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News from the Men's Group @ St Peter's FORTHCOMING EVENTS Men's Full English Breakfast Saturday 28th June at 0800 topic: 'Why Suffering?' (Why does a God of Love allow Suffering?) This breakfast and talk is open to all men of any age. The subject is indeed challenging and we are all looking forward very much not only to the full fat breakfast (healthy option available for those who might prefer it) but also to what we may learn from Simon Allaby's talk, which will be followed by an open question time to help those present increase their understanding of this subject. Men's BBQ Friday 18 July at the Prescott's - a social event. Gents bring your garden chairs and your favourite drink and enjoy a summer evenings relaxing social event. Time of light-up is 7.30pm. For directions please contact the Parish Office. RECENT ACTIVITIES Men's Skip Project "To spread God's Word and His love to humankind through offering to clear rubbish and to undertake free Handy Man Jobs". The place we chose to try this out was in Longleat Square off Woburn Avenue Farnborough. This took place on Saturday 8th of September 2007. Some 15 men volunteered for this and thoroughly enjoyed themselves while they were at it! [Photos]. Organised by Alan Jarvis he declared the 'Men of the Skip' day a success. He said: "We cut down trees, dug out gardens, fixed toilets and we even built garden furniture." At the end of the day two skips were filled, (donated by R Collard Ltd. thank you). Alan added that most people were surprised to receive the offer of help. They wondered what the 'catch' was. "We just told them that this was our way of telling them about us." A great day was enjoyed by all. Next year perhaps we can repeat this at another location. Men's Curry Night On 18th April we had another superb curry night at North Camp's Everest Tandoori. Some 22 men turned up to feast themselves and to share a last opportunity to enjoy a bite to eat with our curate James Hunt who leaves us in May to become the Rector of Bishops Waltham. James' heart for ministry among men has greatly encouraged us all and he will be missed. A very enjoyable event, why not join us for our next curry or pub night (see below). Thanks to Ian Simpson for arranging this. If YOU would like to be invited to future curry or pub nights do contact Chris Parrott preferably by E-mail. On Saturday 29th of March the Men's Group 'let the train take the strain' and headed off to the Albert Hall for the 2008 London Men's Convention. Well the Albert Hall was just about full which means that there had to be almost 5000 men there, tickets for latecomers were hard to find. This year the conference title was 'Recharged for Maximum Impact - Be Men with a Message!' It was an inspiring day for all the men who took part. Richard Coerkin opened the 2008 conference with a question, 'Why are we so shy to share the Gospel with others?' This then led on to the next speaker Vaughan Roberts who reminded us what the Gospel is and why we should be prepared to share it. After a quick caffeine boost we returned to be led in praise by the Hymn writer Stuart Townend (5000 blokes singing can really sound amazing in the Albert Hall) and then we sat down again to hear the Australian Bishop of Wollongong (NSW) and chairman of Katoomba Christian Convention Al Stewart deliver his first stunning talk entitled 'The Truth about Hell'. An unpleasant message that all too often gets swept under the carpet in many of our churches today. Al was of the view that judgement day and Hell should be preached about more than they are. His final shot was, 'you think global warming is hot - wait until Jesus returns! After a relaxing snack lunch in Hyde Park, we returned to the hall to hear Al Stewart once more but this time on the lighter and easier topic 'The Truth about Heaven'. Rico Tice was our final speaker and he explained some basics to us with his talk entitled 'How to share the Gospel'. He recounted how in his university days when a friend heard second hand about the Gospel good news that Rico had been telling some other friends about, this first friend was quite hurt that Rico had not told him about the Gospel even though they had known each other for a couple of years. Not the reaction he had expected! Literally this conference was a 'recharging' experience with a brilliant series of talks in an invigorating atmosphere. Well done to the organisers! Next year, because the Albert Hall is no longer big enough for this event it is moving to the Excel centre in the Canary Warf area. London Men's Convention 2009 is to take place on Saturday 18th April. Early bookings accepted, contact the Parish Office. Richard Coerkin the chairman of the London Men's Conventions encouraged us all to pray for a national mission initiative which has been planned for March 2010, this is called 'Passion for Christ'. He asked everyone to pray:
Chris Parrott |