Real Lives

That's the question that kicks off the 'Real Lives' event taking place at St John's Wimborne this week.

Matt Lee, the Associate Curate at St John's says the series of events, which sees different people in conversation with Glen Scrivener along with a stand up comedy night, allows people to explore what Christianity really is.

The introduction to 'Real Lives' says:

"From the outside Christianity can look pretty strange. It can be hard to find a way in. But actually, like any house you need to see it from the inside. You can have a thousand preconceptions but there’s no substitute for coming in and taking the tour."

And first up on the tour this evening is Major General Tim Cross.

A former Director General of the UK Defence Supply Chain, General Cross was awarded a CBE in the year 2000 Honours List for his humanitarian effort with refugee camps in the aftermath of the Kosovo War.

Early in his army career, a trip to Jerusalem got him thinking about whether the stories about Jesus could be true, and then what that would mean for his involvement in the British Army.

In discussion with Glen, he talks about faith and leadership in the real world.

On Thursday you are invited to Afternoon tea with "unlikely survivor Andy Turnbull".

Andy almost died in a skiing accident. Out-of-bounds and on his own, he fell off a cliff. Trapped behind tons of snow, his core temperature dropped to 26.6C. An amazing team brought him back from the brink of death, and
afterwards he knew that he was meant to do something with his life.

Glen Scrivener interviews Andy about his amazing story, and his journey to discover an even greater rescue.

In the evening Professor Stuart Burgess, who works in biomimetics designing engineering systems inspired by systems in the natural world, will explore issues of science and faith.

Friday night sees St John's host the Andy Kind Comedy Tour, which takes a humourous at "5 clues you may have missed in the search for meaning" and on Saturday Sian Baker, who worked for many years producing shows in the area of religion and ethics will discuss gives her insight into how faith interacts with the media.

The series of events ends with an Open Church service on Sunday morning where the congregation will hear from recovering addict Yvonne Edwards.