The bauble that ticks all the boxes
‘We will whole-heartedly continue to support our Bethlehem families during these dark days.’
So declared Ros Pollock (pictured), founder of Bethlehem Baubles, exhibitors at CRE Midlands 23.
‘They need our help now more than ever and we will remain non-political and non-sectarian in our endeavours,’ she said.
Bethlehem Baubles is a social enterprise working with Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities to produce unique handmade Christmas decorations crafted by the people who live where the story of Christmas began. They are beautiful glass decorations (roughly 5cm in diameter) that arrive on a bed of recycled shredded paper in their own presentation box along with a certificate of origin, dated ribbon and a new gift card and envelope for you to write a personalise message on for your loved ones.
With a different design for the collection each year, Bethlehem Baubles are an ideal annual Christmas gift.
‘They are great for stocking fillers, God children – and that tricky relative who you never know what to get!’ says Ros. Reasonably priced at £18, they are 100 per cent plastic free using only recyclable materials – from production right through to shipment.
Ros started the business when living in Jerusalem. She was saddened by the lack of opportunities available to many local communities, particularly those in Hebron and Bethlehem.
‘They really struggle to make a living so the idea of making Christmas decorations seemed an obvious and simple way of starting a business,’ she explains. ‘It connects people in the UK with struggling communities in Palestine which desperately need regular income. It has the added bonus of tapping into an ancient glassblowing tradition in Hebron – using recycled glass from old Palestinian bottles and windowpanes. It ticks all the boxes!’
• Bethlehem Baubles are on stand A19 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
A novel insight into Genesis
What was it like in the Garden of Eden, in a perfect world where nothing went wrong?
That was one of a number of questions which intrigued Sylvia Penny – so much so that she decided to write a novel with Genesis as a theme.
Eve and the Angel of Light is the result, published this month by the Open Bible Trust.
‘I have always been interested in Genesis and how it was in the beginning of the world,’ she said. ‘What was it like to walk and talk with God as Adam and Eve did? And what if you did not understand what “wrong” meant? I wanted to write a book like this for many years but the pandemic gave me more time to think about it. It is the story of Adam and Eve in the beginning: the story of life and death, good and evil, suffering and redemption.
‘It tells of where we all came from, and why it all went wrong. Ultimately it is about our future hope and destiny.’
Eve and the Angel of Light is Sylvia’s first novel, although she has previously written many theological books and booklets. A biblical scholar and theologian, she wants the book to give Christians a broader understanding of the faith and answer some of their questions, but also hopes it may be accessible to young people and ‘an introduction to how everything started.’
At 67, she brings a wealth of experience and theological knowledge to bear on a particularly difficult part of the Bible.
Husband Michael, the trust’s administrator, said: ‘Our trustees decided that this novel would introduce a different audience to scripture, in particular Genesis and the start of the faith.’
• The Open Bible Trust is on stand D35 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Barbie inspires ‘meaningful’ advent calendar
Barbie has been a big summer hit – but few realise she was the inspiration behind the UK’s top-selling Christian Fairtrade advent calendar.
‘Back in 2011, I saw a Barbie Advent calendar on sale in a supermarket,’ said David Marshall, founder of the Meaningful Chocolate Company. ‘Three things struck me. How could it only cost 99p? What had she got to do with Christmas? What would you think Christmas was about if all you got was a Barbie calendar every year?’
David also saw surveys showing that 36 per cent of 5 to 7-year-olds did not know whose birthday was celebrated on December 25th and that 51 per cent of adults said the birth of Jesus was irrelevant to their Christmas.
‘We worked with clergy, churches and children’s advisers and that’s how the Real Advent Calendar came to be created,’ he said.
To help share the Christmas story the Real Advent Calendar has a line about the nativity behind each of the 25 doors and a corresponding page in the Christmas story-activity book – included with every calendar. The book expands the story along with Advent challenges and a £300 competition.
More than one million calendars have been sold over the years with three million people experiencing the Christmas story as a result.
The calendars cost £4.50 each and come in cases of 18 (with free delivery). Supermarkets and Traidcraft are not stocking the calendar this year but, while stocks last, it will be available at the KCLCT bookshop at CRE Midlands 23 or online.
• The KCLCT bookshop is on stand P73 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Your coffee gives them a future
Coffee-loving churches have helped one long-standing CRE exhibitor raise £100,000 for charity over the past 10 years.
‘We are delighted that, through sales of our products, we have been able to support Toybox, an amazing charity that works with street children in Guatemala City,’ said Kingdom Coffee’s Darren Rayner (pictured).
In just 12 months, Toybox has helped:
- 100 street children and young people a month, providing night-time support and distributing food, drinks and basic medical care
- More than 100 street children, actively involving them in life-skills workshops, recreational activities and child rights workshops, where they also received food and drink
- 63 street children access therapeutic and psycho-social support
- 38 street children access health care
- Supported 95 young people in street situations to gain work skill
- Supported the education of 343 street children and young people
‘The good work doesn’t stop here though,’ said Darren. ‘We are continuing to support Toybox and look forward to doing so for the foreseeable future.’
Visitors to CRE Midlands 23 will find a Fairtrade Coffee ‘that tastes as great as the work it enables.’
• Kingdom Coffee are on stand P1 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Cover the risk, see the reward
Faith-based organisations can find solutions to many key problems with the help of a specialist insurance company.
That’s the view of Simeon Chapman, group director at chartered insurance brokers Hazelton Mountford, based in Worcester city centre with an office in Evesham.
‘In the ever-changing landscape of risk and insurance, we can combine elements of faith, community and resilience,’ explains Simeon.
With so much currently depending on risk assessments, and the fear of action against them if things go wrong, churches can easily give up and do very little. Simeon’s recipe for a community hub, however, involves churches adopting a commendable approach to risk management, diligently identifying, evaluating and controlling risks associated with their ambitious endeavours.
Over the past few years his company, celebrating 15 years in the industry, has found that financial prudence can be a hallmark of a faith community.
‘With transparent financial management practices and responsible allocation of funds, the recipe can form the base of a community hub that provides enough revenue to employ a number of workers,’ he maintains.
Within this vision, a hub can offer a wide range of activities, from live-streamed services to active youth work, as well as providing vital support programmes for the local community. All that, plus events for the church congregation throughout the year, such as picnics, BBQs, occasional wedding and funeral/memorial services. Small groups of singers and musicians, based at the hub, could go into the neighbourhood and undertake evangelistic activities.
‘Even in the face of challenges, communities can collectively identify, evaluate, control and transfer risks while making a profound impact, with insurance part of the protection and solution,’ continues Simeon. ‘In the midst of life’s uncertainties, faith and community can be our greatest assets in navigating the challenges that come our way.’
• Hazelton Mountford are on stand E31 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Why Birmingham youth are ‘open to claims of Jesus’
For 13 years an interdenominational event in the city has been run successfully by Birmingham City Mission’s youth team – and you can find out about it at CRE Midlands next month.
Called Fulfil, it is for both churched and unchurched young people and creates an important connection point of faith and fellowship. The initiative is particularly important with Birmingham classed as Europe’s youngest major city – under-25s being nearly 40 per cent of the population and facing huge pressures.
As Steve Botham of Time4Brum puts it: ‘We have more than 400 schools, four universities, a “super diverse” population and all the excitement, innovation and energy associated with youth.’
Yet the pressures affecting children and young people are evident. The world of digital devices, social media, the ongoing effects of the Covid years, exam pressures, political agendas and gender confusion all impact young people’s mental health and wellbeing. For many inner-city young people there is the daily reality of knife crime, addiction, economic deprivation, lack of opportunity, racial injustice and disenfranchisement.
But, through Fulfil, Birmingham City Mission (BCM), formed in 1966, is still playing a key role in bringing young people back to God.
John Platt, BCM youth team co-ordinator, said: ‘We have detected a growing interest in spiritual things among young people. This has been the experience at our after-school clubs, with young people asking deep spiritual questions. Perhaps a growing disillusion with materialism, failings in authority and the hopelessness of atheism mean that many young people are open to the claims of Jesus. To them the distinctiveness of Christ stands out.’
He points out that youth leaders are seeing a growing number of young people across the city with a deepening passion for Jesus. Prayer movements are being formed, led by young people. Younger generations are using their gifts in churches and young migrants are playing a key role in revitalising the Church. Fulfil is a vital part of the programme but, as with all BCM projects, could not function without volunteers.
‘We are so grateful to people who give up their time to provide the staffing and skills needed,’ he said.
Heather is a volunteer at youth camp. ‘I enjoy my role with the youth team,’ she said, ‘because it allows me to see the joy on a young person’s face, not only when they get to hear the good news of the Lord but also the joy of trying new things. It encourages me in my faith.’
• BCM will be on stand E15 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Come as a group and reap the rewards
Come as a group and reap the rewards – that’s the message from organisers of next month’s CRE Midlands 23 (8-9 Nov).
From bishop to bell-ringer, vicar to verger, a day at CRE Midlands 23 (Cranmore Park, Solihull) will be one of rich discovery. You’ll meet 170 charities, missions and church suppliers displaying everything from clergy clothing to customised keyboards. A series of 50 talks and presentations will cover issues of practical concern like faith sharing and fund raising, holiday clubs and homelessness.
Rachel Jenkins, pastor at the Church at Junction 10 in Walsall, said: ‘As a staff team we are coming to the exhibition to look at the latest products and services available to us as a church. We will journey together and use it as part of working creatively, finding solutions for the context in which we minister.’
In the late 1970s Pastor John Price and his family followed a call to establish a worshipping community at Junction 10 of the M6, miraculously acquiring the site to build a church that reached out to the wider community. His successor Jon Bentley, built on this legacy, moving the church towards a foundational expression of church and mission. Following Jon Bentley’s tenure, a new eldership was appointed to lead the church.
Meanwhile Revd Jeremy Alcock, from St Martin in the Bull in Birmingham, has bought his own ticket and ordered six more for his congregation.
CRE event director Brett Pitchfork said: ‘It is impossible for one person to discover all our exhibitors and talks programme has to offer in one day. That’s why we encourage churches to bring a leadership team and focus on specific areas of responsibility. Best of all, your tickets are valid over both days.’
Entry to CRE Midlands is just £3 each for a group of three or more, if your tickets are bought in advance from here (£8 on the door).
Cartoon by Canon Taffy Davies
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Want children to tune into the Bible? Lego and let God
Churches looking for ways to get children to tune into the Christmas message would do well to check out Go Chatter Videos’ multi-media resources.
The Coventry-based company will be at CRE Midlands 23 with an 8ft by 4ft Lego set based on Bible narratives. They will also show a series of animated videos with Lego figures that bring to life well-known biblical stories.
Joshua Whitehouse and Joshua Manley, who joined the Go Chatter Videos team last year, are responsible for all the animations and editing.
The company are offering a complete Christmas Lego multimedia resource for children’s groups and services. The pack contains loads of ideas and resources for running a Christmas Lego multimedia group or family service and includes six animated Lego Christmas videos, games, talk notes, crafts and publicity resources.
With Hope Together, Go Chatter have also developed an augmented reality Lego Christmas story trail – a quest to find hidden videos that tell the Christmas message. A series of five videos, each activated by a QR code, feature Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men and Jesus. This augmented reality video search is soon to launch nationwide in the toy stores of The Entertainer.
Go Chatter’s Dan Rackham will talk about the project at CRE Midlands 23 (12pm, Wed 8 Nov, Talks Area 2) and the Go Chatter Videos team will be available to chat to visitors to the exhibition over both days.
• Go Chatter Videos are on stand B3 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
For kids in these times, the Bible that rhymes
The Rhyming Bible, by celebrated children’s author Bob Hartman, is now a musical – and excerpts from the stage production will be part of Saltmine Theatre Company’s contribution to CRE Midlands 23 (1pm, Wed 8 and Thu 9 Nov).
‘For all age and primary school children, the Rhyming Bible has been wonderfully received by schools and churches and we are delighted to highlight it at the exhibition,’ said Saltmine’s new co-artistic director Simon Rodda.
The drama will run for about 40 minutes with extracts from Switch Up, one of Saltmine’s preventative education resources for secondary schools, highlighting the problems of gang culture and knife crime. Switch Up has been shown to Angelique Foster, Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner.
‘It was powerful, covering the risks and consequences of carrying a knife,’ she said. ‘Feedback from the students was emotional and the performance has obviously made them think hard about the issue.’
A scene from The Liberator, Saltmine’s brand-new outreach resource for churches, will also be part of the programme. Based on the work of Rob Lacey, it sets the life of Jesus in a modern idiom.
The company have been performing all over the UK for the past 45 years, using drama to teach people and inspire them with faith, hope and love. The team will be available at CRE Midlands 23 to talk to visitors about possible appearances in churches or local theatres.
• Saltmine Theatre Co are on stand DS40 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands
Church visitors puzzled by ‘magic’ of Makerfield
If there is one characteristic that describes us best it is our commitment to excellence in all we do.
So says Trevor Sidebotham, who started Makerfield 18 years ago and has more than 30 years’ experience in installing audio visual and security systems.
‘As a family firm we take pride in our track record, and our reputation as experts in our field, working nationwide in a variety of buildings and environments – churches, halls, cathedrals and educational establishments,’ he explains. ‘Being an independent company means no task is too great, no job too small. Our attention to detail ensures our clients really do receive a truly professional service.
‘We have a wealth of experience working in places of worship, and take pride in our excellent reputation of providing a reliable, professional AV service for any church building.’
From initial contact through to technical support, each stage is personally supervised by Trevor and Christian Prescott, director of installations, who also has more than 20 years’ experience in the field.
The minister of one church wrote to Trevor saying: ‘We want to record our deep appreciation for your excellent work, for the great equipment and for your friendly yet professional manner.’
Another church praised the sound system Makerfield had installed, writing: ‘We’ve had three services since it was installed. People are still commenting on what a huge difference it makes. Everyone is also very impressed with how well the equipment blends in with the church surroundings and most have had to play “spot the speakers” to actually work out where they are!’
And even dog owners appreciated it when Christian fitted a PA system for their show. The organisers said: “Thank you for giving up your valuable weekend to provide the PA system for our dog show. We are indebted to you and your dad for the kind loan of the PA system. The roving microphone was superb and everyone could hear us loud and clear.”
The variety of projects Makerfield work on demonstrate the company’s versatility and experience.
‘We realise that unexpected events may occur which alter the daily church routine, ‘said Christian. ‘Therefore, we provide a service which is as flexible as possible, to give clients the option of having work carried out at a time convenient to them. Our follow-up service ensures there is always someone on hand when needed.’
• Makerfield Systems will be on stand P13 at CRE Midlands 23
Book your ticket for CRE Midlands 2023 here from as little as £3
Organisations looking to book a stand should contact James Batterbee 0161 250 2306 (E: james@creonline.co.uk) or Carol Malpass 0161 250 2467 (E: carol@creonline.co.uk)
Click to view the latest floorplan and price list for available stands