District News – 2 September 2025

This Week's News – Happy New (Methodist) Year!

Welcome Service for our District Chair Vicky Atkins

On Sunday we welcomed Vicky Atkins as our new District Chair at a celebration service at Central Methodist Church, Chesterfield. We were delighted Assistant Secretary of Conference Michaela Youngson was in attendance and helped conduct the service and led us in Holy Communion. We were also joined by our Ecumenical partners, members of the Connexional team, friends from other districts and many of you from Sheffield District so we could offer Vicky the warmest of welcomes.
Many thanks to "Team Central" and Derbyshire North East Circuit for hosting the service and to everyone who took part made it possible.
You can re-watch the service here
Did anyone lose a key in the hall afterwards? One was found as we were clearing up. Do get in touch if you think it might be yours.

MWiB – Sheffield District

Annual Service of Dedication Thursday 16th October 2025

11.00am at Clifton Methodist Church, Lister Street, Rotherham, S65 2AX The preacher will be Rev Louise Makin (Rotherham & Dearne Valley Circuit).
Please bring your own lunch – tea/coffee will be provided
Following this Ken Dunn MBE will give a presentation on Africa’s Gift – the MWiB Sheffield District’s Partnership Charity
The latest MWiB Newsletter is out now and can be found on their website: https://mwib.org.uk/

New Churches Gathering – Saturday 18 October

For anyone who is involved in leading (in any capacity), or preparing to lead, a new Christian community. Not just the “person in charge”, if you have one. Leading or birthing a New Church or Christian community can be a joyous but also exhausting and isolating experience. This morning is an opportunity for you to spend quality time with the growing network of fellow pioneers following similar callings in other places across or affiliated to Sheffield Methodist District.
We are excited to have as our guest speaker Rev Simon Sutcliffe – one of the first "Venture FX" Methodist pioneers, university chaplain and published theologian.
Dinnington Methodists and Peter Farmer, their recently appointed community pioneer, will be our hosts and will lead us in worship and tell us of their plans to create safe spaces for marginalized people to explore faith and feel a sense of belonging.
Reserve your space and free lunch

Alpha course

Jonathan Hood and Leanne Mallory are leading an Alpha course at SMC in Sprotbrough, starting on
Wednesday 17th September at 7pm.They would be happy to welcome people from all over the District, no matter where they are in their journey.

Hospitality and Sanctuary for All

Come and join us at Holy Rood House in Thirsk from Friday 28 – Sunday 30 November for our Advent Retreat 'Hospitality and Sanctuary for All' led by the Revd Inderjit Bhogal OBE.
Inderjit was the Founder of City of Sanctuary (UK) and was awarded the World Methodist Peace Award in 2018 as someone who has made significant contributions to peace, reconciliation and justice. His message is so simple: “Be human, be hospitable, challenge
hatred and hostility”. The weekend will include talks, discussion, creativity, prayer and space to rest and reflect.
For further information please see https://www.holyroodhouse.org.uk/Groups/426712/Events.aspx
or email enquiries@holyroodhouse.org.uk

For Goodness Sake

“For Goodness Sake” is a gathering of people who long for justice, taking place in Derby on Saturday 8 November 2025. It is being organised by the Joint Public Issues Team on behalf of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Methodist Church and United Reformed Church, and in association with the Church of Scotland and Iona Community.
The Conference will be a mixture of worship led by the Iona Community, keynote speakers (including Bishop Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani) and panel events, with stalls, craftivism, filming and writing activities, and much, much more. It an ideal opportunity to meet with other Christian justice-seekers and to connect in a friendly space.
There will be Listening Spaces built on community organising practices to enable us to hear each-other’s voices, and the voices of those most effected by issues of injustice.
Tickets are just £15, and if you’re under 25 years old, it’s free.
To book visit https://jpit-conference-2025.eventbrite.co.uk/
and to find more out about the day For Goodness Sake! What's the plan?

District Office updates

District Gathering – Rooted, Relevant and Reimagined!

The deadline to book to attend our Gathering on 13 September has now passed. However, you are welcome to come along on the day, but we would ask that you bring your own lunch, and you may not get a choice of which workshops to attend in the afternoon.

Deadlines!

A lot of events and other communications will have a deadline to respond by. We are sometimes able to be flexible and allow responses or bookings after the advertised deadline, but this does make additional work for the administrator.
Some deadlines are to work out if an event is viable, without sufficient numbers, then a decision needs to be taken about going ahead in hope that more will book later on. Events have been cancelled because of this, leading to disappointment from those who had booked on.
Some deadlines are due to the need to report back – for example – the annual GDPR checklist. I am delighted that in the end all the churches and circuits did complete it, but it did seem to take a lot of reminder emails going out once the initial deadline had passed.
So this is a plea – to respond as soon as possible rather than waiting until the last minute.

Website changes

There have been some changes behind the scene to how our website works. This may mean that some links on some pages are now broken. If you discover this, please let me know so I can update them.

Events

Peak Wesley Way

The Peak Wesley Way pilgrimage has now been open for just over a year. Our team of volunteers have already greeted hundreds of pilgrims: families, friends, solo pilgrims; from ministers on sabbatical to people with no regular church connection. The pilgrimage involves walking 45 miles over six days through the stunning Peak District National Park, sleeping in Methodist chapels which are available for church and community activities during the day. Contributions paid by pilgrims are helping Peak Methodist Circuit sustain and grow its rural missional presence in these villages, and people from beyond their congregations have joined the volunteer team.If you need space to reflect, a group of people you want to spend time with, or just some fresh fresh air, we are taking bookings for this autumn and 2026 – details at www.peakwesleyway.com The route starts and ends at railway stations and The Peak is very much on our doorstep – some of this year's pilgrims journeyed from the USA!

EcoFest25

Saturday 27 September from 10am-2pm

Emmanuel Methodist Church, Barnsley are hosting another EcoFestival on the theme : Healthy Planet, healthy you.Free fun for the family with displays, activities and stalls. Plus – bring your bike for a free check!

John Wesley & the Church Fathers

Online Short Course – Wesley House, Cambridge

This online short course encourages a deeper understanding of the Wesleyan tradition's rootedness in early Christianity. Participants will learn about how the Methodist movement, which Wesley founded as a prophetic revival within the "one, holy, catholic and apostolic church" was shaped by these sources.
The course is led by the Revd Canon Dr Jason Radcliff who has published widely on the Church Fathers, Orthodoxy and the Oxford Movement.
Dates: Tuesdays 7, 14, 21 & 28 October 2025 at 7-9pm (UK Time)
Cost: Early bird offer of £100 until 15 August (then £120)
Registration: Please email office@wesley.cam.ac.uk to book your place

The Samuel Chadwick Lecture 2025

Thursday 16 October 2025

Our annual Samuel Chadwick Lecture will take place on Thursday 16 October 2025. The theme will be History, Church Growth and the Spirit, and this year the lecture can be attended onsite at Cliff College or online via Zoom.
The keynote speaker for this event will be Professor William K Kay, Professor Emeritus in Theology at Wrexham University and founding director of the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at Bangor University. Professor Kay's research interests include the history of Pentecostal and charismatic movements, and the lecture will draw on this research. The formal response will be from Dr Ben Pugh, director of the Samuel Chadwick Centre.
Book your place here: https://www.cliffcollege.ac.uk/news-events/samuel-chadwick-lecture-2025

Vacancies

Faith Rooted Community Organising Lead

Sheffield District

Community organising is about bringing people together to take action around their common concerns, and to create changes that tackle issues and experiences of injustice.
This role is to advocate for and deliver faith-rooted community organising practices in the Methodist Church as routes to justice, congregational transformation and church growth.
The post holder will lead on accompanying and developing an organising culture across the district, providing bespoke support to embed faith-rooted community organising practices to develop teams and effective leaders of change in those congregations and communities.
The role will be key to supporting existing churches and new Christian communities to make connections as part of their discipleship and core mission to be justice-seeking.
advocate for and deliver faith-rooted community organising practices in the Methodist Church as routes to justice, congregational transformation and church growth.
The post holder will lead on accompanying and developing an organising culture across the district, providing bespoke support to embed faith-rooted community organising practices to develop teams and effective leaders of change in those congregations and communities.
The role will be key to supporting existing churches and new Christian communities to make connections as part of their discipleship and core mission to be justice-seeking.
General enquiries and informal conversations about the role are actively encouraged. In the first instance we ask that you direct these by email to Neil Harland, Mission Enabler, mpe@sheffieldmethodist.org.
More details can be found here: https://www.sheffieldmethodist.org/recruitment/vacancies/district-vacancies.html

And finally...

A prayer for the start of the new academic year

Gracious God,
At the start of this new academic year, we give thanks for fresh opportunities,
renewed energy, and the promise of what lies ahead.

Bless our headteachers with wisdom to lead with clarity, courage, and
compassion, and bless our governors with vision, discernment, and steadfast
support.

May our schools be places where children discover their gifts, staff are
renewed in purpose, and communities grow in hope and love.

Remind us that in every new beginning, You are at work, shaping us, guiding us,
and calling us to trust in the future that we are creating together. .

We place this term, and all those we serve, into Your loving hands.
Amen.
Julie-Ann Hewitt – Interim Head of Service | Methodist Academies and Schools Trust

A prayer for the start of the Connexional year

O Christ of the morning,
You who sang the stars into being,
Sing again into our hearts today.

As a new year unfolds,
we walk into the next verse of your story,
the next line of your song.

May the Spirit stir our memory,
reminding us who we are a
your people, your melody,
each life a note in your unfolding hymn.

Guide us in courage,
hold us in love,
send us with hope.

In the name of the One who goes before us,
beside us, and sings within us
Christ our companion,

Amen.
Matthew Forsyth, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference