'Red Folk': A poem about our children's workers

At Redeemer Church London, we have a series of children’s groups on Sunday mornings for those aged from three months up to 11 years.

The four different sessions - split by age brackets – help teach youngsters about Bible stories while their parents get to hear the sermon in the main service.

The groups are run by a team of dedicated volunteers each week - and you can find them wearing red T-shirts.

Church member STEVE PAGE wrote this poem all about them. We hope you enjoy it!

RED FOLK

The Red-Folk are well known to some, but less well known to others.

You see, the Red-Folk do their reddy-ness in the background with the smallest folk.

This means that bigger folk will only notice them if they have small folk friends.

The Red-Folk are quite distinct; I don’t mean their tomato redness, I mean their ability to fold themselves small.

Now, you may know that small folk are very used to legs and knees and big feet and are they are very, very good at winding their way through a forest of trousers and skirts to get to where they need to go.

But this can be tiring, and sometimes small folk misjudge the sway of a leg or a knee and bounce off them, falling back onto their bottoms.

This can sometimes be funny, but it is often painful and can spark small folk tears.

So, when small folk find that the Red-Folk just love to fold their legs and knees away and come down to small folk level, you can imagine the sheer joy the small folk feel.

Some Red-Folk don’t last long because their legs and knees begin to ache and the small folk noise becomes too loud and the Red-Folk miss ‘Big Conversation.’

But there are some Red-Folk who are excellent at folding their legs and knees away and who love nothing better than small conversations with small folk.

You see they have discovered that this is where small and precious truths are first planted to later become stronger big truths and they have seen that this is also where small folk plant big love in the Red-Folk’s big hearts.

So, if you are looking for the Red-Folk, you need to look down to where the small important conversations are taking place with the small important folk.

If you want to find out more about our children's groups on Sunday mornings, please contact our family worker Abi at: abi@redeemerlondon.org.

Looking for a Church in Ealing? What to expect at Redeemer!

If you’re based in Ealing or the surrounding areas of West London and are looking for a church, we’d love to welcome you to our vibrant community at Redeemer.

We have three services on Sunday - the first two are larger gatherings at the University of West London (W5 5RF) at 9.30am and 11.30am with a few hundred people at each.

You can expect a warm welcome as people arrive for the service and take their seat in the Weston Hall lecture theatre, which becomes our church for the morning.

Each service lasts 75 minutes, starting with about 30 minutes of singing which is led by the band. Some people stand up, some people sit and others share Bible readings.

The children and youth then go out to their groups, and everyone else remains in for notices. Then a speaker – often our pastor Pete Cornford – gives a talk for 30 minutes.

We finish with a song and a chance to ask someone to pray for you for anything you want. Refreshments are also served next to the hall in the large café area.

The third gathering on Sundays is a smaller one at The Hub (W5 2NX) at 6.30pm which might suit you if you’d like a quieter service (or if you work during the day!).

We asked several Redeemer members what they love about their church, and here’s what they told us:

Grace: ‘I love that our church is a community that cares deeply - it is naturally diverse and the people encourage, challenge and support each other to grow closer to God, to share His love, and to be a kind and fruitful family.’

Josh: ‘In Redeemer I experience a sense of belonging in a community that is passionately following God and loving people. Redeemer is unapologetically Bible focused, counter-cultural and so refreshing. It’s a safe place.’

Jonathan: ‘'The initial thing that struck me when I first started coming to Redeemer was the genuine sense of community. It went from small talk to being invited into people's homes and lives. In a city like London which can be a lonely place, having a church family that you can be part of is vital.’

Laurie: ‘The Redeemer welcome at services is warm and the energy at worship is spirit inspired. The preach feeds my hunger for Biblical knowledge and wisdom. The prayer is powerful and compassionate. The sense of family and friendship is heartfelt and a shining example of Christ at work within the community.’

If you’d like to find out more, email: hello@redeemerlondon.org. We’d love to see you soon!

We're Moving! - Pause & Praise

Redeemer Church is moving! From the 2nd of June we will be meeting in Weston Hall, at the University of West London! We will be releasing more information about the practicalities of the move over the next two weeks, so that you have all the information you need about the move before it happens. As part of the move we’ll be publishing 3 blogs, the first of which is this one!

In this first blog Pete Cornford looks back at our time in Ealing Town Hall over the last 5 years, and encourages us to pause and praise God for what he has done in and through us as a church!

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London is a fast paced and vibrant place to live. What a privilege it is to dwell in this city!

I am so aware in my own life that I love the new and the next: pressing on for what today holds and getting excited about the future. I would like to consider myself an ‘enthusiastic optimist’, with a mindset that says ‘we can do it!’

However sometimes it is good to pause. 

To stop. 

To reflect. 

To look back and be grateful, recognising all that God has accomplished.

Redeemer Church, London was launched on Sunday mornings, at Ealing Town Hall in January 2013. 

The iconic, central location has served us so well. From the small downstairs basement we have expanded into the main Hall as you enter the building. There has been space for the children's work to expand from 1 child to regularly getting over 50 children in attendance. People have decided to follow Jesus, many have got baptised, couples have got married and families have celebrated the arrival of babies. Visiting speakers have inspired and taught us, people have been healed and there have been powerful encounters with the living God. We have dreamed, cried and laughed together as community….. 

And I am very grateful!

If you have been part of the journey - THANK YOU.

Why don’t you pause now - reflect and be grateful for all you have!

Get thinking. #RedeemerRecommends

In the first of our #RedeemerRecommends blog posts, Rich Smith introduces to a blog he has been inspired by recently. Look out for more recommendations over the coming months as others from Redeemer let you in on what they’ve been reading. Over to Rich…

Get thinking.

At the end of November we have close friend of the church Matt Hosier returning to speak at our Sunday meeting. Matt and his wife Grace first visited Redeemer a year ago to preach about eldership, and to stand with and pray for our church as we started a new chapter of our story. 

Matt is a gifted preacher. Just as he served us so well last November, we’re anticipating he’ll bring a combination of theological clarity and heartfelt encouragement this November! 

Those who were at the Advance conference earlier in October will know he’s a wise, measured and phenomenally well read theological thinker, and it’s with that in mind that I wanted to point you in the direction of an excellent website to which he often contributes, Think Theology.

“Think” describes itself as a “collaboration of thinkers and writers who are passionate about the Church, and who enjoy spending time wrestling with deep theological questions and helping others to engage with them.” Matt, Jennie Pollock (another speaker from the recent Advance conference in fact), and Andrew Wilson produce the majority of the content for the site and you’ll find roughly a post per day on a broad range of topics.

Looking back at posts over the last two weeks you’ll see posts covering social media, wisdom in engaging politically, sexual identity, reading well, TV show theology, book reviews and Psalms. 

Whether you’re starting to explore theology for the first time or looking to expand your regular reading, posts from Matt and others at Think are worth your time. I find they’re perfect for the commute, and regularly engage the mind, the emotions and stir the spirit. Enjoy.

https://thinktheology.co.uk/

Bring peace and hope to your finances with the CAP Money Course

You may have recently been inspired by the BBC documentary ‘The Debt Saviours’, a programme which highlighted the inspiring story of Christians Against Poverty, a charity on a mission ‘to release thousands of families from poverty through award winning debt counselling and community groups’.

Redeemer Church is about to start hosting a CAP Money Course at Ealing Town Hall on Sunday afternoons which consists of three sessions, it is aimed at absolutely anyone, whatever your financial situation. They are designed to help you take control of your finances and learn skills which have a lasting impact on your budget.

In case you’re not yet convinced, here’s 3 reasons you should give CAP a try.

1) It’s free!

The CAP money course is free to attend and comes with free access to online budgeting tools which can be used for as long as you like after the course is over. Those running the course will also be able to get you in touch with other free services that CAP provides if necessary, services such as debt help, job clubs and life skills classes.

2) It helps you build a budget!

Many of us would love to be better at budgeting but we simply don’t know where to start in terms of establishing a system or a budget. The CAP course will provide you with a template around which to build a budget personal to you, which allows you to focus on your day to day financial needs while also preparing for future costs and saving towards long term financial goals.

3) It works!

There are countless stories of how the CAP course has transformed people’s lives, from simply changing the way the looked at money, to setting people free from seemingly insurmountable debt. You can hear just one of the many stories by following the link below.

https://youtu.be/DJkhcmBJ1xU

So what are you waiting for? The CAP Money Course run by Redeemer Church, London starts THIS SUNDAY on the 28th of October, and you can sign up by visiting the CAP website (capmoney.org) or contacting James & Alicia who are running the course on 02080 995692.

MANIFESTO FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CHURCH

Ealing is home to people from over 170 nations, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to see around 30 nationalities meeting God together, every Sunday morning at Ealing town hall.

I cannot but be impressed by the unifying effect of God's spirit.

I believe in one international church. 
I believe in an inter-racial and unbiased church of many nations. 
I believe in one church of many traditions. 
I believe in one church not hemmed in by history or by man-made borders. 
I believe in a God for whom his pallet of skin colours reflects his love of diversity. 
I believe in God-given racial differences. 
I believe in one creator God who made all mankind equal. 
I believe in a church that reflects her maker's love of difference. 
I do not believe in uniformity. 
I believe in the common language of love for one another, for neighbours and for enemies that transcends local dialects. 
I believe in one sundry collection of priests who are called to serve one God together, saved by one sacrifice once and for all time. 
I believe in the promise of a resurrected church drawn from all generations to meet her bridegroom. 
I believe in one eternal wedding feast which features everything from the finest vegetable samosas to the richest steam puddings. 
I believe in one extravagant Father who has built one massive mansion with many rooms so all his people can come and dwell together. 
I believe in God's Kingdom come. 

Why not join the throng.

MY SON GAVE ME A GIFT THAT TRANSPORTED ME TO AN EXCITING TIME

I must be a marketer's dream...

Just saying, even thinking, the word Ray-Ban makes me smile!

Who doesn’t love Elwood and Jake in the film The Blues Brothers, wearing those cool glasses?

I love the summer and the sunshine.

Life can seem so much better when the sky is blue, the sun is hot and the shades are on.

Memories come flooding back of time spent in the past at the beach, enjoying a stroll beside quiet rivers, and stopping for a cold pint.

My son kindly bought me a new pair of Ray-Bans for Christmas. This week I took them out of the box and have appreciated wearing them.

(He's a generous lad - although a student - I'm not going to ask if they're a genuine pair!)

I must have hit mid-life because I even have an old pair of Ray-Bans just for the car…it's good to have a pair of glasses close to hand, you never know when you might need them.

Which season of the year do you most enjoy?

The sight of Ray-Bans reminds me of the joy of summer.

What object do you most connect with it?

Sometimes God speaks to us through a simple object or a picture that means so much more. We love to allow space for God to speak whenever we gather as Redeemer.

Why not come along on Sunday to see what God would like to say to you?

HANWELL'S BEST HANGOUT

Among the things I love about living in Hanwell are the great parks, the canal I can walk, run or cycle beside, easy access to Ealing and London, the great schools (I teach in one of them!), the fantastic sense of community here and events that encourage this (we recently had the Hanwell Hootie)...and The Clocktower café! 

I'm very fortunate to only work four days a week, so I love to visit the café on my day off each Friday. It's a great place to relax and hang out!

What do I love most about this café?

• I love the quirky, vintage interior and the different array of seating from bar stools to armchairs and sofas to benches with cushions – a very ‘homely’ environment in which to unwind
• I love the fact that I always bump into someone I know from the local area – it really is a great place to connect with others from the community
• I love the fresh, authentic, home-made food that is available from breakfast to brunch and lunch – not to mention the delicious cakes that are pretty irresistible (the Battenberg being a favourite!)
• I love the slowed-down, relaxed feeling you get there – you are never hurried away – you are always made to feel very welcome by the staff
• I love the fact that it's on my doorstep so I can enjoy it as often as I like – it really is one of Hanwell’s great treasures

If you haven't been – why not check it out on Facebook?

It's good to discover places where you can hang out, and be refreshed from the busyness of life.

I love gathering with the Redeemer community on Sundays to know God’s refreshing and empowering presence in our lives

Jesus said:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28)

And one of the early church leaders explained the truth of gathering together:

...that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord... (Acts 3:20)

Why not come and hang out this Sunday?

I trust that you will also feel welcomed, feel that you have 'come home’, enjoy the coffee and cakes, and know something of God’s peace for you in the busyness of your life.

A NEW WORLD RECORD FOR EALING?

A friend of mine from Redeemer went and bought the latest book of Guinness World Records recently, and unfortunately I knew it was already out-of-date, thanks to Ben Stiller's selfie stick.

But a world record attempt did catch my eye - the record for the most people to participate in a series of pub quizzes.

Steve Pound MP was at the Star and Anchor in West Ealing to see them participate and raise money for Ealing Food Bank.

Yay Ealing!

But it got me thinking.

People love it when they see something done faster, higher, longer, stronger or better than ever before.

I'm the same; I can't help but admire the highest achievers...and compare myself to them.

I find myself watching The Apprentice and thinking I could do better.

Or watching Masterchef and thinking there's no way I'd get any further than figuring out how to switch the oven on (possibly).

So let me give you a way to be a world record holder.

There are more Sam Isaacsons in the world than you might expect, but there's only one of me.

No-one can be me in the way I can.

I hold the world record for being me, better than anyone else ever has or ever will.

And the same is true for you.

I have an offer for you, and a favour to ask.

And they're both the same thing:

Please come and make a world record attempt with Redeemer this Sunday morning.

Bring yourself, your unique personality and gifts, and let us get to know you, a record breaker.