Our worship this morning revolved around Taize music and an exploration with some members of the church of some of the things in the Old Testament that gives us hope.
Sunday Worship 14 April 2024
This morning, Heston continued our series on the Bible by looking at “Hope in the New Testament”.
A message from the team at Rainbow Junktion
After 4 years of running our brilliant Friday Foodshare, we have decided to close for a coupleof months in order to step back and rebuild a more sustainable service. We will be closed on Fridays from the 19th April, looking to reopen on Fridays before the Summer holidays. We haven’t yet decided what our next phase of Friday life will look like so please watch this space.
Our community cafe on Mondays and Thursdays will continue as normal during this time of reflection and planning.
We’re really excited about what else we can do together in this place that we love. But we also want to take a moment to acknowledge what we’ve done together as a community over these years.
What have we achieved together as a community over these years?
In 2020, in the midst of the covid crisis, with people isolating at home, unable to get food for themselves, our community cafe became a distribution hub, working with the council, Woodhouse Community Centre and Hyde Park Source to deliver food parcels and serve outdoors distanced queues throughout the week. Working with volunteers 3 days a week from March 2020 - June 2021, we gave out an average of 157 food parcels a week.
In 2021, we resumed cafe service on 2 days of the week, and welcomed people back into the building. Our Foodshare was reduced to one day a week, serving an average of 76 households.
In 2022, we served an average of 89 households a week.
In 2023, we served an average of 193 households a week
What has 2024 been like for our foodshare so far?
In 2024 so far, we have served an average of 233 households a week - 284 on our busiest day! This is totally beyond our capacity, far exceeding what we did in the pandemic, even when the whole week was devoted to this work.
We’re glad we’ve been able to do this, but hate that it has been necessary. We want to escape the cycle of providing a crisis response to a chronic problem.We would love to spend more time building mutual,empowering relationships and working with our neighbours to challenge a system that keeps pushing them into food insecurity and poverty. This way of working disempowers so many. As such we’re taking some time to rethink what we’re doing.
The foodshare has been a joy (and a trial!). It has been a massive privilege to work so hard with so many amazing people, all pulling together for our community. The generosity and commitment we get to witness is astounding – in time and money and skills. We’re hugely proud of what we’ve done together - 25882 nutritious, culturally appropriate, personalised food parcels; and a community of mutual support and care and love which is beyond measure or value.
THANK YOU so much to anyone and everyone that makes this happen! It takes so, so many people to make this happen, and we are so, so grateful for all the support we receive.
We’re super committed to our mission - to be a place where community, connection, food and opportunities can be accessed no matter who you are and what money you have, while saving lots of food from landfill. We’re not going anywhere, just taking a breath.
As always, a huge amount of love from us.
The Rainbow Junktion team
Nic, Annmarie, Heston ( & Emily!)
<3 <3 <3
All Hallows Sunday Worship 7th April 2024
This morning, Heston looked at finding hope in the Old Testament.
All Hallows Sunday Worship 31 March 2024 - Easter Sunday
Our Easter Sunday Worship took us from the beginning of the Bible right through to the end - the theme of "garden" seems to keep recurring!
Holy Week and Easter 2024
Join us this Holy Week and Easter at services across the Headingley and Hyde Park team
Sunday 24 March 2024 - Palm Sunday
This morning we spent some time looking at and reflecting on the events of Palm Sunday, the week that followed and how Jesus was at the heart of confronting the political and economic situation of the world that left the rich and powerful in charge whilst the poor and powerless suffered.
I was reminded of Mary’s song where she says:
“He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.”
Sunday 17 March 2024
This morning, Anna shared with us her thoughts on “Enough” and how this relates to the environment
Sunday 10 March 2024
This morning, Richard and Jonathan led us in our worship, Megan shared her thoughts on "having enough" in our Lent Series on "Enough"
Sunday 3 March 2024
This morning Sam shared with us about “doing enough” in the next of our Lent series.
Sunday 25 February 2024
Sunday 11 February 2024
Sunday 4 February 2024
Sunday 28 January 2024
Sunday 21 January 2024
Today is the third Sunday in Epiphany, and in our series on “Light to the Nations”, Lois, Kirsty and Reuben share with us about the work of LASSN (Leeds Asylum Seekers’ Support Network) and "Grace Hosting" - providing a space for refugees and asylum seekers in your home for a night or more.
Sunday 14 January 2024
Today is the second Sunday in Epiphany, and in our series on “Light to the Nations”, Sarah, Andrea and Sameer took us to La Concha in Nicaragua to meet Pablo and discover some of the problems and joys that they experience.
Here is the creed that we used
Lord I believe firmly
That all this world was born of Your abundantly generous mind
That from Your artists hands like a primitivista painter
Beauty flowered
The stars and the moon, the houses and lagoons
The little boats sailing on the river to the seaThe coffee plantations, the white cotton fields
And the forests now mutiliated by the criminal axeI believe in You, architect, engineer
Craftsperson, carpenter, construction labourer, fitter
I believe in You, constructor of thoughts
Of music and the wind, of peace and loveI believe in You Labourer Christ,
Light of light and truth
One with God
Who to save the world
Was born of the humble and pure womb of Mary
Who was beaten, mocked, tortured
Was martyred on the cross
Suffered under Pilate
The Roman imperialist
Who thought he could erase his responsibility by washing his handsI believe in You, companion
Human Christ, labourer Christ
Conquerer of death with immense sacrifice
Liberator of humanityThe Lord is resurrecting in every arm raised
To defend the people
Against the demons of exploitationBecause You are alive - on the cattle ranch
In the factory, in the school
I believe in Your tireless struggle
I believe in Your resurrection
I believe in You, architect, engineer
Craftsperson, carpenter, construction labourer, fitter
I believe in You, constructor of thoughts
Of music and the wind, of peace and loveFrom the Misa Campesina, Carlos Mejia Godoy with members of the Taller de Sonido Popular, Solentiname
And the music we used can be found here, the words were on the slides used in the service and can be seen in the video above.
Sunday 7 January 2024
This morning was the first Sunday in Epiphany Season and the first service of 2024. Adriaan was in conversation with Tom Twongyeirwe about "Affirming Ugandans".
Sunday 31 December 2023
The last Sunday service of 2023 was a contemplative Taize-style service reflecting on the last year and on the coming year. Emma and Lydia’s voices blended beautifully in leading us in the Taize songs.
Take Faith
Take Faith, a poem by Jay Gadhia, read to us by the poet themself on Christmas Day
Start with an empty 10 ounce heart.
Combine shreds of scripture along with a generous spoonful of sage ... like wisdom.
Allow thousands of years of practice down an ancient bloodline.
Light an oil lamp and burn resin along with herbs until the wisps of smoke settle on every fibre of you. Let the wind claim it as a physical prayer being sent to anyone who catches scent of it on an Easterly breeze.
Grease environment generously to prevent the sweetness getting stuck.
Measure out and combine two parts compassion to one part empathy and sift to ensure any hard lumps of hatred do not find their way into the mix.
If any lumps remain in your saviour sieve, discard.
Use your bare hands placed palm to palm and ensure warmth to create a direct pathway between a now filled good quality heart towards a 1 and a half kilo brain.
Check for seasoning by tasting the blood and body of a sacred prayer on your tongue.
It will often taste bitter but will become sweet if left to one side and allowed space for reflection.
Leave to prove over several pilgrimage journeys until you achieve a ribbon drop consistency of connection with the nature of beauty, of identity, of self and of home.
If this technique is performed correctly, once baked, the mixture should rise like the swell of music in your soul.
You will find yourself in hot water occasionally, the trick is to use the scalding liquid in a Bain Marie to gently melt a lifetime of questions and challenges and offer it to God in the small hours of the morning in the hope for answers.
As a final garnish, I dare you to you look God in the eye and tell him you are pure.
And that you’re sorry.
The question is whether he would believe you.
And if he decides to answer you back, he will leave jasmine petals in your mouth, so that every person you speak to going forwards will feel like they too are in the garden, feeling the sunshine on their face.
Successful outcome may vary based on the recipe passed down from your ancestors
For best results, not all complaints are to be referred to your manufacturer.
Serve warm.
Sunday 25 December 2023 - Christmas Day
Sometimes
Words are not enough
for everything we have to say
Words can’t beat like a heart
A verb won’t sweat or bleed
A noun doesn’t get thirsty
An adjective doesn’t feel pain.
Something gets lost
in translation into words.
So when God
needed to express
A love deeper than words
he used body language
Of a kind not known on earth before
(Godfrey Rust)