“Umoja”

Understanding how to be church both in lockdown and in whatever it will mean to be post-lockdown are issues some of us wrestle with daily. With that in mind I would like to flag up ‘Umoja’ – a series of sessions that I will be running from the end of September to help us think about what it means for us to be disciples of Jesus shaped for mission in the places where we are.

Each session will explore a theme centred on a Bible passage and draw on learning and experience from the world church. You may only want to do one session or you may feel like all 5 are relevant – that’s fine.

The sessions are spaced fortnightly to avoid overwhelming people alongside everything else but I want to stress that these are for everyone – church members, role-holders, elders and secretaries alike.  For that reason it is only going to be possible to run this on zoom in the present climate. It was my hope to deliver this in person to each partnership but that won’t be possible at the moment. However I do hope that those who come are able to consider taking back what they learn to run the course or individual session themselves in their local churches.

Each session will be run in an afternoon and an evening slot to make this accessible for as many as possible. If you would like to sign up for one or more of the sessions please contact me via email or phone. I have attached a flyer.

Session 1 – God’s Blueprint for Mission – restoring the earth to how it was created to be. Genesis 1

Afternoon – 2pm Wed 30^th September  

Evening – 7pm Wed 7^th October

Session 2 – How Jesus-shaped is my church? – being a holy people where we are. 1 Peter 2

Afternoon – 2pm Wed 14^th October

Evening – 7pm Wed 21^st October

Session 3 – Following in the footsteps of Jesus – learning to be good news and kingdom-minded. Mark 1; Luke 4

Afternoon – 2pm Wed 4^th November

Evening – 7pm Wed 11^th November

Session 4 – What can I bring him? Learning to serve within and beyond our limitations. Mark 6

Afternoon – 2pm Wed 18^th November

Evening – 7pm Wed 25^th November

Session 5 – Everybody needs good neighbours. God’s bias – loving people ‘on the margins’. Luke 10

Afternoon – 2pm Wed 2^nd December

Evening – 7pm Wed 9^th December