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Online
Church Survey
An invitation for ministers (lay and ordained) and other church
workers to engage in an international study of the online church
during the COVID19 crisis? Please click on the following link to
take part: https://www.contoc.org/contoc/contoc-int/
“The CONTOC research
project is an empirical, representative survey of the development
and implementation of digital church practices and programs
during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the period March -
June 2020, i.e. from Easter to Pentecost 2020. Our study covers
22 countries on 5 continents, making it a unique research
opportunity.”
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Action
for Children Sunday
Action for Children Sunday
Every
year, Methodists and some other church denominations celebrate
Action for Children Sunday on the second Sunday in July. Our
staff always look forward to this celebration because it gives us
an opportunity to meet and thank our longstanding, faithful supporters.
This
year, we expect things to be different due to the Covid 19
pandemic and lockdown. Churches have had to replace physical
meetings with online worship. Some may not even have the ability
to host online services. We understand that and would like to
assure you that it is ok if you can’t mark Action for Children
Sunday on 12 July. You can pray for us on that day and mark it on
a later date.
Our
worship resources were ready before the lockdown and I’d like to
share them with you: https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/resources-and-publications/promotional-materials/resources-for-methodist-fundraisers/
There is a booklet with a service outline, a prayer bookmark and
a link to a video about Lyle, one of the children your generosity
has helped us to support.
Free online advice for parents
I’d
also like to tell you that we have boosted our online resources
to support children and families. Our Coronavirus
(COVID-19) - advice and support brings together a wide
range of topics categorised by subject matter and by children’s
ages (i.e. 0 to 5 years, 5 to 12 years and 13 years and above).
We also offer free and confidential live chat with our parenting
coaches.
I’d
like to thank everyone for their support over the years. It
means a lot and we’re proud of our relationship with the
Methodist Church.
Stay
safe, well and strong.
Karis Kolawole
Head of Faith Partnerships
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ON-Line
Coaching Course
Wed 10th June; Tue 16th June; Wed 17th June;
Tue 23rd June; Wed 24th June; Tue 30th June
Each Session 2:00pm - 5:30pm
The course is highly interactive - over half of the time in
sessions is spent doing practical
exercises, mostly in groups of two, three or four.
The coaching skills taught are invaluable both for formal
coaching sessions and for
helping Christian leaders develop a more empowering, interactive
style of leadership.
The material was developed by Keith Webb and his team at Creative
Results Management
(CRM) (www.creativeresultsmanagement.com)
and has been used around the world and
across almost every denomination to equip church planters,
missional pioneers and church
leaders.
The UK team led by Revd Graham Horsley have trained over 200
people as coaches. Graham is
an International Coach Federation Associate Certified Coach and
holds a CRM
Trainers Licence.
The online course is an intensive introduction to coaching skills
consisting of 6 meetings of
three and a half hours (each meeting consists of two sessions
with a 20-30 minute break).
Topic and skills covered in this practical and interactive
workshop:
• How to listen actively so others feel you understand them.
• How to ask powerful questions that initiate a change of
thinking.
• How to generate feedback that avoids defensiveness.
• How to design action steps that will actually be accomplished.
• How to follow-up to increase learning and accountability.
For more information contact Graham Horsley: horsleyg@methodistchurch.org.uk;
07966448310
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We
are hiring!
Wolverhampton
pioneer ministries are excited to be recruiting someone aged
18-23 as a young adults outreach worker in partnership with the
Methodist Church ONE programme.
To
find out more about the post and what being a ONE programme
participant will look like follow the link below.
Closing
date for applications is 18th of June
www.methodist.org.uk/OPPjobs
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MHA
Chaplaincy Opportunity at Briar Hill House
Vicky Talbot has decided to retire after 5 years
as MHA Chaplain at Briar Hill House. We’re seeking to appoint a
new part-time Chaplain to continue
and develop the excellent chaplaincy
support that Vicky has provided. The post calls for a friendly,
outgoing person who has experience of supporting older people,
including people living with dementia. The post is part
time, for 10 hours per week.
We are looking for a lay person or an ordained
minister who will offer pastoral support and spiritual care to
all residents, including at the end of life. The person will also
be a listening presence for friends and relatives, and for staff
members. An understanding of the spiritual needs of older
people, demonstrated through experience of providing pastoral
care and leading services, is essential. So too is the ability to
address and meet the needs of people with dementia.
The
person appointed will be in good standing with their faith
community and will build good working relationships with local
faith communities.
Part of MHA, Briar Hill House provides residential
and nursing care for up to 36 people in purpose-built
accommodation. The post is a rewarding opportunity for the right
person to make a difference to the spiritual wellbeing of the
residents.
More information about the post and details of how
to apply are available on the MHA website http://www.mha.org.uk/careers. The closing date for completed applications is
Sun 28th June 2020.
MHA
homes are currently closed to visitors because of coronavirus
(Covid-19). As a result interviews will be done through Zoom.
Anyone
with questions about the post can get in touch with Cathy Dakin,
MHA Regional Chaplaincy Advisor (Cathy.Dakin@mha.org.uk).
Cathy Dakin
Regional Chaplaincy
Advisor
Methodist Homes
Mob: 07580 701860
www.mha.org.uk
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Important notice about Easter Offering 2020
As
we all know, the coronavirus is having a big impact on many
aspects of our lives at the moment and many planned events are
having to be postponed. You may be aware that we had already
suggested that Easter Offering services should be held during the
autumn. However, it now looks unlikely that autumn gatherings
will take place, especially for elderly or vulnerable people.
Having spoken to the Global Relationships team, it has now been
decided that we must further postpone the use of the 2020 Easter
Offering materials, and therefore ‘Into All The World’ will now
become the Easter Offering service theme for spring 2021. By
postponing in this way, we hope that the Easter Offering will
raise a good deal more money next Spring, when we will hopefully
be able to gather together properly. We will change the date on
the downloadable materials to 2021, but if you have already
printed materials with the 2020 date, they can of course still be
used rather than wasted.
This therefore means that THERE WILL BE NO EASTER OFFERING
SERVICE IN 2020. Instead, we have agreed to work with the Global
Relationships team to produce a short reflective act of worship
for use in the autumn, on the theme of how Covid-19 is affecting
our global church partners.
Many extra grants have been sought from the World Mission Fund to
help those who are really struggling at this time, and it would
be good to encourage our ladies to make any contribution they can
this year towards that specific work. The service can be accessed
online, or printed off for those without internet access, and
used for individual reflection or in small groups, depending on
what is allowed by then. Easter Offering envelopes could be
distributed with the resource, and donations can be sent to the
World Mission Fund directly.
So we would ask that you pass on the message that the Easter
Offering 2020 materials will now be saved to use in spring 2021,
but that later in the summer we will send out a link to a simple
service based on the impact of Covid-19, to use in autumn 2020.
If you have any questions, do get in touch with us.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS INFORMATION SUPERCEDES ALL PREVIOUS
INFORMATION REGARDING THE 2020 EASTER OFFERING.
It is being sent to all of the contacts on our mailing list to
ensure that it gets as wide a coverage as possible. If it doesn't
relate directly to you, then please pass it on as appropriate, or
simply disregard.
Blessings
Carolyn
Lawrence
on
behalf of the MWIB Executive
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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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