They should come back as this Monday, 23rd April, Clare Cork, our new Café Manager, opens the Abbey Café for the first time. If each of our 50,000 tourists stops off for a cup of tea and a cup cake, we will be totally stuffed, but happy. Why are we doing this? Well, it will enhance our tourists’ visit – a king, stained glass, toilets and a sandwich – and it should be a distinctive watering hole for Malmesbury, with monks singing and Fairtrade drinks. It will help us pay to keep our 12th century building from falling down around us and it should welcome those who really need a welcome or even a chat and a prayer. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (Matthew 25:35)

It would be great if you stopped by in the early days, and if you have two hours a week to volunteer and don’t mind smiling and washing your hands we have a job for you.

Café Opening Hours

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday  - 9am-4pm

Wednesday  - 12-4pm

Saturday – 9am-1pm

You can follow Neill Archer’s blog at neillarcher.blogspot.co.uk

Resonate is a new community for 18-29 year olds at Malmesbury Abbey.  We will explore what it means to have a life as a Disciple and Pilgrim that resonates with Jesus. We will explore this together through creating a culture of courage and adventure to go to a place with Jesus we have never been before.

If you want to get involved on this journey email me, Lee Barnes, on resonate@malmesburyabbey.com

Many people ask what a diocese is and how it all fits together. Some people view “the diocese” purely as the central organisation that provides support services to ministers, parishes and church schools.

But a diocese is also the sum of its parts: our 204 churches in seven deaneries, 67 church schools, chaplaincies across the sectors and the structures that help join them together. And we are all part of it.

Over 30,000 people regularly worship in our churches and 15,000 children and young people attend a church school. We have 400 licensed ministers, lay and ordained, fulfilling leadership roles in church and chaplaincies.

The five minute animated film, created in-house by Sam Cavender, explains all of this as well as giving an overview of the finances of the Diocese and its parishes. The film ends focusing on what the Diocese is about: “We want to help each other experience and be changed by the love of God and make that love known in our communities – this is being the Church.”

Neill 

It was good to see the Riding Lights actors again as I'd bumped into them in the Whole Hog after Basketball on Thursday Night. And really great that some guys from from basketball came to see The Narrow Road. Very strong performance, great cast and some thoughtful theology behind the script. Memorable was the side-by-side depiction of Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac as Christ was praying and sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, then crying out 'where's my scapegoat.' Also having Jesus and Barabbas bound back to back as Pilate interrogated them – the son of the father (Bar-Abbas) with the Son of the Father (Jesus.)

Lee

I was encouraged to see about 60 people gather for a young and fresh new artist. There is no doubt that Luke has his own distinctive sound with cracking melodies but also a real gentleness to his solo ballads. As I participated in my fourth cup of coffee for the evening it felt that people were getting in to the music and the atmosphere was more and more relaxed. No stagediving though which was what I was planning on see… ah well, maybe next time. It made me think that maybe the Abbey should do an all-dayer with a wide range of local and not so local talent on display for the community. Big well done to Luke & the band!

 

 

 

The Labyrinth from Tom Price on Vimeo.

Monday Morning

Neill

Six at Morning Prayer this morning, only three last time. Two observations. Observation one - there will be less croissants to go around afterwards with our fresh coffee. Did the monks actually manage to pray early in the morning before coffee? Also with a preference for strawberry jam emerging we urgently need intercessors to join us who prefer apricot jam or honey with their croissants. Observation number two – the growth is phenomenal, 100% in one day. At this rate in two weeks time we will have 24,576 at morning prayer and I'll be able to launch my own TV channel. Exciting times.

 

TUESDAY MORNING

 

Neill

Monday night was a time of grace and beauty. One of those times where God was at work in the conversing and the praying and the singing and the listening. Walter Dirks was moved, and moved us, as he recounted strories of the heroic and unknown people he has met and photographed around the world – Daniel Ruffinatti's story was jaw dropping in it's pain, brokenness and the power of the redemptive love of Christ. Lee Barnes blew us away with powerful and personal poetry reminding us that we know a God who is in the business of reclamation, reclaiming that which is broken and forlorn. And, after the stillness of Night Prayer, Tristan Cork exploded on the Night Stage with Maximo Park, West Country Gangsta (Gingster?) Rap and Amazing Grace. At times his voice was as beautiful as Paul Tilley's shirt. (Paul was incidentally quite brilliant and cutting edge in his percussion play.) Look out for Lee's poetry and Walter's photography as the week progresses, and buy Walter's incredible book if you have any sense.

 

 

 

For 4 days at the end of October, Malmesbury Abbey was transformed into a starship!  With about 45 children and adults and a cafe for good measure, the Abbey was full of music, games, drama and my personal favorite, alien snot (aka yucky dip). This was Starship Discovery Holiday Club, and it was amazing fun.  Roy Windle and The Space Cadets lead the music with such classics as Tiny Little Me. Clair Cork ran the Birdcage Cafe with her waistline busting cupcakes, there where volunteers who ran games, crafts, and joined in silly songs, but above all they just got down and had great fun with the children.  The week ended with Pete Campbell running a great messy church service.  Overall it was a real fun week….but we all now need a rest…till next time!

Maseno Project Trip from Cris Rogers on Vimeo.

Imagine a world where poverty is being eradicated and people are seeing Jesus heal them on a daily basis…

Please welcome the Maseno Project!

‘My trip out to Maseno in July was a wonderful one. We saw on one afternoon over 70 healings of eyes, ears and legs. What was also wonderful was to be able to use the money Malmesbury Abbey generously gave the project. We were able to resource six young orphans with beds, cooking utensils, washing bowls and a sack of maize which will last them a good third of the year. Many of the young orphans we visited many were living with grandparents but these five were very much on their own. We were also able to buy them some footwear and some simple clothes. The remainder of the money we used to rent a field close by to one of the orphan feeding programs at Ekwanda, Maseno. This orphan-feeding program had about 350 orphans and we were able to rent a field so that some of the young people can learn to grow simple crops outside their homes. We have been able to do this elsewhere and it has proven to be quite successful, as the young people have been taking cuttings and even learning to grow bananas from the orphan feeding program mothers. The money Malmesbury Abbey gave allowed us to impact the lives of the orphans in Ekwanda in what will be hopefully lasting ways as they learn to grow their own food. Some of these orphans are as young as 7 and are desperate need. To see a full record of the trip please go to http://vimeo.com/13512358 where there is a short film looking at the impact of the trip of the lives of those in Maseno.’

On Sunday October 10th Malmesbury Abbey will be beautifully decorated for harvest with pumpkins and carrots and old bicycles. The Abbey is working with local charity bikes4africa to help turn old bikes into usuable bikes for African schoolchildren who currently face extremely long daily walks to school from often remote villages. They will also be collecting books for the bikes4africa project and mobile phones for wateraid.

Helen King from jole rider who run the bikes4africa project said “We’ll hope to get about 50 bikes from this collection. That might not sound a lot, but for the 50 children in Africa who will be getting to school far more quickly and easily, arriving there ready to learn, it’s fantastic! A donation of £10 is requested with each bike, and 50pence with each book, and this means we’ll be able to ship them to Africa before the end of this year. It’s especially exciting that jole rider is a Malmesbury charity and this is the first collection of bikes and books right here in Malmesbury.”

Rev Neill Archer, vicar at the Abbey, who has just returned from two weeks in southern Uganda, added “I have two unused bikes in my garage that could be put to much better use and fill the bikes4africa requirements and we also have a number of children’s books that can make the journey to Africa. I suspect there are many households in the area in the same situation and these two days of collection gives us all a chance to recycle, to work with a local charity to make a difference in young African lives, and to clear out the garage or shed.’

When the Abbey is open on Sunday 10th and Monday 11th October it will be possible to drop off a bike, book or mobile – because of a classical music concert it will not be possible on Saturday 9th October. Details of which bikes and children’s books are acceptable can be found at www.jolerider.org.

STARSHIP DISCOVERY Holiday Club
Malmesbury Abbey
28 to 30 Oct 2010
10am-12 for a FREE fun-packed,gungey type of Holiday Club for 5 to 11 year old in Malmesbury area.

To register with the STARSHIP DISCOVERY holiday club, you can download the form HERE or just turn up!