District News – 16 April 2024

This Week's News

Spring District Gathering

Our Spring District Gathering will be streamed live on our youtube channel on Saturday, so if you are unable to join us in person you are very welcome to join us online.
From 9.30am you can watch using this link https://youtube.com/live/PHc0-R3Z-Fw

Our latest edition of the district magazine is now available to read online, copies are on their way to local churches and will also be available at our Spring District Gathering on Saturday.
It's full of stories from around the district and has activities and information to help care for yourself whilst you support others.
https://www.sheffieldmethodist.org/../district-magazine-spring-2024.html

Faith, Hope and The Journey Podcast – The ONE Opportunity Programme

Episode 6 of our podcast Faith, Hope and The Journey is now available to stream via our website, Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music.
In this episode we hear all about The ONE Opportunity Programme from District Children and Youth Coordinator, Vic Loveday and Intern Gen from the Barnsley Circuit.
The scheme is designed to give young people aged between 16-23-years-old a chance to create a project to benefit the mission of their church and they get paid a salary for three hours work per week.
In this podcast you will hear about how the programme was created, how it's benefitting out district and also Vic and Gen share their faith journeys so far.
We'd love to hear what you think about the podcast or if you'd like to know more about the internship – email comms@sheffieldmethodist.org
https://www.sheffieldmethodist.org/podcast.html

Reconciliation and Mediation Survey

Do we live well with difference in the church? Tell us what you think!

To help us better support you and others in your District, we'd love to hear about your experience of disagreement and reconciliation in church life.
Please help us by filling out this short survey by Friday 10 May: www.surveymonkey.com/r/DistrictNeedsAssessment
Your opinion is invaluable to us and will impact the work of Positive Working Together and the Reconciliation and Mediation Team in your area.
For more information, contact Katie Bradley, Way of Peace Programme Manager: katie.bradley@placeforhope.org.uk

New Christian Communities Campfire Gathering

Tuesday 21 May

An event for anyone who is involved in leading (in any capacity), or hoping to lead, a new Christian community. Not just the "person in charge", if you have one. Join us around the campfire for an evening of story sharing, outdoor worship, learning and food. Hosted by Nick Waterfield and the team from Parson Cross Initiative. Guest speaker Adam Sanders, Mission Advisor to Birmingham Methodist District, will introduce us to Spiral Dynamics: a powerful tool for understanding contrasting ways that people make sense of life and what this means for churches that aspire to relate to new people. Plus plenty of time for you to share stories with familiar and new faces in a supportive environment. For more details and free tickets go to https://www.tickettailor.com/events/sheffieldmethodistdistrict/1209991

Metal Methodist Worship

4 May 6:00pm at Broomhill Methodist Church – see image on left!

Old Testament in a Week – a course from Cliff College

Cliff College's Old Testament in a Week course does exactly what it says on the tin – it covers the whole of the Old Testament in one week! Join us from 22-26 July 2024 to explore the narratives, poetry and prophets of the Old Testament, and to understand how these texts are relevant to our current contexts and the issues we face as churches and as wider society. This course is ideal for ministers, preachers and teachers, and for anyone who is interested in learning more about the Bible and its importance in 21st century life. More information is available on the Cliff College website.

3Generate

4-6 October 2024

3Generate, the children's and youth assembly of the Methodist Church, aims to create an inclusive and diverse space* for the prophetic voice of children and young people to emerge and be heard. It enables them to speak courageously, and listen to God and each other. Through the 3Generate process, children and young people are equipped to become participants in advocacy, change and growth and have an impact in their local Methodist communities. 3Generate calls the Church to listen to, and be in relationship and dialogue with and amongst, children and young people, so that change can happen together as a community.
From 2024, 3Generate is open to 8 – 18 year olds and, in an exciting new development for 2021, we welcomed 4 to 7 year olds and their parents/carers or significant adults into their own 3Generate space. For those aged 18 to 25, why not become part of our growing Young Adult volunteer community?
Tickets now available : https://www.methodist.org.uk/.../3generate/

Events

Cliff Festival – at Cliff College and online

We'd love to see you at Cliff Festival (24-27 May) – day and weekend tickets are still available, along with some camping plots, and the full programme of sessions, seminars and activities will be available in the first week of May. But if you're unable to join us on the Festival site in Derbyshire, you can still get involved through Festival LIVE! We'll be streaming our morning Bible studies and evening celebration services, as well as exclusive online interviews with some of our speakers, musicians and contributors. All the info you need is on the Cliff College website.

Vacancies

Finance Manager – Girls Brigade Ministries

We seek to appoint a proactive finance professional to oversee and manage the finance function at Girls' Brigade Ministries.
Click here for a message from our Chief Executive Officer.
Purpose and objectives
To provide professional leadership of Girls' Brigade Ministries finance, ensuring financial management is optimised for efficiency and robust financial controls and appropriate
reporting processes are in place.
To contribute financial expertise to Girls' Brigade Ministries, developing trusted professional relationships with the Chief Executive Officer, Trustee Board, budget holders and wider
staff team
Full details can be found in the recruitment pack here
Whilst the role is a part-time post, we welcome suggestions from applicants for all types of working arrangement, on the understanding that there is a need for at least one day each month to be spent onsite at our head office in the Peak District, on the Cliff College campus.
Enquiries from those with a demonstrable history of self-employment and with the necessary experience and who are able to satisfy the demands of this post on a consultancy basis are welcomed.
To make an application send an up-to-date CV with a detailed covering letter outlining your interest in the post by email to our external HR support partners at sarah@crawfordhr.com.

And finally ...

From the Methodist Prayer Handbook

A prayer for our trees and forests

I lift my eyes to the trees.

Majestic canopy in city square, flourishing in a field hedge, thorn on a rocky outcrop.
I shuffle leaves, pick fruit and plant acorns.
But I like wood floors, beams in cathedrals and old ships.
Forests are fought over and industrial logging endangers all life.
Yet as biblical people met God under landmark trees, all creation meets heaven on the Cross.
That tree of life, love, death and hope.

Forever attractive to artists,
trees yield new truths to science every day;
their rings tell secrets of the long past;
their roots talk along a web.
Home to diverse creatures and, best of all, they capture carbon.

Creator God, turn my awe for trees into respectful living.

Helen Caine, supernumerary presbyter, North Cheshire Circuit