Fair Trade in Tamworth

Christmas is coming and so is the opportunity to not only bless those you love with presents but to bless those who produce the things we give by treating them fairly.

So if you live in (or near) to Tamworth, why not drop in and make the world a fairer place this Christmas.

Pax

Church growth - throwing mud!

I have always been told that when it comes to reputations that, "If enough mud is thrown at the wall, some of it ends up sticking," and this is , human nature being what it is, a fair assessment of things.

My problem is that whilst the method (throwing mud) works when considering defaming people - it's not quite as effective when it come to Church Growth. Confused (of course you are - remember what you're readings and who wrote it!)?

I am coming across more and more people who work on the principle that offering a myriad number of things will make their church grow. I see them doing coffee morning, parents and toddlers, prayer services, reflection services, pram service, social groups, fitness classes, Bible reading groups, secular book reading groups, house groups, ALPHA, bereavement groups, cancer support groups, clubs for the older people, clubs for the kids, men's groups, women's groups and (phew - surely not) more besides. Now I don't know about you but I'm knackered already just by thinking of the groups (and I've left some out!).

"Look at us," they cry, "We are offering so much - watch them come in!"

But they don't because there's already a cancer support groups and the parents and toddler's groups have been long-established and are popular. Not only that but no one reads in the area the church building is set in and the old don't come out in the evening but they do during the day when they go to already established groups and do outings with the U3A (University of the Third Age).

The problem is that diversity is great but it only makes money for businesses when they product they diversify into is something that the customer wants. They don't waste time, energy and money (their reason for being usually) by placing products that won't sell into the marketplace.

There is an increasing sense among some church leaders that diversity and volume are the keys to getting footfall (the feet on the ground that is theirs) but this is only true where what is being offered is what the people are seeking. It doesn't matter how much is on offer, or how good it is, or that it is free if people aren;t interested in whatever it is - for they just do not come.

And the people who put the stuff on? They get more and more disillusioned and frustrated and tired and depressed and rather than build the church it  weakens it and those who were willing slowly fade and fail and leave too!

So here's a plea from a missioner type to all my brothers and sisters out there doing the stuff:

1. Know your audience - do social audits to find out what is already offered and what the people around you really want and need (and remember that they aren't the same thing!).

2. Offer what is wanted and do it well - better to do one thing and succeed rather than many things and fail at them all.

3. Do it for the right reasons - if you're doing it to win 'scalps' then it might start well but will fail because people know when they are being cared for rather than merely counted!

4. Do it with prayer - great plans, marketing and the like are all necessary, but we are called to be a people of prayer (and praise)!

5. Remember who we are doing it for (and with) - If what we do doesn't have the Gospel (stated, acknowledged and lived out) then it's pants people! And finally:

6. Do it with a loving, servant heart - for we serve because we copy Jesus, the Christ, who came into the world to serve it (not condem). A servant heart is essential.

Never mind the quantity - feel the love, life and move of God's Spirit.

Pax

Thought for the day - drinking out of the toilet!

1 in 3 people across the world don’t have somewhere safe to go to the toilet.

Bad sanitation is one of the world’s biggest killers: it hits women, children, old and sick people hardest.

Every minute, three children under the age of five die because of dirty water and poor sanitation.

Around half the people in the world have an illness caused by bad sanitation.

Why not help to relieve the situation. Visit toilet twinning  (at your convenience) and sign up your church now?

Church - where crisis and failure take on flesh

Government and statutory bodies legislate over homelessness but it is, more often than not, Church that engages with the reality of it.

Public opinion pontificates about the state of society, the demise of values and standards and the breakdown of the family but is, more often than not, the Church that finds itself engaged in and with the places where the rhetoric becomes flesh.

When the tutting classes are unfolding their newspapers and talking cobblers about the homeless getting what they deserve and how there is always work to be found if someone really wants it, the Church, once again, is to be found dealing with the realities.

In a week where temperatures have soared such that we will see less homeless people die over the Christmas period (something that demonstrates how little 'those people' care for the sensitivities of nice people) we ill still be living in the reality that across the UK there ar still around a quarter of a million homeless people and although many of those will 'bed hop' or find some form of accommodation (albeit perhaps very temporary) there will still be something around five thousand people sleeping on the streets of our capital city!

The figures this week speak of a life expectancy of 43 for homeless women and 47 for homeless men.

Now I am sure some reading this will point to alcohol, drugs and other 'brought upon themselves' conditions fort such an early demise, but there are other influences and factors behind the obvious and if we were to but take just a little time to understand them we would find that the underserving homeless are often anything but.

As we pray in our churches this Christmas Eve perhaps we might care to think of those who are homeless. Those who are on the streets because of:

+ Abuse - mental, physical and sexual

+ Mental Illness - Homeless people present double the symptoms of mental illness than those who are 'homed'

+ Military Service - the Military Covenant is to become law, but for the many (almost 25% of London's homeless as an example) medals, combat experience and having served their nation makes no difference at all - in fact it is a major factor for where they are now!

+ Folly - There are people on our streets who have made the wrong choices (haven't we all at some time?) but in each one of these people the image of the invisible God is made visible and in each of them is the potential to show God's grace and effect, potentially, restoration - we just need to be wise about it?

And so, this Christmas as we speak of a Saviour born in poor circumstances, sleeping in a stable, let's remember those for whom a stable would be luxury.

Pax

Someone Ought To Do Something!

Ironically, coming on the day that I have realised that I hate someone, I find that they might be the same person who builds our church, brings relief to those caught up in debt, resolves all the ills of the global banking excesses and counsels those people who tick us off by their errant lifestyles.

I've had a telephone call from a lovely Christian person who has rung to tell me that they have noticed a new person begging in the centre of town. Apparently they looked really cold this morning as they sat in the covered shopping area begging.

I asked what the caller had done regarding the new addition to our community and asked what their name was.

"Oh, I don't know, " was the response, "I didn't talk to them. I just noticed they were there and thought that someone needed to do something about it, so I rang you."

Well, the good news is that 'someone' will do something about the new arrival (going to have a look now) but it's sad that people can identify needs but don't set about addressing them but pass them on to someone else.

Perhaps the Good Samaritan needs a rewrite whereby the hero of the piece merely phones someone who then takes care of the battered Levite?

When you see a need this Christmas (and after Christmas too) could you do more than just pray - because good as it is, there's something more that needs to be done. Mind you, it wasn't that long ago that one of our beggars (Mick Weir) froze to death in a bus shelter and despite all the good intentions, determined words and posturing, we haven't moved on from the attitudes and haven't made any provision for people such as him.

Perhaps we're waiting for someone to do it?

Making money from the poor - Pt 2

Following on from the visit to the car sales outlet the company has now made two telephone calls. The first of them tried to sell the car they'd originally gone to look at by trying to convince them that they were getting a good deal.

Our hero asked what the 'book price' of the car was and were given a figure that was quite a bit lower than the price it was being offered at. They then asked how much they would receive for their current vehicle and were told that this would be something lower than the book price. Adding the differences meant that they were effectively paying about £2,000 more than was warranted using the figures given in the trade valuation guides (which are of course only guides and not set in concrete).

When this was pointed out the salesman accentuated the fact that they would have a newer car and that it would cost them less as they'd reduced the interest rate for the purchase as well.

"How much is it now," asks our heroic would-be (or perhaps not) purchaser?

"It's 48.5%, gone down from 49.9%," comes the reply.

So let's stop for a moment to consider what we have before us

Let's say the car is going to cost the customer £6,500 and they're going to pay over five years at 48.5%

This means that paying around £300 a month will result in them handing over almost £17, 400.

This in turn means that they will be paying almost £11,000 for the privilege in interest rates.

Now, were our hero to go to a bank or some other reputable (that's if we still consider banks to be reputable) finance provider we would find that the rates ate somewhere between 6.1 - 7.9% and staying with our car priced at £6,500 (but from a more reputable dealer I would hope) the same car over the same period at 8% would run out at a total outlay of just under £8,000, a measly £131 a month and interest of under £1,500.

Those of us who have been 'collared' or work with people in our community need to get a bit savvy to companies who specialise in CCJ and poor credit history operations such at the one discovered here.

I never realised how much the poorer (and sometimes just merely unfortunate in terns of redundancy and other impediments to paying) side of our community is preyed upon by others and just how much they pay for the privilege of being abused.

The car salesman was working hard to get the would be customer so desirous of having a 'new' car that they'd sign up just to fill the craving that had been created.

What a disgrace and what an opportunity for us to come alongside and work to protect these people.

Pax

Bloody Strikers

Yesterday saw me cross a picket line and find myself engaged in conversation with a number of people with notices and bits of paper. As I engaged with them I heard tales of frozen pay packets (which means effectively less on the table) and less pension (so less on the table when they finish working). The men (for men they were, didn't see any women) were all blue collar workers and were all at the lower end of the pay scale. As I asked questions I heard tales of contracting workforces and expanding work areas (for some of the stuff contracted out has been brought 'in house' but without additional staffing!

If the water is the same across the whole public sector than I came face-to-face with the problem yesterday and have to acknowledge that when dialogue fails, all that remains it to make the point by removing one's labour. After all, doesn't the Bible tell us that the, "Worker is worthy of his (and her) wage?"

Elsewhere someone was saying thus: "The strike is a total disgrace. The fact that the public sector workers are allowed to disrupt the lives of ordinary folk, regardless of the reason, is wrong. How dare they disrupt the lives of ordinary people? Bloody strikers!" Surely unless the strike disrupts the lives of 'ordinary people' it is but a worthless toe-pointing exercise?

A Mum told me how it had spoilt her day because she was having to take a day off to babysit her children!!! (How do you babysit your own children - surely it was 'spending a day with her children, a joy?).

Seems to me that we aren't finished with the wonderful world of industrial action and as pressures begin to tell I assume that those who were taking philosophical points of view and proclaiming that they wouldn't strike (like Millband's striking head teacher) will be changing their tune and throwing their all in with the masses, and what will we have?

A Cameron who apparently relishes taking on the unions (not that he should merely roll over)

A Milliband who stuffs brothers (fraternal and union) who has realised that popularity lies in supporting the union (whilst it suits him of course)

A nation who will see more on the poverty line and more injustice apparent.

Where is the Church? Who is making a stand?

A comment from a picket member yesterday: "Hello Vicar, don't suppose people like you are that bothered by all this?"

How wrong can you be?

Lambeth Palace staff picket line

Won't get better unless you picket?

OYLC - Issue the first: Poverty

I have been trying to find out what the exact aims and purposes of the OLSX people are. The more I have looked the more I struggle to find anything coherent for what we have is a bunch of people ranging from the intelligentsia through to the professional 'supporter/anarchist' all bringing stuff to the party. The problem is that this lack of a focussed and coherent position results in nothing more than a collection of disgruntled people who are doomed to be nothing more than just that.

Scanning various pages and talking to the ordinary people on the street I get the feeling that there is much dis-ease regarding the current situation facing our nation, Europe and the wider world. That noted, we must take care to ensure that we are looking at justice not revenge, for it appears that the majority (read and dialogued with) are generally seeking the latter.

So, this is an opportunity for the Church (universal) to get off of its behindside and take up the battle. There are so many areas to focus on and I think that we are best served, and serving, when we consider them intelligently and devise prayer and action relating to them, so let us begin with:

Poverty
The increase of FoodBanks, repossessions, redundancies, loss of support for those in post-sixteen education (i.e. EMA) and so much more.

Some food for thought (and prayer)
The current Housholds Below Average Income* (HBAI) (after housing costs) survey tells us:

That 13.5M people in the UK (22%) are income poor and of these:

53% are in families which include at least one child;
32% are in families of people of working age without children;
15% are in pensioner families.

People living below the poverty line are distributed around the UK as follows:

England - 11,615,000 (23% of the population)
Scotland - 969,000 (19% of the population)
Wales - 667,000 (23% of the population0,
Northern Ireland - 374,000 (2% of the population)

The road to this situation includes:

Unemployment - Low wages - Inadequate benefits - Educational opportunities

Child Poverty Action group (CPAG) puts forward these proposals to work towards ending child poverty in the UK:

1. Protect jobs
2. Mend the safety net
3. Move away from means tests
4. Remove barriers to work
5. Stop in-work poverty
6. Put in place a child-first strategy for childcare
7. End the classroom divide
8. Provide fair public services for those who need them most
9. End poverty premiums in taxes and services
10. Ensure a decent home for every family

Just some foor for thought and some spur to developing something coherent (and I am pretty disgusted at just how many church members I have met during my journeys who take up the 'Daily Fascist' view that the poor generally get what they deserve. Thank God that isn't true with us and His standards!! But in case you might think this a graph to savour as you start writing prayers and think of how you can open doors, hearts and engage those outside over this topic:

The poor by economic status (2009/10)

Pax

* HBAI 2009/10 figures

Occupy Your Local Church

This must be one of the greatest opportunities the Church has had for a very long time when it comes to engagement with the general public and bringing them through the doors of our buildings.

With slogans like:

"Want to Change our nation but don't like Camping - Occupy Your Local Church!"

"Think the Church should be standing against the Big Bonuses - OYLC"

where I am I am starting to engage people and use their anger against the perceived ills of the establishment to get them to think about what is happening and looking at ways to bring them in, hear their grievances and turn them into prayerful action. I am also going to see how I can bring our Credit Union in to the proceedings and see if there is potential to use this as a springboard sor social action and joined up responses for the UK, Europe and the World.

An opportunity that must not be allowed to be passed by (more tomorrow).

Tell your friends, colleagues, ministers (in fact, anyone who will listen) - let's be the difference!

Pax

Our nation - Time to start occupying buildings!

We live in a time when those who have get more and those who don't find what they have taken away or restricted.

We are potentially facing a double-dip recession and the financial outlook is gloomy as Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Italy all walk the tightrope with their economies.

The British public bails out banks and are called upon to cheer as bad business is retained whilst viable bits are sold to other bankers at a loss for us.

The social housing stock is much reduced and now we find the government wants to reduce it further by selling it to residents at knockdown prices and by funding their mortgages.

The government is set to cap the amount of benefits that families receive so that those who live in areas that are 'too expensive'. A move that has the potential of creating ghettoes of both well-off and poor.

All around me I see evidence of inequality, injustice, rewarding the wrong people and in doing so I see the gap between those who have and those who don't widening and the potential of a society where 'slum dogs' and the well off living separate lives in the same place.

The reality is that which Labour did to widen the gap is being continued with the coalition and the time has come to make a stand and show our support of a government that is fair, just and kind and this will only come about by the people of this nation rising up and occupying building. To this end I'm starting my own campaign.

+ It doesn't need tents.

+ It won't bring about injunctions and eviction orders.

+ It doesn't require allegiance to any political party.

+ It doesn't care about the Euro or a federal Europe.

Yes, it is time to rise up and occupy buildings and start making things change in our own lives, our workplaces, homes, towns, cities and nation.

Occupy Your Local Church - DO IT TODAY!