Living Christ’s Story in a Mustard Seed way

The Mustard Seed programme enjoyed a wonderful day at Bishopthorpe Palace, where Archbishop Stephen had kindly invited us to spend the day sharing and learning together. We gathered with people from Stepping Up groups in Middlesbrough, Redcar, Scarborough, Bridlington and Hull to share stories, pray together and encourage one another in Living Christ’s story in our local churches and communities.

The day was full of stories! Archbishop Stephen spoke to us about Living Christ’s story and vision of how the story of Jesus in our lives, weaves with the great story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection as a wonderful gift we can share as we Live Christ’s Story each day. He recounted his own faith story, the people who faithfully prayed for him and his family to know God’s love and the tapestry of ‘ordinary people’ who were involved in him becoming a disciple of Jesus.

We were reminded of the feeding of the 5,000 and the boy offering his lunchbox to Jesus, Archbishop Stephen encouraged us to offer the gifts we have in ‘our lunchbox’ – our experiences and skills and use them in sharing God’s love every day. It was wonderful to hear the buzz around the tables during the day as everyone shared something of the story of Jesus in their own lives and churches.

We were delighted that Chris Greenwood, Cerrie Puplett and Sue Garner (middle picture) who all completed Stepping Up earlier this year joined us to share their stories, and how they are now Stepping Up in mission in their local communities. Cerrie reminded us that she has discovered that it is OK to be ‘Me’ an ordinary mum, following Jesus and using the gifts she has to serve him each day as children and families worker in Eastfield.  Chris spoke of the ‘right time’ for them as a church to build stronger connections with the community, and inspired us with the story of Renew@10. Sue shared with us the experience of the Holy Spirit guiding her through Stepping Up and the new Christian Youth Club that is growing at St Hilda’s in Redcar.

Worshipping together in the chapel was a joy, singing, praying and sharing communion together, as ++Stephen reminded us to attend to our roots – our prayers, worship, feeding on the scriptures and the Eucharist.

Bishop Eleanor helped us to reflect on the day, reminding us that we are all ordinary people with an extraordinary story to share. Drawing on her experience in New Zealand she ‘honoured us’ in Maori, recognising and honouring our:

Kaha:  your strength and courage

Aroha: love; love for God, for yourselves, and for your neighbours.

Rangimaria O te Karaiti: the peace of Christ which is creating safe places of trust and hope in action.

To find out more about how we are Living Christ’s Story in communities on the edge of the Diocese of York click here.