand becomes very familiar in their own life with the principles and effects of this problem. We can draw encouragement from the fact that the common experience is that eventually the higher values prevail and the person emerges stronger, more decentralised and an active force for good in their environment. However, it may take decades of soul culture and education in right relationships fostered in a global environment of goodwill, tolerance and relative peace for this personal recognition to translate into a world-wide achievement. Therefore we should regard any new energy discoveries as giving us a breathing space to direct humanity’s feet onto a better path. A GEO-POLITICAL PERSPECTIVE The outcome for a humanity emancipated from the chains of dependence on fossil fuels could be wonderful. Would the fear that is currently leading to a ‘Fortress Europe’ and ‘Fortress America’ mentality, for example, gradually evaporate? Could we see power groupings or blocs emerging that embody a more de-centralised psychology which sees the world as a whole, and that will desire to raise human ethical and living standards and promote a culture of helpfulness and service? This is the challenge for humanity at this time.

Gentle puzzle for the summer – Solution 1. Was Jon ahead in the rankings before Jo began to improve and Joe left? 2. Although I am ostensibly a competent actor, I always just act silly whenever she’s there. 3. After I fell into the huge rut heavily, I suffered from chronic lesions and dismal aching in my limbs. 4. On appro, man seized a fortune and lent it us, although he keeps almsgiving to a minimum. 5. The judge’s summing-up gave the academic a heart-stopping moment while the bibliophile monopolised the relevant legal volumes. 6. Let nothing mar Ken’s dream: he brews an excellent ale with those absolutely top quality ingredients. 7. Martinez ran a successful little business baking sponge cakes with jam, especially chosen for the product. 8. While she operated a puppet erratically Edna hummed a catchy tune that was number seven in the hit parade. a) There is only one here, but Ezekiel encountered many more. (4) – Bone b) These can be welcoming or dangerous. (4) – Arms c) Watch that they don’t become detached – or can you?!! (7) – Retinas d) We don’t really need them, but they cause trouble if they become infected. (7) – toNsils e) They can be up, down or on, and even on another part of the body. (5) – hAnds f) Sometimes they’re mopped, and are often associated with another body part. (5) – Brows g) This may seem corny, but sometimes we claim to be completely made of them. (4) – eArs h) They can go up, they can go down, and sometimes they need a lift. (6) – thumbS Final Answer: BARNABAS

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Commitment for Life (from Moving Stories 193 and 194)

Yasmin, 12: “I want to be a doctor – to help others as I have been helped” *Yasmin greets me with a shy but engaging smile. Living in Gaza she has endured more suffering than any 12 year old I’ve ever met, but an air of optimism and child-like joy still surround her. She starts by telling me that she loves school, and she’s currently missing her favourite subject, Arabic language. I’m interviewing Yasmin in the only hospital in Gaza run by Christians. It’s a bustling, vibrant place with doctors and patients mingling together in waiting rooms, treatment rooms, and in the gardens that are providing rest for the many waiting to see someone. Here you feel that patients and doctors know each other, and that there is a friendship as well as professional relationship between many. Yasmin has been receiving care here since the war in Gaza last summer, when her neighbour’s home was hit by an Israeli missile. She was sitting in a circle with her cousins – chatting and laughing as young people do, when the explosion happened. “I don’t remember much,” she tells me. “I remember that we were talking, and then my body lifted off the ground. I felt like I was flying through the air, and then I hit the ground and all went black. I woke up in hospital a day later and just remember seeing my parents’ faces. My mother was crying.” The explosion had caused fractures to Yasmin’s left arm and left leg. She arrived at the Al Ahli hospital unconscious, and doctors immediately performed an operation on her leg, and put her arm in a cast. Since then she has had two more operations, and 6 months of physiotherapy to regain the strength in her arm and leg. Yasmin has recovered, and is back at school full time. She wants to train to be a doctor, in America. She’s quick to reassure me that she wants to come back to Gaza to help others as she has been helped. Despite her physical recovery, the psychological effects of the war are lingering. Her mother tells me that she is angry, and doesn’t want to listen to the news or talk about what happened. She, like many parents, is worried about her daughter’s mental health. “We worry about our children. This is our third war in six years. We have all lost children, or seen them injured like Yasmin. What does this do to them? They are not living a normal life here.” Yasmin’s story is all too common in Gaza. The challenge for our Christian partners like the Al Ahli hospital is how to provide hope and stability when so often those things are out of their control. Over the coming months we’ll be listening to these voices from Gaza, and exploring how we can campaign to support an end to the violence and uncertainty in Gaza. *Name has been changed. Permission given http://www.kairosbritain.org.uk/ Statistics OCHRA (United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) reports that tensions along the Gaza-Israel border have been on the rise since 4 May, involving a series of attacks by Palestinian armed groups and the Israeli army; a Palestinian woman was killed and four other Palestinian civilians, including three children, and an Israeli soldier, were injured, according to initial media reports. To read more facts from the last month go to http://www.ochaopt.org/poc26april-2may-2016.aspx

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Update on the Cremisan Valley. The building of the barrier is taking place at an alarming rate. The agricultural gate is now in place so, in future, landowners trying to cultivate their land in the Cremisan Valley will need to apply for a special access permit to pass through these gates. A crane began lowering 12-metre concrete slabs into place in the Cremisan Valley, near Bethlehem in occupied Palestine, on the 6th April, marking the final phase of construction of an extension to the Israeli separation barrier. The concrete slabs are creeping down both sides of the valley and will soon meet in the middle. (The barrier slabs are 4 metres taller than those in other areas). On the 10th of April an archaeological site discovered in February, which included olive presses that date back to Byzantine time, was flattened. The World Council of Churches, through its Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), has been alongside the affected Palestinian community in the valley, both Christian and Muslim, throughout their legal struggle to stop the construction. Please write to your elected representatives and foreign ministers asking them to put pressure on the government of Israel to:

immediately stop the construction of the Separation Barrier through the Cremisan Valley,

dismantle the sections of the Barrier already constructed on all occupied Palestinian territory, and

replant the uprooted olive trees and compensate farmers who have lost trees. For more information read a blog on the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel blog. https://blog.eappi.org/2016/04/26/a-timeline-how-the-separation-barrier-came-to-the-cremisan-valley/ World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel - 18-24 September 2016 A postcard, from the UK planning group, advertising the week is now available at http://paxchristi.org.uk/campaigns/israel-and-palestine/world-week-for-peace-in-pi/. This page also has links to resources on the PIEF international website.

“God has broken the dividing walls (Ephesians 2:14)” #Dismantling barriers

The Palestine Israel Ecumenical Forum (PIEF) of the World Council of Churches invites member churches around the world to join together in 2016 for a week of advocacy and action in support for a just peace for all in Palestine and Israel. The week will focus on the barriers that separate peoples and families in Palestine and Israel. It is recommended that extra focus be placed on four barriers undermining efforts to establish a just peace in Palestine and Israel: the separation barrier, checkpoints, the ongoing situation in the Gaza strip, and settlements. 1. Praying with churches living under occupation, using a special prayer from Jerusalem and other worship resources prepared for the week. 2. Educating about actions that make for peace and about facts on the ground that do not create peace, especially related to separation and barriers. 3. Advocating with political leaders using ecumenical policies that promote peace with justice.

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Garth Hewitt Garth Hewitt, singer, song writer and Anglican priest is appearing in a concert tour entitled ‘Hidden from View’ during the summer. To find out more visit http://www.garthhewitt.org/category/garth-hewitt/events/ or phone 07976 360844 His new book, “Occupied Territories, the Revolution of Love from Bethlehem to the Ends of the Earth” has been published recently. “This is a book of love written by a loving man who sees injustice to the poor with the eye and heart of a poet. Garth Hewitt is a singer, composer and song writer as well as a theologian. This book just sings his message of love. I highly recommend it as a study book for personal spiritual insight and for Christian congregations everywhere.” James L. Pike, Retired Pastor, The Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Trip The Amos Trust is organising ‘The Palestine Experience’ in August 2016. People will work alongside local Palestinian refugees. Please visit www.amostrust.org

What is the Haifa Initiative? The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel, UK and Ireland, has an initiative whereby Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) and members of a synagogue in Haifa spend a weekend together. The EAs share in the Shabbat service and then are hosted for a meal with an Israeli family connected to a synagogue in Haifa. The aim is to meet on a human level and hear about each other’s lives and experiences. The host families get a briefing paper that explains that the programme works non-violently to end the occupation, underpinned by principles of international law and human rights law. The EAs get a briefing paper on the synagogue, the educational centre it is part of, and the motivations of the families involved. Here the UK/Ireland National Coordinator reflects: “We have seen that both Israeli families and EAs gain a deeper understanding of each other, and of their own experiences.” “When I see the look in an EA’s eyes, I have to believe what they tell me … even if I don’t want to,” commented one Israeli Jewish woman who hosted an EA for a weekend. Should she believe what an EA was telling her about what they had seen in the West Bank? It didn’t fit with what she thought she knew. Many Israelis find it hard to understand why some in the international community are critical of their government’s policies. But when EAs become house guests for a weekend the Israeli hosts graciously put themselves out of their comfort zone to hear some of the realities of an EA’s work. EAs also say that meeting Israelis on a human level has helped their understanding – of the pride Israelis have in their country; of the fear they experience in a way that is real to them; of the dilemmas facing parents as their children do their military service.

Contributed by Wendy Firmin

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On This Day … From the Chronicle of the London Missionary Society July 1916 The following passage may not describe what we might think of as ‘holidays’, but perhaps the idea of a change of air and thought, with cheerful company, while enjoying pleasant surroundings and learning something about a variety of mission work from a number of evidently distinguished speakers really does justify the obvious popularity of the Summer Schools. Holidays in War Time Probably no one has ever needed change of air and thought, with cheerful company, so much as this year; a Summer School provides both. It is in no sense a school of hard work. The best recommendation for the schools is that those who have been once are the first to register for the new ones. The Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, where Milton Mount College has found a temporary home during the war, stands on the flank of the Cotswolds. The front faces south, and commands a distant view of the uplands of North Wiltshire. The large grounds include Tennis and Fives Courts and a Botanical Garden. Near at hand is the beautiful Park of the Earl of Bathurst, which is open to the members of the School. Cirencester is but two and a quarter hours by rail from Paddington (15s. 4d. return), two hours from Birmingham (11s. return), and one hour from Gloucester (4s. return). From August 5 to 12 Baptists and Congregationalists join, and a most attractive programme has been planned. Speakers include Dr. Lavington Hart, Principal Emeritus of the Anglo Chinese College, Tientsin (President); Revs A. Baxter (Canton), Nelson Bitton (Home Sec.), Kendal Gale (Madagascar), J. I. Macnair (Gooty), Hugh Martin (Student Christian Movement), E. A. Preston, Miss F. Goodwin (B.M.S., Miss Vera E. Walker and Mr. H. L. Hemmens (B.M.S.). The special theme will be “The Church in the Mission Field,” but there will be ample time given to the Home Base problems which are specially confronting the churches just now. The week following that of the United Societies the L.M.S. has its own school, August 12 -19. The speakers will be Revs S. Nicholson, of Jammalamadugu (President), A. W. MacMillan (Gopigan), G. Parker (Travancore), E. J. Price (Professor, Bradford College), E. A. Preston, Miss Winifred Coxon (Hankow), Miss M. L. Link, and others. Here, as in the previous week, the Home Base Conferences will be so arranged that all may be able to see the various sides of the work. Every afternoon is free for tennis, walks, rambles, and other recreation; cyclists are invited to bring cycles. The inclusive fee per week for board and lodging is according to room: Few special rooms ; Cubicles (these are quite separate and equal to single rooms);Two-bedded rooms; Three-bedded rooms; Four (or more) A fee of 5s. must be paid when registering but this will be deducted from the above fees, which may, if preferred, be paid in advance. Registrations should be as early as possible, and must be before July 15; applications are coming in daily, and it is not expected there will be many rooms vacant after that date. The registration from on the cover of this number should be used.

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From the Carrs Lane Journal July 1966 UDI and The Rhodesian crisis was big news back then, but the content of the Appeal is still valid for today’s situations. Appeal to the people of Rhodesia (by members in Rhodesia of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation) The Appeal declares that the I.F.O.R . recognises racial differences as part of God’s creation, but racial prejudice as “part of man’s sinfulness.” It goes on: “The current crisis has accelerated a breakdown in communications between people of various groups, and increased hatred and suspicion, not only within the country but outside it.” “Whatever our political future may be, we believe that there can be no peace and progress until we recognise our interdependence and live as one people. We do not believe there is any salvation in a return to “normality,” to the state of affairs existing before 11th November, 1965.m we believe it can only come if we make a new start and create an entirely new kind of society. Our present difficulties have arisen because too many of us have aimed first at a life of ease and pleasure, of power and profit, corrupted by racial pride and prejudice.” Believing that no political system of itself can “produce a society where justice, civilisation and Christianity will be honoured,” the appeal is made to Rhodesians to think about a “new society.” The FOR appeals to all Rhodesians “to take heed of the appeals of church leaders to show a spirit of reconciliation in our divided community,” such as the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Plea for Peace and the resolution of the Christian Council of Rhodesia calling for forgiving, reconciling and healing work in Christ’ name. Rhodesians are asked to pursue their callings “in a spirit of service to others, rather than as a means of personal profit, power or advancement,” to realise that they can go forward only as one people – “sectional advancement and discrimination ultimately retard the progress of each one of us” – and in all business, professional, political and social relationship always “to show respect for others, regardless of their acts, opinions, race, religion or culture, remembering that they are our brothers in Christ.” The Appeal concludes with three calls to Rhodesians – “courageously to champion the cause of the oppressed, victims of injustice, and the underprivileged, regardless of the sacrifice entailed,” and “actively to promote personal contact and communication between those who differ in our community either in their own homes or in the various social groups of which we are members, and to resist all discriminatory practices based on race, religion or nationality in whatever spheres they may exist.” Finally, it calls for Rhodesians to realise “as individuals our social responsibilities, and actively to work for social justice and righteousness in the community. Christians especially cannot leave it to others; we are our brother’s keeper. Those who eschew political activity do so in vain; their very inactivity can allow justice to go by default.”

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The Appeal finishes with a plea for people in Rhodesia to show “active, intelligent goodwill to others, which is the beginning of what Christians call love.” From the Carrs Lane Journal August 1916 It had been proposed to devote some space each month to news of Carrs Laners at the Front. Although it seems unlikely that any of the names mentioned will be familiar to today’s readers, let us remember that these people are still known to God. This extract is offered as a tribute to the courage and steadfastness of all the Carrs Laners and their families whose news might have featured. It reflects quite rightly a variety of news, ranks and areas of service. Carrs Laners at the Front Mr. and Mrs. Pratt, of St. Luke’s Road, Balsall Heath, recently had news that their son, who was a well-known figure in the Carrs Lane Choir, was missing, and the news was followed later by a message that he was killed in action. On the same day when this was announced from the pulpit a letter came from him saying that he was safe, but a prisoner in Germany. The coincidence was a strange one, but we rejoice with Mr. and Mrs. Pratt at its happy result. Two members of the Young Men’s Morning Class have been wounded, and are doing well in the base Hospital at Rouen. Sergt. J. T. Eldridge, slightly wounded in the face, and Corpl. H. E. Holland slightly wounded in the left hand. Sergt. Eldridge was Superintendent of the Digbeth Primary School, and Corpl. Holland was taking the Young Men’s Afternoon Class at Dartmouth Street before the war. Private R. Akers was home on leave a few weeks ago. He looked very fit and hardened by his open-air life. 2nd Lieut. Alan Carr and 2nd Lieut. Grosvenor Clarke are with the Salonika Force. 2nd Lieuts. Henry and Firstbrooke Clarke, and 2nd Lieut. Tom Jones, R.E. have joined their regiments in France during the last fortnight. Sergt. W. M. Cooksey, R.E. (Chemists’ Section) has been in France for 12 months. He has taken an active part in the recent heavy fighting. Sergt. J. Danks has been awarded the D.C.M. Pte T. Harrison was gassed and is in hospital at Warrington. He is getting better, but progress is slow. 2nd Lieut. Donald Hurst has been invalided home. He has not recovered sufficiently from his operation last year to withstand the rigours of trench life. He is progressing satisfactorily. Pte Harry Marshall is somewhere in South Africa. Sergeant Gerald page is home on sick leave. He expects to return to France shortly. He has spent many months in the trenches. Pte W. B. Roberts of the Motor Transport Section, A.S.C., has been in France for five months. He is transporting big guns and munitions. Sergt. A. Sutton has recovered from his wounds and been awarded the D.C.M. From the Carrs Lane Journal August 1966 If you thought the sun always shone when you were young, think again!

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Junior Church Outing (Jane Savage) Saturday June 25th was the day or the primary department of Junior Church to go on their annual outing. The children had once more greed that they would like to go to Sutton Park, and at 1.30 we assembled at New Street Station, for we were to travel to the park by diesel train, the high spot of the afternoon. That was when it happened – “Down came the rain” – and it continued to do so all afternoon. We decided to go to the park in the hope that the rain would stop, and the children who were not as eager to give in to the elements as were the staff, decided that they would like to embark upon a boat ride around Blackroot pool. The rain seemed worse once the boat had started than it seemed before, and by the time we reached “dry” land again we were all soaked through. Wet and hungry, half our number piled into the car of our noble superintendent, Mr. Frank Greaves, who drove to the home of Mrs. Gray and then returned to collect the second load. While the children dried out in front of the fire, a picnic tea was prepared and we sat Chinese style, indoors, to eat. After a few games it was time to go and the children were returned safe and dry to their parents. Although the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves in spite of the weather, there were only seven who attended the outing, and it made me wonder whether the traditional outing had outlived its purpose. The children of Carrs Lane Junior Church have many outings with their parents, and do not need the Church to provide one, which after all was instituted to give poor children some time away from the town, a task which their parents could not perform. Food for thought, perhaps? Many thanks go to Mr. Frank Greaves, to Mrs. Gray, and last but not least to Miss Mary Moore, who not only organised the outing but also provided most of the picnic. What would have happened without them I dread to think.

A Child’s Prayer (L.N. Tedstone)

What friends did you have, Jesus, when you were here on earth? Did you know lots of girls and boys who came around to share your toys And did they make a lot of noise – Like me?

What toys did you have, Jesus, when you were here on earth ? Did dollies share your bed at night and did you hug them, oh! so tight? Was one doll black and one doll white – Like mine?

What games did you play, Jesus, when you were here on earth? Did you make angels out of clay, and tell them not to fly away, Because you wanted them next day – To play with?

Did you get tired, Jesus, when you were here on earth? When Mary saw you washed and fed, and at her knees your prayers you’d said Did you just tumble into bed – Like me?

Through my window stars are peeping, just to see if I’m a-peeping. Jesus, take me in thy keeping – Please.

Contributed by Wendy Firmin

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Summer Puzzle

Gentle Puzzle for the summer: Hidden in each of the 8 sentences below are the titles of three books of the Bible. After you have found them you can use some of

the letters to spell the names of parts of the human body – see a to h. Take the correct letter from each of these clues and you have the name of someone important in the story of the Apostle Paul, sometimes known as the Son of Consolation. 1. Was Jon ahead in the rankings before Jo began to improve and Joe left? 2. Although I am ostensibly a competent actor, I always just act silly whenever she’s there. 3. After I fell into the huge rut heavily, I suffered from chronic lesions and dismal aching in my limbs. 4. On appro, man seized a fortune and lent it us, although he keeps almsgiving to a minimum. 5. The judge’s summing-up gave the academic a heart-stopping moment while the bibliophile monopolised the relevant legal volumes. 6. Let nothing mar Ken’s dream: he brews an excellent ale with those absolutely top quality ingredients.

7. Martinez ran a successful little business baking sponge cakes with jam, especially chosen for the product. 8. While she operated a puppet erratically Edna hummed a catchy tune that was number seven in the hit parade. a) There is only one here, but Ezekiel encountered many more. (4) b) These can be welcoming or dangerous. (4) c) This may seem corny, but sometimes we claim to be completely made of them. (4) d) We don’t really need them, but they cause trouble if they become infected. (7) e) They can be up, down or on, and even on another part of the body. (5) f) Sometimes they’re mopped, and are often associated with another body part . (5) g) Our largest organ, and we share it with the animal and vegetable kingdoms (4) h) They can go up, they can go down, and sometimes they need a lift. (6)

Contributed by Wendy Firmin

A

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Kids Pages

Summer Maze

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Regular Activities at The Church at Carrs Lane

SUNDAYS

Morning Worship Every Sunday at 10.30am with Holy Communion on the first Sunday of the month

Children’s Church Sunday as advertised at 2.30pm

First Sunday Lunch First Sunday each month at 12.30pm

Church Meeting Second Sunday at 12 noon

Singing Group Third Sunday 9.45 – 10.15am

WEEK DAYS

Carrs Lane Lived Community meet for Prayers - Monday to Friday 7.30am and 7.00pm; all are welcome to join them

Lunchtime Healing Service Every Wednesday 1.15pm

Prayer Group First Wednesday at 7.00 pm

Thinking Allowed First Thursday at 10.15 am

Harborne House Group Fourth Tuesdays 2.00pm (various locations)

Central House Group at Carrs Lane Third Wednesdays at 6.30pm

Coffee Drop-in Fridays from 10.30am-12.00pm

Carrs Lane Choir Practice Fridays at 7.00pm

Carrs Lane Players (drama group) Fridays at 7.45 pm

Charity Knitting Circle First Tuesday 10.00 am - 1.00 pm

Carrs Lane Walking Group usually meets monthly, see notice board

Carrs Lane Fair Trade Shop Tuesday - Saturday 10.30 am - 2.30 pm and most Sundays after morning worship

Counselling Centre by appointment Monday & Wednesday 10am - 5pm; Tuesday & Thursday 10am – 7.30pm

Contact details for The Church at Carrs Lane

Carrs Lane, Birmingham, B4 7SX Telephone 0121 643 6151

Fax 0121 631 2118 www.carrslane.co.uk