Showstoppers

Holiday Club Family service this morning was led by the Showstoppers Cast. It brought to an end a great week when an average of 50 Primary School aged children met each weekday morning at church. The morning was filled with the usual mix of activities - music, movement, crafts, Bible stories, jokes, letters and fun. Already some of the children are asking when next year's Holiday club will be!
It was also great to have our grandchildren with us for part of the week. Emilia enjoyed being in the Potty Puppeteers and she and Esther soon caught on to the Showstoppers song. Hopefully some photos will follow.

Other good news this morning was a request for baptism from one of the Durban four.

Back to work

After a lovely holiday in Italy and a couple of days spent with our grandchildren, it is back to work tomorrow. Monday morning will also see the beginning of another Holiday Club at Church. This year the title is 'Showstoppers' and the stories to be shared deal with 'creation', 'David's trust in God', 'Daniel who stays true to God in exile', 'God coming to earth in Jesus' and 'the death and resurrection of Jesus'. All the stories are vivid and lend themselves to the dramatic presentation used on the dvd which comes with all the material. The aim is to encourage the children( and the leaders) to engage with the stories. It promises to be a good week with just over 50 children booked in.
This morning the August edition of the Expository Times arrived. The last page is now entitled 'And finally' and is often an interesting and anecdotal comment - a welcome contrast to some of the other articles which sometimes go right over my head. In this month's final page Johnston McKay reflects on the Edinburgh Festival and quotes from a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, John McIntyre who wrote that if we believe we are made in the Image of a Creator God, then the way we reflect that is when we exercise our imaginations in creative ways. And so the creative artists are sharing a creativity which Christians believe to be inspired by God in whose image we have all been made.
The article ends - " And those who believe in Jesus' form of communication recognise that the creative story is more powerful in conveying truth than the dogmatic proposition. As Don Cupitt has pointed out, asking 'Am I in this story?' is a far more powerful invitation to join in a creative journey that 'Am I in this statement?'.
I hope Showstoppers will be a creative way of drawing children and adults into the story of our faith.

Holidays

A two week holiday, part of which will be spent on the shores of Lake Garda, is almost here. I am already kind of demob happy. This has not been helped by a very hot day in North Yorshire today. Hopefully the Italian weather and the Italian food will be all that we hope for.