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Friday, September 03, 2010

ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT 2008/09

Another Award For Us!

Readers of the Birmingham Mail will already have read that Selly Oak Methodist Church was awarded another environmental award at a ceremony on May 21st.

The Birmingham Mail has a regular "Go Green" page , and as part of their "Think Global, Act Global" campaign they have made five environmental awards. Selly Oak Methodist Church was awarded the "Environmental Project 2008/09" award. David Edden picked up the award on behalf of the church and in the near future it will be on show in the church. The award is a tribute to everybody who helps in any way with keeping our church environmentally friendly.

Duncan Miller

News

The Circuit is now a "Fairtrade Circuit"

Pauls Boys' Home

Pauls Boys' Home, in Madurai, in the south of India, was started in 1998 in response to the needs of orphans or semi-orphans often picked up from the streets of Madurai with some from the remote rural areas.

The home now has 15 boys and provides shelter, food, clothing, healthcare, support with education and the loving care of two people who run it, Ester and her husband, Retnaraj, who are totally committed to their welfare.

It is financed by donations and by some local people giving their services free of charge. Ester works as a teacher to ensure a regular income.

The home used to be in rented accommodation but the basic construction of a new house has now been built with some earlier help from SOMC. It is one of the charities we are supporting in connection with our own building scheme.

And Pauls? An acronym:

People's

Action for the

Upliftment of the

Less privileged in

Society

More details via arulisrael@hotmail.com

Musings from the Manse

Musings From the Manse - July/August 2010

During a recent Bank Holiday, BBC Television showed the iconic film "Mary Poppins". The film begins with a fresh wind bringing Mary Poppins into her new environment, changing all who come into contact with her and blowing away old habits and practices.It seems to me that that is what's happening now both at Selly Oak Church and in the Birmingham South-West circuit; a new wind has arisen and is blowing around us all. Changes are in the air!

The repercussions of these changes are ahead of us. When the colder weather arrives, we will feel the benefits of our new boiler just installed. Work on our new roof is proceeding nicely and we trust a literal "fresh wind" does not do any damage there! Confirmation classes will start soon and we rejoice in people's faith journeys. Conference decisions will have been made this last week which will bring yet more changes to our way of "being Church" throughout Methodism.

I myself am due to take a sabbatical in 2011 running from mid-February to the end of May. A sabbatical support group has already met to begin working towards the necessary arrangements.

An important change is that when I and other local superintendents leave the District in just over twelve months time, our Birmingham South-West circuit will join other Birmingham circuits to make a much larger one. At present each circuit is putting together profiles of churches and ministers for a cross-circuit invitation committee and at the same time new patterns for circuit structures are being worked on.

So like the wind changes which Mary Poppins brought to south London, let's pray that the fresh wind of the Spirit will keep blowing in south Birmingham, sweeping us all into an exciting journey towards new priorities and values. May God fly with us as we uncover the adventure of new futures for us all.

Doreen C Hare

Superintendent's Letter

What might you choose to do on Sunday 5 September? Attend the 21st International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry in Brussels? Take part in the Southend Bikeathon in aid of Leukaemia & Lymphoma research? Listen to Somali-born rapper K'Naan in Hoxton, London? Mark the death of Mother Teresa seventeen years ago? The choice is yours.

I5 September is the 248th day of the year with 117 days remaining until the year end in the Gregorian calendar. The great Fire of London ended on this day in 1666. In 1882 you could have seen the first Labour Day Parade in New York city. It's the Saint's Day for Zechariah. It's a day with a pedigree!

But very importantly for Methodists, 5 September is also the first Sunday of the Methodist connexional year 2010-2011. It's a day to bring to mind our President, Rev Alison Tomlin, our Vice-President, Deacon Eunice Attwood and our Birmingham South-West Circuit service to be held that evening at Selly Oak.

2011 has been designated as the Year of the Bible. A new initiative has been launched called Biblefresh, a movement aiming to bring the bible back to being more central in our worship. An interesting quote from its advertising tells us the Bible is currently seen as "tedious and toxic rather than treasured and trusted"!

Our annual Methodist prayer handbook is available this month; its title is God's Open World. And the new Methodist hymnbook "Singing the Faith" has now gone through Conference and is currently being put together into its final shape, ready for sale and use towards the end of this connexional year.

Lots of changes, lots of new things are happening in Methodism. Let's celebrate the first day of this New Year in style!

Happy 5th September to us all and a satisfying new year focussed on faith, freshness with the Bible and fullness of gospel life as God's faithful people.

Doreen C Hare

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