I have been thoroughly enjoying the various events

of our 125th anniversary celebrations. It is

particularly satisfying that the organ restoration has

been completed this year, thanks to a hugely

generous anonymous gift of £100,000.

Anniversaries are inevitably times of looking back.

Just last week someone handed me a copy of the

booklet that was produced for the 50th Anniversary

of the current St Barnabas building. It was in 1942,

the midst of the Second World War.

I was reminded again of all that the first Vicar,

William Dales, did during his fifty years at St

Barnabas. Not only did he see through the

completion of our building. It was largely thanks to

his indefatigable efforts that three daughter

churches were built; St James’ on Crescent Road,

St Mark’s in Grove Hill (now St Oswald’s) and St

Martin’s in Whinney Banks. Today they would be

called ‘church plants’. It was during Vicar Dales’

time that the organ was built at a cost of £2,000

and renovated for a further £2,000, an indication of

how times have changed.

Outlook Monthly Newsletter of St Barnabas

Parish Church of Linthorpe and Ayresome

September 2017

‘Go Forward’

By the time of the Jubilee

celebrations this was recorded of

the church:

‘So far this record is mostly about

buildings, but a much greater work

has been done during these fifty

years amongst multitudes of

people. Although the Church is

very large, it has always been a ‘full

church’, with real congregational

worship, and good music, with a

strong communicant life and

m iss ionary zea l . Eas ter

communicants have exceeded

1,400, a tax on Church and Clergy,

and the parish has been proud to

pay the largest quota to the

Diocesan Fund.’

Much has changed since those war

years, and indeed since the church

was built in the Victorian era, but I

hope the same spirit of worship,

excellence in music, community,

missionary zeal and generosity still

pervades at St Barnabas.

When I first became a Christian in

the 1970’s two film strips, both by

John Stott, one of the most

influential Anglicans of the last

century, were in common use.

One was a basic Christianity

course, the other a confirmation

course. As the tape recorder

played the voiceover the person in

control of the slide projector

would roll the strip on to the

appropriate slide at the right time

(in theory!). It was pretty high

tech back then.

The Alpha film course which we

are currently using has such high

production values and is set in so

many international and exotic

locations it is almost like watching

one of the Bourne films.

The presentation has changed, but

the essential message is still the

same; the wonderful good news of

our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ

and all that God has done for us, is

doing for us and will do for us

through Him. God in Christ by

the power of the Holy Spirit is

doing a great work in multitudes

Vicar John William Dales

of people today and St Barnabas is

still playing its part in that.

That would not be so if nothing

had changed at St Barnabas and if

at some stage it was decided to

keep things as they were, as if

suspending them in aspic. As it is,

each generation of St Barnabas has

sought to preach the same good

news within an ever changing

culture. That often presents

significant challenges, not least in

deciding what can change in line

with society’s values without

compromising the gospel. (The

very welcome developments in the

ministry of women in the church

are a case in point.)

Looking back has its place, not

least if it reminds us of God’s

faithfulness and results in praise

and thanksgiving to him for all that

he has done. It also challenges us

to remain faithful to him and to

the task to which he calls us, as

our forebears at St Barnabas

remained faithful in their

generation.

But whilst we may look back, our

direction of travel must never be

backward. The motto of our first

vicar, ‘Daddy’ Dales, was ‘Go

Forward’. Close to his death has

wrote, ‘I have attempted greater

things than I have been able to do.

I still, however, want you to ‘Go

Forward’. I believe God honoured

his continual drive to discover and

move into God’s future.

As the church seeks God’s will for

its future under the leadership of a

new vicar, it can do to take the

motto of its first vicar as its own:

‘Go Forward’.

Erik

The Alpha Course A new Alpha Course will begin on Wednesday 13th September in the

narthex. During my time as vicar I have had the great joy of seeing many

people meet God and come to a life changing faith in Jesus Christ through

the various Alpha courses that have run. Many in our congregation can

testify to how Jesus met them through Alpha.

Alas, this will be my last opportunity as vicar of St Barnabas to be involved

in running an Alpha Course, but I expect and believe that God will be at

work through it.

Please do prayerfully consider whom you might invite on the course.

Could it be one of the five people you have been praying for since the

‘Kingdom Come’ initiative? Maybe someone completely different will come

to mind. Follow the hunch!

Evening Services in the autumn You will see from the programme card that we will have several guest

preachers at our evening services in the autumn. In our series, ‘City Vision’

we will be exploring the role of the church in the city in which it is set.

(Middlesbrough may not officially be a city, but in biblical terms a city is

defined by the density of its population, and so I think our town fits that

definition of city.) The series will

consist of sermons setting out

some of the things we discover

from the bible about the city in

God’s purposes, and also input

from those who are involved in

practical ministry to the town of

Middlesbrough. I hope it will help

us as we seek to discover God’s

vision for Middlesbrough and our

role within his vision.

From the Registers

Funeral at St Barnabas

16th August Arthur Edward Shaw aged 71

Going Deeper In order to give the maximum number of people the opportunity to attend

the Alpha Course (see above), there will be no ‘Going Deeper’ in the

autumn months.

Messiah As part of our 125th Anniversary Celebrations a performance of Handel’s

Messiah is to take place in St Barnabas Church at 7pm on Saturday 28th

October. A hundred strong choir, primarily made up of people from St

Barnabas Church and then friends who sing in the choirs who rehearse in St

Barnabas, together with a line up of talented soloists under the direction of

Gillian Sild, will perform this famous work.

There will be five rehearsals in church. If you are interested in coming to

sing as part of the choir, there are leaflets available from the narthex. Please

sign the tear off slip and return it to Alistair Bolton as soon as possible.

Mondays from 7.30pm in the Reid Room

11th September – 30th October 2017

This autumn we are running The Prophecy Course. Using a mixture of

interactive teaching, group discussion and opportunities to have a go

for ourselves, The Prophecy Course is designed to help all people to

hear from God and use the gifts of prophecy.

The Prophecy Course seeks to give “a solid, biblical foundation for

their understanding of the prophetic” and provide people “with the

confidence to step out and use the gift of prophecy.”

The course is open to all, whether or not you have any experience of

prophecy, and takes a down-to-earth accessible approach to the

following topics:

– Understanding Prophecy

– Tuning In

– Learning to Hear God’s Voice

– The Holy Spirit

– Values

– Growing in the Prophetic

– Guidelines and Good Practice

– Weighing Prophecies; Responding to the Prophetic

– Prophetic Ministry

We will be asking for a contribution to cover the costs of the

participant booklets (suggested donation £7).

More information is available on the accessible prophecy website:

http://accessibleprophecy.com/resources/the-prophecy-course/

To sign-up and for more details contact Sam Tyndall (sam@st-

barnabas.net)

Sunday 17th September

2.30 pm

at St Barnabas Church, Linthorpe

to celebrate 125 years of St Barnabas

followed by refreshments

All welcome

Songs of Praise

for Middlesbrough Deanery

Family Ceilidh There will be a family ceilidh on Saturday 14th October, 6 - 9 p.m. in the

church hall. Tickets will be available soon. Come along and bring your

friends. All welcome.

St Barnabas Church Office, 1A St Barnabas Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, TS5 6JR

Phone: 01642 812622 E-mail: office@st-barnabas.net Website: www.st-barnabas.net

Sunday 3rd September Normal morning service pattern resumes

Week beginning 3rd September Life groups meet

Monday 4th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church

PCC meets, 7.15 pm in the Reid Room

Thursday 7th September Men’s Fellowship meets, 2 pm in the narthex

Monday 11th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church

Wednesday 13th September Alpha Course begins, 7.15 pm in the narthex

Sunday 17th September Deanery Songs of Praise, 2.30 pm in church

Week beginning 17th September Life groups meet

Monday 18th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church

Prayer Team meets, 7.30 pm in the Reid Room

Wednesday 20th September Alpha Course, 7.15 pm in the narthex

Thursday 21st September Men’s Fellowship meets, 2 pm in the narthex

Friday 22nd September World’s Largest Coffee Morning, 10 am—12 noon in the

narthex

Monday 25th September Welcome Break meets, 10 am—12 noon in church

Wednesday 27th September Alpha Course, 7.15 pm in the narthex

Friday 29th September Lydia Group meets, 2 pm in the Reid Room

Diary