New things
At the end of the third year of context based training in BS10 people are moving on and we are looking forward to new people joining us over the next few months. The Rev Lee Barnes & family and Rev Dan Currie and family have both moved on to new things, the Barness to Malmesbury and the Curries back to Norfolk. They will be missed by the students, churches and community where they have put so much life and energy over the last two years.
What has happened over the year (edited highlights)
Babies – the students have had three babies (number 4 is imminent) – this isn’t a vital part of context based training but it seems to happen quite a lot!
Eating – The students and families have eat together at least thirty times, from stuffed peppers to curry to tomatoe soup we have had fun and been fed
Common Worship – we have studiously followed the red book of Common Worship Daily Prayer once a week throughout the year and have enjoyed it! (most of the time) we have also had some fantastically creative times of worship from stumbling around blindfold to being led by an Egyptian to the desert (metaphorical)
Egypt Trip – most of the students went on a fantastic trip to Egypt experiencing another culture and church and buying camels and dates
Football. Rock Solid, Youth Work, service leading, Alpha & Marriage Course, Community Action Day – we have been busy working together to see God’s kingdom come in BS10
Looking forward
We are looking forward to new students joining us to bring us up to a total of eleven in the cohort, exciting times…
BS10 in Egypt!
Below is a few pictures of the BS10 trip to Egypt, it is only the beginning-hopefully more to come:
Below is a reflection from the BS10 Tutor, again, hopefully more reflections to come soon:
‘We had a wonderful time, and a very busy one, visiting at least two or three different things every day. These ranged from the mosque in central Cairo, where we were shown around by a Muslim scholar (and had the privilege to sit on the floor and watch as people came for midday prayer) to a visit to the “tourist” sites – the great pyramids and the Sphinx, the Coptic Churches of Old Cairo, and a trip on a sailboat on the Nile at night.
‘We had the privilege of engaging with various aspects of the church in Egypt, including a wonderful evening with Bishop Mouneer Anis, Primate of North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf, who shared with us the story of the Church in Egypt and his own passion to hold together an absolute confidence in the Gospel, with a sense of grace and openness towards those of other traditions and faiths. We worshiped in the Anglican Cathedral in Cairo, Coptic Churches in Zamalek and Garbage City in Cairo, as well as churches in Alexandria, including the newly consecrated pro-cathedral of St Mark’s.
‘We spent a day with students and staff of the newly formed theological college in Egypt, The Alexandria School of Theology, and gave a short talk on Theological Reflection techniques that we have found helpful in our own training context.
‘The highlight of the trip, though, was meeting Egyptian people whose lives had been transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. These included several men recovering from drug and alcohol addiction at the Way of Life rehabilitation centre near Alexandria. We heard several more powerful testimonies at the Ras el Souda Social Centre, which houses a clinic, dentist surgery and nursery, as well as being a place for worship.
BS10 Trip to Egypt!
The majority of students in BS10 are going on a fantastic learning experience in Egypt in a couple of weeks time. It is an opportunity to engage with different Christian contexts in Egypt. Below is a video which gives a flavour of the different places students will be engaging with:
Growth and Graffiti!
Firstly, a big welcome and embrace to the newcomers to BS10, little Althea and Nate (well done MUMs!). We are totally grateful that they are growing and doing well!
Secondly, on a total tangent, check out some of Bristol’s finest graffiti artists by clicking just about here
[The Image is taken from http://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/02/07/jody-paints-mack-daddys/]
Something on Preaching Today!
I know this is now a bit on the old side but it is still well worth the read!
It is ‘Throwing a Hand Grenade in the Fruit Bowl’ on preaching by Jonny Baker, to read PDF click here
