Niftynotes news & information from the Diocese www.southwell.anglican.org APRIL 2018 Compiled by Nicola Mellors email: [email protected] Bishop Paul’s Easter message ollowing Billy Graham’s cope with death which is what death in February the most one might call careless Fviral quotation from the late indifference. Like the kind of preacher – at one point shared person who says, ‘I can’t do every 15 seconds on Twitter – anything to prevent it happening, addresses Graham’s own view of so there’s really no point in his death. He once said, thinking about it.’ “Someday you will read or hear This approach to death is a fairly that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t modern feature of our western you believe a word of it. I shall be culture. You only have to go back more alive than I have ever been. one or two generations and many I will just have changed my Christian parents would have address. I will have gone into the tucked their children into bed at presence of God.” night with a prayer that began, Now I lay me down to sleep, I These words express an entirely pray the Lord my soul to keep. confident and hopeful view of life If I should die before I wake, I beyond death. This level of that our modern world generally pray the Lord my soul to take. confidence does not belong only deals with the cruel reality of Continued on page 3 to high-profile evangelists, it can death in three basic ways. be the sure and certain hope of all In this month’s issue: who put their faith in the risen First of all there are those who try Christ, whatever fears they are to dilute the poisonous nature of 2 Growing Disciples facing. this subject with humour. If you can laugh about death then maybe 4 Events & information Our 21st century preoccupation it will not seem so terribly final. with fulfilling all my desires Like Woody Allen, who famously 5 Prayer Diary today means that we prefer to said, ‘I’m not afraid of death, I avoid the subject of death; it has just don’t want to be there when it ` 9 Training Courses become the forbidden topic to happens’. raise in polite company. The 11 What’s On author John Ortberg points out Then there’s another way people 12 Comings & Goings @diocswellnott @SouthwellandNottingham 2 April 18 Growing Disciples . Growing Disciples . Growing Disciples . Wider Younger Deeper www.growingdisciples.co.uk Exploring the secrets of happiness oodborough Hall provided the wonderful Wsetting for a group of 31 people who began the journey of the ‘Happiness Lab Course’ on Monday 5th February. The Revd Anthony Giles - who is Vicar of St Swithun’s in Woodborough, and Area Dean of Gedling Deanery - explains: “We hoped to encourage ten to twelve people to come along, but through personal invitation and word of mouth we have been astonished to have 31 people sign up.” In the past Woodborough Hall has been the setting for Alpha Courses that the church has run, Photo: The delegates on the stairs at Woodborough Hall and Bishop Tony also launched The Ugly Duckling Company, The hope is that after the course their Seed Scattering weekend at who produce the Course describe the group will want to take their the historic Hall. The Happiness Lab as a six week thoughts and new friendships experiment that enables delegates further by joining a Pilgrim Anthony continues: “The to explore what psychologists, Course that will follow on. Happiness Lab is a course over doctors and faith leaders say will Anthony and the team hope that six weeks that explores the whole make people happier. longer term, the Happiness Lab area of well-being, happiness and will be a significant step towards contentedness. ‘Happiness’ is the The themes of each week are: encountering God and growing Holy Grail of contemporary week 1: Focusing on gratitude deeper in discipleship. culture, and certainly any quick and savouring search on Google gives you over week 2: Practising acts of 340 million hits for happiness, kindness and over 200 million for ‘well- week 3: Learning to forgive being’. There are over 56,000 week 4: Investing in friends and books titles in print exploring family these themes. The Hall is a week 5: Looking after your body neutral venue with superb and soul facilities and the manager, Tim, is week 6: Developing coping very generous towards the strategies church, allowing us to use their space.” Niftynotes 3 News in brief. News in brief. News in brief. News in brief. Continued from page 1 guess what his family put on his Jesus is still asking people today, tombstone? ‘That’s all folks!’ ‘Will you trust me?’ You don’t That is not a particularly cheery This really is the most important need to hide behind the humour, way to send a child off to sleep! human question that can ever be or force yourself to be carelessly Yet people used to teach this to asked – Which is true: ‘Jesus indifferent, you don’t need to their children because they Christ is risen from the dead’ or shudder at the finality of ‘That’s wanted them to know that death ‘That’s all folks!’? all folks!’ Jesus says, ‘simply is real but it’s not the end. trust me.’ In Luke 24 the angels declare ‘He In a world filled with increasing And that leads us to the third way is not here; he has risen!’ The sin uncertainty and fear we get to some people deal with the of the world has been paid for in announce a message of abundant prospect of death – with bleak full, death has been defeated. And life that is offered freely to resignation: so from this point on, for the everyone: the deep love of the Christian, death is just a change cross and the bright hope of I don’t know if you recognise the of address. One day we will Easter morning. name Mel Blanc? He was the experience a new kind of life that voice behind all of the cartoon is more wonderful than we could ‘Christ is risen! He is risen characters in Loony Tunes. At the imagine. The apostle Paul writes, indeed! Alleluia!’ end of every movie, Porky Pig “No eye has seen, no ear has would come on the screen, and heard, nor the human heart would always say the same thing: conceived, what God has Bishop Paul ‘That’s all folks!’ prepared for those who love him.” Mel Blanc died in 1989. Can you (1 Corinthians 2 v9). Nottinghamshire Historic Churches Trust Ride+Stride 2018 he Nottinghamshire The format is very flexible and Ride+Stride event shares the Historic Churches Trust churches and participants are free same weekend with the Heritage Tmakes grants for the repair to decide themselves how they Open Days and this is an and maintenance of churches in organise the day. Some cyclists excellent opportunity to take the county that are over 30 years pride themselves on visiting as advantage of the publicity and old. Over the lifetime of the Trust many churches as they can, while open your church to show your it has awarded over £1 million other churches treat it as an neighbours and visitors and in this year alone grants annual outing with a large group something of your life and totalling £37,900 have been of people walking or cycling. achievements. The Trust made. Even those who sit in the church particularly hopes that churches and provide that all important which have been in receipt of One of the ways in which it raise welcome can be sponsored. grants from the Trust will show money is through the Ride+Stride However, it is not always possible their appreciation by taking part event which is held on the second for a church to open its door. But this year. Saturday in September. Cyclists they can still take part by pinning and walkers are sponsored to visit a Signing In form on the church Please see the website as many churches as they can and door for cyclists and walkers to www.nottshistoricchurchtrust.org. half of the amount raised is register their visit. uk for further details or contact refunded to the sponsored the Ride+Stride Administrator person’s own church. Last year it Many churches open their doors Margaret.lowe@nottshistoricchur raised nearly £16,000. and provide welcome chtrust.com refreshments for the participants. 4 April 18 Events & information. Events & information. Events & informatio Main event of the year Chapel of Saint Mary the Virgin t last month’s national gathering in Nottingham, the partnership between Citizens UK and which explored how Athe Church is contributing to the Church’s own five year goals, Bishop Paul remarked how community organising is helping churches in the Diocese to find their voice. Whether you are brand new to organising, or well entrenched in its principles and practices, this sentiment is at the heart of why Nottingham and Maun Valley Citizens exist…to give people a voice, but then crucially to go a step further, equipping communities with the tools needed to get the change they need for the families and neighbourhoods they care about. Organising encourages thinking about two worlds…the ‘world as it is’ and the ‘world as it should be’ – training passionate and driven people to drag as many things as possible from the latter into the former. Comprising of over 50 member organisations, Nottingham and Maun Valley Citizens are organising across the Diocese for the common good, tackling the issues that matter to their constituent members…hate crime; homelessness; trafficking and modern day slavery; loneliness and welcome; clean air; good wages and employment practices, to name just a few.