The rehearsals for the carols by candlelight service are finished and I'm really impressed. Aileen's chosen a wide range of music and this year has put together the readings too. There are congregational carols, choir pieces, a string quartet and a piece of drama. It's going to be a great evening.
We have a leaders' planning meeting next week but we have already confirmed that the Alpha Course will be on Tuesdays, beginning on 15 January 2008.
Uplands Park is important to people in Oadby, particularly to those on "our" side of the A6. It's really one big open space, with football and cricket pitches and a pavillion. But apart from these opportunities for organised sport, there really isn't much going on. Sure, many people walk their dogs and the car park seems to be used as a bit of rendezvous place. The skate park was sadly removed after complaints about noise and nuisance (perhaps made worse by its location). Does the park have a future, and if so, in what ways can it best serve the people of the neighbourhood.
Parish magazine article – December 2007
The “preferred options plan” sets out an analysis of the issues facing Oadby’s town centre and offers a vision for a policy framework, against which future proposals for development will be tested and monitored.
While people will have varying opinions on the specifics, I welcome what appears to be a positive commitment to the improvement of the heart of our town (or “village” if you prefer). And it’s made me reflect on the visions for urban living contained in the Jewish-Christian tradition.
It’s become something of a cliché to note that the Bible begins in a garden and concludes in a city. The paradise of
This is a little at odds with English sentiment over the last two centuries. The romantic charms of simple rural living have persuaded generations that the “unspoilt countryside” is always better option than the delights of town and city. It needs pointing out, of course, that precious little English countryside could be described as “unspoilt”. Two millennia of organised agriculture have shaped and dressed English hills and fields in a beautiful, but certainly man-made, environment. Still, what could be better than escaping the bustle and noise of the tarmac-covered city streets and breathing fresh country air?
While I love the countryside, I rather feel that for many people its chief attraction is the isolation and opportunity to get away from others. We all need space and places to stretch our legs but I wonder if the desire to flee into the quiet green shires goes further. Could it have something to do with our rather ambivalent attitude towards other people? So here’s the question: Is part of the countryside’s attraction as a place to live that it makes it alright to be just a little anti-social? Do people prefer it because it demands less patience and tolerance than the town?
Urban living brings all the nuisance of cramped social space. Part of the stress of living in towns and cities is the constant negotiation that goes with it. People ‘fight’ for parking spaces, ‘do battle’ with the traffic and contend with ‘neighbours from hell’. Working out how to share space is inevitable in the town and city and often difficult.
But if this is the Achilles’ heel of urban life, it also offers wonderful possibilities.
In the Old Testament era, cities were protected with walls, ramparts and watchtowers. They offered far better security than the outlying scattered settlements. And in large cities, guilds of tradespeople worked together in co-operative enterprise. The security meant that cities were the natural places to build palaces for treasures, places for worship and institutions for learning, space for performance, dance, art and music. No wonder that the blessing of the Promised Land was to exchange the broad open spaces of the “unspoilt” wilderness for the congestions of
When Jeremiah’s people were later exiled into the foreign city of
When the apostles took the message of the gospel to the Gentiles, the Holy Spirit guided them to market places and to town squares. And the very fabric of civic life prompted questions – in Athens Paul used a sculpture dedicated to an unknown god to point to the one true God he served. In wealthy
The final biblical vision is that of a
Back to earth and specifically to the little bit of it that’s post-coded “LE2”. Oadby’s “Masterplan” offers a vision for the life of the town in a series of affirmations:
• “To establish a distinct and sustainable role for Oadby.
• To encourage the growth of economic and social benefits for local people.
• To create a safe, distinctive and pedestrian friendly environment.
• To achieve an attractive and accessible place to shop, live and work.
• To ensure that Oadby reflects high quality and inspirational design.
• To link the town, physically and economically, to its catchment.”
These are welcome aspirations. If realised, they will significantly improve the town in which we live. But I can’t help wondering if together we suffer from a lack of imagination about urban (or suburban) living and expect our planners to do all the hard work for us.
Certainly, the project of improving Oadby can’t be compared with Wren’s masterful re-working of
But we need to enlarge our vision for shared civic space. It matters enormously that we create an environment that humanises us and introduces us to our neighbours. This vision must be more than retail opportunity and coffee-stops for the middle-classes. The poor, the young, the elderly and the frail must all share the same social spaces as the leisured and affluent. And our ethnically diverse population ought to be properly represented on Oadby’s town centre streets.
So perhaps the greatest and most effective improvement in Oadby will not be the re-worked spaces but the way we use them. Take a look at the plans. Comment, criticise or applaud them. But whatever we end up with, let’s civilise the urban environment with generous and wholehearted urban living. Let’s not dream of escape to countryside homes from where we’ll commute unsustainably. Put down roots in Oadby’s tarmaced fields. We’ll have a better Oadby yet if we move more gently through her streets, smile more often at strangers, pray for her welfare and cherish the land on which we walk.
Simon Harvey
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council have unveiled their "Masterplan" for the development of the centre of Oadby. The period of public consultation has just begun and the plan is available on the Borough's website and as a 51 page PDF.
Body Control Pilates for a healthy mind and body – beginners classes
A five week beginners course teaching the basic principles of the Pilates method starts on November 12th , 8pm at the Barnabas Centre, Hamble Road. Oadby.
The Pilates method is growing in popularity as people become aware of the numerous health benefits. Properly taught and regularly practised you can expect to experience -
improved posture; toned, strengthened muscles; increased flexibility; a reduction in neck, shoulder and back pain; you will feel less tense and with a greater sense of wellbeing.
Body Control Pilates is safe and effective for all ages and levels of fitness. I teach small groups to ensure that every body receives close individual attention and exercises safely.
For more information, or to reserve a place on the course please contact Stephanie Smith 07921 385689 or email bcpleics@yahoo.co.uk
SPCK Bookshop, 10 Bishop Street Leicester
We are pleased to announce that from the 1st November 2007 ownership of the SSGCT/SPCK bookshop in Leicester is transferred to Reverend Peter Hebden.
As a consequence we shall once again be able to emphasize the ethos of SPCK and will trade under the name of CHRISTIAN RESOURCES.
The address and telephone numbers remain unchanged but there will be an increase in the use of e-mails for facilitating credit accounts for parishes. Thus the preferred method of ordering, invoicing and statement production for parish accounts will progressively use e-mail thus dramatically reducing the amount of paper being used. There is no need to travel into Leicester just telephone or e-mail your needs.
We are determined to retain and improve this Christian resource centre by serving those whose mission is necessarily rooted in the parishes. For this to succeed and be a foundation for the future we would like all P.C.C.’s to consider if they can use our facility even more than they do at present.
Please contact us (by e-mail if possible) and allow us to open a credit account for your parish even if you may not use it for a while.
Tel; 01162854499 e-mail; peter@christianresourcesleicester.com
Best wishes from Peter, Janette, Harriet, Alison and Helen.
I am delighted to add my support and encouragement to this courageous initiative that Peter Hebden is taking to keep the SPCK Bookshop ethos and resource available to us in this Diocese. It is vital that we all maintain our reading and awareness of Christian issues and the presence of a high quality Christian bookshop at the heart of the Diocese is a matter of real interest to all Christians. We owe it to Peter to do our best to support this initiative and to ensure that it does not fail.This is good news for Christians in Leicester who want the assurance of friendly service and breadth of stock for which its SPCK branch has been known.
+Tim
The next Holy Space alternative worship event is at St Paul's on Sunday 2 December at 8.00pm. No need to book - just turn up.
Following our announcement last month, David Foulds and a team have made arrangements for the evening of poems and readings, to be held in St Paul's Church. It will be followed by a fish and chip supper. Tickets £5 from David or Cynthia Foulds, in Church or Tel 2710462. Please bring your own drinks, tea and coffee provided.
But it is time to think about getting organised with cards and gifts. There's a great opportunity to do so at our Fair Trade Sale and Coffee Morning in the Barnabas Centre on Saturday November 3rd. 10am – 12noon. There will also be a stall at the back of Church after the service on Sunday November 4th. All goods on sale have been fairly traded, guaranteeing a better deal for Third World workers. Please support this worthy cause.
Christians really ought not be competitive, jealous, proud or obsessed with numbers. So with no hint of any of these, I note that the great Facebook revolution has hit Oadby with mixed results. Only Oadby Baptist Church (32 members) and St Paul's (33 members!) appear to have a Facebook group. What about the rest? Still, both of us fall short of the Grange Farm Appreciation Society (91 members).
Malcolm and Ruth Lambert, two ministers from Leicester Diocese, are set to go to Belize next year to assist the Anglican Church in its mission.
Following last week's post about Halloween, we had a lot of interest in the idea of giving treats to The Children's Society instead of handing out money at the door. We extended the idea from the Halloween Choice website by selling "No trick or treat thanks" posters for a minimum donation of £1 after church. We had lots of takers and will do a re-print this Sunday. Once we collect the donations, we'll send them off to The Children's Society.
Inspire reports that a new men's lifestyle magazine will launch next month. Sorted will tackle issues such as: What does God thing about sex? Is it OK to have a beer? and What should be our response to Islam? in it's first issue.
The next St Paul's Hooray Day is just around the corner.
Few of us are happy about the darker side of Halloween (Hallowe'en?) and even the most laid back parents are able to see that dressing up four and five year olds as zombie monsters and serial killers is a little inconsistent with the rounded and wholesome childhood that we hope for our offspring.
The Church Urban Fund is promoting its fundraising to support the mission of churches in urban areas through its Big Brunch idea.
The Holy Space team met on Sunday night and decided we needed a simple logo to promote the alternative worship services.
It is the duty of the minister to ensure that only such chants, hymns,I shall be watching!
anthems, and other settings are chosen as are appropriate, both the words
and the music, to the solemn act of worship and prayer in the House of
God as well as to the congregation assembled for that purpose; and to
banish all irreverence in the practice and in the performance of the same.
On Saturday, we went over to Lichfield Cathedral for the launch of a friend's new book. It's Living the Dream by Pete Wilcox.
I get asked all the time. Well, okay, I get asked about twice a year. At St Paul's we use fortified red wine. The rules of the Church of England require that the wine is made from fermented juice of the grape, good and wholesome (Canon B17). There's no restriction on the colour of the wine - some churches use amber rather than red.
On 28 October at 6.30pm, the Bible Sunday service is at the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception,
Tickets are now on sale for the first ever Christian Praise Transfusion youth night at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall.
As a member of that special class of the clergy (vicars who live next to the church) several routine jobs come my way. These include re-lighting the heating when the pilot light goes out. After doing this three times in two days, I called in the engineers who announced that we need a new main valve.
...are under your feet.
Congratulations to all the winners at the 2007 Christian Blog Awards. Jennifer and I had a fine night in the splendid setting of St Stephen Wallbrook but we came away without an award (we did have a rather nifty goody bag given to us at the door, though). We were entered in the 'Best Newcomer' category, which was won by Krish Kandiah. Well done Krish! The winning blogs and websites are all amazingly good and it's encouraging to see Christians being so creative with the technology.
I've just come back home from taking a funeral of a local lady. We walked down from St Peter's Church, me in front of the hearse, the mourners behind, to the grave at Oadby Cemetery. I like this way of doing things. There's something very special about honouring someone in stopping the traffic and taking things at walking pace. In these moments, the worth and significance of one human life is celebrated.
What a fantastic day! The sun shone down and hundreds of local people joined us on Hamble Green and in the church itself for a whole range of traditional games, competitions, displays and more. A really big thank you to all the team that made it such a success with all their hard work. Did you come? If so, did you have a good time? What can we learn from the experience?
Hard to imagine it now, but many will be able to remember what the site of the church in Hamble Road looked like before the foundations were dug in 1981.
The 2007 Diocesan Clergy Conference ended yesterday and was acclaimed by all the clergy that I spoke with to be one of the best. The speakers were challenging and stimulating but I think it was the conference theme of growth that helped most. We were reminded by Robin Gamble that the natural condition of a healthy church is to grow - not spectacularly but steadily and organically. Professor John Hull challenged us to grow in truth and to resist the self-deceptions that can frustrate mission, especially in its challenge of injustice and poverty. Dr Paula Gooder took us on a three-part exposition of key parables in Luke's gospel which provoked fresh insight.
We're gearing up to celebrate the 25th anniversary of St Paul's and it's been great to see the memorabilia that people have from those early years.“The increase in population in Oadby in the late fifties and early sixties from about 3,000 to almost 20,000 meant that there existed a community of some 7500 people on the south eastern part of the parish separated from all community facilities by the dual carriageway by-pass, a pyschological as well as a physical barrier.
The initial response by the parish was the establishment of a Sunday School (in 1972). The initial response of the Leicester Diocesan Patronage Board was to purchase an area of land in
Mr Graham Beck led a devoted team of teachers and their work was given a stimulus by the presence of the Reverend Glyn Jones for six months while he and his family lived in the parish during furlough from
In the next three years 1975-1978 during the curacy of the Revd Reg Morgan the Sunday School grew in numbers and more teachers were enrolled.
At this time we decided to start a monthly Family Service. This gained increasing support and by the time that the Revd Wally Brown arrived in 1979 those who were worshipping at Manor were ready for weekly services.
The Parochial Church Council were very conscious of the need for a place of worship and a community centre in this part of the parish. They invited the other member churches of the Oadby Council of Churches to participate. However, for various reasons none of them was able to offer financial involvement but since 1975 have participated in visitations and other events in connection with the erection of the church centre.
A sub-committee of the Parochial Church Council investigated the possibility if the centre being financed jointly by the Church Commissioners (through the Diocese) and the Department of Education and Science (with the Borough of Oadby and Wigston). When it became clear that this was not possible, the
The church as the Body of Christ has existed in this part of Oadby for many years, worshipping in
During the past three years the ‘Manor’ congregation have worked together and through their management committee have borne the burden of all the preparations for the equipping, staffing and financial stability of
I pray that this fine church centre will stand to the glory of God and that here many people will find God’s love expressed in word and sacrament and in the caring and loving fellowship of the church and I invite you to dedicate this church building.”
The readings used at the service were Revelation 21.1-5 (read by Val Ball), Psalm 84.1-7, 1 Corinthians 3.9-13, 16, 17 (read by Steve Bolton) and John 4.19-24.
This event is part of Mission Possible Leicester and Love Leicester 2007.
Our friends at Kibworth Praise are holding the next event, titled "A new mindset", this Sunday evening at St Wilfrid's Kibworth at 7.30pm.
Everywhere you look, there's now a double-decker bus, or four, on the streets. This week, First joined Arriva in running the 31 route around Oadby and into Leicester. Some aspects are welcome - the competition has led to drastic fare cuts, which at last makes a bus journey into town competitive with a car journey. And doubling the number of buses means that you scarcely have to wait more than five minutes for one. But there are downsides.
On the day we commission the leaders and helpers of our young people's work and celebrate Harvest, come along early for a filling cooked English or lighter continental breakfast.
David Foulds will give an illustrated talk on "the hilltop towns of Tuscany" on Saturday 1 September 2007 at 7.45pm in the Barnabas Centre. The evening will include light refreshments and there will be an opportunity to give donations to Christian Aid.
