Read this new edition focussing on Transition in the church.
Author: Wesley
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Manifestos from children and young people
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A Place to Call Home
A new study resource on Britain’s housing crisis has been produced by the Joint Public Issues Team in conjunction with Housing Justice and Scottish Churches Housing Action.
It offers “a biblical and theological framework to help us respond, as followers of Jesus, to the emerging issues that we might confront. It is written in the hope that through it, many local Christians, both as individuals and congregations, will be stimulated to consider their responsibilities as a gospel people, in the face of the housing issues that are becoming an increasing reality in the life of our nations. For some this might be through the combined endeavours of the faith community, for others by seeking to reflect the priorities of God’s kingdom through their day-to-day working lives.”
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Appreciating Church – building on our strengths
Appreciating Church is a Christian ecumenical project which aims to encourage the church at a local and national level to engage people in an inclusive way, listening to ‘all the voices’, building on our existing strengths and skills, counting our blessings and co-creating a resilient church as part of the kingdom of Heaven.
Appreciating Church is about developing a self-sustaining Appreciative Inquiry (AI) community of practice across the churches, initiated and led by the United Reformed Church, in partnership with the Methodist Church, Quakers, and the Congregational Federation, with interest from individual dioceses of the Church of England and others.
Read how churches have used this approach.
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The Listening Service – Chaplaincy for Edinburgh Sheriff Court
A new chaplaincy initiative called ‘The Listening Service’ has been launched in Edinburgh, with a team of 19 trained chaplains from the city’s faith communities beginning work on Tuesday 6 December at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. These new court’s chaplains will provide an independent, confidential support service to all court users and staff – of all faiths and none. Court staff and staff from other agencies at the court (e.g. Social Work, Victim Support) will be able to refer court users to the Listening Service. The service is free, private and confidential; a listening ear for all who request it, when it is most needed.
The Project Leaders for the Listening Service are Rev Andrew Letby and Rev Hilda Warwick of the Methodist Church.
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‘Not in our backyard – Not in their market garden’ – climate change and the Pacific
Dr. Julia Edwards will speak at
The Methodist Church
Queen Street, Stirling FK8 1HL
at 7.30 p.m. Monday 20th February.Dr. Julia Edwards is a church mission partner of the Methodist Church, working with the Pacific Conference of Churches as a climate researcher. She works with communities affected by adverse weather events, including planning for and assisting with the relocation of whole villages from coastal areas; indeed in some cases abandoning whole very low lying islands and moving to a larger one. This can be quite a considerable distance away. These migrations are entirely due to global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels in the industrial north.
The meeting is being co-hosted by Stirling Methodist Church and Friends of the Earth – Stirling.
After the talk there will be a question and answer session and an opportunity to discuss a response from this area and country to the urgent and increasing needs of the vulnerable people of the Pacific Islands and elsewhere in the world. The plight of these people depends very much on the planning decisions we make in the industrial countries, and in Scotland that includes the decision that has to be made on ‘fracking’.
In the coming year, a new Climate Change Bill is being introduced in the Scottish Parliament. Will it be bold enough in its aspirations to again give a lead to other legislators elsewhere and encourage them to follow this country’s example?
There is also the need to increase our investments in the generation of renewable energy and other infrastructure projects that reduce the amounts of greenhouse gases that we push into the atmosphere.
We hope that you are able to accept our invitation and attend this important meeting, and to share with us your views on this growing global crisis and plans to attempt to minimise its adverse effects.
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Thinking big
The latest edition of the connexion is now published. The theme ‘Thinking Big’ includes an article by Gary Williams, the National Learning and Development Coordinator for Scotland and Shetland. Read it online. -
Our ‘Unpromising’ Christmas Message
Read or watch the Christmas message from the President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference. See how God chose and chooses to work in unpromising situations.
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The Nativity Set – from Scotland to Bulgaria
This story was told to a meeting of preachers in Scotland by a preacher in Bulgaria – thanks to Skype!
