News and Events

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

With the ongoing Covid-19 situation, Synod Executive recognize that it is not going to be possible for us to hold our Autumn Synod meeting in its ‘normal’ format of Synod Meeting together for worship, discussion and decisions.

Nevertheless, Synod Executive feels that there is important business that needs consideration and the opportunity for further discussion and has therefore reluctantly decided that the only alternative is to hold a ‘Virtual Synod Meeting’ this Autumn.

It is envisaged that the meetings on the 10^th October and 14^th November will last for the morning only. It is also hoped and intended that the discussion sessions will be open to members of the local Churches in addition to the Synod Representatives.  This will enable a wider and fuller discussion by members before decisions are taken at the November meeting. These sessions will last approximately one hour. 

On offer is a choice of two sessions to follow a mixed course from two sources on a weekly basis.  The same material is to be use in the evening and afternoon sessions.  No session will last more than an hour and a half.  Tuesday evenings starting at 7:30 and in the same week on Thursday afternoon at 2pm, starting on the 6th and 8th of October respectively.  (Table below.)

Tuesday 7:30	Thursday 2pm	Week	In the beginning	Readings
6th Oct	8th Oct	1	Creation	Genesis 1:1–2:25
13th	15th	2	The Fall	Genesis 3:1–3:24
20th	22nd	3	The Flood	Genesis 6:5–7:24
27th	29th	4	God’s Covenant with Noah	Genesis 8:1–9:17
3rd Nov	5th Nov	5	Tower of Babel	Genesis 11:1–11:9
10th	12th	6	Comments, social & review
17th	19th	7	Nooma: Rain
24th	26th	8	Nooma: Flame
December			To be decided

An opportunity to come together to share, chat, reflect, get to know one another. Open to all associated with the churches in our Partnership.

Bring your own cuppa, and meet friends from our partner churches on Zoom.

Contact your steering group representative for the Zoom details.