Burley Christian Festival

Burley Christian festival, Manor Park, Burley, New Forest, Hampshire. That's the field next to the main car park in Burley, behind the Queens Head Pub. Saturday 22nd June 2013, 11am -5pm. 11am to 4pm various bands and drama on stage, incl. sketches by RPC Drama Group; RPC Dance Group running a workshop; puppet shows by Poulner Baptist Church; bouncy castle; land train; food stalls; other stalls and activities. Ends with praise & worship from 4 to 5pm. Richmond Park Church drama group on stage 12-12.20ish, and 1.20-1.40ish. Come and see us!

Worship Dance Conference 8th-10th February 2013 It is with great joy that we would like to invite you to a dance conference held at Green Pastures Christian retreat and Prayer Centre in Poole, Dorset. This dance conference will be especially geared towards people who have little or no dance experience or people who love to dance but do not generally have the opportunity. In our main sessions (starting on Friday evening) we will be learning a selection of worship and Messianic dances. On Saturday afternoon there will be a choice of workshops, and we will end on Sunday morning with a big dance celebration. In between the dance sessions there will be time to chat, rest, eat, and enjoy each other’s company and the Lord’s Presence. Please note the conference is only suitable for people aged 16 and over. For more information please follow the link below: http://greenpastures17.wordpress.com/whats-on/christian-prayer-centre-jan-feb/

More about Halloween....

Wednesday 31st October 2012: Fun Night 6-8pm. On Halloween evening we will have an open church with various activities (face painting, crafts etc) for any children wandering past, including refreshments for the parents. However, other Christians argue that Halloween is a rare time of year when you actually get to meet your neighbours -taking the kids trick or treating, or opening your door to neighbour's children- and that Christians should use it as a "meet and greet" opportunity instead of remaining aloof from this community activity. They point out we will not be bolstering the kingdom of Satan by joining in, and we have nothing to be afraid of with Jesus on our side! Considering All Hallows Even and Day, although Anglican and Catholic churches still follow the "church calendar" that was developed in the six hundred years following the death and resurrection of Jesus, many non-denominational churches, such as Richmond Park Church, don't follow all the old church traditions, preferring to try and be more like the church as described in the New Testament. We believe in the Biblical definition of a "saint", that all Christians are saints, not because of anything great we've done, but because we have Jesus living in us. We don't believe that the church has the authority to declare some people saints, and therefore we don't celebrate "saints days". However, some Christians use the Biblical definition of all Christians being saints, and then choose to celebrate All Saints Day to remember the example and strengths of past Christians and thank the Lord for the work done through them. And another more generous interpretation of the traditional church's actions is that they were trying to proclaim the supremacy of the gospel over the superstitions of ghosts, but even if this is true, their attempts to "Christianise" Halloween failed because All Hallows Day and All Hallows Even continued the theme of focusing on the dead (not the risen Jesus) and it was easy for people who didn't want to give up the perceived mystery and excitement of Samhain to merge the old and the new, which the church encouraged by keeping the dressing up and parades. What all this means is that Richmond Park Church has never regarded Halloween, even in the guise of All Hallows Even and All Saints Day, to be a real Christian festival. However, as Halloween is a popular excuse for many to party, and we ourselves enjoy a good party, we see it as a great time to give children and families an opportunity to celebrate Jesus the light of the world rather than celebrate the darkness that the popularist Halloween represents. Wednesday 31st October 2012: Fun Night 6-8pm. On Halloween evening we will have an open church with various activities (face painting, crafts etc) for any children wandering past, including refreshments for the parents.

What do Christians today think of Halloween? Part 1

Hmmm...there are mixed views! Most non-Christians and some Christians view Halloween as "a harmless bit of fun". However, Halloween's pagan Celtic origins revolve round placating, and trying to hide from, the roaming dead and evil spirits - in other words, Halloween is about FEAR, over-emphasising evil and telling people they have to save themselves by dressing up in disguise and offering gifts. There is NOTHING in Halloween of the peace and love of God, or the saving power of Jesus, or the fact that Jesus has conquered death and sin. The Bible says "fear not" 366 times! God doesn't want us to be scared or afraid. You can see from the history where the practise of "trick or treating" comes from -leave out a treat or risk having a trick played on you by those from the other world- but we don't think it is nice to threaten people with pranks unless they hand over sweets. It can be very intimidating, and is definitely not something Jesus would do! It's the same with dressing up as ghosts and witches, and carving pumpkins -it was part of Samhain and it's focusing on fear and can be intimidating.

What About Halloween, part 2

Meanwhile, after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus in 30AD, the "new" controversial religion, Christianity, spread to Asia Minor, Greece and to Rome, and so through the Roman Empire, largely as a result of persecuted Christians having to flee Jerusalem. As Christians were killed for preaching about Jesus and standing up for their beliefs, those surviving chose to commemorate the death of these martyrs or saints by celebrating "martyrs days" or "saints days". These were usually local festivals, though the martyrdom of some of the apostles were more widely celebrated. Pope Gregory III (731-741AD) decided to have one day a year in the church calendar to celebrate all the martyrs or saints, instead of lots of different regional saint's days, and this was set as the 1st of November, and known as the "Feast of All Saints" or "All Saint's Day" or "All Hallows Day" ("hallow" is an old English word for saint or holy person). The date was chosen on purpose to rival Samhain and involved similar traditions, including dressing up as a saint, an angel or a devil and joining a parade, with the aim of weaning people off of the pagan festival. By the 9th century, Samhain traditions were still going strong, so the church tried to take-over the evening of the 31st of October itself by making it another feast day, "All Hallows Even" (evening) and this and Samhain (remember, it's pronounced something like "sow-een") merged to become "Halloween". Because of it's Celtic history it is only popular in the UK, and the USA and Canada, taken there by the Irish who emigrated to America in their tens of thousands after the 1845 potato famine. So now you know!

What About Halloween?

Halloween was originally called "Samhain" -a Gaelic word pronounced "sow-in" (in Ireland), or "sow-een" (in Wales), or "sav-en" (in Scotland) - meaning "summer's end." The Celtic culture had established itself throughout the British Isles from approx. 600 BC to 50 AD, and Samhain was an ancient Celtic type of harvest festival, marking the beginning of winter and the first day of the Celtic new year, celebrated on the evening of the 31st of October. The Druids (Celtic priests) also believed that on this day (exactly between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice) the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken, allowing demons, witches and lost souls to harass the living and play tricks on them. People tried to protect themselves from attack by disguising themselves as witches, devils and ghosts, and carved grotesque faces in things like pumpkins, which they kept illuminated by candlelight, to ward off evil spirits. They also left out treats, like cakes, as a peace offering. When the Romans came to Britain (successfully in 43AD after failed attempts in 55BC and 54BC) they added the traditions of their own harvest festival, "Pomona", to Samhain, such as bobbing for apples in water barrels and putting nuts in the fire to watch where they jump to.

Pastor’s Corner “Daddy, don't forget; ‘Jesus first, others second and yourself last’”, exclaims Rachel in an exasperated tone. That’s me being ‘encouraged’ to be more like Jesus by my 10 year daughter! We have adopted that little phrase as our family motto. It is reflected all over scripture. We have many calls to: love God, each other and even our enemies, at the same time we are called to die to self and take up our cross and follow him. We know of a young lad, 5 or 6, (no-one from down here), who has become well known for saying; ‘what about me?’. I can see him and hear him saying it now. It is almost comical with its consistency and predictability. He is only a child and like many at that age cannot see beyond himself. However, the tragedy is that this attitude pervades in our society at large. People do not see beyond themselves. Selfishness seems to reign, where the individuals needs, wants and desires come squarely first and everyone else's does not even get a look in. The only questions are; how does this affect me? Or how does this make me feel? I appreciate this is a generalisation, and I know there are exceptions. The challenge for us as a church and individuals is to be different. To be like Jesus; living that sacrificial life and seeking the blessing and good of others. Jesus left the glory and splendor of heaven, along with the worship and adoration of angels to be born in a sin stricken world. Where he was ultimately rejected and crucified. He did this as an act of obedience to the father so that you and I could have life, forgiveness and an eternity in heaven. Totally selfless! ‘Jesus first, others second and yourself last,’ perhaps sounds a little gimmicky to some. Perhaps that’s what you thought when you first read it, but we cannot escape the fact that it reflects scriptural principles and is patterned in Jesus’ incarnation, life and death. We need to follow in his footsteps. It is important that our speech and actions are determined and influenced by our desire to honour God and bless those around us. Please take the time and read some of the scripture references below and allow God’s word to encourage and challenge you. Matt 22:36-40, 1 Cor 10:24, Eph 4:29, Phil 2:3-4, Heb 13.16,1 Pet 4:10, Jn 15:9-17. richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK