We are very excited about the baptismal service next Saturday (7th November) at 6 p.m. This will be the first time our new baptistery has been used, so we decided it might be wise to find out how to actually put it all together and fill it in advance…!

First of all, the pieces of wood have to be bolted together (on a tarpaulin):

Some expressed doubts about the size, so Garry demonstrated that it’s big enough! (Baptismal candidates should note that any resemblance to coffins at this stage should be resolutely ignored…!)

Then it was a struggle to get the PVC lining in place and it was time to fill up the tank!

This process took just over an hour, so we had lunch as we waited.

I drew the short straw for volunteering to test the depth of the (at this stage still unheated) water:

We also tested the heater (to make sure it’s not that cold on the night!) and the pump to empty the tank:

So we’re all set for the real thing next Saturday! The service will be in the community room (for ease of filling and emptying the baptistery) and refreshments will be served after the service.

Here are some more photos from the hOurbank Launch yesterday:

There are lots of opportunities to learn about sewing and knitting:

Young volunteers demonstrated their skills:

Yesterday was the Dearne hOurbank Launch, held in our building. This is a venture seeking to unite volunteers and allowing people to invest their time and skills to help others and also to receive help from people whose talents may well be different!

People can choose what ‘service’ they offer (making cards, befriending people, helping with lifts or shopping or ironing or decorating, helping to write letters for people, to name but a few) and how much time they want to ‘bank’; based on what time they have banked, they can then ask for the equivalent time from another member of the community in a different area. (For example, you may choose to bank time by making cards for people and then receive time from another member who does ironing for you!)  It was good to see a range of organisations who are able to help local people, including Food Cycle (which is based at the Community Shop in Goldthorpe and which works to use the food which would otherwise be thrown away from shops and supermarkets to make meals for local residents, served free of charge) and the Goldthorpe Women’s Institute:

Gemma Cobby from Coalfields’ Regeneration Trust (the charity which supported our application to buy the building we’re in!) is working in Goldthorpe with local residents, seeking to find out what residents love about the area and what their concerns are so that CRT can fund projects which matter to residents. She can be contacted on 01226 272821 or by email (gemma.cobby@coalfields-regen.org.uk) if you’d like further details.

Other local people just wanted to showcase their talents at card-making or sewing:

It’s easy to be negative about our location, but at events like these, the enthusiasm and passion of local residents are very evident. There are many committed and altruistic people living in our area who are genuinely keen to help others; there are also many organisations working tirelessly in different fields. hOurbank is part of the DIAL Barnsley charity, a charity established over 30 years ago to help disabled people and their carers and families in the Barnsley area, and works in partnership with BMBC and the NHS. For more information, contact Gill Richmond, the hOurbank Coordinator, on 01226 240273 or by email (gill.richmond@dialbarnsley.org.uk)

When I was a child, I used to listen to Danny Kaye singing ‘The Ugly Duckling.’ This story, written by Hans Christian Anderson, tells of a homely little bird born in a barnyard who suffers abuse from the others around him until, much to his delight (and to the surprise of others), he matures into a beautiful swan, the most beautiful bird of all. The song used to confuse me since I knew by this stage (probably about the age of three) that baby ducks were called ducklings and baby swans were called cygnets and I could not really understand how anyone could confuse the two (especially the bird’s parents) or how you could change species as you grew up! Presumably at that age I had not grasped the point of allegory, or how imagery and metaphor worked…!

Whether due to the influence of the song or not, however, I have always loved both ducks and swans and eventually understood that cygnets don’t really look like swans when they are born, being much darker in colour, and that the song is really talking about what it feels like to be ostracised or ridiculed because you look different and how transformation is both possible and a pathway to acceptance.

On a recent visit to Wales, we stopped off for lunch at Worcester on the way home, a favourite place because on the River Severn, there is a swan colony.

And there in among all the swans, I saw one which wasn’t quite yet adult. It was not quite ‘stubby and brown‘ like the ugly duckling, but it certainly lacked the brilliant white elegance of the adult swan:

Transformation is part of the everyday process of life for a Christian. 2 Cor 3:17-18 reminds us that as we gaze on God, He is transforming us into the image of His Son. Most of us feel more like ‘ugly ducklings’ than beautiful swans, if we are honest, and there is a sense in which our transformation will not be complete in this life (we’re waiting for the day when He will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body, see Phil 3:21, 1 John 3:1-3, 1 Cor 13:12). Nonetheless, we need to remind ourselves that God’s ‘not finished with me yet’ (Rend Collective, ‘Create In Me’) and that the artistry and authorship of God means we are works in progress:

‘Jesus, You’re the author
Writing all our futures.
The story isn’t over,
You will make it shine.’ (Rend Collective, ‘The Artist’)

One day, our transformation will be complete. In the meantime, let’s not give up on all the ugly ducklings out there: the lonely, disenfranchised, misunderstood, hurting and different people who maybe don’t fit in, but who are still loved by God and to whom the welcome of acceptance and transformation is offered. And for all of us who feel more like the ugly duckling than the beautiful swan, let’s meditate on the fact that:

‘You make our lives
Bright and beautiful,
Wild and colourful
You are the artist.’ (Rend Collective, ‘The Artist’)

Mark’s gospel begins with the words ‘The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet‘ (Mark 1:1-2). The New Testament scholar and former bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, has just released a book called ‘Simply Good News’ in which he explains what Jesus and his later followers understood as Good News by examining scripture, the historical context of the original message, and by linking the Good News back to the covenant God made with the Jews.

It’s not enough for us, he argues, to bombard people with good advice (however worthy the advice may be); what is more important is that we tell them the good news of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, how this affects what is happening now in the lives of those who believe and what God will do for us in the future. Jesus coming was ‘a step toward the restoration and transformation of all creation by a God capable of doing it for the creation he loves and the humanity he made.’ (Russell E. Saltzman, in a review of the book). Wright writes, ‘The good news is primarily that God – the generous God, the loving God – is being honoured, will be honoured, has been utterly and supremely honoured, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.’ (‘Simply Good News’, P 166)

In everything we do and say, we need to remember that God’s actions in history – past and present, giving us the assurance that He will do in the future that which He has promised – are the basis of our hope. 1 Pet 3:15 says ‘But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’ We have good news to share, for we have hope. We have a reason for the hope we have: God’s love and faithfulness. Our focus on advice, our tendency to exhortation, our passion for improving society, must always be secondary to our proclamation of ‘the good news about Jesus’, for only God’s actions have the power t0 change. As Wright wrote in a Christianity Today article, ‘The gospel is the royal announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again according to the Scriptures, has been enthroned as the true Lord of the world. When this gospel is preached, God calls people to salvation, out of sheer grace, leading them to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as the risen Lord.’

I have been surprised today by the power of good news. I suppose I really shouldn’t be, but sometimes when you’re close to a situation, you take it for granted and fail to appreciate the joy that good news can bring to other people.

My son’s wedding was six weeks ago and I have just received the photo album I lovingly (and painstakingly, given the irregularity of our Internet connection, a long-running saga that is not yet fully resolved, alas…) assembled online. It’s one thing to look at all the pictures on the computer, but quite another to hold a book with them in your hands and inevitably other people want to see the photos. A wedding, it seems, is universally seen as ‘good news’, and people enjoy sharing in the joy of others.

Today, I showed the album to a lady in a care home who has known my son all his life but who rarely sees him these days. Not only was she delighted to see the photos, but two of the assistants working in the home asked to see the album as well because they remembered my son from eighteen years ago when he used to visit his grandmother in the same home. I had no memory of these assistants who work tirelessly with the elderly and infirm, but they remembered him as a young child, full of curiosity and enthusiasm, who had brightened their days many years ago and wanted to share in the joy of his marriage.

Then I saw another lady who used to work in a shop near where we live and who attended the same church as us, a lady whose calm common sense helped me enormously when my son was a screaming baby who never seemed content, no matter what I did! ‘Look at him now!’ she exclaimed, as she saw the photos. ‘I can’t believe it’s the same boy!’

More surprising, however, was the joy of a lady I see when I go swimming. She has never met my son at all, but has heard, from conversations each morning, of the preparation and plans for the wedding. When I tentatively asked her if she would like to see the album, her face lit up. She is struggling with illness and adversity on many fronts, and I felt rather diffident about showing her the photos, because I did not want to seem to be trivialising her difficulties. To my surprise, she expressed enthusiasm for seeing them, saying ‘I need some good news; this is wonderful!’ and spent time looking through every photo with joy, even though she didn’t know any of the people on them apart from me. As she left, she thanked me for showing her the photos; ‘this is the best news I’ve had in ages‘, she said. ‘It’s made my day.’

People need good news. We forget this sometimes. We are not sure how to share the gospel. Sometimes, when we see the scale of the difficulties and problems people face, we don’t always feel it’s appropriate to mention that we have hope and joy and peace, because we feel that that would intrude upon them. But people actually need to know that there is hope and joy and peace, even in the midst of trials and difficulties, and are often far less offended by hearing good news than we think they will be. We need to be willing to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others, because it is the best news they’ll ever hear. Don’t ever forget that.