New
round of "God is with us" grants
Every
Circuit responded to the District invitation to bless their
communities at Christmas through the availability of small grants
and 27 different projects were enabled. In this short video
https://youtu.be/KDYwJ3Diu7I
a sample of these are celebrated and a new round of grants is
launched to coincide with Valentines Day, Thinking Day and
Mothering Sunday. Anyone with a creative, missional idea
which will bless people on the fringes of, or beyond the usual
congregation* can apply for a grant of up to £150 with the
agreement of the Superintendent Minister. Grants are
limited to 3 per Circuit. It’s essential that activity does
not breach lockdown restrictions nor increase chances of
Coronavirus transmission but, with careful planning, much may
still be achieved.
Click here
for a grant form.
*We recognise the huge importance of offering support and
pastoral care to Church members and recognise the value of the
work that is being done across the District . However these
grants invite churches and Circuits to go beyond that.
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New
Appreciative Inquiry Training Session
We know
that life at the moment is far from routine, and that the idea of
signing up to explore something new, whilst also balancing a
number of other tasks, might not be your first thought today. But
we hope that the 2-hour training session that we are offering as
an introduction to Appreciative Inquiry will provide you with a
range of tools and skills that will be a positive influence on
your work and ministry, particularly at this time of adaptation
and ever-changing normals.
Used by an array of organisations, from the British Red Cross to
American Express, Appreciative Inquiry is an approach to
developing a culture, as well as a set of strategic tools, which
encourages building on your existing strengths, rather than
focusing on what you don’t have. It formed the basis of the ‘Our
Church’s Future Story’ resource, and in our current climate,
offers accessible and user-friendly tools to analyse what has
been working well, and then building on those positives to
strategically plan for both the short-term and/or long-term
future.
The 2-hour session, which will take place online, offers an
informal and accessible introduction to the theory of
Appreciative Inquiry, while also providing practical suggestions
to positively influence your work and ministry.
It is open to all members of the Methodist Church in the West
Midlands region, and is something that you may wish to attend
either on your own, or as part of a leadership group. The session
will be run twice, with both a daytime and evening session available
to allow for flexible working hours. Please feel free to share
this invitation with others who you think would be interested.
Please let me know if you have any questions about the sessions.
Places can be booked using the Eventbrite link below.
Tuesday
9th February, 10am-12noon
Wednesday
10th February, 7pm-9pm
https://abriefintrotoai.eventbrite.co.uk
God bless you
Jon
Pedley | Regional Learning & Development
Officer - West Midlands
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BBC
Casting Opportunity
I'm Imani and I work on the Casting team for Workerbee, a
production company based in Manchester.
Recently, we have been commissioned by the BBC to develop a
faith-based documentary which celebrates and explores how
Christians mark some of life's biggest moments.
We are interested in speaking to people from all denominations of
Christianity who are currently reaching milestone; newborn
dedication, child's coming of age or end of life preparations for
a beloved family member. Or any unique groups, ceremonies or
practices that aren't commonly known about e.g Pathfinders,
pastoral ordinations, baptism's, etc.
We would like your help in spreading the word and sharing the
flyers attached in hopes of reaching anyone who would be
interested in taking part.
It's great opportunity to represent and educate others on their
religion in a way that celebrates its differences.
If this is of any interest, please get in touch or forward
to
faith.casting@wbtv.uk
Kindest Regards,
Imani x
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Prayer
Relay Day
SUNDAY
17TH JANUARY 2021
“Then you
will call on me and come and pray to me and I will hear
you.” Jeremiah 29:12
Let us join together this day in praying, calling out to God for
the current pandemic situation.
Pray when you can. When you finish, someone else will still
be praying!!
For those with Zoom access, join together to pray as well at 8.00
am, 2.00 pm or 7.30 pm
Others may want to telephone someone at these times and pray
together down the phone!
You may want to pray for:-
- Those currently
poorly at home or in hospital
- All those in the
NHS caring for them
- Distribution of
the vaccine
- God’s
intervention in all areas of the pandemic
We are
inviting you and anyone else that you wish to invite to join in
with a Prayer Relay that will start at 8am and finish at 8pm.
The idea is that every half an hour from start to finish someone
will be praying, and that on the hour and half hour for 12 hours
the ‘Torch of prayer’ will pass like a baton in a relay race from
one person, or group of people to another throughout the day.
The devastating impact that the Coronavirus has had and that now
seems to be getting more and more severe, is a real concern and
we want you to join us in praying that God will intervene and
suppress the virus in the UK. We want to pray for all those
affected by this pandemic and for those who are working in the
NHS and other key workers.
We think that it would be great if a National Day of Prayer was
organised and we are still hoping that someone high up in the
Church or in Government will call for this to happen soon, but in
the interim this is our attempt to show God our real concerns,
and by doing this Prayer Relay your prayers will be joined with
others of the same mind.
We are having 3 Zoom sessions at 8am, 2pm and 7.30pm to allow
people to pray together, and individuals who want to join in are
also being given specific half hour slots to pray. If you want to
join in the Zoom meetings you will need to use the Meeting ID of
221 989 9073 and the Password is Gordon
If you wish to be allocated a specific slot then email Mike on Timbine@hotmail.com and either
specify a time or have one allocated to you. Thanks
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Breast
Screening Webinar
My name
is Monizah Mockbill and I am an interim Health Promotion
Representative at the Dudley, Wolverhampton and South West
Staffordshire Breast Screening services. I am emailing in regards
to spreading awareness and promoting the National Breast Screening
Services among women between the ages of 50-70.
Screening guidelines have been in place since 2003 but uptake by
at-risk women is lower than we might expect. This means that some
are missing out on the opportunity to detect breast cancer at an
early stage when cure rates are high.
We have identified that this is the case for certain focus groups
and that could be due to the lack of information surrounding the
programme. In an attempt to overcome this issue, we require a
collaborative approach with community leaders to help spread
awareness, by promoting our services to enable women to make an
informed decision.
I would like to kindly request if you could promote (to your
community) our upcoming webinar which will take place on 8th
March 2021 at 12.30pm. This will be an online conference which
aims to project the main core values of the programme and the
importance of detecting breast cancer early. We aim to armour
women with knowledge and information required for them to make an
informed decision about attending a breast screening
invitation.
I would appreciate if you could kindly confirm your
participation, so that I can send you the information required to
promote and access the zoom webinar.
With the upmost regards
Monizah Mockbill
Interim Health Promotion Representative/Mammographer
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Fresh
Expressions FX Multiplier
In
February, the District will be piloting the new FX Multiplier
scheme for those who hope to start a Fresh Expression of church
or would like some encouragement with an existing FX.
I am really excited to bring you this opportunity to collaborate
with other FX leaders, teams and pioneers from across the
country.
Let me tell you the main points of the scheme…
- FX Multiplier
aims to give a focus for missional energy.
- It is open to any
teams who want to start, or who already lead and would like
to build up a Fresh Expression community.
- A team can be
made up of a minimum of 2 people, lay, volunteer or
ordained, it is open for all.
- All members of
the team are invited to attend the FX Multiplier launch
event on February 3rd at 7.30pm on Zoom, where
Michael Moynagh, Simon Goddard and I will further explain
the scheme. (Teams will be placed into breakout rooms for
conversation so it’s important that at least 2 of you
attend).
- We will be
creating a community of practice for you to encourage one
another, pray together and swap tips and ideas. Initially
this will be for local teams with the view of feeding into a
wider national group as the scheme progresses. This will
meet twice a year.
- The scheme is
centred around the Godsend app which is free to download. By
using the model of listening, loving, building community,
sharing Jesus and building church, and repeating the cycle,
you can monitor progress and learn at your own pace.
- Free coaching
will be made available to any teams who run into
difficulties or get stuck along the way.
I would like to encourage you to pray and ask God if this is the
right path for you, particularly in regard to how you may reach
new people with the Good News of Jesus. If you feel that this is
something that you would like to join or simply explore with
other like-minded people then we would love to have you with us.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to have it all sorted for Feb 3rd,
come along with your team and explore the possibilities...
Please do let me know if you are interested and available to join
us on the 3rd. February at 7.30pm and I will send you
the joining details for the launch event and answer any questions
in the meantime.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Every blessing
Jo Yair
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District
Children's Support Fund
The funding allocated
specifically to the support of children and families in the
District - particularly those experiencing some form of
deprivation - is still open to accept applications at the moment.
Are there projects you might consider which could offer
support even during the lockdown?
The
maximum amount of any claim is £500 and a Church can apply at any
time using the attached form
and send it electronically to Tim Lorimer who will process your
application and give a decision within six weeks of receipt. The
application will need the support of the hosting Church and
circuit superintendent. Church’s cannot apply for retrospective
funding.
We would hope that individuals and groups that have contributed
in the past to the Holiday Fund will still wish to do so knowing
that there money will still be used for Children’s Projects.
For more information please contact Tim Lorimer
on lorimertim@yahoo.co.uk
07971899084.
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