Touchstone: listening for a change

Greenbelt is really challenging for those of us that live life in very different settings. For many Christians it is a connection with an alternative sort of church, a chance to think radical thoughts. For us at Touchstone it feels more like a connection with the central ground, a coming into harbour but not what makes life real. So many white faces, so many middle class values .... it was good to be invited to speak and to share some thoughts from the edge, or is it the centre??

We wove a stole and Louise embroidered it, it was a bit ragged at the edges (who isn't?) but made from Bradford materials, Yorkshire wool, local cloth and dye .... a gift for our new District Chair, Roger Walton .... some might call it 'rustic' but we reckon it is 'real

 lectures, countryside, kids stuff ...

... not just for the kids ...

 ... creative arts triumphs ....

... the Methodist School of Fellowship takes 130 people to Swanwick, all ages, all nationalities, and mixes them together for a week of relaxation and learning. I both spoke at and ran two afternoon workshops ... and had a lot of interesting conversations with all kinds of people. 

The environment was an ongoing theme with both theological and practical reflection on how ordinary Methodists can make a difference. Bible Study reflections, led by Roger Walton, each morning encouraged a deep engagement with Scripture - not just the easy bits! 

Quite a surprising gathering really.

Maya has just got back from Guatemala, having learned how to weave on sticks (amongs other things) This is a whole body activity which involves tying warp onto a door frame and then around the weaver's waist. We had a go ....!

A visit from the BBC, making a documentary for Radio4, brought five local Muslim women together at Touchstone to talk about how life had changed for them since 9/11. It was good that we could create a safe enough space for this to happen, and they chatted for over an hour about how they had needed to become more articulate about their faith since those events, so that they could inform their children that most Muslims sought peace and integration. An impressive gathering which provoked deep conversation and a lot of questions

Learn, discuss, reflect, worship, share hospitality ...... how liberating it is to be with a group of people of all ages and cultures, wrestling with the Bible, sharing open hearted and honest conversation, thinking about what it means in their lives, opening up spaces for worship and engaging with good conversation (and coffee!) This is the process that Liberation Theology engenders, and it is also possible .....

A gathering of 30 people from all over Britain to talk about Liberation Theology, organised between Desmond Tutu House and Touchstone, proves YET AGAIN why our house is too small!! We crammed into the Blue Room to talk about Israel/Palestine and environmental issues. We expanded into DT House for film watching (Capitalism - a love story, and Pray the Devil back to Hell) and we spilled out onto the streets of Bradford to listen and learn from our city context. Over a curry at the Karachi (served in a bowl and eaten using chapatti) I talked with my neighbour Tim about Christian protest and what an anarchist church would be like ..... as one does! Brilliant!!

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I got so excited about this event that I forgot to take many pictures - but maybe these give a flavour of the fantastic gathering of 30 women who came to Touchstone to talk about what it means to be a woman of faith in a leadership role in Bradford.

Awais had made a massive curry, and we sat and ate, chatted and laughed ..

It was a brilliant evening - thanks Wahida and Selina, and let's plan the next one soon!

Sometimes in a city context it is possible to forget just how green the world is out there - so at the end of a busy and challenging year, the Touchstone staff headed for the hills to reflect on what we have been up to and what is coming up in September ...

     it involved, a lot of writing .....                some puzzling .....                        a punnet of fruit .....                   and rather a lot of cake .....

                               but it resulted in some really good strategic thinking, a bright idea or six ..... and .....

                                                               a very happy student deacon!!!!!!!!!