Mission Network News

Weddings Project

This Archbishops' Council initiative aims to increase the number of church weddings and to find ways of encouraging more people to stay in touch with the Christian community after participating in or attending a wedding. The third aim is to increase in the public mind the sense that the church of England is an enthusiastic believer in marriage (about 15 million adults in today's England either don't believe this or don't know).

The Project works to the Archbishop of York's question, "Whose Church is it? Are we there for us or for others?" which of course echoes Archbishop Temple's "The church is the only organisation that exists for those not (or not yet) its members". Paul Bayes is now seconded to the Project and its widening development for 70% of his time, and it's great that Rachel Jordan is now funded to work with Paul at the Mission & Evangelism desk for a further two years because of that.

44% of children born in the UK are born out of wedlock. About one in four couples with children tell us that they would not feel able to approach the church for a christening (their word, used about twice as much as "baptism" outside the church) or a church wedding, even if they felt that they wanted to engage with the gospel and the truth of Christ, for fear of rejection and condemnation.  

In July a Project press release on combining weddings and christening/ thanksgiving services received its share of attention, mostly positive and encouraging but also including feedback from some (inside and outside the Church) who feel that we are cheapening and vulgarising the gifts of God. That was not, of course, the intention. (The press release is available here)

Please pray for the Bishop of Wakefield who is leading on this matter and for Liturgical Commission, Communications and Weddings Project staff as we work to remind the people of England that their church is there for them, even if this means that the church, in Wesley's words, seems to be "consenting to become more vile"...

The Weddings Project is now ready to take its work to participating dioceses over the next two years; we're in touch with about 15 bishops and senior staffs already to see whether they want to participate. Our experience in the Project's pilot phase has encouraged us to set the bar for participation quite high, and I'm delighted to say that dioceses are engaging enthusiastically with this challenge. Do contact me (Paul) if you want to know more.  [email protected]

Archbishop Rowan: "God's Mission and ours in the 21st century"

Here's a link to the text of ++Rowan's lecture to the International Church Society on "God's Mission and ours in the 21st century" - as you'd expect it's full of ideas, images, provocations, encouragement. Please let your networks know about it.

Available at http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2450

Includes this wonderful image:

I've sometimes used the metaphor ... that the gospel placed in our hands is like a small, highly active animal: it won't sit still, it'll leap out of our hands to go somewhere else. As soon as we've received it, off it goes, it has (as we say) a life of its own. We receive a gospel that will not just settle down in us in inaction as something that we can possess and put away in a bottom drawer. We receive a gospel that makes us active, and pushes us out, and leaps out of our hands into the lives of others.

Olympics 2012 - Comms & Missioners briefing, April 29 2010

Advance notice. This is a chance for missioners to join the Communications officers' network at the Olympic site in East London for a briefing from C of E lead officer Duncan Green, a site visit, and then a chance to discuss how we want to help shape the diocesan responses to the Olympics. Hopefully we'll also have the chance to meet people from the excellent "More than Gold" co-ordinating organisation (http://www.morethangold.org.uk/)  

It'll start late morning, to give you time to get there.

More in the Autumn. Meanwhile If you're interested please put the date in your diary and email Laura to let her know: [email protected]

Paul Rush - prayer update

From Bristol diocese Paul writes with news of his recovery - slow and tough. Please keep praying for him and his family:

Dear all

 

Thanks so much for your prayers on my behalf over the last few months.  It has been a tough time and I have needed them (and still do).  Currently I am still suffering from complications subsequent (but maybe not consequent - see below) to the operation.  

• I have a pleural effusion (fluid in the pleural cavity around my left lung) which is taking forever to clear.  I have already had my pleural cavity drained once and it may be best to go back into hospital to re-do that procedure.  It causes breathlessness and pain (particularly when sneezing!) because of the restriction of my left lung.   I have been referred to pulmonology outpatients to find a way forward.
• Simultaneously I have developed a chronic headache, which is not too intense but has now lasted for about five weeks.  I can function with it, but it drags me down and tires me.   I am not sure whether this headache is related either to the operation or to the fact that ... 
• I am also hypertensive (high blood pressure - 215/105 is my 'personal best' so far), but it might be related to one or the other or both.
• Last weekend I developed a series of extremely severe acute headaches (which may or may not be related to any of the above) which led to calling the out-of-hours doctor, who called a paramedic, who called an ambulance and I was back in hospital again.   Having checked the four or five really life-threatening things it could have been, I was discharged with both the acute and the chronic headaches undiagnosed and referred to neurology outpatients for further investigation.  That cluster of headaches has now thankfully passed and I'm back to my chronic, fairly low-level headache again.

In the meantime, my GP signed me off for another month awaiting these appointments.

 

Recovery is (literally) painfully slow and I am hoping I might feel better one day.  I am making no predictions when (or if) that will happen.

 

I value your prayers.  Please do keep in touch - you can even visit if you feel like it!

 

God bless you'all

 

Paul

__________________________________

 

Rev'd Paul Rush
Adviser in Evangelism | Diocese of Bristol

Faith to Faith forum - conference

Ann Bower at the Faith to Faith Forum would like to draw our attention to this one in the Autumn:

The Faith to Faith forum presents: 

Britain – a Christian Country?

Faiths, Identity and Insecurity

Guest speakers:  Stuart Murray Williams and Philip Lewis

Dear Friends,

Does the presence of people of different faiths in Britain give rise to a crisis of identity within the Christian community (and indeed in society as a whole)?  Did 'being British' ever relate to being Christian and, if so, should it continue to be so?  In what sense, if any, can we call ourselves a 'Christian' country? How can we expect its culture, values and laws to remain based on our Christian heritage in the context of such pluralism?  Is a 'Christian society' something Christians should work for and seek to defend anyway? How does this relate to the tolerant and welcoming attitude we are encouraged to have towards other faith communities?  How would people of other faiths understand ‘being British’?

Explore these and related issues with our special guests, Stuart Murray Williams who will speak from the perspective of what it might mean to live as a Christian in a post-Christian society and Philip Lewis who will look at how the Muslim community views this tension and relates Islam to its own British identity.

Our Guest Speakers will address us in the morning and the rest of the day will include discussion groups, a panel with our guests and a closing reflection by John Corrie.  

Date: Monday 5 October, 10.30am to 3.30pm

Venue: Church Mission Society, Watlington Road, OXFORD, OX4 6BZ

Cost: £20 Members and concessions, £30 non-Members. 

Lunch: Please bring your own lunch or purchase in the CMS café or local supermarket.

For a flier, speaker profiles, online booking facilities and a postal booking form on the Global Connections website, please  go to: 

www.globalconnections.co.uk/ftof0910

Do join us for a challenging and exciting event  - I look forward to seeing you! 

Ann Bower

Faith to Faith forum, Global Connections

"If the UK were a village of 100 people"

An update of the familiar snapshot view of today's Britain, from the Independent. Thanks to Graham Horsley for the heads-up and for putting the article in Word format.

Download it here: Download If the UK were a village of 100 people

Share - Dave Male on evangelism in the emerging church

This from Andrew Wooding at Fresh Expressions/Church Army:

Hello all, another Share blog item:

'With many emerging churches, everything is missional but mention evangelism at your peril.' So claims Dave Male in the latest Share guest blog. He also says that we have 'too many safety nets and not enough fishing nets'. To read Dave Male's plea for evangelism to be at the heart of mission, visit www.sharetheguide.org and click the Blog link.
 
There is a new guest blog published on Share each Monday, and if you have something burning to say and would like to contribute, contact Beth Keith at beth.keith@freshexpressions.org.uk

"Jesus' favourite city"

Fane Conant sends this news about Portland, Oregon. He writes:

 I thought the missioners might be interested in this story of servant evangelism and how a liberal city's leadership and an evangelist (Luis Palau) can get together and promote the gospel.

USA Today has the story:

Stereotypes simply don’t apply these days in Portland, Ore. A conservative Christian minister and an openly gay mayor of this progressive city provide a glimpse of what could be Christianity’s future. Welcome to “Jesus’ favorite city.”...

More here: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/07/evangelism-20-.html

Presence and Engagement - Sue Hope requesting info

2007's Missioner of the Year, Sue now works in Bradford diocese. She writes:

I'm doing some research on behalf of our Diocesan Presence and Engagement committee into how we can resource lay people (in particular, tho not exclusively) to bear witness to people of other faiths. Looking for good examples of simple clear advice. I'm  well aware that many are afraid to - either of being offensive, or even that they 'not allowed to' now in today's climate.

We might write our own, but it would be good to know what's out there.

 

Need to have the info in by mid-September.

Sue is at [email protected]

Foundation for Church Leadership conference

John Gooding is pointing us to this one - as he says "a very significant opportunity in the light of some of the themes we discussed in Merville".

Developing Leadership for Mission

FCL's “Developing Leadership for Mission” event due to have been held on 22nd July 2009 in Ely has been rescheduled.

The new date and location is Tuesday 13th October 2009 at King's College London (Strand Campus)10:30 am to 3:30 pm

We really hope that you will still be able to join this event which I am delighted to say will now also have an enhanced programme.

The team from Ely Diocese and the Grubb Institute will be sharing their experiences as they grappled with the challenge of taking forward the Diocesan mission strategy and engaging clergy and laity throughout the Diocese. The focus of the event will be on:

How do we lead our mission strategy in a way which transforms?

Key themes which will be explored include:

- Aligning leadership development to mission

- Bringing the strategy to life

- Developing collaborative leadership teams

- Working with what emerges

The 13th October event will have an experiential element, co-created by The Grubb Institute and Ely, to provide an opportunity to explore these important issues in the light of your own experience and questions.

Details from [email protected]

Fresh Expressions - team vacancy

Norman Ivison asks you to share news of this one:

Love's Labour - Catholic evangelism

Affirming Catholicism is hosting this conference, led by Stephen Cottrell: one for the catholic Anglicans where you are?

LOVE’S LABOUR - 06/10/2009

About Love’s Labour

Love’s Labour is a practical day for catholic Anglicans, led by Bishop Stephen Cottrell. Through worship and workshop we will discover anew how evangelism is close to the heart of the catholic witness to the faith. There will be opportunities to consider questions as to why and how we approach evangelism as well as the chance to engage, challenge and inform. Our speakers are recognised authorities in their areas and the day will be of considerable interest to all who want to renew their vision of catholic evangelism.

Please note that you must be registered to book this event (registration is free). This event is to be booked on-line. Full details and booking »

The flyer for printing is available here » (please note that this file is A4-3 fold and is best viewed by printing on a double-sided printer, but ordinary printing is fine).

Mission 21 conference

Following the M21 conference in Sheffield a couple of years ago, Jim Currin has news of the next one. Check out the cracking speaker lineup below.

Jim writes:

Re Mission 21

The Churches Coordinating Group for Evangelisation (GfE) is a sponsor of the forthcoming Mission 21 conference which will bring together a wide cross section of Pioneer people planting new churches.

Mission 21 will be held in Bath 17th -19th November. The current cost is £75 for those Pioneers and network people who book early.

The dedicated new website with further information and online booking is: http://www.mission21.info/home/ 

Speakers

---

Revd Dr Martyn Atkins, General Secretary of the Methodist Church, faces the daily issues involved in keeping a traditional denomination relevant in the midst of a rapidly changing society. He is a regular international conference speaker, visiting places as diverse as Malaysia, Australia, the USA and even Scotland. His theological reflections on issues such as making disciples, the shape of the church to come and preaching in a contemporary culture have appeared in many books and periodicals.

Bishop Graham Cray has been central to the Anglican Church exploring new forms ofchurch and has recently taken up leadership of the Fresh Expressions (FE) team. The FE website defines a Fresh Expression as "a form of church for our changing culture, established primarily for the benefit of people who are not yet members of any church." More than 700 projects are registered with FE, including ones focused on youth, children, cells, seekers, alternative worship and community initiatives.

Pastor Agu Irukwu is Senior Pastor of Jesus House, one of the largest African-led Pentecostal churches in Britain. Jesus House has grown from 200 families in 1994 to 1600 families in 2009. Jesus House is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), one of the fastest growing church groups in the UK. They may have only arrived from Nigeria in 1989, but there are already more than 200 RCCG congregations with at least 30,000 members. 

Billy Kennedy is the leader of New Community Church Southampton and Chair of the 24-7 international prayer movement. He and his wife Caroline have three children and have lived in Southampton for many years. Billy enjoys working closely with local church leaders in Southampton to see the city reached with the love of Christ in a practical and holistic way. Billy and Caroline have recently taken over leadership of the Pioneer network nationally and are working together in steering them through this stage of their journey.

Host
Katei Kirby will act as host of Mission21. As the first woman to be Chief Executive Officer of the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, she possesses a unique perspective on the multi-cultural enviornment in which the UK church exists today.

Storykeepers

Sam Corley (Blackburn) refers us to this resource from Ross Coad. Ross writes:

If you click on this link you will find everything you will need: www.storykeepers.com/jbc.html. 

This is a scheme to draw in those who bring children for infant baptism or who come for marriage preparation, but who so often don't come back very often thereafter.
The cheapest entry point for a parish is £25 for a set of I Remember When DVDs, although the teaching kit will give much better value.

Penitents compete...

Check this out; not reached the UK yet...

from the Guardian last week:

It sounds like the beginning of a joke: what do you get when you put a Muslim imam, a Greek Orthodox priest, a rabbi, a Buddhist monk and 10 atheists in the same room?

Viewers of Turkish television will soon get the punchline when a new gameshow begins that offers a prize arguably greater than that offered by Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Contestants will ponder whether to believe or not to believe when they pit their godless convictions against the possibilities of a new relationship with the almighty on Penitents Compete (Tovbekarlar Yarisiyor in Turkish), to be broadcast by the Kanal T station. Four spiritual guides from the different religions will seek to convert at least one of the 10 atheists in each programme to their faith.

Those persuaded will be rewarded with a pilgrimage to the spiritual home of their newly chosen creed – Mecca for Muslims, Jerusalem for Christians and Jews, and Tibet for Buddhists.

Read it all at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/02/turkey-penitents-compete-gameshow

Missioners Conference 2009 and 2010

The 2010 Missioners Conference will be held in Merville from Tuesday June 29 - Friday July 2. Dates in your diary now please!

Meanwhile to access the blog for this year's Conference click here:

http://starttheweek.typepad.com/conference09/

At the moment 2009's posts include: 

• (NEW) Mike Chew's PPT on Mission Action Planning
• Graham Cray's PowerPoint on the future of Fresh Expressions.  
• Emma Ineson's concluding reflections.
• And of course the link to Emma's YouTube file of "Dancing Matt Harding". 
• Plus two YouTube posts of the Conference's final dancing prayer... 

(If you didn't attend the conference, you need to read Emma's reflection and watch Matt's video before you're ready to see the Conference dancing...) 

Still to come: podcasts and handouts of Jules Gomes's Bible reflections on Exile. Jules has had to travel to Mumbai to be with his mother who is unwell. Please pray for him. On his return, and on Sarah's return from her wedding, we'll post the other files. Thanks for your patience. 

Encounters 41 - Network or net-don't-work – do network churches really work?

George Lings turns his friendly but beady eye on network churches in the latest "Encounters on the Edge". Essential reading as always.

Network or net-don't-work – do network churches really work?

In the latest edition of the Encounters on the Edge series of booklets – called Do network churches work? - George Lings, director of Church Army's Research Unit, reviews the phenomenon of network churches. These are churches that serve networks of people, rather than parishes, districts or geographical areas.

In 2004, network churches were identified as a hugely important type of fresh expression of church to respond to changing patterns in our society. A decade has now passed since the first network churches began. How have they fared? Why have they not thrived and multiplied as was hoped? What difficulties have they encountered?

George revisits some network churches that have been in existence for six years or more, and returns with a number of sobering thoughts and observations. There is still a need for network churches, but what are the lessons that can be learned from the experience of these early examples?

He writes: '…it seems that the world of the network is not going away. Like mountains which are climbed because they are there, none of the difficulties I have enumerated are reasons for avoiding the task. Perhaps this issue lays out some of the preparation and kit that will be needed.'

Previous issues that have covered network church:

No.7 New Canterbury Tales

No.19 Net Gains

Fresh Expressions vision days - diamond geezers

From Andrew Roberts over at the FE team:

Diamond Vision

 

The Fresh Expressions vision day programme has celebrated a diamond anniversary with a triple crown of days in Basingstoke, Doncaster and Stourbridge. Sixty vision days have now been held across England and Wales introducing almost five thousand people to the thinking about mission and church that is behind the fresh expressions movement. These interactive, multi-media learning events have been helping participants understand the vision and values of fresh expressions of church and how they form.

 

Having attended the Basingstoke vision day visiting Canadian Pastor Paul Miller wrote in his blog: “We were impressed by the theological grounding. Fresh Expressions reimagines church in differing cultural forms because God takes culture seriously. A key text is a modern translation of John 1:14: "The Word became flesh and moved into the neighbourhood.”

 

Fresh Expressions Director of Training Andrew Roberts said: “We are delighted with how many people from a range of denominations and streams have participated in vision days. Anyone interested in hosting a day in their area is very welcome to contact us via [email protected]”.

 

Further vision days are being arranged at a range of venues across Britain and the Fresh Expressions team is always willing to work with you on setting up a day where you are. More information can be found atwww.freshexpressions.org.uk/vision. Fresh Expressions encourages new forms of church for a fast changing world, working with Christians from a variety of denominations and traditions. It was initiated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York with the Methodist Council.  The United Reformed Church is now also a formal partner.

 

 

For more information contact:

Andrew Roberts

Andrew.roberts@freshexpressions.org.uk

01384 279065

"Ethical Witness" - guidelines from the Christian Muslim Forum

Helpful advice from the Christian Muslim Forum on the principles by which we share faith and dialogue with one another. 

Download Ethical_Guidelines_for_Witness

You can download additional material by visiting http://www.christianmuslimforum.org/subpage.asp?id=341&mainid=20

The Christian Muslim Forum offers the following suggestions that, we hope, will equip 

Christians and Muslims (and others) to share their faith with integrity and compassion for 

those they meet. 

1) We bear witness to, and proclaim our faith not only through words but through our 

attitudes, actions and lifestyles. 

2) We cannot convert people, only God can do that. In our language and methods we 

should recognise that people’s choice of faith is primarily a matter between themselves and 

God. 

3) Sharing our faith should never be coercive; this is especially important when working with 

children, young people and vulnerable adults. Everyone should have the choice to accept or 

reject the message we proclaim and we will accept people’s choices without resentment. 

4) Whilst we might care for people in need or who are facing personal crises, we should 

never manipulate these situations in order to gain a convert. 

5) An invitation to convert should never be linked with financial, material or other 

inducements. It should be a decision of the heart and mind alone. 

6) We will speak of our faith without demeaning or ridiculing the faiths of others. 

7) We will speak clearly and honestly about our faith, even when that is uncomfortable or 

controversial. 

8) We will be honest about our motivations for activities and we will inform people when 

events will include the sharing of faith. 

9) Whilst recognising that either community will naturally rejoice with and support those who 

have chosen to join them, we will be sensitive to the loss that others may feel. 

10) Whilst we may feel hurt when someone we know and love chooses to leave our faith, we 

will respect their decision and will not force them to stay or harass them afterwards.

Evangelism among Older People

The latest bulletin from Sheffield Centre's Michael Collyer. Indispensable resources for those involved in this ministry. Thanks as always to Mike for his indefatigable and high-quality work - but please note that he'll soon be stepping down and his job is being advertised. If you know anyone with interest and skill to do this work, let them know.

Download IBULL28

Michael writes:

Dear Friends

 

May I draw your attention to two important items in this issue.

 

1. The advertisement for my post: the recruitment process begins. Please pray that the right person may be secured to carry on this most important work in our time and age in researching methods for reaching the expanding elderly population with the gospel. The Sheffield Centre team are the best thing since sliced bread!

 

2. By popular request following the very successful launch of A Mission-shaped Church for Older People? last autumn at the CA training college, we are repeating the event in London at St Michael's Chester Square.  Over 100 people registered to attend the launch event - we had to cap the numbers at 100! The resource is jointly published by Leveson Centre and Church Army.

 

We are inviting people almost one year later to celebrate its success. Sales have outstripped other Leveson publications by 4 : 1!  The key speakers will be Church Army's CEO Mark Russell and Revd Dr James Woodward former Director of the Leveson Centre now Canon of St Georges Chapel Windsor.

 

We hope you can make it. Please tell others involved in this important and much needed ministry.

 

Every best wish for the summer.

 

 

Mike