Speaking of education...

The Free Church Education Committee will be meeting later in March to continue to consider, plan and act upon areas across all sectors of education - schools, further education (FE) and higher education (HE). You can read more about the vital work of the Committee HERE. 

One of our Committee members, Martin Sweet, published an article in the Baptist Times a while back - Martin is Director of Spinnaker Trust and speaks on behalf of the Baptist Education Group (The Baptist Union of Great Britain are members of the Free Churches Group). You can read this powerful and challenging article HERE. 

You may be interested in the article and the reasons behind why he cares about education and how our actions speak louder than words...! 

** What do you do you in your church to speak up for issues which matter in education?

** How could you extend how your voice, as a Christian, is heard?

** How could you speak and act more powerfully in education and training? 

** How might you get more involved in this work across and within your community? 

Please pray for the work of the FC Education Commitee and the forthcoming spring meetings... 

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The FC Education Committee - The group seeks to encourage and support regular involvement of Free Churches in education by: reflecting on the many current concerns in any field of education and to advise or suggest an appropriate response; coordinating an appropriate response from Free Church denominations through cooperation and networking; raising awareness to ensure that member denominations, such as Baptists, and their congregations and families, are informed and empowered; promoting good, Christian values within education for all pupils; maintaining a Free Church voice within education. 

Towards a Free Church Vision for Higher Education

Towards a Free Church Vision for Higher Education

In 2014 the Free Churches Group (FCG) set up a Working Group ‘to discern the most effective use of resources and best ways of equipping Free Church people to engage with Higher Education’ (HE). The group submitted a Report to the FCG Directors in May 2015. The Report is entitled Hope in Higher Education - a full copy of the report can be downloaded HERE.

In August 2016, the Working Group drew up a paper setting out how the we, as the free churches, could work towards a Free Church Vision for Higher Education. You can read this visionary paper HERE. 

Highlights of the paper set out why and how Higher Education and the Free Churches can collaborate:

• Every Individual is Important to God
• The Education of the Whole Person
• Seeking the Kingdom of God
• A proper secularism
• Inclusion
• The Search for Truth

Read the full paper HERE and find out more about the ongoing work of the HE Working Group by contacting the FCG Education Officer, Sarah Lane Cawte: sarah.lane.cawte@freechurches.org.uk

Prayer Spaces in Schools

For the past few years, the Free Churches Group have been proud members of the Pray for Schools steering group. The other members include folk from Open the Book, The Association of Christian Teachers, Prayer Spaces in Schools and many others. 

Prayer Spaces in Schools are part of 24-7 Prayer International

Prayer Spaces in Schools have just launched some new prayer activities focused around ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ which you might find interesting and helpful... You can check these out HERE. 

The resources are a creative exploration of the Lord’s Prayer. This series takes the lines of the traditional Lord's Prayer as written in Matthew 6: 9-13 in the Bible.

Prayer Spaces in Schools enable children and young people, of all faiths and none, to explore these life questions, spirituality and faith in a safe, creative and interactive way. You can find out more about their work at: www.prayerspacesinschools.com 

Thanks to Tandia Hughes from Prayer Spaces in Schools for sharing these resources! 

Student Sunday is coming up!

Join students and churches around the world in February each year to mark the Universal Day of Prayer for Students (UDPS) or 'Student Sunday'. Save the date for 2018: 18th February.

SCM has produced a resource toolkit for 2018 that can be used by churches, student groups and individuals. You can download a copy of the 2018 Student Sunday resources here.

Uniting the Church - Every year, individuals, churches and communities around the world unite to lift up students in prayer on Student Sunday, also known as the Universal Day of Prayer for Students (UDPS). Student Sunday is coordinated by the World Student Christian Federation (WSCF), and has been celebrated since 1898, making it one of the oldest ecumenical days of prayer. It serves as one of the tangible signs of our common life and the connection between students and alumni of WSCF all around the world.

We invite all our members and friends to unite in prayer for the world, the church, students, and WSCF itself on (or around) the 3rd Sunday of February. You may also choose to set an alternate date that is more convenient for your community. On 18 February 2018, people are coming together from different denominations to bring words of encouragement and support around the theme Godʼs Gifts.

What makes a good disciple?

Hmmm, a good question? What do you think?

The word disciple comes from the Latin word for learner (discipulus), so it well worth thinking about in our quest for learning, education and development... Discipulus is variously translated as student, disciple or pupil.

How do we learn today? What do we yearn to learn? What have you learned lately? 

In our aim to share content and ideas from our member churches, we have a feature from the URC. The magazine for the United Reformed Church (URC), Reform, has been considering this question : What makes a good disciple? You can read the full article HERE. 

In the coming weeks, why not think and pray about how you might become a better disciple... a better student in Christ...?