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

Circuit blog

I am coming up to my 29 birthday as a Christian and I still remember so much of that Saturday night in Hockley Pentecostal Church when I made a decision to accept Jesus as Lord. I am so glad that God took a hold of me all those years ago.

Yet really my journey of faith began well before then, well before that moment when I choose to accept Jesus.

It began in a way with Maggie who pestered me about the faith she had in Jesus during my time a Dudley College and wouldn’t let up until I came with her to the Christian Union and eventually a few weeks later to that service in Hockley.  

But years before the journey started when as a very young child I heard of the hope of Jesus at the Sunday School we were sent to by my non-Christian parents.

After my ordination my mom told me that it began years before that, with prayers and a prophecy shared over me by my grandparents neighbour who worshipped at the local Methodist Church and told my mom when I was just a few days old that God had plans for me and that I would serve Him as a minister in the church. If only she had told me sooner, like when I was wrestling with my call to ministry!

God always reaches out to us, laying opportunities before us over and over and over again, longing that we might hear His love song and turn to Him.

Yet really where the journey begins isn’t anywhere near as important as how well it goes after we are out of the starting blocks. As Christians we of all people should recognise that we are not meant to stand still and stay the same, yet sometimes we do get caught up in how things start and forget that we are called to work out our faith, to walk with Jesus, to be changed.  

Sometimes as Churches we make the same kind of mistakes looking back more than we look forward, and missing opportunities for new  fresh ways for today.

All of God’s people are called to grow, develop and be changed so that day by day we are more like Jesus.

I pray that we all might use these days of Lent to ask God to give you a real sense of His presence and as His Sprit fills you, may you take more steps towards becoming the people God called us to be.

Don’t be content with who you are, don’t sit back and think Church is yet as it should be, we are meant to be growing and changing!

God bless you  

Neil

Prayers for Advent 2011 - used in 3 of my Churches to pray for God's leading

Advent Prayers 2011

Hosea 6:3 (NLV)

So keep on trying to know the Lord. His coming to us is as sure as the rising of the sun.

He will come to us like the rain, like rain giving water to the earth.

Prayer

Light stirs through the rain clouds

I remember your deep love,

I long for your warmth.

Sunshine and rain

Wake seeds deep within me,

I hunger for light.

Light of God living water

Heal me, refresh me, make me anew.

Each day make time to be still, to listen for God’s voice and prepare for His coming. Pray that God would open your eyes:

-         to see yourself as He sees you: loved so much that Jesus came to shower you with grace.

-         to see our community through His eyes: the opportunities for service that God has laid before us, and to awaken vision within us.

Week 1

A candle burns the sign of our hope.

God of hope, come to us again this Advent.

May your hope live within us, burning as bright as a light in our lives.

Pray that God would open your eyes to those who live without hope in our community. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you afresh and surprise you with hope.

Week 2

A candle burns the sign of your Word.

God of the prophets, come to us again this Advent.

May your Word be a lamp to our feet, and a light on our path.

Pray this week that God would give us fresh vision for our community and this fellowship.  Ask the Holy Spirit who gave vision to the prophets to give us the courage they had as they walked in fresh paths for God. Pray God would give us strength to follow where He leads, even if that means there are things we need to change.

Week 3

A candle burns the sign of our faith.

God of the baptising one come to us again this Advent.

May we have faith that renews our lives, may we live in the light of your promises.

Pray this week that God would continue to renew your life. As you seek the reforming renewing power of God’s grace for yourself ask God to fill you with a passion for those in our community who do not yet live in the light of His love. May we dream Kingdom dreams and see visions of God breaking through into the driest places.

Week 4

A candle burns the sign of your love.

God of Mary, come to us again this Advent.

May the light of your love be born anew in us.

Pray this week that God’s grace that led Jesus to live amongst us and serve us, shows us clearly what it means to be good news for our community and beyond. May the Spirit of Jesus fill you with dreams & visions of how we can live among and serve our community.

Christmas week

A candle burns the last of our Advent journey.

As we arrive at our journeys end may we arrive with wonder and worship.

Pray this week that God would continue to work deep within us long beyond this season. Pray that God who inspires His people always be on the move; in our worshipping and our sharing with this community that we may be inspired and relevant. Pray that we might have wisdom as we plan our way forward.

Prayers – Revd. J Neil Adams November 2011

Light stirs through the rain - Annie Heppenstall-West

A Candle burns - David Hamflett

Candles and Conifers (Wild Goose Publications - Iona Books)

New Mission Statement for St John's Stone

Sharing the love of Jesus

Shaped by God’s presence

Making a difference in our community

We believe God’s undeserved favour and love has been poured out on us and our world; so we want to share that love with those we meet.  

We seek to see our lives shaped by God’s Spirit so that we grow in faith hope and love; so we meet regularly to share our lives with one another.

We know God cares for our neighbourhood and especially that His heart is for families, the poor, widowed, lonely and the bereaved; so our premises are here for our community not just us.

St John’s Stone is a United Church which shares the values and traditions of our parent denominations (Methodist and United Reformed Churches).

Our worship is broadly informal, often led by lay people and usually has those of all ages present.

Our Church government and organisational structures reflect those found in our parent denominations.

Mission Statement

St John’s Church Stone

26^th September 2011

Eccleshall 2012

Launched a consultation process at Eccleshall today asking what the future holds for us. We will be meeting every week for the next 6 initially to continue to listen to one another & seek God's will for us.

Was very encouraged today that 20 or so people came & everyone contributed. I got them talking about how they came to faith & how they came to attend our chapel. Setting the scene, this is where we have come from & where we are now, not oh woe is me, but Praise God for His faithfulness.

Its a long road but an exciting one too. I wonder where God is leading us?

Circuit Meeting

Tonight was Circuit meeting, it ran as smoothly as one would expect, with one real highlight.

It was an absolute joy to listen to the testimony & call to ministry of one of our local preachers who is candidating for the Methodist Ministry. The lady in question is a member at one of my chapels & it has been a privilege to be part of God's moving her along on this journey. I have seen her ministry & faith at close hand & am a big fan!

She spoke tonight with such passion vulnerability & heart; it was so inspiring to hear how God by His Spirit had kept gently speaking until she was ready to answer the call. It was brilliant to see that the whole meeting could sense God's Spirit working in her life & leading her on, & she was given a unanimous vote in favour.

The worst Preachers I have seen in action are those who think they know everything & can do the work in their own strength. Thank God this lady's greatest asset is that she is so aware that in her own strength she cannot do what God is calling her to, but in His power all things are possible. 

It was a joyful privilege of be at Circuit meeting tonight - now you dont get to say that very often do you!

Harvest challenge

We plough the fields with tractors,

With drills we sow the land;
But growth is still dependent
On God’s almighty hand.
Organic fertilizers
Will help the growing grain,
But for its full fruition
It needs God’s sun and rain.

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above;
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord
For all his love.

To gather in the harvest
Machines now lead the way.
We reap the the fields with combines,
We bale the new mown hay;
But it is God who gives us
Inventive skills and drive;
Which lighten daily labour
And give us fuller lives!

Then why are people starving
When we have life so good?
And some in crowded cities
Search dustbins for their food;
And even some go hungry
Who farm in distant lands;
Lord, help us learn more swiftly
To share with open hands.

I do not have a Harvest Festival service to lead this year & I am quite sad about it. It is an odd feeling to be honest because until this point in my ministry I have had multiple harvest services every year, in Churches & in the community in different schools & residential homes. Next year I will have to make sure that the plan takes me back into this highlight of the Christian year!

If I did have one I would use the hymn above, an alternative version of the classic harvest hymn ‘We plough the fields & scatter’. I like it because it brings us up to date with the real world & the reality of life of so many of our neighbours who work in the field & with livestock. I like it too because it throws down a challenge to each one of us – if God has blessed us like this, what about those who are struggling?

There has been much rubbish written & spoken about the poor recently, & especially that ugly & divisive phrase the deserving poor. No one chooses to be poor & to struggle to afford the necessities of life or to live hand to mouth. At various points in my life since we entered the Ministry as a family we have struggled & had to rely on charity to help us clothe the children, send them on school trips & even buy food. Asking for help has always been humiliating & we have felt ashamed, & to this point I have never talked about it. I mention it now only because I think these attitudes to the poor need to be addressed.

The poorest in our nation are bearing the hardest burden by far in the austerity measures we now live under & things are set to get a lot worse especially if you are unfortunate enough to be at the bottom of the wealth & earnings ladder. Yet we still get lectured about the deserving & undeserving poor.

Were my family deserving or undeserving? 

Is the pensioner terrified of the winter fuel bill deserving or undeserving? 

Is the unemployed middle aged man who cannot find work & has run out of savings deserving or undeserving? 

Is the homeless teenager on the streets of our cities deserving or undeserving? 

Are the starving thousands in East Africa deserving or undeserving?

What gives us the right to stand in judgement?

I do wish the old phrase ‘there but for the grace of God’ would tumble from our lips more readily before we make comments about those at the bottom of our society.

Judgemental attitudes towards the less fortunate should not be found in the Christian especially if we are blessed by God to live in positions of comfort & security – they are attitudes that should be alien to any Disciples of Christ Jesus. 

Remember the warning to each one of us in the parable of the sheep & goats in Matthew 25? We need to make sure that this gospel warning is not ignored, God forbid that judgement would fall on us & our nation & that we would hear this kind of message from Jesus (Matthew 25:41-45):

‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,  I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

This Autumn spare a thought, a prayer & if you can some cash for those who are worst off. Write to your councillor & MP, & be one of those voices raised in warning that fairness & justice should not be lost as we cut budgets, & please let’s stop talking about the undeserving poor.

God bless you

Revd. J Neil Adams

Clerical collars

This is a very personal post written to answer those who have asked why I am now wearing my clerical shirts again after years of avoiding them like the plague!

Clerical collars & I have been on an interesting journey; I have swung between wearing mine always, sometimes, never, & now back to almost always.

When I left Theological College I wore my collar proudly everywhere; in Church, out of Church, shopping at ASDA, even at home doing the washing up!  

Sometime in 1998 after that first year I stopped wearing them unless I was leading worship service or funerals & weddings, partly because it was expected of me I guess. 

I had grown quite tired of the way the collar made me feel around other people, & particularly with people who had no contact with Church. The collar seemed to make some people nervous & stop me from being able to interact with them. Given that I felt called to work beyond the Church not just within it that was a huge problem. 

One group of people accused me of not wearing my clerical shirts because I was ashamed of God & doubted my calling which really hurt.

Though my faith is very different to to when I entered the ministry I have never been ashamed of God. 

I have always been immensely proud of being a one of Mr Wesley's preachers, & always felt called to be a Minister of Sacrament & Word. The collar though felt more & more like a barrier to doing that & being relevant in this generation.  

Sometime around 2003 I stopped wearing my clerical collar completely. I guess because the Church, Schools etc were used to me working without a collar no one seemed to notice, & very very few people asked me about it. 

I felt a lot more comfortable & I think I was more effective in communicating with those on the fringes of Church because I was just like them. I didnt have that ring of confidence, & people seemed to treat me as one of them instead of being different. 

But quite a few in senior positions in the Church especially in one appointment have made taking the collar off a big issue & there has been a big personal & professional cost for me & the family to bear. 

That said I wouldnt do anything different at all. I took the collar out because I felt led by the Spirit of God to do so. 

This last year, most of it spent off sick because of my back, I have reflected long & hard again & when I returned to work in May I felt led to do so wearing my collar, & it has felt really right to do so. I feel completely at ease with the decision even though I still think the collar is at times a barrier & when I need to I will take the collar out. 

That little bit of plastic does open doors too though, & I always said I would do as I felt led & all this time later the collar is back; I have come almost full circle, perhaps if I hadnt got so much abuse in another place I would have done so earlier!