Mission

For all clergy and wedding administrators who took part in the weddings project, there is now updated advice on organist fees. Read more here: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=408

We are delighted to announce that the 2010 BIAMS (British and Irish Association for Mission Studies) day conference will take place at St Philip’s Centre, Leicester on 3rd November. The conference is entitled Extremism/Mission: Responses to racist, religious and political zeal. There will be two main speakers in the morning: The Rev’d Canon Dr Frances Ward from Bradford Cathedral and Asif Mall, a Pakistani Christian. The afternoon will include a response from Suleman Nagdi, a Muslim who works closely with the St Philip’s Centre.
 
This day conference is designed to give opportunity to discuss and reflect on the issue of how Christians engage in mission and the perceptions of others. As well as the key note addresses, there will be time for questions and small group discussion.

The day will start at 10.30am with refreshments, with the first session at 11.00am. It is planned to finish at 4.30pm. The cost is £20 for BIAMS members, £25 for non-members and £15 for concessions and lunch will be provided. If you wish to attend, our contact details are below.

We look forward to welcoming you on 3rd November for what we hope will be a interesting dialogue. Attached is the Day Conference registration form and also a flyer for the day.  If you are able to display this please do.

Day notice 1011

Dayleaflet 1011

Writing on the Fresh Expressions ideas website, ‘Share’, experienced pioneer David Muir shares tips for people wanting to develop fresh expressions of church in rural areas. Read more here: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=406

Jane Winter Secretary National Estate Churches Network tells us the story of her recent visit to Leicester with Fr Derek Brown and Riaz Ravat…

‘O would some power of the gifte gie us to see ourselves as others see us’

                                                                                                                           Robert Burns

If God’s love is infinite and intimate then there must be infinite ways in which that love is experienced and shared. A recent trip to Leicester helped me experience the reality of this truth.

 Leicester has been described as the UK’S most ethnically diverse city. Arriving at the station, the first thing that greeted me was welcome: the welcome of Fr. Derek my host, and ‘welcome’ written large into the restored station portico in a number of Indian and Arabic languages. Leicester is a city of great faith opportunities. Mosques and churches abound on street corners. There are Gurdwaras, Hindu temples and synagogues. They all tell a story of faith that has made a significant impression on city life for generations and as a result created a sense of space and place that is genuinely public. The impression shows that multifaith and multicultural growth hasn’t always been easy, with conflicts between and within different faith communities. These are inevitable, but unlike other cities conflicts haven’t escalated and diversity appears to be a strong community thread with a commitment to improve understanding and grow respect and tolerance. The work of the St Philip’s Centre is a prime example:  http://stphilipscentre.dioceseofleicester.com/

Two things struck me about my day in Leicester.

The first was the intimate way in which faith communities on the ground live side by side. Areas of the city are made distinctive by cultural communities. Alongside the cultural identity  marked by places of worship, shops, dress and language, I also got a sense of people sharing cultures and faith in a way that is relaxed and accepting, not forced. In these communities the presence of the church is clear through a range of denominational buildings and activities. The welcome I received at the Gurdwara and Mosque meant I could respect the prayer culture demonstrated in worship and a hospitality born of deep personal and community faith.  For some faith groups this intimacy has been risky living. For example in the 1950’s one church had the vision and confidence to welcome newly arriving Afro-Caribbean communities when everyone around them was being very unwelcoming. The church took the risk of being ostracised by those individuals and organisations who demonstrated unwelcoming behaviour. The story illustrates that in the end it is the way people choose to live together that creates peaceful or antagonistic communities.

The second thing that struck me was the infinity of opportunity in the work being done with many different agencies to increase understanding of different faiths. Faith leaders, lay people, and people working across the city and beyond are able to have genuine face to face conversations in safe places which builds trust and respect beyond just tolerance. It is a releasing experience.

My cameo visits caused me to reflect on what we as church can learn about the infinite love of God. If God’s love is infinite then it requires an infinity in which to flourish. The experience of engaging with three faiths simultaneously made me aware that God’s love for everyone includes everyone and is experienced in lots of different ways.

I was also shown the intimacy of God who loves and cares for those who often get left behind in our fast moving consumer society. The faithfulness of different church denominations remaining in areas that have become predominately communities of other faith traditions is one example particularly precious for indigenous and Afro-Caribbean Christians. Another is the care provided for older people by the Sikh Community.  This faithfulness demonstrates intimate love among those who for a number of reasons find themselves forgotten by main stream society.

In Leicester the intimate and the infinite came together showing me a richness and depth of God’s love which comes about through taking risks and being faithful.

With thanks to Fr. Derek Brown and Riaz Ravat for arranging the visit and being my guides.

Jane Winter Secretary National Estate Churches Network

Fr. Derek St Barnabas Church Leicester, Executive of National Estate Churches Network

Riaz Rivat St Philip’s Centre Leicester

With thanks to the many Churchwardens, clergy, administrators and others who took valuable time to complete the Statistics for Mission returns, for the first time this year we have produced a summary of these returns. 

It’s a story of what God is doing across the county and city, with details of growth (and decline) specific to Deaneries, Mission Partnerships, rural, town and city, occasional offices and the like.  Some of the results will positively surprise, but many will also challenge us in mission. 

To download the summary (or even all the raw returns data so you can undertake your own analysis) go to: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=379

With the Diocesan Assembly fast approaching we are now inviting you to register your attendance and also giving you the opportunity to select which workshops you wish to attend. Click the link below and download the workshop booklet and return it to the address listed.

workshop booklet 

… for your Community Group, Non-Profit, or Voluntary Organisation.

A new website builder has been launched by e-voice at http://www.e-voice.org.uk/

If anyone chooses this service we’d love to hear you’re feedback.

There are other providers available and for those with some budget a great option is ChurchEdit at http://www.churchedit.co.uk

Sarum College is now able to offer MA courses in the following subjects:

·         Christian Spirituality

·         Christian Liturgy

·         Theology, Imagination and Culture

·         Faith-based Leadership

Sarum College students learn collaboratively in small cohorts which meet for residential intensives throughout the year. This distributed and flexible mode of delivery combines class-based and home-based study and allows working students and students at a distance to benefit from close contact with tutors and lecturers, with minimal disruption to their domestic, ministerial, or professional lives.

For further details about these and many other courses, please contact Anne Jensen on 01722 424827 or email ajensen@sarum.ac.uk

or visit   www.sarum.ac.uk/ma-degree-programmes/

Over the past year 28,000 of the 90,000 couples getting married in churches have planned their wedding on www.yourchurchwedding.org

For details of this excellent resource, together with details of what the favorite hymns & readings were, and even a thought provoking article on the hymn Jerusalem, visit http://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/pr6610.html

We’re in the process of finalising numbers for the Mission Shaped Ministry course (an 18 month accompaniment course for those interested or involved in leading Fresh Expressions of Church). To read more details about what this course is, whose leading it & how to get involved visit http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=362

On Saturday 130 church leaders and key lay gathered for a diocesan day conference on rural mission. Recordings of the welcome from Bishop Christopher & keynote talks by the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Rylands, plus a review of the day and photos, can be downloaded from http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=325

The link up with BBC Radio Leicester is developing even further this year but as a result the date is changing. It will now be on: Tuesday 21st December, 7-8pm. Read more at http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?attachment_id=322

This is the very last chance for those 15% of churches who haven’t yet returned their Statistics for Mission forms to do so. 

They are being collated and analysed at the moment so unless yours is with me in the next week or so regrettably it won’t be able to be included.  Especially with the ongoing diocesan planning process these numbers are particularly helpful to understand what God is doing amongst us, so please do make every effort.  Please contact me if any problems, questions or comments or to check if yours has been returned (barry.hill@leccofe.org or 0116 248 7435).  Thanks again to all those who returned them, Barry

Meeting Thursday 8th July

Several of your GS reps will be available over lunch this Thursday 8th July in Church House from 12 to 1.30pm, to discuss the forthcoming agenda, especially the draft legislation on women bishops.  Do come and join us if you’d like to help us think through the issues before we go off to discuss and vote on them.  Bring your own food – drinks will be provided.

If you can’t be there but would like to let us know your views on the issues, do feel free to email any of your elected members. 

For clergy the details are: richard.atkinson@leccofe.org, pete.hobson@leccofe.org and jplant@leicester.anglican.org

For laity they are: stephen4747@live.co.uk, j.freeman5@btinternet.com and alanfletcher@freshpd.com

We would also like to take this chance to thank you for your interest in our work on your behalf on General Synod over the past five years.

This is the last chance to book places on this special diocesan day conference on rural mission with the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Bishop Christopher and other experts in their areas (this Saturday 10th July, Broughton Astley, 9:30am-4pm). Just a few tickets left, all welcome, click here to read more & book your place: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=279

Many thanks to all the Churchwardens who have returned the Statistics for Mission forms. The information will prove very helpful in shaping how mission is resourced and encouraged across county & city (one initial headline you can read in the new edition of Shaped by God News). However, 15% of churches have still not returned their form. We are in the final stages of collating the data and so please can the remaining forms be returned in the next 7-10 days so the information used will be as accurate for your worshipping community as possible. If this isn’t possible please contact barry.hill@leccofe.org

A note to clergy who may have taken a few extra wedding packs ‘just in case’. Could you please return any extras to Church House as we are running low.  We have only ordered enough to cover those weddings likely to be booked between now and the end of this year.

The national Weddings Project team have sent a message to all clergy who attended the recent clergy study day on the Weddings Project, detailing how to use some of the online resources. To read their letter go to: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=289

There’s just a month to go until the special diocesan day conference on rural mission. With over half the tickets already gone, you need to get in quick to avoid disappointment! Designed for anyone in a rural or semi-rural situation click here to read more and book your place: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=279

Just a few days to go until the very final opportunity to register your church and order resources for Back to Church Sunday. After Tuesday 15th June there will be no more opportunity to do so. For details of how to register and order resources (no payment required at this stage) go to: http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com/?p=284