LEMnAID160 Local Evangelism & Mission Network Aid
Helping each other to resource evangelism and mission in the local church
Get this in its best format at; www.lichfield.anglican.org/chadnet/lemnaid
This week:-
- Barrett’s Burblings
- WEBSITE OF THE WEEK: www.christianity.org.uk
- MORE THAN GOLD: More ideas for January
- Messy Church, More than Gold and the Jubilee
- Our Facebook Group
- Church website advice: Church homepages
- The Community of St Chad
- Living in a Changing Climate
- Women's World Day of Prayer
- Fresh!
- We Gather
- God, The Future, and Me
- Matlosane Trip
- The Telford Twitterers #1 and #2
- Shrewsbury Incinerator Petition
- Mobiles and Church
- Cartoon ‘Fun’
- Saints and Birthdays
- Calendar
- WIDER CHURCH RESOURCE
· The Small Print
Barrett’s Burblings
Hello everybody. Sorry for yet another late LEMnAID; I was out of the office all Tuesday, and had rather manic days either side of it. I was down in London for the launch of this year's Back to Church Sunday campaign, and I am sure that you will be hearing a lot more about that from us pretty soon. One good thing about a very late LEMnAID is that I hope it at least partly makes up for the fact there won't be a LEMnAID next week; George and I are both off at the FPE conference Monday - Wednesday, and somehow I don't think I'll be able to fit a full week's work into one day on Thursday!
May I suggest that as this one of our bulging issues, that there will be enough here to keep you going in our absence next week. I can't even begin to tell you where to start this week; I really do have too many highlights to mention! I also hope that you will notice a veritable sea of yellow ‘New Entries’ in the Diary; with us now being well into January; dates of lots of interest events are in place over the next few weeks and months.
RESOURCES AND OTHER IDEAS
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK: www.christianity.org.uk
George’s latest recommendation…is a web site set up by Christian Enquiry Agency.
It’s 12 months since it was set up and it has had 31,000 visits; from which nearly 300 have contacted to find out more and have been sent a Gospel, had a question answered, or helped to find a local church, or prayed with.
Why not put a link to this on your web site, or put it in your publicity?
MORE THAN GOLD: More ideas for January
George passes on; There's an ever growing set of free resources to help your church. You'll find details and the links to get them at www.morethangold.org.uk/resources/free-resources/
They include:
· Advice on running big screen events - inside and out. http://bit.ly/yvC3yi
· A 48 page Event Pack with ideas for the Games and Torch Relay. Plus an all-age sermon, sketches, prayers and outlines for small groups. http://bit.ly/uNw0OB
· A Kids Club programme - five 90 minute sessions full of fresh and practical ideas. Developed in Jamaica, making it wonderfully multi-cultural. http://bit.ly/wWBF91
· Sporty Book of Hope - for 5-12 years, introducing Jesus through colourful pages designed for sports-related children's outreach. http://bit.ly/A16x2k
Messy Church, More than Gold and the Jubilee
Messy Church Adviser Cerys Hughes wanted to share;
· Sports Fun For Messy Churches, a more than Gold approved publication is available now for just £5.99 from www.brfonline.org.uk/9781841018249 I hope to have some copies at Sharing The Mess in Shrewsbury too (in case you really need any more reasons to attend!!)
· Details on Sharing the Mess at http://bit.ly/wpjHUi and in our below calendar
· Keep your eye on www.messychurch.org.uk for downloadable ideas for the Jubilee coming soon
Our Facebook Group
George writes; We invite you to join the Facebook Group for Local Mission and Evangelism in Lichfield Diocese. We will be sending out items of interest and using it as a forum for discussion and sharing good practice. It is called "LME Lichfield Diocese". If you are on Facebook, look us up and join. If not, joining is simple - come and join us.
If you like this, I offer all credit to George for getting this going, I’m afraid that I have made absolutely no contribution. If you don’t, I refer you to the previous sentence!
Church website advice: Church homepages
George brings us the latest free suggestions from ‘Church Edit’, which certainly seem very sensible…
First impressions count and the homepage is usually going to be the first page that visitors will see on your website so it is important that it contains the right information.
Here are some ideas for what a church homepage can contain:
· Welcome from the minister – make first time visitors welcome straight away. This could be a short paragraph which then links to a longer welcome page.
· Exploring Christianity course – if your church is doing a course such as Alpha then highlight this on the homepage so that people interested can see straight away that there is a course just for them.
· Latest updates to the church website – if you have added a new page to the site then why not promote this on the homepage under a 'Latest Updates' section?
· Summary of the upcoming weekly events - if you can update this each week then visitors can see straight away that your website is up-to-date.
· Map showing the location of the church – this could be a small map which then links to an online mapping website such as Google Maps.
· Voting Poll – you could add a bit of fun to your homepage by having a voting poll.
· Links to the latest sermon and sermon notes.
· Contact Details for your church or church office.
Read the full article on the Church Edit website at http://bit.ly/A01VDO
The Community of St Chad
World Mission Director Philip Swan advises that this will...be launched on Saturday March 3nd 2012 at a service in Lichfield Cathedral at 12 noon. The Preacher will be Tthe Rt Revd Jonathan Gledhill, Bishop of Lichfield. All are welcome. If possible could you inform us if you intend to come. (philip.swan@lichfield.anglican.org)
WHAT IS IT? The Community of Saint Chad is intended to help people to go deeper in prayer, discipleship and mission. The Community is united by a common commitment to a spiritual lifestyle shaped by five Rhythms of Grace, and by participation in a Spiritual Growth Group.
DETAILS: Available from Philip Swan; 07857 703303 philip.swan@lichfield.anglican.org or Barry Wilson; 01782 750205 communityofsaintchad@gmail.com Philip or Barry would be delighted to speak to any groups about the Community of Saint Chad and share more about the range of resources, including the newly printed introductory booklet, which are available.
PILGRIMAGE: Between March 25th and April 1st there is an opportunity to join in walking sections of the Two Saints Way; an 88 mile pilgrimage route being developed between Chester and Lichfield. www.twosaintsway.org.uk. This will be in the company of the founder David Pott and Russ Parker of Acorn Christian Listening Ministries and representatives from the Community of Saint Chad The plan for the walk can be found at http://bit.ly/yimjP0
Living in a Changing Climate
The Directors of Transforming Communities and World Mission, David Primrose and Philip Swan respectively, are both keen to endorse this event on the evening of Wednesday 8th February at meeting Point House in Telford, as a key part of this year’s Climate Justice campaign as launched by Bishop Clive of Wolverhampton.
It will feature Mr Joyantha Adhikari of Christian Commission for Development in Bangladesh and more details are available at http://bit.ly/A2DvUG
Women’s World Day of Prayer
In his final contribution this week, World Mission Director Philip Swan comments on this year's date, March 2nd; this years’ service focusses on Malaysia and has the theme ‘Let Justice Flow’. We are hoping to make available a number of resources coming from our longstanding links with West Malaysia, Kuching and formerly Saba. Please contact worldmission@lichfield.anglican.org for more details of available resources. There are also many people in the Diocese with first-hand experience of Malaysia and whilst I am aware that services may have already been thoroughly planned, I hope that we can draw on this to help us share in solidarity and prayer with our sisters in particular in Malaysia. If you would like to follow up the service, perhaps by developing a parish to parish link with Malaysia, please let me know at the above email address.
Fresh!
Andrew Roberts, the Director of Training at Fresh Expressions (and a founding Lemon J) is keen to mention… a new publication on an introduction to fresh expressions of church and pioneer ministry ‘Fresh!’ is being published by SCM Press in March 2012. Written by David Goodhew, Michael Volland and Andrew Roberts; the book is available at a pre-publication price of £15 including P&P (normally £20 + P&P) until 15th February 2012 by telephoning 01603 785925 or email orders@norwichbooksandmusic.co.uk quoting the reference ‘FRESH12’
We Gather
Ruth Brooker of Transforming Communities has noticed this conference targeted towards Unity in Mission starting on Wednesday 22nd February. Details at; www.wegather.co.uk/
God, The Future, and Me
David Syson, the Methodist Training Officer for Stoke and other areas to the immediate North of our diocese has sent in details of this ecumenical vocations conference on Saturday 17th March. It will be held at St Peter’s Chaplaincy in the University of Manchester and all the relevant details can be found at; www.stpeters.org.uk/gtfam.php
I do love the sound of ‘the world's first ministry speed dating event’!
Matlosane Trip
Richard Westwood, the vicar of St Andrew’s Church in Great Wyrley (between Walsall and Cannock), writes of his exciting plans for the next couple of months;
I will be going to Matlosane in South Africa (one of our companion Dioceses) in Feb and March to help to develop links between churches, schools and community groups, neighbourhoods (etc etc) in Lichfield and Matlosane. I will be there with my wife (Rose) and two of our children (Andrew (10) and Sam(9)).
I would like to get a message to anyone in the Lichfield Diocese who is keen to form links with people in Matlosane Diocese- to invite them to
1. Follow the blog which we hope to keep whilst we are there; www.matlosanematters.blogspot.com (Andrew and Sam will also be keeping a blog when they can; www.westywords.blogspot.com )
2. Complete an “interest form” to help me know what sort of groups and churches and schools in Lichfield may be interested in forming partnerships with others in Matlosane. There is a link to this on the blog or it can be downloaded at www.mediafire.com/?gr3czjzxdk6h0x1 and then emailed back to me (email on the form)
3. We would welcome prayer for our visit- that we will follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and that we will be good guests and a blessing to those we meet, so that the links between the two dioceses will be strengthened and deepened. We would also value prayers for our safety in travel in our nearly 8 weeks away from home, family, church and school in Great Wyrley.
4. I can provide a more detailed sheet of our visit for anyone who is interested, and hope to put this sort of information onto the blog in due course.
The Telford Twitterer #1
Telford Ecumenical Dean Andy Smith reappears with another twitter recommendation;
https://twitter.com/SJIthoughts
This twitter feed is, as they describe themselves; ‘a free exciting & interactive magazine for teens, twenties & students. Engaging with the world & faith, through interviews, chatter, stories & more’
I have always had a lot of time for SJI after the younger brother of their Director had the misfortune of coping with my snoring for 2 weeks on top of the Mount of Olives! I’m very happy to encourage you to look round their website at www.sharejesusinternational.com, which features a lot of important areas of Mission from their Methodist heritage.
The Telford(ish) Twitterer #2
Another encouragement towards Twitter, this time from Revd Chris Thorpe;
Just to reiterate Andy Smith’s comments about Twitter – we have been using twitter for the last four weeks and it has been really successful – people at the Carol Service commenting that they had come because of the news on Twitter, and now a person signing up for our Christianity Explored Course, just through hearing of it on twitter. Its great when people pick up and retweet your info too! https://twitter.com/shifnalvicar
Shrewsbury Incinerator Petition
An admittedly off-topic request from ‘Telford Twitterer #1’ Andy Smith about the petition against the proposed incinerator in Shrewsbury. He feels that it will ‘pollute the area and massively affect the recycling ability for the next 25 years, not to mention the climate’, and that it is ‘one of those issues the church should have a voice on, since it’s our parishioners who will be directly affected’.
Should you feel similarly, there is a government petition towards increasing tax on Incineration at; http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2642 .
In the interest of fairness; I wanted to include a link to the what the Shropshire Council say about the plans themselves; but for perhaps understandable reasons they are difficult to locate; but you may be minded to investigate the ‘Waste Services’ area of their website; www.shropshire.gov.uk/waste.nsf
Mobiles and Church
As a final contribution this week from Andy Smith; you too may like ‘one church's light-hearted response to annoying cell phones ringing during services. It at least made me chuckle! www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2_c81Nnsc0&sns=fb
These days my own mobile is always on silent. This stems from an unfortunate moment for me a couple of years ago; when in the auspicious surroundings of Lambeth Palace a moment of hush descended when the then Archbishop’s Evangelism Adviser and soon-to-be-Bishop of Hertford asked for feedback on the ideas for that year’s Back to Church Sunday campaign; and my mobile chose that moment to chime its ‘comedy’ ringtone at a quite hideous volume - the voice of ‘Yoda’ from Star Wars with ‘Message from the dark side you have’.
Cartoon ‘Fun’
With a couple more instances of Twitter-plugging, I thought that at least a couple of you may like an alternative view; www.cartoonchurch.com/blog/2010/07/19/twitter-cartoon/
I promise that I wasn't thinking of either of Telford's finest!
Saints and Birthdays
Saints and Feast Days:
How about St Brithwald, associated with Glastonbury Abbey in the 11th century?
Birthdays: My mischievous nature draws me first to one of the more infamous figures from history in 'the mad monk' Grigori Rasputin. There is another colourful character, and a little more local, in Cannock's former footballer Stan Collymore. Two actors that I think are worth a mention are Bill Bixby and John Hurt. I will also take the chance to mention a 'future' birthday in Star Trek's Hikaru Sulu. But I'd like to finish with a rare creatures - an Olympic Medalist from Walsall in former swimmer Nick Gillingham.
Calendar of Events
Mon 23rd – Wed 25th January. FPE 2012 Conference ‘Evangelism at home and away: What would Jesus do?’. The Hayes, Swanwick. With main speakers Robin Gamble and Jim Currin.
The Fellowship for Parish Evangelism has several members from Lichfield Diocese and George Fisher is the Chair. It is made up of people involved in evangelism and includes church members, itinerant evangelists, clergy, bishops, Church Army evangelistic and Missioners.
For more information see; www.fpe-network.org/Conference2012.aspx.
Sat 28th January – Sun 5th February. Poverty and Homelessness Action Week. Plenty of materials available at; www.actionweek.org.uk/html/downloadresources.html
Tue 31st January. Engaging with Muslims. A day event for Christians to explore why and how to engage with Muslims St George's Post 16 Centre, Great Hampton Row, Birmingham, B19 3JG
10am to 4pm. Sessions; Why is it OK to engage with Muslims? What should we know about Birmingham Muslims? Christian Responses to Islam. Mission and Dialogue.
Speakers: Steve Bell, Director, Interserve and Sue Fearon, Children’s Team Co-ordinator, Birmingham City Mission. Cost £20 (£10 concessions) with lunch included, from either;
· Christian Muslim Forum 0207 820 0444, info@christianmuslimforum.org
· Faithful Neighbourhoods Centre 0121 675 1155, jess@nearneighbours.com
Fri 3rd – Sun 5th February. Children’s Ministry Conference. Eastbourne. An opportunity for Children’s workers to have a look at up to date resources and learn more about what is happening in the world of Children’s Ministry. Seminars on Messy Church, Schools Work, Nurturing faith in children, Reaching out into the Community and more. Details at www.familyministry.co.uk and clicking on ‘2012 conference’. Diocesan Schools Outreach Adviser Libby Leech recommends it strongly and would love to know if you are going; libby.leech@lichfield.anglican.org or 07891 290564.
Tue 7th February. Worship 4 Today. An excellent one-day course for Worship Leaders and Musicians, as recommended by Bishop’s Chaplain Peter Walley. St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, Sheffield. S2 4QZ. More details at; http://bit.ly/o4eT41
NEW ENTRY
Mon 20th February. Sharing the Mess. With Messy Church Adviser Cerys Hughes. An excellent opportunity to share ideas and resources. 7pm – 9pm. Emmanuel Church, Mount Pleasant Road Harlescott, Shrewsbury. SY1 3HY. More details and booking at; http://bit.ly/wpjHUi
Wed 29th February. Going for Growth Course – St John’s College Nottingham. 2pm – 5pm. The start of 5 week course with former Bishop’s Growth officer Ven Bob Jackson. Cost £85 + lunch or supper as required. Booking deadline: Friday 21 January 2012. Booking via Helen Taylor at St John’s on 0115 968 3221, 0115 925 1114, or h.taylor@stjohns-nottm.ac.uk. Booking form at http://bit.ly/ux8TAX, and more details at http://www.stjohns-nottm.ac.uk/going-for-growth-2/
Thu 1st March. Facilitating Small Groups. First meeting of a short 4-week course at Shallowford House. For people interested in leading small groups in their church or facilitating courses such as The Bishop’s Certificate Course. It will offer some practical tips on facilitating groups and look at best practise in working with small groups. Led by Lindsey Hall, the Director of Lay Development. Cost £18pp, and be held on 4 consecutive evenings. More details are at http://bit.ly/qflXTr. Bookings (and only 16 places) via Sheila Walker on 01543 306223 or at sheila.walker@lichfield.anglican.org
NEW ENTRY
Sat 3rd March. More Than Gold – ‘Get Set’ Training Day. 10.30am – 4.30pm. Port Vale Football Club, Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent. ST6 1AW. Cost £10. A wide variety of ideas and workshops to help make the most of the Mission opportunities of this Year’s Olympic Games. All relevant details at; http://bit.ly/xetIbJ; a printable flier at; http://bit.ly/xnIVhi
NEW ENTRY
Sat 10th March. More Than Gold – ‘Get Set’ Training Day. 10.30am – 4.30pm. Our Lady and St Chad’s School, Old Fallings Lane, Wolverhampton. WV10 8BL. Cost £10. A wide variety of ideas and workshops to help make the most of the Mission opportunities of this Year’s Olympic Games. All relevant details at; http://bit.ly/xetIbJ; a printable flier at; http://bit.ly/xnIVhi
NEW ENTRY
Thu 22nd March. What do Trades Unions Do? 10.30am – 12.30pm (and a buffet lunch to follow). A joint event from BCUIM (Black Country Urban Industrial Mission) and Unite the Union. For local church leaders, with input from a Union Official, ACAS and an Employer. 6 Victoria Square, Wolverhampton, WV1 1LD. (by Bus Station). More details and booking at bcuim@btconnect.com or 01902 710407
NEW ENTRY
Sat 24th March. Healing Ministry Training Day. 9am – 4pm. With Revd Gareth Davies, Bishop's Adviser on Healing Ministry. St Mary’s Church, Bushbury Lane, Bushbury, Wolverhampton. WV10 8JP. Booking is via Revd Richard Merrick on revrichstmarys@gmail.com
Sat 21st April. Evolution v Creation. St James’ Wednesbury. With a variety of speakers including Revd Dr Fr Anthony Moore, Revd Bob Morris, Dr Gillian Pearce, and Mr Graham Warton; tackling the following questions; How did life on Earth begin? Where did the Universe come from? How will the Universe end? Did we evolve or were we created? What does the fossil record tell us about the great flood? All relevant details at; www.stjameswednesbury.com/evolution-v-creation.html
NEW ENTRY
Mon 11th – Thu 14th June. LYCIG (Leading Your Church into Growth) 2012 Conference. High Leigh, Hertfordshire. Highly recommended and a limited number of subsidies available from the Parish Mission Office on request. More details including booking available at; www.leadingyourchurchintogrowth.org.uk/?page_id=2
Sat 22nd September. Revised launch of msm Wolverhampton. Trinity Methodist Church, Histons Hill, Codsall, Wolverhampton, WV8 2ER. Other dates and details at www.missionshapedministry.org/westmidlands12 or from administrator Anne Riddle on 01782 769532, or 07974 197806 or by e-mail at anne.riddle1@ntlworld.com.
NEW ENTRY
Mon 5th – Thu 8th November. LYCIG (Leading Your Church into Growth) 2012 Conference. The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. Highly recommended and a limited number of subsidies available from the Parish Mission Office on request. More details including booking available at; www.leadingyourchurchintogrowth.org.uk/?page_id=2
For details of more events happening in the Lichfield Diocese and if you want to upload your event please go to www.lichfield.anglican.org/Index.aspx?Page=latest-events
WIDER CHURCH RESOURCES
HOPE UK: Big Lunch
Hope are asking if you are hosting a 'Big Lunch'
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend provides an opportunity for many mission events. Hope is encouraging churches to host a community 'Big Lunch' street Party and are now asking for churches to say if they are planning to do so. See; www.hopetogether.org.uk/Groups/181443/HOPE/The_Big_Lunch/The_Big_Lunch.aspx
LEMnAID
is designed to help everyone involved in mission and evangelism in Lichfield Diocese to:
· keep in touch with each other with news
· pray for each other
· keep informed about the latest resources
· share great ideas and top tips
· know what is going on around the Diocese
This email group will work best if you are willing to share your ideas, news and prayer requests with others. Send in your news and views to richard.barrett@lichfield.anglican.org
Resources and Top Tips will be put in our list of Resources on the Diocesan Web Site so will be an ongoing resource. If you wish to comment on any of the items why not visit our Blog Site on http://ldfe.blogspot.com/ and set up an ongoing conversation.
If you know someone who you think would value receiving this, please send us their name and email. If you would prefer not to receive this, let us know and we will remove you from the email group.
George and Richard
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
This message is intended solely for the addressees in the first instance and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender, delete the message from your system immediately and do not disclose the contents to any other party.
Richard Barrett
Parish Mission Research Assistant
Lichfield Diocese
01922 707863
The Parish Mission Office, The Small Street Centre,
1A Small Street, Walsall, West Mids. WS1 3PR.
www.lichfield.anglican.org/chadnet/mission
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