"The breathing sacrament of chaplaincy"

In May 2019, a profound and interesting piece was published by a university student about her experience of chaplaincy whilst studying.

Shanika Ranasinghe writes, “University chaplains champion faith presence and practices on campus. What is sometimes less obvious is that they are part of university well-being teams: there for anyone of any faith, denomination or none, for pastoral support. Personally, chaplains have been a lifeline whilst battling health issues – indeed, a chaplain was the only reason I left my first university alive.”

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Please join us as we pray for the vital work of chaplains in our universities:

At the start of the academic year (autumn)
Merciful God, we pray for all those starting university courses for degrees and vocational programmes. We know this is a time of great change, so we humbly ask that you uphold and guide the students at this time of transition. Living God, we pray for the parents, carers and church families who are waving off their church / family members who are embarking on university courses. Give the parents, carers and our churches the courage to be brave about this change in their family and church community, as they see their loved ones go on to a new phase in life.

Throughout the year
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

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You can download resources and prayer sheets to help your churches to support work in universities and other educational sectors HERE

(image courtesy of Hannah Grace @ Unsplash)

Read all about it! Education publications and resources for our members

Over the last few years, the Free Church Education Committee has been busy working on behalf of our member groups and churches to widen our field of work in education.

We have just compiled an easy to use summary of all of our key reports, case studies and prayer resources for you, as our member churches / groups, to have access to.

You can review these here.

Please feel free to download, print and share in your church fellowships.

Please join us as we continue to pray for the work of the Free Church Education Committee and the work we do with churches, schools, colleges and universities…

(photo courtesy of David Iskander @ Unsplash)

Exploring chaplaincy in education - a conference on 10th July!

Are you interested in exploring chaplaincy in education? Have you felt a calling to serve in this way? Are you currently working in education, but want to find out more about how your church can engage with colleges?

The Church of the Nazarene (who are members of FCG) in partnership with Festive, Chaplaincy Central and FCG are hosting a conference on 10th July in Manchester.

This will be a great opportunity to learn more about chaplaincy in education and to find out ways that you can support churches and colleges to work together to support the pastoral needs of students.

The event will be hosted by the Nazarene Theological College and tickets costs £20. You can find out more and book your place HERE.

The kind of student support services, prayer and encouragement that chaplains can provide in colleges are crucial to the progress and confidence students have - although FE serves people of many ages, further education is a key time of transition from youth to adulthood for younger students and so the work and witness of a college chaplain can be vital in offering guidance and support to them.

You can read more about what an FE chaplain can offer here. Please join us as we pray for the work of college chaplains and the staff and students at colleges whom they support and encourage.

To find out more about FE chaplaincy, why not read this?

(photo courtesy of Alexis Brown at Unsplash)

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)