Music Concert at DBC

Now that the Arts Festival is over it is time to publicize our own music concert at Didsbury Baptist Church. Malcolm Sargent has been working hard at calling together a group of musicians from the Didsbury area (and beyond) to participate in  a musical concert. It will take place on Saturday 24 Oct. Various musicians will perform works of Mozart, Rutter, Mendelssohn and Howard Goodall. Though entrance will be free, there will be a retiring offering to benefit our building fund. If you are near Didsbury perhaps you would like to join us for the evening. All are welcome.

An introductory course to Christian faith

Have you ever wondered if the Christian faith is for you? On Sunday we are a starting an introductory course to Christian faith. It will meet in our home over the next 6 weeks. The group will set its own agenda but currently we plan to discuss: Belief in God, We need God in our lives, The life and ministry of Jesus, The death and resurrection of Jesus, The Holy Spirit, and Becoming a Christian. You are welcome to join us. For further details please call 0161 438 2927.

Harvest / Sukkot

mobile-phone photo, Anna Wright

Last Sunday we held an all-age harvest celebration for morning worship. Truth is, harvest festivals are not what they used to be and in urban environments they can be distinctly out of place. Still, with issues of food production and food security high on the agenda these days, harvest provides all kinds of possibilities for worship and reflection.

On Sunday, I combined Christian harvest themes with some of those of the Jewish (and biblical) festival of Sukkot. The date of our harvest celebrations does not always coincide with the Jewish holiday but this year it did. Our Jewish neighbours are celebrating Sukkot right now, so I drew on some of the themes that form the basis of both celebrations.

We built a (very non-kosher) sukkah inside the sanctuary. (I know, the whole point is to build sukkot outside but this was the only way I could introduce the theme to a Christian group meeting indoors.) Then we brought our harvest gifts and displayed them in the sukkah.  The gifts, of course, are then donated to local charities. We also took up our offering for the Seeds of Hope harvest appeal for the work of BMS World Mission.

Christians recount that it was during the Festival of Sukkot that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8.12).

If you would like to learn more about Sukkot there is plenty of information on the net. You might try Hebrew for Christians, Judaism 101 or, a favourite of mine, Rachel Barenblat’s blog — the Velveteen Rabbi.

The close of Didsbury Arts Festival

The Arts Festival is now over but what a great week it was! Three musical performances were held at Didsbury Baptist Church. All three were excellent events: Dunyana on Monday night, SMAOS on Wednesday, and the Cavendish Singers and Cymbalon Quintet on Friday. All played to packed houses and were enthusiastically received.

For the churches, the Arts Festival closed last night with an International Songs of Praise at Christ Church, West Didsbury organized by Churches Working Together in Didsbury. We anticipated the forthcoming One World Week and worshiped together as churches and people from many nations and backgrounds. It was a great event that reflected the sheer joy of belonging to a people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

One down, two to go

Didsbury Arts Festival is now in full swing. There is quite a buzz about the place and the events seem to be going very well. We hosted a world music event with Dunyana on Monday evening. They played to a packed house and were fantastic! I do not have a photo but I noticed that a few were taken. If anyone reading this has photos of the event and would give me permission to upload one here I would be very pleased to do so. Leave a comment and I’ll send you an address to upload to.

We look forward to hosting the South Manchester Amateur Operatic Society event tonight and the Cavendish Singers on Friday.

House-groups are back

Our house-groups return after their summer break this week. The Tuesday evening group, Cakes, Coffee and Colossians began last night. It meets at Brian’s and Jenny’s and, over the next few weeks, will study the letter of Paul to the Colossians as those who are trying to live Christianly in a society with other loyalties.

The Wednesday Group begins tonight at 7.30 and will meet in the manse. Tonight, we will support and pray for each other and discuss what we might study in the weeks ahead. Please feel free to join a group. For further details, please drop me a line or give me a call.

Marion Scott Playgroup Outdoor Play Area

After years of hoping and months of planning the builders are on site and so far are doing a fantastic job. With a new doorway children will be able to move freely from inside to outside. It should all be done in another week.

Midsummer Mix – the SK6 Crawl

People travel from miles around to come to Didsbury Baptist Church! Some of our congregation live in the Marple and Romiley areas of Cheshire, which is ten miles from Didsbury - but nicely situated close to the facilities of the City and on the border of the countryside.

A few weeks ago, on a late August Wednesday, three families in this area played host to a group of sixteen DBC regulars in the ‘Midsummer Mix’ series (see elsewhere on this blog for reports on other activities). The group assembled at church and (with suitably eco-friendly car-sharing) drove to Fay’s home, to sample her famous home-made soup. Some of our newer friends were a bit puzzled as to why Fay’s home-made soup should be described as ‘famous’ – but a few spoonfuls settled that question! There was a mouth-watering selection of four different varieties and all were pronounced delicious. Most came back for second – or even third – helpings. There was no time for over-indulgence, though, and soon we were being chased to get back into the cars for the short trip to Judy’s house.

Judy’s kitchen table was groaning with a generous selection of savouries: quiches, pizzas, salads, chicken drumsticks etc and, despite the enthusiastic efforts of many, there was still plenty left at the end – not quite twelve baskets, perhaps. Incidentally, you may have noticed that many DBC events involve food, somewhere along the way. Anyway, no time to dally because we were soon being hassled back into the cars for the few minutes’ drive to …

… Ann & Malcolm’s – where puddings were provided. This included apple and blackcurrant crumble, bonhoffie pie (is that the right spelling? I’m not sure because by the time I got to it, it had all gone!), ice cream and fruit salad. Since this was the last stop, people were able to enjoy chatting (and eating) in the garden as the evening sun sank below the horizon. For those who stayed inside, there was a brief slide-show of the church walk up Pendle Hill – and of Ann & Malcolm’s new granddaughter!

By this time, it was 10 pm and time to return, in convoy, to Didsbury. From comments afterwards, it seems that people enjoyed the evening and the rather novel idea of eating successive courses in the homes of people who don’t live in Didsbury. There was even a suggestion that we might do the whole thing again next year – in Sale!”

International Day of Prayer for Peace

Haiti, 2004. Photo: Paul Jeffrey / ACT

Today (21 September) is the World Council of Churches’ International Day of Prayer for Peace. It coincides with the United Nations’ International Day of Peace.

Yesterday, Didsbury Baptist Church, along with many others, observed Peacemaking Sunday and made use of the resources provided by the Joint Public Issues Team of the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches Working Together.

The following prayer of intercession is taken from the booklet “Imagine peace“, a collection of Bible meditations and other texts on biblical aspects of peace and overcoming violence.

Lord, we pray for
Peace for those who weep in silence
Peace for those who cannot speak
Peace when all hope seems to disappear.

In the midst of rage, of violence and disappointment,
In the midst of wars and destruction of the earth,
Lord, show us your light in the darkness.

Lord, we pray for
Peace for those who raise their voices to demand it,
Peace when there are many who do not wish to hear of it,
Peace as we find the way to justice.

First or last?

The Gospel reading for this coming Sunday is one of the greatest:

Mark 9.30–37

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”