December 2010

Doing Christmas Differently

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The ‘Dangerous Women of Rugby’, an informal ecumenical networking group in Rugby, were given an opportunity to run a Day Conference at the Royal Court Hotel in Coventry.

We tried to get a speaker, but that didn’t work out, so we opted to run something less formal, without a speaker.

We had a brainstorming evening to decide how to theme the event, and what our aims would be. The idea we came up with was ‘Doing Christmas Differently’, with the subheading ‘What makes Christmas special for you?’, hoping that, although it was a bit early for Christmas, this would appeal to non-churchgoers as well.

We could take 30 women for free, although we could have taken more and paid extra. But in the end we had 29 ladies booked, although on the day two could not come. There were some who were not church-goers, so it was lovely to see that people felt they could bring friends. We were pleased with the numbers: it was about the right amount for the venue/space.

It went extremely well: the hotel staff were very helpful, we were surprised and delighted to get a full three-course meal (I was only expecting two courses, and some of the guests had only expected a ‘ploughmans’!). The room was lovely. We had lunch together, then various optional activities:

. A retelling of the Christmas Story by a local story-teller, using a technique called ‘Godly Play’ which invites the listeners to get really involved with the story and respond
. A craft table to make tree decorations

. A table for writing Christmas cards with free stamps and some hand-made cards for sale

. A pinboard/white board to share suggestions to make Christmas less stressful and more meaningful

. A rolling presentation on Christmas traditions.

In addition, lots of us were able to go swimming – and the Jacuzzi was very popular!

It was interesting that we didn’t need to provide a lot of activities for people: I had felt that we were a bit ‘thin on the ground’ with what we were offering, especially without a speaker, but I think it shows you only need to get friendly women together in a room with a meal and they’ll all talk very happily!
We closed with tea/coffee, and finally a quiet meditation with candles, music, poetry and readings.

There was a real buzz of conversation, a happy atmosphere, a chance to think about Christmas, and some interesting discussions. Everyone said they really enjoyed it, and when is the next one!

Cathy Hemsley

Dangerous Women of Rugby website: www.dwor.org.uk

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Herman comes to stay! – December Devotional

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Last week, my friend dropped off ‘Herman’ to us. He only demands attention and a tickle four times a day and only needs feeding once every four days. He’s no trouble. He just sits on the side in the kitchen, minding his own business. Several times throughout the day you might hear me say, “Hannah, have you tickled Herman today?” As Rolf Harris would say, “Can you tell what it is yet?”

No he’s not a new pet of ours, Herman is a friendship cake. Perhaps a better description would be he’s an edible chain letter, a mixture of flour, sugar, water and yeast. He came with his detailed care instructions. Herman must sit on the side and be stirred for 10 days and be fed on Day 4 and Day 8. If he is not carefully nurtured Herman will die. On day 9 we have to divide Herman into 5 portions, keep one to bake and give four away. Then the whole process starts over again in four of our friends’ kitchens. Evidently if you get too greedy and don’t share, Herman spreads to gigantic proportions, soon over-running the kitchen. Sounds like a horror movie…’Death by Herman’?

I guess Herman works because people like to share things they have invested their time in. It is the notion of giving something of yourself. But it’s no good if you’re not prepared to be patient. Herman will never be transformed into something tasty if you’re not prepared to wait. How appropriate then, that we received Herman in the season of Advent, a traditional time of waiting.

Here are a few thoughts Herman provoked in my mind that you might like to ponder while you’re waiting:

There are detailed instructions in God’s word of how we can carefully nurture ourselves and others that we may not die. Who do you need to consider nurturing today? Is it someone else? Maybe it’s yourself you’ve been neglecting.

What do you have that are you willing to give away for friends and indeed strangers? Is there something you’ve been holding onto for yourself that is threatening to take over your life and your priorities?

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” (Matthew 13v33) What things of the kingdom could you share with your friends this Advent?

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