National Parenting Initiative events in the Bristol area

Through our links at FCG with the Pray for Schools network, we would like to share information with you about some forthcoming events in the Bristol area.

The National Parenting Initiative are hosting a series of events in June (on 13 and 14 June).

If you live or work near the Bristol area, you might like to attend these. To find out more information or to book a place please see HERE. Please feel free to share this link with families in your church and community.

The NPI was set up in January 2012 by a group of parenting professionals and senior church leaders from all over the UK.  The goal is to encourage churches to run parenting courses in every corner of our four nations and to make it easy for parents to access them. All courses offered on this website are open to parents or carers of any faith or of no faith.

(photo courtesy of Caroline Hernandea at Unsplash)

Open the Book!

Open the Book, who are part of the Bible Society, are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year. Open the Book are hosting lots of events across the UK this year, to help to spread the word about their work and celebrate all the excellent work they are doing in schools and through their volunteers.

Their mission is: to bring Bible stories to life for every child in every primary school. 

At FCG, as part of our work in Education and with the Pray for Schools steering group, we work closely with colleagues from Open the Book.

Perhaps there is an anniversary event near you? Check the listing HERE.

Are you excited about the idea of Open the Book, but don’t know where to start? If so, why not have a look and see what you can do to get going? HERE

Please join us as we pray for the work of OtB - (prayer shared from their website):

We're delighted to be celebrating 20 years of Open the Book in 2019! Please join us in giving thanks for God's faithfulness and blessing through this project seeking to share Bible stories with primary school children.

“I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1.6 (NRSV)

• Pray for the storytellers who have taken on extra schools to provide teams as part of our Catholic pilot. Pray that more Catholic churches will come forward to help create Open the Book teams for the many Catholic schools in Hexham and Newcastle Diocese.

• Praise the Lord that ecumenical teams are coming together and sharing Bible stories with Catholic schools. Pray that the Lord will open doors for Martha, our Regional Training and Development Officer, to inspire more churches to catch God's vision for Bible storytelling in schools.

• Pray for our new Regional Training and Development Officers, Matt in North London and Kerry in South London. Pray for churches and schools to come forward to start Open the Book teams.

Thank you for praying with us, we deeply value your intercessions on our behalf as we seek to share God's word at home and around the world. Amen.

(photo courtesy of Unsplash by Ben White)

Praying at a new level...

Thousands of young people, up and down the country, are getting ready to sit their GCE Advanced (A) Level exams at schools and further education (FE) providers. You may have children, Godchildren, nieces or nephews of your own who are busy revising.... or you may know of young people in your church and community who are awaiting the start of these... or you may just wish to be part of the wave of prayer surrounding all young people across the nation at this challenging time... Join us as we pray for them, as they prepare for and sit these important exams... 

Let us pray. Loving God, we ask to bless and uphold all those who are preparing for and sitting GCE A Level exams this year.

We ask that you give them courage and wisdom in their endeavours. We pray that you will sustain their teachers and exam invigilators in supporting the students and conducting the exams with integrity and diligence.

Living God, we know that this can be a time of stress and challenge, so we humbly ask for Christ's peace to prevail for all at this time. We pray that each and every student will be able to perform to the best of his or her ability. 

May they all know the courage and grace of God and bring to mind the passage from Philippians... "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." 

We ask all this in the name of Jesus, our teacher and friend, Amen

Remember Pray for Schools Fortnight

12TH – 26TH MAY 2019 - THE VISION OF PRAY FOR SCHOOLS FORTNIGHT IS TO BRING TOGETHER PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR SCHOOLS IN THEIR AREA.

You can find out more information about Christian groups who work with FE students by checking out Festive HERE. 

Scripture reference from the New Living Translation - Philippians 4:13 

Prayer for those sitting GCSE exams this year

Let us pray.

Loving God, we ask to bless and uphold all those who are preparing for and sitting GCSE exams this year.

We ask that you give them courage and wisdom in their endeavours. 

We pray that you will sustain their teachers and exam invigilators in supporting the students and conducting the exams with integrity and diligence.

Living God, we know that this can be a time of stress and challenge, so we humbly ask for Christ's peace to prevail for all at this time. We pray that each and every student will be able to perform to the best of his or her ability. 

We ask all this in the name of Jesus, our teacher and friend,

Amen 

Remember Pray for Schools Fortnight

12th – 26th May 2019 - The vision of Pray for Schools fortnight is to bring together people to pray for schools in their area.

Reaching out to universities - a church resource for you

The FCG Free Church Education Committee have just launched a flyer that can make a difference to how you serve in your community.

Universities, through the sector called Higher Education (HE), play a vital role in our society and communities. We have produced an easy to use flyer to help you and your church find out more about the HE sector and explore ways your church can get involved. You can download, print and share this HERE.

“Higher Education is a massively significant part of contemporary society, with an enormous cultural, social and economic impact on individuals and societies. Universities, the main focus for higher education, are formative for many of their students, not only in terms of intellectual development but also shaping values and world-views. Universities thus impact in a very direct way on nearly half the total young adult population, plus many older people; such is the reach of universities in Britain today. “ Extract from Hope in Higher Education Report which you can read, in full, here,

Join with us as we pray… Majestic God, as students aim higher and develop their God-given potential, give students firm foundations in your wisdom, rooted in your love and stability. We pray for the tutors and chaplains in universities - loving God, give them the wisdom, clarity and patience to support the students and staff with compassion. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen

(photo courtesy on Unsplash by Logan Isbell)