God’s Minions Prayer Diary In October of last year the South Warwickshire 7 Benefice started a youth group. Young people aged 11-18 across the benefice who were attending any of the 7 churches in the benefice were invited to meet together and create an Identity for November 2014 themselves with in the church community. As a result ‘God's Minions’ was born. The name was chosen by the young people and refers to them being God's servants. They also designed a logo that they had printed on t-shirts and hoodies, as seen in Ruined and Rebuilt the pictures. November is the month when we remember the fires that destroyed the heart of Coventry in 1940 – and, of course, when Due to the rural location of this benefice the group started with 6 isolated young we have ‘bonfire night’. Fire is enticing – attractive and terrible, people who attend 5 different schools and up to 4 different churches. They now with the capacity to safeguard life or to destroy it. Fire is also have somewhere to meet weekly as a group, with two informal services twice a one of the principal images of the presence of God, and of the month, cafe church, a home youth bible study and also do outreach events to spread Holy Spirit. the good news to friends and peers. Their numbers have now grown to 9 committed members. The Holy Spirit comes to break down, and break apart, as well as to bring together, and rebuild. To invite the Holy Spirit into our God's Minions have been able to meet up with other Christian youth groups and feel lives, and the life of our churches, may well be to do something part of a bigger Christian community for talks, quizzes, games, fun and to see as extraordinary as inviting the enemy bombers to wreak havoc Christian bands. Several of them went on week long Christian camps this year and with our well-ordered lives, in order to clear the way for God to more want to now go next year. They are keen to expand on their bible knowledge, do something remarkable and new, just like the new cathedral. as well as attending several ‘passion for life’ events in the spring. They have been to As we are praying our way through this month, beginning to think towards the a youth apologetics conference in Advent Hope, may I suggest that we pray daily for the Holy Spirit to be coming London. amongst us to lead us into something new – and to be really, radically open to what that might be? It’s only when we fall through the holes in our safe lives into the As part of their outreach they have hands of God that we are going to discover his possibilities, and not ours. invited friends to come to the theatre, Last month, a few of us shuffled our way off the roof of the cathedral and abseiled swimming and bowling attracting up to eighty feet down the wall to the right of the Baptistery window, to raise money for 20 young people. The group are now Christian Aid. It was a lot of fun, in the end – but it’s an object lesson in trust. If you empowered to stand firm in their faith, don’t trust the rope, and lean right out from the wall, you lose control, spin with a fresh enthusiasm to commit to uncontrollably, and have to be rescued. Jesus and serve their churches and I’m far from the first to suggest that trusting in God is just like that – leaning back into communities and spread the vibe of his love, committing everything to him, and discovering just how different life is in Gods amazing grace. God’s hands, rather than ours. God may not have to push you to the point of having to trust in him – but wherever you find yourself, be ready for the rebuilding that comes when lives, churches, worlds are handed radically over to him, and his love. Kim Petty John Witcombe - Dean of Coventry Page 8 Page 1 Shipston Deanery The Poppy Cross On average Shipston Deanery has one church for every 535 of the population: if you During Warwickshire Open Studies in July, a take the town of Shipston out of the equation, there is one church per 370 of the group of local artists held an exhibition in population. So a great many people spend a great deal of time and effort looking Shipston. As part of their time together, they after walls, roofs and churchyards– the boundaries of the church space. wanted to collaborate on a piece of art to which the public could contribute. Indeed, a lot of rural life is spent worrying about boundaries. But for many of our congregations ‘breaking boundaries’ has become really important, as they explore On a suitably large board, artist Grenville ways of setting aside barriers of one sort or another – and it is not always one way – Moore painted a simple, large cross: Lisa Man, to take the Gospel into people’s lives and homes. a textile artist created huge embroidered poppy petals; Paul Hitchman, a glass artist The Poppy Cross, described in the following pages, began life in an artist’s workshop created stamens out of glass and metal, and and is a community arts project which has found a profound significance and a home Penny Varley, ceramic artist, added small in one of our churches. ‘Chat in Church’ uses the church in Butlers Marston ceramic hearts to the centre of the poppy. (population 229) as a venue for an evening out – now 40-50 folk will be found there Finally Heather Bailey, a conceptual artist once a month talking and socialising. Their recent Harvest Festival had 46 attending – added more fine detail. And so the Poppy one fifth of the village. In the SW7 Churches, grouped around Long Compton, the Cross: Field of Memories was born. Café Church takes a monthly service into a private home, and God’s Minions, also reported in the following pages, describes how a small group of young people, As they watched it grow members of the public wrote in their comments and scattered across the seven parishes have come together to form a youth group. In memories, which in themselves form part of the art. Although Grenville and Paul’s Oxhill, Lunch Break invites people to a lunch at which God’s love for us is explored. initial concept of the poppy cross was for memories of WW1, many people added much more recent memories of loved ones. Very recently the Mayor of Shipston invited the churches to have a Food Bank Stall at Shipston’s Food It was designed to be a piece which not only looked back but also looked forward. Festival, primarily to raise awareness of it in the town, This remembrance allows us to say thank you, to pledge ourselves to walk alongside and it gave them a brilliant opportunity to do just that each other, and allows us to relive the events of the past in a way that shapes our – and of course many of the churches massively future. The Poppy Cross meant that people from across the community pooled supported this and the Fosse Food Bank at their recent together their skills and their time to allow remembering of the past to re-shape our Harvest Festivals. future in this way. Jesus commissioned us to trust him and go, and was The Poppy Cross came to St. Lawrence’ Church, Oxhill, for their WW1 not afraid to break the boundaries himself to go to the Commemoration Service, where it was joined by candles, music, poetry and people who needed him. In both our lives and our memories from across the villages. The involvement of so many talents and gifts churches we are slowly learning to do the same. gave everyone a very special ownership of this remembrance. It will go to St. Edmund’s. Shipston for Remembrance Day, and eventually it is hoped that it will find a permanent home back in Oxhill. Jill Tucker—Area Dean Jill Tucker & Grenville Moore Page 2 Page 7 Shipston on Stour with Tidmington, Honington and Idlicote. Clergy: Andrew Mon 24 Coleby, Jill Tucker, Mike Harris. Readers: Alison Tomkinson, Helen Winnifrith. Cycle of Prayer - November 2014 We thank God for the opportunities we have to reach out to children and young people through local schools and special events. Please pray for us to With a focus on parishes and schools in Shipston Deanery find a new ecumenical youth-worker to help us with this ministry. Brailes, Sutton-u-Brailes, Tysoe, Oxhill, Whatcote. Clergy:Nicholas Morgan, We thank God for Graeme Pringle, Director of Communications for the Tue 25 Sat 1 Martin Leaton, Bill Rolfe, George Warner, Tom Moffatt. Reader: David Fenton. diocese and ask for God's blessing on him and his work. We thank God for the completion of much restoration and improvement *Catherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century works at Oxhill and Tysoe. We pray that our buildings will be welcoming *Isaac Watts, Hymn Writer, 1748 All Saints’ Day beacons of Christian hope and love, and have valued community use. Stourdene Benefice. Clergy: Catherine Vickers, John Horton, Ali Massey. We Wed 26 Brailes Primary School. Headteacher: Sarah Plaskitt. We thank God for this Sun 2 pray for the parishes of Alderminster, Butler's Marston, Ettington, Halford, school community and pray for God's blessing on the pupils, teachers, staff Newbold and the Pillertons; for the Schools of Ettington and Newbold and and governors.