District Magazine – Spring 2024

District Magazine – Spring 2024

The latest edition of the district magazine is now available to read online, copies are being delivered to churches and they will also be available at our Spring District Gathering on Saturday.

Acting District Chair, Julie Coates explains what this edition holds:

Dear Friends, I commend to you all of the articles in this Spring Edition of our magazine.

As you turn over you will be guided in how to take a holy walk around your own home using the suggestions outlined by Rev’d Nel Shallow, who will be the keynote speaker at our District Gathering.

In the pages that follow you can find out about the origins and purpose of the Carers Group at Harworth and read the stories of carers who have benefited from the support offered to them. Find out too about the circumstances that led to the launch of a Pizza Lunchtime School Holiday Project at Staincross in Barnsley. See how a seed sown many years earlier, when he was a curate in Ripley, bore fruit in Jonathan Brook’s Pioneer Ministry in Bakewell, and be inspired by the ongoing community café at Clifton Methodist Church.

If you didn’t get chance to see the Life on the Breadline Exhibition then you can read about the effect that it had on the three centres in the district that hosted it. Read about the community allotment in Sheffield and the way in which it is a growing space for people as well as for fruit and vegetables, and see how volunteers are being supported within the Trinity Circuit.

Take encouragement from the words of Jonathan Hood as he describes what is been learnt about listening to the local community and then taking risks and trying out new things as you share your faith.

Pages 12 and 13 give details of the ‘How to ’ sessions that are planned for the District Gathering.

There are reflections by some of our District Staff and representatives from the Learning Network on pages 14 and 15, including information about creating a ONE Opportunity Project for your church – or applying to be an Intern if you are aged between 16-23.

Careful listening within your neighbourhood or local community forms the basis of the ‘Who is your neighbour’ initiative – and is essential practice for those developing New Beginnings. See the article on page 17 about the funding that is available to support experimentation within, and beyond, our churches.

Finally see the information about the District Team and the ways in which you can keep in touch, including by listening to the District Podcast ‘Faith, Hope and the Journey’.

Flick back to this page 3 and you can learn about Gill’s travels around the Connexion and the wonderful opportunities she is encountering during her presidential year. We continue to pray for her and to look forward to welcoming her back soon.

Read your copy online here or pick up a copy from your local church.