Journey Into Wholeness 2003.

Background.

It had come to the notice of a number of Christians in the town that The Mind Body and Soul exhibition had become a regular feature in Colchester’s Charter Hall. Some of them had in the past protested against its existence, others had chosen to hand out leaflets telling of the dangers of the exhibition to the punters at the entrance. A growing sense for all was that something positive and proactive should be done. From this diverse group of people a planning group was formed, with much prayer and trepidation they set out on a journey that would become known as Journey into Wholeness.

In September 2002 a stand was hired in the Mind Body and Soul exhibition, under the Title of Journey Into Wholeness. That weekend about 4,500 people visited the exhibition confirming the planning groups sense that this was where they needed to be. What can be measured, statistically at least, is the fact that 30 people came for prayer ministry, 575 people took away copies of “Making Your Journey Into Wholeness”, especially written for the event, and the same 575 took leaflets about the Essence Course (Rob Frost). This was encouraging, but what also became clear to all involved in the 2002 outreach was that there were a number of lessons to be learned. The stall content, the level of staffing and the overall approach to placing a stand in the exhibition needed to be reviewed. One thing that almost everyone agreed on though was that this was something that had to be repeated.

 Starting the Journey 2002-2003.

Following a review meeting several members of the 2002-planning group, although they fully supported the project, felt that they did not have the time required to serve on the planning group for 2003. The result was that a new and smaller planning group was formed; even the membership of this took a little while to settle into place! The members of the 2003 planning group were:

Caroline Browne, Howard Gardener, John Loy, Rose Loy, and Sally Coleman.

We began meeting and planning the next step in November 2002, looking at the positive and negative experiences and lessons learned from the previous year several things became clear;

1.      The theme of Journey Into Wholeness was a good one and the Title for the project was worth retaining.

2.      The prayer support and backing had been essential last year; we would again start with monthly prayer meetings, regular feedback etc.

3.      The method of evangelism had been appropriate but that further training would be necessary as not all of the volunteers were at ease in the exhibition.

4.      The stall would be smaller and simpler; we had carried too much stock the previous year and attempted to do too many things! We would seek to have a single theme for the stall this year. With this in mind less people would be needed on duty at any one time during the exhibition.

5.      We would review the budget in the light that we needed less stock, but also look at the possibility of putting on a seminar and/ or a meditation.

6.      Churches and individuals would again be approached to support the project

7.       

With these thoughts in mind the planning group set to work: writing letters to churches and individuals, and a first prayer meeting date was set. We also reviewed the budget and decided that a budget of £1,500 for the stall this year was a realistic figure; this would include hiring the stall, insurance, literature and training, as well as general administrative expenses.

From the start the journey to the exhibition 2003 was a difficult one. Perhaps discouraged by the seeming lack of response from people at the exhibition in 2002 we found that we had support from a smaller group of people. Difficulties in a number of churches in the town, and a change in the leadership and prominence of the Crosslinks group meant that church support was sadly lacking, with the notable exception of Mt Zion Salvation Army under the leadership of David Fry, who supplied us with a meeting place, encouragement and support throughout the year.  Those who did give their support to the Journey Into Wholeness project for 2003 were committed and dedicated group.

Travelling on.

It became clear that the vision for the work of Journey Into Wholeness was larger than just the exhibition, we began as a planning group to realise that we had friends and acquaintances who fell into the category of the spiritual seekers. Also that the church in general needed to be equipped to communicate the gospel effectively to this group of people. Four things came out of this:

1.      Training was offered to anyone who was interested not only to those who wanted to serve on the stall.

2.      A series of themed parties were planned with the object of getting to know our spiritually hungry friends better.

3.      The need for "Creative Worship" services was recognised and we sought to put these into place, drawing on our experience with Essence.

4.      There was a need for good and appropriate literature to offer both on the stall and generally.

Once again we sought support from the local churches (especially in regard to holding Creative Worship services) with another disappointing response. However the things we were able to do encouraged us enormously. John and Rose hosted a very successful party with an Indian theme, Sally found that people were open to the Creative Worship style and conducted a number of different services of this type.

We then went on to look at providing appropriate training, and finding the right types of literature.

Training.

Looking for the right people for what we wanted was important. Three things we identified as important were:

1.      Helping the church to understand the culture and spiritual climate of the spiritual seekers we were trying to reach.

2.      Equipping the church to be able to communicate the gospel effectively into this culture.

3.      Learning how to pray into and for this intelligently, and learning to minister prayer effectively at the exhibition.

The result was a series of three training workshops held over three days:

1.      Rev. Steve Hollinghurst a researcher into the Post Christian Culture from the Church Army centre in Sheffield came to speak about today's spiritual climate.

2.      Sally Coleman led an evangelistic workshop with the aim of helping people to communicate more effectively.

3.      Jenny Moore and Rowena Lavender from Surrey came and led a prayer and intercession workshop.

All of these were interactive in nature and were well received by those who came. The training sessions were held at Mt. Zion Salvation Army Hall. Ipswich rd.

Literature.

The search for useful and relevant literature proved mostly fruitless, so we took the decision to write our own leaflets for use on the stall. This proved to be an enormous and very challenging task!

Each planning group member undertook to produce a leaflet, we then went through the material constructively criticising one another's work. God really saw us through this exercise, with help and advice from Rev Steve Hollinghurst and Rev Peter Adams, we produced a series of 5 leaflets, and all of them were used on the stall. Through this we each learned to alter our sometimes traditional language, the importance of being clear about the message we are communicating and not least how to bear with one another in love!!

The leaflet titles were:

1.      Hope for the future.

2.      Life is a puzzle.

3.      Personal Transformation.

4.      Looking for Something.

5.      Prayer Therapy.

The Prayer Therapy leaflet gave us the theme for the stand.

Rose also produced a "beaky" a take on an old school playground game this proved highly effective.

The Stand and presenting Journey Into Wholeness at the exhibition.

With the dates of 27^th and 28^th September firmly in mind the planning group set about tackling the question of what the stall would comprise of and what other things we hoped to offer at the exhibition.

The wording in the Mind Body and Soul exhibition brochure was important, and read as follows:

"Journey Into Wholeness: Emotional and spiritual cleansing, wholeness peace and hope for the future through prayer according to ancient Christian practices…"

We were the only group to mention hope for the future!

The stall itself was a much simpler affair, we chose not to sell anything, but simply to offer the leaflets and "Prayer Therapy", there was also an opportunity for any that wanted to write a prayer request on a leaf (these were from the previous year). A lilac/ purple colour scheme was chosen with scatter cushions on the ground providing somewhere for people to sit and talk, (a chair was available for any that felt uncomfortable/ unable to sit on the floor)

A poster advertising "Prayer Therapy" was displayed along with copies of the leaflets all of which were printed on lilac paper to fit in with the colour scheme.

The stand was manned by no more than 3 people at a time working a two-hour shift.

Although we did move things around a little during the exhibition we were happy with the use of the space we had been allocated.

We also ran two seminars, one an Essence Course taster which was well received and attended. The second; Bharata Natyam Dance, a demonstration and workshop, John and Roses contact with Susanna Harrington an accomplished dancer with a wonderful Christian testimony provided us with a very successful workshop. Both of these were advertised in the Mind Body and Soul exhibition brochure.

Follow up.

The previous years policy on not giving out contact numbers was reappraised and the decision to give phone numbers out was left to the discretion of whoever was serving on the stall. We also created an e-mail address common to the entire planning group, this was printed on all of the leaflets.

We saw the need for a low key follow up event and hit on the idea of a story telling party in the Odd Man Out Pub, in Colchester on 18^th October. Invitations were handed out at the Exhibition and friends were invited, this was a small but successful event and requests for a repeat have been received. Although we would like to use Essence as a follow up tool we felt it too soon to jump right in with offering people a formal course but hopefully an Essence Course will flow out of this storytelling group.

Prayer cover.

Organised by Caroline there were regular prayer meetings throughout the year, at least one a month, in each of these we heard from the Lord and were encouraged by words and pictures to keep going on with the work. These were held in the main at Mt. Zion Salvation Army in Ipswich rd.

Caroline also organised the prayer cover during the event that was held in St Peters Church in Colchester town centre on the Saturday and in St Peters Church Hall on the Sunday. Different people covered hourly slots; we were joined in this by a group from the 24/7 Boiler house from Reading. This covered the duration of the Exhibition.

The encouragement we received through prayer was crucial, not least when it came to the financial challenge.

Finance.

The financial situation was tight throughout the whole venture, we had set what we hoped was a realistic budget, but in this area also support was lacking. In January the committee took the decision that they would have to underwrite any shortfall, by August this seemed inevitable. A number of last minute gifts averted the situation from becoming too severe. (Treasurers reports are available on request)

Lessons Learned.

1.      Raising the awareness of the need for such an outreach initiative amongst the churches is hard work, though we received little response it was worth the time and effort and hopefully the message will start to take root in the hearts and minds of the church leaders.

2.      Similarly within the Exhibition, going back for a second year raised the profile of the Christians in Colchester amongst the exhibition visitors, the stallholders and organisers of the Exhibition. Encouraged by Steve Hollinghurst that a long-term commitment is required we did indeed feel that we benefited from the fact that this was a return visit.

3.      Perhaps we went a little too simplistic in our approach this year, a small stock of CD's and/or books could have been helpful, and there is a problem in finding the right material though.

4.      Being on a learning curve we are aware that we will not get everything right, but one thing is clear we need to go back!

5.       

Journey Into Wholeness Report 2003, presented by Sally Coleman.

Contact : jiw@white-fields.org.uk or 01366/381136.