Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet

Time to make a change?

Stuck in a rut? Sometimes change can be tough but the effects can also be remarkable, writes Sally Claydon


Now the older generation has sometimes been accused of resisting change – but not this wonderful group of friendly and funny OAPs.

Plan AThey’d decided to move their meeting from the usual cosiness of our church lounge to the community area of the charity shop that our congregation runs in the local parade of shops. The shop has a lovely, big sunny window near a coffee machine and seating area. Their gathering was a great success including much laughter as one lady tried on various hats from the shop. An added bonus was waving to school children passing by on their way home from school.

But do you know what the most remarkable thing was? Towards the end of their time together a woman who had been browsing in the charity shop, approached the group and said that this was just the sort of thing she’d like to bring her mother to. She was given all the details, as well as a couple of cakes to take away. She was thrilled and said she’d take the cakes to her mum and tell her all about the group. 

A simple change of location to a more ‘public’ area had resulted in the opportunity for a new person to experience the friendship, and hopefully the faith, the group shares. Sometimes change can be tough but the effects can also be remarkable.

I’m lucky enough to be involved in helping churches start new GB groups, and sometimes even brand new groups have had to make changes quite early on. One group in a predominately Muslim area found that they were clashing with classes at the local mosque – and that a simple change of their meeting times meant that more girls could join the GB group. Another has been forced to change venues – which has also given them the opportunity to change the day of the week that they meet; a change that has been beneficial for the leaders and has also enabled their local network to offer greater support.

So, if you’re stuck in a rut why not make a change? It doesn’t have to be complicated – a change of venue, the day, or time that you meet could make all the difference.
 

Sally Claydon is Girls’ Brigade team leader at 1st Hawkwell group, based at Hawkwell Baptist Church, Rochford, Essex, and a GB Development Worker in London. She writes a regular column about the Girls’ Brigade for The Baptist Times.

Picture: "Options Plan A, Plan B" by Danilo Rizzuti / freedigitalphotos.net
Catherine Burt, 04/04/2014
    Post     Tweet
The urgency of reconciliation
A reflection by Dr Rula Khoury Mansour, founder of the Nazareth Center for Peace Studies, following her presentation at the recent Lausanne Congress
COP29 - climate loss and damage, and historical injustice
We cannot talk about climate loss and damage without reflecting the damage of the past - and that means acknowledging the impact of slavery, the industrial revolution and colonialism, writes Israel Olofinjana
Prayers and a reflection for COP29
Dave Gregory, convenor of the Baptist Union Environment Network (BUEN), offers a reflection and prayers points for COP29, which runs from 11-21 November in Baku, Azerbaijan
Key themes around church planting
Alex Harris shares observations on church planting nationally in the UK. All speak to a growing flexibility and agility amongst churches, leaders and Christians to reach people, grow disciples and start new churches in the ways they are needed, he writes
Collaboration, and our worship of Jesus
Notes from the two keynote addresses from Dave Ferguson and Alex Harris at the first Everyone Everywhere national conference on 8 October
Israel-Palestine: I can’t keep up
Baptist church member David Nelson has travelled to Israel and the West Bank on three occasions in the past 24 months. He offers this reflection on events in the region
     The Baptist Times 
    Posted: 18/11/2024
    Posted: 14/10/2024
    Posted: 02/10/2024
    Posted: 22/07/2024
    Posted: 07/05/2024
    Posted: 12/02/2024
    Posted: 22/12/2023
    Posted: 16/12/2023