Repairing the roof

As the SE16 website reported on Thursday, St James is to receive £100,000 from the Government's Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund.

This will provide for urgently needed repairs to the roof that will keep our heritage landmark building watertight and secure from the elements for many years to come - so a big thank you to Her Majesty's Government and to everyone at this end who worked hard on the successful application.

This good news came in a week when the church was particularly well used by the community: in addition to Sunday services for St James and Rhema church, there was a wedding blessing, a community choir rehearsal, a meeting of the ladies bible study, a parent and toddler group meeting, a PCC meeting, bellringing practice, a community choir practice, a concert by the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Choral Society, visits by 15 classes of school children, not to mention the church serving as a temporary refuge for evacuees from the unexploded bomb (a throwback in all kinds of ways to the 1940s, when the church crypt was an air raid shelter during the Blitz).

And while all this was going, with the big west doors wide open, lots of members of the public wandered in, some to pray, some to have a look round.

They were all welcome.

The church is the people, not the building, but buildings have their use. They can be an adornment to their community, as we believe St James's is. And they can be a place of welcome, activity, worship, prayer, and mission. And the good news of this week's grant helps to secure this building for future generations, for the good of the whole local community.

More on schools week

Here's 5 Brazil, from St James's School, the last of the fifteen classes of children who have visited St James Church this week for our Easter Schools Week (see previous post).

And here are a few more photos from what has been an excellent if slightly exhausting week, with each of our marvellous team giving no less than 45 talks each on the true meaning of Easter.

Stan in full flow at the empty tomb

The kids loved the Upper Room, recreated inside the tent

Schools week

All this week parties of schoolchildren from Riverside Primary School and St James's School have been visiting St James's Church for our Easter Schools Week.

By the end of tomorrow, 15 classes from the two schools will have taken part in the project, comprising nearly 450 children.

It's been brilliant to welcome these lovely enthusiastic children into the church, who have thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the activities, been full of questions and interest, and, who have behaved impeccably, a credit to their schools.

Jos with Riverside children at the empty tomb

Each class has made visits to three stations: MAUNDY THURSDAY (the Upper Room set up in a large tent at the back of the church); GOOD FRIDAY, with the large wooden cross in the Creche Room; and EASTER SUNDAY, with the Empty Tomb recreated in the Narthex. At the end we have all come together for a round-up session including a Easter timeline and, in the case of St James's School, a short act of worship.

At each station the children have heard the story of that part of the  Easter message and they have made something to take home as a reminder of the visit: for Maundy Thursday a silver coin engraved with the number 30; for Good Friday a Easter card with a cross and a heart-shaped sticker designed to remind us that the cross is the ultimate expression of God's love; and for Easter Sunday, a stone on which they have put their fingerprints with paint (they loved doing this).

Paul with Riverside children, rounding up at the end

The stones are both a reminder of the victory of the empty tomb with the stone rolled back, and, by means of the fingerprint, a reminder that each of us are unique individiduals, loved by God, expressed in the song, which with the St James children, we concluded each session with: 'I'm special because God has loved me, for he gave me the best thing that he had to save me, his own Son, Jesus.'

Last Supper in the Upper Room with Mandy

Painting the stones with Penny

Some of 3 Mexico from St James School at the Empty Tomb

The end of the bomb

The Bermondsey bomb has come to an explosive end:



According to the Evening Standard, Blitz expert, Neil Bright, believes the Bermondsey bomb was dropped on 11th May 1941 at the very height of the Blitz.

With its factories, its proximity to the docks and the river, Bermondsey was a key target and was one of the most heavilly bombed districts in London, sustaining 709 civilian casualties, including, on the night of 11th May, the Mayor of Bermondsey, Albert Henley.

And then 74 years later.....

Goodbye to the Bermondsey bomb

Here's the WWII bomb that has been causing all the trouble.

Now defused, the bomb is safely on its way to Kent, thanks to the amazing men of the Army (Royal Logistics Corps) bomb disposal unit who risk their lives to keep us all safe. Today at Morning Prayer in St James's we prayed for them.

Police, council workers, and the Red Cross have all rallied round to help, and Simon Hughes has commented: 'I have been reminded of how close to each other the residents of our community are during the last day and a half. In the face of disruption and genuine concern for some, I am proud to call Bermondsey home.'

The Bermondsey bomb heads down the Old Kent Road with a police escort  towards its final Kentish resting place

Bermondsey UXB

We were in the middle of our Easter schools weeks when three ladies arrived at the church carrying suitcases saying they had been evacuated to St James's by the police, in view of an unexploded bomb  in Grange Walk (left) and a 400m exclusion zone.

Quite a number of other refugees followed, the police arrived with two very elderly ladies ('I'm ninety-six' said one of them proudly), and we deployed the  traditional British remedy at times of crisis: a nice cup of tea.

In due course, everyone was relocated to an emergency reception centre at Seven Islands Leisure Centre in Rotherhithe, Tower Bridge was closed, the traffic ground to a halt, and now Bermondsey waits for news of the 1000lb monster from WW2 unearthed in Grange Walk....

Spa Rd Closed

Salvation Army serving the emergency services - pictures from SE1 website

Army to the rescue -  pictures from SE1 website

Amazing Joan

It's probably the most riotous 80th birthday party I have ever attended but then what did we expect as we travelled from all over the country to her Midlands home of Rushden.

It was there at the age of 17 that Joan became a Christian and thus begun a lifetime of joyful Christian service that has included no less than thirty Pathfinder camps (Christian youth camps), numerous trips to Uganda,  service as a Reader and a Churchwarden in Streatham (where we met her as a young married couple), service for Christian mission agencies CPAS, CMS, the London City Mission and the Diocese of Southwark, a full-time teaching career.

And she has always been a great encourager, a nurturer, a spotter of talent.

She has faithfully prayed for, loved eight and cared for eight God-children (including one of our daughters), interviewed goats in a church service, taught children called Marolyn Munroe, Charles Dickens, and Jane Eyre, been air-lifted from a flooded village by an army helicopter, walked through Interlaken in her swimsuit, and notwithstanding her notoriously bad singing voice (it rivals mine), has continued to praise the Lord loudly and vigorously at every opportunity.

Today (typically) she had organised all kinds of people to do all kinds of things, was (typically) the life and soul of the party, insisted (typically) that in all the fun there was a serious Gospel moment, and, of course, she starred in the sketch as Cinderella, and who else would lead the dancing but the birthday girl?

I was honoured to be asked to give the closing thought for the day, on our remarkable Joan's 80th birthday.

I quoted these words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1: ^' I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.'

Joan has been a great partner of the Gospel from the day as a 17 year old girl that she became a Christian, to now, and there's not much chance of her retiring any time soon.

Today all her friends and family thanked God for her.

St Anne's new look

Thanks to KeepMoat, some more pictures of the recent refurbishment work on St Anne's Hall:

Hard at work

Team photo

The finished article

Presentation to Paul at the end of the project

Women's breakfast

Sarah from St Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey was the speaker at our first Women's Breakfast (left) at St James this morning.

For obvious reasons your blogger was not present, but the ladies of the parish assure me that a good time was had by all.

There was a really good turnout, an excellent breakfast which seemed to have a slightly healthier theme than the heart attack inducing fry-up favoured by the men when they meet for brekkie (as they will do in two weeks time), and a chance to hear Sarah speak about the events of her life and the impact of her Christian faith on  all of this.

By all accounts she had the group of ladies enthralled and conversation went on long after the official end of the meeting. After this resounding success, some further Saturday morning breakfasts are planned for the rest of the year.

PS As the photos show, the ladies also had table cloths! And flowers! (So far the only table decoration that has featured at the men's breakfast is a bottle of HP sauce).

St Anne's receives a generous gift

Pictured (left) are the apprentices from Lewisham College who have recently redecorated St Anne's Hall so beautifully .

Today they received certificates from Keepmoat, the contractors who originated the project - and warm thanks from all of us - at a special presentation ceremony in the present of their parents and family.

It all started when contractors Keepmoat who are replacing the roofs on the flats in Thorburn Square asked if they could do anything for the church as a way of helping the local community. 'Well' we said 'you could help us out by buying some paint as we are going to redecorate the hall prior to

starting a new parent and toddler group.'

Then they came back and said 'actually we could do the painting for you' and 'how about us asking some of the firms who work with us to buy some toys for your new group.'

So, that's how Keep Moat, aided by the apprentices of Lewisham College have given St Anne's Hall a totally new look, and, thanks to the generous gifts of toys and play mats, all is now set for the new Parent and Toddler group to start in its sparkling new premises.

So, thank you, Keepmoat, and thank you, apprentices of Lewisham College.

Simple pleasures

Mary Gibson's Bermondsey novel, Jam and Roses, includes a wonderful description of the Joy Slide which used to grace St James's Churchyard:

'In St James's Churchyard stood an incongrously rustic structure known as 'the joy slide.' In the shadow of the impressive 'Waterloo' church, it looked a little like a country cottage on stilts, with its black and white wooden tower over the stairs and a sweeping gabled roof covering the slide. Swarms of children were lining up for a go on the slide, bunching up together, some shivering in shirtsleeves or thin flocks, shuffling forward eagerly to the deep wooden bin, where they could pick up a horsehair mat before clambering up the stairs. Some were so tiny they had to hoist themselves almost into the bin to hook out a mat, and Milly smiled as one almost dissapeared inside it. But their wait in the cold was obviously worth it, for their faces shone with excitement as they were rewarded with an exhilarating few seconds, swirling down the polished wooden slide, and as each child tumbled off the end, their joyful smiles lit up the grey day.'

Thanks to Gary Magold for this picture of the slide

Where?

There were puzzled looks all round when the Mayor announced earlier this week that one of the nine new housing zones, designated for large numbers of new homes, was to be a place called New Bermondsey?

Where's New Bermondsey? Nobody round here had a clue.

It turns out it is the area around Millwall FC - in the London Borough of Lewisham.

2,400 new homes will be built (right) and a new Overground station will be created on the line which runs from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction.

Orginally it was to be called Surrey Canal Station but now the whole district and the station is to be 'rebranded' as 'New Bermondsey.'

Bermondsey's just got a bit bigger.

Salt and light

To St Mellitus College in Kensington for a day conference organised jointly by that college, the Evangelical Alliance and the agency, Home for Good, which encourages churches (and church members) to be actively involved in promoting fostering and adopting.

Their website points out the need:   "Every day more than 50 children are taken into care in the UK. They are removed from chaotic, traumatic, abusive, neglectful or desperate situations. Some of them need a home in an emergency. Some of them need a temporary home until they can return to their families. Some of them need an occasional home to give their families a break. Some of them need a permanent home with a new forever family."

Today's conference, Adoption, Justification and the Hospitality of God, featured some heavyweight theology by a superb panel of speakers, showing how the idea of adoption is central to the Bible's picture of how someone becomes a Christian, and then dealt with the practical challenge of fostering and adoption.

We were reminded that all Christians are adopted children of God, that God is the great adopter, and, therefore, it is no wonder that Christians have led the way in the work of fostering and adopting.

An excellent, stimulating, day.

Meanwhile back in Bermondsey, it was the fifth session of our current Bermondsey Christian Training course, Fruitfulness on the Frontline.

Tonight we were thinking of culture, defined as 'the way things are done round our way.'

It was good to think about the ways things are done round here (ie Bermondsey), and on our frontline (our job, school, college, club etc), what is good, what is bad, and what can be changed by God's people living out their lives in the local community as salt and light.

It was a good evening and good to be reminded that we can all make a difference, wherever we are, as agents for God's kingdom of peace, joy, justice & forgiveness.

A bishop in Bermondsey

Meet Bishop Graham Kings, at present Bishop of Sherborne, but soon to be Mission Theologian to the Anglican Communion (the worldwide Anglican church, of which the Church of England is a part) and Bermondsey's newest resident.

Bishop Graham and his wife will shortly be moving into one of the cathedral canons' houses in Southwark Park Road and we look forward to welcoming them to the parish.

He's been curate in Harlesden, and vicar in Islington, so Bermondsey won't be completely unfamiliar territory to him, even if it does involve a move south of the river (ie to the right side - as we like to think it).

Westminster, Cairo & Thorburn Square

It's been a busy week during which Jos, our curate, has done his first funeral, flying solo, and his first solo school assemblies (and passed with flying colours), St James has been packed for the funeral of the beloved husband of a church member, and, in our Sunday series on Genesis, we've been thinking of what's gone wrong with the world, as a kind of prelude to Lent, Holy Week & Easter when we hear God's answer to our predicament.

In the middle of the week the Church of England's parliament, General Synod (right), met in Westminster, with a packed agenda which included a whole programme of reform and renewal for the national church, a stirring Presidential Address from the Archbishop of Canterbury on evangelism, a new user-friendly baptism service (much shorter, more to the point), a sensitive and moving debate about funerals for those who have taken their lives, and an address from the Archbishop of the Chaldean church in Iraq which ended with a heatfelt plea that the West does not stand by and watch the ending of the Christian presence in Iraq and Syria after 2000 years.

While all this has been going on, St Anne's and St James have been hearing news from Our Man in Cairo, actually Her Majesty's Ambassador, and St Anne's member, John Casson (left).

Just as we have been thinking about Fruitfulness on the Frontline, in our last Bermondsey Christian Training Course, its been to hear what John and Kat are up to their particular work in Egypt in their unique calling in the diplomatic service.

Meanwhile St Anne's Hall has had a facelift, courtesy of the contractors who are replacing the roofs of the flats on Thorburn Square. It's all part of the contractor's scheme to give something back to the communities in which they are working, and we are really grateful to them for the wonderful redecoration job they have done for St Anne's Hall, which now will be a much more attractive venue for community activities.

St Anne's

Evening chapter in Westminster

This evening to Portcullis House, the high tech extension to Parliament, for a meeting of the Deanery Chapter (the Anglican clergy of Bermondsey & Rotherhithe) with Simon Hughes MP.

It was an opportunity to talk about areas of mutual concern in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe such as the need for affordable housing, the shortage of schools places and the possible effects of over-development.

We had a chance to talk about particular development areas around the Old Kent Rd, at Canada Water, and the Southwark College/Biscuit factory sites in Bermondsey; and also the possibility of a new pier for Rotherhithe, a new pedestrian bridge over the Thames, and the extension of the Bakerloo Line to the Old Kent Rd.

With rapid changes in the area and a fast turnover in population (reckoned to be the highest in the country), there is always the danger that the long-term residents of the district are overlooked. However, they need to be listened to, and their views taken into account, too.

Our active and energetic MP is, among other things, a great advocate of door-knocking, meeting the people where they are and listening to their concerns.

So after we quizzed him on his work, his challenge to us was to get out on the streets for a bit of door-to-door visiting - on the basis of: if the MP can do it, why not the vicar?

That seemed to me to be a fair point. Watch this space.

Affordable housing

The project to provide a new St James Vicarage, plus eight flats of social housing next door in Dickens Whinney House (right), featured on BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme today.

You can hear it here. Go to 18 minutes 43 seconds to hear the item about using church land to help provide residential accommodation in areas of housing scarcity.

Untold story at the men's brekkie

Except for the first few days of his life - his expectant mother was evacuated to Durham during the war - Stan Catton (left) has spent the whole of his life in Bermondsey.

Today at our men's breakfast we heard 'Stan Catton: the Untold Story.'

It was the clubs at CUM (aka the Cambridge University Mission aka the Salmon Youth Centre) that Stan attended from the age of 7, that led to him becoming a Christian at the age of 18, and to a lifetime's service, first at CUM, and then at St James's Church, where for the last 15 years he has been our honorary curate.

Stan took us back to the time when the average Bermondsey family shared a house with at least one other family, where bathrooms and hot running water were things you only dreamed of, and where lavatories were a strictly outside affair.

But it was also an era when families were close and people looked after one another, epitomised by the title of the 1972 documentary about Bermondsey people, 'We was all one.'

For Stan the theme of his talk, and the theme of his life, has been seeing God work his purposes out. Highlights on the way were marriage and kids, God's amazing provision of housing, work at CUM/Salmon, the move of the CUM young people to a semi-derelict St James and the renovation of the church, and the renewal of church life, and then God's call to be an Ordained Local Minister, still working as an engineer for London buses, but training for and serving in the ordained ministry, as a Bermondsey man serving Bermondsey people.

But......the Ordained Local Ministry course, bizarrely, is no more.

It is now easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a working class person to enter the ministry of the Church of England in south London and that, frankly, is a disgrace.

In the book of Acts (chapter 4 verse 13) there is a verse that goes like this: 'When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished' and ends: 'and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.'

To me that says it all. That's what really matters.

Bermondsey: the facts

 From the SE16 website, some interesting facts about Bermondsey & Rotherhithe

There were 70,710 residents estimated to be living in the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Community Council area when the latest Census was conducted on 27th March 2011. This profile highlights some of the key information for the area.

• A higher proportion of residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe than anywhere else in the Borough are aged 25-29 (16%) and 30-34 (13%). This is higher than the national average which is 7% for each of these categories.
• The proportion of White residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe (63%) is higher than the Borough average of 54% but lower than the England average of 85%. The proportion of Asian / Asian British residents (12%) is second highest in the Borough and above the national average of 8%. The proportion of Black residents is 10% lower than the Borough average.
• The majority of residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe identify as Christian (53%) and the area has the highest proportion of residents in the Borough identifying as Buddhist (2%) and Hindu (2%).
• The proportion of residents in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe that live in a flat, maisonette or apartment (82%) is 8% higher than the Borough average and 61% higher than the national average.
• The majority of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe residents either have English as their main language (78%) or speak English well (20%), however the proportion of those with English as their main language is lower than both the Borough average of 80% and the national average of 92%.
• Bermondsey and Rotherhithe has the highest proportion of obese 10-11 year olds in the Borough (30%) and this is significantly higher than the national average of 19%.

Life in the Garden

A family service, a baptism, and a sermon series on Genesis that has reached chapter 2.4b-17, led to the creation of a mini - Garden of Eden in St James this morning, complete with the strictly out of bounds tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In the Garden, as well as fruit to eat, there was work to do.

Mankind had the job of looking after the beautiful world God had made. And any work we do today is part of that task given to the human race by God.

Today we got the kids up to the front to grab hold of a series of tools and implements that ranged from the horticultural (spades, rakes, forks) to the tools of trade of carpenters, painters & decorators, plumbers, and electricians.

As for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: Adam and Eve had received a warning, and that tree was destined to cause them (and us) a whole lot of trouble.

But more about that when we get to chapter 3.