Hastings welcomes the Torch!

HASTINGS OLYMPIC TORCH EVENT TUESDAY 17th JULY

     (afternoon & evening)

The Church of Hastings is involved in the Olympic Torch celebrations on July 17th by volunteering to be street marshals, praising the Lord in two locations, staging both a Messy Church for 9½ hours and facilitating a Mencap Special Bowls event amidst a park festival and opening 4 churches (of various denominations) to provide hospitality for spectators. Tony Calton is the Chairman and Reverend Chris Key is the sponsoring minister and Bishop Wallace Benn is coming to assist with activities. Reverend Chris Key is also hosting an Evening Praise event the day before.

The Torch will be carried by a relay of local runners (preceded by a cavalcade of sponsors, including Coca-Cola) along the Hastings seafront, passing Warrior Square & several churches, before stopping in front of Hastings Old Town for the main ceremony. Activities in the Town area and Warrior Square will culminate in a Fire Work Display, from the castle grounds. at 9:30 pm. The next morning the torch & cavalcade will be taken out of the town on its way to Dover, passing Schools and roads lined with school children.

Many Church Volunteers will marshal the rolling road closure along the seafront. Their role is not to manage the crowd but to assist the public and report inappropriate behaviour and medical issues to the authorities via mobiles/radios. A few will also marshal Warrior square and very energetic volunteers can marshal the following morning when school children line the route as the Torch cavalcade leaves Hastings.

As an act of hospitality churches located in amongst the celebrations and on the Torch Route (these include St Leonards Parish Church, Greek Orthodox “St Mary Magdalene”, Holy Trinity Church, Wellington Square Baptist Church & the Salvation Army van) will act as “Hubs” and open their doors and provide free refreshments, toilet facilities, respite and in some instances recreational activities with the help of volunteers from across the Hastings Church community.

Hastings College is hosting various activities in front of their college next to Hastings Railway Station from 4pm to 6pm. Good Christian singers have volunteered to praise the Lord for an hour, accompanied by an electric keyboard and guitar, and a PA provided by a Christian sound engineer.

The secular St Leonards Festival is being staged on Warrior Square and the Hastings Church is undertaking 3 activities with help from churches of all denominations, including the Bruderhof (Darvell) community.

Firstly, Messy Church marques covering an area of 40ft by 10ft will be erected next to St Leonards Festival’s children’s marquee from 12am to 9:30pm. The Church community will be undertaking arts and crafts activities for children and youths with Christian themes and music interludes, as well as face painting, short puppet shows, Christian DVD shows, badge making, tenpin bowling and much more. Activities will be split into time slots to cater for different age groups; mothers & toddlers, school children with parents/guardians and finally older teenagers with food breaks for the helpers and of course a break to witness the Torch cavalcade pass bye. A compulsory quiet diesel generator has already been hired.

Secondly, Mencap Special Olympic Soft bowls will demonstrate bowls and Curling (the curling is on castors). A space has been allocated next to the Messy Church Marquees for church volunteers to erect a 20 foot long wooden runway on the sloping grass. Material has been purchased and a trial erection completed. Volunteers will also accompany and help the Mencap participants watch the Torch cavalcade pass bye.

Thirdly, the Ark of Hope Nigerian gospel choir will praise the Lord for about half an hour on the festival’s stage alongside famous professional bands (Blair and Soul Express) as well good local performers.

Keith Hayden is heading the prayer support and prayer walks and the Reverend Chris Key is hosting an Evening of Praise the day before in the centre of Hastings.

The Journey Praise Bus Week 5

We are now over half way through The Journey. A big thank you and we really appreciate the support we have received so far.

Urgent requests for musicians in: Grimsby to Lincoln, 27^th June, Norwich to Ipswich,  5^th July, Bournemouth to Southampton,14^th July, Hastings to Dover, 18th July, Deal to Maidstone, 19^th July and a couple of spaces London, 21^st - 25^th July.

Our facebook page is www.facebook.com/

ThePraiseBus .

If you have any queries please contact escallsbus@btinternet.com
For up date www.morethangold. org.uk



This week the bus is going along the routes between Salford, Leeds, Sheffield, Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham.

The Journey Praise Bus

The Praise Bus is travelling through Scotland this week, stopping at Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee, St Andrews, Edinburgh and on to Alnwick.

Terry, The Journey’s Worship leader says “A unique experience where I need to keep close to the Lord and examine my heart. Many musicians singing God's praises throughout the land. Some songs are repeated which reflects our mission. 'We just call to say God loves you, over and over again”.

Last night we heard this encouraging story from a couple in our church. They were not able to be on the bus as they had a hospital appointment in Manchester (she is being treated for cancer). “After morning prayers, we finished by praying for The Journey. At the end, we looked up and saw the bus going past the window and heard the sound of the shofar being blown. It really made our day as the timing was perfect”. We wonder how many people, we have never heard about, have caught a glimpse of the bus from their houses and been blessed.

Urgent requests for musicians anywhere along the routes: Newcastle, Gateshead, Middlesbrough, York, Kendal, Grimsby, Peterborough, Norwich, Portland Bill, Bournmouth, Portsmouth, Hastings, Deal and London.

Our facebook page is www.facebook.com/ThePraiseBus .

If you have any queries please contact escallsbus@btinternet.com

For further update http://www.morethangold.org.uk/.org.uk

Prayer requests for musicians...  A Solo performer needed from 2nd to 20th July.

Musicians from Stockport.

 

Bibles available for 2012 Games athletes’

Olympic athletes will be able to read their own copy of the Bible when the Games are held in London in July. The Olympic organizing committee, LOCOG, has allowed Bible Society to make Bibles available to athletes in the Olympic Village’s religious services centre.

Some 1,000 Bibles and 1,500 Gospels of Luke will be provided for sports chaplains to give to Olympians if appropriate. ‘I’m really excited about this,’ said Matthew van Duyvenbode, Bible Society’s Head of Advocacy. ‘It’s really important that we make a statement that the Bible is important in every sphere of public life, sports included.

‘When some of the athletes will be going through some of the most turbulent experiences of their lives we can demonstrate to them that the message of God’s comfort and understanding and reassurance are for them in the Scriptures.’

Some £10,000 is now needed to provide Olympic athletes
with Bibles.

If you’d like to help towards this, then call 01793 418100 or visit biblesociety.org.uk/olympics/

“Send your Holy Spirit to light up our lives”

ia Centre

Torch Relay prayers released

18 May 2012

Two new prayers, released today at www.olympics.churchofengland.org, are to 'accompany' the Torch Relay on its tour of England. They will be used by many of the CofE's 16,000 churches publicly as the Torch makes its 70-day tour of the nation, travelling within an hour of 95 per cent of people in the UK, Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.

Composed by the Liturgical Commission, the new Church of England prayers read:
 Torch Relay Prayers

Loving God,
as this torch travels our nation,
preparing us to celebrate the skill and determination of
those competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games,
strengthen us to love you and serve our neighbour
with all the skill and determination you give us,
through Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

As this light travels our nation,
may your light, O God, shine in the hearts of all
who gather to celebrate the energy, skill and dedication of others.
Send your Holy Spirit
to light up our lives
and set our hearts on fire with love for you;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

They are available alongside a free pdf download of liturgical resources for use during the 2012 Games, containing suggested Bible readings, prayers, collects and litanies.

The Bishop of Truro, the Rt Revd Tim Thornton, and Cornwall Methodist District chairman, Revd Steve Wild, will be the first to use one of the new prayers at a special event marking the arrival of the Torch at Land's End on the evening of Friday, May 18. Bishop Tim and Revd Wild will be kindling a second Prayer Relay torch from a beacon being lit close to Land's End, at Chapel Carn Brea, to symbolise the Gospel coming into Cornwall via the first Celtic missionaries. Twelve lamps will be lit from the Torch (one for each deanery), and churches from all denominations will then be invited to use the lamps to light an Olympic prayer flame for their own church. Bishop Tim and Revd Wild will conduct a ceremony of blessing for the Prayer Relay's baton, which is to be handed over from community to community over the following 70 days. Among those involved with these exchanges are the Bishops of Durham, Newcastle and Whitby.

The Prayer Relay is an initiative of More Than Gold, an ecumenical initiative set up by all the main Christian denominations. More Than Gold has released a free guide, Praying During the 70-Day Prayer Relay, to inspire Christians and churches to contribute to a 'cascade' of prayer and praise as the Flame travels around the nation; it is available at www.morethangold.org.uk/prayerrelay.

Many churches are planning Torch Relay and Prayer Relay-related events and services. For example, churches across Cornwall will be serving a record number of free cream teas in their local communities; and St Johns Church, Greenhill, Weymouth, will be open for coffee/tea and bacon sandwiches to on-lookers on the morning of 13 July.

Bishop Tim Thornton said: "It is a great privilege to be first in the chain of events and to be able offer a Christian perspective on the passage of the Olympic torch across Cornwall. We are trying to help even the most rural of communities feel part of the action. 

"These specially composed prayers are the ideal way to celebrate the Torch relay as we prepare as a nation for the 2012 Games. I encourage people to pray them over the next 70 days."

The Modern Olympics

 The Modern Olympics

An illustrated talk

Friday, May 18, 7.30 p.m.

St. John the Baptist Palmeira Square Hove

Former BBC correspondent Paul Legg, who writes about sport for The Times, takes us on an action-packed journey from Athens 1896 to London 2012 with special emphasis on the early 20th century.

The presentation includes archive footage of the early Games, including London 1908, extracts from “Chariots of Fire”, Leni Riefenstahl’s controversial film of the Berlin Olympics and revisits the “Austerity Games” in London 1948.

Get ready for London 2012 by recalling the sporting dramas which paved the way.

Admission free Donations welcome





The running track at Athens in 2004

(a re-creation of the 1896 track)





Atheletes prepare to run the 100 metres at the first Modern Olympics in Athens in 1896



So - how are you getting ready for the Games?

In Eastbourne…

Ten different Eastbourne churches are partnering together to offer holiday clubs for 5-11s. Each church will offer a programme of between 3 and 6 days which will teach through Luke's Gospel, involve sports and craft activities and plenty of fun and games. On the final day - Saturday 28th July - we converge on the local running track. There, 300+ children will compete in child-friendly track and field events and we will bring our gospel teaching to a climax. The parents will be invited for a medals ceremony and then the town is invited to a BBQ, bouncy castle and other fun events.

In Wivelsfield…

Their Village Day was reinstated a few years ago and the Parish Church has always played a prominent role in both the organising and on the Day itself. St Peter and St John the Baptist always carry the festivities over to the next Day with a Sunday Morning Café Church Service in the Village Hall. This year they have picked up the Games 2012 and are getting ready for their 'Olympic themed' Village Day to be held on Saturday 14th July 2012 from 10am. As part of the lead up to this exciting event they are preparing to begin the Village Day Torch Relay in May. The Village Day Torch will begin its journey at the church and then from there pass from family to family and will also visit the local school, playgroup and many businesses within the village. Along with the torch will be a Blessings Book in which the current torch bearer/holder can send their blessing, kind thoughts and/or prayers for the receiving bearer/holder.

On your bike…

Revd Richard Jackson Diocesan Missioner is to travel the Torch Route on his Harley through the diocese a month ahead paving the way with a Pilgrimage of Prayer.

In Patcham…

All Saints are once again making preparations for their Community Fete and this year it will be having a ‘Going for Gold’ theme – including scarecrows!

Diocesan Youth Camp (normally in May) 1st – 4th June 2012 Plumpton Racecourse .
Has the title ‘Run the Race’ and will feature amongst other things ‘Wacky Races’ download all the information you need to book in your youth group here: http://www.yesonthenet.org.uk/events/runtherace/

And at both ends of the diocese at Petworth and Hastings plans are being put in place to engage with the Torch Relay as it passes through

Ahead of all of this a special Boat, part of the Cultural Olympiad will be Blessed by Bishop Mark at a special Celebratory Service at Brighton Marina on the 27th May

SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?