Pray with us for the AGM of The Welcome Directory

Meetings have changed quite a bit in recent weeks, but steering groups and management committees are still maintaining contact with each other when they can, albeit remotely and online. The AGM for The Welcome Directory is taking place on 29th April. In these unprecedented times, the ways organisations can deliver their services and support their clients are also changing, so we hope and pray that the AGM can discuss and plan a positive way forward together.

Please join with us as we pray for all the

partners of The Welcome Directory,

the AGM participants,

for those they seek to serve, on release from prison,

and for the faith groups who offer a place of welcome.

You can sign up for their newsletter and find out more about registering your faith community to support prisoners on release HERE.

The Welcome Directory: ‘Helping faith communities welcome people who are leaving prison.’

(photo courtesy of Karly Santiago at Unsplash)

A letter of support and encouragement for our prison chaplains... and us all

A letter to update and encourage prison chaplains from Revd Bob Wilson,

Secretary for Prison Chaplaincy and Free Churches Faith Adviser

Revd Bob writes: “You will all have heard by now that communal worship, meditation and study in prisons are to be cancelled with immediate effect.  I can assure you that the decision was made very carefully and is, as far as I know an unprecedented one. It was made with the purpose of safety and care and is in line with what is happening in the community… …The situation does I think present us with what will be a ‘new normal’ for some time and our wisdom as to how we continue to be church and to serve one another safely and with confidence will truly be a challenge to us in the days to come. But we do continue to rely on our Lord who is the source and provider of our strength.”

The full letter was sent to Free Church prison chaplains in late March. Even if you are not directly involved in prison chaplaincy, I think the letter is a great encouragement for us all in how we can continue to serve God and serve the most vulnerable in these challenging and unprecedented times. I am grateful to Revd Bob for writing and sharing the letter with us.

Blessings to you all, and God’s strength be with you.

Sara Iles, FCG Media Support Officer

(photo courtesy of Jeremy Yap at Unsplash)

'Coffee and cake' meet up for school and college chaplains...

The pattern of meetings and our ability to get together in person has changed much over the last few weeks. - so we are pleased to share that the Centre for Chaplaincy in Education will be hosting a ‘Coffee and Cake’ chaplains’ chat each Friday at 4pm.

Friday Coffee 'n' Cake (bring your own!) for Chaplains in Schools and Colleges 20th April 2020

From this Friday (24th April) and every Friday for the foreseeable future, Maggie Everett, the Centre’s Lead Development Officer, will be hosting a ‘coffee and cake’ hour on Zoom, for all chaplains in schools and colleges. Come and join in with others, (sorry you will need to bring your own coffee and cake!) and have a chat about what’s happening with you, your community/ies and the wider world. Invitation:

Topic: Coffee and Cake

Time: Apr 24, 2020 04:00 PM

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 829 0639 4114

Password: 780537

Sarah Lane Cawte, our Free Church Education Officer, has been working closely with this group and other partners over recent months and there are some exciting developments in the field of chaplaincy in education which you can read about here.

(photo courtesy of Jess Bailey at Unsplash)

Continuing to serve our member churches and groups...

In these strange and turbulent times, we all know it has been difficult; we are facing new challenges every day, yet making the most of new and unexpected opportunities. Like so many organisations and church groups, Free Churches Group has been seeking new ways to stay connected and to support each other; finding different ways to stay in touch and keep the vital work we all do to keep on going.

Since the beginning of the year, because of the geographical distances between our team members, we had set up a Zoom platform to meet up on line every Tuesday morning. These have become even more important in recent weeks, as travel and face to face meetings have not been possible. The Free Churches Group team continue to meet online, to pray together, to review our work in prisons and healthcare chaplaincy and education. We will continue to find ways we can serve our member churches in these challenging times.

Our team members have been busy, working from home and meeting up with colleagues and our wider partners (remotely); recent meetings have been on the following topics:

• Prisons Week 11-17 October 2020 (further details available soon)

• National Ecumenical Officers

• Department for Education: Schools with a Religious Character / Faith Schools

• National Healthcare Chaplaincy Directory

• Pray for Schools

and many more….

Please pray for our team, as we continue to pray for your churches and networks.

May our work together continue to be a blessing to those we seek to serve, in God’s name.

If you have not already done so, you can subscribe to our newsletter, which is published monthly by completing your details at the bottom of this website link.

(cover photo courtesy of Taisiia Shestopal at Unsplash) (screen shot photo of one of our recent meetings below)

Free Church Education paper just published - Religion on Campus...

Since 2014, the Free Church Education Committee has had a working group dealing specifically with Higher Education. There are a wide variety of reports and papers for your further reference as well as pamphlets which churches and students can download to share with their communities. You can check these out HERE.

Over the last few months, the Free Church Education Committee and

the HE Working Group have been researching and finalising

a paper about Religion on Campus.

Universities shape the lives of millions of people in the UK. Nearly half of all our young people attend universities, and their impact reaches into the wider community. Religion is also a life-changing force in today’s world. More than 80% of the world’s population identify with one religion or another. Understanding how universities and religion relate is therefore vitally important. This paper, from the Free Church Education Committee’s Higher Education Working Group, explores the issues about the role of religion in university life, drawing on Free Church principles and recognising contemporary realities. It is intended to help those working in this area to think through issues relating to faith on campus, and to inform their approaches and priorities.

You can find out more about the background the the FCG’s work in this arena here.

(photo courtesy of Green Chameleon at Unsplash)