Hereford Diocese Inspire Mag
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! Diocese of Hereford roclaiing hris roing isciples ! Inspiring people, churches and schools across our diocese. Diocese of Generous hearts that give God gives us his love extravagantly,He as nations andr efoFeaturing:rd individuals. This special issue of Inspireroclaiing is all about hris roing isciples generous giving. Growing stories: We hope it provides you with Hope for the some encouragement on future of the Church why we’re focusing on this message and encouraging SPSJ Youth Church Gift Days, sharing good news plans for the city and examples of some of the inspiring work that is happening Looking ahead to: right across our Diocese. The Bible teaches us that through Christmas 2020 2020 has challenged us all, Jesus’ birth, death, resurrection including those of us of faith. and the breath of the Holy Spirit, Plus… Whilst our buildings might only there are no limits to the depths be partly re-opening or we may Fundraising Ideas of God’s generosity and love feel frustrated by the bureaucracy toward us. The life of Jesus and of the Church of England’s Weddings Returning his parables show what this red-tape or irritated with the generosity looks like translated endless Diocesan weekly Racial and Social into human behaviour. communications or worried Injustice and the about finding our next Vicar, as Church the people of God we still have Cont. Page 2 hope. Proclaiming Christ Growing DisciplesThe Diocese@hereforddiocese of Hereford @hereforddioceseAutumn 2020@hereforddioceseIssue 7 1 Growing Together In the life and stories of Jesus Please join us and pray there are pointers to how we can “Thy Kingdom come,” ask live our lives in a different way - a God to bring about what he way that is characterised by love, has promised to us. God at which is God’s intention for us. the centre means nothing is impossible because he really To achieve a life that is truly does provide for all our needs, generous, we must learn to break not just the needs of our tradition and cultural stereotypes church roof, electricity bill, many of which seem to have vicar or curate but for life in our Bishop Richard unfairly linked generous giving communities, villages, towns, with a wealthy, bureaucratic Inspiring generous giving country and the wider world. church begging for money to Welcome to the September prop up its fat central structures A prayer for our Diocese as we issue of Inspire magazine. of administration. We must also learn how to give generously: learn to set aside our earthly, We’re entering a period post- As God’s pilgrim people, let us human needs and set aside lockdown where we remain in limbo. continue to walk in the footsteps hate, violence, greed, and self- Many of us had assumed by now of Christ, we’d be back to the familiar, and this righteousness so that we make and grow in friendship with God, can feel frustrating. space for the Holy Spirit to work, in love for his people, and where the Spirit moves, As a diocesan family we’re learning and in the service of our healing happens. to live in this new world. I’ve been neighbour; so encouraged by the online church To give generously as Christians that, inspired by the Holy Spirit, activity that has connected us to many new people and released all we must link our personal lives we may bring to a troubled sorts of creative gifts. However, I’m and society together and see world peace from Christ, also grateful for our limited return ourselves as part of the Church to a searching world love from to private prayer and face-to-face not the building in the centre of Christ, worship in our Cathedral and church the village. and to a waiting world hope buildings. These last few months from Christ This month, as Bishop Richard have felt like an exile for many. There Amen will be great changes in the future, as marks out his prayer pilgrimage we adjust to the new reality. These around the boundaries of our will not come without some pain and Diocese, let’s use the time to this is being felt across the world as reflect on how we can work we grapple with the financial impact together and share what we do of COVID-19. have with others. This edition of Inspire focuses on the theme of generosity and giving, it shares the stories from Alpha Online lockdown of how giving (see page 4) has impacted the lives of people Lizzie Hackney, Lead Intergenerational around our Diocese, it also offers Missioner for Hereford Diocese, some exciting suggestion on how to is running an Alpha course online fundraise virtually, when we can’t all exploring the Christian faith. This project come together. As disciples of Christ started as a result of people turning up we are called to give of our time, gifts and money and I encourage us to to church online but not being rooted in approach this season prayerfully, for a church community. it is when we include God, putting him at the centre, that sees hearts Lizzie has seen a younger audience engage in the Alpha course, opened and lives transformed. she says “many have little previous contact with the church and With every blessing, have joined after watching services online.” +Richard Jackson To learn more about attending or running an The Rt Revd Richard Jackson, Alpha course, visit their website: www.alpha.org Bishop of Hereford 2 Proclaiming Christ Growing Disciples www.hereford.anglican.org Proclaiming Christ Growing Disciples Growing together Comfort and Joy Ways to get involved with Advent and Christmas 2020 1. ‘Resources for individuals and churches’ - A range of prayer resources will be made available via smart phones 2. Share stories, photographs, videos of the #ComfortandJoy Christmas message of Comfort and Joy on your social media, website & parish news. 3. Reflections - We are aiming to produce short reflections exploring the themes. Comfort and Joy: Nine Lessons and Carols for Christmas will mirror the structure of a traditional carol service, exploring both biblical texts and the words of much-loved Christmas carols. 4. A Church Near You - In Advent and Christmas, we will encourage churches to list the full range of church building and online services taking place and the Resource Hub will provide a range of free content to customise, download and share (such as customisable videos, images and approaches to online giving). 5. Printed materials - Bookmarks, Christmas cards, banners, flyers, posters and other printed items will be made available for churches to purchase, as in previous years. Proclaiming Christ Growing Disciples @hereforddiocese @hereforddiocese @hereforddiocese 3 Reimagining Ministry More tea Vicar? The summer season of fundraising goes virtual across the Diocese With many of the traditional fundraising Need help to plan giving? events cancelled due to COVID, churches across the diocese have been We’ve pulled together this list of 10 ideas coming up with ingenious ways to for some fun virtual fundraising events: encourage giving. An afternoon tea via zoom with the vicar and church leadership team might be an opportunity • Donate whatever to join up for a natter, to take time to pray as a you’re not church group, to hear from one another how the spending money Holy Spirit is moving people and to encourage each other in faith. Across our Diocese we’ve seen on some inspired examples of giving. • Virtual quiz, There are many ways in which regular giving can walk or run become a part of church culture, even with fewer • Online auction services. Churches have set up online giving and Parish Giving Scheme offer giving by phone. • Foodbank / clothing donations • Virtual open Mic/ virtual talent show Point-to-point • Donate your birthday • Online gaming tournament • Virtual gala dinner/pudding evening Back in July 220 horses and riders enjoyed a • Crowd funding beautiful 18km ride through woods and fields campaign around Wormbridge in Abbeydore Deanery. • Design a TED Talk The event was a fundraiser for the local style event Churches and was organised and supported by Fiona and Alice Garfield. 4 Proclaiming Christ Growing Disciples www.hereford.anglican.org Proclaiming Christ Growing Disciples Reimagining Ministry Stretton Blessing In the parishes across Stretton, the church team have been saying thank you to local people and offering a blessing. Using the words God gave to Moses, the team wanted to share how God has a heart for our communities. The team started with a splash of colour using six banners displayed around the town and moved on to delivering small thank you gifts to local businesses and nursing homes as a ‘sign’ of both blessing and thankfulness for people’s hard work. The community has been encouraged to join in over the summer by contributing artwork displayed in churchyards, which reflects the journey of the last few months of living in a pandemic. Couch to 5k Jo is one of our Intergenerational Missioners based at St Martin’s Hereford in South Wye. She took up the challenge of learning to run in mid June, using the Coach to 5K app. Jo launched her campaign via social media, using a simple just giving page to reach her target. She explains: “I am doing couch to 5k to raise money for St Martin’s Church which is an amazing expression of God’s love to the community of South Wye. Before I began, running for the bus was a thing for me, honestly it felt like an enormous thing to think about running 5k. Even after a break in July, I am back on it and I’m now enjoying the experience.