CRE National 2022: three days where practical met creative

CRE National 2022: three days where practical met creative

Local church leaders and members made the most of the last scheduled CRE at Sandown Park, Surrey (Oct 11-13), writes David Giles.

Visitors were treated to a medley of music from Two Lads and a Laptop as they awaited the opening ceremony, undertaken by Christian comedian Tim Vine (pictured above), using typically over-sized scissors to cut the ribbon. After the formalities, Vine was interviewed in the event’s arts café by Sorted magazine’s Steve Legg. Amid much wit and one-liners, the punmeister spoke of the importance of faith, family and the joy of simply having fun.

That fun was evident in a number of CRE’s stands aiming to equip Christians with tools and resources to share their faith with others in innovative ways. Vine was presented with a pair of not-quite-eponymous ‘I am the Vine’ socks at the Holy Socks stall – part of a large range of clothing sporting a subtle (or less subtle!) gospel message. Also on offer: evangelistic golf balls!

In one of the thought-provoking seminar strands, ‘Lifting the Lid’, Alan Charter (pictured below) of Global Children’s Forum and Children Matter, explored child spirituality and invited more than 80 attendees how best to serve the needs of younger churchgoers. Using a variety of techniques, the sessions focused on children and young people referred to in the Bible and provided a wealth of practical advice on enabling youngsters to find and grow in their Christian faith.

Charter shared his view that ‘children are, perhaps, more able – and have a less world-impacted radar – to tune into God’s voice than sometimes we adults do, so maybe we need to flip it and learn a little from them as well.’

‘We are innately spiritual beings,’ he continued, ‘so how do we nurture a child’s spirituality as well as our own? Let’s give every opportunity for children to encounter God in any and every way that they can.’

One of the attendees, Pauline Joyce – youth and children’s worker at St Mary’s, Speldhurst – found these sessions enormously encouraging. ‘We are doing better than we thought we are!’, she exclaimed, finding the content to be highly relevant to her congregation near Tunbridge Wells in Kent. ‘And being CRE, we’ve also come away with lots of useful resources.’

Contemporary topics from racial justice (Revd Dr Chigor Chike, Archbishop of Canterbury’s Racial Justice Commission) to the climate change emergency (Revd Dr Darrell D. Hannah, Operation Noah) were also covered in the 70-strong talks programme.

More than 160 exhibitors addressed issues as diverse as church insurance and creation care, vestments and Veggie Tales. Combined with the programme of talks and opportunities for prayer and worship, the event truly had something for all the church family.

Leigh Ides (pictured below), representing exhibitor Trinitas Church Insurance Services, explained the value of CRE: ‘Insurance is a people industry. And so is the church. For us, selling a non-tangible product, one of the real benefits of CRE is meeting people face-to-face. It helps us to explain who we are and what we do, to an engaged audience. Even if it’s not the church treasurer in attendance, the ability to offer visitors an information pack and ask them to pass it on in person is powerful. It’s about exchanging information. We get asked a lot of questions!’

Rounding off Mission Worship Wednesday in the venue’s Arts Café, Christian music executive Les Moir chaired a panel discussion with worship leaders Lou and Nathan Fellingham, Noel Robinson, Philippa Hannah and artist Helen Yousaf. He reflected on the differences between music produced for professional albums and music ministry in churches where the same level of ability and resourcing may not be available.

The producer of Graham Kendrick’s Shine Jesus Shine, Moir observed that ‘what’s important is “heart song” – that the song is in your heart. When we look at John 4, people worship God in spirit and truth. Let’s be real. Let’s be real in our worship. When we read the Psalms, we find that they are very real. We should just be honest in our worship – not pretending or putting on behaviour. And let’s not confine worship to the four walls of the church – let’s worship in the public space.’

It was a theme echoed by Helen Yousaf, champion of using visual arts in the church, who spent the middle day of CRE painting a number of bespoke pieces based on words or descriptions she felt the Holy Spirit giving her. ‘I feel like creatives are the postmen and postwomen of Jesus,’ said Yousaf. ‘When you put paint in front of children, they’re not going to sit there and decide if they’re artists or not. They’ll just pick it up and paint. I think that if we can just put more options in front of people to worship – no matter what they are – that will be beautiful as we become childlike in our worship again.’

CRE attendee Ginny Milns, a member of the worship team at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Four Marks, Hampshire, agreed. ‘What inspired me? The creative and artistic options, definitely. I can be quite creative not just musically but through crafts, and CRE has inspired me to develop that part of my identity. I hope my creative expression in serving God can flourish.’

The next Christian Resources Exhibition will be held at Cranmore Park, Birmingham 8-9 November 2023 (pictured).

‘We are not abandoning the south east for good!’ said CRE owner Steve Goddard. ‘However, there are many other cities sending us a “Macedonian call” – come over and help us! We begin in Birmingham in November 2023.’

• For stand enquiries at CRE Midlands 2023 (8/9 Nov 2023) please contact our sales team:

Carol Malpass: 0161 250 2467 or carol@creonline.co.uk
James Batterbee: 0161 250 2306 or james@creonline.co.uk

• Click here for the official CRE Midlands 2023 brochure, floor plan and price list