Pioneer Curate’s Blog November 2015

‘A Christmas Carol.’ What emotions and thoughts are drummed up within you when you hear those words: Christmas, The Muppets, Albert Finney? Perhaps it is feelings of challenge and that felt need to give to those who have little. Perhaps it is that knowledge that whatever we do, we cannot make God love us any more, or any less – He embraces us as His children and transforms us. The B-it Theatre Company’s adult workshop is putting on this popular production at the end of November at St Mark’s and it is a wonderful opportunity to bring your friends, family and colleagues into a church building and hear faith and transformation being spoken of in life changing ways.

‘Meninadanca.’ What emotions and thoughts are drummed up within you when you hear this Portuguese phrase? For those who were at the evening service on Sunday 8th November there will be deep feelings of sadness, brokenness but also hope and joy that God and His faithful are in the darkest of places loving people whom no one has loved. Meninadanca means Girl Dancer. It is a charity that has been set up to take girls off the street and give them confidence and a way out of the life that they were born into. They use dance and drama to give these girls their self-esteem back. They use it to create community where the girls can be honest and find a relationship with a God that is not happy with the state the world is in but wants to see it changed.

This year the B-it Theatre Company’s Adult Workshop is going to raise awareness for Meninadanca, partly because our visions are similar. Whereas they work in the darkest of places in Brazil, we work in the sleepy suburbs of Chester. Chester is not immune to brokenness, helplessness and despair. Indeed, due to our outward affluence we tend to ignore out internal poverty and the lives being wasted all around us.

This term we have been looking at our spiritual gifts and our frontline. This is no mistake. God has blessed us with much so that we can go to those with little and shine God’s light into their lives. However, those who have little are sometimes much closer than we imagine. Our neighbours, our friends, our family and our colleagues are desperate for community and are desperate for the peace that only Jesus can bring.

As we prepare for Advent and look to Jesus’ birth and his return, let us think on our incarnate God, who ‘became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood.’ Is it possible that we are not ‘living’ in our neighbourhoods, our work places, our social circles and we need to hear the call once again to ‘move in.’ I have been really encouraged to hear of one fellowship group who has been inviting their whole street to come and have social events with them. The joy was, that I knew one of these people who, mid ‘social event’ text me and said ‘Do you know everyone’. The truth is I don’t – but I do know St Mark’s – and this fellowship group had just welcomed her into their home and she was overwhelmed with love.

This November, let’s embrace our gifts, be one with those on our front lines, pray for those you could invite to church, or to Alpha or to ‘A Christmas Carol’. Let us share God’s love as we prepare for this national holiday celebrating Jesus’ birthday!