How can they remember who have never heard?

This must be the most frequently asked question about RB. At almost every event someone says 'But this won't work because ...' and it's usually because there is thought to be insufficient bible knowledge in the common pool for folks to engage in RB. In other words my opening generalisation 'There's a bible in everyone' is not true.

And of course, it's possible that folks saying this are correct. But then again it's not been my experience. In fact I think it's a red herring (enter red herring at this point - swims across screen and exits on the other side). The statement 'we can't do RB because there's no B to R' is just an excuse not to do anything.

RB is a risk. Maybe one day I'll find a group with no B to R but it hasn't happened yet. Personally I still think it's more of a question of how you R your B that what B you R. Of course some days RB goes better than others but for now I'll keep on RBing, at the very least because it's better than doing nothing.

PS When I published this post a free ad by Google popped up and offered me 50% off Red Herrings - now there's an offer it's hard to refuse.

Word of the week

Hannah is trying to teach me German in advance of our visit to Germany in August. My current favourite word is bloemenkohl (this may be spelt wrong).

Some little herb plants arrived yesterday in the post. These were a free gift. I am looking forward to planting them in my garden where broad beans, lettuce, cabbage, spuds and other goodies are currently growing. Alas no bloemenkohl though.

Watch out for catterpillars. Some ate my gooseberry leaves (!). Anyone who know what those might be, I'd be pleased to hear from you.

Remembering the Bible in Calderdale

Stainland and Holywell Green URC is a small faith community just over the border into Calderdale, and part of the Waverley Group. Today I took the Vision4life RB road show to their midweek fellowship group. About 12 people were there, mostly retired. We worked on Bible Scrapbooking (see Vision4life website for these instructions) using RB in five small groups.

Although not at first very confident, they soon got into this and produced five interesting versions of gospel stories. There were three different takes on the Holy Week narrative, one that emphasised Jesus carrying the cross, one that looked beyond Good Friday to Easter Day and one which saw the events of Maundy Thursday and Good Friday as the culmination of Jesus life. The two other groups remembered two other well remembered gospel episodes: Jesus calming the storm and the parable of the prodigal son. Hopefully we may have some photographs of these by the weekend so watch this space.

Everyone enjoyed it and felt able to contribute. One person was surprised how much everyone had joined in. Another said how much they liked working in the small group. Some made links between the Rb and episodes from life, including current events in the news and suggestions for prayer. All in all, another good example of how RB can reach the parts other ways of using the bible don't seem to reach.

Finished!

I'm pleased to say that the batik I started about 6 weeks ago is now finished. It represents the view of the bay and castle at Holy Island, where we did some RB back in April along the theme 'In my end is my beginning'. It was here that we remembered the post-resurection story of Jesus meeting the disciples at the enge of Lake Galilee with bar-be-qued fish. Kate Gray kindly brought along the fish and the smell (and eventual taste) added a wonderful dimension to our RB.

Boys and the bible

David Hockney has had a thing or two to say about boys and art in response to one of those daft Ofsted reports that makes you wonder if they could inspect their way out of a cupboard. The report includes a vibrant piece of 'computer art' pictured here.

He says "I was appalled when I read that school inspectors say boys are turned off art when it's too heavily focused on drawing and painting," he said. "It's a bit like saying schools shouldn't be bothering with grammar." Well, we all know they'd never stop teaching grammar, would they?

What about the bible? Are boys turned of by that? Lasty night I was at a session with the Boy's Brigade company section at Brackenhall URC exploring more of the remembered bible. Some great insights into Jesus passion as we remembered around the Easter story. Washing feet was 'just wierd' but betrayal was more recognisable, as was fear and wanting to avoid pain. The streets of Huddsersfield may not be the same as the streets of Jerusalem two thousand years ago, but in the small upper room where we met there was plenty of honest remembering.

Wacky in Wythenshawe

Playing with the Bible for the weekend at St Mark's Wythenshawe was a most creative time. Here are some pariticipants with their bible scrapbooking of the Easter story, from Palms to Pentecost.

You can find the instructions for bible scrapbooking on the Vision4life website. Why not have a go yourselves!

Work in progress

I've had a busy few weeks remembering the bible here and there. As a result of being away I've not been blogging but I do have other work in progress to share, so here's a bit of it.

Inspired by remembering the bible on Holy Island, this is a batik, a technique that uses hot wax to mark out designs on fabric (in this case an old cotton sheet from Oxfam that cost £1.99) in order to allow the artist to build up layers of pattern and colour. I'm about half way through it now. Watch this space...