News & Views

CTiC Vision and AGM
A Message from the Chairman

Christians Together in Chelmsford (CTiC) are excited to be holding an afternoon gathering at 3 pm at the Orchards, Meadgate on Sunday, 28th January.

This is an opportunity for us to:

  • hear updates and testimonies from churches, ministries and Christian charities (please get in touch if you would like to share);
  • hear from the standing committee about some vision for the year ahead and take part in our AGM.

This is also a key opportunity for us to worship together and catch up with friends from across the city so please make every effort to attend and spread word of this event.

Whilst I am committed to CTiC, and have been honoured to serve as chair, I have taken the decision to step down as chair as of the 28th and therefore there is need for a new chair to be appointed.

I would like to nominate a dear friend Phil Hannam, from Life Church to stand as my successor. Phil has served on this committee for the last few years, being vice chair this last year and I’m confident will make a great chairman as we move forwards together.

Whilst I would like to nominate Phil, I would also like to make you all aware that CTiC is open to additional nominations. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone else please get in touch with us (by clicking here) before the end of this calendar year so that we can explain more about how we work and what the role entails and if appropriate, we can make that nomination public on our website.

Pete Bardwell
Chairman

Good Friday Witness

Thank you to all who joined in on Friday 7th April.
It was wonderful to see so many together and experience God’s presence. Here are some images which convey something of the scene.

Behind Tough Talk
The View from Behind Tough Talk as they gave witness.
Looking towards the stage
Looking towards the stage.
Many gathered in the High Street.
Many gathered in the High Street.

2023 vision and finance letter from Pete, chair of CTiC

2023 vision and finance letter
from Pete, chair of CTiC

Pete BardwellPlease read and share the following which is both an update and an invitation to partner with us financially.

‘Christians together…’  Is it really that important given the societal challenges of 2023? In John 17:23, Jesus is recorded as praying – “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:23 NIV
Our unity in Christ has the potential to reveal to those yet to believe that Jesus is real and that they are loved by the Father. So yes, our togetherness; our unity is important and CTiC has a role to encourage, facilitate and champion contexts where this can be demonstrated and lived out.
In November we held an ‘AGM and vision casting’ afternoon where we heard from many people from across Chelmsford who shared good news stories and updates from their ministries. We also appointed our new standing committee and shared a vision of CTiC not just being ‘Christians together in Chelmsford’ but more ‘Christians together for Chelmsford’. Developing this theme further, at the end of January, we held our first conference of 2023 where visiting speaker Paul Manwaring engaged us on the theme of ‘We are sent’, taken from John 20:21.
As we move forwards through 2023 and beyond, there are four specific things I’d like to share with you:

Good Friday City Centre event
Once again, we have the opportunity to gather as one large group in the city centre; to be reminded and to share with others the life changing message of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We will have live worship, inspirational stories and a clear communication of the gospel message.
11am, 7th April, City Centre. (Local churches may wish to organise ‘processing’ in to the city centre. We will make routes available nearer the time)

Pentecost Worship evening
Join us for a simple evening of sung praise and worship. Making a joyful noise in God’s presence and pouring out affection and gratitude is a privilege for all believers. We hope that making this a city wide experience will be an encouragement to us all as we come and gather in his name.
6:30 pm, 28th May, Life Church, Hall St, CM2 0HG.

On every street – Prayer initiative
We want to invite you and the Christians in your churches to pray on the streets where you live, shop, work, and visit. Our prayers are powerful and effective (James 5:16b) and what better way to develop a vision for our city than to take a moment to physically walk the streets around us. We long for every street, every home and every person to be impacted by the presence, provision and power of King Jesus.
We see this as something people could engage with in pairs, small groups, youth groups or as part of church prayer meetings.
We are seeking to launch this initiative at Easter with a Website or App with clear details of what to pray for and some tips to keep you safe. More details to come.

Financial partnership
Thank you to member churches who have generously donated over the years, which enabled us to serve the city. Seeing individuals respond to the gospel message last Easter was a real highlight. So, we would like to invite you to consider sowing again. As you can imagine delivering these initiatives and events requires not only vision but also finance.
Please would you prayerfully consider financially contributing to the work of CTiC as a local church, charity, ministry or individual? We have an immediate need to fund the Good Friday event this Easter so one-off financial gifts would be hugely appreciated.
In addition, we appreciate that giving a regular monthly amount may be something which you may feel led to do.

 Please make your donation in one of three ways:

  • Send a cheque to Mr Robin Stevens (CTIC Treasurer) at 3 Aldeburgh Way, Chelmsford CM1 7PB made payable to “Christians Together in Chelmsford”, stating which church it is from.
  • Make a one-off bank transfer using the following details. CHRISTIANS TOGETHER IN CHELMSFORD Sort code: 20-19-95, Account number: 00269077 (please send an email to confirm a donation has been made to Mr Robin Stevens – rmsrobin@icloud.com
  • Set up a regular standing order using the bank details above.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of this further please feel free to contact us. In considering financially partnering with us please note that our encouragement to you would be give to your local church as a first priority.

On behalf of the CTiC team, may I thank you for taking the time to read this letter and for prayerfully considering this financial request.
Pete Bardwell, Chair of CTiC.

CTiC AGM matches Just a Minute

Sunday 20th November at 3 pm in Life Church, Hall Street.

There is so much happening around our city as Christians are serving their communities and sharing their faith in many and varied ways.
This year as part of our CTiC AGM, rather than hearing from a select few ministries and leaving others out, we would like to create an opportunity to hear from as many as would like to share.
We would really love to hear from the Christian ministry or church initiative you are involved with.
Please will you or someone else come ready to share for 60 seconds
who you are, what you are involved with, some good news to celebrate and how people can find out more or get involved.
Please don’t stay silent and assume there will be enough!
Sharing testimonies of what God is doing amongst us is powerful, envisioning and puts hunger in us for more! If you know someone involved with a Christian ministry or church project please share this with them and bring them along on the 20th Nov.
We are all alive for such a time as this!
We look forward to seeing and hearing from you.
Much love and appreciation for you,
Pete Bardwell (Acting Chair) and the CTiC team.

Christian Aid Week

Christian Aid LogoChristian Aid’s groundbreaking work began in 1945, when we were founded by British and Irish churches to help refugees following the Second World War.
For more than 75 years, we have provided humanitarian relief and long-term development support for poor communities worldwide, while highlighting suffering, tackling injustice and championing people’s rights.
Christian Aid week runs from 15-21 May 2022.
There are three methods of encouraging giving to Christian Aid available this year. If we restrict asking for donations to our congregations, we deny the giving challenge to others in the wider community. So the following are available:
Deliver and collect the traditional red envelopes during Christian Aid Week as we used to do.
Deliver different envelopes that invite the donor to take their donation in the envelope to a local drop off point – either a house in the road that you have arranged to use or a shop in a small parade of shops. There is then no need to knock and collect.
Make known through your church’s online activities that an electronic donation can be made on a website. This year Christian Aid has set up its own giving platform, which is accessed by e-envelopes. The address of the Chelmsford e-envelope is: https://envelope.christianaid.org.uk/envelope/christians-together-in-chelmsford. However, I have enclosed a small poster with a QR code, which you may wish to display in your church. Those with phones can scan the code and connect directly to the Chelmsford giving page. All donations will be credited to our area.

Good Friday 2022

A view from the stage over the High Street with many people.On the warmest day so far in the year many gathered in the High Street on Good Friday to mark the death of Jesus Christ.
After many walking to the City centre from various suburbs Pete Bardwell, acting Chair of CTiC, welcomed all, firstly to sing worship songs led by Life Church’s music group, punctuated by prayers poetically written by Dan Pierce, followed by a presentation from Christian group Tough Talk.
Joe of Tough Talk shared his story and demonstrated his ability to lift enormous weights in a squat. Ian then oversaw several folk trying their hand to hold heavy hammers out at arms length.
Stephanie Gillingham signed for those with hearing impairments and 1159 had prepared the sound systems and staging.
A view from the rear of the congregation showing the stage

Nightstop launches in Chelmsford

  • The Essex Team
    The Essex Team

    Nightstop Essex is a prevention service for low risk 16 – 25-year olds who are at risk of homelessness.

  • Nightstop Essex will provide same day emergency accommodation in a home of a volunteer host.
  • All Volunteer hosts are vetted and fully trained.
  • Nightstop hosts offer guests a spare room, a hot meal, a shower, and a listening ear.
  • Nightstop staff team work with the young person to arrange longer-term accommodation.
  • Nightstop Essex is a new service in the area augmenting a network of 30+ Nightstop services working to prevent homelessness aided by the kindness of our volunteer hosts across the country.
  • Nightstop Essex has rigorous procedures in place to ensure the safety of our volunteers, as well as the young people we work with.
  • All guests will be fully risk-assessed prior to staying with a host, to make sure that the service is safe for all involved.
  • Nightstop Essex volunteers are also fully vetted, trained, and provided with ongoing support to ensure they feel confident in their role.
  • Nightstop Essex are currently recruiting for the following:
  • Volunteer Hosts, who have a spare room and live in the Chelmsford or Colchester area.

The launch of Nightstop Essex is the result of a partnership between Depaul, Essex County Council, Chelmsford City Council and Colchester Borough Homes. In Colchester, Nightstop Essex is being jointly delivered with Colchester Korban Project, a charity that provide supported housing for 16–25-year old’s who have found themselves in crisis.

Recruitment Flyer

To get this new service going, we are currently looking for volunteers in the community who would be willing to offer the use of their spare room to a young person in need. To volunteer please ring 07929 750574.

To view a clip with a Nightstop host and young person please view here https://youtu.be/OBMdDUkYeN8
Read Callum’s story here to find out how staying with a Nightstop host can make a positive difference to a young person.

Links for further information:
Nightstop FAQs https://uk.depaulcharity.org/nightstop-faqs/
Depaul UK https://uk.depaulcharity.org/

CTiC and The Rooftop at the Cathedral

A view of Chelmsford Cathedral
Chelmsford Cathedral

On Wednesday 20th October the Cathedral welcomed 14 folk from 11 churches in the City. They came to together for breakfast, for a time of fellowship, for prayer to hear collectively how they might continue to serve the City with their churches. CTiC Acting Chairman, Pete Bardwell, introduced the event and welcomed all who came with words from the CTiC website namely,
Christians Together in Chelmsford aims to be a champion and a catalyst for all God is doing in Chelmsford through our many Churches, Christian based organisations and individual Believers in Jesus Christ alike. Our desire is to see Christians of all denominations and traditions come together as friends, so the Good News of Jesus Christ is made famous throughout our City.
Some priorities for CTiC were considered with relationship building seeming to be uppermost in the priorities.

Dan Pierce and Pete Bardwell share the vision
Dan Pierce and Pete Bardwell
share the vision

Following this, as part of The Rooftop preparation, Rev Phil Hannam introduced a time considering and in particular reading, collectively, Acts 10, prior to 11 hardy souls, who had all had to examine themselves for any heart condition, vertigo or claustrophobia, went to the top of the tower to look out over the City together and sense how God is leading the Christians and Churches of the City.

Tim Goodall and Phil Marsden on the tower
Tim Goodall and Phil Marsden
on the tower

After the event there was a sense that this would not have happened 2 years ago and that recent events have motivated attempts at this sort of collective vision.

A Conversation with Rev Mark Pengelly

A conversation, on 27th July, between Mark Pengelly, Minister at Trinity Methodist Church, and Richard Cecil, Secretary of CTiC

The following is a transcript of the conversation.

MP: Well, it’s just occurred to me, you know, talking about hope for the future, that we that we started off talking about the restoration – of tractors and cars and clocks. As you say, with the clock stuck there at 20 to 7 when it’s half 11 in the morning I need to do a bit of work on that.

But, you know, talking about what has sustained us and strengthened us and given us hope through the pandemic and, I guess, I would say, that it’s a theme through ministry really, it’s this business of restoration that God can continue and, in an ongoing manner, will restore us, his people, and I hold out the same hope for the church you know.

RC: How much is that pre-dated by lamentation and forgiveness, picking up on what Tom Wright was saying.

MP: Yes, well I was very impressed that he said, you know, we mustn’t just wipe away what is gone before in our enthusiasm to rebuild which where he was heading to with his hope rebuilt talk, wasn’t it?

I thought it was words of great wisdom really that we need to lament and, you know, acknowledge the pain and heartache that’s gone before. Now I suppose in terms of a restoration project, that would equate to not papering over the cracks, you know, if you’ve got a rusty car not just get an out of body filler and whacking it in there to cover up all the difficulty and the pain of the past experience, you know, it’s all too easy to paper over cracks and pretend that things are okay when perhaps underneath, there are still issues to be dealt with and I thought that was what said the lamenting and the sorrow as we look to offer hope to people was about. You know we’re going to be real, haven’t we?

I always find the last chapter of Revelation to be one of the most inspiring passages when we talk about hope, I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, See the home of God is among the mortals. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will be with them and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be no more. For the first things have passed away.
I always find that a tremendous vision of hope, especially for those for whom the tears are flowing now. And, you know, talking about our Churches Together there won’t be a church amongst our fellowship in Churches Together in Chelmsford that hasn’t had direct and first-hand experience of mourning and loss due to the pandemic, or perhaps, due to all the knock-on things, which are still going to be with us for some time. You know, the delayed and deferred medical procedures, the lack of treatment because people didn’t feel they wanted to trouble the doctor. You know, these things are all going to play out and have their impact.

RC: The Pingdemic that people talking about us.

MP: Yes, absolutely.

RC: The consequence on supply chains.

MP: Yes absolutely. You know if things went badly wrong in terms of, you know, getting food to the shops, you know, it is potentially serious. I’ll never forget my first pandemic memory really was queuing round the block at the Aldi over at the clock tower trading estate there. And we were queued for yards and yards and yards and I’ll never forget the sort of apocalyptic feel that it engendered. We have lived through something extraordinary. And well, not all have lived through it, of course. But, in the midst of it all, we’ve been called upon to proclaim that God is with this in this and words like these, ‘that he will wipe the tears away from eyes when all things are restored’ become essential, as something we build our hope upon.

RC: So, for better or worse I suggested that we look at, how this fits with Isaiah 61, where Jesus says the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord. Well, no! Where the prophet says, the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. And a day of vengeance of our God to comfort all who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
In that it has a full stop there, I stop.

And I wondered if you’d be able to see examples, for example, of freedom for the captives, release for prisoners, praise instead of mourning.

MP: Well, I think, that whatever we can say about the restrictions and limitations that we as churches have experienced, there’s been absolutely no question that we have not carried on being church. You know, there’s been no question, as far as I can see, that we are any the less God’s people. And, in that sense, faith has sustained people, regardless of whether they are able to get out on the Sunday morning, or not, or at least, you know, this has been my experience. And in terms of, The Lord’s favour, you know, it’s pretty tough to use the language of the year of the Lord’s favour. I don’t know if I want to say we’re in that year now but there’ve been favourable things in amongst the challenges of this last year and a half. For example, the way in which technology has been used, as a tool for sharing a life of church and proclaiming the Christian message. I’ve never done anything digital really in terms of ministry very regularly and I’m an IT enthusiast, it’s another of the things that I like to do is restore a broken-down computer but I’ve never used such tools very seriously in day-to-day ministry but I have jolly well had to in the past year and a half. And some of the most effective things have been some of the simplest. So, me and my two Methodist colleagues decided we would offer evening prayers; just a short time of prayer each evening seven o’clock on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays; we would take it in turns. And we simply picked up our phones and press, ‘Go Live’. It really was a simple as that. And offered ten to fifteen minutes of devotions and prayers and the reading of Scripture. And, I wouldn’t say we’ve gone viral, but we have offered something to people which has been warmly received and back in the height of lock down I would get fifty, sixty people look at my evening prayers, not all live at the time, perhaps fifteen or so would be watching live and they could make comments, which was lovely. But over the course of the next day or so number of other people would watch it, and also make comments. And the incredible thing was many of these folks were way beyond Chelmsford. They were Facebook friends of mine and my colleagues have the same experience. And many of them were folks beyond the life of church. And I’ve had wonderful engagement with people, who, you know, perhaps would never ordinarily have got involved in any prayer kind of ministry that the church was offering. If I organised a prayer meeting at one of my churches, I’d be lucky to get half a dozen, every Friday watching live and then you know thirty, forty people watching there afterwards. It’s been relatively simple and it seems to be something that has sustained and blessed people. It’s been quite remarkable really – the simplicity of it. And, at the moment, we’re carrying on offering that. Whether we will into the long-term future, I don’t know, but… Yes, it’s been interesting to see that the ways in which favourable things can be drawn out of years that certainly don’t feel like the Lord’s favour.

I think there’s going to be a whole realm of ministry that is going to be needing to unfold in coming months because the mourning process has been very much limited really, you know, as people haven’t been able to attend funerals in the normal way. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was talk about, ‘Well, we’ll have a memorial or thanksgiving service for loved ones, you know, when this is all behind us.’ The idea being that that might be two- or three-months’ time, you know. But I think it’s probably going to be not what some families will want to try and revisit the funeral, as it were, with the thanksgiving. I’m thinking of some more communal kind of ministry to those that have lost loved ones in the past year and a half. And whose celebrations of their lives were, you know, very much thwarted. I’m wondering if All Saints and All Souls this year is maybe going to be a significant opportunity for offering something along those lines.

RC: Yuh, yuh. I mean obviously you are new to the area and as you said earlier you’ve only had six months or so before the pandemic.

MP: Yes.
RC: Have you managed to get any sort of relationships supporting you in terms of other ministers of other denomination as well as your own?

MP: There’s been through the ecumenical partnership churches which some of our Methodist Churches are involved in there has been engagement with other ministers along those lines but, just like everything else, it’s been not as simple ordinarily would be. You know, some of the online events like the shared Zoom services with the friends at Sandon and St Augustine’s, they’re good examples of the way in which we did come together, you know, despite the staying at home. But I think what I’ve found difficult is that all the peripheral conversation is what is stripped out of those kind of encounters. You do your thing for the Zoom…

RC: Zoom can only support one conversation at a time.

MP: This is the weakness of it, isn’t it, you just can’t float around. I know you can have the breakout rooms and that sort of thing.

Yes, and you can’t talk over each other in a soon breakout room in the way that you know conversation around that table might. And I’ve been involved in the Anglia Ruskin University Chaplaincy Council. And there’s a whole raft of people in those meetings which I’ve only ever attended on Zoom. And I’m very conscious that I haven’t been able to get you know that group of people because we’re from many different places for start, but there’s no extra conversation around the meeting. And I think, it’s definitely been harder.

At least I have the six months, you know, just to get a head start and I did meat a lot of people in that time. Done a number of pastoral visits, which is perhaps one of the hardest things that’s been stripped down to ministry in the pandemic. But I’m very mindful that, you know, that other people have started appointments since lockdown. And that would be even harder so count my blessings when I can.