Holiness & Risk ... a new hymn

I wrote this hymn for the recent Methodist Church Holiness & Risk conference at Swanwick. It can be sung to a number of tunes but Wilton was used at the conference.


While our horizons hem us in
your vision shows a farther shore:
where holiness is not a dream
and Good News runs from door to door.

As risk aversion holds us back
your footsteps trace an urgent path:
to where your reckless grace rebuilds
the love that helps the broken laugh.

What is the bridge that takes us there?
What is the passage to that shore?
If there were easy paths to trace
then human hearts would know for sure.

Give us the wisdom to be fools,
to dare to dream and to declare
the paradox of God in Christ:
that death is life and all may share.

Metre 8.8.8.8. (LM)
Gareth Hill. Copyright © 2008 GraceNotes Music

Laughing through the Credit Crunch

OK, so the Credit Crunch isn't something to laugh about for lots of people but just occasionally there's a lovely moment.

In The Times on December 20 this beautiful cartoon was tucked away at the bottom of an article analysing the latest twists and turns in the economic downturn.

For those people unfortunate enough not to come from Wales, hwyl is that indefinable something that just wells up in you when Wales excel at anything, or you cross the border and realise you're home, or you meet fellow Welshies and begin to sing in four-part harmony ...

Our Christmas letter

If you really run out of things to do over the Christmas period, then you could look at our Christmas letter. It tells you everything you could wish to know (slight exaggeration there!) about the Hill family.
Just click on the link here and see.

'Meat' and right it is to ...

Here's a parable from my friend Angela. Is it about meat, or shops, or something much more profound. Well, it's a parable, isn't it!

Many years ago there was a man who owned some land on which he kept animals for their meat. Although back then it would not have been classed as such, it was, as we would now call - an organically-run farm. His meat was so good that after a while he thought that he might as well open his own butcher’s shop, so he bought a shop situated right in the middle of the town. His reputation spread rapidly and soon his shop became so busy that he opened some smaller shops at either end of the town and one or two in the nearby villages.

The shops became more than a place to buy excellent quality meat, they also became places where people came together, caught up on the news and even exchanged favourite recipes. All went really well for several years until the big chain supermarkets began to open, suddenly, busy people could see the value of the time saved with being able to buy everything in one place and often cheaper, it’s true that the meat wasn’t the same quality, but it was easier to shop and cheaper to buy.

After a while the farmer was forced to lay off some staff and someone suggested that perhaps he ought not open all the shops every day. So he began to limit the opening hours of his shops, he worked tirelessly transporting meat to whichever shop was open that day. People began to say that the meat somehow didn’t seem quite so fresh after it was taken from shop to shop. Some said they didn’t feel that the quality was as good as it used to be. If the truth were known, he didn’t have so much time to take care of his animals and he had begun to take a few shortcuts.

After a while of this mad routine, out of exhaustion the butcher started to suggest to his customers that he might have to close some of his shops. There was immediate uproar, the people didn’t want to go to one of the other shops; their local one was much more friendly, they always met the same people there; it just wouldn’t be the same. So all the shops remained open for another year. Then came the day when the butcher’s auditor broke the news that he was broke, he was actually losing money having so many properties. He would have to sell.

Again his customers had no sympathy for the butcher, they could only think about the way the closing of their local shop would affect them. ‘I won’t be able to get there’ said one. ‘My husband and I used to go together to choose our meat for the week’, said another. ‘I meet most of my friends there’ said many others. Nobody seemed very bothered that the butcher was looking worn out.

There was nothing else for it – the butcher had to sell most of his premises. It took a while to get used to it, but suddenly people met folk that they hadn’t seen for years. Some came out of the villages with lists and bought meat to take back to those who were not so able to get out and about any more. The meat was fresher. One family bought one of the shops and turned it into a restaurant, they cooked and served others with the meat from the butchers, nobody could fail to feel satisfied after eating there. The butcher had more time to take greater care over his farming and his shop became once more a thriving place with the best meat around. Rumour has it that it is in fact becoming so popular that he may have to employ more staff and possibly open one more shop!

A Brand new way to be angry, or a challenge to be tender?

Let’s get it out in the open; what Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross did was crass, obscene and pathetic. Their actions have had consequences for others and for themselves.

Whether we heard or saw what they did or not, everyone seems to have an opinion because it’s become the national talking point of the week.

Every phone-in and 24-hour news programme is covering it ... read more at my website,

www.cybervicar.com

Not a review - more a Psalmsingthing

The latest piece for BBC Radio Cornwall was to suggest a contemporary song that congregations could try to introduce into their worship. I went for the Aaron Keyes and Stuart Townend version of Psalm 62: My Soul finds Rest in God Alone.

Psalm singing is a different experience for different people. It’s obviously been some people’s way of worship since the Old Testament Psalms began to appear thousands of years ago and, for the Anglican Church as an example, it was a standard practice by the 1800s.

However, for many Christians, the idea of chanting a Psalm just wouldn’t fit with their style.
But we are all familiar with settings of The Lord’s my Shepherd which is still probably the most popular funeral hymn, so versions of Psalms have been with us as hymns and songs for ages. In recent years, great new versions of Psalms have continued to come out as contemporary worship hymns and we’re going to look at one today.

My soul finds rest in God alone is a collaboration between writers Aaron Keyes and Stuart Townend – and perhaps we ought to suggest King David from the Old Testament as well because the lyrics stick faithfully to Psalm 62, on which it’s based.

One of the reasons Psalm singing worked in church was that it was relatively easy to do, once you new the tricks. The song stays true to that as well. It’s written in the key of C with easy guitar chords so musically it is not too challenging; has the lilt of a Celtic folk song about it and uses repeating musical phrases to set up a familiar pattern for congregations.

So you see that if you have just one musician – keyboard or guitar – this is a perfectly singable hymn for a church. It’s a good hymn to use as you move into hearing the Bible passages read – even in place of a Psalm maybe - because it begins by reminding us that when we are in God’s presence we can be confident because he is trustworthy in all things.

In the original Hebrew the Psalm uses phrases like “truly” and “only” regularly with an emphasis on God’s uniqueness, stressing that our hope is only in him, even in the most difficult circumstances but also that if we put our hope in him he will be dependable, even when people and circumstances seem out to get us.

We and our enemies may only be “a fleeting breath”, says the Psalmist, but God has spoken a Covenant promise to be with his people.

The song reflects both the shape and substance of the Psalm and, if you have a full band, then the same song can have an added dimension to it.

Many contemporary songs have an added trick of slipping in a section of a familiar hymn and, in this one played live, Keyes and Townend lift part of All Creatures of our God and King to use as a bridge, so congregations who may still be wondering about this new version will suddenly find themselves singing “O Praise him, O praise him, hallelujah, hallelujah” to a tune they know before being brought back into the song.

If the test of singability is how long it takes you to be humming or whistling the melody line of a new song – I suggest this one will take root pretty quickly.

Drunk and blind?

Some wise words from Irish singer Brian Houston have been running round my head today as I continue to try to make sense of my new role as a Fresh Expressions pioneer minister with the Methodist Church.

You know the truth is like gold it’s so very hard to find
And the past is like riches if you cling to it
It don’t bring you peace it just makes you drunk and then it makes you blind

These Days from the album Sugar Queen

It's so easy to cling to what Church used to be like and believe in the Good Old Days. The only certain thing about them is that they were old!

I remember my grandparents telling me about facing starvation during the 1926 General Strike - about literally having enough in the house for one cup of tea until friends arrived to share a food parcel. What's good about that?

I remember someone telling me about a Sunday School with 160 pupils where everyone was so frightened of the man in charge that no one dared to move! Well I bet that brought people closer to a loving God!!

My task is to help people on the edge of church find something in Jesus and his people that can draw them into a relationship with him. I'm excited by the challenge and more and more I go back to the Old Testament story of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness as I try to see how to avoid making stupid mistakes and failing to catch God's vision for this opportunity.

For the next few weeks I'm preaching on the story of Numbers 13 and 14 - the people hovering on the threshold of the Promised Land and refusing to believe that God actually intended to give them the good things he had promised. Have a look and see the outcome - it's scary.

Beach or fortress?

Which of these pictures best describes your church?

Are you open and accessible, is it easy for people to see what goes on or are you grey and forbidding, locked behind high walls?

Listen to the first Podcast on my website - www.cybervicar.com - and then add your thoughts to the debate. Beach or fortress church - which is it? More importantly which should it be?

New album review - Brenton Brown

Brenton Brown (left) has witnessed the collapse of apartheid as part of a multicultural university church, viewed post-Christian Britain at firsthand, seen his and his wife’s lives hit by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and written some of the defining worship songs of the past decade.

Now he’s released his second solo album 'Because of Your Love'. It is a mix of new tracks and some of the familiar music that have made his work, if not his name, known in this country.
Brenton Brown was one of the younger worship leaders introduced on the first Vineyard UK recordings, 'Come Now is the Time' and 'Hungry'. His songs were 'Lord Reign in Me', 'All Who are Thirsty' and 'Humble King' – not a bad start!

'Come Now is the Time' has been one of the great gathering songs, calling people to worship at the start of a service, but 'Our God Saves', introduced to thousands at this year's Spring Harvest event, is destined to challenge it.

Its insistent beginning: 'In the name of the father, in the name of the Son, in the name of the Spirit, Lord we come', coupled with the opening guitar riff and driving rhythm is a great way of inviting people to recognise they are in the presence of God.

It's a hallmark of Brenton Brown's songs that they are singable. Congregations can quickly pick up the rhythms and melodies and this album contains evidence, both of his past and present work, that churches up and down the UK have taken to.

The early Vineyard albums were full of a passionate energy, combining male and female voices, and on this album Brenton has remixed the songs, giving them his own personal twist, working with his wife Jude and executive producer Les Moir on crafting the album.

On 'All Who are Thirsty' there's a very different feel, a softer edge and yet more depth that allows the acoustic touches to come through superbly. It's an example of how the favourites are not just thrown on the album to make up the numbers but given subtle new twists that make their inclusion valid.

If you have not encountered Brenton Brown before 'Because of Your Love' is a good introduction. It's not the same as the Vineyard Worship series: They were great but this is a different kind of quality.

The Surfer - a parable

Helping others make contact with surfers has been part of my ministry for the past few years, so the parable The Surfer came out of that. You can read it here with some questions to think through.

If you've got any answers to offer, let me have 'em please.

A website - at last!

Well it took a while, but they reckon all good things are worth waiting for. After about 10 years of having rev.gareth@cybervicar.com as my email address I now have the website to go with it.

www.cybervicar.com went live this afternoon and has all of my hymns on it - with links to a number of original tunes. At least I've now got somewhere to point people who keep asking me when the hymns are going to be published!

There's not much else on there yet but give me a chance and I'll beef up the rest as soon as I can. If you're sad enough to want to know my life story you can ready a bit of that too.

To boldly go ...

I preached my final sermon at the Tubestation today, using the theme from my first message seven years ago when I arrived in the area. You may recognise it from somewhere:

• Our continuing mission ...
  
• To seek out new life ...


• To boldly go ...

The message I wanted to leave with the folk at church was that God's not done with us yet, there's still a story to tell of God's love in Jesus; there is still new life to seek - people who have yet to align their lives to God; that the Church is called to be bold as it follows God's guidance.

It's a wrench to say goodbye to the folk at Tubestation but God has plans for them and for Joy and myself so we have to move on in faith. It's been great but there's more to come and, as a certain Mr Wesley once said, "the best of all, God is with us".

Releasing the Pioneers

My church has this week decided to take dramatic and costly risks with a major new initiative to reach out to those with no experience of church, especially young adults.

The Pioneering Ministries scheme - agreed by the British Methodist Conference - will see the establishment of new Christian communities and congregations in a variety of locations from city centre and suburban areas to more rural settings.

There will initially be twenty new projects, with the first beginning as early as possible in 2009. Each project will be designed to serve the spiritual and practical needs of those who have previously had little or no experience of Church.

Although it's hoped the projects will eventually become independent, the scheme will involve a major investment of Church resources and funds, with an initial setup cost of more than £4.3m.

Revd Graham Horsley, Secretary for Evangelism and Church Planting, says: ‘This is clearly a risky strategy, but sometimes the Church is called to take risks. In saying “yes” to pioneer ministries the Church is sacrificing control for the sake of creativity. Rather than setting the agenda for evangelism and mission centrally, Pioneer Ministers will be free to discern the shape of their mission in their particular context. What grows may not look like a traditional “church” but will enable young adults to worship God and be equipped as disciples.’

The Church will seek to recruit as Pioneer Ministers lay and ordained people who demonstrate vision, motivation and the ability to inspire others. They will be offered support and training and will be able to build new, viable independent Christian congregations rooted in the Methodist tradition.

Zimbabwe

The Methodist Conference, which is meeting in Scarborough, has condemned the UK Government’s failure to care for Zimbabwean refugees and is urging the Government to immediately stop all deportations to Zimbabwe and grant indefinite ‘right to remain’ to Zimbabwean refugees.

The Conference expressed support for all international efforts to bringabout a peaceful, sustainable democratic future for Zimbabwe.

Kevin Fray, World Church Secretary for Africa, says; ‘We are deeply concerned for the wellbeing of all people. With this in mind, it is right that the Church expresses solidarity with all Zimbabweans at this time.’

Local churches are being invited to contribute to the Fund for World Mission to help the Zimbabwean churches respond to urgent humanitarian needs in the country. The churches have requested funding for a lorry for aid distribution and secure transport of Methodist ministers to their new jobs.

An initial gift raised by the Conference’s Sunday offering was sent to support this. Resources will be made available to help Methodist churches in Britain understand the ongoing situation and respond appropriately.

The Conference has also directed that these concerns be brought to the attention of the British Government, United Nations, the Commonwealth, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union. In 2008 the British Methodist Church has sent solidarity grants totalling more than £70,000 to support humanitarian work in Zimbabwe.

When the news becomes more real

Watching the news from distant countries it's hard not to become complacent. Even when you know that people are dying it's difficult to feel passionately involved in what's happening because of the distance that separates you.

I know that God is as concerned for them and weeps over a death in, say, China as much as here in Cornwall but my fallible brain finds it hard to be as engaged. As a journalist I know that one of the defining issues around news is that proximity increases interest, but as a Christian I get angry with myself that it should be so.

Well, there it is. My interest in what's happening in China has increased since I realised that one of the reporters is someone I know.

Dan Griffiths, the BBC's correspondent in Beijing, is presently at the epicentre of the earthquake zone and so every news report has me looking out for more news of the rescue effort - and of Dan.

He is the grandson of one of the former members of a church I have looked after for seven years and has been a regular visitor, often bring his grandmother to worship.

Wendy was a remarkable woman in her own right. At the age of 26 she went to China as a missionary nurse, married Methodist minister Cyril Hancock while in China and they were both imprisoned by the Japanese. Her son was born while they were prisoners.

When Dan went to work in Beijing, Wendy and he used to talk on the phone in Chinese regularly. She celebrated her 100th birthday with a ride on a Harley-Davidson across the clifftop at Polzeath here in North Cornwall with Dan riding behind her to hold her on!

When she died a few weeks later she was satisfied that she has lived life to the full!

Dan often comes back to Polzeath and I was privileged last year to be invited to give the address at his wedding to Sarah and St Enedoc Church, known as John Betjeman's church.

So every China bulletin has an extra poignancy at present. As a journalist I'm intrigued by what angle Dan has found. As a friend I'm looking forward to him getting out safely.

The Blood - an intriguing album

My latest album review for BBC Radio Cornwall is on a really intriguing album - by former dcTalk member Kevin Max (pictured right).


'The Blood' is a collection of rootsy, soulful Gospel gems that pays homage to the music that was at the root of rock and roll, blues and popular culture.


Max mined some of his own childhood inspirations when picking songs for the new album so we're in the world of Mahalia Jackson, Andrae Crouch and The Blind Boys of Alabama here.

You can read about it here http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2008/05/16/faith_cdreviewmay2008_feature.shtml

Fresh faced - that's me

www.freshexpressions.org.uk

I have been privileged to be asked to join the network of Associate Missioners for the national Fresh Expressions initiative, which helps resource the growing number of exciting new kinds of Christian outreach.

This all comes about because of the developments at tubestation, our project on the north Cornwall surfing coast.

The Fresh Expressions initiative was set up by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Methodist Council to work in partnership with the national and regional mission staff of the Church of England and the Methodist Church and a range of partner agencies.

The working definition of a Fresh Expression is this:

A fresh expression is a form of church for our changing culture established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church. It will come into being through principles of listening, service, incarnational mission and making disciples. It will have the potential to become a mature expression of church shaped by the gospel and the enduring marks of the church and for its cultural context.

Associate Missioners are people who work in some way in these fresh ways and can help others discover how to light fires in their local area.

New songs from Spring Harvest

This is my latest album review for BBC Radio Cornwall. It features the Wonderful Saviour release from Spring Harvest

It’s difficult to know how to describe Spring Harvest. It’s definitely a church event, it’s most certainly a powerful resource for Christians.

It’s a book publisher, a conference arranger, a business partner with other organisations, a holiday park owner and perhaps most significantly a music producer.

From the very beginning – 29 years ago – it has encouraged new songs into the church. Now it is one of the major players in the Christian music industry, releasing a number of top-selling albums each year for everyone from pre-schoolers upwards.

Wonderful Saviour, the pre-recorded double album from Spring Harvest, offers a really interesting treatment of songs used at this year’s event held in early April at the Minehead and Skegness Butlins resorts. The first CD is a full-band treatment of a dozen tracks while the second features 10 songs stripped right back to accoustic takes. Two songs feature on both so, in all, 20 songs worth listening to.

Inevitably, the songs featured at the event quickly become favourites around the country, both because the thousands at the event return home with them ringing in their ears and because the worship leaders at Spring Harvest are chosen from among the cream of Britain’s contemporary Christian musicians.

Of course, singing them back home is not the same as belting them out among 4,000 in a big top, but all of the songs translate into small-group settings – from full band to single keyboard or guitar. And, of course, it’s possible to buy an accompanying worship book with all the music in it.

One of the inevitable criticisms is that Spring Harvest is nothing like church for many people in Cornwall. For some people that’s a real problem and for others it’s a blessing – but what is undeniably true is that for the past three decades the music that has been released to the church from Spring Harvest has transformed the patterns of worshoip in every denomination in Cornwall.

Without the event it’s entirely possible that many of us would never have heard of Graham Kendrick, Matt Redman, Dave Bilbrough and other writers whose music is now routinely a part of our worship landscape – in our homes and cars, if not in our churches.

The way this year’s album has been constructed gives two opportunities to learn the music: high praise, sampling the Big Top experience and that much more intimate feel.

Then, in a couple of months, when all the mixing down has been done, Cornish folk who were at the event, get the chance to buy the live worship album and check if they can hear themselves singing away to the songs that captured the imagination during the weeks on site.

On balance, Wonderful Saviour is better than previous pre-event releases which have sometimes felt a bit sterile. This one sounds like a real album.

Sending us ... out from the place of hiding?

John 20: 19-22
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, Peace be with you!
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. And with that he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit.


What does it mean to be sent when you don’t want to be? What kind of issues does it raise in you if you would rather be locked away “for fear of the Jews”? Even if you’re not sure who the Jews are ………. even if you’re one of the Jews yourself?
Of course we don’t really know what was in the minds of the disciples do we? Most of them had either seen the risen Christ or heard pretty conclusive testimony that he was alive. Also of course, we know that in John’s Gospel the phrase “The Jews” is a code for the leaders, the persecutors of Jesus.
So the disciples were not really hiding from themselves – or were they?
After all, we don’t hide from ourselves, do we? We don’t fail to face reality do we?
So what really happens in this locked upper room, away from reality? What happens is that reality breaks in, in the form of the one person who most of the Jerusalem would think ought not to be there. And he does it while the disciples are, in theory, safely protected from any outside interference.
He just stands there and, as he so often does, while they are scared half to death tells them to be at peace. Shalom. God’s total serenity be with you brothers and sister. Let it all be yours now. Here, in this God-forsaken place. Yours.

God's starting point

"But there is another way to look at the world. If I take Easter as the starting point, the one incontrovertible fact about how God treats those God loves, then human history becomes the contradiction and Easter a preview of ultimate reality"

This is from an article by Philip Yancey, written for Christianity Today, about why he believes in Easter. You can see the whole piece here.

My latest album review for BBC Radio Cornwall - our regional BBC station - is of the next album by Delirious?, entitled Kingdom of Comfort. It comes out on April 14.

So here’s the big question – are we building a world to suit ourselves or something that makes the world a better place for others? Is the plan to make a personal heaven or to bring a bit of God’s heaven down here on earth?
That’s the big question behind the new Delirious? Offering Kingdom of Comfort. The ninth studio album from Christian rock’s enduring British supergroup sees them come out of a challenging time with an album that refuses to just tick the boxes.
As the band’s PR says: From cancer to consumerism, five star dreams to slums and poverty made personal, Kingdom of Comfort questions everything.
And if you associate Delirious? with a charismatic knees-up then you may have to readjust your aerial. This is a powerful call for sacrifice, social justice and love born out of watching children looking for scraps on the rubbish dump they call homes in Cambodia and from engaging with education and feeding projects in the slums of Mumbai, India.
Their experience, which has been life-changing and not simply material for an album has convinced them that a society that sucks all the comfort to itself – a lust for material things and a poison of indifference – needs shaking by a God who believes in justice for all.
But their faith comes blazing through the pain – love will find a way to break through, sings Martin Smith and later, in Stare the Monster Down, asks in hope if God’s arms are strong enough to carry families coping with cancer.
If you’re expecting a hatful of instant worship songs to take into your church then this album’s not the one for you. This is a different Delirious?; born of a life-changing set of experiences but still convinced that the author of Love will find a way.
“We just can’t carry on the same way in any sphere of our lives,” says Delirious? frontman, Martin Smith. “Everywhere you go there’s a shift happening. People are evaluating what’s truly important in life, and I think our new album reflects that urgency."
Lead guitarist Stu G adds: “It wasn’t possible to simply proceed with business as usual. We had to ask ourselves, ‘What am I building? A kingdom of comfort? Or a kingdom of heaven?’”
The band have been hugely influenced by a number of writers and, if you pre-order the album from the band’s website before its April 14 release date, then you get a 32-page booklet with contributions from people such as Bishop Graham Cray and Brian D McLaren.
The track God is Smiling has already been downloaded free by more than 10,000 fans from the site and, once the album goes on sale there will be two songs available as downloads to add to the dozen on the album.
Make no mistake this a different Delirious? Not better, not worse. Different. It’s three years since The Mission Bell and the journey they have been on since then has taken them into new territory – it’s not a comfortable place but you get the impression they would rather risk the adventure than stay safe.

Are you wasting your day?

Here's a thought from Douglas Coupland's novel Girlfriend in a Coma:
"If you’re not spending every waking moment of your life radically rethinking the nature of the world—if you’re not plotting every moment boiling the carcass of the old order—then you’re wasting your day."

New hymn

Some of the people in the district where I serve spent part of last week on retreat withTom Stuckey, a former President of the Methodist Conference.
He used his book "On the Edge of Pentecost" as the basis of his sessions and, at the end of our time together, we were in silence before a closing communion.
This hymn came out of that silence and, if you've read Tom's book or heard him speak, you may spot echoes of it.
It is a standard 8.6.8.6. metre and therefore fits any number of tunes.


The God of mission calls our name
and waits for us to see
the broken world he loves so much,
which needs to be set free.

It is a world which cannot see
how, trapped by wealth and pain,
it needs a broken Saviour's death,
to be set free again.

What holds us back from offering
to cross that threshold here?
Have we been trapped and blinded too
or limited by fear?

Confronted by a bigger God
what will our answer be?
Can we believe a Pentecost
that calls us to our knees?

God, on this edge of Pentecost
in worship here we bow:
you call us, fill us, send us out,
come down and meet us now.

Gareth Hill. Copyright © 2008 GraceNotes Music.

Christmas Letter 2007

This has been a year of change for our family and there's more to come for us in 2008 so let's try to give you the highlights.
One of the biggest changes is that Sian moved away to begin a new life ... in her old home area of South Wales!
She and Damien are now engaged and moved to Hafodyrynys, just outside Pontypool, in November. They plan to marry in May 2009 and are getting used to new jobs and a new life in Wales.
Andrew and Rose are expecting an addition to their family with a baby due in the middle of March, around Andrew's birthday.
Their life is quite complicated at the moment with Rose studying for a degree in Social Care at Bristol University and Andrew working as a warehouse manager for a kitchen showroom at Plympton.
More about Rhys on the right.
After seven years in Wadebridge, we are preparing to leave for a new challenge ... but still in Cornwall.
Gareth has accepted an invitation to join the staff of the Truro Circuit, working as a Fresh Expressions minister.
He will have no churches but will be working to start new Christian communities on the Roseland Peninsula, an area around Veryan and St Mawes.
There are a few Methodist members in the area but much of his job will be starting from scratch.
He's still involved in a lot of London meetings but we both had a special trip to the capital this year when Gareth was one of the winners in the BBC Radio 2 and Local Radio hymn writer of the year competition.
We had a behind the scenes tour of the Houses of Parliament with a lunch and the presentation of a nice trophy. You can see Gareth's prize-winning hymn by following the link at the bottom of this page.
The good news for Joy about the move is that it will be nearer Treliske Hospital, Truro, so she will be able to continue her job as a Health Care Support Worker on the children’s ward and should be able to get there more easily.
The saddest part of our year was losing Zac, our lovely Collie cross, after 14 years. Then, about a month later, we inherited Andrew and Rose's one-year-old Golden Retriever Jake, so life wasn't quiet for long!



Rhys is growing up and getting more gorgeous all the time. He will be four this coming February - just before his baby brother or sister is due to be born.
He is one of the most polite boys we have met - starting most conversations with "excuse me ..."
His favourite TV programmes are Scooby Doo and Tom and Jerry and with careful coaching he's beginning to understand the importance of Welsh rugby victories.
Rhys is very excited about being a big brother and is planning to donate his best friend - Big Barry the teddy bear - to the new arrival.

• To listen to Gareth's prize-winning hymn click here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/music/hymnwriting_4.shtml

Thanks Rob, we won't forget

Methodist evangelist Rob Frost died yesterday. Actually Methodist evangelist, author, actor, broadcaster, visionary, minister, husband, father, son Rob Frost died yesterday.
Rob was a man who probably inspired dozens of people to become ministers through the work he did with Easter People but also inspired a generation of people to stay within the British Methodist Church because they could see in him the possibilities of life for this apparently-creaking denomination.
I recall going with my wife Joy to Bristol to see a musical Rob and his wife Jacqui were staging - I'd never met the man before and didn't know anything about him but was captivated by his energy.
Then, a few years later, when we were living in Cornwall, he came to a Christian hotel where we were hosting a holiday and took our son Andrew to play tennis with his son Chris - just to give us some space.
In recent years I have twice been a guest on his Premier Radio show and he has encouraged our mission at Tubestation.
Rob has made a massive difference to the Methodist Church here in Britain, most recently with Share Jesus International. We are richer for having him as a minister but heaven is richer by far because he is now there.
We won't forget Rob's contribution on earth - but we must add to it ourselves.

Star rating - seven out of five!

The latest album I have reviewed for BBC Radio Cornwall is Martyn Joseph's Vegas. It's his 29th album and his best. You can read the review here on the BBC Cornwall website.

Martyn's own website is at www.martynjoseph.com and you can order the album through there.

Shamefully, most big name record stores don't stock it as a matter of course.

Presidential approval!

Well now Tubestation has the seal of approval from the man at the top!
Martyn Atkins, this year's leader of the Methodist Church, slipped on a hard hat to avoid slipping off a skateboard and did the honours on Sunday to officially open our surf church at Polzeath. You can read his reflections on the event - part of his Presidential visit to Cornwall - on his blog, at http://www.methodist-presandvp.blogspot.com/
Martyn was my tutor when I studied for my MA and one of the reasons I could claim to be a missiologist - a student of mission.
He said some really complimentary things about what we are doing at Tubestation.
How about, instead of reading what we do at www.tubestation.org, paying us a visit? We're on the North Cornwall coast and we'd love to see you.

Photo: (from left) Jenny Harlow, youth pastor; Kris Lannen and Henry Cavender, Project Directors; Martyn Atkins, President of the Methodist Conference.

Stairlift to heaven?

If you're a heavy metal fan then I'm about to get right up your nose! I was asked to write a piece for the Methodist Interface website which explores contemporary issues from a faith-based perspective. You can read it here.

Tubestation's big day

Cornwall’s coolest church gets its official unveiling in a couple of weeks. Tubestation – the church that replaced its pulpit with a skateboard ramp – is being opened by the President of the Methodist Conference during his visit to the county.
Once a chapel on the brink of closure, Polzeath Community Church has been attracting congregations of around 130 each Sunday throughout the summer, and last month celebrated three adults baptisms in the sea.
On October 21, the head of Britain's 300,000 Methodists, the Rev Dr Martyn Atkins (pictured) will officially declare the Tubestation project open but it’s not yet been confirmed whether he’ll test out the skateboard ramp!
“Martyn’s a great enthusiast for what we call Fresh Expressions – new ways of being church,” said Methodist minister the Rev Gareth Hill, who pastors the church, “and we are really excited that the opening takes place when he is President.
“I’m trying to persuade him to have a go on the skateboard ramp – in his full Presidential robes – which would be a great way to mark the end of our first full season.”
The summer has been better than the Tubestation team could ever have expected, said Mr Hill.
“We have been amazed at the numbers who have come up from the beach to check out our coffee and the cybercafé and really thrilled by the take up on the skate ramp.
“Some days we have more than 60 people in the centre at a time. It’s been buzzing with people skating, chatting, sitting outside in the sun, studying the Bible – just doing it all with each other and with God. Great stuff.”
The Bible studies have been well attended and the chapel has been bursting at the seams on Sunday mornings. For the autumn and winter there’s a new midweek meeting, said Mr Hill.
“We have just launched the Big Wednesday Bible Café that meets, surprisingly enough, on Wednesdays at 7.30pm. We’re going to look at what it means to be the people of God together and do it in a relaxed style with coffee, conversation and multimedia resources.
“We think it will be fun and we’d love to have people drop in and join us.” The opening service is on Sunday, October 21, at 4pm and anyone is welcome to come along.

Dr Atkins is also keeping a blog with the Vice President, Ruby Beech, about their year in office. You can find it here.

And I'm feeling ... wet all over!

'God provided
some great rain
as if to remind
the congregation
that we
were all called to be
drenched in his love'

It was an amazing day. In some ways our surf mission project tubestation came of age when we baptised Jenny, Gary and Caroline in the sea at Polzeath.

Jenny has become one of the staff team at tubestation during the summer and chose to make her stand at the end of the season.

Gary and Caroline had made a commitment to Christ during the summer and spoke of their debt to tubestation staff Kris and Ness as well as other friends from the area.
It was such a privilege in the service to be able to preach about God's call to follow - using Genesis 12: 1-5 (the call of Abram) and Mark 1: 14-20 (Jesus calling the first disciples) and then for the whole Polzeath Community Church family and friends to troop from the chapel down the beach to the sea's edge and witness three friends' public demonstration of their commitment to Jesus.
The sea produced a great swell as if it wanted to mark the event for us and God provided some great rain as if to remind all the congregation that we were all called to be soaked by his love and called to his service.

Yes - hymn again!

So now it's official ... I was yesterday named as one of the winners of the BBC Radio 2 and BBC Local Radio hymn writing competition for 2007.
It was for the hymn mentioned in my previous post (below) and the announcement was made by Naomi Kennedy on BBC Radio Cornwall yesterday morning. At the same time it was being announced on many of the other 39 BBC local radio stations around the UK.
Radio 2 played two of the four winners last night and will play the other two - including mine - next Sunday at 8.30pm.


"You can listen
to all four
winning
entries here"

On the air - making you aware

Radio 2 is Britain's most listened to radio station and it looks likely that I could be featured on there tomorrow, although I'm not allowed to say anything specific about it. Let me put it this way.

A few months ago, I entered the hymn below in Radio 2 and BBC local radio's annual hymn writing competition. Tomorrow, the Radio 2 programme Sunday Half Hour (8.30pm) will be announcing the winners .......... there will be two winning hymns and two songs. Half of the winners will be played tomorrow and the other half next week.

The winners have not yet been named BUT - also tomorrow morning I am appearing on BBC Radio Cornwall (from 7.20am to about 8am) when they are interviewing me about my hymn-writing and playing one of the two winning hymns: if you get my drift!

As you can see in an earlier post, the hymn was written in honour of the Rev Dr Martyn Atkins becoming President of the Methodist Conference here in Britain and is beginning to be sung around the country. Part of the prize is that the winning entries have a tune composed for them - wonder what that will be like?

As a reminder, the text of the hymn is:

Dear Lord, where are the signs of hope,
the echoes of new birth?
Where will we find the shafts of light;
God’s grace notes for the earth?
Could we be what our neighbours need
to bring the great Good News?
Could we reveal the love of God
and walk in Jesus’ shoes?

How do we touch this fragile world
and bring the Christ-light near?
How do we earn the right to speak
of love that conquers fear?
We need to know your Spirit’s power,
equipping us to serve.
May we be energised by fire
to give without reserve.


We hold our lives before you now:
a grace gift from your Son.
Lord, make us open to your will
until the work is done.
We will not rest until the day
your Kingdom comes on earth.
We give ourselves to serve the light
and bring new hope to birth.

Gareth Hill. Copyright © 2007 GraceNotes Music Recommended tune Kingsfold