On The Way

I’ve recently enjoyed a fantastic walking holiday. There were 12 of us including my husband and myself, and we stayed in the same house, ate all our meals together at a long table, and each day went for long walks in the surrounding countryside. For a whole week we were a community; we journeyed together sharing our lives as we shared conversation, friendship and food as well as our common love of walking.

This holiday experience of community reminded me of the Christian community, – the life we share as we follow Jesus together. We are a community that is journeying together. The early Christians were known as followers of The Way (Acts 9:2). That description, a community on The Way, suggests movement and growth, never standing still, always on the move, sharing our lives together as we follow Jesus and become more like him.

In our Sunday services and triangle groups over the next few months we’ll be thinking about journeying together as disciples of Jesus. We’ll be looking at people of faith in the Old and New Testaments as well as the life of Jesus, and letting God encourage and challenge us as we grow as disciples. And this is not just an individual journey, – it is a journey in community with others. So how can we help others on the journey? God is sending new people to all 3 of our churches every Sunday morning; – how can we help new people get to know others and know they belong to the Christian community? How can we help them come to believe and trust in Jesus and start out on The Way, – beginning their journey of discipleship? How can we all recognise and use the gifts that God has given us for his service? And how can we all help each other to make sure we not only start out on The Way, – but also persevere to the end?

We’ll be considering these questions (and more!) at our Transforming Church Away Day on February 27th (further details from the church office or the clergy). Do come to this day and be part of listening to God and each other as we seek him for our church community. And if you’re not able to come on the 27th but have ideas to share, – do speak to one of the clergy.

Let’s help each other on The Way as we journey together as disciples of Jesus. I finish with 2 verses from a song;

Brother, sister let me serve you
Let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace
To let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey,
We are travellers on the road;
We are here to help each other
Walk the mile and bear the load.

[Richard Gillard (copyright 1977 Scripture in Song)]

Jenny Arnold

New administrator!

After nearly 25 years of working in the church Anita Brown, the administrator for Aston Parish Church, decided to retire at the end of 2009. Replacing her at the beginning of January 2010 is Stephanie Fletcher who, along with doing the paperwork side of things, is now able to edit the church website to a certain degree. So we wish Anita all the best in her retirement and look forward to seeing what the new administrator can bring to the team!!

Christmas Appeal

The Baraka Project, Kawangware, Nairobi

Thank you to all who gave so generously to our Christmas Appeal, which has raised £700. The Appeal was for the Baraka Self Help Project, which operates in Nairobi, Kenya. Baraka (Kiswahili for “Blessing”) is a project that works with disabled, orphaned and needy children in Kawangware, an informal settlement (slum) on the edge of Nairobi.

The project is led by a lady called Valentine Achieng Oliech. Valentine’s son, Eugene, was born with celebral palsy. God gave her a love for her son, and acceptance of him, even though her husband left them both. Valentine got herself trained in physiotherapy and other techniques to care for him more effectively. She joined together with other parents living with disabled children to find ways to improve their children’s lives. After Eugene died in 2005, Valentine received a vision from God which called her to use these skills and love to set up a centre for disabled children and their families, especially those who cannot afford trips to hospital.

Our vicar, Andy Jolley, and his family visited the project during his sabbatical this summer. The whole family were deeply impressed with the vision and commitment of the project.

There are currently around 120 children and young people being helped by the project. A quarter of these are disabled, half are orphaned (often due to AIDS), and a quarter are needy (for example their parent(s) are unable to provide food supplements and school uniform). The project has made a remarkable impact on many of their lives. Some have been enabled to continue in education and to go on to university.

The project is largely self-funded, selling handicraft items produced at the project. Our appeal will help to provide additional equipment and with running costs.

Their website has more information on the Baraka Project

Upcoming events

There are a range of special events taking place this month.

January & February

• Welcome Tea for those new to our churches on Sunday 10th January at 4.00 pm at Aston Parish Church Centre
• Alpha Course for those wanting to find out more about Jesus and what it means to be follow him, starting on Tuesday 26th January at St James Church at 7.30 pm.
• Boys’ Brigade Skittles evening at Aston Parish Church Centre on Saturday 30th January*
• Visit from Colwall to St James Church, including shared lunch on Sunday 31st July
• Deanery Synod meets at St Mark’s Stockland Green on Tuesday 2nd February at 7.30 pm with a presentation on the Diocesan Youth Exchange to Malawi
• Healing on the Streets training at St Martin’s in the Bull Ring on Friday and Saturday 5th/6th February
• Baptism Preparation for those considering baptism for themselves or their children on Sunday 7th February at 2.00 pm at Aston Parish Church Centre
• Ash Wednesday service at St James Church at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 17th February
• Baptisms of new followers of Jesus at Aston Parish Church on Sunday 21st February at 10.45 am
• Parish Awayday at the Trinity Centre, Sutton Coldfield on Saturday 27th February from 10 am to 4 pm.

Follow this link for more details of future events taking place over the next few months.

Evening Services

At Aston Parish Church Centre, at 6.30 pm, there is MORE, led by Andy Jolley.

Alpha

The Alpha course is led by Beverly Watson with Dennis Cluley and Flo Howells. The course is Tuesdays at St James Church at 7.30 pm each week. It begins with a light supper, and then looks at different questions about Jesus and the Christian faith each week. Find out more about our Alpha course here

The Jolleys in Kenya (6)

Continuing news from the sabbatical travels of the vicar and his family …

Off Duty – Mombasa

For the past week we have been enjoying warmer weather around Mombasa. Mombasa is Kenya’s second largest city and is its main port. It also has many more Muslims than elsewhere in Kenya. For the first four days we stayed at the Anglican Church of Kenya’s (ACK) guest house just to the south of Mombasa. We shared the facilities, including a fine swimming pool recently reopened by the new Archbishop, with large groups of young people who had come for holiday residentials. Their enthusiastic singing was a joy to listen to, and an interesting contrast with the calls to prayer from the nearby mosques. Less joyful was the effect of the power cuts (see our earlier entry’s In the News), which left us without running water as well as electricity for a good chunk of our stay.

At the heart of Mombasa is Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese in the late 16th century, but taken by Omani Arabs after a bloody siege a hundred years later. For Jesus’ name to be associated with this place which has been a centre for slavery, torture and ruthless slaughter at first seems most inappropriate. However, in Jesus’ ministry and passion he sought out such places, and he still wants to bring life and goodness out of evil places.

We finished off our time at the coast with three days north of Mombasa at Nyali Beach Holiday Resort. It’s fair to say that the budget required was rather more than that needed for the ACK guest house, though the hot showers made it well worth it!

In the News – The Census

Monday 24th August was census day for Kenya. Well, actually it marked the start of census week, as it will take the many enumerators several days to get round some of the more remote communities. With Tuesday 25th August being a public holiday, so (just as in the story of Jesus’ birth) many people have returned to their home towns and villages to be counted.

The most controversial aspect of the census has been the question about people’s tribe. In the light of the post-election violence of early 2008, when tribal tensions boiled over, many were concerned that the information could be misused for further violence and ethnic cleansing. Others felt excluded by the tribal definitions. Nevertheless the question remained in the list of information to be provided.

On Sunday morning, the day before the census, the Bishop of Mombasa was at St Peter’s church, Nyali (near where we were then staying). He took time at the start of his sermon to the packed church to strongly encourage participation in the census, citing the various texts in the Bible which showed them in anything like a vaguely positive light. Using Matthew 13:24-30 (the parable of the wheat and the weeds) as his text, he then went on to speculate what a census of the church would show if there was a question about true and pretend believers.

Previous updates from the Jolleys in Kenya can be found in the downloads section of the website.

Pentecost Celebrations

Pentecost (31st May) was a really special celebration for our parish this year, and a particularly special celebration for 11 people who were confirmed, with 2 if them also being baptised and another remembering her baptism by being immersed in the new Aston Parish Church baptistry. Rt Revd Andrew Watson, the Bishop of Aston, joined a congregation of over 200 of us for the service to perform the confirmations, and was delighted to be photographed afterwards with the candidates.

Natalie Ward and Tanice Weir were baptised in the new baptistery, and after them Flo Howells remembered and reaffirmed the baptismal vows first made on her behalf as a baby in Jamaica. Musicians drawn from across the parish led some worship songs as they (and Fiona and Beverly) dried off and the baptistery was covered over for the confirmations and the celebration of communion that followed.

Check out the pentacost pictures for more details.

Fun at Witton

On Monday 4th May, 570 people from the local community came out to Deykin Avenue school to enjoy a fun day hosted by the Parish of Aston and Nechells together with other churches from Aston Churches Together. Many thanks to the 50 volunteers from the local churches who made this possible – and also to Deykin Avenue School for letting us use their playground. See the pictures of the day for yourself.

Easter Sunday Football

On Easter Sunday this year, our celebrations of the resurrection of Jesus at Aston Parish Church had to compete with a Premier League football match at neighbouring Villa Park. So after our usual Easter Sunday service, we decided to continue our celebrations outside and share the message of Easter with the fans on their way to Villa Park. The BBC and our own cameraman recorded the events.

The local churches had not been happy that the match began at 2.00 pm, which meant that:

• churchgoers in Aston had to struggle home past thousands of fans rushing to the match;
• many season ticket holders faced a choice of missing out on the match or their celebration of Easter;
• Villa’s match day staff, local police and many others were forced to work on a day that the Sunday Trading Act of 1994 envisaged would be a national day of rest (Tesco, Asda and other large stores cannot trade on Easter Sunday – but it seems Aston Villa can).

Did delaying the kick-off by 30 minutes to 2pm make a difference?

Aston Villa, Setanta and the Premier League say that they delayed the kick off to help churchgoers. It was certainly true that more people were able to go to church and then on to the match – so reducing the loss of ticket revenue to Villa and the risk of empty seats at Villa Park being seen on TV. However, it had only a minor impact on the problem of churchgoers in Aston being able to get home after their services. The roads around Villa Park were closed an hour before kick off – ie at 1.00 pm. The normal Easter Sunday services in Aston finish at …. 12.45 pm, after which most people stay for coffee and a chat. So in order to make the most of the gift of 30 minutes extra to escape the crowds, the congregation would have had to forego the time spent relaxing with fellow worshippers. It’s hard to see how this means they “are not inconvenienced in any way” as the Premier League seemed to think.

Aston Churches Together, the umbrella group of 11 churches in Aston, were determined that their celebrations of Easter will go ahead regardless. Nevertheless, they wanted to make sure that this never happened again. Three years ago, in 2006, the same thing happened, and people were actually turned back on their way to church because roads were closed to ensure the fans’ safety. We are determined that this is the last time that Easter is disrupted by Premier League football.

Our website describes more about how we celebrate Easter. If you agree with us about the importance of Easter not being disrupted, please sign up on our on-line petition.

New Baptistery & Platform at Aston Parish Church

Although the finishing touches are still being applied by the builders, the new platform and immersion baptistery at Aston Parish Church are now in use.

The first baptisms in the new baptistery took place on Sunday 15th March during the morning service. Rajwinder Kaur was the first person to be baptised, closely followed by Paul Gale.

Both Rajwinder and Paul have recently decided to commit themselves to following Jesus – Rajwinder through her friendship with a couple from Aston Parish Church, and Paul after completing the Alpha course.

The baptisms were performed by Revd Fiona Robertson (who led the latest Alpha course), assisted by Ken Costley. The water was a pleasantly warm 30 degrees centigrade!

Follow the link for the latest information on the project to restore and reorder Aston Parish Church.

Welcome to our new site!

After many months without update, we finally have an all new and updated website for the St James, St Matthew, Ss Peter and Paul (Aston Parish) churches! It’s good to be back!

Our new site aims to keep you up to date with the goings on within our parish, keep you informed of upcoming events and activities, and provide a resource for information on all of our regular activities and services.

This site is still under development as we fill in some areas and make changes to others, so please be patient. Regardless, we’re very happy with the progress made to date and hope that you enjoy the fruits of our labours.

Please feel free to browse the site and get back to us with any comments and suggestions.

Trilogy

Trilogy is the Magazine of the Parish of Aston and Nechells. It is published every two months, and contains news, details of services and special events at all three churches. There are also interesting articles, dates for your diary, and a seasonal thought from one of the clergy.