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CVM CONFERENCE 2007
Almost 400 men
attended the CVM conference, which took place in Coventry on 16/18
November. The theme was "Going for Gold,
gripped by His
Word and fuelled by His Spirit."
These included a number of men who had brought their father, son,
son-in-law or nephew. There are a few special sessions for the 18/30s.
Richard Long and his son Jamie came from Hertford.
Once again the
whole weekend proved to be a most inspiring occasion, very well
organised and with some excellent bible teaching from Rev Graham Tomlin
who is based at Holy Trinity Brompton, home of the Alpha Course. The
bible teaching was based on the theme of
Spiritual
Fitness.
Along with many men there, I came to the conclusion that my spiritual
fitness was rather flabby!
The
four sessions covered; culture and character; what we are here for;
spiritual fitness and getting fit for life.
In
addition there was time to worship and pray, meet other men informally
and attend seminars on a variety of issues covering; leadership,
attracting working class men to church, developing a healthy heart, how
to read the bible effectively, being a Christian at work, passing on the
baton to the next generation, overcoming sexual temptation and effective
mission to the South East Asian community.
The
speaker after dinner on Saturday night was Canon Robin Gamble, now
living in Yorkshire and previously based in Bradford Cathedral. Robin
was both funny and deadly serious.
On Sunday before
the Communion celebration, we heard in depth interviews with two amazing
people;
1. Gary Grant
(owner of "the Entertainer" a series of 41 toyshops) will not stock
Halloween gear or Harry Potter toys. Furthermore he has always refused
to open his shops on Sunday. Last year his profits still went up 11%!
His life had not always been easy and it was an experience at St Andrews
Chorleywood which finally led him to become a Christian.
 2.
Ed Baylis, an Oxford Graduate,aged 26 had never been able to please his
father fully. When he got 95%, he was asked what did you do wrong? Ed
was one of a pair of Oarsmen who rowed the Atlantic in 63 days, arriving
in Antigua on 20 February 2007, having run out of food and being
supplied food by a fellow Dutch pair of oarsmen! Ed and his fellow
oarsman were faced with 50 foot waves, terrible conditions which
included rowing in the wrong direction for 24 hours to keep alive. They
rowed 2 hours on and then had 2 hours off. Ed, previously an
enquirer, has become (through his girlfriend) a Christian since this
experience.
Both
these men's testaments were truly inspiring.
There was much more I could mention including access to a great
bookstall. I bought "Men on Mute" by Pete Greig, which is about the
miraculous power of prayer. It was highly recommended but it is not yet
read! Perhaps it will be on our church bookstall soon?
We
left for home after lunch, nourished physically, mentally and
spiritually. I would strongly recommend this to any man who needs to
take time out and benefit from a bit of spiritual recharging.
Next
year instead of the one Coventry conference, there will be two
conferences (both entitled "Band of Brothers"), one near Powys in Wales
in July and another weekend on a Fred Olsen cruise liner leaving
Liverpool for Dublin in October.
In
the meantime, I am going to try to take time out each day to read a
small section of the bible and pray. We were also recommended to find a
couple of men to meet with regularly to share issues and pray together
(known as a prayer triplet). Let me know if this interests you.
The
full dates of CVM events for your 2008 diary are;
Saturday 26 January
(Bath): A day with Dave Murrow; author of "why men hate going to
church".
Saturday 29 March
(Royal Albert Hall):
London Men's convention
Saturday 10 May
(Rayleigh, Essex): CVM Essex day (Herts men welcome!)
Fri 11/Sunday 13 July:
(Cefn Lea Conference Centre, Powys) CVM Conference "Band of Brothers"
cost just under £100.
Fri 10/Sunday
12 October (Liverpool/Dublin return on
Olsen " Black Prince") CVM Conference. |
