City Church now aligned to the Metropolitan Community Churches

City Church now aligned to the Metropolitan Community Churches

Partnership made in heaven

Greetings Readers! Here's some more good news from City United Reformed Church...

Regular readers will have noticed that yesterday I posted news about our Toilet Twinning venture (which I still think is an absolutely wonderful idea) and today i bring you even more exciting news. City Church is now an aligned organisation of the Metropolitan Community Churches!

Great news... but what does it mean?

Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) is a global church community that promotes social inclusion and challenges injustice. The MCC has been championing human rights and tackling issues such as racism, homophobia, ageism and sexism since it's foundation in 1968. 

I first heard of the MCC at Manchester Pride many years ago. I spotted a leaflet on one of the community stands and searched online to check if there was an inclusive church in Cardiff. At the time there wasn't. Also, I hadn't heard of City Church either and it took a few more months of searching for an inclusive and welcoming church before I set foot inside City Church. 

Now that we are aligned to MCC, people looking for a local MCC will find details of City Church. And given that we have an open and affirming mission, our partnership with MCC is another way of reaching out and welcoming all who share our mission.

Is your church aligned to the MCC? Do you go to a Metropolitan Church? Please do share your experiences.

Until next time...

With best wishes,
Matt the Elder

Carry on giving at your convenience

"Are we all in agreement that we would like to twin our newly refurbished toilets with a latrine in a poor community?"

I nearly choked on my herbal tea when The Minister brought up the idea of toilet twinning! I've heard of town twinning but toilet twinning?! How on earth would that work? Is toilet twinning even a thing?

Apparently it is. And what an utterly splendid idea! The idea is that for a mere £60 you can twin your loo with and raise money for poor communities all over the world. According to the charity Toilet Twinning 40% of the world's population do not have anywhere safe, clean and hygienic to go to the toilet. That's 2.5 BILLION people who are at risk of disease or being attacked while searching for a private place to do their business. So a hole in the ground could really be a life saver for vulnerable people in poor communities.

I am delighted that City Church has decided to twin the three newly refurbished toilets with toilets in Gatonda, Burundi; Amboula, Barisal, Baghda, Bangladesh and Sabola, Ezha, Ethiopia! What better way to celebrate our wonderful new latrines by helping those in need of better facilities oversees. Once all the details are finalised we will receive a certificate, a picture and the GPS location of our sponsored toilet so we can look it up on Google maps! I am really thrilled about this - it's such a brilliant and fun way to raise money.

As soon as I have the GPS and picture I shall share our loo!

Toilet Twinning - just another example of how wonderful City Church is.

Have you twinned your toilets? Do let us know - we could be latrine neighbours!

Until next time.
With best wishes
Matt the Elder

Remembrance Sunday at City Sunday

It was an absolute privilege to read The Roll of Honour during Remembrance Sunday service. Myself and Beth, a fellow Elder, read out the names of people who attended City Church and other Cardiff city centre churches and who gave their lives for our freedom. We owe so much to these brave men and women.

It was a very moving service and gave us an opportunity to pay our respects to those who have fallen in previous wars and to pray for those who continue to serve in the Armed Forces. I have a family member who starts his basic Army training on Monday so this was particularly poignant.

The Act of Remembrance consisted of a few introductory words from the Minister, The Roll of Honour, two minutes' silence and concluding words. The Minister then chose a wonderful song to play during pause for reflection. It was called Remembrance Day by Mark Knopfler. Here's a snippet of the lyrics from the middle verse:

When November brings
The poppies on Remembrance Day
When the vicar comes to say
May God bless them everyone
Lest we forget our sons

We will remember them.

After service a few people remained behind to attend Table Talk. This month the discussion focused on what it means to wear, or not wear, the poppy. What followed was a very mature and respectful discussion and gave the small the group an opportunity to share what Remembrance Sunday means to them.

It's services like this that makes me very proud to be a member of City United Reform Church. It really was a very special morning.

With best wishes,
Matt the Elder

Random acts of kindness

Random acts of kindness

Happy times on holiday!

It's the little things in life that bring the most pleasure. As trite as that sounds I believe it to be the absolute truth. Take the simple act of sending postcards...

As you know, I was recently on holiday (did I mention I had a wonderful time?) and decided this year to send a few postcards to friends at City Church. I rarely send postcards, apart from the obligitory Wish you were here to my parents.

I was quite taken aback at how well received the postcards were. When they eventually landed on the doorsteps I had texts and tweets thanking me for sending a postcard. Then, when I was in church, people came up to me to thank me and to say how delightful it was to receive something in the post that wasn't a bill! People seemed genuinely pleased that I thought to send a postcard.

Perhaps it was the surprise of receiving a postcard - very few people send them anymore - or maybe it was sheer pleasure to receive a little something from Matt the Elder? Whatever it was it was lovely to see such a small thing be so well received. It certainly put a smile on my face!

It encouraged me to do more random acts of kindness. This evening, for example, I went to the gym. On the way I saw my new Spin instructor so I told him how much I enjoyed his class last week and that I would make it a regular class. He seemed really happy and thanked me for the feedback. Then I saw the manager of the gym and I told him that the new timetable works well as it means I can come to the gym more often. Again, he seemed pleased to hear that.

Honestly, I've been handing out random acts of happiness like some kind of Pez Dispenser!

Such simple things really can cheer people up. Why not give it try? A postcard, a text or a pleasant word... you could be making someone feel very happy!

Have you any examples of random acts of kindess?What have you done lately that made someone's day?

With best wishes,
Matt the Elder