I understand that Grace Baptist Mission have appointed Daryl Jones as their new Mission Co-ordinator to succeed John McDonald when he retires. Daryl will eventually begin alongside John next June for a transition period. Daryl is currently pastor of Bethel FIEC in Liverpool and has served in other pastorates previous to this one as well as working for UCCF in the past. His wife Julia is well known as a speaker to women.
A blog featuring whatever I fancy, often on the Christian faith but not exclusively
Showing posts with label Liverpool. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liverpool. Show all posts
10 cities named in Beatles songs
2. Get back (Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona)
3. Back in the USSR (And Moscow girls make me sing and shout)
4. Maggie Mae (To the port of Liverpool)
5. Kansas City/Hey, hey, hey, hey (I’m going to Kansas City)
6-10. The ballad of John and Yoko (Standing in the dock at Southampton/Finally made the plane into Paris/Drove from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton/Made a lightning trip to Vienna/Caught an early plane back to London)
(Also LA in Blue Jay Way)
F A Cup Final
It's the F A Cup final later today. Two of my sons are excited, as one is keen on Liverpool and the other is keen on Chelsea. Being in London and having once been a Chelsea fan (how I cheered in 1970 when they beat Leeds in the replay) my preference is clear. I'm not that excited though, not like I was in that brief period 1969-1972 when soccer was everything to me
I remember going with my family to my auntie and uncle's house the day after one of those finals (the Chelsea one on April 11, the Arsenal/Liverpool one of May 8 1971 or Leeds/Arsenal on May 6 1972). My dad, who (in the days before Sky, etc) always watched any televised sporting event that he could, said to my Uncle Frank "Did you watch the game yesterday, Frank?". I can never forget how flabbergasted I was to hear him say "No, Bill, I didn't bother. I switched over and watched the film on BBC 2."!
In those days the F A Cup final was on both BBC 1 and ITV and BBC 2 was your only alternative. The final today is at 5.15 pm for some reason and only on ITV. BBC 2 is showing Flog it and old episodes of The Good life! and Dad's Army. If you want a film you'll have to settle for Carry on Spying on Film4 or make your own arrangements.
A day out
Since he was a kid Dylan has been a Liverpool fan and as a music fan he loves the Beatles. He gets embarrassed if people ask him if he's been there as they sometimes do (I've been to Liverpool several times) so when a trip to Alton Towers was mooted recently he and I decided on a road trip to Liverpool instead. So the other day, having dropped off the others at said theme park we headed west and arrived at Anfield around 11.30 am. We looked around the Anfield museum first (even saw the European Cup) then had a tour of the ground which was fascinating, especially seeing the actual (relatively spartan) dressing room and the pitch itself. The history of Liverpool seems to begin with Bill Shankly in 1959, though the club has been going from 1892. One of his great psychological tricks is that as you go on to the pitch you see the sign "This is Anfield".
We then got down to the Albert Dock for some lunch and a trip round the Beatles Story, a pretty well done museum. (I remember going to a Beatles museum years ago with Pastor Rob Harrod now of Christchurch when the Carey Conference was Liverpool based). We also went to a second exhibition featuring forgotten photos of the Beatles and stuff on John Lennon. We had a look at the Liver building and then rounded the day off with a trip to Penny Lane.
Where have I been?
I took both these pictures in the same city where I went on a road trip with my second son (Dylan) this week, while the rest of the family enjoyed Alton Towers. Can you guess where? More to follow.
Ans:
looprevil
Trip to Liverpool
So I've been up in Liverpool for a few days. I left London around lunch time on Wednesday and got back late Friday morning. I travelled by train and was met at Lime Street by Ray Peel, pastor of Calvary church in the city. Ray is a genuine scouser but was converted while in the merchant navy and worked around the country for the MOD ending up in Weymouth for 13 years where he became a pastor. Calvary is an FIEC church and has been the venue for the annual Calvary Bible Convention for many years. They currently have problems with their building so the convention has reverted to an earlier incarnation as the Liverpool Bible Convention under the auspices of a small group of six mostly FIEC churches. This year the meetings were hosted by the nearby Dovecot Evangelical church. I was treated to a very nice meal with Ray and his wife Lyn, also a Liverpudlian. I have been to Liverpool five or six times over the last 25 years and so have some idea of the place. What is slightly weird is seeing names like Anfield, Everton, Alderhey, Bootle, Huyton, Knotty Ash that all mean something but not very much. Ray kindly pointed out Ken Dodd's house and the church he attends. I remember my mother saying to me as a boy that Knotty Ash was a real place not a made up name. It was also a thrill later to get a glimpse of Aintree race course (I once met Red Rum who was opening a fete in Cwmbran!) and busses headed for Penny Lane.
Anyway the convention was on for four nights. Ian Higham from the Belvidere Road church spoke Tuesday and Dr Emil Silvestru was due to speak on the Friday night. I spoke Wednesday and Thursday nights. The former was better attended as some fellowships had cancelled their midweek meetings to be there but both meetings were well attended with a range of ages represented. I knew almost nobody except John Kilpatrick (and his wife Jill) previously a neighbour here in north west London. It was good to catch up. Aware of the election I had thought of relating to that fact in the preaching but decided against and stuck to my recent preaching from Mark 14 on Gethsemane and the arrest. (Mp3s here). One of the elders from Dovecot, Prof Steve Taylor, led. On both evenings he focussed on the work of United Beach Missions. I got the impression that this was very much a UBM/Young life church. I have slightly mixed feelings about UBM. It does excellent work and many fine Christians are involved (including one of my deacons who leads a beach mission in Italy). It has its own agenda, however, and that can dominate in a way that could potentially swamp the work of local churches. An elder from Bethany, Fazakerley (I just love that name delivered in scouse) read and prayed the first night and Paul Kinnaird (Bankhall Mission Church) the second night.
I stayed with Paul, his wife Kay and their family in Crosby over the two nights and was made to feel more than welcome. Being Scots they gave me porridge and marmalade and curry which I appreciated - and nothing deep fried! A former LTS man, Paul has pastored the FIEC church nearby for the last seven years or so. Crosby is on the edge of the countryside and it was nice to be driven through Little Crosby. We also got down to the beach where an Antony Gormley installation (Another Place) remains following the year of culture. This is a series of one hundred life size metal statutes of himself dotted about the beach over a large area. Like so much modern art it seems a little banal and the descriptions are overblown but you can see the idea. The tide was right out at the time but to see the tide coming in and submerging them must be fun.
We also spent Thursday morning at a ministers fraternal just outside the city in Trinity Evangelical, Rainhill. About 12 or 13 of us gathered. Adam Laughton (Southport) chaired and I spoke on Christ in heaven. It was a very good time of fellowship.
So all in all an interesting and refreshing time in the midst of a general election still as yet unresolved.
Anyway the convention was on for four nights. Ian Higham from the Belvidere Road church spoke Tuesday and Dr Emil Silvestru was due to speak on the Friday night. I spoke Wednesday and Thursday nights. The former was better attended as some fellowships had cancelled their midweek meetings to be there but both meetings were well attended with a range of ages represented. I knew almost nobody except John Kilpatrick (and his wife Jill) previously a neighbour here in north west London. It was good to catch up. Aware of the election I had thought of relating to that fact in the preaching but decided against and stuck to my recent preaching from Mark 14 on Gethsemane and the arrest. (Mp3s here). One of the elders from Dovecot, Prof Steve Taylor, led. On both evenings he focussed on the work of United Beach Missions. I got the impression that this was very much a UBM/Young life church. I have slightly mixed feelings about UBM. It does excellent work and many fine Christians are involved (including one of my deacons who leads a beach mission in Italy). It has its own agenda, however, and that can dominate in a way that could potentially swamp the work of local churches. An elder from Bethany, Fazakerley (I just love that name delivered in scouse) read and prayed the first night and Paul Kinnaird (Bankhall Mission Church) the second night.
I stayed with Paul, his wife Kay and their family in Crosby over the two nights and was made to feel more than welcome. Being Scots they gave me porridge and marmalade and curry which I appreciated - and nothing deep fried! A former LTS man, Paul has pastored the FIEC church nearby for the last seven years or so. Crosby is on the edge of the countryside and it was nice to be driven through Little Crosby. We also got down to the beach where an Antony Gormley installation (Another Place) remains following the year of culture. This is a series of one hundred life size metal statutes of himself dotted about the beach over a large area. Like so much modern art it seems a little banal and the descriptions are overblown but you can see the idea. The tide was right out at the time but to see the tide coming in and submerging them must be fun.
We also spent Thursday morning at a ministers fraternal just outside the city in Trinity Evangelical, Rainhill. About 12 or 13 of us gathered. Adam Laughton (Southport) chaired and I spoke on Christ in heaven. It was a very good time of fellowship.
So all in all an interesting and refreshing time in the midst of a general election still as yet unresolved.
Liverpool
I don't want to comment on the football club failing to reach the European final. Rather I want to draw attention to meetings being held in the city all next week. I am speaking (God willing) on Wednesday and Thursday night. I am also addressing a ministers' fraternal on Thursday morning. Formerly the Calvary Convention and now Listen Liverpool, all the details can be found at the website here.
Beatles degree
"The Beatles, Popular Music & Society" consists of four 12-week taught modules and a dissertation. The institution's senior lecturer in popular music, Mike Brocken, said it was about time such serious academy was introduced on The Fab Four. "Forty years on from their break-up, now is the right time and Liverpool is the right place to study The Beatles", he explained. "This MA is expected to attract a great deal of attention, not just locally but nationally and we have already had enquiries from abroad, particularly the United States."
I wouldn't mind doing it myself. Dissertation? The Christian influence in the music of the Beatles. I did write religious at first but then thought of all that effort reading up on Hinduism. (Did you know that Lennon's grandfather was a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist preacher?)
I wouldn't mind doing it myself. Dissertation? The Christian influence in the music of the Beatles. I did write religious at first but then thought of all that effort reading up on Hinduism. (Did you know that Lennon's grandfather was a Welsh Calvinistic Methodist preacher?)
Lennon McCartney
This week (July 6) sees the 50th anniversary of the day that Paul McCartney met John Lennon. It was at a church, of course. This Radio 4 programme is an interesting one on it. As for the Christian input the two knew see Steve Turner's very interesting book The Gospel according to the Beatles. Also see here. I also note that there is a book here. It's amazing how popular culture can produce such an item, documenting as the book does a rather minor event in terms of world history. Fascinating nevertheless.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)