"CTiB"

Christians Together in Brixham

41. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
43. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
44. And all that believed were together, and had all things common;

Acts 2 verse 41-44.

MEETING OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BRIXHAM

TUESDAY JUNE 21st 2011 AT ST.MARY'S CHURCH

The meeting started at 7.30pm and finished at 8.30pm.

Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from: Major Francis Frost, the Rev Jerry Cook, Pete Busby and Penny Houghton.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes were accepted unanimously by the meeting and signed by Ian, the Chairman.

Matters Arising From The Minutes

Alan Lott asked if at least one copy of the school books to be circulated among members for them to peruse it. Ministers concerned with distribution to schools should be aware of the contents. Barbara said she would give books out. Ian said the matter would be rectified in future. Alan said in the minutes it was stated that the current meeting would be devoted to CTIB's future work but he could not see it on the agenda. Ian said not enough information was to hand and as a result the discussions would happen at the next meeting.

Treasurer's report

Eileen said we had paid all the bills and all subscriptions had been received. The £83.91 cost of the Lent books had been paid. The school books were £73, which was less than last year. The overall balance was £551.99, including the £161 raised by the coffee morning. The helpers from All Saints and St Mary's worked very hard, particularly Sue Shaw. The coffee morning really was a magnificent effort, particularly the cake stall. She was concerned it seemed this was the only money coming in and another would be a good idea.

Debrief

Ian said other things were going on during Good Friday. If we were going to go down the route of people organising particular events it would be helpful if CTIB could be made aware of what was going on. Barbara said the Glory Hallelujah on the quay was great. A lot of people said they appreciated it. There was no negative feedback about not distributing hot cross buns. Alan Lott said he had met people who thought the event was cancelled. Barbara said she thought the Herald Express had reported that a walk in a neighbouring town had been cancelled and this may have led to some confusion about the Brixham event. Concerning the Palm Sunday event, a member reported hearing about a young man serving in Tescos calling somebody in and asking what was going on. He said he had never heard anything about Palm Sunday and would read about it in the Bible. Ian commented that was good, exactly what we want. Obviously the event went very well. Phil said he thought the Easter Sunday walk was a good witness. He would like to do it again next year, but thought it should be more colourful with a bit more of a party and celebratory atmosphere. The meeting also heard a lot thought it was going to be started from the Methodist Church . People were very pleased with the three Easter walks. Ian said it seemed we could have all three in our programme for next year. Barbara said it would be useful to put out a diary of events beforehand.

Pentecost

Ian said that despite the rain, the event went very well and was excellent being held in the Baptist Church . Phil said the decision to have it in the Baptist Church was because we would otherwise have had to have moved the public address system. He thought it was the right thing to do. Ian said it was done very well. Michael said it might be a good idea to have a notice outside the community centre for future events. Phil said the only church not represented was the Community Church, but they had a guest from America.They did, however, think it was important for churches to get together. Ian said it was good they are still in contact and when the time is right they can take their place with us. Eileen said she had received a cheque from the Community Church saying they wanted to join.

School Books

Eileen said Ian would be doing Galmpton and Kingswear. Phil would be doing Furze ham and Tim would be doing the Church of England Primary school and Chestnut Drive Primary School.

Carol Service

Eileen said in recent years the service had been held in St Mary's Square and there had been support from local traders. Last year we suddenly found ourselves faced with big bills for such things as staging. The children were totally overloaded with other events. Barbara said it was back to the drawing board with this event. Ian said it seemed we had got to make a decision as to what we were going to do and if we were going to carry on we had to get some money into the account. Barbara said she would see Brixham council and ask them if we could hold it in the car park where the steps would be brilliant. Originally the service was held in the car park but then it was moved to St Mary's Square . There were at least three different carol services going on. Ian said nothing could be done until September but in meantime the head teachers could be asked if they wanted such an event. The final decision could then be made in September.

Activities Churches Would Like To invite Other Churches To

The Salvation Army were going ahead with the Sankey Event on July 6th. Also, Francis was happy to organise carol singing in Fore Street during the Christmas period. Other choirs would be welcome. CTIB had been asked to get churches together to provide a Christmas tree in the town. Volunteers would be needed to do decorations and we would be told where to put the tree. There would be a flower festival at St Mary's on August 17th. Ian had volunteered to have his beard shaved off for Christian Aid in July and there would be a concert.

Phil said Linx, the Christian youth group, were having an Elevate Week from July 25th to the 29th . There would be a summer camp from August 8th to 12th . A lady who had been walking the South West Coastal Path did a talk at the United Reformed Church and would do the same for any other church.

Any Other Business

Michael said there had been a suggestion that a church quiz event could be held. Phil said they had a quiz night once a year at Berry Head Hotel. If advertised, a quiz night would attract up to 200 people. Ian said it seemed a good idea and suggested the first one should be on a very small scale. He asked Phil to bring it up at the Ministers' Fraternal meeting.

Date Of The Next Meeting. The Salvation Army Corps, October 4th at 7.30pm.

MINUTES OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BRIXHAM

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

TUESDAY JANUARY 25th 20ll,

IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL.

The meeting was preceded by prayers for Christian unity. Attendance List.

Apologies for Absence. Apologies were received from: Dr. Michael Atwill, Val Dixon, Chris Guy, Ruth Allen and Babs Rubensaat.

Minutes of the Last Meeting.

Barbara Vond, the secretary, apologised that there were not enough copies of the minutes available. The minutes were taken as read and signed.

Matters arising from the minutes.

There were no matters arising.

Chairman's Report

Barbara read out the report as no copies were available. It was an account of CTIB's year of activities of co-operation in Christian witness. On the contents of the report, Don Fallon said there was no such state as Palestine. Barbara said Mary Fallon had been there and that was what she had said.

Secretary's Report.

Barbara said it was her last year as secretary and it would be good if someone would like to work alongside her to learn the job.

Treasurer's Report.

Eileen said the big thing was we did not have the funding for the carol service staging and we did not budget for the Christmas lights. She did not think we would be able to pay out donations as we had doing in the past few months. We could not do it this year. She thought we could only just manage without giving money to charities. She thanked Lynne for raising £55 on the cake stall at the coffee morning. She also thanked Beryl for raising over £100.

Eileen suggested churches' subscriptions to CTIB should be increased next year but left as they are for this year. Ian asked if this meant there would be money for staging. Eileen said she thought we would cope. Ian said to be realistic as we were not a profit-making organisation.

Barbara said it was only in recent years we had had a charity. Eileen said three years ago we had £900 funds available and that was why we started giving money away. Trades had been paying for the scaffolding. They also paid for the road closure. We had been very fortunate for many years. We did not know that before but we do now. The report was agreed and Eileen was thanked for all she had done.

Election of Officers.

Ian was willing to stand for the chairmanship for the next year. Paul was happy to be vice chairman. No-one offered to work alongside them for experience. Barbara continues as secretary and Eileen as treasurer, and there were no offers of people to act as assistants. Richard continues as minutes recorder.

Any Other Business.

Gill said traders had asked for a magazine to be prepared. It was agreed this should be done and Gill said the price would be £30. Tim said literature was being considered for this year's Lent course. One of the York courses would be used to bring the churches together ecumenically. The York literature was expected to be on the topic of “A Rich Inheritance– Jesus' Legacy of Love.” He left no will but left love for use to share. Tim said he would ask if those who did Lent courses last year would do so again. There were good comments about last year's courses.

He also said he had picked up a Christian magazine in Totnes and this was looked at during the the Brixham ministers' fraternal lunch. It was thought such a magazine could be used. A.C. Print had come up with some suggested figures.

No-one at the A.G.M. was against the suggestion and it was agreed to explore the suggestion further.

Ian said there had been an approach by the Jasperian Theatre Company, London, to stage a production of the play “Friday Friday, Sunday Sunday. They had asked for £250 up front. A donor had been found but a venue was needed. Paul offered Brixham Baptist Church as a venue. Ian said he presumed it would be a one-off event, but if there were others he would let CTIB know.

In reply to a question by Don, Ian said CTIB is an organisation to facilitate the working together of churches in Brixham, so people could get involved if they wanted to do so. Ian added:” I think we have moved a long way from that. We have come together in a better and deeper way, for example, the clergy meeting regularly. We now meet in each other's houses. I see that as coming together.” Churches should not double up on activities. We should look at what we are doing and ask what we wanted to do together. It was growing and developing. A dialogue was needed. Don said we ought to pray for deepening fellowship and a vision for the future – what God wants us to do in Brixham. Let us share what the Spirit is telling us.

Tim said there was a suggestion for the entirety of the King James version of the Bible to be read aloud in Fore Street in relays to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the version. It would take a total of 70 hours and could be accomplished in relays of two different readers each hour. This meant 140 time slots. It was suggested the event could take place in front of the Methodist Church. The meeting also heard it would have to be cleared by the police. Don suggested outside the community centre would be a better venue.

The vice chairman read a prayer written by Sir Francis Drake, to close the meeting.

MINUTES OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BRIXHAM

COMMITTEE MEETING IN ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HALL

JANUARY 25 TH 2011

Welcome and Prayers (covered at payers for Christian Unity).

Apologies for Absence (covered at AGM)

Minutes of the Last Meeting.

They were read, approved signed as a true record.

Matters Arising from the Minutes.

Ian asked members to consider what they wanted CTIB to do. We did not have to do what we were doing as it was not written in tablets of stone. However, the coffee morning, the Lent studies and the walk of witness, for example, were good activities.

Treasurer's Report (covered at the A.G.M.)

Choice of Town Charity for 2011 (?)

Possible Event to Celebrate the 400 th Anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible. (Covered at the A.G.M.).

Planned Events Calendar for 2011.

a. Coffee Mornings at the Christian Community Centre, Fore Street.

b. United Churches' Lent Study Course.

c. Good Friday Walk of Witness and open air service at the Harbourside.

d. Easter Sunday Sunrise Worship, Berry Head.

e. Pentecost Open Air Service, in Fore Street .

f. Primary School Leavers' Christian Book Presentations at the end of the summer term

g. Christian Music Festival at Harbourside, during one summer evening.

h. United Carol Service Celebrating On World Week, in the Autumn.

i. United Carol Singing in Fore Street , on Brixham Carnival Day.

j. Town Carol Service with primary schools in December.

k. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, starting with a United Service on January 23rd .

l. Care Home Visits Rota to be arranged.

Regarding the planned Good Friday Walk of Witness it was decided to witness in silence, not to give out hot cross buns to the public afterwards, but to give out the leaflet usually accompanying them. The meeting heard the clergy were going to talk about linking giving out the leaflets with other events and setting up a sub committee. It was suggested the Walk of Witness could be linked with the Easter Sunday Sunrise Meeting at Berry Head. Also it suggested we could do both a silent walk and a celebration walk. This was to be brought up at the Ministers' Fraternal Meeting.

On the Pentecost Open Air Service, there was discussion as to whether the venue should be Fore Street , the car park or the old fish quay. Ian said it should be considered whether members of the public were impressed by the number of people there. It was one of the many effective things we do, he added. Organisers and a sub-committee were needed. Barbara said she would write to the Herald Express about the event.

A member referred to Richard's suggestion at the last meeting about the possibility of a Sankey evening with a recital by pianist Jonathan Oliverio. This was left to be explored then raised at the March meeting. Barbara said this was separate to the music festival.

Comments had been received that carols at the town carol service with primary schools last year were too slow and could they be a bit more upbeat. Also the meeting heard there were other events at Christmas and was one service needed. The scaffolding situation needed to be thought about and planned from about March.

Don said CTIB should organise a holocaust memorial day, as Jesus said Salvation was of the Jews. Barbara said there was a quite small Jewish community in Brixham.

The meeting heard difficulties were caused by the Week of Prayer for Christian unity being run from mid-week instead of Sunday to Sunday. Also there was the question of whether it should be linked to the A.G.M. Barbara said she would raise the matter at the March meeting.

Correspondence.

Eileen said a £5 donation had been received..

Date of the Next Meeting

It was agreed the next meeting should be at the Baptist Church on March 22nd, the following meeting would be at St. Mary's Church (not the hall) on June 7th and after this the next meeting would be at the Salvation Army hall on October 4th . All three meetings are to start at 7.30pm.

Closing Prayer.

The grace was said by all present.

MINUTES OF CHURCHES TOGETHER IN BRIXHAM THURSDAY OCTOBER 14th 2010.  

Minutes of Previous Meeting The minutes, amended regarding remarks by Phil Marsden, were read, approved and signed.

Matters Arising From The Minutes

•  Michael, the chairman, said Barbara could not carry on as secretary indefinitely. However, Barbara said she did not mind carrying on, if there was nobody else to do it. Michael suggested a back-up assistant might be found to stand in during her absences.

•  A public relations co-ordinator was also needed. The meeting was also told there had been difficulty in getting access to the local press as the Herald Express office was frequently closed in Brixham. Gordon Chambers at Devon Radio was very accessible, however, for Local Radio publicity.

Treasurer's Report

Eileen said £50 Annual Subsidy had finally been paid by one of the churches, who also sent another £50 for the Christmas Carol Staging. So we now had a balance of £120 in hand. There were two items not budgeted for: £320 for Staging and £100 for Christmas lights. She asked if this was going to happen again, and it appears that the Staging costs will remain a CTIB liability annually, while the Christmas Lights had been agreed at our last meeting as a one-off payment this year. Michael said the town council had been looking for sponsorship towards the town's Christmas lights, so CTIB had called for a ‘Merry Christmas' sign to be put up rather than just a happy season one, when our donation of £100 was sent. The matter was left for their consideration at a later date.

Michael said CTIB had agreed to choose an Annual Charity from January 2009, in order to show that we were supporting local charities (YES this year), while the individual churches had their own involvements overseas (such as Christian Aid, etc). At present, Church Annual Subs were used solely for CTIB events, along with any Collections from United Services, while it was the Coffee Morning proceeds that went to the chosen Annual Charity. Barbara said CTIB had only recently begun supporting a local charity, and perhaps this was beyond our means, and should be reviewed annually at the AGM, when any excess funds remaining in the CTIB account (if there were any) could then be allocated.

CTIB Events:

Coffee Morning.

Eileen said that for the coffee morning on December 14 th at the Christian Community Centre, Fore Street, there would be a bring and buy sale bring and bring and buy sale. Lynn Wright would be asked if she could provide cakes from the Salvation Army.

Christmas Carol Service, St. Mary's Square, December 15th at 7pm.

It was agreed proceeds from the forthcoming Christmas Service should be kept by CTIB. During the discussion it was suggested a commercial sponsor could be sought for the scaffolding. It was decided this could be discussed at a later date and the event left as it is for this year. The sub-committee had noted the council was thinking of digging up St. Mary's Square over the Christmas Season, but Barbara said the actual square was not being touched. Gordon Chambers wanted to do a preliminary interview on local radio, regarding the problems the group had encountered, and to publicise the whole occasion. Michael said the event was going to need stewards, in particular to try to keep children away from their parents until after the performances, because all the school groups were needed for the finale. It was suggested the churches might be asked to provide one steward each.

Sing Christmas Radio Broadcast.

Jerry Cook said the Sing Christmas radio broadcast from Berry Head was not now going to happen. It was suggested members could write to the BBC if they felt strongly about this. Another suggestion was that a similar event could be arranged locally.

Week of Prayer For Christian Unity, January 18-25 2011. The United CTIB Service on the Sunday January 23rd 2011 would be held at the R.C. Church in New Road, by courtesy of Father Sunny Paul. The Rev. Phil Marsden was invited to lead this service, and would consider his availability. The meeting heard that the ‘Octave of Prayer' would be running through the week, and Fr. had no objections to the prayers taking place at the Catholic Church. The CTIB website could be scanned to see if about two dozen leaflets could be obtained without charge, for use every night.

Nominations for Chairman and Secretary.

Regarding the need for nominations for chairman and secretary, Michael said in addition a vice chairman was being sought to be trained up for the following year. He added: “Unless these posts are filled this valuable work in the town will not happen.” Every church should look at its representation (3 each) to make sure we had a properly balanced committee, giving every church a voice.

Fresh Activities for CTIB.

Regarding new ideas, Richard Guest reported a conversation he had had some time ago with local Christian, and former professional pianist, Jonathan Oliverio who indicated he would be happy to give a concert perhaps at a Sankey-style revival meeting in the town. Some members thought it would be a matter for individual churches and the Rev.Tim Deacon said an open-air service was being planned to take place on the Old Fish Quay and perhaps include a Sankey element and an item by Jonathan. It was reported that All Saints Church was hosting a gospel choir event, very soon, Michael suggested the matter should be taken forward at the next meeting.

The Rev.Jerry Cook said CTIB needed to look at what it was doing regarding Nursing home visits. Barbara would contact all the nursing/residential homes in Brixham to check what they wanted? Michael said the group would need to evaluate where CTIB should be involved, and where other churches were already making their own visits instead.

Any Other Business.

Barbara suggested the group should write to the BBC about their decision to restrict religious services and freely allow swearing in programmes, including the use of Jesus Christ's name. It was suggested it would be more effective if members wrote to the BBC independently, but Barbara was asked to first confirm the truth of this rumour.

Do You Know Jesus?

Jesus replied to Nicodemus," I can guarantee this truth : No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." (Born Again) John 3:3

God loved the world this way: He gave his only Son so that everyone that believes in him will not die but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world but to save the world. Those who believe in him won't be condemned but those who don't believe are already condemned because they don't believe. John3 14-18

If you don't know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour,

please pray this prayer.

As you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart you will be " born again." ref :Romans10: 9-10.

Lord Jesus I need You in my life, I believe You are the Son of God and that You died on the cross for me. Please forgive me for my sins and create a clean heart in me. Renew my spirit so that I can hear Your voice. I accept you as my Saviour! You are my Lord!

If you have prayed this prayer then take the next step which is to be guided by the Holy Spirit to belong to a Church that will feed you God's Word and have fellowship with other Spirit filled Christians.