Over Coming Passivity in Church Services

As part of my work for the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds I get to take the sermon slot in church services and also run training events for churches and other groups.

Rather than standing at the front and talking for a long time I have developed an approach that gets people involved in the learning process and then to respond in some way and the results have been very encouraging

I was recently encouraged, when I was congratulated on my approach and the suggestion was made that I ought to bottle it, so others could benefit. This is my attempt to bottle what I do to facilitate participation. Please don’t take it as a magic formula but I hope it provides you with some ideas for developing your own style.

My approach stemmed from my concern that people can develop habits of passivity when attending church or similar events; coming to listen, but not actually to engage in the process.  

I was concerned that people are going home having been entertained but not actually learning from the experience of attending church. There was, however, some evidence to suggest that people wanted to engage and put questions or a counter argument to me as they shook my hand as they left. Unfortunately the traditional talk does not make it easy for either the audience or leader to make or manage contributions from the floor.

So often in the bible when Jesus is communicating we see him asking questions to encourage discussion around a meal table or over food.

Some authors would suggest that the stand up and talk method of teaching we see in so many churches was learnt from the Greek culture rather than a Judaeo-Christian culture. I have also been told that adults learn best when discussing and working on a problem together rather than listening to someone else’s voice as in a lecture.

It’s also the case that when we involve a multi-sensory approach to learning that many people connect better with the material. Some trainers even include highlighter pens, which smell of fruit, and good visuals and activates also help people learn.

In my work I have been experimenting in finding ways to encourage people to be involved in discussing a question and to then facilitate a response.

Part of the problem is the fact that a leader is often asked to come and speak rather than to facilitate learning and therefore naturally drops into a speaking role rather than adopting a more creative approach to teaching and facilitated learning.

The architecture of many of our churches certainly doesn't help and further discourages active learning, with rows of pews or chairs lined up to face a pulpit, lectern or raised dais, which is similar to a cinema or theater where people go to be entertained.  This seating layout is different from other areas of our lives.  For example when we get together socially in pubs, restaurants and cafes we usually sit in groups around tables. In our schools the children are also seated around tables so the children can work together in groups.

So when running a training session I always insist that people sit around tables in small groups so that they can discuss what we are looking at. I also try to divide the session in to a series of 15 minute periods, each period looking at a different aspect of the topic with representatives of tables giving feedback after each period.

In groups of around four it’s also easier for people to make a comment or ask a question rather than in a larger group. It is also much more difficult for people to sit passively and not to contribute. I can then ask representatives from each table to feedback to the larger group and groups are nearly always willing to contribute in this way.

The other things that I have discovered that works really well is to ask people to draw or write on a specially cut out paper symbol such as a leaf or piece of fruit and then to stick this on to a larger diagram or chart.  This is a form of the old post it note idea but the specially cut out symbol gives a greater emphases to the process and the act of sticking it on the chart subconsciously reinforces the persons commitment to the learning process.

I have in the past provided cut out green leaves to members of very traditional rural congregations and asked them to write on these, the areas where they felt God was at work in their community.  I have then invited participants to the front and to stick the paper leaves on a large diagram of a tree at the front of the church.

I was initially surprised at the willingness of people to come to the front but on reflection realised that the action is very similar to the process of coming to the front for communion, which people are familiar and comfortable with.

One of the keys to this process is the expectation of the leader that people will engage in the process. If the leader doubts that people will take part potential participants will latch on to this and be reluctant to engage.

However, if the leader is confident and enthusiastic then people will respond.  I don’t say I am not nervous, I always am, but prayer really helps me settle down and to put the results in to the hands of the Holy Spirit trusting in the process and the God given capabilities of those present. 

P.S The Service of saying good bye to the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds Diocese is an example of a service which used elements of this approach see www.riponleeds.anglican.org/news-646.html. This was made easier by not having pews in the Cathedral.

What Can Rural Churches Learn from the Rural Passenger Transport Industry?

For many years before being appointed as the Rural Officer for the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds I was involved in the rural passenger transport industry. I didn't work for an operator but for the Community Council of Shropshire and then Cumbria County on projects to develop and fill the gaps left by the withdrawal of bus services following the introduction of the 1985 Transport Act.

Recently I have been reflecting on this experience and the possible lessons that rural churches can learn from the rural passenger transport industry.

The old National Bus Companies managers had become masters of managing decline and consolidating their operations. However this often resulted in complicated timetables that where difficult to use. 

When variations or new services where suggested to managers one reply I remember receiving was. “We have surveyed the passengers on our buses and they don’t want to go there.”  However as I used to point out I was more interested in the passengers that weren't on their buses and perhaps they should do a community survey. When these were done more often than not they threw up unmet needs and demands and when these were provided for people used the new facilities.

The lesson rural churches can perhaps learn from this is that we don’t just need to survey our existing congregations but that we also need to connect with and listen to those in our communities that are not attending our services.

Part of the reason that bus services and communities needs were mismatched was that the requirements of the local communities had changed over the years and the bus operators had failed to adapt and therefore passenger numbers had declined.

One of the things the old National Bus companies had become poor at was customer care and provided utility rather than comfortable and quality buses.  Seats where closely spaced with limited room for shopping and drivers would watch as people struggled on board with shopping or push chairs climbing up steep steps.

Contrast this today with forward looking companies like Harrogate and District who’s number 36 service runs between Ripon, Harrogate and Leeds and is thriving.  The buses have low floor access and the drivers stop centimetres from the curb so passengers can easily get on board. The leather seating is very comfortable and the buses are clean and warm with free wifi and are driven by courteous and helpful drivers.

How this contrasts to some of our churches, where access is via steep steps and the seating uncomfortable and the buildings cold and poorly lit.

Yet some churches are improving access: replacing hard wooden pews with flexible comfortable seating, installing low energy modern lighting, carrying out energy audits to reduce heat loss and installing modern low carbon heating systems such as biomass. (see story) In addition installing a kitchen to provide refreshments as well as accessible toilets.

One of the lessons we also learnt in the rural transport industry was that timetables needed to be simple to understand and easily remembered.  The complications that have been brought in to try consolidate operations with different times on school days, market days and during different seasons of the year, actually undermined services and people couldn’t remember when the bus ran. What was required was easily to remember timetables that you could carry in your head; such as the same time each day or the same time past each hour, with no exceptions.  When these were introduced passengers’ numbers crept up. The same is true in parishes where there is a service at the same time each Sunday; even if the format of the service may change it’s the same time each week and numbers are creeping up.

Another factor we learnt was that to sustain a rural bus service we needed to combine various uses or different markets. For example the well know post buses that combine the carriage of post with the carriage of passengers or the border courier in Scotland that combined the delivery of medical supplies to hospitals and rural Doctor’s practices with the carriage of passengers.

The same pattern is now emerging in rural churches with church buildings in use as multi-functional community buildings. Examples in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds includes St Michael Church, Spennithorne near Leyburn (see story) that hosts the local library and All Saints Kirby Overblow (see story) which is also used for exhibitions, conferences, as a theatre and a place for community celebrations. In other areas church buildings host community shops, youth clubs and other activities, whilst still being used for worship at other times. 

Is your Church on mains gas and do you want to save money on energy costs? Micro-Combined heat and power might be the answer.

The principle behind the technology is that as electrical energy is lost during transmission, it is more efficient to distribute natural gas through the gas network and then generate electricity locally using a micro combined heat and power plant (Micro-CHP).

The heat energy produced while generating electricity is then available to heat a home, business, church or community building with the electricity generated either used in the building or fed in to the national grid for local consumption.

The Government's Microgeneration Strategy has identified micro-CHP as one of the key technologies offering a realistic alternative to centrally generated electricity and it has recently introduced the Feed-in Tariff, which offers funding generation opportunities to organisations and households that use these technologies.

If you are interested have a look these websites:

www.bluegen.info/What-is-bluegen-UK/

www.baxi.co.uk/products/combinedheatandpower.htm

So, if your building has a gas connection or if there is a gas main close by it might be worth exploring this option as a way of reducing your energy costs.

Responding to the ongoing flooding in the South West

The past few weeks have seen a huge amount of supportive activity from across the country, including the Yorkshire area, in response to the ongoing flooding in the South West. Help has been offered and given by many Businesses, organisations, Churches and individuals for both communities and farmers.

The situation is certainly something which farmers and communities in Yorkshire can relate to.

There is a huge amount of goodwill and good intent, but for the help to be most effective, it should be carefully guided to provide what is needed, when it is needed.

This message, based on information from the National Farmers Union, is an attempt to bring together a summary of how support can be given. The links below give comprehensive details of how help can be given – whether it be cash assistance to the Farming Help Charities (Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, Farming Community Network and The Addington Fund) or in how the farming community can help with donations of animal feed/fodder/bedding etc.

Make a donation

• The Addington Fund is supporting farming businesses by making a contribution towards haulage costs so there is no hold up in getting vital supplies through. Donate here.
•  The Farm Community Network’s volunteers provide practical and emotional support to farmers and farming families affected by severe flooding and, in the longer term, will also be able to help stand alongside people needing business support. Donate here.
• The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution can support farming families in Somerset and elsewhere in England and Wales by giving grants from its Emergency Fund to meet the domestic costs of badly affected farmers with no savings to fall back on. Donate here
• Donations can also be made to the Royal Bath and West Show Society and the Somerset Levels Relief Fund,  which are raising money towards water management and for individual, bespoke support respectively.

For further information see:

Information from the Arthur Rank Centre   (Contains lots of useful links) 

Flooding how you have helped:

How you can help:  (updated regularly)

Sunday is the Loneliest Day of the week for One Million Older People

Sadly Sunday is the loneliest day for one million older people recent research conducted by ICM for the Royal Voluntary Service has revealed.

The ICM research reveals that loneliness and isolation experienced by older people is compounded by lack of contact with their family, with 13% saying they always feel lonely on a Sunday because it’s such a family day. For 10% of older people, their nearest child lives more than an hour’s drive away (40 miles plus), making that daily or weekly contact even more difficult.

Many older people, particularly miss sitting down to a meal with their family and don’t enjoy a meal when they cannot share it with someone else and may even eat poorly becoming malnourished as a result.

There is a challenge here for churches to make their services more hospitable with food like in Messy Church and to build community though hosting community meals. An excellent example of this is the Church in the rural community of Barningham, which periodically holds the Barningham Parish Lunch.

It’s such a shame that although in the early church, eating together was an important part of church life, today it’s been reduced to a tea or coffee after a service and communion has been reduced to a sip of wine and a chew on a wafer. 

Perhaps we need to demonstrate the generosity of our invitational God and rediscover the true meaning of feast days; hosting community meals and creating the opportunity for people to enjoy eating together and each other’s company.

Barningham Parish Church Joins a State of the Art District Heating Scheme Powered by Wood Chips from a Local Forest Plantation.

The village of Barningham has a strong sense of community and celebrates this at regular parish lunches organised in the village hall by the church.  See Barningham Parish Lunch

The Church in Barningham has a small congregation with only 21 people on the electoral role who are responsible for the large church building. This they have found a burden to heat with an ancient oil boiler and being in a rural location there is no chance of mains gas being available.

Existing Church oil 
boiler, which is about
forty years old!







Pennine Biomass has its offices in the village and has experience in developing district heating through biomass boilers, so it was an obvious opportunity for them to develop a district heating scheme for the village.

Barningham Estate has a forestry plantation within a few miles of the village which provides the fuel. The timber is felled, chipped and processed before delivery into the fuel store. 

The scheme includes the Milbank Arms (the village pub), several estate cottages a private house and the church was asked if it also wanted to join the project.

By joining the scheme the church will be able to access cheaper heat; they will stop their dependence on oil, reduce their carbon footprint and demonstrate their care for creation.

Fortunately all the capital costs of the project are being covered by Pennine Biomass ( www.penninebiomass.co.uk ) who will then claim renewable heat incentive (RHI) payments from the government and sell heat to the different users at a rate linked to inflation.

The Church PCC decided to join in the scheme with the Diocesan Advisory Committee endorsing the proposal. The project includes routing heavily insulated water pipes from the new district based wood chip boiler, across the church yard to a heat ex-changer in the boiler house at the back of the church. 

This enables the heat to be transferred into the church’s existing radiator system, so there has hardly been any disruption in joining the scheme.

Heat ex-changers waiting to be installed and the churchyard through which the heating pipes have been routed 

The village district heating scheme boiler house is located in the garden of the Milbank Arms and houses a 200 kilowatt wood chip boiler and wood chip store.

This is the first time a church in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds will have been heated by wood chips. This will provide the church with a sustainable source of heat well in to the future. The scheme will also save on heating costs, which the church can reinvest in improving the building and mission in the local community.

Switching to a renewable heat source such as a wood chip or wood pellet boiler is likely to be particularly attractive to large rural churches, which are currently using oil or electricity as their main heat source. If a church is too small to justify its own boiler then linking it to other nearby premises can make the whole project stack up and provide wider benefits to the local community.

"Barningham Church is difficult to heat, particularly in the winter. The oil boiler is almost forty years old and certainly not very efficient. When the PCC were offered the chance to be part of the proposed biomass scheme it quickly became clear that this was a great opportunity - too good to miss! We will no longer be reliant on oil, be able to care for the fabric of the church more effectively and have a warmer church." Revd John Richards 

“We are very honoured to have built the first district heating scheme including a church in the Diocese of Ripon and Leeds and would be delighted to help other parishes in the same way.” Andy Howard of Pennine Biomass

Rural Churches Buildings: Worm Holes in Space & Time

Over the years I have had the pleasure of visiting many small rural churches in the three northern dioceses of Carlisle, Bradford and Ripon & Leeds.

Many of these beautiful churches buildings are well cared for and are still in regular use for worship and personal prayer. Most have been places of prayer for hundreds of years and some possibly for thousands, being built on the site of pre Christian religious sites.

This is perhaps why some are referred to as ‘thin places’ where the veil between earth and heaven is thin and therefore offer a ‘worm hole’ to a different spiritual dimension.

A visit to a rural parish church in summer can be a sensual experience with the pleasure of an ancient stone building surrounded by a grassy grave-yard with possibly sheep grazing.

Heavy wooden doors, with ancient wrought iron door handles, provide the gateways into a different world of shade and shelter from the summer sun or the rain and wind.

The smell of grass and wild flowers outside, gives way to the smell of polished wood, candles and on occasions, the heady smell of lilies in a flower arrangement from a recent wedding.

The peace inside only being disturbed by sheep bleating or possibly the sounds of swallows or sparrows nesting in the church porch, the sound of which can draw us in to prayer. See my blog

“How Listening to bird song has helped my prayer life”

Despite the painting over of murals and the stripping of plaster during the reformation and later re-ordering of buildings, many rural churches today are filled with iconic art and offer a stimulus or focus for prayer.

       

    

    Beautiful stained glass windows

    Hand stitched kneelers

           Banners depicting biblical stories or local scenes

Telling the History of the Place

Most rural church buildings also tell the story of the place and give us a fascinating insight in to the past with ancient inscriptions on grave stones and lists of:

Local men and women who died in the two world wars

    Baptisms

            Former vicars or rectors of the Parish

Some rural churches also give us glimpses in to the past in the form of carved figures of former landed gentry over graves.  If you are lucky there will be a leaflet or small guide book to the church and these are always worth a read as they provide the key to understanding the history of the place and enables your imagination to travel through time.

Still living places of worship

Worship still takes place Sunday by Sunday in most rural parish churches, although some may have to take their turn in a rota as part of large benefice or team of parishes.

In some, the clergy will still carry out the daily office of morning prayer and I have very fond memories of sitting around a flickering candle on a cold morning, praying for the parish and the world with a small group of clergy and readers, when I lived in Wharfedale or joining with a small congregation for the 8 o’clock Communion on a Sunday morning.

Still place of Community Celebration

Rural Churches are important places for community celebration and reflection such as a child’s baptism; a wedding or the last farewell to a local villager.

Harvest festivals in many rural areas are still celebrated even though the number of people now in involved in agriculture has significantly reduced. However rural people still like to put on magnificent displays with window sills piled high with apples carrots, purple and green cabbages, honey, nuts and a whole variety of local produce.

Midnight mass on Christmas Eve is one of the highlights of a village churches year, where a large number of villagers will turn out to the service, some rolling out of the local pub, which can add a certain colour to the event.

Original Community Building

Some rural churches are rediscovering their key role as the original community building and are providing space for a variety of essential local services such as:

Second hand book banks

Libraries

Community Post Offices

 Community shops

Information points

Space for arts and craft sales and exhibitions

All Saints Kirkby Overblow 

Some Parochial Church Councils are also removing the pews, opening out the space to create a wonderful space for community events and flexible worship. In fact the original configuration of older rural churches was without pews and when they are re removed this allows us to travel through time and to see the church architecture shown off  to its best with pillars growing out of the floor like       study ash trees.

The hidden Congregation

Many rural churches have hidden congregations made up of people who stop by for private prayer or reflection, pinning prayer requests on prayer boards or prayer trees.

To support these hidden congregations some churches provide a basic guide to the church building and its history as well as appropriate Christian and other literature to support people in time of need or distress.

Unfortunately many Parochial Church Councils fail to monitor the numbers of visitors. This is a shame as the numbers can be significant and statistics useful when a grant application needs to be made. Yet with a simple people counter on the door numbers can be easily recorded and with the aid of a visitor’s book or even a map the origins of visitors can be monitored and their comments recorded.

Worm Holes in Time and Space

Rural Church buildings are still places for the living yet they also provide ‘worm holes’ in time if we allow our imaginations to reflect on where we are standing.

All around us, under the floor and in church yards are the remains of many past parishioners and the buildings are still soaked in the payer of the many who have gone before which can remind us of the words of the creed:

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

If God and Heaven are outside of time, then so to are the dead and we join with them as part of the great tapestry of the pilgrim church. Rural Parish churches bring us face to face with this reality, giving us a glimpse beyond our own age to that which has gone before and is beyond us. They are places where heaven touches earth or to put it another way are ‘worm holes’ in time and space.

So the next time you are out in the country stop by at a rural parish church. No matter where you are you will have a treat in store, enjoy your journey you never know where it will take you, let your imagination fly.  You will be in good company. 

Parochial Church Councils may find the following web site from the Arthur Rank Centre of interest.   Getting the Most Out of Your Buildings

How Listening to bird song has helped my prayer life

Recently while talking with a colleague about using multi- sensory prayer stations to enable people to pray, she recommend me to view a video featuring an interview with Dr Herbert Benson on YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQAIaVmHyAE which outlines what Dr Benson calls the Relaxation Response.

The Relaxation Response is perhaps best described as the reverse of the fight or flight response; which is when faced with a stressful situation, our bodies respond by a rush of hormones such as adrenaline to increase our hart and breathing rates and our blood flow resulting in higher blood pressure to prepare our bodies for a fight or to escape.

Howard Benson suggests that our bodies are also imbued with a mechanism to induce a physiological state of quietness, which, relaxes the body, slows our heart and breathing rates and lowers our blood pressure.

In order to achieve this Benson suggests that two factor help these are:

A mental device such as a sound, word phrase, or prayer repeated silently or aloud, or a fixed gaze at an object.

A passive attitude-not worrying about how well one is performing the technique and simply putting aside distracting thoughts to return to one’s focus.

With eighty per cent of his patients choosing prayer as a method to elicit this response he found himself in the unusual position as a physician in the United States of teaching people to pray.

Following watching the video and reading more about “The Relaxation Response”   I started putting the strategies in to practice in prayer in church and at home and found they certainly helped relax my body and enabled me to leave my concerns with God in payer.

One morning I awoke early and as I lay in bed I practiced the techniques, as I did so I found I was listening to the sound of a pigeon call outside my bedroom window and the gentle repetitive calling was the perfect sound on which to focus my mind and to create an attitude of prayer.

On another occasion while camping I was listening to the dawn chorus and a sky lark singing over the fields of North Yorkshire and again found it the perfect melody to draw me in to an attitude of prayer.

This made me wonder, if perhaps St Francis’s attitude towards creation had been elicited by him listening to bird song, while in prayer. 

All Saints Kirkby Overblow has constantly been adapting through the centuries adopting new technologies and responding to the needs of the local community.

All Saints Parish Church sits at the centre of the small village of Kirby Overblow south of Harrogate and has seen many changes since reference was made to a church in the village in the Domesday Book.  Part of the current building dates back to the 14th century although a fragment of carved stone from the10th century has been found during recent works.

During the 18th century, the tower was largely rebuilt and fitted with a new clock (said to have the longest pendulum in Yorkshire); the chancel was re-roofed and re-paved; and a new porch was built.

In the 19th century new windows were pierced in the north wall, the tower arch and the west window were opened up and a completely new chancel arch was built. In addition a new stone pulpit was erected and new pews were installed. In 1890, improvements in lighting came with oil lamps replacing the old system of candles but the following year a fire destroyed the chancel roof and caused much damage to the choir stalls and organ.

The 20th century change continued with further improvements and the installation of electricity and the removal of some pews.

The millennium was celebrated with the installation of a mezzanine floor and a glass arch in the tower.
In the 21st century this pattern has continued with major changes.

When consideration was being given to providing a space for community activities including arts events and  a venue for the thriving drama group to put on productions, various proposals where considered; these  included building an arts barn or further changes being made to the church. The local community opted for and supported the further reordering of the church to provide a high quality and contemporary community space, with villagers giving generously to fund this project.

Under floor heating was installed, the 19th century pine pews were removed, the building re-wired and a fire alarm system installed along with professional stage lighting to cater for theatre and arts productions.

Today anyone entering this building will be struck by its warmth and light and with its modern facilities and with excellent acoustics the building is now used for a variety of uses including: Church Services, Conferences, Parties, Exhibition, Concerts, Wedding and Fashion Shows, Trade Fairs, Musical Events and Competitions, Drama and Film Shows and as a Recording Venue.  Facilities include

• Seating for 120 with clear sight lines
• Flexible seating and tables
• Data projector & screen,
• Microphones and hearing loops
• Sophisticated lighting system for concerts / theatre
• Wall space for posters and for exhibitions
• Exhibition boards for mounting work
• Small Kitchen with tea & coffee making facilities
• WC and parking area

Change continues and with the regular use being made of the building this has revealed the need for an upgraded kitchen area, improved toilet facilities and a meeting room so work goes on.

Thanks to All Saints Kirby Overblow website for much of the material and photographs used in this article.
www.allsaintschurchko.co.uk/

Another Church near Ripon that has undergone a similar transformation is St John's Sharrow see www.stjohnssharow.org/

Holidays, Labyrinths & Holy Days

Recently in order to attend a training day on spirituality, I travelled from Harrogate to Scargill House near Kettlewell in Wharfedale, which lies at the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

I used to live at Linton, close to Kettlewell, so making this longer journey felt rather different.

As I made my way I noticed that the roads became narrower at each junction, until they were reduced to a single carriageway with passing places. The landscape also became greener and more wooded as I approached Scargill.

As the subject of the day was spirituality I reflected as I drove on the nature of journey and it reminded me of some of the myths where people travel to far off places to receive enlightenment, such as visiting an oracle on a mountain peak or by travelling to the centre of a thick forest.

I observed how there were few buildings in upper Wharfedale and the landscape seemed more soothing on the eye and I started to relax. Perhaps this was due to a  phenomena I had recently heard about that suggests that hard angles found common in an urban setting causes visual stress; where as a natural setting devoid of these is more restful.  This sounded similar to how words on a page create visual stress for some people with certain learning differences such as dyslexia.

One of the spiritual exercises I encountered over the weekend was to follow the patterns of a labyrinth as a visual and Kinesthetic prayer. The prayer exercise involved tracing a journey to the heart of a complex labyrinth where prayers were left with Christ before returning along the same pathway to the mouth of the labyrinth. Unlike a maze you cannot get lost in a labyrinth as you return the way you entered with the journey designed to facilitate reflection and prayer. 

In a way I realised that as I made my journey through the Dales to Scargill House this was like travelling to the heart of a labyrinth and resembled a mini pilgrimage. In fact had the training day be conveniently located nearer home I don’t think it would not have had such a significant impact on me.

So if you are making a journey  this summer, perhaps to your holiday destination, consider the journey and your return like a journey to the heart of a labyrinth, where at the centre you will be able to leave your prayers with Christ. In doing so your holidays will not just be time off from work but will have become Holy Days, which by the way is where we get our word holiday from.   So happy holidays

Resources on labyrinth can be found at: http://labyrinthsociety.org and www.pilgrimpasths.co.uk  and for details of events and accommodation at Scargill see www.scargillmovement.org