sweeps … experience God ….

It’s the start of the Sweeps Festival today. As I write the rain is continuing to fall outside … and I am so hoping that stops very very soon.

If you are around pay a visit to the Dekhomai stand in the cathedral, you can find us in the south transept, which is the space right next to the lady chapel. Visit and take the opportunity to express God in a different or new way through a variety of things we have on offer, from the dekhomai prayer cord to prayer for healing. Or … just pop by to say hello (and if you come via the coffee shop bringing great fresh coffee even better!)

Maybe see some of you there!

people meeting God?

Next weekend in Rochester sees the return of the Sweeps Festival. This is probably my favourite of the Rochester Festivals which is a collection of great music (most of it free in or outside pubs), dancing (50ish Morris Dancing groups) and of course beer. If I were to choose one festival to come to in Rochester then it would be the Sweeps Festival without a doubt; the atmosphere is great, and people come to relax, listen, watch and have a good time.

In the cathedral we will again by hosting our Dekhomai stand from Saturday until Monday. This is a ‘welcoming place’ in part of the cathedral which offers a place to sit and chat, prayer for healing, dream interpretation, the making of prayer beads and hand or foot massage. If you are in the area why not pop in and say hi … or if you would like to get involved we could still do with a another team member on Sunday or Monday afternoon. The ethos of the stand is to simple welcome and serve people with an aim of helping those who are searching to re-connect with God. At the end of every encounter, whether it is a Jesus Deck reading, a foot massage or a general chat we offer to pray for each person and their family. In this way we believe people meet with God.

In previous years people have asked about the Jesus Deck which, sadly, have been out of print and difficult to get hold of. They are now back and you can order a Jesus Deck here. While on the Jesus Deck I was intrigued to see it being used as a lectionary over on Steve’s blog … hadn’t thought of that and I could see that being really powerful for some people.

a transforming relationship

I little while ago regular visitors here will remember I got excited and had an excellent time on the CMS Pioneer ‘Missional Entrepreneur’ week. While there I made new friends and caught up with others that I had not seen for a while …. people like Andrea who is doing an amazing job in Kingston with people that the church have written off as ‘lost and dodgy’.

I have often blogged about my limited and occasional mbs stuff at Rochester Cathedral and with dekhomai. Andrea does this on a more permanent basis and is really engaging with spiritual seekers of the area. Andrea has, and still does, sit in that gap where other Christians either question what she does or fail to see the incredible value of her mission. I suspect there are even some that believe she is not a ‘real’ Christian due to the work she is involved in … but Jesus was not recognised either!

Andrea has given a great interview on the CMS Pioneer website where she admits she has no formula in this interview …. but that her mission (and all mission) needs to be about relying on God. It’s a good read so go check it out here.

 

dickens and decks

so … that was Dickens, when we saw an amazing 19000 people pass through the cathedra! That’s quite a few!!!

The team I worked with were excellent, and at times we had people queuing for hand or foot massages and Jesus Deck readings. The experience was such a humbling privilege as we engaged with many people on various levels from talking about the beading, to joking about Christmas, to praying for some form of healing.

One person I will remember for a while was a distressed person shaking with fear who needed help. We simply prayed for God’s peace and this person became calm almost instantly which shocked her and her family. It was a delight to see.

The weekend has again left me with far more questions and frustrations than answers. I guess the main frustration is how we seem to just scratch the surface with most of those 19000 choosing to walk past the stand, many even refusing to make any form of eye contact. I wonder whether a part of that is a fear of not wanting to engage with something of the ‘unknown’.  My question, which I guess is closely connected, is why God seems to connect with some people and not others.

Other questions which came up which I’d like to investigate sometime revolve around the whole idea of what people think they are doing in their actions. One of the team, Nathan, was reflecting on people lighting candles and asking what, in their mind, are they doing or trying to do? It’s an interesting thought as we heard people use language like ‘pray properly’ and ‘make a wish’   and ‘thats for uncle Albert’. The action of lighting a candle is certainly helpful, and thousands were lit this weekend, but it is interesting maybe to consider what is actually happening here for various people.

Anyway … the weekend is over, the Dekhomai stand is packed away, we continue with Advent and welome Christ into our lives again …

 

questions rise from the ashes

The mbs fair in London was, as ever, an amazing experience. I was moved to tears by ‘stuff’ that people wanted to share and felt incredibly humbled, as well as inadequate, as people trusted me and shared things for prayer. The dekhomai stand welcomes and offers everything as a gift for free as we are very conscious that it is not us helping people but it is Christ working through us. As Jonny said – the energy is only strong on our stand if the risen presence of Jesus is with us … and I believe he has been.

I was able to wander around the stalls a little bit this year and was interested to see who was there and who has not come back. I also had a few interesting conversations with other stall holders which left me with questions. In particular I remember a conversation with a women running a stand that specialised in native american instruments, clothing and spirituality. I was particularly interested in a Shaman Drum that was painted with a picture of a phoenix.

I am interested in the mythical phoenix creature with it’s overtones of resurrection and new life. In our conversation I noted that the phoenix looked like t was singing – to be told I was correct and that the bird was singing a song calling the souls to come home and return to their maker. I guess that birthed a question within me …. could this be God calling his people from with an ancient tradition?

I always find this event amazing, I find it emotionally tiring, sometimes challenging but always I come away with a renewed acceptance that I know and understand so little of our creator God.

Thanks people for the opportunity again to take part – and thanks to those that allowed me to share in their lives for a little while … may God continue to bless you.

dekhomai in London

I am looking forward to being a part of the Dekhomai stand again this year at the Mind, Body and Spirit fair in London. The event runs from 25th – 30th May and I will be there on the Thursday. You can find us on stand 43.

This is an amazing event which is full of spiritual seekers. There is a whole variety of spirituality here that visitors can interact with. Dekhomai offers spiritual resources from a Christian tradition. In the past we have offered Jesus Deck readings, healing prayer, prayer beads, foot and hand massages along with listening. Everything we offer is free of charge.

I simply love this event. I love the way God brings people across each other paths, I love the way people come searching, I love the openness and the acceptance that there is across most of the festival.

If you have not been before and want to experience something different …. maybe see you there!

sweep prayers

Involvement in Dekhomai at the Sweeps Festival was yet again an amazing experience. The team who gave their time worked amazingly together. We designed this postcard for the stall as St Florian is the patron saint of firefighters and chimney sweeps.

Being involved was, for me, a vey humbling experience. People shared deep stuff with members of the team and asked us to pray with them. People seemed to simply want to talk and share. Something I noticed this year more than others was that there was no need to offer prayer … people simply asked for prayer for a variety of situations.

Although I love working in this way I found it very exhausting this year and I think that was because this year, more than other years, I was moved to tears on a number of occasions due to situations people find themselves in. One family in particular will remain with me for a while and as I continue to pray for them in their desperately horrible situation I continue to shed tears for them.

I look forward to next year when we may do this again (but before then the original Dekhomai will be at MBS London at the end of the month – so I look forward to being there (why not come too!?).

a welcoming place

The Sweeps festival is here again and we are again hosting Dekhomai in the cathedral as a safe place to find rest and explore spirituality.

This year we will again be offering foot and hand massages, prayer for healing, blessings, Jesus Deck readings, prayer cords and a chance to simply chill in the special place that is the cathedral. This year as well we are going to attempt to offer ‘dream discussions’ as an opportunity to explore and talk about dreams that people have and whether there may be any meaning to them.

I’ve said it before … but I love the Sweeps festival. The vibe is a good one, people are chilled and interesting in chatting about a load of stuff.

The stall is in the cathedral all over the bank holiday and Sweeps weekend so why not pop in for a free massage or to talk about your dream ….

join us at sweeps …

The Sweeps Festival is not far away and is on the weekend after Easter, Sat 30th April until Monday 2nd May.

Last year we ran Dekhomai, an MBS stall, offering a variety of things to help people connect with God. We offered hand and foot massage, prayer for healing, prayer cords and used The Jesus Deck. This year I hope to be able to offer the same over the 3 days of the festival and maybe look at dream interpretation too.

This will be the third time of running the stall inside the cathedral, at the feet of a window that has a stained glass image of St. Florian who just happens to be the patron saint of sweeps and fire fighters. Each time we have run the stall we have been amazed at what God has done in the the lives of people. It has been amazing just to sit back and watch God at work, it has been humbling to be trusted with peoples stories and it’s been amazing to think our willingness to listen has been used in some way.

This is a recruitment post!
I am looking for more people to get involved by offering to be around for a morning or an afternoon (or a whole day if you like) on the stand.
Do you like people?
Are you willing to listen?
Are you happy to offer to pray with someone?
that’s all it takes …. if you are interested then get in touch!

I look forward to hearing from you ….

just another monday

Today has been another varied and interesting day which started with Staff Forum. This happens a few times a year when all the departments from the cathedral update the rest of us on what is happening. It’s interesting to know what everyone is doing and how your part fits into the bigger pattern.

Soon after that I met up with Sharon in Deaf Cat to look at the Jesus Deck as I thought Sharon would be good at being involved with this over the Dickens Festival. WE looked at the cards and others in the coffee shop became interested in what we were talking about as well … which is a good sign that they could be useful during Dickens.

This afternoon I met up with Justine, vice principal of SEITE, who has kindly agreed to be the supervisor for my masters. I have been thinking and mulling things over for a few weeks and until recenty it has been hard to pin down a topic I have been interested in. This is not for lack of topics … the exact opposite actually. I have been thinking more about the
significance of my waiting, as well as how to support and ensure pioneers survive, as well as the role of imagination in pioneer ministry, as well as wondering on the whole idea of communities, rather than individuals, coming to Christ. All of those would be interesting to look into, but the one thing that has really grabbed me has been this whole thing to do with confession which I blogged about earlier.

So … for the next few days I am looking out for sources and research along the theme of confession and how it may be linked to mission. If you know of anything … give me a shout!