Welcomed
- a session on authentic and transformational welcome.
‘Welcomed’ – a
90-minute session exploring how we offer authentic and
transformational welcome in our churches.
Feeling welcomed is one of the most significant factors when
deciding whether we return somewhere, and foremost in our
thinking when considering where we put down roots. As church, we
are called to be welcoming, yet statistics show that under 10% of
those who try church will actually become regulars. So, what can
we learn from the experiences of others? This 90-minute session
explores some of the best ways to be welcoming before, during and
after people join us. Perfect for all of us as we look to welcome
new people at the start of the Connexional year.
Tues
17th Aug, 11am-12.30pm or
Wed 25th
Aug, 2pm-3.30pm
Sign up via Eventbrite - https://welcomedsession.eventbrite.co.uk
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Welcomed
- a session on authentic and transformational welcome.
‘Welcomed’ – a
90-minute session exploring how we offer authentic and
transformational welcome in our churches.
Feeling welcomed is one of the most significant factors when
deciding whether we return somewhere, and foremost in our
thinking when considering where we put down roots. As church, we
are called to be welcoming, yet statistics show that under 10% of
those who try church will actually become regulars. So, what can
we learn from the experiences of others? This 90-minute session
explores some of the best ways to be welcoming before, during and
after people join us. Perfect for all of us as we look to welcome
new people at the start of the Connexional year.
Tues
17th Aug, 11am-12.30pm or
Wed 25th
Aug, 2pm-3.30pm
Sign up via Eventbrite - https://welcomedsession.eventbrite.co.uk
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Lay
Conference 2021
Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury District in
partnership with Lichfield Diocese
Lay Conference Detail
Title;
Discipleship Today – Being and Doing
Date;
Saturday 4th December 2021
Time;
10.00am – 4.00pm
Venue; Yarnfield Park
Conference and Training Centre, Yarnfield near Stone,
Staffordshire
Cost;
£20.00 per person
Programme
09.30 –
10.00
Arrival
10.00 –
10.20
Welcome and Worship
10.20 –
11.15
Bible Study / Reflection on Discipleship - Revd Rachel Parkinson
11.15 –
11.35
Coffee Break
11.35 –
13.00
Keynote Address – Revd. Roger Walton
13.00 –
14.00
Lunch
14.00 – 14.40
Round 1 workshops
14.40 –
14.50
Movement
14.50 –
15.30
Round 2 workshops
15.30 –
15.45
Summing up – Bishop Michael
15.45 –
16.00
Closing Worship
16.00 Departure
Workshop Leader and Title
Roger Walton – Discipleship – Following a rule for life
Andrew Roberts – Discipleship and Forgiveness
Dr Lindsey Hall – Discipleship and
Change
Helen Morby – Discipleship and Joy
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School
Lay Worker Vacancy
The Telford Methodist Circuit
seeks to appoint a School
Lay Worker at the (Methodist/ Anglican controlled) John
Fletcher of Madeley Primary School
- 7 hours per week
term time only (plus pro-rota holiday pay)
- Pay Range £9:70
to £11.45 per hour
- Application
deadline: Monday 7th September
- Interviews will
be held during the second half of September
The
Telford Methodist Circuit is seeking a person to
work within our Anglican/ Methodist School to help support
the Christian ethos of the school. This will involve engaging
with staff and pupils on a variety of activities including
corporate worship, after school clubs, supporting lessons (in
particularly leading up to the main Christian festivals),
pastoral care, etc. The person appointed will also help to
encourage Methodist support for the school and help the school to
understand its Methodist Heritage.
This appointment is for a 12 month fixed term in the first
instance and then depending upon funding.
For further information and an informal chat prior to application
please ring:
Brian
Oakley 01952 510546
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Vaccination
Give Thanks Appeal reaches £5000
An
appeal which encourages people to give thanks for their
vaccinations by helping others in crisis has passed its £5,000
fundraising target.
The Diocese of Lichfield and the Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury
District of the Methodist Church have partnered with aid and
development charity Christian Aid for the #GiveThanks appeal.
Recognising the deep sense of relief and gratitude experienced by
many people after being vaccinated, the organisations came
together to enable people to pass the blessing on by making a donation
to Christian Aid’s Coronavirus Appeal.
Funds from the appeal are helping vulnerable communities around
the world access soap, water, food and vital health information
in the face of the pandemic. Many communities around the world
face an uncertain wait for a vaccine as questions remain around
the cost and timing of a global vaccine programme.
Donors to the campaign have included many individuals and people
who gave on behalf of their families, plus one church
congegration who gave en masse.
The Church of the Holy Spirit in Harlesecott, Shrewsbury, donated
£146. Churchwarden Muriel Rayner explained: “As most of our
congregation are elderly, they were grateful to get both vaccines
early on. We explained about the appeal and a bucket was place in
the church and donations were encouraged. Not many would have
been able to pay online so this was an easier way to collect
donations”
The Bishop of Lichfield, the Right Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave, said.
“It is great that so many people have given generously to Christian
Aid through this appeal. While the pandemic affects all of us, it
has highlighted the deep disparities in how communities and
families are able to protect themselves both within our country
and around the world.
“Many people are awaiting their second vaccinations, and there is
still time to donate if you have not already.”
The Revd Rachel Parkinson, Chair of the Wolverhampton &
Shrewsbury District, said: “Being part of a worldwide Methodist
Church makes us very aware of our own privilege in this country
when compared to so many of our brothers and sisters around the
globe. Making a donation to Christian Aid is an effective way of
sharing hope and love with them.”
You can give today here: https://giving.give-star.com/online/christian-aid/diolichfield
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COP
26 District Walk
Date
for your diary: Thursday 26th August 2021
District
Event. A Tributary Walk is being organised from Wolverhampton to
Birmingham City Centre, along the Birmingham Mainline Canal
towpath, a distance of about 14 miles. This would be to raise
awareness of Climate Change issues as we walk to meet up with the
main YCCN Relay to COP 26 in Glasgow, who are resting in
Birmingham that week. (Take a look at the YCCN
website to learn more) We will leave at around 9.30 am
and arrive at around 3.30 pm, with a toilet/lunch stop at Tipton.
You can make your way home independently by train or tram
I
would be grateful for expressions of interest: please let me know
if you wish to take part, by sending your name, mobile phone
number and email address. Please also let me know If you would be
willing to be a group leader or group back marker. We are
particularly
in need of a FIRST AIDER. Lesley
Cook lesleyvcook@btinternet.com
07840128510
If you feel that 14 miles is too far for you, you might wish to
do a shorter walk from Smethwick Galton Bridge railway station;
arriving in to Birmingham at a similar time. It is around 5 miles
and takes about 2 hours. We would need a leader, back marker and
first aider for this too, so PLEASE GET IN TOUCH.
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3Generate
comes to Brum!
Calling
all Junior Church leaders, Youth and Children's workers and
Ministers. 3 Generate (for 8 -23 year olds) is happening this
year, at the NEC, Birmingham, October 29-31. Tickets are on sale
now. Please go to the 3
Generate pages on the Methodist Church website for
more details. Volunteers will be needed too.
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Free
training across the West Midlands
In
response to the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,
colleges in the West Midlands have come together to work
collaboratively for you!
For the first time, there is a Regional Skills Recovery Programme
that will provide YOU with access to FREE training across the
West Midlands. This programme will enable you to refresh or
redevelop your career and reignite your future!
These training opportunities offer additional support for
residents of the West Midlands following the impact on employment
during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Regional Skills Recovery
Programme consists of:
* Free sector work-based programmes (SWAPs)
• Free technical training priority sector
These programmes are specifically designed to help you get back
into work or move into a new career. Flexible approaches to study
are available NOW. This includes:
blended and online delivery options.
Online enrolment
You can train for FREE in one of the region’s priority sectors
with the potential for better career prospects or a route to
higher level training.
If you are unemployed, recently redundant, or long-term
furloughed and concerned about your future prospects, or just
wanting to increase your skills we are offering you access to an
expanded range of redeployment programmes.
If you are employed, you could still access this training if you
are looking to retrain in a priority sector. If you are worried
about losing your job in sectors which have been affected by
Covid-19 you can retrain for free.
What
are Sector Based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs)?
SWAPs typically last up to 6 weeks (although some specialist
programmes may last up to 16 weeks) and contain three main
components to help your clients back to work: • pre-employment
training • work experience placements • a guaranteed job interview
or help with an employer’s recruitment process
SWAPS available in the West Midlands:
- Digital
- Construction
- Health and Care
- Warehousing/Logistics/Distribution
- Business and
Professional
- Engineering and
Manufacturing
- Facilities
Management
- Land Based
What
is Technical Training in Priority Sectors?
Free Technical Training which helps you develop the skills
required to gain employment in one of the region’s growth
sectors.
Digital (not available in Staffordshire and the Marches)
Business and Professional
Construction and the built environment
Health and Care
Leadership and Management
Engineering
Motor Vehicle Maintenance
Education and Training
Warehousing/Logistics/ Distribution (not available in
Birmingham/Solihull, Staffordshire and the Marches)
Service Sectors - Retail Knowledge
- Fitness Instructing and Personal Training
- Bakery
- Beauty Therapy
- Chef
- Hairdressing
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Work
Experience opportunities required
Could
your church/college work together to provide work experience
opportunities for young people?
Young people are amongst the groups hardest hit by the pandemic -
not least through rising unemployment. WMCFEC is currently
seeking churches and colleges interested in working together to
find meaningful work experience opportunities for young people in
church or church community project settings. If you know of
a church or college that may be interested in taking part, please
contact us via info@wmcfec.org.uk
or contact Rosie Bryant on 01902 452414.
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International
Coffee Shop Convention
Sat 16th
OCTOBER 2021 9.30am - 3.30pm
Our internationally renowned speakers Rev Ashley Cooper and Rev
Dr Pete Phillips will be speaking and leading workshops about the
different models of being missional people in a coronavirus
world. “The Coffee Shop Sunday” family openly invite you to a day
of worship, fellowship and learning on encountering God in an
ordinary place. Welcome to the first International Coffee Shop
Sunday Convention
For further details please visit https://cssconvention21.wixsite.com/website
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Living
the Wesleyan Way - online course
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An online course with Paul W Chilcote
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What guidance for life can we find in
the spiritual heritage gifted to us by John and Charles
Wesley?
This four-week course helps participants recapture the
Wesleys’ vision of abundant life through an exploration
of their theology and spirituality, paying particular
attention to the holistic nature of this vision—a
“both/and” approach holding faith and life together.
This course, taught by Paul Wesley Chilcote—a Methodist
theologian and Director of the Centre for Global Wesleyan
Theology at Wesley House, Cambridge—is based on the four
major themes in his book, Recapturing the Wesleys’
Vision. Topics include:
• The Message – orienting life around grace and love
• The Community – embodying faith in a beloved family
• The Discipline – rediscovering tested spiritual
practices
• The Servanthood – realizing a love that flourishes
through service
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STRUCTURE
- Four
90 minute Zoom classes on 2pm (UK time) on
Thursdays from 9 September to 30 Sept 2021.
- Recapturing
the Wesleys’ Vision is required reading.
Participants will be given access to an electronic
copy from registration for the duration of the
course.
- The
course entails approximately 2 ½ hours of reading
and study outside class time
- A
Certificate of Participation is available for
those who complete a brief summative
project/reflection (2000 words)
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PAUL W CHILCOTE is currently serving
in retirement as Director of the Centre for Global
Wesleyan Theology at Wesley House, Cambridge. An
award-winning author and retired Methodist historian and
theologian, he is the author or editor of nearly thirty
books in the areas of Wesleyan theology, spirituality,
and Christian discipleship and mission. His years of
missionary service in Africa continue to shape his life
and ministry. He has been a Benedictine oblate of Mt.
Angel Abbey for nearly twenty-five years. He and his
wife, Janet, a retired United Methodist pastor, have five
daughters and seven grandchildren.
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If you missed our first centenary
event, For the World, last week you can view the
recordings here: www.wesleyhouse100.com/centenary-events
Constitutional Democracy - a Global Christian
Imperative
Jonathan Chaplin
Public Theology for a New Normal - Global
Perspectives
Sef Carroll, World Council of Churches (Geneva,
Switzerland)
Dion Forster, Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
Mike McCurry, Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington DC,
USA)
Global Methodist Perspectives on Climate Change
James Bhagwan, Pacific Conference of Churches (Suva,
Fiji)
Mark Davies, Oklahoma City University (USA)
Mollie Pugmire, Methodist Church in Britain
Maaraidzo Mutambara, Africa University (Mutare, Zimbabwe)
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Future Centenary events
Leading Like a Methodist 15-16 October 2021
Wesley to the World 29-30 April 2022
The Spirit that Crosses Borders 3-5- June 2022
Open House and Garden Party 1-2 July 2022
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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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