On Sunday, 17th May at 4pm (GMT) join us on Facebook Live (or on YouTube) for a special gathering based around themes and conversations in response to Vicky Beeching’s book Undivided: Coming out, becoming whole and living free from shame. We’ll also be hosting an interactive discussion afterwards at 5:15 via Zoom. You can follow along with the running order below and find any links that you need.

We’ll be doing an online worship gathering every Sunday at 4pm and we are also meeting for a weekly online prayer gathering Wednesdays at a 7:30 via Zoom. If you would like to ALSO connect with one of our mid-week Zoom Community Groups email newchurchbirmingham@gmail.com.

When we gather in person we always have cake and a creative/ mindfulness area with activities. You’ll have to grab your own snack this time, but if you fancy doing some mindfulness colouring as you watch/ listen/ engage with our worship gathering, you can download and print this. Here’s what else to expect:

Welcome (Danielle)

Songs (Ali & Ellie)

Above All Else

Come Spirit (Katherine – floristry & Martha – reading)

Sing, my soul, a Spirit song,
Calling all to sing along,
Fill the world with joyful sounds:
God is here and grace abounds.
 
Come, Spirit, come and be a new reality.
Your touch is guarantee of love alive in me.
 
Dance, my heart, at your rebirth,
Partner to the dance of earth.
Thirsting spirit, drink your fill:
Love goes dancing where it will.
 
Come, Spirit, come and be a new reality.
Your touch is guarantee of love alive in me.
 
When constrained by thoughts or things,
Hear the word the Spirit brings:
Life is larger than it seems,
Hope is the harbinger of dreams.
 
Come, Spirit, come and be a new reality.
Your touch is guarantee of love alive in me.
 
By Miriam Therese Winter (from Dancing on Mountains: An anthology of women’s spiritual writings).

Question for Sharing (Danielle & Sarah):
What have you read, watched or listened to recently that you would recommend?

Song (Ellie & Ali): Simple Gospel

Scripture Reading (Jane):
“Peter went up on the flat roof to pray. It was about noon, and he was hungry. But while a meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the sky open, and something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners.  In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds.  Then a voice said to him, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’
‘No, Lord,’ Peter declared. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure and unclean.’
But the voice spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”  The same vision was repeated three times. Then the sheet was suddenly pulled up to heaven.'” (Acts 10:9-16)

An Excerpt from Undivided (Read by Lu) **

Reflection – Julia & Sam discuss Vicky Beeching’s Undivided

Response (AKA time to think)

A Coming Out Story (Naomi & Lizzie)

Love Feast (Tash & Jo)

Song (Ali & Ellie): Who You Say I Am

What’s Coming up (Danielle)

Blessing: “May we live fully, love wastefully and have the courage to be all that God has created us to be.”

*If you are part of our community and would like to make a gift toward Inclusive Gathering Birmingham, you can do that here. Anything you give helps to support the costs of making church happen and allows us to be generous as a community. There’s no pressure to give!

After our Worship Gathering, at 5:15 anyone who would like to continue to discuss the themes of Undivided is invited to move over to Zoom for our Book & Podcast Discussion Club by clicking this link.

If you’ve got any questions about Inclusive Gathering Birmingham or would like to have a chat with someone from our community, please email newchurchbirmingham@gmail.com and we’ll be in touch.

** An excerpt from Undivided (page 171)

As I read about Peter’s vision, I felt as though I were there myself, looking at the sheet falling from the sky. For me, the “unclean things” on that sheet represented my gay orientation. And, like Peter, I was arguing with God, saying, “Lord, I’ve never so much as touched a person of the same sex romantically. I’ve kept your law and commandments. I would never disobey your word.”

And what God had said to Peter. I felt he said to me too: “Do not call unclean what I have made clean.”

The main thing stopping Peter from taking in the news was his spiritual pride. “I’ve kept your laws perfectly!” was his instant, knee-jerk reaction. I realised my pride had also made me unable to hear this message before. I believed I was honouring God by shelving my gay orientation-by rejecting what I believed to be unclean-despite having known about it since I was thirteen. It was hard for me to accept a new perspective. I was offended at the idea of losing the badge of righteousness I had earned by holding to traditional Christian views.

But only one voice ultimately matters in time and eternity-God’s voice. Peter realised that, and as I sat reflecting on it all, it felt as though it was sinking in for me as well.

God was letting me in on a new perspective, one of radical acceptance and inclusion. “Do not call unclean what I have made clean” echoed around my head and heart. The person I’d always been-a gay person-was not something to be ashamed of. God accepted me and loved me, and my orientation was part of his grand design.