More news articles coming soon.
The Cross and the Piggy Bank
Written by our Chaplain, Philip Mounstephen, for “ICS News and Prayer Diary” following our Thanksgiving Day, June 26th, 2011
For some months we had been increasingly concerned at the growing gap between our income and our expenditure at St. Michael’s. There was so much that seemed to be going well in our ministry – but the question was: could we maintain it?
At the start of the year we launched ‘The 10% Challenge’, a year long challenge ‘to trust, to serve,
to give, to grow’. To be honest it started out as financial strategy, to grow our income by 10%, but then we realised it needed to be a strategy for growth – by 10%; and then finally we realised that if those things were to happen it needed fundamentally to be a strategy for our own renewal in faith and love and commitment.
So we set about our 10% Challenge from January 2011 onwards – and we’ve seen some very significant results as we’ve run a range of exciting events and activities: congregation numbers have been healthier; we’ve found volunteers for new roles, and there’s been a real appetite for prayer.
And yet…. those giving figures remained stubbornly resistant to movement (not that many people weren’t already giving generously).
Every year we’ve held a Thanksgiving Day at the end of the school year so we can come together to give thanks, and give our gifts – and those days have always been a big, and humbling, encouragement as we’ve seen our needs met. But this year we realised we needed no less that 100,000€ to bridge that gap.
We took a number of steps to that end. We had a passionate half-night of prayer called ‘Glow’ during which we brought our financial needs before the Lord. Council gave up its monthly convivial meal together before its meeting in order to pray and fast together, and the week before Thanksgiving I preached on giving (and tithing) to prepare us for the day itself.
Preparing the sermon was in itself an education. I’d expected to give people a fairly tough talking-to – but as I read the main passage we’d chosen (2 Corinthians 8:1-9) I had a real moment of revelation as I realised that this wasn’t a tough message at all – in fact it was full of grace and joy. So on that Sunday before Thanksgiving I encouraged us simply to ‘excel in the grace of giving’ – and to open ourselves up to receive God’s grace for giving, just as the Macedonian Christians had, and as we see that grace displayed above all in Jesus Christ.
And grace was what we received in abundance on the day itself. Throughout the day at all five services people came forward to put their gifts in baskets on either side of a large cross (on which at some services people stuck post-its recording their own thankfulness). We had some wonderful times of worship that day, and heard many encouraging stories of God’s working in people’s lives. But the question was – what would the total be? 100,000€ seemed (and seems!) such a lot of money.
On the Monday following, Julia, our Administrator and I, counted the gifts on the Holy Table – and it was a holy thing to do as we opened envelope after envelops, counted cheque after cheque, pledge after pledge – and realised that we had far exceeded our target. At the time of writing the total is over 165,000€ - but is still going up.
One thing we found in one of the baskets was a small china piggy bank stuffed with coins. I’ve no idea who gave it but for me it represented the fact that this was something we had all done together, rich and poor, young and old. And what’s more we had done it with such joy. It wasn’t in the end hard or difficult at all. And we all knew that if we had excelled in giving, it was because God had poured out his grace to give abundantly upon us. So what else can we say except, ‘This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes’? May his great name be praised.
Philip Mounstephen
A Time of Refreshing
Written by our Assistant Chaplain, John Moore, following the French Language Ministry Weekend Away to Houlgate
During the weekend of 23rd – 25th September, 35 people from St Michael’s travelled to Houlgate, a beach resort on the Normandy coast, for a time of teaching, fellowship and rest. The theme of the weekend was ‘Es-tu branché ? La réconciliation avec Dieu, avec soi-même, et avec les autres’. Our speakers were Catherine and Christian Lambert, who both lead seminars regularly in Switzerland and elsewhere throughout the world. The weather that weekend was superb, and members of the group were able to walk along the coast all the way to Cabourg. The group of people who attended the weekend included not only members of the 17h congregation, but also French-speaking members of the 11h15 and 19h congregations. It was a great tribute to the diversity and community that we have the privilege to experience in our church. Praise God for the wonderful ways in which he worked throughout the weekend; many people’s lives were touched, and plans are already underway to invite Catherine and Christian back to Paris, so that still others can benefit from their teaching and wisdom!
The Work Conference
Written by Angela Lewis (our Missions & Discipleship Co-Ordinator)
about our recent Work Conference event
Work can sometimes feel like it's taking over every area of our lives", said Philip Mounstephen, during a Q&A session last Saturday 15th October at our first Work Conference at St Michael's. A work-life balance was just one of the issues addressed during "8 Days a Week: Putting Faith and Work back together". The Conference attracted nearly 40 people from various different services at the church, as well as representatives from local churches in Paris.
The morning involved a theological understanding of work, from St Michael's chaplain Philip Mounstephen. During the morning Philip spoke of God's intention for us to work, the tension of work after the fall, and the place of the Christian at work. After lunch, two former church members, Deigan Morris and Andrew Wallace-Barnett, spoke openly and movingly of their own personal experience of faith and work. Professor Morris, who works at Insead Business School, shared his "theology of flourishing" and Andrew Wallace-Barnett, Head of Risk at Axa New York, spoke of issues of identity and work. Candidates were encouraged to discuss their own responses to the talks in break-out groups throughout the day.
Feedback from the day was very positive. "I think that there should be more conferences about work like this one for us to share and grow" wrote one person. "Work is what occupies our daily life!" Many people enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people, to have a fresh understanding of what work means, and to have a vision for their role is in it. This is the first such event run at St Michael's and based on the enthusiastic feedback, there may be others on the way. Watch this space!
Revenge At Bethlehem, And Our Carol Service
Written by Archie Bagnall (our Ministry Assistant) about Christmas activities on Sun 11th Dec 2011
The annual organised fun and chaos of the Saint Michael’s youth and children’s Christmas production was enthusiastically performed to us the morning of Sunday 11th December. For the last month, the girls and boys were led under the direction of leader Jenni Schappert, in a production unlike any other nativity in Paris. ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ followed the foibles of the four Herdman family children (the most horrible kids in school), who upon hearing they could get a sweet supply of biscuits at Sunday School – decided it was about time to cash in on the deal and why not sabotage the Christmas Nativity whilst they were at it. However as their sabotage continued, and the Nativity became a high octane drama titled ‘Revenge At Bethlehem’, they began to understand the true meaning of the baby in their play.
It was evident that the children were having huge amounts of fun performing their play, and it was lovely to see all ages involved- including guest appearances from crèche as the firemen who enthusiastically doused the invisible flames of the production when it caught fire (all planned). Many thanks to everyone who was involved, and congratulations to all our Youth and Children, huge efforts were put in by all.
Later that same evening many were round at the Eglise Réformée du Saint Esprit for our Carol Service. Music was led by the Saint Michael’s Choir with conductor Christopher Herbert, and included killer solos from Anna Wall, and Manna Ito. Not disheartened by the rain outside, all were loud in voice – and with roughly 450 in attendance, light work was made of the 600 mince pies and 50 litres of mulled wine served back at Saint Michael’s after the service.
The Carol Service is one of the bigger events in the Saint Michael’s Choir’s calendar. For a group who rehearse once a week on Wednesday evenings, and had roughly a month the put most of the material together, the service was real testament to their abilities. It was obvious how much work had been put in by every member. Thank you.
If you would like any information about becoming involved with either Youth and Children’s Ministry, or the choir and Saint Michael’s, then please email office@saintmichaelsparis.org