Yearly Archive 2021

‘Miserly’ Chris is the wizard of warm

A new, all-electric heating system has proved to be a winner with urban as well as rural churches.

ChurchEcoMiser was originally designed for country churches where gas was either unavailable or expensive and oil the only alternative. Now the system is winning plaudits from a wide range of ecclesiastical properties and those buying electricity through a ‘green’ supplier find it is also carbon neutral – allowing some churches to install solar panels which had previously been refused.

Designed by Chris Dunphy, who launched Christopher Dunphy Ecclesiastical Ltd 40 years ago, the system has no boiler, no flue and no noxious gasses.

‘Many of the 1000-plus churches that I have dealt with over the years are Victorian or medieval where protecting the fabric of the building is as important as heating the people, so it can be a challenging but very rewarding task,’ he said. ‘This system is virtually maintenance free, compatible with solar panels, silent in operation and warms the fabric and congregation.’

ChurchEcoMiser and Christopher Dunphy Ecclesiastical Ltd are on stand S7 at CRE National (12-14 October 2021, Sandown Park, Surrey)

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Your journey ends with Searchlight

Puzzling over service ideas for Mothers’ Day and Easter?

Searchlight Theatre have a package that not only saves you time but also provides a dramatic boost to your presentations.

It includes three short, cleverly-crafted sketches from the Searchlight team – each dramatically and humorously developing a different aspect of the Easter story. There is also a 20-minute message, All Stations to Easter, from CRE National 2021 speaker Jeff Lucas. Look out, too, for some bonus material for Mothers’ Day. You’ll find a 20-minute talk by Jeff and a moving song on video from Searchlight, visually accompanied by a performance from members of the cast.

Jeff, an international author, speaker and broadcaster with 26 best-selling books to his name, gives a clear message for each occasion. 

‘This is a resource for churches that have struggled to provide fresh, accessible material for online services over the past 12 months,’ said Searchlight’s David Robinson. ‘We hope it will provide a real boost.’

The complete package is available for £49. Click here for more details

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Insure your house and bless your church

Every time someone takes out a fresh home insurance policy, Ecclesiastical donates £130 to the church of the customer’s choice.

More than 2000 churches have already benefitted – one of them being St Marks & All Saints Churches in West Parley, in the diocese of Salisbury. With Covid-19 playing a part, treasurer Derek Warner is expecting a shortfall of between £15,000 and £18,000 for the year. Ecclesiastical Insurance’s recent Trust130 donation of £650 went into general funds – a welcome addition.

‘We have had no congregations, so no collections,’ said Derek. ‘But even more importantly, we have lost all our income from church hall lettings and survived by eating into our capital. The Trust130 money is absolutely vital – we’re very grateful to Ecclesiastical.’

Trust130 was launched in 2017, to celebrate the 130^th anniversary of the founding of the company and, to date, the company has given more than £430,000 to 2,283 churches around the UK. There is no limit on the number of donations which can be made.

Ecclesiastical are on stand S149 at CRE National (12-14 October 2021, Sandown Park, Surrey)

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Rejoice in your second choice

Much-loved Bible teacher and author Jeff Lucas will open CRE National (Oct 12-14 2021, Sandown Park, Surrey) and introduce visitors to the biblical story of Daniel and friends, deported and forced into a form of lockdown.

You can see his video inviting you to the exhibition here.

‘There are so many lessons we can learn from the experiences of Daniel,’ said Jeff. ‘In fact, much of the Bible is written from lockdown, whether it’s Daniel, Joseph, Esther or the apostle Paul. Their stories show us how to thrive rather than just survive.’

His new book Singing in Babylon (David C Cook) is subtitled ‘finding purpose in life’s second choices.’

‘With CRE South West moved, for a second time, to Feb 23/24 2022, we are right on board with the message!’ said CRE owner and MD Steve Goddard. ‘However, more than 70 per cent of the floor space has already been sold for CRE National 2021 at Sandown Park and we look forward to celebrating the first steps on the long road back to normality.

‘While the internet has been a lifeline over the past 12 months, people still want to meet the person behind the product – because face to face beats mouse to mouse, every time.’

The Association of Event Organisers has worked closely with the Government to suggest timely best practice in light of Covid-19. With this in mind, new measures at CRE may include foot pedal-activated hand sanitisers, decontaminating spray, protective screens at visitor registration, messaging reminders, one-way systems and socially-distanced seminar rooms, toilets and breakout areas.

‘Who would have thought all this would be necessary 12 months ago?’ said Goddard. ‘But we are grateful to friends who have prayed for and joined us on an unexpected journey. Our prayer is that, as we look back, we will see how a greater good has come from these extraordinary days – and that being prepared to make the best of second choices made all the difference.’

DC Cook are on stand FC8 at CRE National (12-14 October 2021, Sandown Park, Surrey)

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CRE South West at Westpoint, Exeter: new dates 23-24 Feb 2022

With a ban on large public gatherings in place for the foreseeable future, the organisers of CRE South West have postponed the exhibition until early next year (23-24 Feb 2022).

‘With the impressive roll out of the vaccination programme, things are certainly looking more hopeful for us all,’ said exhibition owner Steve Goddard. ‘However, we think it will be a while yet before large-scale indoor events will be sanctioned. With this in mind, we thought it best to make an early decision to postpone CRE South West until 2022, to ensure the event has the best possible chance of being successful.’

Finding purpose in life’s second choices is the timely theme of a new book by Jeff Lucas (pictured), a much-loved Bible teacher and author, who will open CRE National (12-14 Oct 2021, Sandown Park, Surrey). Jeff will introduce visitors to the biblical story of Daniel and friends, deported and forced into a form of lockdown. 

‘There are so many lessons we can learn from their experiences,’ said Jeff. ‘In fact, much of the Bible is written from lockdown, whether it’s Daniel and his friends, Joseph, Esther or the apostle Paul. Their stories show us how to thrive rather than just survive.’ See a short introductory video from Jeff here.

‘With more than 70 per cent of the floor space already sold at Sandown Park, we look forward to an event where, together, we celebrate the first steps on the long road back to normality,’ said Goddard. ‘While the internet has been a lifeline over the past 12 months, people still want to meet the person behind the product – because face to face beats mouse to mouse. Every time. In fact, nothing beats trying it on, tasting it, sitting on it, hearing it, discussing it and comparing it. Nothing beats CRE!’

The Association of Exhibition Organisers has worked closely with the Government to suggest timely best practice in light of Covid-19. With this in mind, new measures at CRE may include foot pedal-activated hand sanitisers, decontaminating spray, protective screens at visitor registration, messaging reminders, one-way systems and socially-distanced seminar rooms, toilets and breakout areas.

‘Who would have thought all this would be necessary 12 months ago?’ said Goddard. ‘But we are grateful to friends who have prayed for and joined us on an unexpected journey. Our prayer is that, as we look back, we will see how a greater good has come from these extraordinary days – and that being prepared to make the best of second choices made all the difference.’

Our next exhibitions