Sister Act

So I watched Sister Act last night with my housemate Beth (she is immense...and has only just worked out that she features in my blog - love her). I love that film. There are many reasons but one has got to be Whoopi Goldberg and her amazing wigs. I can pretty much recite the lines in the film (and potentially do voices for the different nuns).

But one thing that really struck me while I was watching it was how the attitude of the Church hasn't changed much. 

In the film the Church (St Catherine's) is totally isolated from the community. The nuns are kept "safe" by doing tasks inside the convent and they don't interact with their immediate neighbours. If we are honest some Churches are like this - they meet together and keep those members who are in the Church safe. Those members are fed and discipled and part of a community but it's safe.

Then along comes Delores Van Cartier aka Sister Mary Clarence. She makes things happen and before you know it the nuns are out painting walls, scrubbing grafitti, feeding the homeless, skipping with young people, running a daycare and interacting with people on the street. In other words, getting out there. 

I really believe Churches are called to be out there. To be engaging with their communities. Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about Christianity being safe. In fact Jesus talks about dying to self and living for Christ. Jesus went to people. He didn't wait, he didn't only go for a specific outreach week, he went with genuine love to meet people who were broken, lost and hurting. 

I look around my community and see many people who are broken, lost and hurting. As a Church our response shouldn't be to stay where it is safe. God is bigger you know. I forget it so much, that he can do more than I ask or imagine. Sometimes I reckon he is willing us to give him a chance, to take a risk and let him step in. 

"We've been to the moon and back but struggle to cross the street and greet a new neighbour" - Dalai Lama

It is easy to blame "the Church" as an organisation - but lets be honest - I am part of the Church, and maybe you are too. It is our responsibility to be people who take those steps out into the community. It doesn't need to be a huge step - maybe just a little one, like saying hi to a neighbour you don't know. But we need to start somewhere.

I want the Church to be known for all the things it is doing, not for all the things it's not doing. I know so many Churches that are doing this already, but I know for myself as an individual I need encouragement to keep going - to be a person who doesn't play it safe and just stay where I know people; but to take risks and be someone who loves the broken, lost and hurting.

Sister Act is lot deeper than I thought!

Arts Showcase

Last night was possibly one of the highlights of my working-for-XLP career. It was a night full of excitement, encouragement and sheer celebration at the talent of young people in Lewisham.

It was XLP Lewisham Arts Showcase. It was an event that we run annually to give young people an platform to show us what they can do. And....WOW....literally WOW!! 

We had bands, singers, dancers, drummers, pianists, rappers, actors and poets - there were young people from 8 different secondary schools in Lewisham and we had a full house of people who had turned up to watch them do their thing. 

I wish I could post a video of highlights so you could see it but I don't have access to that footage and I'm not 100% sure on the safeguarding implications of doing that, but safe to say the show was a massive success!

A few highlights for me included:

• Seeing a boy from our mentoring programme perform on the piano - first time he's performed in front of people, and earlier in the day he had been so nervous he wanted to drop out of the show. Thankfully he didn't and did an immense job.
• Seeing every young person totally enjoy themselves on the stage - each of them had bundles of confidence and it was so amazing to see them making the most of the opportunity.
• The atmosphere within the young people. So most of them had never met before and were effectively competing against each other (top 3 go through to London-wide final) - but you wouldn't have known it. They were so SO encouraging to each other and became solid friends through the experience. Quote of the day was "I was enjoying myself so much I forgot it was a competition"
• Seeing a number of teachers who had come to support their students. Teachers work SO flipping hard (I live with one - I should know) and I was so encouraged to see that they had given up their time to come and cheer for their kids. One in fact asked me when the next borough showcase was because she said "it's a fantastic night out - cheap, excellent vibe and you don't get home too late" Ha.

I don't think I can convey how proud I am of my young people. People from the audience kept coming up to me and thanking me for the show...and I was like, hold up, I literally did nothing in this show other than give out certificates at the end. Everything, the talent, the atmosphere, the entertainment - was all down to the young people. Yes XLP organised the event, but they were the ones to make it a success. 

For me, seeing something like this show has encouraged me - working with young people is hard. It's draining, slow-moving and sometimes not fun. But they need it - they need people who believe in them, who will encourage them, who will help them to build confidence.

Yes. It was a really good showcase.