CRE News

Green Christian: herald of hope in a damaged world

Becoming agents of change through daily prayer, simple lifestyle, public witness – and by encouraging one another.

That’s the agenda of first-time CRE exhibitors Green Christian who will invite visitors to discover a Bible-based, green perspective.

Environmentalist and theologian Judith Russenberger, married with three grown-up children, will speak on ‘Green Christian – our calling to care for creation’ (2.30pm, Thu 13 Oct). Using Genesis 2 as a basis, she will look at how we are called by God to care for what he has made.

Formed in 1981, Green Christian helps Christians understand the need to care more for creation and provide Christian insights to the green movement. Their CRE stand, shared with Operation Noah, will also provide a place where visitors can talk about the vital connection between faith and creation care and how to respond.

Deborah Tomkins, co-chair of Green Christian, said: ‘We are delighted that Judith will speak on our behalf. She is an established expert on the subject and will be well worth listening to. Green Christian seeks to encourage Christians to live gently on the earth, encouraging one another in discipleship which accepts our impact on God’s creation as a whole.

‘We believe in a gospel for all creation. We are a community of ordinary Christians from all backgrounds and traditions who seek to let loose hope in this damaged, exploited and unjust world, pioneer practical discipleship in shared prayer, struggle and action, and equip prophetic witness through our campaigns and resources.’

• Green Christian are on stand S6 at CRE National 2022

Main picture: Eco Church is a mixed media collage depicting St Mary the Virgin Eling, overlooking the Solent. It is Graham’s expression of the joy of renewal, an honouring of the past and apprehension and uncertainty in the present. Hope is present in the eternal stars over the church and in the free-flying swifts.

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Want a card with a Christian message? Have a Hart

Mike and Sue Hart were disappointed they couldn’t find a suitable Christmas card to send to non-Christian family and friends – 40 years later their own creations will be at CRE National 2022.

‘We made our own card and printed more than we needed, to reduce costs,’ said Mike, who advertised in a Christian magazine and placed cards in two Christian bookshops.

Gospel Cards was born!

Based in Bridgend, Wales, they now have a wide range for other occasions, along with Christian calendars and other gifts. A percentage of sale proceeds is given to 25 Christian charities, with more than £360,000 passed on in this way.

This year sees the launch of a new, high-quality outreach calendar – Amazing Love. 

‘Because calendars often have to be folded to fit through letterboxes, which spoils their appearance, we have produced an A5-sized calendar with a high gloss card cover,’ said Mike. ‘As well as being easier for churches to distribute, it is also attractive with high-quality photography and space for engagements. The back cover has a Christmas card greeting and appearance that will encourage folk to display it with other cards.

‘Appropriate monthly Bible verses, and a brief Gospel presentation, make it a wonderful vehicle for the good news of God’s amazing love for us in Christ.’

His challenge to churches and Christians is to ‘reach out to the people in your neighbourhood by giving them the calendar this December, together with an invitation to a carol service.’

• A free sample of Gospel Cards’ calendar and details of their other products can be found on the United Beach Missions stand A6 at CRE National 2022

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Take the long view – and build for the future

Building the kingdom of God and meeting the needs of those around you requires patience – and it often helps to take the long view.

So believes Phil Winch of CPL Architects, exhibitors at CRE National 2022. Phil points to the famous Romero Prayer, originally drafted by Bishop Ken Untener, which captures the thought beautifully.

‘It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view…’ says the prayer. ‘We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work… We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realising that. This enables us to do something and to do it well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest…’

‘By taking the long view,’ says Phil, ‘we see how our present day-to-day work fits into the larger picture and helps us to achieve our long-term vision. When churches think about planning a new building project, they are takingthe long view, where time and resources invested today will realise their vision for both present and future generations.’

In Matthew 13, Jesus spoke about the long view: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.’

Many churches CPL work with today take the long view and are building for the future.

‘If we can help you to achieve your long view, do talk to us at Sandown Park,’ said Phil. ‘We would be happy to offer an initial free, no obligation consultation.’

• CPL Architects are on stand N1 at CRE National 2022

Photo: St John, Egham, in CPL Architects’ portfolio.

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Administration: the gift we ignore at our peril

Overlooking the spiritual gift of administration may be why local churches fail to make any significant impact.

So says Andy Bagwell, executive director of UK Church Administrators’ Network (UCAN), exhibitors at CRE National 2022. Andy has worked as a senior church manager for more than 15 years in two large Anglican churches and regularly provides organisational health and operational effective consultancy for churches, as well as overseeing a comprehensive programme of training events, conferences, accredited learning courses and online resources.

Since its formation in 2009 UCAN has led the effort to support church administrators across the UK.

‘Our desire is to equip those responsible for administration in churches to be efficient and effective in their roles, connecting them to one another for mutual support and resource-sharing and to forge healthy and effective working relationships within church staff teams,’ said Andy.

He also heads up UCAN’s Churchworkers.net HR support service, which helps churches rise to the challenge of being an effective, responsible and caring employer.

Jo Roach, a church office manager in Cambridge, went on a UCAN management course.

‘The course provided me with space to think, confidence in my knowledge and abilities to lead, and tools for handling the challenges of management along the way,’ she said. ‘It was also a wonderful place to meet with others who understood the particular stresses of a management role within their local church.’

• UCAN will be on stand S5 at CRE National 2022

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For the Bible in 100 languages turn to Chapter Two

More than 250 languages may be spoken London and one bookshop is rising to the challenge by providing bibles in more than 100 of them.

Simon Attwood is manager at Chapter Two in Plumstead, East London, exhibitors at CRE National 2022. He is thrilled to provide God’s word to so many visiting the shop and using its online service.

The shop was founded by the late Edwin Cross in 1976 and Simon was one of the trustees. Taking over in 2009 when Edwin died proved something of a challenge to Simon, a local government officer in revenue collection. Chapter Two, servicing customers from all parts of the world, is a faith venture with none of the staff paid wages.

‘We recently had an order for 14 bibles in the Maltese language and we are regularly providing customers with Eastern European language versions – as well as African and Indian languages,’ he explained. ‘In fact, we recently sold a Nepalese bible.’ The shop will be displaying some of the products at CRE National 22.

‘Last year it was a question of getting back to normal after the pandemic,’ said 67-year-old Simon, ‘but things have changed again. It seems that we are standing on quicksand so it’s good to remember the words of Jesus to his Father: “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). That’s stability and makes it a privilege for every Christian bookshop to supply people with God’s word – something Chapter Two has been doing for many years. The Bible has changed so many lives down the centuries and it still does today when people read it prayerfully and carefully.

‘We also sell new and second-hand books that help children and adults understand the scriptures better and enables them to put what it says into practice in their lives.’

• Chapter Two are on stand E17 at CRE National 2022

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The dramatic conversion of St Paul’s

A congregation camping in a huge barn far too big for its needs.

Does it have a familiar ring to it? Like so many of its kind St Paul’s, Slough, is a very large, Victorian-style, 20th century church that had lost its former grandeur in a big way. But through the sale of some land for housing and fundraising, the church raised £1m to turn the church into a place fitting as an offering to the glory of God. Like the saint it is named after, it witnessed a dramatic conversion. Jeremy Bell, of CRE exhibitors JBKS Architects, explains how:

St Paul’s is enormously high and was so hard to heat that in the 1960s a flat-roofed interior structure was built to provide a smaller hall that was easier to heat hall, entirely within the west end of the church.

The result was an out-of-proportion piece of nave and a dowdy flat west end hall, with plastic fold-back doors. Inevitably the roof of the hall room had accumulated old chairs and cardboard boxes.

The whole place had lost its former grandeur in a big way. Dusty utilitarian lights, ice-cold draughts and a rickety screen balanced on disused choir stalls. It all gave the impression of the congregation camping in a huge barn far too big for its needs.

However, the congregation is very much alive and represents the wide diversity of Slough itself, adding spice to this vibrant community. 

After more than a decade the team (consisting of tireless vicar Revd Mike Cotterell, church warden Chris Broadbent and JBKS Architects) finally saw the work complete in March 2020. It is stunning, and a modern interpretation of the original. All the former beauty is magnified by amazing lighting and colour, but it has been augmented by some remarkably successful features.

The chancel has been blanked off by a magnificent full-height glazed screen with a huge wooden cross holding it up. Far from being a partition, it is a sparkly glam structure in which are reflected the stained-glass windows which appear like exciting holograms suspended in space. The white stone colours have been up-lit, allowing them to contrast and accentuate the warm brickwork.

The lovely arts and crafts wall decoration has been restored and in places, repainted. It adds such a quality of delicate tactile decoration. There are additional frameless glass screens to form a chapel at the west end. Again, they sparkle.

The main feature is that the whole focus of the worship is now sideways in the nave, which is wide enough, and accommodates a gracious curved dais.  Everyone is gathered around, in one space.

The chancel is not lost. It is gloriously still at its axial east, and still features the old high altar and the richly painted reredos. However, the chancel is now the place of fellowship and gathering for a coffee and a chat after the service. Perhaps it is fitting that this part of the church, once reserved for choir and clergy, has been given over to the warmth of personal relationships. After all Jesus said: ‘Love one another – by this will all men know that you are my disciples’ (John 15:12). 

May the restored beautiful church at St Pauls Slough equip the congregation to love one another in the sumptuous new space and thereby make disciples.

For more information click here.

• JBKS Architects are on stand V1 at CRE National 2022

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Make the most of Barry and Dave’s cost-cutting crusade

Two Christian bookshops are promising to make 2022 a cost-cutting year for visitors to their stand with many items priced at £2.22 – or less.

‘It’s been a difficult 12 months and we appreciate people cannot always afford to spend as much as they would like much,’ said Barry Mockford, manager of Canaan Christian Ministries in Staines. He and Dave Lock, from Manna Christian Centre in Streatham, aim to encourage visitors where they can, displaying a large range of books, cds, posters and cards for all ages – and representing the small, independent Christian bookshops in the UK.

‘We all know everything is going up in price,’ said Barry. ‘However, where possible, we intend to bring our prices down at CRE. Many of our items will be cheaper than you will usually find in the shops, or online, with many at our special £2.22 price or less. It will be the ideal time to not only support a couple of local bricks and mortar shops but also grab some excellent bargains.’

• Canaan Christian Bookshop/ Manna Books are on stand N3 at CRE National 2022

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Facing the facts: new booklet dispels popular myths about Jesus

The 2022 Talking Jesus survey shows that only 54 per cent of the UK population are sure that Jesus was a real human being – and those who believe he is a mythical or fictional character has risen from 22 per cent to 28 per cent!

That’s why Andrew Halloway, editor of the national evangelistic newspaper Good News, has written an evangelistic booklet called Jesus Unmasked: Fact-Checking the World’s Greatest Influencer.

‘Specifically designed for giving to non-Christians, Jesus Unmasked tackles atheist propaganda that says the Bible was written long after Jesus lived, that it is biased and therefore unreliable and that there is no evidence that Jesus actually existed,’ said Andrew. ‘All these things are simply false and the booklet shows why.’

Besides the historical facts, Jesus Unmasked also explains why the life and teaching of Jesus, and ultimately the resurrection, form a strong argument for his divinity. At the end, the reader is challenged to consider Jesus and discover a relationship with him for themselves.

Copies of Jesus Unmasked cost £1 each or 80p if ordered in a pack of five (plus p&p). The booklet will be available on the Good News Evangelistic Newspaper stand at CRE National 2022.

• Good News Evangelistic Newspaper are on stand D5 at CRE National 2022

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Home is where God’s heart is

Finding a home for every UK child and teenager who needs one – through fostering, adoption and supported lodgings. That’s the bold vision exhibitors Home for Good will share at CRE National 2022.

‘We believe churches have a crucial role to play to make this vision a reality,’ said CEO Tania Bright (pictured). As a former supported lodgings host and foster carer, and now adoptive mum to ‘two brilliant boys’, Tania knows personally the joy and challenge that can come as we reimagine family and open our homes.

‘Our faith inspires, motivates and encourages us to act and believe that change is possible as we stand firmly on a strong theological foundation and commit to prayer for every aspect of our work,’ she said. ‘For some this will mean personally exploring fostering, adoption or supported lodgings. For others it will be about intentionally offering support to families who love and are raising children with an experience of care in our churches and communities. The boys and I would not be where we are today without the outrageous love and fierce commitment of families in our church and beyond.’

Tania, speaking on all three days at CRE National 2022, will point to the fact that there are more than 50,000 churches in the UK. In every village, town and city these churches – big, small and in-between – are filled with people who want to follow the example of Jesus and walk alongside the marginalised.

‘When we read the Bible, it’s impossible to ignore an issue that is close to God’s heart,’ she said. ‘Psalm 68 tells us that he sets the lonely in families. Imagine the transformational difference the church could make if even more individuals and families in our congregations opened their homes to children and young people! Imagine the impact if church communities wrapped around those families with love, encouragement, prayer and practical support.’

• Home for Good are on stand V5 at CRE National 2022

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Trussell Trust: time to close all food banks

There are about 1,200 food banks in their network – but the Trussell Trust wants rid of them all.

That will be Rev Jessica Foster’s message to visitors at CRE National 2022 (11am, Tue 11 Oct). Jessica, head of church engagement at the trust, will encourage Christians to join the call for an end to the need for food banks and the poverty which has led to their necessity.

‘We support about two thirds of the food banks in the UK to provide a minimum of three-days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency food for people in crisis,’ she said. ‘It is time for a change and that will only be possible as we raise our voices together.’

With more than 14 million people in the UK living below the poverty line, she will point to the need for communities to challenge the structural issues that lock people into poverty – and campaign for change.

The trust was founded by Carol and Paddy Henderson in 1997 using a legacy left by Carol’s mother, Betty Trussell. The first projects focused on improving conditions for more than 60 children sleeping at the Central Railway Station in Bulgaria. In 2000, Paddy received a call from a mother in Salisbury who faced sending her children to bed hungry. Paddy investigated data on poverty and deprivation in the UK and started Salisbury Foodbank in his garden shed, providing three-days’ emergency food to local people in crisis. The food bank model spread rapidly through church networks.

More than 20 years later, the trust supports a network of food banks across the UK, supported by thousands of volunteers. Each provides emergency food to people in crisis, and additional support to help tackle the root causes which sweep people into poverty.

‘We know it takes more than food to end hunger so we bring together the experiences of food banks in our network, and their communities, to challenge the structural economic issues that lock people in poverty,’ said Jessica Foster (pictured). ‘We campaign for change to end hunger and poverty in the UK so food banks can be resigned to the history books.’

Book your tickets to CRE National 2022 for as little as £3 (£8 on the door)

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