ISSUES

For more, go to MESSENGER ExtraMESSENGER • Inform • Educate • Inspire

Sir Isaac Newton

Photo: David Bell

2 | Messenger 03-2020

LEADER’S CORNER ADVENTIST ESSENTIALS . . .

effectiveness, and continued relevance, ofseeing Daniel through the historicist lens alone.In addition, and perhaps more significantly,many of our Bible scholars recognise that,while we’ve applied an historical framework toDaniel’s view of history, we’ve not yet givenenough attention to the text itself. I quote againRanko Stefanovic, who spoke at theStanborough Press Open Day last autumn,expressing a view I believe to berepresentative:

‘Very few commentators have engaged inserious interaction with the text in its whole“literary content” and with enough carefulattention to the original language. . . . What isneeded is for us to go in search of the “innermeaning” and the genius of God’s intentionfor this message.’7

By the same measure, Hans K. LaRondelleagrees that we’ve got further work to do on ourinterpretive lens. He’s concerned that we use‘historical tradition’ as the final interpreter ofprophecies, and emphasises that ‘it is our dutyas Christian interpreters to re-examine ourmethod of prophetic interpretation andapplication, and to define a conscious andconsistent Christocentric hermeneutic’.8

Immediately some readers may see a redflag with the order – ‘go no further’! That’sclearly understood, because, for the Adventistcommunity of faith, how we understand Danieland Revelation determines both our messageand our mission. But is it tenable to put ourunderstanding into a fixed, padlocked box withno fresh understanding for our times?

For today, let me go back to where westarted, with Donald Trump’s Davos quote. If anything, I’m incredibly grateful to him forwhat he said, because he could not haveclarified more clearly for me why I believe theancient words of Daniel to be true. In essence,Trump has become a key player in anexistential conversation the citizens of Planet Earth are now engaged in.

He sincerely believes that the trajectory oflife on Planet Earth is up, up, up! However, asignificant group of people on the planet beg todiffer. On the very same day as PresidentTrump made his speech, Professor Yuval NoahHarari, an Israeli historian at the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem, was interviewed onRadio 4’s Today programme and noted thethree biggest challenges to our species:• Nuclear war• Ecological collapse• Technological disruptionThe third he describes as the mostcomplicated to predict, but he warns thatmankind, because of artificial intelligence,

Messenger 03-2020 | 3

EDITORIAL

could have ‘God-like abilities’ that could ‘eithercreate heaven or hell’. . . .9 No wonderDictionary.com named the word ‘existential’ asthe 2019 word of the year!

I wonder what tweet the President wouldsend if he were to discover a group ofChristians, from all corners of the globe,currently studying again the ancient words ofDaniel, a fifth-century BC prophet. As theystudy, they pray. As they pray, they request theGod of Heaven to reveal His will and purposeto them, just as did the ancient prophet. Asthey understand the seer’s message, they gaina fresh insight into their message and mission.As they study and responsibly continue to holdthe Bible in one hand and the newspaper in theother, they experience newfound confidence inthe reliability and relevance of God’s Word fortoday, as revealed in Christ. Far from beingprophets of doom, they are a people of hopewho share a message of hope, with Christliving in and through them. Daniel saw thatworld history will come to an end with theintervention of God’s kingdom (Daniel 2). Farfrom being the heirs of one of ‘yesterday’sfoolish fortune tellers’, the ancient words theyread . . . are ever true!

‘And those who are wise shall shine like thebrightness of the sky above; and those whoturn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up thewords and seal the book, until the time of theend. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledgeshall increase.’ (Daniel 12:3, 4, ESV.)

1https://www.politico.com/news/2020/01/21/donald-trump-davos-climate-change-101327 2Ranko Stefanovic, speaking atthe Stanborough Press Open Day 2019, as heard by David Neal3MESSENGER, 8 November 2019, p. 3 4Seventh-day AdventistEncyclopedia (1996 edition, p. 698), as quoted by Hans K.LaRondelle in ‘The Heart of Historicism’, Ministry magazine,September 2005 5Ekkehardt Mueller, writing in the BiblicalResearch Institute’s newsletter, Reflections (number 44,October 2013) 6Ibid. 7Ranko Stefanovic, speaking at theStanborough Press Open Day 2019, as heard by David Neal8Hans K. LaRondelle, ‘The Heart of Historicism’, Ministrymagazine, September 2005 9BBC Radio 4, Today, 22 January,7.20am

Daniel –yesterday’s foolish

fortune teller?David Neal, Editor

Greetings from Scotland, where this last yearwe rejoiced with forty of our friends andloved ones who have given their hearts toJesus.

I think everyone values friendship. Friendshipand kindness seem to go hand in glove, and thewell-known proverb says it well: ‘A friend in need isa friend indeed.’

There was a man who was so sick that hecould not move his body. The story is told in Markchapter 2.1 He had four good friends who set out

to bring him to Jesus. In so doing, they encountered difficulties alongthe way, and the crowd was so large that they could not get through towhere Jesus was. What to do? They could stay on the edge of thecrowd; they could give up and go home, reasoning that they had tried;or they could search for another way.

Thankfully, they chose the latter course of action, and they went uponto the roof – houses in Palestine had flat roofs – and they decided tolet their friend down to Jesus. It wasn’t easy, and they had to make ahole in the roof to do this. Again, they could have given up, but theypersevered, and finally the man was lowered down on a mat to whereJesus was. Job done – and this story is recounted in children’sSabbath School classes until this day.

Here’s where the story gets really interesting! Jesus took over, and Ican imagine His look of love and His voice of hope when He said: ‘Son,your sins are forgiven.’ As we know, not everyone was happy with thisstatement, and the teachers of the law objected to Jesus’ words andwhat they implied. Finally, cutting through all objections, Jesus said: ‘Itell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’

This was a day which the man and his friends – who were,doubtless, listening from above – would never forget. The Bible recordsthat ‘he got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.’ Ilove the response of the crowd, who were watching on and exclaimed:‘We have never seen anything like this!’

My prayer is that in 2020 we will all have good friends who will goout of their way to bring those whom they know and love to Jesus.Wouldn’t it be great, though, if we could be one of those friends andbring someone we know to the Saviour! It’s not always easy – it wasn’tthen, and isn’t now – but persevering still brings results. Jesus is justas willing to call people ‘Son’ or ‘Daughter’ today as He was then.

What’s more, there is an unsaid question at the end of the story:what do you think was the first thing the man said when he got home?Most certainly, he would have told hisstory of meeting Jesus. I wonder howmany more came to Jesus as aresult?

1All Scripture quotations in this article are takenfrom the New International Version.

Paul shares that inspiration for thisarticle came from the 21 Januaryreading of the daily devotional JesusWins, available from the StanboroughPress for £12.99 (+ £2.95 p&p); call01476 591700, Monday-Thursday,8am-5.30pm, to order your copy.

‘We have never seenanything like this’by Pastor Paul Tompkins, Scottish Mission President

‘Adventist Essentials’ is anew series of briefmusings about what webelieve. Why do webelieve what we do? Everheard the expression,‘Don’t need doctrine, onlyJesus’? And when does adoctrine become lessabout what we believe,and more about who weare? As I write, I imaginethat I’m sharing my faithwith a neighbour or friendover a cuppa in a café. Tostart us off – the Trinity.

At the end of every worship service, Christians often hear thefollowing words: ‘The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thelove of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with youall. Amen.’ They were first used by first-century followers of Christ todescribe who God is, what He is like, and how He works (2 Corinthians 13:14, NKJV). As we try to understand what theybelieved, the idea of what we call the Trinity of God is a mystery. Whatpicture does the Bible paint?

Let’s take as a given for the moment that God created the world. In Genesis we find our first clues to finding the Trinity. ‘Let us makemankind in our image’ (Genesis 1:261). Who is ‘us’? ‘The Spirit of Godwas hovering over the waters’ (Genesis 1:2); and in the NewTestament Paul records about Jesus, ‘For in him all things werecreated: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whetherthrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have beencreated through him and for him’ (Colossians 1:16). I don’t know howyou explain that, but I believe what Paul says.

From our limited human perspective, the Trinity is hard tounderstand. But this is how I understand what God is like, because Itrust these ancient writings (the Bible) to be true, including the sayingsof the historical Jesus – the clearest picture of God I will ever find.

For now, I wonder if it might be helpful just to think about howJesus understood the relationship between the Father, the Son, and theHoly Spirit. Take for example the Lord’s prayer, how Jesus taught us topray, and why praying the way He says makes sense.

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name . . .’ (Matthew 6:9).Here we have Jesus (the Son of God) confirming His relationship toGod (the Father), who is worthy of our respect and worship.

‘Forgive us our debts . . .’ (Matthew 6:12). Who is the Person weneed forgiveness from, and who heals our broken relationship withGod? (The Son.)

‘And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’(Matthew 6:13). Who’s going to help there? The third Person of theGodhead, the Holy Spirit.

I cannot stress enough that the Holy Spirit is the personal presenceof God and Jesus on Planet Earth today, as close to you and me asthis cup is.

Can you say what I have just shared with our friend in a clearerway? I’m posting these ‘Adventist Essentials’ on the MESSENGERExtra Facebook page. You have a maximum of 500 words. See youthere. . . .

1Except where otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this article have been drawn from theNew International Version.

The Trinity Sir Isaac Newton1643-1727

‘We must reject the perennial prophets ofdoom and their predictions of the apocalypse . . . the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortunetellers.’ – Donald Trump, speaking at the WorldEconomic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, 21 January.1

As the busy Grantham shopper sits downfor a break in the local Costa, out of thewindow and in view across the High Street is the statue of Sir Isaac Newton, Englishphysicist and mathematician (1643-1727). Ofmost significance was his formulation of thelaw of gravity, his discovery of calculus, and,in mechanics, his three laws of motion. But,probably unknown to most Costa customers,Newton wrote more theology than science.

We have to admit that Newton had somestrange and unorthodox theological ideas, butof interest to us was his method forinterpreting the ancient fifth-century BCprophecies of Daniel, known as the ‘historicist’method: one which was also used by Wycliffe,Luther, Calvin and Wesley, for all understoodDaniel through the same lens. RankoStefanovic describes the ‘historicist’ lens as ‘asymbolic presentation of the prophetic outlineof the future course of history from apostolictimes until the time of the end’.2

In a recent editorial at the end of last year,‘Who’s in control?’ I mentioned that ‘in recenttimes historicism has been significantlychallenged’ and ‘has both strengths andweaknesses’, but that it ‘still stands head-and-shoulders above the rest’ as an interpretivemethod.3 Not least, I’d suggest, this is because‘historicism as a method of interpretation isfound in the Bible itself, and it provides the keyfor the interpretation of the apocalyptic booksof Daniel and Revelation’.4

I have to say that I warm to EkkehardtMueller’s view – that one of the great strengthsof understanding Daniel in this way is that, ‘Bylooking at history, we notice God’s guidanceand the advancement of the plan of salvationtowards the future.’5 At the same time, heleaves no wiggle room for any possibility ofwhat he describes as ‘multiple fulfilments’ ofprophecy.6

Why raise that as a significant matter? Forexample, sit in any Bible study group on Danielthese days and somebody legitimately asks,‘Could it be that one of the images Daniel sawin vision represents Islam?’ A discussionensues, but doesn’t lead anywhere, becausethe exclusive historicist lens cannot permit‘multiple fulfilments’.

At the very least, it is fair to admit that,among contemporary Adventist scholars, aconversation is taking place about the

Here is the challenge to becreative – to think outside the box– to practise abundant, wasteful,indiscriminate, excessive love!

I learned of a lady in one ofour churches who befriended ayoung woman who had begunattending services but could onlyafford to come in jeans and workclothes – it was all she had. Thelady befriended the young womanand arranged to meet her in thelocal mall one day, where shetook her to a store and invited herto choose any clothes shewanted so she could dressbeautifully for church. When thiswas done they went to thecashier, where the lady kindlypaid for it all! That’s the Father’skind of excessive love.1Except where otherwise indicated, allScripture quotations in this article are drawnfrom the English Standard Version.

If you can’t wait to read the next extract,Values-led Lives is available forpurchase through the StanboroughPress @ £5.95 + £2.95 p&p. Thesales team on 01476 591700 orsales@stanboroughpress.org.uk will bedelighted to serve you.

that modify your ‘love’? Would you want to straighten

them out before showing themthe depth of the Father’s love?

No! We combat the wrong notby straightening them out, but byloving them!

Doesn’t God’s love come to usthat way – even ‘while we werestill sinners’ (Rom. 5:8) and‘while we were enemies’(Rom. 5:10)?

Read Matthew 5:43-48.Fifthly, this love is excessive. In

this passage, take note of howJesus expands on the theme ofletting your love ‘exceed that ofthe scribes and Pharisees’.

Here Jesus challenges us tolove better than ‘those who loveyou’, better than the ‘taxcollectors do’, better than ‘your

brothers’ do and betterthan ‘the Gentiles do’.The model held up tous is the perfect love of‘your heavenly Father’.

How does He love?Indiscriminately: ‘Forhe makes his sun riseon the evil and on thegood, and sends rainon the just and on theunjust.’ Yes,indiscriminately andexcessively – like thewoman who throws aparty for a lost coinwherein the party cost

more than the coin was worth!Like the father who runs out tomeet his prodigal son and thenkills not just an ordinary calf, butthe fatted calf for him; or theshepherd who throws a party fora lost sheep he has found – everheard of a shepherd doing that?

just love when it suits us or tothose we like or love, or whoreciprocate. It is not soft,submissive, doormat love . . . it isprincipled love. It is the kind thatsays resolutely: ‘You seek tocrush me with your oppressionand humiliation, but I will fightyou with love!’ Thislove is proactive –assertive.

Someone mightargue that if we treatthose who wish toharm us well – evenwhile they are intent ondoing evil (vs. 39) – weare in danger ofshowing complicitywhile permitting themto do their evil.

No! This lovecombats the evil, for itis precisely by lovingthem that we overcomethose ‘depraved’ and ‘detestable’sinners.

What if two men or twowomen or a pair of cross-dressers or transgender peoplewalked into church holding handsand then sat in church with theirarms around each other – would

Messenger 03-2020 | 5

GROWING IN CHRIST

Does it not take courage attimes to walk across the street orroom to express love to someonedespised by the rest of thegroup? This love, it seems, mayrequire the courage to actcontrary to the prevailingexpectations or norms of theculture we find ourselves in (‘Youhave heard that it was said . . .’).As you try to embed the Father’skind of love into your lifestyle,prayers for courage, rather thandeliverance from difficultsituations, may be the order ofyour day.

Read Matthew 5:17-20 and 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.Thirdly, this love requiresfulfilment. When meeting theargument, which Jesus ran intomany times (Mark 3:1-6 andJohn 9:16), that caring for peoplewith love and compassion actscontrary to the Law, He counteredby pointing out that rather thannegating the Law, the values ofthe Kingdom, rightly lived, fill theLaw full of meaning.

The Father’s love is not merelya matter of outward appearances– like that of the scribes andPharisees – who exhibited theirreligion by saying and doing allthe right things but with a criticalattitude towards others that wasnot helpful. Instead of this, theFather’s love fulfils the Law at adeeper level – inside our hearts(Matt. 5:20) – at the only placewe really become a part of theKingdom of Heaven.

The challenge is to askyourself the question: ‘How full ismy life of this kind of love?’

Read Matthew 5:23-45.Fourthly, this love requires a formof aggression or assertiveness.In the sermon (Matthew 5:23-45)there are several examples of theway the Father’s kind of loveoperates. When you read theseverses through, you encountertough, brave, rugged, ‘turn-your-cheek’, assertive love. It is not

be valued. Passages such asPsalm 139:21, 22 may give atwist to the meaning of ‘love’which many might finduncomfortable.

In His sermon on the values ofthe Kingdom of Heaven, Jesusseeks to counter a misguidedunderstanding of what love is. Itis not, He says, love towardsyour friends and hatred to yourenemies; nor is it love towardsthose who love you, or even thelove shared within the family; asHe says, even the tax collectors(Matt. 5:46) and Gentiles (vs. 47)do the same. Rather, it is to lovethe way the Father loves –indiscriminately (vs. 45).

The passage reads: ‘You haveheard that it was said, “You shalllove your neighbour and hateyour enemy. But I say to you,Love your enemies and pray forthose who persecute you, so thatyou may be sons of your Fatherwho is in heaven. For he makeshis sun rise on the evil and on thegood, and sends rain on the justand on the unjust. For if you lovethose who love you, what rewarddo you have? Do not even the taxcollectors do the same? And ifyou greet only your brothers,what more are you doing thanothers? Do not even the Gentilesdo the same? You therefore mustbe perfect, as your heavenlyFather is perfect. (Matt. 5:43-48.)

These verses bring this

section of the Sermon on theMount to a climax. They call thebeliever to value the standards orcharacteristics of the Kingdom ofHeaven.

Let’s now explore some of theingredients that need to beunderstood as we progress toJesus’ definition of love.

Read Matthew 5:3-12.Firstly, this love requiresrepentance. According toMatthew 4:17, ‘From that timeJesus began to preach, saying,“Repent, for the kingdom ofheaven is at hand.” ’

When Jesus called Hisdisciples, He did not simply tellthem that being generally niceand kind is what love is. Nor didHe suggest that the odd generaladjustment of their lives andvalues so as to be in sync withthe values of the Kingdom waswhat they needed. His messagewas, ‘Repent’ – turn around fullcircle because you are going thewrong way! Jesus is speaking toGod-fearers! And to them Hesays, ‘God’s way is in contrast toall you know or think or havebeen taught! Repent!’

In the sermon He underlines a radical reversal of theirunderstanding of love by sayingthat ‘love’ is not the way theyhave been taught – ‘You haveheard that it was said . . . but. . . .’ See Matthew 5:21, 22,27, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 38, 39,43, 44, KJV.

Secondly, this love requirescourage. The benefits of being acitizen of that kingdom areincluded in the Beatitudes – wewill be comforted, receive theearth, be satisfied, receive mercy,see God and be called sons ofGod. These are all part and parcelof receiving the Kingdom ofHeaven. But we must be carefulnot to forget that the rewards arealso virtues, and that they comeat the cost of persecution! Inother words, if you want to ‘besons of your Father who is inheaven’ (vs. 45), courage will benecessary.

It isn’t rocket science to workout the top-placed value. It islove – simply because ‘God islove’ (1 John 4:8).1 You couldsay, ‘Love rules!’

But this also makes love themost difficult value to aspire to –it has a perfect model to emulate.All other values or fruits of theSpirit are relative. How much joy,peace, patience, kindness,goodness, faithfulness,gentleness and self-control areyou supposed to have? Answer:as much as you can. But love thatis any less than the perfectFather-type love isn’t love.

The difficult part isunderstanding what love lookslike or means.

We glibly read that God ‘soloved the world’. But does thatinclude drug pushers, alcoholics,the homeless, the LGBTQcommunity, cross-dressers, child abusers, terrorists, zealots,prostitutes, tax collectors andother people we might be proneto regard as detestable sinners?Strong’s Concordance, in itsdefinition of the Bible word‘sinners’, provides associatedwords to help the reader grasp itsmeaning. It includes words likedepraved and detestable. Therevulsion that can arise within ustowards those whom we mightclass as ‘detestable sinners’could influence how we defineand understand the love that is to

4 | Messenger 03-2020

GROWING IN CHRIST

As supplied, errors and omissions excepted

DIVERSITY LECTURESSPRING 2020

Tuesday 11 February Title: Trafficking and slavery in our community – really?

Speaker: Suzette Jones: The Clewer Initiative, Diocese of Guildford

Tuesday 10 March Title: A diverse community supporting

a diverse environmentSpeaker: David Putt – Project Manager,

Jealotts Hill Community Landshare

Tuesday 14 April Title: Does poverty have a colour?

How the Church can restore dignity, equality and justice for allSpeaker: Amanda Mukwashi, Chief Executive, Christian Aid

All lectures will be at 7.30pm in Salisbury Hall, Newbold College of Higher Education, RG42 4AN

In this excerpt of Values-led Lives, Pastor Llew Edwardscontinues to explain what it means to live, think and act theway Jesus did. He shares five essential ingredients thatdefine how Jesus loved. To get the most from this chapter,keep a Bible close to hand.

Part 3: Love – the highest value

Five essential ingredientsto help understand how

Jesus defined love:

RepentanceCourageFulfilment

AssertivenessExcess

Messenger 03-2020 | 7

NEWS

4. Have all of the above approved by thechurch board, and make sure that theminutes are signed and available to presentto the Mission/Conference and the SDAA.

5. With the consent of the Mission/Conference administration and the SDAA,carry out some exploratory surveys,obtain a basic valuation, and get someestimates for the work that needs to bedone. Under no circumstances should youenter into any legally binding commitmentswithout the approval of the SDAA and theMission/Conference.

6. Make a formal approach to theMission/Conference. The localcongregation and minister will by this stagehave spoken at length with theMission/Conference leaders about theproject, but, before they can take it to theirExecutive Committee, they will need tohave a formal request. This should includeas much documentation as possible.

7. Once the project is approved by theMission/Conference ExecutiveCommittee, they will seek the necessaryapprovals from the Union, and possiblythe Division, and will begin the lengthyprocess of actually buying the property.

Hopefully all will go well and you’ll soon be inyour new building. However, from ourexperience, and that of many congregations,the process rarely goes without a hitch. Beprepared for unexpected delays, legal andtechnical challenges, and tensions andfrustrations in the local congregation.

Whether or not all of this is worth it issomething only the local church can answer.

It might seem very unfair to a localcongregation that their years of hard work andfundraising will result in a building that theydon’t even own, but just imagine thealternative. If the building ended up beingowned by the members, or just some of themembers, what would happen if theytransferred to a different church? What wouldhappen if one of them died and their relativeswanted to make a claim on the estate? Itwould be a legal nightmare! Our systemmeans that the local church gets all of thebenefits of owning their own building, but thebuilding itself is protected from such legalchallenges, as are the members who use it.

Assuming that all of the above has beencarefully considered, the congregation needsand wants to move, they have the financialresources to make it happen, and they’vefound what they consider to be a suitablebuilding, what next? Well, this is what theSDAA recommends:1. Carry out a ‘pros and cons’ exercise. Is

the new building fit for purpose? Does ithave enough rooms for Sabbath School,youth, Pathfinders, and so on? Is it in agood location for serving the localpopulation? Does it have adequateparking? Does it have a baptistery? Is thebuilding itself sound?

2. Carry out a cost-benefit analysis. Will themission of the church be enhanced by thenew building, or would the money be betterspent on renting a property and using thesurplus for evangelism and communityservice? If a loan is needed, can thechurch continue to operate effectively whilepaying interest and repaying the loan?

3. Develop a written financial plan. Thisshould include cash in hand; an estimate ofthe value of the present property, ifapplicable; mortgage costs; and anydenominational loan or grant that might beavailable. Pledges from members are oftenincluded in the financial plan, but, whileuseful as an indication of commitment,they can’t be relied on completely, asmembers’ financial situations can change.The financial plan should also consider allitems of expenditure, including survey fees; purchase price of property; purchaseprice of land; new works; legal fees; estate agent’s fees; architect’s fees;commissioning costs; furnishings andfittings costs; and loan servicing costs.Finally, there should be a cash-flowschedule showing how the congregationwill finance each stage of the process,from initial surveys to eventual moving in.Note that denominational policy requiresthat 75% of the total cost of the project,including commissioning, should be inhand before the project is approved.

One of the consequences of belonging toa denomination that is still growing isthat we have to keep finding new placesfor our expanding congregations to worship.The short-term measure is usually rentingfrom or sharing with another church, but in theend most congregations want to buy their ownchurch building.

At Conference and Union level we see thisall the time. It’s rare for us to attend anExecutive Committee meeting where thepurchase of a church building is not on theagenda. However, in the life of onecongregation, buying a church building is anexceptional occurrence. Many members willspend their entire lives without having tobother with such an event; but, for those whodo, the process can be quite a challenge.

Before we go into the details of what’sinvolved in buying a church, we need to warnyou that it’s going to take time. Anyone whohas bought a house knows how long thatprocess can take, and with a church there areeven more steps to go through. So, if you’vejust seen the bargain of a lifetime – anenormous Grade 2 listed building that can seat500 people, going for a song, perhaps – don’tget too excited. As the saying goes, ‘You wantgood, quick and cheap? Pick any two.’

It’s also worth doing as much backgroundwork as possible before you even startlooking for a church. Does the congregationreally want to move? Have its members gotsavings and a financial plan to pay for a newbuilding, should one become available? Willthe church be as effective in a differentlocation?

Another thing to consider in advance islegal ownership. Many years ago, theSeventh-day Adventist Church decided toorganise itself as one single denominationwith a central governance structure. Over theyears this has been one of our greateststrengths, but it does mean that localchurches have to work closely with theirMission/Conference and Union when it comesto things like membership transfers,ministerial appointments, and of coursebuilding purchases. For church ownership wehave set up a company called the ‘Seventh-day Adventist Association Ltd’ (SDAA) to actas the title holder for all of our properties inthe UK and Ireland. Because they handle a lotof property purchases, they, together withtheir legal advisors, can see pitfalls andchallenges which a local church might miss.

6 | Messenger 03-2020

CHURCH PLANNING

How to buy a churchby John Surridge and Steve Okelo

As supplied, errors and omissions excepted

Paisley youth video offers help and hope

A group of Paisley young people recently turned part of theWest End Community Centre into a video production studio. The

result is a four-minute video, titled ‘The Word on the Street’.

It features youth from the Glasgow and Paisley Seventh-dayAdventist churches commenting on issues that may impact

on mental health, and how their faith has helped them to cope with modern-day demands.

Producer, Cokine Kayya, says, ‘The aim is to encourage open discussion among young people and to seek

solutions from a spiritual perspective.’

You can view the video at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrVctVakvtM.

Harper Bell, thank you for your service and for making the school asuccess.’

Jesus ministered to the sick when He walked this earth, performingmany of His miracles of healing on the Sabbath. We may not be able toheal, but we can minister to those who are sick or disabled and nolonger able to attend church to worship and fellowship with theirbrothers and sisters. In doing so, we continue the work of our LordJesus.

Frank and I want to thank the children for giving so willingly andcheerfully of their time and talents in this way. And we thank (our dearsister) Judith Asare for organising this initiative. Judith is part of theWest Midlands Area 5 prayer team, and, as such, part of her ministry istraining young children in serving and ministering to others. May theyall be blessed as they continue to serve their Lord in this way.ANTONIA CASTELLINO

Alumni meet founding headteacher

The first Sabbath of the New Year, 4 January, was the dayJudith Asare brought a group of children to sing to andworship with the founding head teacher of The HarperBell School in Birmingham, Frank Castellino. These fiveyoungsters, all former pupils of The Harper Bell School whograduated two years ago, are now in their second year ofsecondary education. Most of them were meeting ‘UncleFrank’ for the first time. They brought a breath of livelyyouthfulness and laughter into the care home where Frankwas resident. They sang some of Frank’s favourite hymns,including ‘Amazing Grace’ and ‘How Great Thou Art’,interspersed with lively hand-clapping choruses and songs.We read a selection of psalms together, and short testimonieswere given by the adults present – Judith, Audrey Ogundere andAntonia Castellino. Frank spoke words of encouragement to the childrenand thanked them for their joyful singing, reminding them that theywere joining with the angels in heaven in singing joyful praises to God.

At the end of our little service of praise, each child shook hands withFrank and said a few words of appreciation to him:

Caleb: ‘Thank you for allowing us to come and for what you have donebefore for us.’Joshua: ‘Thank you for allowing us to come to your house and for usto be able to sing and for being happy with us.’Brenda: ‘Thank you for being head teacher of Harper Bell and formaking it a good school as it is today. Thank you for allowing us tocome to your home.’Kieannha: ‘Thank you, Uncle Frank, for letting us worship with youtoday. It was a pleasure. God bless you.’Kwame: ‘Thank you for allowing us to be here. And, on behalf of

Frank Castellino and Judith Asare with the five children, all alumni of The Harper Bell School. Althoughtired and suffering from a tooth extraction the previous afternoon, Frank greatly appreciated theirministry.

of £50, a second prize of £35 and a third prize of £25. In addition, there were ten Highly Commended prizes of £10, as well as a number of Commended prizes of chocolates (it was Christmas, after all!).

The winning school for submitting thehighest number of winning entries was TheGrove Academy in Garston, which won a prizeof £100 towards art materials for the school.Stanborough Primary School also received acash prize.

The centre has already been booked fornext year’s competition.JUNE COOMBS

community. Visitors are often directed to our facilities by the police andlocal authority. Our aim is not only to provide food, but also always tohave on hand someone who will sit and talk with our visitors, to helpand also direct them to the appropriate agencies that can help with themany and varied challenges they may have. MEDIA TEAM

Gloucester soup kitchenfestive meal

For more than ten years the Gloucester church hasrun a twice-weekly soup kitchen on Tuesdays andThursdays that is attended, on average, by about 30-40 visitors each day. Each year, we have also served athree-course hot meal at Christmas time.

This year was no exception. A three-course meal wasserved on 31 December, as we had ascertained thatthere were a number of organisations serving mealsduring Christmas.

A team of volunteers decorated the hall and laid outtable decorations, making the hall look very festive.Volunteers helped cook and serve the meals, and, as wellas the meals served, food parcels were distributed,donated by the local Tesco supermarket. Everyonepresent received a Christmas present donated by church members.

The occasion was a great success, with every single personexpressing gratitude for the meal and saying how they appreciated thetime and effort that went into it.

With this outreach effort, our church is having a real impact in our

Messenger 03-2020 | 9

OUTREACH AND MISSION

homeless visitors every week.But let me tell you about what has been

happening since last autumn. Every otherSaturday we spread three tables with hot foodand drinks, fruits and biscuits, and we also setaside boxes of donated clothes, shoes andsleeping bags. A hundred people or more in agiven night make our food disappear in notime at all: and that is when the miracleshappen. Do we run out? No, because perfect

8 | Messenger 03-2020

OUTREACH AND MISSION

Great to be part of suchan organisation‘Great to be part of such an organisation,’ saida non-Adventist lady about the AdventistCommunity Services Dublin, when she hadjoined in serving the homeless and poor forseveral nights. ACS Dublin has becomeknown as one of the groups, among variousother organisations, offering soup runs forhomeless people in the capital city of Ireland.

Our ACS Dublin journey began two yearsago in Dublin West Seventh-day AdventistChurch on a Thanksgiving Sabbath, when wedecided to donate all goods and moneycollected on that occasion and gift it toa humanitarian organisation helpingthe homeless people. We decided torepeat this once every quarter, and,every time we celebrated the Lord’s

Supper, we collected food, clothesand money specifically for thismission. Dublin Romanian Churchquickly joined in, offering morethan 100 sandwiches to our

strangers stop by and remind us thatGod is surely in control, as theycontribute more food and clothes toserve, sometimes even money.

Amazing things happen when otherfriends join us in this ministry, readyto serve, wearing our ACS vests andeager to share our #joyofservingspirit.

‘Let another man praise you, andnot your own mouth;

a stranger, and not your own lips.’(Proverbs 27:2, NKJV.)

Want to get inspired? Follow us atwww.facebook.com/acsdublin.

‘Christ’s method alone will givetrue success in reaching thepeople. The Saviour mingledwith men as one who desired

their good. He showed Hissympathy for them, ministeredto their needs, and won their

confidence. Then He bade them,“Follow Me.” ’ (Ellen G. White,Ministry of Healing, p. 143.)A diverse ACS team of volunteers

Youth on the front lines

Talking to the fallen ones

Offering sandwiches

Lenah is interviewed by a journalist from TheIndependent

‘It’s a brilliant opportunity to support theAdventists, and we’re hoping to be able tosupport the Adventist Community Servicesevery Saturday. It was just great to be partof such a great organisation,’ said HazelRyan from Blessington, who, along withher family, has joined us to help for severalnights now.

‘An amazing choir,’ noted FriendsHelping Friends (another Dublin souprun organisation), as they referred tothe ACS group of singers – fromDrumcondra SDA Church – whovolunteered to sing for our homelessfriends at Christmas.

‘Lovely group of people, doing awonderful job, and helping so many,’said Sharon Corrigan from Sligo as shecourageously stopped to help us onenight and again returned to serve, twoweeks later, with a load of boxes filledwith donated clothes that she and herfamily had collected for ACS.

‘Just came out to help, really givea hand,’ testified Graham Stussyand Simone Fagan, who joinedACS as they came with a load ofhats, gloves and jumpers.

7th annual Christmasprize-giving event atStanborough Park

Stanborough Park Church’s Toy Servicehas been an annual event for nearly 60years, but a lesser-known Christmasoutreach event is also slowly establishingitself. This is in the form of a competition forlocal primary school children to submit apicture on a Christmas theme. It has proved tobe a good way of bringing the communitytogether at Christmas time, and many peopleof different ethnicities, faiths and none attendthe prize-giving ceremony, held in TheStanborough Centre, as the pictures mostlydepict the secular side of Christmas thesedays.

Sponsored by the Co-op Food Stores(Watford Area) supermarket chain as part ofits local initiatives, the event is held under the‘One Vision Project’ umbrella in which a largenumber of local charities and advice groupsmeet together monthly along with the Mayor of Watford to share expertise, resources andideas for future projects. The event is co-sponsored by Stanborough Park Church, as it began as an outreach project by thechurch’s Community Chaplaincy Departmentunder the leadership of Enoch Kanagaraj, a Co-op employee, who still organises the event.

This year there were over 350 entries fromfive primary schools in the Watford and HemelHempstead area, including StanboroughPrimary School. Those who had won an awardwere invited to attend the prize-givingceremony on 15 December. Speaking onbehalf of the judges, Liz Burns, who is a localcouncillor and member of ‘One Vision’, saidthat they had found it extremely hard to judgethe entries, as the standard was so high thisyear, and so they had decided to increase thenumber of awards available, which meant that

this year the hall in The Stanborough Centrewas fuller than usual.

Associate Pastor Geert Tap gave ameditation on the Christmas theme, dressed as a sheep. He explained that he had alwayswanted to be a sheep – or a shepherd – in hisschool nativity play in his native Netherlands,but the best he could manage was a palm tree,so he was in costume as a sheep that day asthe nearest he could get to achieving hischildhood ambition!

The prizes were presented by the Chair of Watford Borough Council, Councillor Asif Khan. There were two categories: 4-7years and 8-11 years, each with a first prize

by Sharon Platt-McDonald

Gratitude and well-beingPart 2 – Acts of gratitude

Welcome back to ourmonthly series on gratitude.

On New Year’s Day thisyear, my husband and Ivisited friends for a specialget-together. Among the giftsI bought for the familiesattending were a gratitudebox and a thankfulness tree.The box had the followingwords inscribed: ‘What I love most about my home is who I share it with’, and I explained that the familiescould place in the boxaffirming comments andmementos of gratitude thatthey would presentperiodically to each other. On the tree they could placeleaves with expressions ofthings they were thankful for and use it as part of a

weekly gratitude reflection, or at a thanksgiving event.In researching the impact of gratitude, several research studies

demonstrate the well-being outcomes that acts of gratitude can have. Harvard Medical School’s published article titled: ‘Giving Thanks

Can Make You Happier’1 makes interesting reading. Two studies ithighlighted found the following:• Psychologists from the University of California and the University

of Miami invited study participants (placed into three groups) towrite a few sentences each week with a specific focus. One groupwrote about what they were grateful for during that particular week.A second group wrote about daily annoyances or things that hadupset them. The third group wrote about events that had impactedthem, without identifying whether they were positive or negative.

After 10 weeks, the ‘gratitude writers’ were more optimistic andfelt better about their lives. Additionally, they also exercised moreand had fewer visits to the doctor than those who focused onthings that aggravated them.

• Psychologist and leading researcher on gratitude, Dr Martin E. P.Seligman from the University of Pennsylvania, studied the impactof positive interventions on 411 individuals. A comparison wasmade with a control writing assignment about early memories.Following an assignment to write and personally deliver a letter ofgratitude to someone who previously had not been thanked fortheir kindness, participants readily demonstrated a huge increasein happiness scores, which was more significant than otherinterventions, with longer-lasting benefits.

The Psychology Today journal published an article titled: ‘SmallActs of Generosity and the Neuroscience of Gratitude’.2 It highlightedhow brain scans map the neural mechanism of gratitude, activated bygenerosity.

The MRI scans revealed that ‘the personal and interpersonalbenefits of gratitude occur at both a psychological and neurobiologicallevel’. They confirmed the researchers’ hypothesis, which was thatgratitude ratings would ‘correlate with activity in brain regionsassociated with moral cognition, value judgement and theory of mind’.

Good health!

1https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier2https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-athletes-way/201510/small-acts-generosity-and-the-neuroscience-gratitude

HEALTH

Sweet success for diabetes graduatesA programme of workshops delivered to highlight the dangers ofdiabetes has proved to be a real tonic for local residents.

Eight weekly sessions at Perry Common Community Hall, organisedby Witton Lodge Community Association in conjunction with theErdington church, culminated in a graduation ceremony for those whosuccessfully completed the programme.

The workshops, ‘Reversing Diabetes’, targeted people aged 50 andover.

Well-being Officer at Witton Lodge, Fauzia Begum, said: ‘The aim of‘Reversing Diabetes’ was to empower people to take better control oftheir health so they can lead fulfilling, active lives.’

Wednesday’s graduation saw those who had completed all eightweeks of the workshop presented with their certificates of achievementby North England Conference Health Ministries Director Grace Walsh.STEVE SHARMA, WITTON LODGE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

Hampstead cooking workshopOn Sunday 1 December 2019, Hampstead’s Health MinistriesDepartment helped the wider community improve their cooking andbaking skills by running a hands-on vegan Christmas cookingworkshop.

The session began by teaching participants how to prepare, fromscratch, vegan wheat gluten (otherwise known as seitan), whichparticipants transformed into either vegan beef, schnitzel or KFC-stylevegan chicken.

One participant commented, ‘I love seitan, so I tried to make itmyself at home – but it tasted awful, so I thought I’d better come alongand learn how to make it from a professional. The recipe you showed usis easy; I didn’t think it could be so simple.’

While the seitan was cooking, the group reviewed and sampled avariety of vegan cheeses, chocolates and non-alcoholic wines, beforemoving into the second session, which focused on how to bake and icevegan cupcakes. The cupcakes were made in a variety of flavours:lemon, passion fruit and orange.

One participant commented, ‘Despite being a vegan, I usually don’tenjoy vegan cupcakes because people usually overload them with toomuch sugar, but these cupcakes taste great; the icing is not too sweet,and the whole process is straightforward.’

Finally, they all sat down and enjoyed a full vegan Christmas dinner,including different variations of the seitan that had been made by themain demonstrator earlier. All participants received recipe cards andextra ingredients to take away with them, as well as the creations theyhad made on the day. GABRIELLA MORRISON

10 | Messenger 03-2020

Turning everyday conversationinto Good NewsCopies are still available from the Stanborough Press

COMING SOONFocus on Prayer –ideal for sharing with your family and friends

fifty-eight hours over the numberof weeks, as they read verse byverse. This gave the church acontinuous picture of the greatGod we serve. The seminar wasconducted by Elder Danny Julie,international lecturer in EWIStudies and the Prophecy Count-Down series (seen on the rightside of the photograph). Heclosed each presentation withone theme – God has led in thepast, God is in control today, andGod will guide you through in thefuture.

Music was led by Errol

The members of ClaptonCommunity Church, eagerfor deep Bible study, planneda combined Daniel and Revelationseminar that would last for thirty-four weeks. The seminar, lifted in prayer, was an occasion for the church to be spirituallyenriched throughout the monthsto follow.

The study consisted of lookingthrough thirty-four chapters ofDaniel and Revelation to studyseven hundred and sixty-oneverses in detail. The churchstudied and took notes for

Messenger 03-2020 | 13

NURTURE

Double graduation at Clapton Community Church

Tottenham Church taps into‘prayer power’

Tottenham’s newly elected prayer team rested on God’s promise,‘For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty throughGod to the pulling down of strong holds’ (2 Corinthians 10:4, KJV).On the first Sabbath of the new year they stepped out in faith to hold aday of prayer and fasting. The theme was ‘Revive Us Again’.

Sabbath School ended on a joyful note as we sang lustily, ‘Have youheard of the Advent Church?’

South England Conference Prayer Ministries Coordinator LindaMukwada was our leader for the day – and led our prayers for thechurch (love, unity and a passion for mission); the newly elected churchofficers for 2020; and our church leaders worldwide. Later in theprogramme, prayers were said simultaneously at five prayer stalls:‘Healing’, ‘Breakthrough’, ‘The Family’, ‘New Believers & MissingMembers’, and ‘Our Youth’.

Pastor Jeanville reminded us that prayer is God’s secret weapon forsuccess in life. He included in his sermon some very personalexperiences where God came through for him.

That afternoon, the Lord granted us favour in the sight of ourlandlord, West Green Road Baptist Church! At the end of our last prayerand fasting session we broke our fast by having our soup outside on thepavement. This time it was different. The Lord went ahead of us andmade a way, prompting the Baptist church to give us permission to use,free of cost, a small hall that they alone use. We gave God thanks andpraise, but Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, had not yet finished with thesituation. The Lord, knowing that more persons than usual would staybehind for prayer and fasting, granted us even more favour as theBaptist church allowed us to use the big hall, although we had to leaveby 5.15pm.

The story does not end at Tottenham Church. Linda Mukwada fell in love with the Prayer Tree and displayed it at the Evangelism Expo at

Newbold College, in the Prayer Ministries workshop room, the followingday.

As one of our elders commented, ‘The prayer and fasting was indeeda high day in Zion and an excellent start to 2020.’MAXINE DONOVAN

Innerarity and Yvonne Baker, withthe support of pianist FionaPacquette from the East LondonSchool of Music, as well as theyouth music team and music bythe speaker, all of whichincreased the spiritual ambienceat the start of each seminar.

On meeting with the graduatesafter the seminar series, they hadgood feedback to share:

Elder Edrick Gaskincommented: ‘I have read bothbooks of Daniel and Revelationbefore and during thepresentation of these books by

Elder Julie. I was truly blessed.The deep spiritual themes ofthese books were explained as Inever heard before.’

Errol Innerarity commented,‘What I have learned from thestudy of the Daniel and Revelationseries was the most powerfulteaching and explanation I haveever come in contact with.Everything was explained soclearly that even a child couldunderstand.’

Biblain Galloway added,‘Thank God for the knowledgeElder Julie used to teach us, andfor the considerable months hetook to teach us on the books ofDaniel and Revelation. My eyesand mind were opened to thevastness of the dreams andimages, . . . and also to what is to come in the last days.’

Special thanks to EldersKozuru Ekwuribe, Daniel Okiya,Edrick Gaskin, Judy Francis andBiblain Galloway, whospearheaded and led each weekwithout rest to bring the seminarto its ultimate destination. To Godbe the glory, for we have a sureword of prophecy. DANNY JULIE

Linda Mukwada and Pastor Jude Jeanville

Secrets of DanielWisdom and dreams of a Jewish prince in exile.

Paperback

ISBN: 978-0-8280-1424-8

Was: £9.25Now: £6.50

Daniel Pure and SimpleA simplified understanding.

Paperback

ISBN: 978-0-9884487-2-8

Was: £10.75 Now: £7.50

Unveiling Daniel and RevelationUnderstanding end times

in Bible prophecy.

Paperback

ISBN: 978-0-8163-5455-9

Was: £17.95Now: £11.00

The Four Love SeasonsFinding love in unlikely places.

Paperback

ISBN: 978-1-909545-47-2

Was: £5.95 Now: £2.95

35 SecretsFor successful and

happy marriages.

Hardback

ISBN: 978-1-78665-007-8

Was: £15.00Now: £10.00

No Matter What Happens, Life Is Still BeautifulHow to learn to be optimistic.

Hardback

ISBN: 978-1-78665-008-5

Was: £15.00Now: £10.00

Find us on:

Adventist Book Centre – UK

All prices subject to postage & packingOffer ends 29 February 2020

Mission in a teacup at HighamsPark ChurchOn 1 December 2019 the Community MinistriesDepartment in Highams Park Church within EastLondon held their first tea party for the elderly.

Although a cold December day, eight elderly peoplemade their way to Highams Park to be greeted with awarm reception of tea, treats and conversation. Thehosts of the tea party said they felt blessed to be ableto reach those in need, especially in a society whichreports that many elderly people are suffering fromloneliness.

The Community Ministries Department’s missionwas to make sure their guests felt the genuine care andaffection that God calls us to have for others in thisworld. Their aim was to make sure their guests werecomforted and treated like family.

The tea party, which started in Edmonton CentralChurch and has continued in the newly createdHighams Park Church, has continued to be a blessing,as the elderlypeople have firmlystated that they willcontinue to attendthe tea party in thefuture.JENNIFER ENTI

Messenger 03-2020 | 15

NEWS

food run was specifically for the children, andthey queued patiently while the food wasserved up for them in take-away containers.We recognised many of the faces from theBible school in the week, and they happilyjoined in with some songs of praise as theywaited. We later joined a second food run,aimed at the homeless, on Christmas Eve.

Perhaps my favourite part was visiting alocal orphanage and playing with the childrenaged 2 to 8. We brought teddies and T-shirtswith us from the UK, which the children loved.It took a little while for some to warm to us,but before long they relaxed and everyoneenjoyed cuddles, singing and games.

Of course, a Cape Town ‘must’ is climbingor taking the cable car up and down TableMountain, swimming with penguins at TheBoulders or seeing the waters meet at CapePoint.

Jordan remarked, ‘As with our mission tripsin the past, it has been so rewarding beingable to reach out and lend a helping hand toour brothers and sisters at Hillcrest School,and I feel privileged having had thisopportunity. I would highly urge all those whocan to go on a mission trip in their lifetime.’

Participating in a mission trip not onlyallows one to physically help and minister, butoften leads to a discovery in oneself too.

Plymouth Church has completed threemission trips in recent times, but each isdifferent; each has its highlights and itschallenges: but everyone fell in love with CapeTown, and we left feeling that there was somuch more to do in the community and muchmore to explore in the city and beyond. Theteam and I would especially like to thankPastor Clifford and Ophelia Herman forplanning the entire trip. We all look forward toour next trip together.

Project 2Our main task was helping at Hillcrest PrimarySchool, where we stripped and repaintedsteps and railings and painted a bright,creation-themed mural in the playground.Everyone got stuck in, and the work wasfinished quickly.

Project 3For four days, twice a year, the Elsiesrivierchurch members run a community VacationBible School, which we helped out at onemorning. It was inspiring to see them give uptheir time and energy to minister to thechildren in the area, and every day they hadover 100 participants. We brought someresources with us from the UK and did somepainting on tiles with the children. This gotvery messy, but they loved it.

Project 4We joined the Elsiesrivier church membersonce again on a local food run one Sabbathmorning. Just across from the church stood amaze of flats and dilapidated houses: perhapsonce a nice neighbourhood, but now an areacovered in rubbish and broken glass, withstagnant water festering in the streets. The

2019 was Plymouth Church’s year formission.

The financial figures were quite daunting,but by God’s grace we raised the money tosend a group of 11 to Cape Town, tasked withhelping the local Adventist primary school andthe local community.

The moment our team touched down inCape Town, we immediately began to see theneeds of the people and wondered how wecould even begin to help. The areasurrounding Cape Town airport is set out inblocks. When compared to life in the UK, Ithink it’s fair to say that we experienced ourfirst culture shock.

During our two weeks in Cape Town wehad a number of small projects to get involvedin.

Project 1 Our first was to visit a local care home for theelderly, helping out in the kitchen, preparinglunch and mingling with the residents, whovaried in health and the ability to care forthemselves. One lady was hemming her topwith dental floss instead of thread, so wesearched the premises for thread andhemmed the garment for her.

14 | Messenger 03-2020

YOUTH MATTERS

MessengerVolume 125 • 03 – 7 February 2020

Editor: David NealDesign: David Bell

COPY FOR No. 05 – 13 Febryuary 2020

Note to potential advertisersIt is important that those who submit adverts for

display in MESSENGER ensure that they havepermission (and a paid licence where required)to use any downloaded photographs or artworkthat they incorporate into their adverts. It is alsoimportant that credit be given to the individual,

organisation or company from which these havebeen obtained. For example, something like

the following should appear within the advert: ©Joe Bloggs/iStockPhoto.com. Please be aware

that images downloaded from Google may also be subject to permission and licensing.

The Stanborough Press Ltd takes noresponsibility for any downloaded images

submitted to MESSENGER by contributors andreserves the right to decline adverts about which

we have copyright concerns.

Permission relating to photographyThose who submit photographs of minors

(persons under the age of 18) for publicationmust ensure that they have permission to do so

from their parents, guardians or carers. Wewould like these submissions to be accompanied

by the following statement: ‘I have thepermission of the parents, guardian or carer

of the minors who appear in this/thesephotograph/s to submit them for

publication in the MESSENGER.’

Copy should be sent to the Editor, MESSENGER, The Stanborough Press Limited, Alma Park,

Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG31 9SL.Tel: (01476) 591700. Fax No: (01476) 577144.

Email: Editor@stanboroughpress.org.ukSend high-resolution pictures to:dbell@stanboroughpress.org.uk

ABC Sales line: (01476) 591700 Mon-Thurs only, 8am-5.30pm.

www.stanboroughpress.org.uk

The Editor may alter, clarify, précis or expand articles sent to him if he thinks it necessary.

Published fortnightly on Fridays by the British Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

For general enquiries, email:info@stanboroughpress.org.uk

Printed in the UK.

Visit the BUC website at: www.adventist.org.uk

ISSN 0309-3654

SunsetSunset times are reproduced with permission from

data supplied by HM Nautical Almanac Office.

Lond Card Nott Edin BelfFeb 7 5.00 5.12 5.00 4.58 5.14 14 5.13 5.25 5.13 5.13 5.28 21 5.26 5.38 5.27 5.29 5.43 28 5.38 5.50 5.40 5.44 5.57

Is there hope?Dear EditorI followed with intenseinterest your editorials,‘I have a dream of a

church . . .’. In fact, I went ahead and bought acopy of John Stott’s book to understand the wholecontent. Now it seems that our church is moreadministrative than spiritual. Should our dreamcontinue to remain a dream forever until ourSaviour comes? For my spirituality I read MathewHenry’s commentary and G. Campbell Morgan’swritings, etc. Is this the way things are alwaysgoing to be? Or is there hope?Yours sincerely,K. A. P. YESUDIAN

The Ulceby rearguardDear EditorAs one in the rearguard of Ulceby Church, it waswith pain and great sadness that I saw its doorsclosed. Even more painful has been to read recenteditions of MESSENGER about what has been saidabout what used to be our beloved little villagechurch. But, in all the passion and emotion, nonehave asked questions of the rearguard: none haveasked, ‘Why?’ Can I say clearly that it is therearguard who understand the history, service,dedication, hard work and love of those of thevanguard who went before, who caused the doorsto be opened? Those once-opened doors are nowclosed, the windows are now boarded up,shrubbery is overgrown, and it’s a musty anddamp place that could be and should be opened.Would we worship there again? We would, for thefellowship and welcome were amazing.

Letters to the editorWhy did Ulceby close? It was not due to the

numbers attending, but it was down to the repairbill. For example, repairs were needed to restorethe windows. A boiler for hot water needed to beinstalled. The toilets required modernising foraccessibility. Our rearguard depleted from six tojust four on most Sabbaths, and it was the four onmost Sabbaths and Sundays who were going door-to-door. Of that number, half were consideredinfirm/disabled. Be assured, we were an activechurch!

For almost three years we tried to connect withthe community, including door-to-door visitationand provision of transport for our major calendarservices (Easter and Christmas). The heart-rendingresponse we most often heard from this traditionalvillage community was, ‘It’s not a proper church.’When asked why, they would reply, ‘What churchstarts its service at 2.30pm?’

Did we try to keep Ulceby Church open? Did weneed help with the repairs? Yes. Would we havestayed until placed in our caskets? You bet! Weloved the fellowship and the work of outreach. Fewchurches have 100% of their membership involvedin going door-to-door constantly for nearly threeconsecutive years. Was help forthcoming inrepairing Ulceby, regarding finances? If the answerhad been ‘yes’, then no articles would have beenwritten regarding its closure or the apparent demiseof this historical place, which most have rarelyvisited while open. HUBERT SMITH-SAMUELS

Editor’s note: I believe it to be correct that the General Conferencehas an account put aside for ‘heritage matters’. For example, the fundhas often been used to support sites of historical importance such asBattle Creek. Would not Ulceby qualify, were an application to bemade?

Mission to Cape Townby Jennie Hall

Above: Making progress with the muralRight: The team enjoying the sights around Cape TownFar right: Kids at the Elsiesrivier Vacation Bible School clubBelow: Ion and Alex cleaning and repainting the main stepsat Hillcrest School

16 | Messenger 03-2020

YOUTH MATTERS

Crieff outreach

The young people of Crieff Church have a history of reaching outand helping others, either at home or abroad. At the end of 2019,the teens at Crieff Church once again decided that they wanted tomake a difference.

The group of seven young people, aged 12-15, decided that theydidn’t want to receive any birthday gifts from the church, but insteadthey wanted to donate the money to charity. As one of the young peoplesaid, ‘We don’t need anything at all. It’s better to give it to those whoneed it!’ In discussion with the class leader, Angela Logan, they decidedto help two charities: a local animal charity, and a school in Romaniathat has strong connections with Crieff Church.

Thanks to the generosity of the Crieff members, the birthday moneywas increased so that the donations would have more impact. On 6 January, the young people visited PADS (Perthshire Abandoned DogsSociety) and handed over a cheque for £100. The money will help withthe much-needed upgrading of the quarantine area at the centre.

The young people then donated £100 to the Soli Deo Gloria Schoolin Vaideiu, Romania (www.scoalasolideogloria.com). This school isclosely linked with Crieff. One of the teens, Finlay Logan, raised moneyfor and visited the school in October 2018 along with members of hisfamily, and relatives of three of the teens helped with renovation workthere in May 2019. The school’s volunteer acting business manager isFinlay’s great-aunt, Ruth Farrer (pictured), a long-standing member ofCrieff Church.

Mission work of any kind does not have to take place far away; itcan take place right where you are. The most important element is notthe location, but the heart. Crieff young people will continue to helpothers, and are thankful to every Crieff member for helping themachieve their aim to make a difference.ANGELA LOGAN

Donation to PADS, left to right: Ellen Mphande, employees from PADS, Zuzia Ostrowska,Finlay Logan, Gabriela Januskevicute, Zofia Weclawek, Konrad Weclawek

Left to right: Mrs Pam Catchpole, Pastor Clifford Herman, David Stetco, Alva Gallaher, Mrs Maybelle Espulgar, Pastor Rio Espulgar

Weston-super-Mare Pathfinders

Donation to Soli Deo Gloria School, left to right: Ellen Mphande, Gabriela Januskevicute,Zofia Weclawek, Ruth Farrer, Finlay Logan, Konrad Weclawek, Zuzia Ostrowska

Weston-super-Mare Pathfinders

Weston children are blessed to have a ministerial team who arepassionate about being involved with Pathfinder work. This wasdemonstrated on Sabbath 19 October when they, together withWeston-super-Mare Pathfinder leader Alva Gallaher, held an investitureand the children were presented with certificates and badges for workaccomplished. Speaker for the day, Area 2 Pathfinder co-ordinator PamCatchpole, talked to the children, encouraging them to value themselves

As supplied, errors and omissions excepted

and also to choose for friends those who valued them most.We were also happy to have present with us Pastor Clifford Herman,newly appointed South England Conference Pathfinder Director. It was a great day, and we know that with God’s blessing the WestonPathfinders will go from strength to strength.WESTON-SUPER-MARE COMMUNICATION SECRETARY