Justice and Worship

On Saturday 28th October, Speak will be holding a Justice and Worship event within the chaplaincy.

This will be a fantastic mixture of worship and workshops designed to educate and spiritually revive. Workshops are going to be on: sharing our faith, why should Christians campaign, and the Big Dress.

There will also be cake :D

The event starts at 7:30, and wil last till about 9:30. Feel free to pop along for all or part of it.

: 21 Oct 2006 15:41 |  Tags: Jaw |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Trackbacks (1) |  Report a problem

First meeting!

Hey there shiny happy people! President Executive Dark Lord Jill here, with general excitement that is SPEAK WEEK 1!

Can I have an ‘Oooh!’

...

Fine, don’t bother then. :P

This week we are having a short (1 hour) introductory session in Meeting Room 2 in Union North. For freshers, that’s the building with Xanananananana’s in it, the entrance to which is next to Costcutter.

Come along! Bring your friends! Bring your acquaintances! Bring your enemies! Bring everyone!

: 04 Oct 2006 16:41 |  Tags: Speak |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pots and Pans Sale

So after a week and a half of selling left-over kitchen equipment, the Pots and Pans sale has finally finished! Hurrah!, after several very long days we have managed to raise £2800 for Link Ukraine, which helps with several charitable projects within Ukraine, paticularly working with children.

So many life lessons have been learnt over the last week of selling, and one of the most important is that students will buy anything if it is cheap enough. We had a wonderful gam eof item bingo going on, where people had to try and sell certain items. If they were sold to a student then they won a bar of chocolate, and if it was to a staff member then the prize was a bottle of wine, or some non-alcoholic equivalent. Thankfully, for my bankbalance, no-one won any wine, but both Jill (Dark-Lord Supreme) and myself won bars of chocolate. Woop!

I also learnt the wonderful skill of being able to look at a pile of pots and pans and be able to tell exactly ow much they are worth without counting – this was truly a gift on the day that we took a grand.

So finally I would just like to thank everyone involved in the Pots and Pans collection and slae over the past year. To all the people who helped collect the minging and filthy utensils I send a massive hug of thanks, and similarly to all those who spent hours cleaning up all the stuff. Also I would like to thank everyone involved in the sale, and keeping me sane, your help is much appreciated. Finally a special thanks is due to Matt Jermyn, who has been working with the collection for several years now, and is ‘retiring’ this year, and so is leaving us. :(

: 03 Oct 2006 20:39 |  Tags: Link Ukraine |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Seven Storey Mountain

So after many people have said how amazing a writer Thomas Merton is, I finally got round to reading his autobiography. It was there in the Oxfam by the Union, so I had no reason to not buy it and read it.

It took quite a while to get into, he had an interesting childhood, but it mostly involved travelling and going in churches (which was fairly dull). Then there were the rebellious teenage years, which were dull as he didn’t really want to go into anything and referred to stuff he had done as being sinful and he did not want to tempt fellow yoiung readers.

Once you get past this bit he goes to university at Cambridge and then to America, which was interesting. He then converts to catholicism, which is very dull and not particuarlly special, but other people may find it more interesting. So up to this point the book is not great, and has much to be desired. But then he gets baptised and the book becomes amazing, the baptism is so beautiful and brings so many new ideas to what it is all about. And then he searches for his vocation, wants to become a priest and can’t within the Franciscan tradition, so trundles along for a couple of years and then becomes a Trappist. I know very little about the Trappist, but after this book they sound very interesting.

The book brings up some very interesting and original theological points, and puts them within a friendly environment, with the effects on the main poeples lives being clearly seen. It is a shame that the book takes so long to get going, and also Merton’s prejudice against protestants, as that is annoying.

: 01 Sep 2006 20:19 |  Tags: Books Review |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Back from Taize

So I have just spent the past two weeks in a monastry, on the top of an hill, in the middle of France. It was fantastic, eating with a spoon, telling people to 'go to bed', praying 3 times a day, and meeting hundreds of people. Taize is a place like no other, with each week in summer approximatley 4000 young people coming and going.

Sundays are complete chaos, but I do love them. They are full of emotion, meeting old friends, sayiong goodbye to many more, and Paolo running around confusing the permanent in charge of the British welcome.

So in my first week at Taize I was persuaded By Br. Paolo to do night–welcome again. This is a fun job, as you get to chat to loads of people, but you do need to stay up to some ungodly time of the morning telling people to go to bed. It also means you miss out on the joys of Oyak!! Though in the second week I just did Bible study, so managed to spend much time in the joys of Oyak, chatting away with many peole about every topic under the Sun.

So the Bible study I did in the first week was all about Br. Roger's unfinished letter. Each year Br. Roger wrote a letter to the young people of the world, calling for peace and love. However, sadly last year he was murdered and the letter was never finished, and so the study focussed on his ideas. In the second week the Bible study was on the Jacob Cycle, which was really interesting, but not very relevant to everyday life (how often does a sibling sell their birthright for a bowl of soup). Anyway I found it useful, and brought up some interesting points in my mind which are presently being digested.

I also met up with lots of people from the past couple of years, including Marieke and her boyfriend Erik, Wojtek, Kashia, Andra and Pao Yu. It was good to catch up with them and all review the year together and see where we are heading as individuals and as part of our religion. Its also fun to chat with people of other denominations to see how they view different issues at the moment, and what the underlying problems we all face are.

Ultimatley Taize is great, it brings about a kind of peaceful thought, which is so gentle, but yet gets so much achieved. Now to work pout how to apply all this to my life.

: 10 Aug 2006 17:14 |  Tags: Taize |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

MCC in East London

Writing about web page http://www.mccel.demon.co.uk/

So I went to visit Claire with the long hair the other weekend in London, and it was great fun. There were a few of us there celeb spotting along the Pride march, and several of the group got very excited over Peter Thatchell. The thing that I noticed though was the large number of religious organisations there this year.

There was a whole float for LGBT Muslims, two groups of Jews, some Buddhists and the Raelians (who were great fun to walk beind for a while). But the Christians didn't seem to be in great numbers this year. There were a few with LGCM, and MCC in East London had quite a few there. It really felt like not many people, and that the Raelians may even outnumber us!

So on the Sunday I managed to conivnce Claire (very easily) to go to church with me, and so we went to MCC in East London. They were lovely. The people there were friendly and spoke to us as soon as we entered. They had no worries about Claire not being a Christian, and none of them leapt upon her to convert her there and then. The service was very relaxed, and had the feeling of an Iona style, which I like. There was no sermon this time, but instead a set of testimonies. Now I have an instant prejudice and hatred of testimonies, as most people have really dull ones which are all identical. However, in the space it would take a normal preacher to get warmed up on his testimony we had three. They were concise, interesting and really moving. The people giving them had something to say, and it was how great God was and how they felt like MCC was a family or community in God's love. It was great! The congregation was only around 20 strong, and at the peace I think Claire and I shock everybodies hand, which she found slightly odd but I really liked.

After the service was tea and cake. The cake was home–made and wonderful – they know how to make cake (and it wasn't green!!!). Also we had lots of people come and chat to us, I felt thoroughly welcomed and incorporated, they even tried to work out where the nearest MCC is to me from Melton! If you are in the area it is worth popping in one Sunday (there is an address on their website).

: 10 Jul 2006 13:53 |  Tags: Churches |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Aftermath of Pots and Pans

Follow-up to Pots and Pans and all that Jazz from The Big Dress

So the craziness of Pots and Pans has passed and the collection was good. There was ming beyond ming (even to the point where Matt J had to leave a kitchen) and we collected about 50 boxes, which are being stored around Coventry ready for the sale in September. Thank you to everyone who helped, you were all stars!!! And also to anyone who left ming for us – without you there would be no sale.

: 05 Jul 2006 20:43 |  Tags: Link Ukraine |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Pots and Pans and all that Jazz

So it is getting near the end of term, students are living with a perpetual hangover, waiting for results and enjoying the joys of WSAF. However, this weekend all the fresh little people of campus disperse back to their homes in far off places, leaving campus a desolate and slightly cleaner place.

So this weekend is yet again another pots and pans collection, and volunteers are needed to run around the halls and collect any left over pots/pans/kitchen equip, which we can wash up and sell off later to raise money for Link Ukraine, which is a university based programme, which sponsors projects in Ukraine. It is a fantastic charity and a great chance to run around campus like buffoons. Sadly you can only do this if you are a university student (insurance reasons etc.) but if you are free we need volunteers from 9am on Saturday, where bacon and veggie equiv sandwiches will be provided in the chaplaincy. Also we are trying to get all the washing up done on Saturday as well, so even if you can only spare an hour between 9am and 9pm, your help would be greatly appreciated.

Finally thank you to anyone who prayed for a dishwasher, we have one on Saturday, which is a great relief, even if it will be a rush. So please pray that everything will run smoothly on Saturday. Thanks

: 20 Jun 2006 09:19 |  Tags: Link Ukraine |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Trackbacks (4) |  Report a problem

A Busy Weekend

EEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!

It has been a long weekend. Firstly it was the chaplaincy ball on Saturday evening, which meant for most of Saturday the marvellous Martha and her host of kitchen minions (which included my beautiful self) were stuck in a tiny room with little ventilation trying to cook for about 80 people. If that wasn't enough fun the oven in the room was on pretty much all day and I was stood for quite some time over a pan of hot oil (and don't my pores know it today!)

Anyway after all the dehydration and exhaustion the chaplaincy ball came around and was spectacular!!! Much merriment was had with fantastic music, gorgeous food, and a bit (in some cases) of alcoholic beverage. Many people looked fantastic, in both formal or fancy dress – praise to Chris for the clown costume and Jenna for her scantily clad magician's assistant.

Anyway so the following morning didn't happen and in the afternoon the clear up operation began. And also the leavers' service, where to true form I nearly cried.

So then to today, and the Big Easy, where Speak shared a stall with Christian Focus, to raise money for Rag. I think they were giving it this year to Childline, but am not exactly sure. We had a giant jenga, and picniced on much left over ball food. It was good.

So now eventually (and hopefully) to the land of sleep

: 19 Jun 2006 21:23 |  Tags: Big Easy Chaplaincy Ball |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Big Dress is Coming!!!

Mwahahahahahaha!!!!

The Big Dress is coming to Warwick and now has its own blog!!! Woop!!!

Expect an overuse of excalamation marks, interesting campaigning ideas, and funky Christian happenings all within the confines of the bubble to be published here.

For those of you who don't know the Big Dress is the brain–child and beautious creation of Speak National, as a creative protest against corporate irresponsibility. Speak unveiled the dress in February 2005 and since then it has been doing a tour of campuses and festivals accross the country and will hopefully be attacking Warwick campus in October 2007 with much glee and splendor (yes I know its a long way off but you try and deal with all the paperwork!)

As a tempting taster here is a picture of the most wonderful creation:

This is the dress being put up in Leeds as part of the tour. Isn't she gorgeous!

: 07 Jun 2006 15:06 |  Tags: Big Dress |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem