Additional needs: Churches have a huge ministry opportunity
Three organisations will exhibit under the Churches for All banner at CRE 2018 – each committed to improving universal access to church buildings and programmes.
The initiative comes at a time when 10 million adults in the UK have a recognised disability – about one in five of the adult population. A further 700,000 children have one or more disabilities.
Exhibiting on stand B5, Churches for All is a partnership of UK Christian disability organisations. Count Everyone In, The Lodge Trust, and Torch Trust, all members of the association, will be at CRE offering visitors a breadth of experience and depth of knowledge on disability issues.
Churches for All’s Mark Arnold has a son with additional needs.
‘Additional or special needs parenting is tough because there is so much more to cope with,’ he says. ‘An increasing numbers of diagnoses in children at one end of the age range, coupled with an increasing older population at the other, present a huge ministry area for churches that is growing all the time.
‘Everyone, including those with additional needs and disabilities, should be included and valued in church. I hope to inspire CRE visitors as their churches plan to become fully-inclusive.’
Gordon Temple, executive officer for Churches for All, says: ‘CRE presents a great opportunity to support and encourage churches as they strive to welcome, include and involve people living with disabilities in every aspect of church life.’
The Torch Trust is promoting Sight Loss Friendly Church, a new initiative to enable churches to become more inclusive of people with sight loss. Count Everyone In aims to enthuse local churches about being more welcoming and relevant to people with learning disabilities through their new Know and Grow training while the Lodge Trust provides spiritual support to adults with learning disabilities.
• Mark Arnold and team will speak on Churches for All at 12pm on Tue 16 Oct
Click here for a list of more than 200 exhibitors at CRE 2018
Click the button below to pre-register for CRE 2018 for as little as £3
Tackling taboos: Sarah calls for honest conversations about sex
With relationships and sex education becoming statutory in schools in September 2019, Sarah Smith (pictured) will be at CRE 2018 to help Christian educators deliver this important topic in schools, churches and other youth settings.
In her seminar on Youth and Children’s Day at CRE 2018 – ‘A Guide to Growing Up: how to have honest conversations with young people about puberty, sex and God’ (11am, Thu 18 Oct) – visitors will gain an insight into the relational and sexual health issues young people face today.
‘It is vital that parents/carers and youth leaders tackle topics often seen as taboo and become more effective in talking about bodies, relationships and sex,’ said Sarah, CEO of CRE exhibitor acet UK, a Christian charity delivering relationships and sex education in secondary schools and training to youth workers, teachers and parents.
Her book A Guide to Growing Up is published by another CRE exhibitor, Lion Hudson and features detailed chapters on topics such as masturbation and same-sex attraction. A Guide to Growing Up aims to support parents in talking to their children and is an essential guide in any young person’s journey – ‘a guide they can go back to time and again.’
Acet UK are on stand S12 and Lion Hudson are on stand YZ11 at CRE 2018
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Dan’s mission of mercy is right on the ball
World record-breaking football freestyler Dan Magness will perform his phenomenal tricks at October’s CRE 2018 encouraging churches to ‘make history’ with their own creative and sporting flair.
Dan kept a football in the air in Covent Garden for an astonishing 24 hours – making him the Guinness World Keepy-Uppy Champion. He also set the world record for the longest-ever recorded journey while continuously kicking or heading a ball, keeping the ball in the air for a staggering 36 miles, visiting every Premier League football club in London.
He became a Christian at 3am outside a Southend nightclub.
‘I was with a couple of mates and must confess I was full of another kind of spirit,’ he said. ‘We saw some street pastors talking to clubbers and I thought “I want to go and talk to them”. Minutes later, they were telling me about Jesus. Now I use my talent to praise his name.’
Dan is appearing at CRE in support of Mercy Ships, who are challenging churches to make history, by taking on one of three sporty or creative #MercyActs challenges.
Darren Richards, Church Partnership Manager at Mercy Ships, added: ‘Mercy Ships has launched a brand new set of resources that call on UK churches to use their talents and skills to help send free medical care to some of the poorest people in the world. The church is a treasure trove of talent. Imagine what could happen if everyone took something they loved doing – their hobbies and sporting passions – and then used that to help the poor in Africa?
‘Imagine if kids sang, teens vlogged, students shone on stage, parents picked up a paintbrush and grandma shimmied across a ballroom. Those who can’t draw or dance, can write or arrange flowers. Those who can’t cycle can swap clothes or bake. Everyone can do something! Everyone can love mercy, act justly and walk humbly by taking on a #MercyActs challenge.’
Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries. Today, Mercy Ships is a faith-based international development organisation with a creative solution to poverty – the world’s largest floating hospital, crewed entirely by volunteers. Their hospital ships serve some of the poorest countries in the world, delivering vital, free healthcare to people in desperate need.
Mercy Ships are on Stand S151 at CRE 2018
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Football’s coming home – to a church near you
As World Cup fever grips the nation, Christians in Sport have told us of several churches showing the matches on big screens.
Before the little maestro had to fly home with the rest of the Argentinian squad, one church in Yeovil ran a ‘Messi Church’. Meanwhile, Town Church, Bicester (pictured), hosted a World Cup Sunday with five-a-side football tournament and BBQ. They shared a short gospel message before showing England v. Panama on a big screen. Town Church’s Jonny Reid, said: ‘It was great to welcome loads of people who wouldn’t normally think about coming to church and it gave them a chance to hear more about Jesus.’
It’s not too late to download a series of free World Cup resources in Christians in Sport’s Mission Pack that features a new multimedia World Cup quiz, an evangelistic short film, a guide to creating a ‘fan zone’ and a collection of school resources. The pack has already been downloaded more than 900 times.
‘While the World Cup is dominating the headlines at the moment, it only comes along every four years,’ said Christians in Sport’s Ed Mezzetti. ‘Let’s not see it as a one-off. Would Wimbledon tennis or the Ryder Cup golf work better for your church? We need to keep sport and big sporting events on the radar if we are to reach millions of people in this “nation” of sports lovers.’
Christians In Sport are on Stand A36 at CRE North (13/14 Mar 2019)
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The Bible: all set to become cool on the curriculum
First-time exhibitors Museum of the Bible and RE Today magazine will be at CRE2017 to present the latest version of their groundbreaking Augmented Reality Bible Curriculum for schools.
Committed to making the Bible accessible to today’s generation, Museum of the Bible will show visitors how churches of all kinds can utilise smart phones and tablets to teach the stories of both Old and New Testaments to people of all ages.
At a seminar on the first day of CRE2017 (3pm, Tue 17 Oct), Museum of the Bible’s Mark Markiewicz and Julia Diamond-Conway, RE Today’s national adviser, will outline how technology is set to revolutionise RE in schools.
‘Visitors will also have an opportunity to see and use it for themselves,’ explains Mark, ‘and discover how it can be used in their schools and churches.’
As well as creating the most technologically-advanced museum in the world, opening in Washington DC in November 2017, Museum of the Bible has displayed artefacts and academic resources in cities around the world, including Vatican City’s Braccio di Carlo Magno and the Havana Cathedral in Havana, Cuba. Plans are already well advanced to bring a similar museum to central London.
Click here to watch a demonstration of the Augmented Reality Bible Curriculum in a US high school.
Museum of the Bible are on Stand 30 and RE Today on Stand 31 at CRE 2017.
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How the mitres have fallen – but it’s not the end of colourful clergy
Mitres, stoles, capes and chasubles – the traditional clothing of Church of England clergy – may disappear from churches services after the Church of England voted last week to allow ministers to ‘wear what they want’.
It’s proved a difficult time for ecclesiastical designer Juliet Hemingray, a long-time CRE exhibitor, who has led the way in not only adding colour to vestments but, through her designs, making allusions to biblical narratives.
‘They are visual aids,’ she explains, ‘and do not form a barrier between wearer and observer. The subject matter on the stole or scarf, for example, can start helpful conversations.’
Juliet’s business began in 1979 when a close friend asked her to decorate a plain black preaching scarf with scenes that would appeal to children.
‘Orders poured in for bespoke designs reflecting the faith of customers,’ she recalls. ‘I have created 13 jobs and enabled more than 30,000 people to portray the Gospel in a way that is personal and meaningful. One friend in Tennessee told me he couldn’t remember any sermons from his early church life but recalled symbols on vestments and hangings. They meant a great deal to him.’
Juliet believes there is room for both options – vestments or more informal clothing.
‘My choice is obviously the first, purely from a Gospel-preaching standpoint,’ she says. ‘But you should make the most of whatever you are wearing and when you are not speaking, let the garment speak!’
Her view was reflected at two recent meetings in Lancashire. More than 4,000 schoolchildren gathered at Ewood Park, the home of Blackburn Rovers, for a talk given by the Bishop of Burnley, Rt Rev Philip North. Dramatically, he revealed an Arsenal shirt under his vestments, using the long-standing rivalry between Division One team Blackburn and Premier League Burnley FC to discuss the importance of loyalty.
Only a week before Canon Mark Jones, vicar of St Leonard’s Church in nearby Padiham, wore a Queen’s Park Rangers’ shirt – the team he supports – in front of 200 children from the local primary school. He wore it to illustrate how belonging to and supporting a child is an important part of any christening service. He ‘baptised’ a baby doll for two seven-year-old pupils.
In an area in which some members of the clergy have ignored the rulings and worn no clerical identification or the minimum for some time, the new pronouncement gives everyone the opportunity to be free and easy on some social occasions and add colour and pomp on others – without causing offence. It may even offer those ‘wearing parables’ to speak clearly to their congregation without uttering a word.
Step forward, Juliet!
David Hall
Juliet will be on Stand S129 at CRE 2017
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All kinds of everything… for all types of church
Irish singer Dana opened CRE in 1993 (see picture) and, we’re delighted she will do the same again – cutting the tape on an exhibition that offers all kinds of everything for all types of churches.
Dana will be with us for three days, where she will be interviewed by Rev Cindy Kent MBE about her wide-ranging career in music and politics and take part in various special events.
As Ireland’s first winner of the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest, the school girl from Derry became an overnight singing star, with a number one record throughout Europe. Years of recording success followed with chart-topping albums and singles and she hosted her own hit series, A Day Out with Dana (BBC), andWake Up Sunday (BBC).
In the midst of a successful mainstream career, Dana started to speak publicly about her faith. She and husband Damien began writing songs together, including Totus Tuus – inspired by the motto of the Late Pope John Paul II.
In 1987, Dana was invited to lead 86,000 young people in singing Totus Tuus for Pope John Paul II in the New Orleans’s Super Dome. Around this time, she was also invited to sing at three of Dr. Billy Graham’s Crusades, two in the US, and one in London’s Wembley Stadium in the UK.
During the 1990s, she entered the world of politics, securing a nomination to run in the 1997 Irish Presidential election, the first non-political, non-party candidate ever to do so. She campaigned on protecting the Christian family values and life enshrined in the Irish Constitution, and earned a respectable 14 per cent of the votes, beating one of Ireland’s major political parties. In 1999, she was subsequently elected as a Member of the European Parliament, representing Ireland’s Connacht-Ulster constituency from 1999 to 2004.
Dana and her husband Damien have their own new music production company called DS Music Productions. She has remained close to her Irish roots, working tirelessly for peace and Christian family values.
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1000 churches later, Dunphy is hot property
A new electric system that mimics a hot water system by warming the fabric of the building – without using a boiler and running on electricity.
That’s just one of the innovations from CRE exhibitor Christopher Dunphy Ecclesiastical Heating.
‘It is particularly useful for churches in more remote locations where mains gas is not available,’ explained Dunphy, who juggles being chair of League One Rochdale FC with running a firm which has designed and installed cost-effective heating systems for more than 40 years.
‘We’ve probably heated more than 1,000 churches,’ said Dunphy. ‘If you’ve got a medieval or Victorian building you’re looking at walls two to seven feet thick. They act like storage heaters. The worse nightmare is a church built in the 1960s or 70s – with low heat retention. Give me an old church any day!
‘It is a complex issue with far-reaching implications which affect the very fabric of your building. Factors almost uniquely relevant to churches that have to be considered. Noise, excessive movement of air, changes in humidity and of course the visual effect on the aesthetic of the church. To get any of these wrong can lead not only to a poorly heated church but can also lead to considerable damage of the building via thermal shock, distortion, condensation, wood rot or even organ damage’.
In short, warns Dunphy, a bad heating system can be disastrous.
‘Our philosophy on church heating is quite simple: to produce the most cost effective solution to your individual needs in the long term,’ he maintains. ‘The criteria for this will be different in every church. When we install a heating system, we like the finished product to be unobtrusive as possible. We pay great attention to every detail. Heat emitters can be colour coded if required and piperuns made as neat and discreet as possible.’
Twelve-year-old Jonathan will speak up for the speechless
A 12-year-old best-selling author will help open CRE – and speak up for the speechless.
Jonathan Bryan, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, is entirely non-verbal. He uses an alphabet board to spell out everything he wants to say and in his book, Eye Can Write, reflects on his Christian faith.
Jonathan’s father, Rev Christopher Bryan is rector of Gauzebrook and area dean of North Wilts. His son’s faith, rooted in a profound experience of the life to come, is both ‘hugely inspiring and challenging. The prospect of going to be with Christ is such a strong and real thing it totally informs his attitude to death, getting ill and everything. That really makes you think about your own attitude.’
In the days after Jonathan’s birth, and for the first time in her life, Jonathan’s mother, Chantal, prayed until she was ‘spent’, joined by others over the country — strangers, in many instances.
‘God answered our prayers,’ she told the Church Times. ‘Jonathan survived, and, OK, he is stuck in a body here that doesn’t work very well, but, actually, what has been transformed out of that is something that none of us would have thought of in the early days. His faith encourages others. I say now sometimes that he is more healed, in a way, than the rest of us. A lot of people are still trying to find out who they are and what they are, and he is happy with who he is.’
The Bryan family have set up a charity, Teach Us Too (a panel about the organisation will be on display at CRE), promoting the right for all children to be taught to read and write, whatever their label or diagnosis. Three more organisations will exhibit under the Churches for All banner – each committed to improving universal access to church buildings and programmes. Count Everyone In, The Lodge Trust, and Torch Trust will offer visitors a breadth of experience and depth of knowledge on disability issues.
Opening the exhibition will be singer/songwriter Marilyn Baker, blind almost from birth, who will be accompanied by a choir from Notre Dame school in Cobham, using Makaton, a language programme using signs and symbols to help people communicate.
Gordon Temple, executive officer for Churches for All, says: ‘CRE presents a great opportunity to support and encourage churches as they strive to welcome, include and involve people living with disabilities in every aspect of church life.’
• Churches for All will hold a seminar at CRE 2018 (12pm, Tue 16 Oct)
Click here for a list of more than 200 exhibitors at CRE 2018
Click the button below to pre-register for CRE 2018 for as little as £3
Friends will gather at CRE 25 to extend Legg’s legacy
Musicians Graham Kendrick, Andy Flannagan and Paul and Fiona Jones will join comedians Paul Kerensa and Tiny Vino to celebrate the life and legacy of late evangelist Steve Legg at CRE 25 (Oct 15-16, Sandown Park, Surrey).
Top row, left to right: Tiny Vino, Paul and Fiona Jones, Paul Kerensa; bottom row: Graham Kendrick and Andy Flannagan.
Steve, who died in September 2024 aged 57, began his entertainment career in 1988 using escapology to grab the attention of his audience. He became well known for presenting the Gospel using a combination of comedy and magic tricks in events across the UK and overseas.
A prolific author, he wrote 20 books and founded Sorted, a lifestyle magazine for men with a Christian perspective.
Adventurer Bear Grylls called him ‘hilarious’ and TV presenter Jonathan Ross called him ‘very clever indeed.’ Mark Greenwood, director of evangelism at Elim Churches, described him as ‘one of the funniest, most creative and risk-taking evangelists’ he had ever known.
‘The Steve Legg Arts Theatre at CRE 25 will honour and extend our good and much-missed friend’s legacy,’ said CRE owner Steve Goddard. ‘For two hours on each of the exhibition’s two days we will bring together some of the people Steve worked with over the years – on Sorted magazine and at events all over the UK. His commitment to helping “ordinary blokes” make sense of the Christian faith is something we want to try and help sustain.’
CRE 2025
Book your ticket to CRE 25!
To book a stand at CRE 25, contact:
James Batterbee
T: 0161 240 4500
E: james@creonline.co.uk