Lights, camera, action for Further Education!

FCG have been both working and developing links with Festive, the UK based Christian charity, who support students and staff in further education. They have just launched a fantastic, inspiring and Christ-centred new YouTube channel. You can check out all the films HERE.

These films would be great to share in your churches and youth groups.

Film topics include: How do I live for Jesus? and How do I survive as a Christian?

You can read more about FCG’s work in the arena of further education HERE.

Ready… steady… Pray…

The FCG have been working with Pray for Schools for many years. It has been a fruitful partnership, with a mutual heart of prayer and care for our schools’ sector - for all of the teachers, children and support staff.

Each year there is a Pray Day on the third Tuesday of November every year when schools across Europe and around the world are the focus of prayer.

This year it will be held on Tuesday 20th November 2018, with schools across the UK taking part. Find out more and how to get involved, see HERE.

You can read more about the work that FCG are doing with schools and other sectors in education by clicking HERE.

40 Seconds… Praying for Education

As part of our work in the FCG Education Team, over the last year or so we have been working with Festive - a UK based Christian charity who support students, chaplains and staff in further education (FE). You can read more about their important work HERE.

Each month, among other things, they publish a prayer bulletin entitled ‘40 Sec Prayer News’. You can register to be on the mailing list for this on their website.

Here are the prayers for October… pray with us…

Praise God that He hears and answers!

  • Please pray for Annabel and Thomas who are the new leaders of their CU. Please pray that they will find a suitable time and place for the CU to meet. They ask us to pray for the outreach events they plan, and that they will themselves be faithful witnesses to Jesus and good examples as leaders for others in the CU.  Pray for many others like them!
     

  • There isn’t a CU at Langley Park Girls’ School but Keziah has some Christian friends and she wants to start one. She is very uncertain about how to do that, and nervous about speaking to staff and management about it. Pray that God would give her the courage she needs and the words to speak, and that she would find favour with those she speaks to. Pray for Jess (our volunteer student support worker) as she writes to her and supports her.
     

  • Ali, a youth worker in Wakefield writes: ‘My biggest prayer is for more workers….there is a harvest but we need more people to be salt and light in these environments’. Please pray for more volunteers to work with Ali. Wakefield college is asking for a chaplaincy but there are not enough people available to set up a team. Pray for Ali as he looks for recruits, that God would raise up people to take up this opportunity.
     

  • Festive is now working in Northern Ireland!  Praise God for this and pray for our 15 new student contacts there.  Pray also for Elaine, James and some of the other Christian staff and chaplains we met over there who are keen to see chaplaincy and CU's established at various colleges across NI.  Pray we would see breakthrough in this.

A WARM INVITATION TO OUR 2018 MEETING OF THE DEPUTIES

Dear Friends,

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We hope that you will join us at 6.00 pm at 27 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HH on Thursday 8th November when we are delighted that the Rev. Joel Edwards, former leader of the Evangelical Alliance and now a Commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, will speak on “Martin Luther King Jr. - Disobeying with Civility”. You may have seen Rev Edwards as he preached at the recent “Windrush” service in Westminster Abbey.

The “Deputies” were established as elected lay people, working with a body of Ministers, in 1732 to fight for the removal of restrictions which excluded the churches and people we now call in the “Free Church” tradition from many areas of public life. London based, they argued on behalf of churches across the country. We maintain this somewhat quaint sounding Body as an annual society to honour their achievement. Free speech should never be taken for granted since it enables us to sustain our life, worship and witness. The Body also keeps alive our historic right of direct approach to the Monarch.

Today, the Free Churches Group carries out the Deputies’ functions relating to government, as we will hear during our very brief formal proceedings.

This is an open invitation to your members and Minister. It would be most helpful to know in advance of the numbers attending. Please return the registration form by post or email. Respecting our historical structure, it would be appropriate to nominate two “Deputies”, but all are welcome. Please display the poster. Our income is limited, and a small contribution would help to cover our meeting costs.

We know that Joel Edwards will have a great deal that will be of interest to say and we hope very much you will come to hear him.

Yours faithfully,

Paul Rochester Keith Salway


Please download here for invitation letter, registration form and poster.

Praying for Peace: then and now…

Some of you may have already come across the resources for the run up to the centenary of the end of the First World War. I have found them to be an uplifting, thought-provoking and profound set of prayers and Bible reflections.

If you haven’t come across them yet, you can find out more HERE.

On 4 August 1918 King George V called for a National Day of Prayer. One hundred days later the war ended. ‘Remembrance 100’ launched on 4 August 2018 with 100 Days of Peace and Hope – prayers, Bible readings, reflections and peace-making activities. It is an excellent free resource which leads us up to the centenary of Armistice Day. Lest we forget…

We are grateful to the men and women who served in WWI. We are conscious that their sacrifice needs to be remembered and shared today. Recently I made a visit to Swansea Museum, where a group of school children were learning about WWI - their teachers asserted that it is vital that they learn about our history - the photo on this post was taken by me at the exhibition - you can see more about this exhibition HERE.


Let us pray.

Loving God, we acknowledge the great sacrifice that the women and men who served in WWI made.

We recognise that many of our nations across the globe are in a state of conflict and war, so we pray for peace and reconciliation for all peoples.

We pray in Jesus’ name, who summons us all to be peacemakers…

Amen.


Revd Sara Iles,
FCG Education Assistant