Stepping Out – how do you share Christ's invitation?

Agenda Action for Children report to Synod 2023-09-09-Connecting Evangelism Online mission

Stepping Out

How do you share Christ's invitation?

Join us for a day of learning, sharing and worship with a buffet lunch provided. It will provide an opportunity for you to renew existing connections across the District and to meet new people. Why not invite a friend?

Within the District Gathering we will hold the life of Methodism across our district in prayer, renew our relationship with our wider Connexional church, and make any formal decisions required of us as a district – the work of the representative synod.
An important part of the business is electing representatives to the Methodist Conference 2024 This year we need to elect two lay persons; one to service for one year and one to serve for three. Each member of Synod may nominate one lay person, whose consent must be obtained prior to nomination and who must be a member of a Methodist church within the Sheffield District. The nomination form can be downloaded from this page.
The District Representative Synod meeting held on 22 April 2023 agreed a revised composition of the District Leading Team (DLT). This includes two elected representatives from the Representative Synod to serve for a maximum of 3 years, with the option of being re-elected for a further three years.
Nominations are therefore also sought for two representatives to serve on the DLT for one year to 31 August. Each member of Synod may nominate one person. More information about the work of the DLT can be found here: District Leading Team
The nomination form should be signed by two members of Synod. Those elected will become members of the Sheffield District Representative Synod (if they are not already members).
Voting for both roles will be carried out online and the results will be announced as part of the opening business.

"Next Steps in .." workshops will explore practical suggestions and advice for you and your church in more detail. All participants will have the opportunity to attend two workshops. Our five expert speakers will explore perspectives on how we extend Christ's invitation by embedding evangelism in our daily lives through an interactive panel discussion.

Our speakers:

Rachel Lampard- Being a Justice-seeking Church
Explore together how you can take some next steps in embedding principles, priorities and practices of justice-seeking in the life of your church and circuit.
Rachel is a former Vice-President of the Methodist Conference and leader of the ecumenical Joint Public Issues Team. For the past two years she has been on secondment to the Walking with Micah project, leading to the recent Conference report, "A Justice-seeking Church", which set a framework for the Church's justice work.

Jeff Conklin-Millar- Connecting Evangelism and Discipleship
Our work in evangelism means little if not connected to our work in forming discipleship: how do we do that work? We'll consider the relationship between evangelism and discipleship and work on developing "discipleship pathways" as contextual, practical ways your congregation might make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Jeff serves Cliff College as the Vice-Principal (Mission) and the Learning Lead and Tutor in Evangelism and Missiology. He served as a youth minister and senior pastor in United Methodist churches in Southern California, then finished doctoral work and taught at Duke Divinity School for over a decade.
Slides from his workshop can be downloaded from this page.

Simon Cartwright – Growing Good
Simon is passionate about prayer, mission and social justice. He has 30 years' experience in the inner city – starting in regeneration and then in leadership in the Anglican church. He is now the Chief Officer at Transforming Notts Together, working to inspire, equip and connect the church to issues of poverty and injustice.
You can watch a short video about his work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcw_6CXo8ZY
And can sign up for Growing Good toolkit here: https://growing-good.org.uk/tool-kit

Ali Johnson- being an authentic Christian online
Join Ali on an exciting journey embracing the digital revolution, leveraging the power of technology to further God's kingdom. In this interactive session, we'll explore digital outreach, online worship, digital strategy, and tools we can use to engage our community and each other.
Ali is passionate about helping churches harness the power of digital platforms. He is the digital evangelist for the Methodist Church and Cliff College, and a lover of all things tech, and a little bit of coffee.
His presentation can be download from this page.

Jonathan Hood – 'Easy Evangelism' : simple ways to share faith
Evangelism is a word that can scare people as we think of Billy Graham et al. But evangelism isn't preaching, it is simply sharing your faith in God. Evangelism is part of 'our calling' in the Methodist Church and now, more than ever, with our closing Churches, we need to action that call. Join us for simple ways that you can begin sharing faith gently and relevantly.
Jonathan is Community Pioneer in the Derbyshire North East Circuit, a Local Preacher, and a member of the Methodist Community of Evangelists.

We will also have a Market Place where you can to explore other ways in which you can help to work towards a more just world and purchase resources, so don't forget to bring your purse/wallet!

Book your place here: https://230909-SteppingOut.eventbrite.co.uk
Some of the workshops have limited capacity, so do book early!

Registration will close on Wednesday 30 August , but early booking helps our planning team.
Please do invite anyone who might appreciate being part of this day!