George MacLeod, founder of the Iona Community, used the following illustration:

“A boy threw a stone at the stained glass window of the Incarnation.  It nicked out the”E” in the text “Glory to God in the Highest”.  Thus, till unfortunately it was mended, it read, “Glory to God in the High St”.  Such is the genius, and the offence, of Christian revelation.  Holiness, salvation, glory are all come down to earth in Jesus Christ our Lord. …. I simply argue that the Cross be raised again at the centre of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church.”

This Advent, Birstall Methodist had the opportunity to take the Christmas stories on to Birstall “high st” when we were given permission to use the windows of an empty shop on the Sibson Road for display.  Jules Richards, who has generously done so much design work for the Circuit recently, helped us to produce posters suggesting which local people might play the various parts in the story of Jesus’ birth if it was taking place today.  Thus, Martin Bolton, a local postman, featured as the Angel Gabriel on account of their both delivering news; Meg Young, crossing patrol guide at Riverside Primary School was portrayed as the guiding star and the staff of Birstall Tandoori Takeaway stood in as Magi from the East.   Dawn, landlady of the Earl of Stamford who featured as the Innkeeper said, “I was really pleased to be asked to take part.  The posters attracted a lot of comment from customers at the bar”.

Meg Young as the Guiding Star

In our Carol service, we used the posters to ask important questions about our community life today.  What “stars” are we following to guide our way?  What are we expecting in 2012, and who is delivering good news?  The Birstall Special Needs playgroup children featured as the choir of angels.  To me, that poses the question: where can deep joy and celebration can be found in our communities?  The answers might be different from those our consumer-driven, individualistic society invites us to give.

Running alongside the poster project, over  200 adults and children took part in “Get in the Picture” this year.  This brought much simple fun and laughter into the church building again.

Three generations of the Thompson family "Get in the Picture"