Knowle West Sun 24 Feb 2013, 9.44 pm
We meet up twice a year with the Lee Abbey Aston community by travelling to Lee Abbey Devon and being very well looked after by the Devon community - including hot chocolate on the beach, near an icicle-filled tree! This weekend our Households Re read more...
Knowle West Wed 6 Feb 2013, 6.53 am
We are looking for new community members to move to Knowle West (South Bristol) and join our small missional community. Does 'mission through community' sound interesting? It is! Download the background document to find out what to expect then give u read more...
Aston Fri 21 Sep 2012, 11.03 pm
Our most exciting news is that we have a new member of our community! Heather Buckingham, who has been in the Devon community for 18 months, first visited Aston last October, then returned for a longer stay in December. Before long she was discus read more...
Aston Fri 21 Sep 2012, 11.01 pm
As promised some months ago, we’d like to tell you more about the Foodbank in Aston and Nechells, a very encouraging initiative. Two years ago, the churches in Aston started to explore the idea of setting up a foodbank, and contacted the Trussell read more...
Knowle West Sun 5 Aug 2012, 8.02 am
So far in 2012 the main constant for us is change. And us adapting to it... two big changes in particular: Baby Kaleb arrived in February. He is now six months old (and wearing clothes for age 12-month and above). He is a source of much joy. On read more...
Knowle West Sat 21 Apr 2012, 1.26 pm
On 21 April 2012 we held a celebration service at St Barnabas church. The day looked at the original vision, invitation and establishment of the community house, the past and present service to the local churches and community, and also looked forwar read more...
Knowle West Fri 16 Dec 2011, 1.22 pm
For unto Us a Child is born: Unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder. Isaiah 9:6 Jehovah God himself! ..……................................……..……. ……………. .. There is no greater glory! A Perfect Baby. Every young mothe read more...
Knowle West Wed 23 Nov 2011, 1.24 pm
We have talked about the family breakfast before, saying how popular is has become for people around the Knowle West area. Because of the number of people we were serving it was decided that the kitchen team needed to up-date their food safety skills read more...
Knowle West Sat 30 Jul 2011, 8.12 pm
Lee Abbey Household News John is now Vice Chairman of the Management Team of the Mede Community Centre. He is involved with Health and Safety / Risk assessments, and the gardening club at the centre and regularly visits there to meet with peop read more...
Aston Wed 1 Jun 2011, 10.05 am
If you'd like to know more about what it means to live as a small missional community in an inner-city setting, why not come and join us" on Saturday 16 July 2011 in Aston? Our community, along with the Lee Abbey community in Knowle West, is hosti read more...
Aston Wed 20 Apr 2011, 8.47 pm
David writes: First impressions are so important, aren’t they? We’d like you to meet the two women who so often are the first contacts of our church, or rather parish.... Jackie Burton is the Administrator at St James’s Church, where Juliet an read more...
Aston Thu 25 Nov 2010, 6.24 pm
David writes: We were delighted when Andrea Schmalz joined our community last September. Here is part of a conversation which I had with her at the end of October 2010. How did you come to join Lee Abbey Aston? I applied for a scholarship w read more...
Knowle West Thu 25 Nov 2010, 6.15 pm
We have two new community members who joined us last month. Ed and Aggy Palairet both work full time; Ed works for the Soil Association monitoring food production standards etc. Ed oversees the church community allotment where fruit and veg is grown read more...
Aston Wed 1 Sep 2010
How would you fancy an afternoon cooking endless burgers and hot dogs, while over 1400 impatient people queued up? That is what happened to us in May, at one of the three community fun days which were put on in Aston and Nechells this summer. It was read more...
Knowle West Wed 1 Sep 2010
So in two years I have… where do I start a summary of the past 2 years? Probably by looking at the reason I came here – to try to be a Christ-like presence in the midst of a dark community. I was expecting to come and lead lots of people to God, a read more...
Aston Sat 1 May 2010
By the time you read this, God willing, a messy building site will have been transformed into the "new" 121 Albert Road. We have so much to look forward to! Look out for pictures of the new 121 in the next issue of Rapport, along with an explanation read more...
Knowle West Sat 1 May 2010
Hello! My name is Sarah Farrar and I joined the Community here in Knowle West in January. For the last three years I have been studying at Exeter University for a degree in Psychology. In summer 2008 I joined a three week mission team to an orphanage read more...
Aston Fri 1 Jan 2010
We would like to thank God for Veronica Palgrave, who recently stepped down from our Local Support Group after twenty years. She has worshipped at Shiloh Pentecostal Church in Aston for over thirty years, and is a local Elder as well as National Miss read more...
Knowle West Fri 1 Jan 2010
Greetings from Val I want to tell you a little bit about the Tree Of Life Project which is organised through St Barnabas’ Church. This project seeks to explore in a holistic way how the life and teachings of Jesus bring reconciliation and salvatio read more...
Aston Tue 1 Sep 2009
Back in 2005, when we were considering becoming leaders of the Aston Community, those connected with the Households sensed that God was saying ‘Think of having a Community of two houses rather than one’. With three teenage children we wou read more...
Knowle West Tue 1 Sep 2009
Greetings in the Lord’s name from the Knowle West Household. By the time this Rapport reaches you we shall be in our second year. The first year has been a very positive experience for us. To see God at work in so many areas within the local read more...
Aston Fri 1 May 2009
For those who haven’t met her, Muriel Dewick is not only one of our most faithful supporters (especially at our Open Fellowship evenings) but also the Lee Abbey Friends’ co-ordinator for the West Midlands. She was born in Birmingham, and read more...
Knowle West Fri 1 May 2009
I have been wrestling with something in the last year: how do we know we are following God’s will for our lives? The Christian pat answer to that is ‘follow your heart’, or ‘you’ll know because it’s right’, o read more...
Aston Thu 1 Jan 2009
In the last issue of the prayer diary which was included in Rapport, you might remember a request to pray not only for the St James Advice Centre (where I work) but also for the St James Playgroup. Sadly, by the time this diary was published, the pla read more...
Knowle West Thu 1 Jan 2009
Ever since the first Lee Abbey Household at no. 97 came into being, the Lord has used his people here to run the Christian race set before them in Knowle West. Everybody has worked alongside the Lord to enlarge the kingdom of love with their own part read more...
Aston Mon 1 Sep 2008
What a summer of HOPE! No, the capital letters are not a mistake. At the time of writing, we are gearing up for the third of five HOPE ’08 weekends this summer in Aston and Nechells. For those of you whose churches are not involved in this n read more...
Knowle West Mon 1 Sep 2008
Rita writes: It was February 2003 when a copy of Rapport dropped through our letter box. We were living a quiet, comfortable existence in a Warwickshire village with no thoughts of moving. Life was good and we were settled ― or so we though read more...
Aston Thu 1 May 2008
Andy writes: Hi everyone, and thank you for all your prayers. As you read this, I will have been here in Aston over 4 months. Wow ― how time flies when you are enjoying yourself! I must say it has been enjoyable but very busy. I have d read more...
Knowle West Thu 1 May 2008
Rita writes: Rev. Alistair Heagerty retired as Chairman of our Local Support Group in April after serving faithfully for eight years. During that time, his gifts of wisdom and discernment have been greatly appreciated. We thank God for Alistair read more...
Aston Tue 1 Jan 2008
Juliet and David write: Happy New Year to you all! What are you looking forward to in 2008? Here in Aston, we are looking forward to being involved in “Hope 2008”. Have you heard of this? If not, we would strongly urge you to participate in read more...
Knowle West Tue 1 Jan 2008
Martin & Rita write: We are delighted and deeply grateful to God for answering our prayers in providing a second Lee Abbey Community house in Knowle West. We prayed for a house to become available. Within a month, a rented house did become availa read more...
Aston Sat 1 Sep 2007
David writes: As you may be aware, for the last year we have had a long-term resident with us at 121 Albert Road. His name is James Hicks, and we have really enjoyed having him living here. We thought you’d like to know a bit more about him, so read more...
Knowle West Sat 1 Sep 2007
Regeneration is in the air! Knowle West is becoming one of South Bristol’s more desirable residential locations. First-time buyers and even property developers are finding the substantially built houses a worthwhile investment. Added to this read more...
Aston Tue 1 May 2007
Karen writes: At the time of writing I am about to celebrate nine years on the Aston community by, um, doing exactly the same things I do every week. But it’s an opportunity to look back and wonder what happened over the space of nine yea read more...
Knowle West Tue 1 May 2007
Rita writes: On 16th November 2006 the ‘Tree of Life’ project was launched in what was formerly the office of the ‘Love Bristol’ Festival (featured previously in Rapport). I am part of the initial steering group together w read more...
Aston Mon 1 Jan 2007
Sandra writes: I am a volunteer, and Trustee, at Lozells Bookshop. You may have heard about the shop before. Other Aston Community members, such as Jeremy Moore, have also worked there. Lozells is in between Handsworth and Aston. It is a multi-fa read more...
Knowle West Mon 1 Jan 2007
It feels rather strange writing in Autumn about an event that happened in Summer for you to read in Winter; however, we just couldn’t let such an amazing event go unmentioned. This Summer’s first-ever ‘Love Bristol’ Festiva read more...
Aston Fri 1 Sep 2006
Karen writes: When you arrive in Aston, one of the most noticeable features is the great numbers of young people. This is not only because the under-25s make up a large proportion of residents here (~50%), but also because it is a densely-populated read more...
Blackburn Fri 1 Sep 2006
Stella writes: It is with mixed emotions I write this article, as it will be my last as Leader of the Lee Abbey Blackburn House. Later in the year I will be moving to take up the position of Associate Minister at St. Mary with St. Matthew Cheltenham read more...
Knowle West Fri 1 Sep 2006
Rev’d Alister Palmer, vicar of St. Barnabas’ and Holy Cross Churches, together with his wife Sally and the family came to Knowle West in 2003, six months ahead of us. We greatly value their friendship and prayerful support. Alister writes: I tha read more...
Aston Mon 1 May 2006
David writes: In February, Juliet and I were invited to a joint “away-day” for leaders in the three Anglican churches in Aston and Nechells, which are now grouped together. Many of the 45 participants had lived in this area all their lives; nearl read more...
Blackburn Mon 1 May 2006
Stella writes: A chance meeting with a lady from the URC Church in Darwen led me to invite her husband to write for Rapport. John East is Asylum Seeker Coordinator for the ‘Blackburn with Darwen’ area. He generously invited four asyl read more...
Knowle West Mon 1 May 2006
Rita and Martin write: We are most grateful to Dr. Trevor Dean, one of the five Christian doctors at the Merrywood Health Centre, for agreeing to write a few lines for Rapport readers: ‘Knowle West is a great place to work as a GP, especi read more...
Aston Sun 1 Jan 2006
Juliet and David Fletcher write: Greetings from Aston, with new leaders and a new type of community! David: For the last 22 years, we have been working with the Church Mission Society (CMS): first for fifteen years in Peshawar, Pakistan, where I read more...
Blackburn Sun 1 Jan 2006
Stella Weaver writes: ‘Change is here to stay.’ I have heard it said on so many occasions since I arrived in Blackburn, and it has proved to be so in experience. Some changes affect us only a little; others mean we must make major ad read more...
Knowle West Sun 1 Jan 2006
What thoughts spring to your mind when you see a black-leather-clad motorcyclist? Forgive me for imagining that not many would automatically think, ‘There goes a Priest!’ In Knowle West, we are becoming accustomed to thinking just that. The Re read more...
Aston Thu 1 Sep 2005
Martin’s final comment from Aston: When God clearly opened a door for us to come to Aston in 1985, and then be in on discussions in 1987 about a Lee Abbey House in Aston, we never guessed that we’d be living in 121 in 1995! Now, after read more...
Blackburn Thu 1 Sep 2005
Stella Weaver writes: One highlight of the summer has been my trip to Germany to attend the wedding of Marina and Simon; Marina came to spend three months at the Lee Abbey House, Blackburn in 2001. We have kept in touch ever since, and I was both read more...
Knowle West Thu 1 Sep 2005
Rita Ashman writes: Every Wednesday morning, a small group of local church leaders meet for prayer in Filwood Hope Drop-in Centre. As we pray in the relative peace of one of Filwood’s meeting rooms, we are fully aware of how life is often f read more...
Aston Sun 1 May 2005
Karen and Sandra write: Martin and Suzette plan to leave Lee Abbey Aston in August. We thought this was a good time to ask them to look back and reflect on their time here. People attending our Open Fellowship Evening in February suggested these q read more...
Blackburn Sun 1 May 2005
At the end of January 2005, the Darwen Churches Partnership saw the arrival of Sarah Moore as the new URC Minister in Darwen. Sarah was ordained and welcomed to the team on Saturday 29th January in St. James’ Church, Over Darwen. The church filled read more...
Knowle West Sun 1 May 2005
When time allows, which isn’t often, I [Rita] enjoy a ramble with the Knowle West Healthy Walking Group. This is an excellent way of meeting new people. Sometimes opportunities arise for me to share my Christian faith and to answer questions read more...
Aston Mon 4 Apr 2005
As Suzette and Martin Young move on from the Aston Household, Karen, in her 8th year in the house, and Sandra, in her 3rd year, continue their invaluable contribution there. So the Lee Abbey Movement are looking for a new leader or leaders. You read more...
Aston Sat 1 Jan 2005
Martin Young writes: Praise the Lord! Do I hear a response? (If not, you may need to visit one of our local Black-led fellowships, where a guaranteed response is a loud “Praise the Lord!”) We do praise Him for His goodness to us here ― I do, read more...
Blackburn Sat 1 Jan 2005
As I reflect over the summer in Blackburn, my mind overflows with thanks to God for His goodness and kindness to the people here. In August we held a holiday club for the children of St. James’ Lower Darwen and St. James’ Over Darwen, br read more...
Knowle West Sat 1 Jan 2005
According to local statistics a third — approximately 5,000 — of those living on the estate are under 15 years of age. Quite a challenge for anyone considering youth work in this area. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. read more...
Aston Wed 1 Sep 2004
During Suzette and Martin’s 3 months away, we’ve been especially aware of the wider �Lee Abbey Aston� community. We’ve been very grateful for the people who support the life and work of the house: management members, friends an read more...
Blackburn Wed 1 Sep 2004
It is with great sadness that the people of the Darwen Churches Partnership say goodbye to Tamas, Marta, Gergo and Ezster Sugar. After five years of serving the URC churches of Darwen they are returning to Hungary to work. As a young family they h read more...
Knowle West Wed 1 Sep 2004
We have been in Knowle West for almost a year - and what an incredible year it has been! Many lovely friendships have formed. We have experienced a mixture of ups and downs, and shared joys as well as tears. One of several high points was the Know read more...