Greetings from Cornerstone church in Cranbrook, I want to start by telling you about Lillie…
Lillie is two years old, she came to Harvest Messy Church with her brother Harry (6) and mum Lisa, they were one family of over 100 people who came to celebrate harvest and share a meal that day, only a couple of weeks ago. Like many people in Cranbrook they have little church background but love belonging to what is happening, be it: coffee morning, toddler group, running group, family worship, family film morning or on this day Messy Church.
At the end
of the Harvest service we sang the very traditional ‘We plough the fields and
scatter’, Lillie (actually most people) didn’t know the words but she came to
the front with many other children, caught up in the atmosphere of worship and
celebration and span around singing her heart out, she sang her favourite song,
the one she knew the words to – Lillie sang ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen – it was
heart melting.
Lisa
starting bringing Lillie to church because a few months ago I had taught some
worship songs to the children at Cranbrook’s Primary School St Martin’s – Harry
(Lisa’s son) had 2 favourites ’10,000 reasons’ and ‘Hide me now’ – he loved
them so much that he persuaded his mum to find them and play them on YouTube at
home – listening together the family were drawn into an understanding of God
that was new and they wanted to know more.
This is a
tiny snapshot, a single story, from the myriad of encounters that people are
experiencing as doors are opened and the grace, love and inclusivity of the gospel
is shared in Cranbrook.
Cornerstone
church is at the heart of many of the activities that happen in a development
that now has more than 800 homes occupied and is planned to have more than
8000. At the recent Great West run, nearly 20 runners (several of them new to
running) ran the half marathon, the vast majority of them wearing ‘Cornerstone
runners’ t-shirts. One of the runners said ‘I am not religious but the way the
running group includes everyone epitomises the way that Mark and Cornerstone
church includes everyone’. It is this ethos of inclusion and sharing God’s blessing
that underpins all we do and the reason we have: car washes, litter picks, film
night, choir, board game evenings, coffee mornings, quiz nights, toddler group,
Messy Church, family fun days, family film mornings, home church, family
worship, an ‘Exploring Christianity’ course, mothering day lunch, as well as
harvest, Christmas, Easter and other celebrations.
There is
another function that I undertake and that is liaising with authorities: East
Devon Council, the consortium of builders, Eon (our heat provider) South West
Water, the Police, Schools and many more. Part of the reason for this is that
the Facebook page that I set up 18 months ago now has 1303 members! As a result
of this I am regularly sent messages concerning a whole gamut of subjects, as a
result I have been able to bring together groups so that, as a community, we
can speak with a single voice – this has been a huge boon – I include a few
quotes, not to big myself up, but to indicate the importance and significance
of these relationships:
This is what
the CEO of Eon Heat wrote:
“As one of the key figureheads of
the community you have always strived to resolve issues in an amicable and
constructive manner with the interests of the whole community in mind. This has
been a huge support in getting necessary lines of communication open between
ourselves and the local residents and I genuinely feel that without you
facilitating this we would not be where we are today… I feel that your
involvement has been instrumental in bringing this new town together and
creating a positive and vibrant community.”
The projects director form East Devon’s Growth point wrote:
“You have played a pivotal role in helping to ensure
that Cranbrook is not just a collection of houses in a field but has developed
as a genuine community.”
The head
from the Primary said:
“The school has worked closely with Mark and the
impact of this work (and the school’s own strong Christian identity) is
evidenced in the culture of the school, the opportunities the children have to engage
in whole school and class-based collective worship and in the opportunities
children are given to respond to experiences they have. The school is inclusive of ‘all faiths and
none’ and sees its role as ‘opening the door to worship’ for the children and
their parents. The school’s Christian
identity is clearly identifiable and provides the bedrock for the school’s
philosophy and practice to grow; a philosophy and practice of love,
inclusivity, warmth and respect.”
Finally the
Project manager for Cranbrook recently wrote:
“With a little reflection, I'd
like to take a moment to note what a remarkable journey it has been … and how
it is evident that the a burgeoning physical development of Cranbrook is truly
being matched in equal if not greater measure by the ever growing vibrant and
vital community within the new town. It must be said that we truly respect
and value your remarkable skills and endeavours and not least for the link
function that you provide between the Developers and the Community; it’s always
good to talk and the two-way dialogue that we have certainly enables the
Consortium to gain an understanding of views and opinions within the community
and, where we can, to enable us to respond to that through partnership working.
So, it goes without saying that we hope and trust that for many,
many years to come you will continue to play a key role in the development of
Cranbrook as a new Community”
I am a little embarrassed by
these comments and incredibly humbled but I wanted you, the people who have
encouraged, supported, prayed and resourced me to see the fruit that has come
from the vision of the church to get involved more than 12 years ago.
Harvest was
the place I started and Harvest is where I will conclude with this letter. In
Luke’s Gospel Chapter 10, verse 2 Jesus speaks to his disciples and says:
"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”.
I have now
been working in Cranbrook for two years, it is not always easy, but I love what
I do and believe with all my heart that God is in it. There are so many
opportunities here to be ‘church’ in a completely new way and to encounter
‘gospel – good news’ in ways that I had never dreamed of – yet at the core
there are a very few of us, and many at the very start of their Christian
journey. A number of Christian families have, understandably, continued to go
to their existing churches in Exeter (while being wholeheartedly supportive of
what we are doing), where their families and friends and familiar patterns of
worship are. That has left us a little short of workers – might I ask you to
continue to support the work that has been started here by praying for some
more workers, called to serve in this amazing place.
