Redemption Song

Caversham Heights Methodist Church is very fortunate to be part of the tour of the Riding Lights Theatre Company with their new production 'Redemption Song' - next week, on Thursday, 19th March - for this is not just a stage play. We have experienced Riding Lights performances before and so we are fully aware that this will be 'a moving combination of powerful theatre, meditation, prayer and corporate worship'.

The play starts with the cross and ends with the cross - that savage, unlooked-for place that more than any other reveals the true identity of Jesus Christ. Full of vividly drawn characters from the Gospels, Les Ellison's new play gives many illuminating insights that take us under the skin of the passion story. Whether poor or powerful, privileged or dispossessed, no one walks away untouched by an encounter with the one life which constantly provokes the question, 'Who do you say I am?'

The performance is divided into six episodes to create space for other expressions of worship, music and reflection arising directly out of the drama. The whole presentation becomes a powerful act of remembrance, which is both participatory and reflective. Shot through with moments of great joy and great conflict, robustly and compellingly performed, 'Redemption Song' asks each of us to review our understanding of our own faith in the searing bright light of the crucifixion of Christ.

York-based Riding Lights is one of the UK's most successful independent theatre companies and is internationally renowned for thirty years of touring productions. If you are able to join us at Caversham Heights next Thursday, we will be delighted to welcome you - at 8.00pm. The tickets are £5 each and can be booked through either 0118 954 6680 or 0118 947 0903.

If that is not possible, you may find that you can book for one of the other performances on the tour -

Saturday 14 March Chiswick, London
Sunday 15 Totteridge Green
Tuesday 17 Watford
Wednesday 18 Brighton
Thursday 19 Caversham
Friday 20 Windsor
Saturday 21 Romford
Sunday 22 Seasalter
Tuesday 24 Tisbury
Wednesday 25 Sturminster Newton
Thursday 26 Newton Abbot
Friday 27 (To be confirmed)
Saturday 28 Exeter
Sunday 29 Cardiff
Tuesday 31 Harbury
Wednesday 1 April Knutsford
Thursday 2 Nantwich
Friday 3 Leyland
Saturday 4 Studley
Sunday 5 Loughton
Tuesday 7 York
Wednesday 8 Hessle
Thursday 8 York
Friday 10 Peterborough
Saturday 11 Chorlton

If I have aroused your interest, you will want to have the following contact details (and I am confident that you will be glad you made the effort to attend one of these performances) -

Riding Lights Theatre Company,
Friargate Theatre, Friargate Street,
York YO1 9SL

Tel: 01904 655317 E-mail: info@rltc.org

www.ridinglights.org/redemptionsong will give you actor profiles and much more.
Posted by Olive Morgan at 15:58 0 comments
Labels: Caversham Heights Methodist Church, crucifixion, Jesus Christ, Redeption Song, Religion and Faith, Riding Lights Theatre Company

Early Centenary Highlights

We are only midway into the third month of the centenary year of
Caversham Heights Methodist Church but already we have had a number of exciting events, with many more still to come. Many of us are eagerly looking forward to the visit to our evening service this coming Sunday of this year's President of Conference, the Revd Stephen J. Poxon,



who will be accompnaied by the Chair of the District, the Revd Dr Andrew Wood, since this is part of the President's visit to the Southampton District. We are catering for about 200 people because it will be a Circuit Service and, since we are the host church, I am hoping that a good number of our folk will turn out to hear the President even though a number of them feel very strongly that evening services should be abolished as out of date!

Then on Thursday (the 19th) we have our third visit of the Riding Lights Theatre Company. It is 5 years since they last came to Caversham and so we are expectanrly awaiting their new production 'REDEMPTION SONG'. I will write more about this in my next post.

Three days later, on Sunday (the 22nd) we have another visiting preacher for our annual Mission in Britain Service. This time we will welcome the Revd Dr Mark Wakelin whom many will remember in the days when he was head of MAYC (Methodist Association of Youth Clubs). Mark is now one of the Connexional Team Secretaries and his brief is Internal Relationships, so we look to him to point the way forward as we serve Christ in this community in the 21st Century.

History meets mission in new Church initiative

Jo Hibbard has been appointed Methodist Heritage Officer in a brand new initiative designed to enrich the life of the Church through greater engagement with Methodist heritage sites.

The Church aims to provide greater financial and organisational support for its 106 heritage sites across Great Britain. Jo will work with the newly convened Methodist Heritage Committee to develop the profile of these sites as effective tools for contemporary mission.

‘This is a huge opportunity for the Methodist Church, and I’m excited to be a part of it,’ said Jo. ‘This isn’t about preserving the past for its own sake, but interpreting our historic places and collections in light of the life and mission of the church today.’

‘Methodism is a relatively new denomination, and we have homes and chapels built, for example, at times of industrial revolution and social deprivation. Their stories resonate with us today, and the church has an important contribution to make to our concerns about money and hope in hard times. My role is to help the sites pull these strands together into a memorable experience that speaks to every visitor.’

As Heritage Officer, Jo will share with the Heritage Committee the overall responsibility for the Church’s work relating to heritage and mission. She was previously Development Manager for Coventry Cathedral, leading on tourism, marketing and PR, and events. Jo worships at Woodside Avenue Methodist Church in Coventry, where she is a worship leader

Source: Methodist News Service 13/03/2009

Tsvangirai memorial service to be held in Coventry

A service will be held in memory of Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, on Saturday 14 March 2009 at Coventry Methodist Central Hall at 1.30 pm.

The service is being arranged by Zimbabwean congregations in the UK and will be attended by a number of Mrs. Tsvangirai’s relatives currently living in the UK.

For more information, please contact Anna Drew.

Anna Drew | Lead Media Officer
The Christian Communication, Evangelism and Advocacy Cluster| The Connexional Team
020 7467 5191 [direct line] 07881783812 [mobile]

Christian teachers could be forced to act against conscience

The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has warned the General Teaching Council (GTC) that its new code of conduct may force Christian teachers out of the profession. Alarm bells were rung by Principle 4 of the draft code. This says teachers must ‘proactively challenge discrimination’ and ‘promote equality and value diversity in all their professional relationships and interactions’. The bishops and other groups are worried that liberal groups or parents could use these to force church schools and Christian teachers to promote Islam and gay lifestyles. Oona Stannard, head of the Catholic Education Service, said ‘It would be unacceptable to expect anyone ... to promote something contrary to their own faith beliefs’. The Christian Institute lobby organisation voiced the same concerns.

Sources: Daily Telegraph (2/3), The Catholic Herald (6/3)

Four out of five Britons repudiate creationism

‘Belief map’ uncovers British views of origins

A survey of over two thousand people has identified the regions of the UK where religious views of creation are weakest and strongest. The east of England stood out as the region where the largest proportion (44 per cent) believed the theory of evolution removes any need for God. Literal readings of the Bible were strongest in Northern Ireland where 25 per cent believed in creationism and 16 per cent in ‘intelligent design’ (the belief that certain aspects of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause). In Wales, belief in theistic evolution (38 per cent) was the highest. The poll was commissioned by the Theos think tank to mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth.

Sources: The Guardian (2/3), Daily Telegraph (2/3)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/02/charles-darwin-creationism-intelligent-design
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/4926271/Four-out-of-five-Britons-do-not-believe-in-creationism.html

Churches warn Prime Minister on moral challenge of climate change

Three church leaders have added their voices to The Church of England and The Church of Scotland’s in warning the Prime Minister that not acting urgently at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference would be a “moral failure”.

The Methodist Church, The Baptist Church and The United Reformed Church have backed Anglican Bishops who said the European Council must seize the opportunity this month to agree a strategy to secure an effective response to climate change at the Copenhagen Conference in December.

Revd Jonathan Edwards, General Secretary of The Baptist Union of Great Britain, Revd Stephen Poxon, President of The Methodist Conference and John Marsh, Moderator of The United Reformed Church, wrote to the Prime Minister criticizing the European Commission Communication of January 28 and calling for a comprehensive climate change agreement in Copenhagen.

“We believe that the recent Communication of the European Commission fails to set out clear proposals for a comprehensive, ambitious and equitable new global agreement on climate change,” said the church leaders.

“The current recession stands to impact many in our communities and we recognise that EU Heads of Governments are tempted to use the immediacy of the economic crisis to shy away from taking long-term action on climate change. We are convinced that it would be short-sighted to stimulate economic growth without simultaneously addressing deficiencies in the relationship between economy and ecology.

“We recognise that challenges facing you and other EU Heads of Government when you meet in Brussels in March will be immense,” said the church leaders in their letter. “Yet, if Copenhagen 2009 is to be the moment in history in which humanity has the opportunity to rise to the challenge and decisively deal with climate change, then key aspects of the EU’s negotiating position need revision.”

The letter also advises Gordon Brown that the January 28 Communication needs two revisions. Firstly, the EU’s emission reductions targets must be clearly aligned with scientific evidence to limit long-term global warming to less than two degrees centigrade. Secondly, the EU should invest the financial equivalent of an additional 15 per cent emission reduction in developing countries by 2020.

Source: Methodist News Service 02/03/2009