Two Births on the Same Day

Births can be messy and anxious affairs at the best of times and we had two on the same day. The first was last Sunday morning with baby Alpaca 'Joy'. A crowded backyard in Newbigin House was a bit horrified at first as she came out of her Mum 'Angel', but then delighted us all with her attempts to walk. As births go, it was was quite straight forward (at least for us watching)! Mum and daughter are doing well, even with all the visitors! You can see the Alpaca birth video here if you are not too squeamish.

The second birth was the start of a new Fresh Expression Congregation in Winson Green and with Winson Green people as part of Bishop Latimer Parish. This birth too was not without some nerves and anxiety. Would anybody show up on a miserably cold January afternoon? How would our musicians go down with the new PA system? Would local people enjoy their involvement? Would the theme for the service and my talk on 'Why do we eat together?' connect including a dinner and communion? Well, like the baby alpaca, we got going, stumbled a little, but eventually found our feet. As I looked around at the end of the night with a diverse group of 30 or so adults and children (and 3 alpacas!) eating, drinking and connecting together I could only breath out deep a sigh of relief. We've made a start on something important here.

The Sunday before this, a group of us from Winson Green were commissioned by Gas Street Church (see right) to start the Fresh Expression in Winson Green. Anji and I shared our vision, showed the hilarious Alpaca video and introduced the team. We've actually been part of Gas Street Church since its beginnings 2 years ago, some times we bring 2 bus loads of neighbours and we've seen the church grow to over 600 people some week-ends now. Founding Minister, Rev Tim Hughes (you may know his song 'Here I am to Worship'), prayed for us and Gas Street are now supporting half the rent on the Newbigin House. After the service a young man came up to me and said he believed that the birth of the alpaca would be a sign of the birth of the new congregation. I smiled at the time, but when Joy, the baby alpaca, was born the next Sunday morning and just a few hours later we started the Fresh Expressions, I felt the link too. We've been part of incubating something special, but now its actually born and this new life together is really happening.

We are excited about these next stages of growth, but have hit some real capacity barriers. We are so grateful for our regular supporters and nearly ￡5,000 in one off gifts given over Advent. These gifts and support are our life line. We are, however, still short of ￡5,000 in our 2018 budget to enable us to do what we need to do this year. We are praying for nine new partners who would stand with us, pray and invest ￡45 a month into the ministry. Could that be you or someone you know?

Hoping your 2018 is a year full of new births and healthy growth.

Thanks for standing with us.

Blessings,

Ash and Anji Barker

PS Please financially support us here.

PPS Here are our latest 'Prayer and Praise Points'

Renewal of Life in Winson Green

Praying we can see God’s kingdom more fully come in Winson Green as in heaven. Key prayer and praise points include:

Newbigin Community Trust

Anji is now CEO of Newbigin Community Trust. Poverty here is far more complex and sinister than we expected, but Anji has all kinds of ideas to grow and develop this community based entity to help renew our neighbourhood. Already Anji has seen NCT help initiate community projects run by neighbours in local partnerships such as Fun Fairs, Flavours of Winson Green Cooking school, Annimal Encounters, Job Club, Grow Group, Community Meals, Weekly Youth Group, Social Media Surgery, Neighbourhood excursions. Please pray. So much is possible in 2018 if we can free up resources to fuel Anji’s and her teams ideas in sustainable ways.

Winson Green Fresh Expressions

A real highlight over the Advent season was a combined Christmas Eve service with our Seventh Day Adventist neighbours and diverse neighbourhood. We did carols, Nativity play and reflections in the old Bishop Latimer Chuch (that fits 1,000 people!) and then games, prizes and Santa in the Bishop Latimer Hall. As mentioned, the first actual service was launched last Sunday, but now the real challenge comes to develop more regular opportunities for local people to experience deeper levels of worship, discipleship and partnerships. Please pray as Ash and the team seek to develop the weekly Sunday service with local people as well as 'Making Connections' discipleship courses. Pray especially for the development of a local leadership team that can help the church be a 'sign, foretaste and instrument' of God's coming Kingdom in our neighbourhood as Lesslie Newbigin (a previous minister here) would say.

Black Patch Park Renewal

Ash has enjoyed being part of our local park and neighbourhood renewal campaign (Friends of Black Patch Park). Local Council has now agreed to re-do a master plan (including park renewal, re-zoning industry area for affording housing, etc). We also met with council officials to work out when the big clean up of rubbish will happen to make part safe (within 90 days), where changing rooms could be placed (just next to pub where Yoda is checking out, left) and when our new football pitch will be laid (May, ready for new season in September). Moving forward, slowly, but steady!

Oasis Hub Foundry

Anji is currently based at Oasis Community Hub in the Oasis Academy Foundry (our local Primary School) which is now bursting at the seams with community run activities each day including cooking, Real Junk Food, benefit advice, lunch time clubs, animal therapy just to name a few. The local woman have been particularly empowered to speak and advocate for their concerns including interviews with BBC this week. Please pray for more community space!

Soho Albion FC

Our under 7s, 8s, u9s and u10s teams are topping the league in our first season so far. Please pray that our local young people and their families will continue to come together with West Bromwich Albion’s help to create real footballing opportunities, build life resilience and a nurture a deeper sense of local community. Pray especially for the parents, grand parents and siblings get their boys to training in miserable weather!

Raising-up More Compassionate, Innovative and Resilient Urban Leaders

Praying that our start-up Newbigin School for Urban Leadership can mobilise, prepare and equip Christian leaders for our new urban world. Here are some prayer and praise points.

Urban Change Makers 

This is our emerging urban leaders program that helps develop more fruitful community building, community organising and community enterprising with teams from urban priority areas. So far the teams from East London and Birmingham have experienced two week-end intensives, coaching sessions and two ‘best practice’ site visits. Themes of Compassion and Innovation will be added to on March 2-4 as the cohort goes to Holy Island for a residential on 'Resilience'. Please pray this pilot will enable the first cohort to thrive and also prepare the way for future cohorts in the UK and around the world.

Masters Programs

Newbigin School for Urban Leadership has partnerships in place with various colleges to help equip urban leaders in more formal ways. Ash is a now a key part of an MA in Theology (Urban Ministry) with Nazarene Theological College (Uni of Manchester) co-leading intensives and supervising dissertations. Ash loved co-leading the recent intensive 'Christian Approaches to Aid and Development' in Manchester (Jan 5-12, 2018). Pray time-tables are worked out to run more intensives (eg, 'Compassion Ministry' June 2-10, 2018) and which students to supervise research.

Ash also co-led with Mike Pears at Bristol Baptist College (Uni of Durham) an MA intensive in Urban Ministry Contexts (Bristol, Dec 11-12 2017) and will do another (Feb 5-6, 2018). Accreditation to supervise PhD students as part of a research unit with Bristol Baptist College/Uni of Aberdeen has also been approved. Pray that the right students for us to invest in will join these courses.

Mobilising, inspiring and informing urban leaders is a critical part of Newbigin School for Urban Leadership. Here are some upcoming events.

 Shane Claiborne & Tony Campolo in UK Tour seeking Urban Change Makers!

Two of the key instigators of Red Letter Christianity, Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne will speak in events on behalf of ‘Urban Change Makers’, our emerging leaders program that focuses on working class leadership development. The full programme will include churches, events and colleges in London, Luton, Manchester and Birmingham over May 12-20, 2018. For more information contact [email protected]

Steve Bevans in Birmingham

World renown mission thinker Dr Steve Bevans, will be in Winson Green for a seminar with CMS and Birmingham missioners (10am-3pm, Feb 7th, 2018).

Our first Newbigin Public Lecture will also be with Dr Steve Bevans with responses by Bishop Mike Royal, Canon Paula Gooder and Dr Paul Weston (7pm, 7th February, 2018 at St Martins in the Bullring). The lecture is in honour of Lesslie Newbigin, writer, statesmen and former Minister in Winson Green. All welcome. 

Preparing CMS workers and Scottish Ministers

Newbigin House will host CMS Pioneers for an immersion course March 16th-18th, 2018. We are helping prepare CMS workers for pioneering ministry in the UK.

Ash will Missio Dei discernment etreat for emerging Christian leaders with Church of Scotland as part of Renewing Ministry conference Feb 13th-15.

Engaging Global Urbanism

Praying we can see cities become more resilient, sustainable and inclusive around the world and that Christians play their part in seeing this happen. The climate of opinion seems to be shifting and our role in it seems to be clarifying.

Urban Shalom Society was launched in Singapore in November last year. Advocating for urban Christian engagement and witness ‘upstream’ is now happening. Urban Shalom Society helped run the United Nation's first multi-faith Urban Thinkers Campus and Urban Shalom Forum in Singapore in November 10th to 15th (see pic above). Please pray as recommendations from this are made to the UN’s World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur (March 5-14, 2018) and that as the various publications and the "Call to Action" statements are made God would use. Ash will not be there, but the team includes Chris Elisara, Andre Van Eymeren and the running of an Urban Shalom Forum.

The Gospel and the Future of Cities - Kuala Lumpur Urban Shalom Forum

Christians have often tended to see cities in a neutral or negative light. As places where people often live in overcrowded conditions, experience poverty and loneliness. Where there is a lack of resources, relationships and voice, as well as exploitation, mistrust and miscommunication. Where decisions are made by those exercising power with very little consultation at the grassroots or margins. Whilst we have a strong desire to see Jesus’ life evidenced in the city we have largely not sought to engage many of the roadblocks to this reality.

International Collaborations

Please also pray for Urban Shalom Summit in Manilla in September as part of Micah Global Triennial. Tim Costello (now Oz leader of Micah Global next to Bishop of Burma) is such an encouragement of our international work. We are hoping a focus on urban slums and emerging urban leaders can emerge.

'Urban Shalom and the Cities We Need'

A new book ‘Urban Shalom and the Cities We Need' was released in October. Alongside Andre, Chris and Bryan, Ash co-edited the book and provided a chapter. It’s our first book published as ‘Urban Shalom Publishing’. It can be bought here. Andre has also taken up responsibilities for Urban Shalom Publishing including the New Urban World journal.