Prisoners find freedom through Scripture when jail door slams behind them...

The Bible Society has shared an inspiring and thought provoking article. It tells us about a prison chaplain called Liberté who has encountered life changing transformations for prisoners when they have access to and read the Bible!

Liberté says, “Many inmates languishing in jail have hit rock bottom and feel there is nowhere else to turn.” She says that is when they are likely to open up a Bible and start reading. Read more about this inspiring work here.

Bibles, which are provided by those donating to the Bible Society, are being snapped up by prisoners almost as soon as they arrive in prison libraries! You too can be part of this campaign and give a donation so that Bibles can be offered to those in prison, giving prisoners hope and freedom through Scripture.

Find out more and make a donation HERE.

Why not pray for this prison ministry? You can be guided in prayer or even post a prayer yourself by visiting our prayer tree here.

(photo courtesy of Aaron Burden at Unsplash)

Part-time Communications Assistant vacancy with Churches Together in England

Churches Together in England (CTE) is seeking to appoint a proactive and engaging communications assistant for seven hours per week, on an eight-month fixed term contract. The role offers the opportunity to be involved in creating digital communications content for CTE’s website, Twitter account and e-newsletter, and to play a key role in supporting the delivery of CTE’s new website in 2020. The ideal candidate will be an engaging written communicator with strong organisational skills and a positive, proactive attitude. Experience in creating content for websites and/or social media are strongly desirable. The candidate should be a ‘self-starter’ and confident working remotely, from home.

You can find out more about the role and how to apply by checking HERE.

(photo courtesy of Fabian Irsara at Unsplash)

Love Our Schools.. Pray for our schools

Love Our Schools is an initiative of Pray For Schools. FCG has been an active and passionate supporter of Pray for Schools for many years, as well as being members of their steering group.

We are pleased to share with you: Love Our Schools. This will take place from 2nd to 16th February 2020 and there are lots of ways in which your church and community groups can get involved.

Here is an extract from their website:

“All through the year hundreds of prayer groups meet together to pray because they want to support their local schools. As we look forward to the new hope that springtime brings, we thought it’d be great to encourage Christians up and down the country to join together to ‘Love our schools!’ “

Here’s a prayer from the resources shared in 2019, written by Lisa Jones, Scripture Union’s representative on the Pray for Schools Steering Group.

Thank you Father for our schools. We praise You Lord, for You are full of love, peace and hope. Please help us to be people of good news sharing your love, peace and hope into schools. Please help us to build good relationships with everyone. Please help us to be peace makers when there is tension and stress. Please help us to bring hope when there is despair and dejection. Please help us inspire others to be joyful when there is much to celebrate. Please help us demonstrate your love.

Amen

Why not get the dates in your diary now? Check out the website for the resources for 2020 in late January.

(photo courtesy of Karly Santiago at Unsplash)

Every contact counts

At the risk of sounding like the worst sort of materialist … Christmas, New Year, Epiphany have gone and Lent is almost upon us! The writer of Ecclesiastes says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecc 3:1), but it sometimes feels as if there is never quite enough time for anything! Those of us who work in prison too find that even where one would imagine that there is plenty of time in a prison sentence to make the changes, and explore life’s challenges, that the ticking of the clock is unstoppable, and daily priorities sometimes overtake the need to prioritise addressing the big picture. As a Chaplain I find it important that indeed I make every contact count, as it is often the little things, the word spoken in season, that makes the biggest difference. In keeping an eye on the big picture, the priorities of the daily duties do seem to make more sense.

The Bible Course

Which is why I am particularly encouraged that the Bible Society are putting together a prisons specific edition of “The Bible Course” to help those residing in our prisons to step back and, over eight weeks consider the wide sweep of the Bible. In seeing the big picture presented by the Bible in its various contexts I believe that we are best able to make sense of the day to day, the current decisions, the call for the moment. Prisoners have occasionally asked me over the years to talk them through the Bible and how it all fits together. I have found that The Bible Course resource does this really well in a way that makes sense to those new to faith, well established in their faith, and I have even heard of those without faith finding it helpful in understanding what Christians believe. Therefore it is really exciting to, along with the Catholic and Anglican faith advisors to the Prison Service, be recommending “The Bible Course” as the Lent Course for Prison Chaplains to use. The course is set over 8 weeks (rather than the six of Lent) and it is suggested therefore that prisons may wish to start a couple of weeks early, or run into the weeks covering Acts, the Epistles and Revelation after Easter. The course is being made available to all prisons in England and Wales free of charge, and chaplains who wish to make the most of this should contact Chris Auckland at The Bible Society as soon as possible to register your interest (Chris.Auckland@biblesociety.org.uk ). There will soon be a dedicated page on The Bible Society website for you to access all the resources that you need.

While the writer of Ecclesiastes suggested that there is a time for everything, the apostle Paul in writing to the Colossians encourages us to go one step further and indeed make the most of every opportunity (Col 4:5). One of the great joys and challenges of Prison Chaplaincy is that every day is different. Each day has its own surprises, interesting events and tragedies. As we move past Christmas, New Year and Epiphany towards the year ahead, let us not be overwhelmed that time does not stop, but let us take up the challenge to see the biggest picture and make the most of every opportunity that God gives us to follow his call.

Bob Wilson

Secretary for Free Church Prisons Chaplaincy

Dying Matters 2020 - launch event on 22nd January

Dying Matters is led by Hospice UK and aims to raise awareness of dying, death and bereavement. They are hosting a launch event for the year’s activities on 22nd January in Birmingham. See HERE for further information and how to book your place.

Dying matters… End of Life care, for those who are dying, their relatives/carers and staff, is one of the core activities for healthcare chaplains. FCG hosted the round-table discussion concerning end of life care and they were very well received. Many chaplains will already be involved in Dying Matters weeks and it follows on well from the round tables.

"Talking about dying and death is the last taboo. People who are dying can feel very isolated,” reports Revd Meg Burton, the Secretary for Healthcare Chaplaincy for Free Churches. Meg goes on to say that…” Often, when people do want to talk, their relatives don't, because they find it too hard to accept that their loved one is dying. This Awareness Week is looking at dying from the dying person's perspective and will give ideas for people to help encourage conversations."

The Dying Matters Awareness Week will be from 11th to 17th of May this year and the theme will be: Dying to be Heard

Click HERE for further information and how to book your place on the launch event.

(photo courtesy of James Hose Jr at Unsplash)