Final service at St.John's Stone

Yesterday the 26th August 2012 saw the final worship for St. John's (Methodist / United Reformed) Church at Granville Terrace, Stone, and it was my honour to lead worship for over 150 people packed into St. John's to celebrate the past and thank God for the vision and faith of so any saints in the life of our fellowship.

Some people in our community have said we are closing our Church, which just isnt true; all we have done is close our buildings and moved out. And so it was very important that we didn't make our time together just about looking back because we know that God is still leading us on giving us vision faith and hope for the future of our Church.

We believe Church is not a building or a location; we know that Church is people sharing life and worship, living in the power of God's Spirit, called to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly before our God. Church is what we are when we live for Jesus, being transformed by Him so that through us others may find hope and love.

Last night we closed our buildings and God willing they will sell quickly and give us the funds we need to have our own premises again, we did not close a Church!

St. John's Stone is as alive and healthy as it has ever been. What's more St John's is growing.
We are a vibrant welcoming family Church and we move out of our buildings full of hope and faith. We worship next Sunday at our new temporary home at Walton Priory Middle School.

This new phase of our shared life together will be exciting and scary; moving out into the unknown always is.

A favourite song of mine at the moment is called 'Springsteen' by American singer Eric Church, and it contains this line 'its funny how a melody sounds like a memory' and how true a statement that is. Melodies, songs and hymns, readings, preachers even will all transport us back in our minds to the buildings and people we shared faith with at Granville Terrace. There are bound to be tears and sadness as we remember, but through all of these experiences we will be held by the hands of our God who calls us to journey with Him.

St. John's is on the move, God is leading out and on.

So will you pray for us as we go; that God would hold us tightly and fill us with His Spirit, and that joy would fill us as our Church begins this new life in Walton Priory Middle School.

God bless you

Revd. Neil

I write this piece on the evening of the 23rd August 2012. This morning the Independent newspaper had the front page below, with the main story being about Chris Mahoney the Director of agriculture trading at Glencore, the worlds largest commodity trading company. Mr Mahoney has said this about the current global food crisis and soaring food prices ‘The environment is a good one. High prices, lots of volatility, a lot of dislocation, tightness, a lot of arbitrary opportunities . . .  We will be able to provide the world with solutions . . . and that should be good for Glencore.’

In short he thinks the fact that people are literally starving to death because of the global food crisis is a good thing because the company he works for will make more profit. 

This moment of startling honesty reveals the horrible consequences of a society where greed and the pursuit of money is the only thing that motivates. 

Alongside this report was a colour photograph of a malnourished infant in Southern Niger and the news that aid agencies are desperately trying to find food in West Africa to try to avert mass starvation. 

If there is to be the kind of justice for the poor that the Bible tells us is so close to the heart of God, then we have to find a way to bring compassion, justice and decency into the market place. 

What really made me angry though today wasn't just this story, it was the other front pages I saw at the newsagents; all of them seemed to think a story about Prince Harry being in a state of undress in private and inside a hotel room was much more important. 

To be perfectly honest I couldn't care less about what Prince Harry gets up to in his own time behind locked doors. It is not important especially when there are so many really horrific things going on that we ignore because we are so tuned into trivia. 

I wish the press were more responsible, more a force for good. 

I wish we didn't spend so much time focusing on who is wearing what and who is sleeping with who, and instead focus on the righteous anger of God that would burn within us when we see the mess humanity has made of this planet. 

The Prince Harry news is nothing more than chewing gum for the soul, it is completely irrelevant. 

If only we got passionate about starving children and spoke up against the greed and love of money that is rotting our society from within. 

Reflecting on this experience today, I couldn't help but think of how often in Church we are in danger of doing likewise; getting hot under the collar about things that are unimportant and trivial, while turning a blind eye to the real issues and challenges around us. 

I won’t forget Mr Mahoney in a hurry. I won’t forget the evil that burns in the heart of human beings who see starving people and respond by rubbing their hands together with glee because more money can be made out of misery, death and destruction. 

I pray that God’s anger would motivate us all to work for God’s Kingdom of justice, peace, compassion and mercy in our community and in places like West Africa too. 

Neil

Church

Sometimes words can mean different things to different people. Church is one such word.

Just a few days ago now we issued a press release explaining that our St Johns Church in Stone had taken the decision to put its premises up for sale. Though there is deep sadness because there are so many memories tied up in those bricks and mortar, there is also a real sense of relief and excitement.

We know that God is with us and is leading us to a place where we will be able at last to live out our Christian faith without feeling like we are using all our energy to prop up a building that is beyond economic repair; a building which will never be able to meet our needs for this and future generations.

You see we know that Church premises are there only to serve the purpose of the Church, and when they stop doing that and become a huge obstacle to us being Church we know the time has come to move away.

The problem with this word Church is that we use it to describe the people of God while others think it only means the building!

One person came to me having heard our news and said they were very sad that St John’s Church was closing down; I tried to explain that we were moving not closing but I am not sure they understood because for them this word Church was tied so completely to one suite of buildings.

St John’s you see is not closing it is growing!  We are seeing new people come and join us, our worship is vibrant, our fellowship alive, caring and loving, our passion for Jesus and our community burning strong.

For us Church is not a building or tradition or music or leadership, though all of those can be good things, but you could take all of them away and Church will still be there; Church is the people of God gathered in His name to worship and seeking to live out His life in the world.

At St Johns we are following in the footsteps of all of God’s pilgrim people, called to leave behind that which might hold us back and press on towards the goal.

God has a mission for us at St Johns and I know that He does for all of you reading this now in your various communities. It is a simple yet vital plan, to plug into what God is doing in a Church community, to be part of a small group where your faith will grow, and then to live out that faith with your passions and gifts driving you on as you share your faith and live for God. Our communities need us to take seriously that calling, when we do we really are being Church.

I wish everyone could see St Johns in the way we do – not as a town landmark, or a Church building with a history, but as a vibrant growing fellowship with a future because we travelling on this pilgrim journey with a mission from God!

Statement re the decision to sell the building of St John’s Church, Stone The Revd. J Neil Adams, minister of St John’s Church, Stone says: “On Sunday, 20 May, the congregation of St John’s Church, voted to leave its current building on Granville Terrace Stone, and put it up for sale. We have asked the West Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church to sell the property for us – and are now looking for an alternative temporary venue to worship in while we wait to see where our permanent home will be. “The decision to sell the building has the total support of both of the church’s parent denominations: The Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church. It was not an easy decision to make but we feel it was the right one. “For many years the congregation at St Johns has struggled to maintain the premises adequately – and it has estimated that the cost of renovation would exceed the value of the property. We would need to spend almost a million pounds on essential repairs, and much more than this to modernise the building fully. Like almost everyone else, our overheads are stretching us to breaking point – and we simply cannot afford to keep the building on. “We believe that the people are the Church not the buildings – and the great news is St John’s is growing and thriving and is looking forward to living out its calling as the faithful people of God in its community.” The Revd. J Neil Adams, minister of St John’s Church, Stone 30 May 2012

The Revd. J Neil Adams, minister of St John’s Church, Stone says: “On Sunday, 20 May, the congregation of St John’s Church, voted to leave its current building on Granville Terrace Stone, and put it up for sale.  We have asked the West Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church to sell the property for us – and are now looking for an alternative temporary venue to worship in while we wait to see where our permanent home will be. 

“The decision to sell the building has the total support of both of the church’s parent denominations: The Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church.  It was not an easy decision to make but we feel it was the right one. 

“For many years the congregation at St Johns has struggled to maintain the premises adequately – and it has estimated that the cost of renovation would exceed the value of the property.  We would need to spend almost a million pounds on essential repairs, and much more than this to modernise the building fully.  Like almost everyone else, our overheads are stretching us to breaking point – and we simply cannot afford to keep the building on.

“We believe that the people are the Church not the buildings – and the great news is St John’s is growing and thriving and is looking forward to living out its calling as the faithful people of God in its community.”

The Revd. J  Neil Adams, minister of St John’s Church, Stone

30 May 2012

The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama when asked what surprised him most about humanity answered,‘Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.’

I read that quote this week and not for the first time was struck by the deep wisdom of this man. Too often we do exactly that, we miss the beauty of the moment because we can’t stop fretting about tomorrow and the great god of our world, the pursuit of money and things.

We tread over others in our race for bigger better faster shinier things; our families often paying the cost of our commitment to work and bettering ourselves because we are never truly there for them.

Reading this quote made me reflect on the number of times I have spent hours visiting those facing the prospect of their death. I hear so often of opportunities to be still and spend time with loved ones lost, of the endless pursuit of stuff and things so thoroughly irrelevant now that death looms large.

Why don’t we notice the futility of the rat race that our lives become sooner I wonder?

Why do we build palaces on the sand of things that will pass away instead of upon that which will last forever?

Hear the challenge today to stop running around and wasting the opportunity God has given you to live for the moment. As we prepare for the summer make the most of every chance to live simply and humbly before God; take time to smell the freshly mown grass, to hear the children playing, to stop and admire the beauty all around us.

In simple blessings such as these you will find the heart of heaven, if you slow down long enough to notice it right in front of you.

God bless you

Revd Neil

Julian of Norwich

This year instead of following a set of Bible readings during Lent, I led a series of studies thinking about the spirituality of Julian of Norwich.

Julian was a remarkable woman who lived 1342 –1416. She is one of the most important of the English Mystics, though not much is known about her, not even her real name before she entered holy orders.  She lived on her own in a small room attached to a parish church in Carrow just outside Norwich.

Julian had a series of visions on what she believed was her death bed when she was in her early 30’s about the depths of God’s unconditioned love for us. She wrote them down, though they were not read widely or considered important, and it is believed they were forgotten about for around 600 years.

One of her most famous lines was the focus of our thinking in holy week. ‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’.

If you come to this though, without knowing something of Julian’s very positive all-encompassing vision of God’s love and grace for all creation, then it makes no sense at all. It sounds hollow – another ‘don’t worry be happy everything will be ok’ bland throwaway line, but this is anything but that. This is Julian’s faith – whatever happens to us we remain enfolded in love and cherished by God.

For Julian the struggles pains and sorrows of life are not ignored, but they are seen through the prism of faith in a God who is love.  Suffering is not a punishment inflicted by God – God loves and saves – ‘All shall be well’ reflects this theology.

Julian wrestled with real life just as we do, she lived in difficult times and experienced deep sadness, but she also knew the depth of God’s love and His faithfulness.  Julian’s positive outlook does not ignore suffering, but her complete picture of God is big enough to hold suffering and pain in tension with faith and hope.

One of the most important things we have talked about during our time this Lent has been the nature of God; Julian referred to God as Mother as well as Father, she called Jesus Mother too.  We thought long and hard about how difficult that was, but also about how important it is to move beyond just using traditional strong male images to describe God like Father, Lord or Almighty.

The Easter story reminds us so powerfully that if our imagery and language is to be whole then it has to contain too something of the vulnerability of our God and the lengths to which Love goes that we might know we are never alone. Part of the revelation of God brought to us in and through Jesus is that God is willing to walk steadfastly toward Jerusalem, towards suffering, rejection and death; His life laid down so that we might know God’s love now and forever.

Of course that vision of Saviour and Messiah was at odds with the Messiah imagery back then for many and remains difficult for some now, but how can we ever enter into relationship with God if we cannot know He is present in the humiliation of the cross?

‘All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well’ is embedded in the knowledge of the faithfulness of God suffering and dying, so shamefully crucified. It is a wisdom that has brought encouragement to me in difficult days and it will I am sure do so in the future.

God is love and His love is ours in Christ; in the light of that we all can know that all shall be well. I pray that if you are walking in difficult paths today that you would know with a real profound certainty that God holds you and always will.

God bless you

Neil Adams

St Johns Newsletter March 2012

During Lent we focus our minds on the journey Jesus made through his ministry towards the cross and eventually the empty tomb of Easter. It is a journey that begins on Ash Wednesday where we confess that we fail and fall short and that we rely completely upon God's grace. That humility is a prerequisite for true faith; you cannot believe you know everything about God and still worship Him, if you could that would make you by definition bigger than God which wont do at all!

Humility and openness to new revelation was sorely lacking amongst most of the religious people in Jesus day. They thought they had their knowledge of who God was and what He was like all nailed down. They knew quite clearly whose side God was on and who He rejected. 

So when Jesus came along and ate with sinners and called tax collectors to follow Him and embraced lepers and welcomed women with questionable pasts to touch Him they didnt know what to do with Him. His behaviour and ministry challenged their assumptions about God's character and love, and He was rejected as mad bad and dangerous to know. 

Today we live in the light of God's revelation of grace and love in and through Jesus; we know that God has revealed that none are beyond the scope of His redemptive love, but please lets not get to think we have all the information we need to understand God. That of course is exactly the sin of those religious folk that first Easter time, who rejected God in Jesus because He didnt look or sound anything like they thought God should. 

In our Lent course looking at Julian of Norwich we have been challenged to think more deeply about the nature of this God who constantly is at work amongst us. We have thought long and hard about how little we truly can ever understand or nail down about the nature of this God who creates women and men in His image. We have recognised that all the titles we use to describe God are limited and in a way unsatisfactory.  

So lets continue to be stretched and challenged; please allow God to constantly be about His business of recreation and revelation within you, or else you too will fall away from the new thing God might need to be doing in your life just like those religious folk were when Jesus came. 

God bless you this Easter time

Revd Neil