Coming up in the Circuit
Discipleship Opportunities
The recent discipleship survey has shown that a number of folk across the District are struggling with their discipleship journeys.
Whilst these issues may be addressed within churches and circuits I am happy to offer the following at District level.
The first is The Bible Course, over 8 sessions, it combines video teaching, group discussion, personal reflection and daily readings. Each weekly session will last an hour to an hour and a half. The sessions will be on Wednesdays at 7.30pm starting on 8th June for 8 weeks. These will obviously need to be on Zoom which I appreciate this limits access for some. But moving forward if more folk across the District feel better equipped they can then share with others
Secondly the ACORN method, So often in our efforts as church we fail to actively involve God, where as ACORN does
This involves a small group meeting initially for 3 weeks for an hour each time.
The first week the ACORN method is explained and explored:
A is for Ask.We start by asking God who he would have us connect with outside of the church.
C is for Call. We listen for Gods call, who is God calling us to speak to.
O is for Obey. We obey God - and contact whoever he has called us to contact and start a conversation by simply asking "How are you?"
R is for Report - what we might call testimony. We talk about what happened as a result of asking God who to contact. This happens back in the group the 2nd week. As one individual speaks the rest listen and:
N is for Notice. The rest of the group whilst listening notice where God was as often others notice when we ourselves cannot see.
That is the basics and to experience these times of sharing are amazing. There are a few folk who have shared in ACORN in the District so it could be possible that those individuals may be able to organise some face to face sessions locally to where they are. In the meantime I am setting aside some time to run some ACORN sessions on Zoom Tuesday evenings from 7th June at 7.30 for an hour. Then 14th and 21st June. Also Thursday Mornings at 10am for an hour. Thursdays 9th 16th and 23rd June.
Working out worship workshops
Are you involved with organising, planning for worship, or leading worship?
Join 1 or all 4 of our Zoom training sessions on 'Working out Worship' - each session focuses on each element of worship, key aspects of worship, and different styles and approaches to leading worship.
Creative Worship - 19th May, 7-9pm
What does it mean to be 'creative' in worship? Is creativity a style of worship or something we should aim to incorporate into every part of worship? Ever found yourself saying "I'm not very creative", or "I wish our services had more creativity?".
Whether you can't get enough of creativity or find yourself intimidated by it, this training session is for you!
In this session, we'll explore our Creative God, what creativity is and how each of us can benefit from creativity to meet our own unique learning styles.
Intergenerational Worship - 16th June, 7-9pm
What does it mean to be truly 'intergenerational' in worship? How do we integrate different styles, approaches, and levels to ensure that we are engaging and meeting the needs of all ages?
In this session, we will explore what it looks like to be an intergenerational church, what it looks like to worship intergenerationally, signpost to some resources and look at how we can be inclusive and engaging in all that we do.
Hybrid Worship - 30th June, 7-9pm
Is your church engaging in a form of digital hybrid worship or hoping to do more digitally? So much change has happened in the way we worship over the past two years, and many of us are still continuing to adapt to a "new way" of doing worship.
In this session we will look at how hybrid worship is: inclusive, accessible, engaging, and most importantly - Church! We will look at ways in which we can best facilitate hybrid worship in a way where everyone feels included, loved and enabled to worship God.
For more details and to book in, visit: https://bit.ly/workingoutworship
Belief Course - run by North Bedfordshire Circuit
Belief runs courses in Bedford but the one below is on Zoom, Belief are honoured to have Luke Bretherton speaking to us from the USA and I agreed to share this event around the District, as of course anyone can attend on Zoom.
David Chapman is a Patron and supporter of Belief, along with our Super Rev Andrew Hollins.
Luke Bretherton "Christ, Democracy, and the Struggle for a Common Life"
During the session Luke will use key Christian ideas, including love, lament and listening, to unpack how through doing politics in a democratic way we can help sustain a generous and just common life in days when societies can be divided and polarised. These are important matters in the world today. Please come along and engage with them and with Luke, in this session.
Luke Bretherton is Robert E. Cushman Distinguished Professor of Moral and Political Theology and Senior Fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, USA. Before joining Duke in 2012, he taught at King's College London. His latest book is Christ and the Common Life: Political Theology and the Case for Democracy (2019). His other books include Resurrecting Democracy (2015), which was based on a study of community organizing; Christianity & Contemporary Politics (2010); and Hospitality as Holiness (2006), about pluralism. He is actively involved in grassroots democratic politics.
Wednesday 15th June 2022 at 7.30pm on Zoom.
£10 per person
Booking via Eventbrite using this link