Tomorrow's Church

That's the advantage of having a new Assistant Druid about the place. I was able to leave Charlii leading today's Occasion (subject - the difference between the views of Cyril and Nestorius, an unusual one for a Cafe Beaker Folk meeting) and go down to the Archer Folk of Archway.

And it was a delight to join in a special event as Victoria celebrated her 80th birthday. It was a great joy for her, and for the other, older members of the Sunday School. Really, though, it's time they got the Youth Work sorted.

Frisby Holiday Club

I've just been for a walk around the village, and it is nice to see the posters for the Holiday Club going up all over the place. Every year the chapel has held this event, which combines moral instruction with cheap baby-sitting for the parents. And this year I think we're onto a winner, with our special theme - the punishment of a famous evil-doer every day. I attach the poster, in the hope that it may inspire other churches to a similar ambition in preaching the Good News to the young!

Churches Together in Frisby

That was quite a nice meeting of Churches Together in Frisby this evening, I feel. However ungodly the other members of the group may be.

I feel that I made a helpful contribution on my first visit. They kindly invited me to lead the opening devotions which, aware of the packed agenda, I kept to a brief fifteen minute prayer.

The main discussion point was the proposed "Frisby Youth Together" activity day.

A good idea I thought. The idea of a day-long prayer session, suitably supervised and - to use an old-fashioned word - chaperoned I felt was fine. In fact I offered our own chapel for the meeting.

But apparently the other members of CTIF had other, less wholesome ideas. Yes, they had intended some prayerful times, but there were other things much less suitable. Including a discorama. I ask you. What kind of behaviour is it for young Christian people to be jiggling up and down in time to music of the sort provided by the so-called "Snoop Digg" or "Boney M"?

And they were proposing to offer a pool table - the sort of game associated with Americans, late-night wagers, and unhealthy competition such as can be seen, I am assured, in the film "The Hustler" starring Paul Newman. They said that these diversions were to enable the flower of Frisbian youth to get to know each other. What depraved insanity! Since when was it part of the church's remit to let people get to know each other? Until they are at least twenty-five years of age, we should be trying to keep them apart.

So I made my final offer. A 12-hour worship session with - and I was forced to compromise here - some guitars in the music group. But while I am happy to work with Churches Together in Frisby, I refuse to allow our youth to receive teaching incompatible with the Gospel. I therefore proposed that we should keep the young people at our Salem Hall, to receive teaching from members of Frisby Baptists only. The young people would be restricted from unmonitored discourse, to prevent heretical thoughts from being passed on to the Salem young folk. In fact, on the whole, I suggested it was better if we kept the other church's young people in the main chapel, but kept the Frisby Baptists in the church hall for their own protection.

Oddly enough the other members of CTIF did not see the good sense of my suggestions. And the planning of the Youth Weekend has been put back to a meeting next year. The "chair" of the group - I hesitate, on account of her gender, to accept her headship - hinted that possibly they would have "someone else to deal with" by then. Perhaps they are hoping that another church, hopefully one of a more godly nature, like my own, may join and be able to offer support with my plan.