Thought for the Day

Used my BBC Radio Bristol Thought for the Day slot to give a quick plug to Trendewood's 25th birthday coming up on Palm Sunday. Script follows as delivered this morning:

Before satnav I lived in a street where lorry drivers would stop for directions. It meant they had missed a junction but couldn't, easily, turn. I thought, 'I wouldn't start from here.'

Sunday is Palm Sunday. Christians remember Jesus' entry into Jerusalem - a journey which ended in death.

On Palm Sunday 1989 members of Holy Trinity, Nailsea started a new church. As the town grew estates appeared where once had been fields. Instead of expecting people to come to church, church went to the people.

They met in a pub. It caused a stir. Then in a school. Trendlewood Church, if you've done the maths, will be 25 on Sunday. We will celebrate in our current home, Golden Valley School, and welcome the Bishop of Taunton as guest.

I say 'current home' because not having a building enables us to meet at the heart of the community. Although church buildings are special, the church is people. Not buildings.

Every Christian church in history was planted. The early Christians were charged with taking the message of Jesus to Jerusalem, Judea and the ends of the earth.

You can't get much more ends of the earth than Nailsea. Given its low-lying position it may not even have been earth then.

Jesus was on a journey - a fateful one in his case - so are we. We try to be a good influence in our locality. We hope to carry on being helpful, and maybe even nomadic, for the next twenty-five years.

To know where we are going it is helpful to know where we've come from and, crucially, where we are. We may not want to start from here but we have no choice.