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Flourishing home groups given exhibition boost

Covid-19 may have interrupted church worship in a dramatic way but it has also encouraged online home groups to flourish – and a special conference at CRE National 2021 will help home groups of all kinds develop even further.

Publishers SPCK, sponsors of the conference taking place on all three days, will introduce new methods and material for home groups – presented by their best-selling authors.

Julie Wilson, home groups editor, said: ‘Even before Covid-19, a 2018 ComRes survey revealed local churches are more likely to grow, engage with the local community and broaden the perspectives of their members when they run active home groups. While gathering the whole church together on a Sunday continues to be essential, we are also seeing the importance of smaller meetings.’ 

According to a number of surveys, tens of thousands of non-churchgoers have watched church services online over the past 18 months and some have gone on to join online home groups and Alpha courses.

‘We are delighted to give a new look to home group material,’ said Julie. ‘Groups usually have six to 12 members who meet once a week in someone’s home or online, sharing a meal, studying God’s word and thinking through how to apply it in everyday life. Two in every three surveyed said their faith was strengthened by being part of a home group.

‘Having been part of one or other for much of my Christian life, I know first-hand the value of being part of the church community. Something wonderful happens when we meet to discuss the scriptures and God’s will for our lives.’

Julie will lead the home groups conferences at CRE National, from 11am to 1pm each day, with the help of authors Amy Boucher Pye, Lauren Windle, Paul Kerensa, Martin Saunders, Becky May and Phil Knox. There is no extra charge for the conference but pre-booking when you buy your ticket here is essential because of room capacity limits.

• SPCK are on stand D4 at CRE National 2021

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Tabloid headlines Gavin’s heart for the hungry

Coventry Foodbank has served over 200,000 people over the past 10 years and founder Gavin Kibble has been recognised with an MBE for his vital work.

The September/Harvest edition of Good News outreach newspaper, exhibiting at CRE National 2021, features the inspiring story behind the project.

Gavin, formerly a highly-paid executive, sensed a calling from God.

‘I knew I had to give up working as finance director of a multi-national company to help fight poverty,’ he tells Good News.

Setting up a Christians Against Poverty debt centre he soon encountered a Nigerian couple who had no food or baby equipment for the child they were imminently expecting. 

‘They had half a lettuce and a can of tomatoes in the fridge – that’s all,’ recalls Gavin.

The incident opened his eyes to the need for a food bank, which he started in 2011. In its first year, Coventry Foodbank grew from just two to 11 distribution centres. 

The full story is told in September’s Good News, along with the testimonies of celebrities and ordinary Christians that fill the pages every month, including the founders of Noah’s Ark Zoo, featured on BBC TV’s Songs of Praise on 29 August.

At just 15p per copy, Good News makes a great give-away for sharing the good news of Jesus and is used by churches, evangelists and individual Christians across the UK.

• Good News are on stand D5 at CRE National 2021

Image: The Harvest 2021 issue of Good News evangelistic newspaper

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

Seminar Guide – See the complete guide to seminars and special features at CRE National 2021

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Stream team at your service

Offering exceptional image quality for streaming services in low light – that’s the advantage of a camera system installed by one CRE National 2021 exhibitor.

APi Sound and Visual have been busy fitting cameras throughout the pandemic – including St Andrew’s Church in Cullompton, Devon (pictured).

The system provides two-camera streaming with integrated switcher and streamer. The cameras are both high-definition remote pan, tilt and zoom type. One has been fitted on the gallery face and the second on a pillar with a thin strap for fixing so that DAC approval was not required. 

‘The main benefit of these cameras is that they offer exceptional image quality even in low light, a frequent problem in many churches,’ said APi’s Andy Pidsley. ‘The supplied joystick remote control has a number of pre-set memories so that commonly-used shots can be quickly recalled, with the joystick allowing fine control.’

A four-input switcher and combined streaming unit makes the whole process of selecting a source for the projector and stream simple and removes the need for an additional computer to perform the streaming function. The illuminated controls clearly show the current source and also allow more advanced functions such as superimposing words over images. The unit doubles as a recorder and will record to a USB device. 

A 22′′ monitor shows a four-way split of the different input sources available to the mixer. Finally, a small microphone on top of the rood screen picks up singing and other ambient sounds – just for the streaming audio. 

APi Sound and Visual also provide installation training with on-going telephone support as and when needed.

• APi Sound and Visual are on stand J6 at CRE National 2021

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

Seminar Guide – See the complete guide to seminars and special features at CRE National 2021

Welcome Back – See an online version of the CRE National 2021 ‘Welcome Back’ brochure

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New directory champions church creativity

The national lockdown has accelerated the churches need to communicate in engaging ways.

So says the creator of the Christian Creative Directory (CCD), launched in April. 

‘The aim of the directory is simple, to champion creativity in the body of Christ,’ said founder Josie Gamble. ‘We’re here to help bring creative energy to your organisation, church and ministry.

‘We want to see the creative culture of the UK church strengthened and if this directory can play a part in that, we will be very happy.’

From animators to actors, blacksmiths to bloggers, dancers to drone pilots – they’re all in the directory. And CCD has also advertised creative opportunities posted by organisations. These have already attracted applications resulting in key appointments. Christians Against Poverty (CAP), for example, needed a writer for a new children’s book.

‘We posted a freelance job on CCD and were blown away by the huge number of enquiries and the quality of applications received!’ said a spokesperson for CAP. ‘We’re delighted with the person we’re now working with. We would highly recommend CCD to other Christian charities and organisations looking for freelance creatives. We’ve already posted another opportunity!’

Josie’s original vision was to have a network, directory and awards.

‘With the first two firmly launched we will turn our attention towards hosting national Christian creative recognition awards to champion creativity in the UK church,’ said Josie. ‘So watch this space!’

• Sign up with CCD now, using a special CRE code CCDCRE, and you will get three months free

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

Seminar Guide – See the complete guide to seminars and special features at CRE National 2021

Welcome Back – See an online version of the CRE National 2021 ‘Welcome Back’ brochure

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Windrush: looking back, looking forward at CRE National

With Black Lives Matter in the headlines and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s call for diversity in church and society, CRE National 2021 will run a unique, three-part series on the Windrush Legacy.

Sponsored by the Pentecostal Credit Union and Good to Give, both first-time exhibitors at CRE, the initiative will be presented by Roy Francis, a former BBC TV Songs of Praise producer, music consultant and author of Windrush and the Black Pentecostal Church in Britain (Filament Publishing).

It is more than 70 years since the Empire Windrush brought hundreds of Caribbean immigrants to Tilbury docks to work in the UK. The initiative encouraged an estimated half-a-million people to follow within 30 years.

‘There are a lot of misunderstandings about Windrush,’ said Francis. ‘CRE National is the ideal place to celebrate what Windrush Christians brought to Britain and the impact their inheritors – African Christians – are now having on the country.’  

Part 1 – Windrush: Words and Song (11.30am, Tue 12 Mar)

The first presentation will look back at the music Caribbean Christians brought to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. Produced by Roy Francis and featuring the Ken Burton Singers, the presentation will show how choruses and songs made popular by the Billy Graham Crusades, ‘Gentleman’ Jim Reeves, American spirituals and Edwin Hawkins (in particular ‘Oh Happy Day’) influenced Caribbean worship and remain a fitting legacy of black Pentecostal faith today. Ken Burton is an international choral and orchestral conductor, singer and instrumentalist, who arranges extensively for BBC TV’s Songs of Praise and The X Factor, in which he did choral arrangements for One Direction, Robbie Williams, Christina Aquiera, will.i.am and Rihanna. 

Part 2 – From West Indian to Caribbean Christianity (12pm, Wed 13 Mar)

A mixed bunch arrived in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s – ordinary workers, pastors, nurses, teachers, students and members of churches. They came to help rebuild Britain and brought their liturgy, music and songs. Rev Les Isaac OBE of the Ascension Trust and co-founder of Street Pastors, will show how West Indians established their churches in Britain – and assess their legacy.    

Part 3 – African Churches and their Worship (2pm, Thu 14 Mar)

Why are there are so many African-led churches in Britain today? What do they believe, what is their purpose and why are they growing so fast? What is ‘Reverse Mission’ and why is it central to their theology? Rev David Shosayna, former Regional Director of The London Baptist Association and a speaker, theologian and African minister, knows this church community intimately and will offer many of the answers.

• Pentecostal Credit Union (PCU) are on stand U7 at CRE National 2021

• Good to Give are on stand U6 at CRE National 2021

• Filament Publishing are on stand O5 at CRE National 2021

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

Seminar Guide – See the complete guide to seminars and special features at CRE National 2021

Welcome Back – See an online version of the CRE National 2021 ‘Welcome Back’ brochure

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Taste & See gets to the root of eating guilt

The lives of a lot of people in our churches are secretly ruled by food.

So says Professor Deborah Lycett (pictured below) of Taste & See, a unique blend of fact and faith helping to bring freedom to lives ruled by food, dieting and emotional eating. 

‘Many of us feel guilty and ashamed whenever we eat or step on the scales,’ said Deborah, who teaches in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Coventry University. ‘This unhappiness makes them want to eat more and they find themselves in an endless cycle of dieting, overeating and feeling miserable. But God wants to set them free! He wants them to taste and see that he is good and that food is good, too!’

Designed with and for churches and developed out of research at the university, Taste & See is a 10-session audio-video, small-group programme that anyone can run! 

‘The programme is not about dieting but learning to eat in response to our body’s natural signals of hunger and fullness, rather than in response to our emotions and what we see or smell!’ said Deborah. ‘The Christian principles of love, acceptance and freedom with responsibility fit well with this and are included in the programme.’

Scientific evidence suggests that for many people, diets are unsustainable in the long-term and yo-yo dieting is associated with a sense of failure which impacts on quality of life. Evidence also suggests that programmes which help us to become spiritually healthy, as well as physically and emotionally healthy, may play an important role in helping with eating or weight problems.

‘Lots of the evidence so far comes from America,’ said Deborah. ‘We want to find out whether this type of programme could potentially be helpful to people in the UK.

• Taste & See are on stand E8 at CRE National 2021

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

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The West Country firm that’s cooking on gas

A brainwave years ago might well have earned Fuller’s Finer Furniture yet another coveted award. 

The company from Weston Super Mare is Bespoke Furniture Specialist of the Year 2020-2021, awarded by the South-West England Prestige Awards. The judges commended the ‘dedicated designers and manufacturers for providing a personal comprehensive and high-quality service.’ But Paul Fuller, who founded the firm in 1985, had no idea which company nominated him for the award. 

‘They didn’t even tell us at the award ceremony!’ he said. ‘A clue might be that they specifically praised our gas height adjustable Canterbury and York lectern.’

The design for that came when the company saw inherent problems in adjustable lecterns.

‘Taking out a peg and raising a lectern before putting the peg back into a different hole – it’s a nuisance during a live presentation,’ explained Paul. ‘We realised the office seats we were sitting on were gas powered by a lever and the pressure of your body in the seat. So we made a lectern in which the height is easily adjusted by pulling a small lever and pressing an elbow on the lectern until the appropriate height is reached.’

It has since joined other award-winning products including communion tables and fonts in cathedrals and churches of all denominations and all sizes.

The firm has also been nominated for a SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) award for best bespoke church specialist furniture.

• Fuller’s will be on stand B7 at CRE National 2021

Photo: Paul Fuller, founder of Fuller’s Finer Furniture

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

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Your church building: make light of changing demands

One day its mother and toddler groups, next day a full-blown music concert – gone are the days when churches were open for simple services twice a week.

For more than 40 years one CRE exhibitor has juggled with radical changes in lighting and power as they give churches old and new a complete overhaul.

Anthony J Smith (Gloucester) Ltd have a long-established reputation for designing and installing bespoke lighting solutions for church buildings throughout the country and have a highly-committed installation team with vast experience in some challenging environments.

‘The changes in church use over the years have meant electrical work often needs to meet completely new demands,’ said company director Che Colley. ‘Gone are the days when most churches met only twice a week. Now the lighting has to cater for a week packed with activity – mother and toddler groups, social gatherings, even concerts and theatrical productions.’

The transformation of the lighting system within the nave and chapels at Pershore Abbey in Worcestershire (pictured) has been a major exercise in giving one of the country’s oldest abbeys a brighter future. Initial discussions for phase one of the project started in 2017 between the fabric committee and the design team at Anthony Smith. Following several lighting demonstrations and meetings with the Abbey architect, an initial specification for the faculty application was produced and submitted to Worcester DAC. 

As the abbey is a Grade 1 listed building, the proposals were presented to delegates from Historic England, the Church Buildings Council and the DAC before final specification was approved. A new energy efficient LED lighting system was installed with many of the light fittings custom painted to blend into the fabric of the building. The new system is controlled via a scene setting system which allows the abbey to change lighting at the touch of a button for various services and performances. The system also enables the fine architectural and liturgical features to be highlighted, allowing visitors to view the interior of the building in all its glory, including the unique ploughshare vaulting.

‘We were delighted when the Priest in Charge, Reverend Claire Lording, said it had been a privilege to work with us,’ said Anthony Smith’s Che Colley. ‘We now look forward to adding the final touches to this magnificent building.’

• Anthony J Smith are on stand C6 at CRE National 2021

Book your tickets to CRE National! – and save up to £5

Seminar Guide – See the complete guide to seminars and special features at CRE National 2021

Welcome Back – See an online version of the CRE National 2021 ‘Welcome Back’ brochure

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Sermon of the Year 2021: Hughes woos the pews

Catharine Hughes may enjoy winning at board games but she’s scooped top prize in a pursuit that is far from trivial.

Catharine, 50, is winner of Sermon of the Year 2021 – an online competition organised by Preach, the quarterly membership magazine published by the Leaders of Worship and Preachers Trust (LWPT).

‘I was very surprised to receive the trophy!’ said Catharine, a member Poynton Methodist Church in Cheshire. ‘Preaching has been something I’ve done for a number of years and it is always such a privilege to share God’s word. I’m very grateful to the judges. It’s unbelievable – and I just want to thank everybody who has helped me on my journey so far.’

Cross the Divide was the theme chosen for this year’s competition. Three finalists were selected from a host of entries from all Christian denominations. Preachers and would-be preachers were asked to submit a sermon of 1,500 words via the online form on the Preach website. The judges looked for how the Bible text was dealt with, how the biblical themes were handled, and how the structure, application and theme of the message were covered.

Ian Buchanan, chief executive of CRE exhibitor LWPT, commented: ‘We were especially impressed with the overall standard of entries received this year and very pleased that entries came from many different churches and people of all age groups.’

Catharine grew up in Yorkshire and became a Christian during a mission conducted by the late Rob Frost. She has a degree in maths and psychology and qualified as a chartered accountant. Her husband’s research took them and their two children to Lusaka, Zambia, which delayed her accreditation as a Methodist local preacher by four years but gave her plenty of practice – and stories for two books. She is now completing her second of three years’ part-time training for presbyterial ministry.

‘After being told I had won the award I was delighted, but also a bit anxious about preaching my next sermon to people who knew,’ she admitted. ‘But I fell from a horse and fractured my back and am now strapped up – so my next preach will be some time off!’

The other finalists were Philip Sudworth from Wigan and Katrina Clifford, from West Ewell, Surrey.         

Now in its sixth year the competition aims to promote the art of sermon writing and preaching and is open to all Christian denominations.

Ecumenical in outlook, Preach covers a topical theme in each edition to help preachers understand and explore current issues in a Christian context.

Photo: Sermon of the Year 2021 winner Catharine Hughes

LWPT are on stand A20 at CRE National 2021

Book your tickets to CRE National!

Seminar Guide – See the complete guide to seminars and special features at CRE National 2021

Welcome Back – See an online version of the CRE National 2021 ‘Welcome Back’ brochure

Our next exhibitions