Church Blog based on a sofa
Imagine it. Your church has decided to read the Bible. All the Bible. Every Bible verse in turn.
And you’re reading some of the Bible verses.
Which Bible verses, would be the unfortunate Bible verses to read out loud to a crowd of people?
How about these?
Any others you can suggest?
Married. Dad.
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Well heres something for the local Exeter lot; Church in Exeter – in hand with Biblefresh and the Cathedral are planning to put on a Bible-reading marathon:
3 September 2011As part of celebrations to mark the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, a Bible-reading marathon is to take place in central Exeter.Churches from across Exeter are taking part in the event, which forms part of the Biblefresh initiative, a project promoting the Bible in events across the UK this year.
The public reading of 100 texts from Genesis to Revelation will take place from 8am on September 3rd on a stage at the West Front of Exeter Cathedral. Seating will be provided and the day begins with bacon butties served at 8am and ends with hot dogs available from 6pm.
The texts have been carefully selected by Scripture Union, as part of their E100 project, and offer a journey through the main storyline of the Bible. Free copies of St Luke’s Gospel will be handed out to those listening, as will E100 programmes to encourage people to continue their reading.
Diocesan Missioner the Revd Canon Anna Norman-Walker, speaking on behalf of Churches Together Across Exeter, says, “We want to celebrate that for 400 years ordinary people in this country have been able to read an authorised version of the Bible in their own language. This Big Story has transformed millions of lives and inspired people to live lives of generosity and sacrifice as a result – something we need more than ever in these days.
We hope that, as a result of this celebration, some listeners will feel inspired to give the Bible a go!”
I’m presuming the “West Front of the Cathedral” is the Cathedral Green. But I’m sure if you wonder around enough, you’ll find it.
From what I’ve heard it should be more then simply 100 readings, with a few churches planning to try and do something different with their passages. But I suppose that may change between now and then.
I’m planning to be there during the late morning, so if you see me, please feel free to come up to me and say “You’re ThatAndy from TheChurchSofa, and I claim my prize*”
*”The prize” might just be a handshake…
Married. Dad.
Blogger / WordPress / Email List Guy.
Photographer.
Support worker. Short sentences. I write Bio in.
… and had a nice little chat about the thechurchsofa.co.uk
When did you guys (Andy & Andy) set up your blog and what do you enjoy about it that keeps you blogging?
Over recent years the two of us have been involved in various online projects, in the form of blogs, websites, etc. They have all too varying degrees of success and sustainability. TheChurchSofa is our first joint project and the idea came to us in the summer of this year, whilst partaking in a few pints at the local which happened to be called The Living Room….hence sofa! We wanted to be a voice for the men in churches, who probably, like us often would rather be sat on the sofa watching TV and having a beer than heading to church, but we recognise that this Christian stuff seems to work better in a group.
What inspires your blog post topics and do you have a particular strategy?
Strategy…….not so much! Possibly one day – we’re still trying to find our niche at the moment. In terms of what inspires us, we both try to draw on our own experiences and things that we see popping up in the news, local events, what Bob at church might have mentioned in his preach last Sunday… the list could go on.
Humour is clearly important in what you’re doing, what’s important about that kind of angle?
Humour???? (is that enough of an answer?)
Who’s on your Blogroll (links) and why?
Good question…..at the moment it’s mostly just our mates plus one or two blogs we liked and have gotten to know via the twitterverse
Married. Dad.
Blogger / WordPress / Email List Guy.
Photographer.
Support worker. Short sentences. I write Bio in.
Serious question for the Bible readers out there.
Please consider the following passage from Mark 5:
1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
So… considering how the locals felt of the poor guy involved, the power that Jesus had over Legion, how much power he still has over the demon world, and how scared the locals were of Jesus when he showed his power, please can someone answer me this. How did the poor pigs feel about this?
Married. Dad.
Blogger / WordPress / Email List Guy.
Photographer.
Support worker. Short sentences. I write Bio in.
So recently I moved from Bath to Exeter. Not a huge distance but certainly not close enough for me to keep going to the same church. This put me in a bit of a dilemma – how do you go about finding the right church for you?
The first question I had to deal with was why I don’t always like going to church? It’s become almost too obvious to say that men don’t like going to church, but often it’s true. I’m still not 100% on what makes me not like it, maybe I just like to have a lie in on a sunday or maybe I don’t like the idea of being preached at, though I do quite like doing the preaching. There’s lots of things it could be and maybe one day I’ll realise what it is that puts me off every so often. However me not always liking being there isn’t going to stop me going. I’ve figured that this whole following God thing seems to work best in a group!
Looking for a church is something I’d never had to do as a regular punter so to speak. I went to the church my parents when to when I was a child and continued there until I went to uni. While at uni I worked for a church on a placement and was expected there on sundays, so had never really had to find a church to go to for myself. There were a few things however that I thought were important about a church, and this is what I based my decision on, in no particular order.
and now after a fairly long time of looking, trying to decide between visiting traditional churches and super charismatic churches and everything in between, I have found a church that seems right for me. It’s a free church, with all of the above, to the extent that the second time I went I was in the worship band!
The thing is, it’s not just a church that meets my ‘requirements’ . Its a church that I feel a part of already. This is because of the welcome I’ve received, to the extent that I feel I now belong to a church that wanted me to be a part of it.
This CartoonChurch.com cartoon by Dave Walker originally appeared in the Church Times.
I was going to comment about housegroups / home groups / cell groups / what ever… I was going to talk about how meeting half way through the week to study the Bible can seem like a weird and odd thing to do. I was then going to say something about loving being able to share in the brutal craziness of life in light of Gods Grace.
But my throat is doing some weird aching thing, and I’m missing not being at housegroup.
But I think Dave said it better on his blog.
Married. Dad.
Blogger / WordPress / Email List Guy.
Photographer.
Support worker. Short sentences. I write Bio in.
Now heres something a little special from the world of Chelmsford and the brain of Phil Ritchie.
As part of the Bible Year 2011 initiative, the “Beer and Bible” initiative is there to encourage public reading of the Bible in 200 pubs around the Chelmsford area, with a focus on seasonal times such as Easter.
The Church Sofa lads are fans of both the Bible and Beer, and any excuse to combine the two is worth celebrating.
Personally speaking one of my most peaceful months for a few months was spent next to the River Exe in Exeter, pint in hand, while reading 1 John. It was a nice pint by the way…
Married. Dad.
Blogger / WordPress / Email List Guy.
Photographer.
Support worker. Short sentences. I write Bio in.
