From:                              Wolverhampton & Shrewsbury District Office [admin@wsmethodist.org.uk]

Sent:                               04 August 2021 10:45

To:                                   beckminster@talktalk.net

Subject:                          04/08/2021

 

Latest News:
Lay Conference 21
Give Thanks Appeal
COP 26 walk
3Generate comes to Brum
Free WM training
In case you missed it:
Work experience opportunities required
Linking Lives vacancy
International Coffee Shop Convention
Living the Weslyan Way online course
District Children's Support Fund

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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

 

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

 

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

 

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
 

 

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

 

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.

 

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.

 

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
 

 

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.
 
 

 

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

 

Living the Wesleyan Way - online course

 

 

An online course with Paul W Chilcote

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

 

 

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)

 

 

Places are £120 each 
 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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)
 

 

 

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

 

 

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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