Education Sunday is on 12th September: lots of inspiring worship materials to share!

For well over one hundred years there has been an annual recognition of Education Sunday in England and Wales. It is a national day of prayer and celebration for everyone in the world of education.

The theme is devised by an ecumenical steering group representing different Christian denominations and organisations - the theme this year is “A Word in Season”. There are lots of interesting worship materials to share, including a new hymn written by the URC Minister, Revd Anne Sardeson.

To help you get ready to celebrate this day in your church and community:

This year, the resources have been inspired by: Isaiah 50. 4-9a, Psalm 116. 1-8, James 3. 1-12 & Mark 8. 27-38

(cover photo courtesy of Markus Spiske at Unsplash)

You are invited to a time of prayer for prison chaplains across the world on 25th August

Every year on August 25, the International Prison Chaplains’ Association (IPCA) invites chaplains and those with an interest in prison ministry to join together in a special day of prayer for prisons.

You can download our simple prayer guide from the website or from the attachments here. Our very own Revd Bob Wilson serves on the IPCA Europe Committee and is Vice Chair of the Committee in Europe. His colleague, David Buick

who serves as IPCA Worldwide President, send us all a message of encouragement and invitation:

“Preparation of this year’s day of prayer has been made especially difficult by the pandemic and the resulting pressures on chaplains everywhere. At the same time, that is all the more reason for us to pray for each other, for our ministries, and for the prisons in which we serve. The health crisis and related restrictions also mean that chaplains are even more isolated than usual. In view of this, we’ve decided to give you an opportunity to join together online for a short prayer service on Zoom following the prayer outline published here. This will be on Wednesday, August 25 at 17.30 BST.

Not many may be able to join in view of world time differences and the short notice, but we’ll be going ahead no matter how many or how few of us there are. If you wish to attend, please register at this link. We’ll send you a link to the Zoom meeting shortly before the event. Every Blessing, David Buick, IPCA Worldwide President.”

Register here for the prayer event taking place 25th Aug 5.30.P.M.

(cover photo courtesy of Nega at Unsplash)

Commissioning Service for Chaplains in schools and colleges - 12th September

We are delighted to announce that Centre for Chaplaincy in Education are hosting a Commissioning Service for Chaplains in schools and colleges (online) on 12th September at 4 P.M.

This is an annual global commissioning service for all chaplains who work with schools and colleges, (on the same day as Education Sunday) is being organised by the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education.

It’s taking place online at 4 P.M. and you can register here.

You don’t have to be a chaplain to attend, so please join if you’d like to support and pray for chaplains in these settings – but do encourage any chaplains you know to join the service. Our very own Hugh Osgood and Sarah Lane Cawte are taking part, representing the Free Churches.

(cover photo courtesy of Anton Sukhinov at Unsplash)

Save the date! An event coming up next month, all about the Church and social cohesion!

The Free Churches Group is hosting an event, with the Liverpool & District Federal Council, on the important theme of social cohesion. This conference moves our vital work on, in light of the Theos report on The Church and Social Cohesion (you can read the report HERE).

Our forthcoming event is entitled:

Connecting Communities, Serving People

It will be held in Liverpool Town Hall on 30th September: 1.30-3.30 P.M.

Further details on how to register will be available soon, but for now, save the date!

'ORGAN DONATION WEEK' COMING UP IN SEPTEMBER

A couple of years ago Free Churches Group, working with the Blood Transfusion and Organ donation services, facilitated a one day conference with our member churches and groups. This was a useful event to help us to raise the profile and importance of these services, particularly for our churches who have members from Black, Asian and other ethnic communities. We would like to continue to encourage more blood and organ donors from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to come forward to meet the needs of patients from across our communities. Certain conditions, such as sickle cell and thalassaemia, are more prevalent within these communities.

We would like to share with you news of Organ Donation Week which is coming up in September.

This is an awareness raising week from 20th - 26th September with a theme this year of: ‘Leave Them Certain’. This campaign aims to encourage people to talk to their loved ones about organ donation through highlighting that families are always involved before organ donation goes ahead.

Find out further information about this year’s campaign and how you, your churches and your families can get involved in the discussions about this vital issue.

ORGAN DONATION WEEK

(cover photo courtesy of DESIGNECOLOGIST at Unsplash)