Some tips for reading bible passages in public

[Content: Copyright Peter P. Kenny, 1999-2003].

When most readers begin, they read as if they have been asked by a teacher in a lower school to fulfill a lesson: they read too quickly, without emphasis or phrasing, and without eye contact. They are often not loud enough.
Whenever we read in public, we are communicating a message with our presence, mostly in our voicing the words, but also in our body language which also should be given some attention.

By Moria Rimmer

On 23^rd October, Laurie and I were privileged to be invited to the Crowne Plaza  Hotel for The National Blood Service Presentation Lunch for people who have given at least 75 donations.

By Dorothy Richards

Once again we are 'travelling' through Lent to Easter and, as we have perhaps 'given things up for Lent', we have had the opportunity to meditate more on what Jesus did for us at the Cross.  A while ago God gave me a picture of a sponge and, as I watched, the sponge soaked up the pool of dirty water it was in the middle of.  Eventually, all the dirt and grime was gone.

One evening recently, I was in on my own, Pete having gone out to a meeting.

In November Chris and I joined a package holiday to Israel and Palestine organised by Riding Lights. They are a professional Christian theatre company, based in York, who use drama and comedy to tell people about Jesus, touring to schools and prisons as well as theatres. Riding Lights were invited by the Christian community in Palestine to pray for them and to tell the world about their plight. The result was Bridget Foreman's brilliant play, Salaam Bethlehem, which toured the UK in 2007; plans are afoot for a second tour. There was a third element to the invitation: to visit them, out of which our trip arose. We spent the first 3 nights at the wonderful Pilgerhaus on the shore of Lake Galilee (near the Church of the· Multiplication commemorating Jesus feeding the 5,000). From there we visited sites associated with Jesus and His teaching: Nazareth, Cana, Mount Tabor (believed to be the site of Jesus' Transfiguration), and the Mount of the Beatitudes. In most cases churches have been built at places significant to His ministry, thus changing the scene since then. Franciscan or Benedictine Orders tend to run the sites; they allow tourist groups to hold small acts of worship, either in the church, or at seating provided in the grounds. Our group leader was an Anglican vicar with long experience in leading pilgrimages, and readings, hymns, prayers or drama relevant to each location had been prepared. Holy Communion on Mount Tabor, at the Ecco Homo Church in Jerusalem, and at Emmaus, where Jesus appeared after his resurrection, were particularly memorable. So, too, were the numerous drama sketches provided by our five R.Lights actors. Day two started before breakfast with the scent of woodsmoke: our actors had a fire burning on the beach where they re-enacted the resurrected Jesus greeting his disciples after an unsuccessful night's fishing. Jesus asks Peter three times if he really loves Him and commissions him to "Feed my sheep". This event is commemorated by a wonderful statue a few hundred metres along the shore at the Church of Peter's Primacy. Later we had a trip on Lake Galilee in a replica 1st-century fishing boat, on which our actors performed a sketch based on the miraculous catch of fish described in John ch.21. Repeated dramas brought home to me the importance of Mary's willingness to say "yes" to God, and her faith which enabled her to face the subsequent responsibilities and anguish. In the synagogue in Capernaum the actors "interviewed" the Centurion whose servant had been healed (John ch.7). Standing in the synagogue ruins, only a few feet above the spot where Jesus would have taught, was sufficient to give me goose-bumps.