Getting Excited…. 30 July 2007
Posted by jamesbutler in What we're up to.....add a comment
I’m excited about the coming year. I believe God has big plans for what we’re doing here with the Boiler Room and in a wider sense with East to West.
I recommend reading Irresistible Revolution which is very challenging and insightful on living in community and what it means to be a Christ-like community.
It’s been good to be part of the planning for the refurbishing of the Methodist church and I’m excited to see how we might fit in to the new plans and the space we might have. We need to get on board with the fund raising and also how we can be part of the wider plans of a community centre which really serves and blesses the community.
New Transit students will arrive in September and we’re beginning to look at how that all fits together, what they’ll be doing and what the Boiler Room community will look like. Can I encourage you to pray, pray for the transit students, pray that we will be sensitive to God’s will and ask God how he wants you to be involved in what we are doing.
Have a great summer!
Praying for Jesus Culture at Royal Holloway 18 July 2007
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Praying for Jesus Culture at Royal Holloway
Sunday 30th September – Friday 5th October
Jesus Culture is a conference for University Students to encourage and equip them to see more of God’s Kingdom on their campuses. It is being held in Egham near Royal Holloway, but open to students from across the country. We are wanting to partner with the Journey in praying for this day in particular and for university students in general, and we want to invite you to partner with us in a week of non-stop prayer leading up to the conference. The prayer room will be setup to stimulate and reflect prayers for students across the world as we use this event taking place on our door step as a focus.
When: Sunday 30th Sept 6pm – Friday 5th October 6pm
Where: The Boiler Room prayer room, Methodist Church, Victoria Street, Englefield Green
How: Pray for an hour for students in a creative environment
Info: For more information see the Journey’s website (www.thejourney.org.uk) or East to West website (www.e2w.org.uk) or the Jesus Culture website (www.jesusculture.org.uk)
The Challenge to Build Community 18 July 2007
Posted by jamesbutler in What we're thinking about...add a comment
Its an interesting question to ask: How do we build community? There seems to be something very intentional about building community, but at the same time there seems to be something beyond human effort.
I’ve been very challenged by reading Shane Claiborne’s Irresistible Revolution, all about their community The Simple Way and about how it came about. There was one level that was very intentional, but it appears to me that another was just taking the opportunities that were given to them. Shane is very challenging on our view of possessions, on community, on rich and poor, on what we have to offer, about how we live. It’s one of those books that is inspiring and daunting. Inspiring to see something that seems to have so much of Jesus’ values and at the same time daunting when we question how could we do something similar.
I like the idea of the Noise Project initiated by Soul Survivor encouraging churches to reach out in social action in their communities, but somehow we need to find a way that it becomes more part of who we are, not just something we do.
In my cell group last week we set each other the challenge of going out and being a blessing for an hour of the cell meeting. Jonathan and I went and played some football with some people we found just down the road, another pair did some litter picking and praying and the other went of to visit a family who’s daughter goes to the youth group they run. Everyone came back very positive with different stories of what had gone on. The challenge is not allow it to fall in to tokenism but to make it something regular.
One of the things that has really challenged me is that building community isn’t just gathering friends but about open invitation and making friendships with people who you wouldn’t naturally get to know.
At the moment I’m seeking to build community by trying to take the opportunities God gives me; whether it’s the chance to talk to a neighbour, to help a stranger, to encourage a friend or to look out for others needs. I’m trying to respond and see how God leads.
Goodbye Transit Students 6 July 2007
Posted by jamesbutler in What we're up to...., What we've done....add a comment
Tonight is the farewell bbq for all the transit students as their ten month discipleship course comes to an end and they all head off to new things, scattering across the globe! It’s been a great 6 months for me getting to know them and spending time with them and I’m excited for them heading into new things but at the same time sad to say goodbye and to lose their varying gifts and qualities which they brought to our Boiler Room community, from their cooking to their creativity, from their insight to their fun, from enthusiasm to their commitment.
It has been an interesting six months; for me finding my feet in the role of leading the community, for the transit guys as they have experienced the highs and lows of community living and boiler room life. We’ve managed a week of 24-7 Prayer, 3 sessions of 48 hours of prayer, 1 Night of prayer for stop the traffik, 2 visits to churches to introduce the boiler room and encourage them to pray, we eaten together a lot, learnt together, and of course prayer together.
I’m really thankful to all of you for the time and energy you’ve put in, even when the reward has looked small, and I know that you have helped to establish a foundation that we can build on over the coming years.
Thank you
