There are a number of exciting new things going on in my world that I intend on documenting here on threedays. I thought this a good opportunity to get this old girl going again. These things are;

1. Beer and Bible
2. The Exodus Study
3. Habitat for Humanity: Durban 2009

Beer and Bible

Every Wednesday night a growing group of us gather in a local pub to have a pint or two and discuss a portion of scripture. The idea is that we read the passage before hand and come armed with questions, thoughts, things we donâ??t understand, as well as the things have inspired us and together we move through the scripture.

There is no real agenda and the whole evening is allowed to drift organically and itâ??s led to some really good discussion. The idea is for this evening to be a real entry level option. Itâ??s for people who do not feel like the standard home / cell group is for them. And people right on the fringe of Church life can find a place to come and get to know people.

Itâ??s a bit experimental; some weeks we have spent more time talking about the football than about the passage. We are certainly getting to know each other a little better and we are discussing subjects and delving into things that otherwise would go untouched.

Currently we are working through Luke and I intend on having some for of documentation of events available on this site.

The Exodus Study

We will come up with a better name for this. *smile*

For some time now there has been an obvious undercurrent of desire at St Simonâ??s to have the opportunity to do some more in-depth Bible study. A recent course was run to test the water as it were. â??Godâ??s Bookâ? was run in March â?? April as a six overview of the whole bible. Around fifty people attended (just over one third of the Church) which for a mid week group is quite staggering.

With the obvious hunger establish and a call for more from the attendees of â??Godâ??s Bookâ? we are going to be running a regular six week Bible study course. I will be writing and leading a course (with one or two others) that will take us through the Book of Exodus from late May into June.

The plan is for course notes and other materials to be posted here.

Habitat for Humanity: Durban 2009

For some time now we have been wondering how to engage the older teenagers / young adults of our church with their young faith. With traditional middle class church increasingly alien and irrelevant to younger people they tend to disappear off the edge of the map when the youth programme stops meeting their needs.

Habitat for Humanity is a charity who build suitable accommodation for those in parts of the world where slum or street dwelling is the norm. They aim to lift people out of poverty and into an existence fit for a human being. Their is work that is ongoing and uses local people and resources to develop the projects.

When the opportunity arises they facilitate groups from around the world to go and join in the work. This raises much needed funds and equipment as well as the profile for such projects which does make a real impact on the long term goals of the charity.

However,  I am under no illusions here about saving the world. The primary reason for us going to help try and provide a context of faith for these young people struggling find their place in Christianity. If we happen to do some good along the way then that is a great bonus. So in late August I am taking a team of twelve to Durban, South Africa to build a house.

Lotâ??s of planning and a fair amount of fundraising to do. I plan to document it all on this site.

Busy, busy, busy

So there is plenty to keep me busy in the next few months and plenty to write about here.

Should be fun.