Spring 2006

Winter is full of promise. That’s when Celebration plans ministry and the summer conference, receives inquiries for visits, and books people in for retreats. But new things have happened also. Margaret-Love Denman, who lived with Celebration during the community’s time in Scotland, is now residing for a year’s sabbatical in the flat in All Saints House.

The time has proved to be a great combination of disengagement enabling her to work on the book she is writing and engagement along with the community in the daily round of prayer and worship.

Now Easter bursts forth with a flurry of first-spring flowers that have people stopping on Franklin Avenue to admire our gardens. The garden of All Saints House shows the results of long stints of gardening in the past two years by Maggie Durran on her visits. The abundance of daffodils has brought the curious from the seedy bar across the street to ask for advice on why their daffodils at home don’t look so great! This year Maggie has planted a small vegetable plot that, with the help of a carefully buried watering system, may just produce a few vegetables for our tables.

Each morning new colors – now the flame red tulips – remind us of the change of season. During Lent on Tuesdays we gathered for silence and soup to listen to Walking the Bible on CD, opening up new ways of seeing the bible and the holy land. Wednesday Compline led into silence until Morning Prayer, adding time in our busy life for individual reflection.

Many of our newsletter readers are now familiar with the chapel, gathering space and dining room, and more groups are finding it a welcoming meeting place. The Diocesan Racism Committee met here a second time for its annual meeting as did the Church Army Board. Companion Terry Webb again brought her annual meeting of GOAL (Global Outreach for Addiction Leadership, an organization addressing substance abuse on an international scale) to Celebration’s conference center.

With the opportunity of added guest space in All Saints House we welcome visitors, groups, people on holiday or sabbatical to spend time here. You could always stay if you have a stop-over at Pittsburgh airport as we are closer to the airport than downtown Pittsburgh!

At the end of last year Phil and Margaret Bradshaw attended a conference organised by Faithworks, a growing network in the UK concerned to encourage initiatives by Christians that engage with the local community and serve its needs. Jim Wallis, one of the keynote speakers, has been in Britain recently to promote his new book, God’s Politics.

Through connections such as this Phil and Margaret are seeking the way forward for their lives and for Celebration’s UK house. At present they divide their time between parish work and, in Phil’s case, writing a book about the way community experience has influenced his theological outlook. Recently they have been involved in helping their church to establish links with a church in Durban, South Africa which has a ministry to street kids and people with AIDS. They will be visiting Aliquippa in July.

Joe Beckey works at Celebration’s reception desk taking phone calls, filling product orders, and manufacturing tapes and CDs. This past year, with help from Companion Sylvia Hawkes, he has begun the project of resurrecting some of our older, out-of-print books. (They pre-dated word-processing – it’s hard to remember the days of typewriters!) With a little more technical wizardry we are planning to launch the books onto the website, so be on the lookout for the following:

Margaret-Love Denman, a member of the Community of Celebration in the Scotland days, is not only resident here for a year but is also the speaker at this year’s summer conference, June 9-11. She is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of New Hampshire.

We are all aware that violence takes many forms and has many victims. Our desire is to become pro-active peacemakers with a gospel message, representing the Prince of Peace. Come join us.

Judith Harris, a member in Scotland, was married at Church of the Redeemer in Houston last November. The wedding was quite a reunion, with Bill Farra present to join friends from around the country and even a few from England and Sweden.

Companions Jen Dinwiddie Hawkes and Phil Dinwiddie, with Phil’s wife, Melanie, paid an overnight visit while in Pittsburgh for a family funeral.

Bill Farra went to jail in March, not for heinous crimes but to raise funds for the National Muscular Dystrophy Association. Thanks to many generous supporters, he raised the third highest “bail” in the county!

James has been a community member since the late 1970s, coming to Aliquippa with the first arrivals from the UK in 1985. He is the most visibly practical hand in working out our ministry of presence.

The 14 rowhouses and 9 garages that Celebration owns are our homes, guest accomodation and rental property. The skills that James developed long ago as an organ builder come into play with carpentry and everyday maintenance. He does the practical care from engaging local tradesmen to minor repairs and remodeling. Every time a rental house becomes vacant he has the responsibility of preparing it for new occupancy. Sometimes this is a bigger task than other times! He also manages the leasing, negotiating with tenants and following up with those who are delinquent in their payments.

The grounds flourish in spring: the front gardens that have created a splash of color on a relatively depressed Franklin Avenue and the extensive lawn in the rear are supervised and organized by James. Zac, Ben and Luke Stanley prove able workers at grass mowing on a regular basis and James always welcomes their help. Summer visitors and youth groups have been included as co-workers, shoveling, planting, watering, tidying and clipping.

Music is an important part of Celebration’s worship and James contributes by playing horn and a variety of hand-held percussion instruments. Newsletter readers who have also visited for conferences and events here will have appreciated James’s cooking skills as he prepares the meals with meticulous care and great creativity.