Start The Week

Britons are believers of 'fuzzy faith', says survey

This from the "Daily Telegraph" of a few weeks ago: check it out. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/5030049/Britons-are-believers-of-fuzzy-faith-says-survey.html

Here's an extract:

Britain is one of the least religious nations in Europe, according to a major survey by the European Union to be published next month.

 

By Lois Rogers 
Last Updated: 5:59PM GMT 22 Mar 2009

According to the study, only 12 per cent of Britons feel they "belong" to a church, compared with 52 per cent in France.

It also found that the UK has one of the highest rates of "fuzzy faith" - or people who have an abstract belief in God and an ill-defined loyalty to Christian traditions...

Peterborough Diocese - CHILDREN AND YOUNG FAMILIES PIONEER

This from Rona Orme in Peterborough:

Diocese of Peterborough

Parish of Wootton in the Greater Northampton Deanery

With funding from the Church Commissioners as part of its programme for developing

ministries in areas of new housing, Greater Northampton Deanery with the parish of St

George Wootton, want to appoint a suitably gifted and experienced

CHILDREN AND YOUNG FAMILIES PIONEER

The Parish of Wootton has grown very significantly in recent years with several thousand

new homes. There are four schools in the parish or very close by, and a very large number of

young families. We have begun work in some of these areas and there is vast potential for

additional Christian outreach work.

Our vision is to work with one of our local Primary Schools with the aim of:

• Creating a midweek worshipping community probably based in a school

• Children and adults together growing in the Christian faith

• Making a visible Christian presence in the Wootton Fields community

• Developing a positive complementary relationship in prayer and practice as

part of the good news of St George’s parish.

You will be a full member of the staff team at St George’s and receive support locally and

within the Diocese, alongside other pioneer ministers.

We want someone who is ……..

• Either lay or ordained

• Experienced in pastoral and outreach work with children & young families

• A prayerful person with a passion for the gospel

• Good communicator – especially with children and those not in contact with church

• Able to work with the local school

• A team player and builder with good interpersonal skills

• With proven ability to take responsibility

• Able to work as a member of the Anglican team at Wootton and with ecumenical

partners.

The post will be………

• Full time

• On an incumbent or equivalent salary

• Provided with a house or, if not resident in Wootton, a local office

Want to know more?

For further information and an application form contact:

The Venerable Christine Allsopp

Archdeacon of Northampton

Westbrook, 11 The Drive,

Northampton, NN1 4RZ.

Tel: 01604 714015

archdeacon@aofn.wanadoo.co.uk

To discuss the post contact:

The Revd Jenny Parkin

Priest in Charge of Wootton with Quinton and Preston Deanery;

The Rectory, Water Lane, Wootton, Northampton NN4 6HH

01604 761891

parkinjen@btinternet.com

Closing date for applications: Friday 22nd May

Interview date: Tuesday 16 June

This post requires CRB Disclosure at Enhanced Level

START - a note from Robin Gamble

Robin writes:

Dear friends

Several years ago C.P.A.S. produced START. Start is a very different type of Basics or Christian Enquirers Course:-

• It is shorter, flexible and easier to use than most others

• It came out of a Northern working class context, although it has been adapted and used by lots of more middle-class churches from across the U.K

• It combines ‘magazine’ type DVD, ‘join in’ group activities, short focussed talks and moments of deep meditation.

Although START has never had very much marketing or publicity, it has spread via word of mouth and become very popular. In fact, it is still growing in its usage today

Sadly, in the re-altering of their focus, C.P.A.S. no longer feel that they can maintain the work of START and unless something is done very quickly it will disappear. The best suggestion seems to be that the ‘Leading your Church into Growth’ team take it on. To do this and produce a batch of START’s it will cost us about £10,000. Surely this is a modest amount for making a crucial evangelistic resource available. Unfortunately, however, ‘Leading your Church into Growth’ does not have the full capital available. What we do have is a huge and extensive network of opportunities. We can make START more available and more widely used than ever before.

So to make this happen we are writing to a number of churches with which we have personal contact and asking you to prayerfully think about offering us a gift. If you do then you will be helping us to go on helping the wider church and especially those churches working in working class areas.

On behalf of the ‘Leading your Church into Growth’ team, those thousands who have come to Christ through START and the many thousands more who are still waiting to make a start, will you please help?

To do this you can send cash, or a cheque made out to ‘L.Y.C.I.G’ to me at the address below.

Yours in Christ

Robin

The Rev’d Robin Gamble, The Vicarage, 470 Leeds Road, Thackley, BRADFORD,

W Yorkshire. BD10 9AA

The Lee Abbey movement: retelling the story

Paul is at present a member of the Council of the Lee Abbey movement. He's written this re-casting of the narrative of Lee Abbey, to draw attention to the resource for the mixed economy that this movement represents - not just in its Devon expression, but in its diversity and in its values and principles.

Download it here: Download An underground stream

If you know Lee Abbey and want to comment on this interpretation of its story, please do!

Jesus' People: latest book from Steve Croft

New bishop: Church needs to navigate change by using the compass of Christ

11 May 2009

 

The Church of England's newest diocesan bishop has issued a call for churches to refocus on Jesus as the compass to navigate the changing terrain of the world, in Jesus' People: What the Church should do next, released by Church House Publishing today.

Steven Croft, who spent the last five years leading the development of ‘fresh expressions’ of church alongside traditional ones and is now Bishop of Sheffield, sets out a simple manifesto for a fresh vision for the Church that crosses the divide between different traditions and approaches. The short book has been described by Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the British Methodist Church, as “a passionately sane piece of prophecy to be ignored at our peril.”

Taking his cue from Jesus’ teaching about assessing the ‘fruits’ of endeavours (Matthew 7.20), Steven argues that “the source and the secret of lasting fruitfulness for any Christian community is not technique or good planning or the latest ideas. It does not rest primarily in great leadership or wealth or natural human ability. The source and secret of lasting fruitfulness is whether or not we are connected to and abiding in the vine: it depends on our connection to Jesus.”

Having encouraged Christians to focus on the person and teaching of Jesus as their compass to navigate change, Steven Croft moves on to look at the Beatitudes, Jesus’ teaching at the Sermon on the Mount. He considers the need not only to build the Church but also to change the world, and offers thoughts on finding the strength for change though Bible study, worship, fellowship and prayer. Each chapter ends with suggestions for reflection and discussion individually or in groups.

“Jesus’ People will challenge the reader to rethink both the role of Jesus in the Church and that of the Church in today’s society and culture,” comments Steven.

Jesus’ People: What the Church should do next, priced £7.99 (ISBN 978-07151-4187-8), is available from Christian bookshops, or by mail ordervia the web.

Share: can church be church without the Eucharist?

Andrew Wooding has an update on the latest Share posting:

Pam Smith has written a blog on the Share site, asking: 'Can something be called church if it doesn't celebrate the Eucharist?' Pam is currently priest in charge of i-church, an online community founded by the Diocese of Oxford. Please read and comment on her blog at: www.sharetheguide.org/blog

Square Mile - upcoming Evangelical Alliance resources

Alexandra Lilley at EA writes:

Square Mile is an Evangelical Alliance initiative to help churches engage in integral mission. We developed Square Mile to be a natural successor to Hope08, in helping the church continue to develop a ‘word & deed’ approach to mission.

 

Square Mile approaches integral mission as having four ‘dimensions’:

Mercy:                          demonstrating God’s compassion to the poor

Influence:                      being salt and light in the public life of the community
Life Discipleship:           equipping Christians for missional living as workers & neighbours
Evangelism:                   faithful and relevant communication of the gospel

Last month we launched three resources to help people develop this four dimensional approach:

• A DVD-based course designed for small groups and developed in partnership with Community Mission. Each course sessions involves:

- Scripture, deciphered in the group and by theological experts, including Bishop Tom Wright, Elaine Storkey and Tim Keller

- Footage of actual projects around the UK

- Motivation from well-known practitioners - Shane Claiborne, Jim Wallis, Mark Greene and J John.

• A journal, which contains daily readings and activities covering the period of a month, complementing the DVD course.

• A website – www.eauk.org/squaremile - which profiles mission resources, events, stories and networks in each of the MILE categories, across the spectrum of evangelicalism.

We are encouraging as many churches and small groups as possible across the UK to take up the challenge of Square Mile thisSeptember. We would be delighted if this was something that could be promoted via appropriate means for Anglican churches to take up this autumn.