District News – 4 August 2026

Stories from across the District

Solar Eclipse Parties

Quite a few churches have taken advantage of the District Grant to put on a Solar Eclipse Party on Wednesday 12 August. We look forward to hearing the stories about how they all went!

Here is the list of the ones we know about!

• Sheffield Circuit at Brightholmlee; Manor Church & Community Project; Victoria Stafford Road and  Handsworth Woodhouse
• Derbyshire North East at Inkersall and Hasland
• Doncaster at Cantley
• Barnsley at Emmanuel and Hemsworth
• Trinity at Dinnington

Emmanuel Methodist Church Barnsley

Carbon Literacy Training Day

On October 10th a full day course, will be offered, free of charge, by the South Yorkshire Climate Alliance, for up to 12 people to learn about:

• why climate is changing;
• the impact this is having on all of us
• and what we, as individuals, families and communities can do about it.

A free lunch has also been donated!

Feedback from people who have previously taken part in the course has been very positive.  Carbon Literacy certificates are available for those who wish to obtain accreditation, but this is not obligatory.    Please get in touch if you are interested in joining in and learning more.
Jan.eldred@icloud.com 

District News and Updates

Scam emails

A reminder to be vigilant about suspicious emails. Last week we were aware that someone was spoofing our Chair of District, sending out an email in her name, but not using her email address. It is fairly simple to set up an email account with a known name, and then use that to target other email accounts. 
A spoofed email does not mean that our system has been hacked, or that address books have been compromised.

Anyone asking you if you have time to talk, without saying what they want to talk about, will be an attempt to scam you. If you do receive such an email – the best course of action is to simply delete it. 

Deadlines

A lot of events and other communications will have a deadline to respond by.

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 to others – such as the annual Safeguarding Review and GDPR checklist. They cannot be extended as others are waiting on the responses.

Requests for meeting polls will have a deadline so that people are not kept waiting for too long before dates are confirmed. 

We are sometimes able to be flexible and allow responses or bookings after the advertised deadline, but this does make additional work and cannot be guaranteed. So this is a plea – to respond as soon as possible rather than waiting until the last minute.

Regional Officer for Safeguarding Update:

Safeguarding Adults Week 2026 – 16-22 November 2026 

Safeguarding Adults Week is an annual campaign coordinated by the Ann Craft Trust to raise awareness of safeguarding issues and promote safer cultures across organizations and communities. The 2026 event will run from 16 to 22 November and emphasizes the theme “Every Voice. Every Choice”, highlighting the importance of co-production in safeguarding adults.  This approach aligns with the Care Act 2014, prioritizing empowerment, prevention, and individual outcomes  

Key Themes

• Co-production in Safeguarding: Encouraging collaboration between professionals and adults to ensure decisions reflect the individual’s preferences and needs
• Making Safeguarding Personal, which prioritises the outcomes for the individuals. It’s all about giving people a voice, and making it their choice as to what happens, and what makes them feel safe
• Empowerment and Prevention: Promoting proactive measures to prevent abuse and harm, rather than only responding to incidents

How to Get Involved

• Writing an article about a key safeguarding topic
• Taking part in one of the Safeguarding Matters podcasts (or recording your own podcast!)
• Hosting an online seminar exploring one of this year’s themes
• Delivering a talk, or a workshop, at this year’s Safeguarding Adults Conference in Nottingham (Wednesday 18 November) 

Read about the Conference here: Every Voice, Every Choice: Ann Craft Trust Safeguarding Adults Conference 2026 – Ann Craft Trust  
Read more and sign up for resources on  the Ann Craft Trust website:    Safeguarding Adults Week 16 – 22 November 2026 – Ann Craft Trust    
Watch the launch video on Vimeo: Safeguarding Adults Week 2026 – Every Voice, Every Choice | Videos & Movies on Vimeo  
Claire De Stefano, Regional Officer for Safeguarding – South East aligned to the London District

As ever, if you have any questions or concerns, please give me a call on 07483 362 735 or email me at hilla@methodistchurch.org.uk

Many thanks

Alison Hill

Upcoming Events

Simple Quiet Day

Tuesday 18th August, 9.45am–3.30pm, £15, Whirlow Spirituality Centre

These days are every third Tuesday, they are intended to provide you with the space to “be”; to relax, reflect and pray and so to renew your spiritual resources. The day begins with a service of Reflective Communion. If you are not attending the service it is suggested you arrive before 10.30am, when the service concludes.

The programme is kept simple to provide maximum space. Use what is offered in so far as it is helpful. If you are fairly new to spending time in silence, the Simple Quiet Day is a good introduction.

Book your place via the Whirlow website.

Urban Theology Union

Urban Gospel Coffee Time

Monday 10 August 2026 11:00 – 12:00
You are warmly invited to UTU's next Urban Gospel Coffee Time.
Make yourself a drink, pull up a chair and get comfortable.
Hosted by Andrew Crowley (RC Deacon, Chair of Sheffield Interfaith)
This group meet monthly online, 11.00am to 12.00am 2nd Monday of the month, where the conversations will be on the coming Sunday's Common Lectionary First and Gospel reading.
https://www.methodist.org.uk/for-churches/resources/the-lectionary/lectionary-for-this-year/
Zoom link - https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89996529028?pwd=JGtwiNxPIwb654pCVkENUJHZ0RSmy9.1

Save the Date

Liberation Theology Gathering 2026
Liberating the Left; Resisting the Far Right
24 October at Chapeltown Methodist Church, Sheffield.
Speakers include: Inderjit Bhogal, Al Barrett, Ruch Weston aka Born Stroppy, Chris Howson
Bring and share lunch, other refhreshemtn provided.
Tickets on sale soon

Anna Chaplaincy 

Wednesday 4 November 2026, 9.30am-3.30pm in Beverley

Anna Chaplaincy is an ecumenical, community-based chaplaincy, offering spiritual care among older people. Through its compassionate and practical approach, it has had an impact on thousands of lives and seeks to offer a gold standard in resourcing and enabling this sensitive ministry of presence.
Starting out as a pioneering, grassroots initiative in Hampshire in 2010, Anna Chaplaincy has grown rapidly to become a national network through BRF Ministries. Around 500 Anna Chaplains of all denominations are active across the UK, having been appointed by local churches to serve their communities, supporting and honouring those in later life in a variety of contexts, whatever their faith or values.

Anna Chaplaincy: ageing well and how the church can help is a FREE day event led by the national team, local Anna Chaplains and with the support of the Diocese of York.
It is taking place at  The Peter Harrison Rooms, Beverley Minster, Minster Yard North, Beverley, East Yorkshire HU17 0DP .
The aim of the event is to introduce Anna Chaplaincy and to inspire local churches for more effective ministry among older people.

For general information go to:  https://www.annachaplaincy.org.uk/

Vacancies

Join the Cliff College team!

We're looking for an Online Learning Officer (Maternity Cover) to help manage our TheologyX online learning platform and support the delivery of engaging online courses.

If you're organised, digitally confident, and passionate about online learning, we'd love to hear from you. Find out more at https://www.cliffcollege.ac.uk/careers/onlinelearningofficer

Methodist Youth Activities – Secretary required

Methodist Youth Activities (myaltd.org.uk) are seeking a new Secretary.

• Do you have a working knowledge of charity law, company law and GDPR?
• Do you have an active interest in Christian Youth Work and the aspirations of young people?

Key responsibilities include:

• Support grant applications made to MYA
• Liaise and support trustee meetings
• Onboarding new trustees
• Ensure compliance with charity regulations and governance standards.

For full details on the role please see the attached job / role description.
For an informal call about the volunteer role please contact Jonathan at jonathan@stpaulswordsworth.org.uk

And finally...

Exam Results Prayer

Loving God,
We thank you for all our amazing young people who are awaiting their exam results, at whatever stage they are at.
Lord we pray that they get the grades they deserve and will know to seek you in their rejoicing.
Lord we also pray for those who may not quite get the results that they desire, but we pray that they know their grades do not define them, only your love does.
Lord we thank you for your patience and your guidance at these times.
Amen
Genesis Padgett, Youth President 2025/2026