Barnabas E-News July and August 2009

Summer is in sight! And however the weather may turn out, we hope this will be a time to step back for a while from your weekly commitment to your children's group and take a break; although we do realise that many of you (and us!) will nobly be involved in Holiday Clubs, Special Days or perhaps helping at one of the major Christian festivals. Wherever you are, may these next two months bring times of refreshment and some new ideas for the six month ahead. In this e-news are some ideas for summer reading, summer planning and some summer fun! Read on...

Summer fun

Do you like riddles? Try this one: what's greater than God, more evil than Satan, the possession of the poor, required by the rich, and if you eat it, you will die? [For the answer, see below!] Brain teasers like these have a long literary history - they even appear in the Bible. Riddles don't seem to make sense at first sight, but by making you think they spur you on to make discoveries for yourself. Jesus used paradox and riddle-like statements like this in his teaching too, and so we thought we'd set you some riddles for the lazy summer days to come. Each one is a teasing way into a Bible story and something fun to share with family groups and friends in these next months. Check out our whole bunch of summer riddles in the following Ideas:

Summer planning

We realise that Christmas is a probably the last thing on your mind at the moment but we can't resist drawing your attention to The Christmas Journey, published by Barnabas last month. This exciting and creative approach to unpacking the Christmas story for local schools and others in your community is something that we would strongly recommend to you. Moira Curry and Gill Morgan have written an easy-to-read guide to putting on this interactive event at your church, perhaps even this December! They've been running it for five years in their local community, and so it really is something tried and tested. To help you into the ideas and inspire you, this month's feature article is a synopsis of the content of this book to get you thinking and maybe planning. Barnabas is particularly passionate about making positive and reciprocal links with local schools and with children in the community, and this is definitely a way to do just that. For full details of the scripts, the resources and how to go about it all, the book itself contains a wealth of useful information and links.

And watch out for The Easter Journey, its companion volume to be published by Barnabas in November.

Summer competition

And while we are on the subject of Christmas - sorry about this! - there are details of a special Christmas competition from The Reader magazine that you could print off and take with you for those quiet creative moments on your summer travels.

Find out more

Summer appearances

Might you be at Greenbelt at the end of August? If so, then come and meet the Barnabas Team, many of whom are involved in running a Messy Church experience during the days of the festival in Cheltenham. And are any of you up at Keswick09 at the end of July? If so, Jane Butcher would love to meet you as she is involved with the children's work up at this particular Christian gathering.

And we are out and about elsewhere too, particularly in July: Norwich, Gloucester and Shipley; Birmingham; Newcastle, Durham and South Shields; Leamington Spa, Halifax and Durrington (Wiltshire); Darwen (Lancashire), Snodland (Kent) and Redbrook (Gwent); South Woodford (east London), Slough and Chichester.

'Summertime...

... and the living is easy.' Well, we hope that it will at the very least be a little less frenetic for you and a time to renew your spiritual batteries and be re-energised in your commitment to the children and families at your church, in your local schools and within your community. May you have plenty of relaxing and memorable moments just 'being' this summer, wherever the next months take you.

With prayers for your work,

from the Barnabas Team

Answer to the riddle: nothing!

The Barnabas Team
barnabas@brf.org.uk
www.barnabasinchurches.org.uk

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Summer reading

Here are a few suggestions for some relaxing, spiritual reading this summer from Barnabas and BRF:

Quiet Spaces is ideal for taking with you on holiday. There is now a whole series of themes explored in a neat A5 booklets, which contain an anthology of short biblical reflections - easy to read and very thought-provoking. Check out the range of themes and information on how to obtain the books on www.quietspaces.org.uk.

If you'd prefer something on the web, then can we remind you to get signed up for Foundations21? This is an amazing, free online resource that can help you grow your faith either individually or as part of a small group connected online. It has a wealth of attractively presented material geared to your own particular learning style. In addition, the homepage every day has a section from our New Daylight Bible notes, a quote for the day, a Psalm, a biblical promise and an area of the world to pray for. There are also links to material within the site with ideas for the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday.

Other popular titles

Good Enough Mother
God at work in the challenge of parenting
Naomi Starkey

Most mothers might say, no matter what age their offspring are, that motherhood never leaves you.

Good Enough Mother is a book for all mothers, not just those of young children, which shows how God can help mothers turn anxieties and stresses into growth points.

Running the Race Marked Out for Us
Lessons from Hebrews 12
Andrew Wooding Jones

In a verse by verse exploration of one of the New Testament's most inspiring passages, this book invites us on the challenge of a lifetime - the race of faith, which we run in the company of a 'cloud of witnesses' who urge us on as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Running the Race Marked Out for Us reveals a wealth of encouragement and hope in Hebrews 12, and reminds us of all that we are called to do and be, as sons and daughters of God, especially when our path seems littered with obstacles.