Web Site Stats

Number of web site visits from Monday 17 - Sunday 23 September 2007

Music Added to our Web Site

I have just spent several hours adding a music sound track to the St Cuthberts web site. This music is on the home page and also on the "Sky" page in "What kids do".

So far feed back has been quite positive about the web site, although there are a number of areas where it could be better. So, while positive feed back is very welcome, you are also welcome to make suggestions, re-write some of the pages etc.

Thanks - Ian .A

Web Site Stats

St Cuthberte updated Web site went live on the very late evening of Wednesday 12 September.

These are the numbers of people that visited our web site from Wednesday 12 - Sunday 16 September '07.

Children's work at St Cuthberts - much to be thankful for

Last Thursday Diane Healey and I attended the first of a number of meets for children's workers organised by the 2 youth advisers for the dioceses of St Albans and Bedford. This was for our area covering a couple of deaneries (the group structure next up from a parish for those who aren't familiar with the jargon). We heard a catalogue of stories from churches with no proper facilities for running Sunday schools (operating behind a curtain at the back of a church during the service, or in a hall the other side of an A road), shortage of adult leaders, shortage of children -a Sunday school run for 4 children once a month.

Which rather put us on the spot because our children's work (called Special Branch rather than Sunday school) has had a steady supply of children and leaders for the last 15 years. We've rarely had less than 10 children and numbers have gone past 20. Apparently this is out of the ordinary. At least for a congregation with an electoral roll (membership) just over 100. And let's not forget that we have had healthy numbers 10-20 of teenagers during that time as well. Plus a creche team. And Diane and I were surprised - we had no idea that as a church we had been so blessed. We struggle sometimes to find leaders but our regular team comprises 4 leaders and 4 helpers.

We were asked what we attributed this to. And all I could think of was the child friendly attitude of the congregation. We have got used to children (of all ages!) wandering around the church during the services. And we have had frequent reports that one of the reasons families coming to a service at St Cuthberts for the first time like it is that they don't need to worry about controling their childrens' behaviour or risking stares and glares. It also leads to the children feeling relaxed because they aren't being expected to sit in rows and to do as they are told. It doesn't mean that our services are chaotic - relaxed more like.

Some churches are going to struggle with this - feeling that children should be trained to prepare for a lifetime of churchgoing and you don't do this by letting them do their own thing. My counter to this would be that our responsibility to them is to bring them up in the faith and this is very much more than churchgoing. Churchgoing in our lifetime has already changed markedly - with many people not attending twice a Sunday or even once a week. It is likely to change even more in the next 30 years. We cannot make service attendance the goal of Christian education. When they reach adulthood our children will discover that gathering together with other Christians around the Eucharist and the regular teaching programme is essential to keeping their faith on track. But it isn't the point of the exercise. Following Jesus is. And that is what we have to teach our children and young people.

Adulthood isn't the point either. It was Jesus himself who said If you don't accept the kingdom of God like a child - you'll never get in.

Experiment

This blog is very much an experiment.

I do not even know how many of St Cuthbert’s congregation even visit the Church’s web site.

The updated web site went on line very late on the evening of 11 September 2007. This blog was attached to the web site as a way for church members to communicate in an informal way. It stemmed from a comment made by David Lee at a Church service on Sunday 9 September.

Dave said, “Some of you may be interested in this” and proceeded to give a short message. He then said, “I have left a printed sheet at the back of the Church, but only a few copies”.

I confess, that when Dave started his announcement I got side tracked and missed the whole message. I then thought that it would be great if David could have put this message up for everyone to read. Like a number of people I do not get to Church every Sunday and as such the updated web site and this blog can keep us all up to date.

However, as I have already said, this is an experiment and only the second blog I have created. For people to comment on this blog they need to be registered users; as this is the only way I could see to set the blog up.

All Church members are invited to become registered users. Please contact me at ian@iandrews.plus.com