Bible Study Courses

I was a bit disappointed that no-one commented on my report that our Circuit Disciple group had completed our study of the Disciple 4 course, especially as I believe we are probably the first group in the UK to have done so. This is probably because I mentioned it in my post on our Circuit Farewell Service. It could also be because of the current difficulties being experienced by the Methodist Publishing House that necessitates all study materials having to be ordered direct from Cokesbury in America via the Disciple website http://www.cokesbury.com/disciple.

However, I want to draw attention to the tremendous benefits that come from the study of the Disciple Courses - in discipline, in fellowship and, most of all, in personal transformation as we all walk closer with Jesus. It seems very daunting at first to commit to spending 34 weeks in in-depth Bible study (for the Disciple 1 course means covering most of the Bible in nine months), but all who make this commitment speak enthusiastically of the experience. Personally, I found the Disciple 2 course to have the deepest, most lasting effect on my Christian journey, though each course added to the others.

So I would urge you to seriously consider committing yourselves to a Disciple course this year. When a number of members in the same church commit themselves in this way, the effect on the church is quite extraordinary.

But if you really and truly feel that such a long commitment is not for you, please consider whether your house group could follow one of the six short Disciple courses that are now available, covering 8, 10 or 11 weeks. The titles of these are -

Invitation to Psalms
Invitation to John
Invitation to the New Testament
Invitation to the Old Testament
Invitation to Genesis
Invitation to Romans

Also I was surprised to find that after Disciple 4, they list two further 30-week courses -

Jesus in the Gospels and

Christian Believer

I am excited to read about 'Christian Believer' on the Disciple website because it looks to me as though this study could revitalise a church if enough people could be signed up to discover what it is we Christians really believe!

If you are alone in wanting to take a Disciple course, I have good news for you! I understand that, just as blogging and Facebook can form groups of friends, it is now posible to become part of an on-line Disciple group! So do make enquiries about this, if you think this is the way in for you.

Finally, I heard a whisper that our Connexional Team are about to resurrect the resourcing of Disciple courses in the UK. I do hope and pray that this is more than a rumour because the Disciple courses are such a powerful tool to enable earnest, committed Christians to grow. Over to you!

Methodist Church Engages Young People

Methodist Church rises to the government’s challenge of engaging young people

The first UK Christian denomination to employ young people in a new youth strategy has pushed the boundaries of youth participation.

Eight 17 to 23-year-olds have begun part-time jobs on the Church’s Connexional Team in order to lay the foundations for the future employment of 32 District Youth Enablers spanning the Church’s 32 districts from September this year.

This is the first stage in a £4 million, five year Youth Participation Strategy that will see at least 32 young people between the ages of 16 and 23 employed on 12 month contracts for 15 hours per week each year for four years.

The strategy is a ground-breaking initiative designed to engage young people in the life of the Church. One of the many activities District Youth Enablers will be involved in is looking at ways knife and gun crime can be tackled by young people. They will have the opportunity to take up placements associated with Church projects and the wider community, such as youth offending institutes.

Mike Seaton, Director of Children and Youth, said: “The strategy is about helping the Church engage with a diverse group of young people, to learn what issues are pertinent to them and then to respond and develop accordingly. It has implications for the mission and ministry of the whole Methodist Church and could influence the direction the Church takes.”

The strategy puts Methodism at the Christian forefront of youth participation work alongside other secular agencies such as the National Youth Agency. It also addresses some of the recommendations set out in The Good Childhood Inquiry, the UK’s first independent national inquiry into childhood, published this month.

Meg Prowting, Children and Youth Development Officer, said: “Young people have a great deal to offer and can stimulate adults and organisations to think and work differently. The Youth Participation Strategy is about investing in the development and involvement of young people so that they are engaged in the life of the Church at every level.”

Some of the new interim District Youth Enablers found out about the vacancies through the UK Methodist Facebook group and others through the Methodist Youth Conference.

Neil Bolus,17, from Coventry, said: “I came across the post completely by chance on Facebook and so I emailed the Youth President to find out more about it. I am looking forward to letting other people know what is out there in the Church and how they can get more involved.”

The eight employees’ contracts will run until August when interviews to fill the year-long, part-time posts will be well under way. The posts aren’t just open to young Methodists, but to any young person who has an interest.

Lydia Barlow, a 21-year-old Theology student at York St John University, said: “I have a passion for bringing new things to the Methodist Church through my local preaching and through the various activities I am involved in. “My aim in this job is to try and figure out ways in which youth are already working and find out where the gaps are and ways in which they can be filled.”


Source: Methodist News Agency 27/02/2009

Lost Followers!

Grannie Annie recently reported that she had lost one of her followers and was anxious to contact whoever that follower was. To lose one follower is upsetting, but this morning I find that I have suddenly lost five followers in one day! i hope I am not being boycotted for some strange reason? Or has my blog become too boring? Whatever the reason, it is disappointing. Of course i am aware that lots of bloggers are spending more time on Facebook these days and so some of my followers may have found that they have had to cut down on the number of blogs that they follow. Whatever the reason, I am grateful for those who are still with me and I will try to post some interesting blogs in the future - when time allows.

Cyberspace Seniors, enjoying the benefits of being online

Quite out of the blue, I recently received an email asking me if I would be prepared to answer a few questions about my blogging for an article being written for the United Methodist Recorder, which I imagine to be the American equivalent of our Methodist Recorder. I was also asked if I had a photograph for the article.

Today I have had a message saying "The story is now posted on the Reporter's website: http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=4375 " Not only do I find myself to be quite prominent in the article, which even begins with my name, but my photo is embarrassingly large, too. It is not as if my blog is as intresting as it was in its Modblog days when its comments were filled with the vibrance of youth, with its laughter and tears. I am still missing all those young bloggers who took me to their hearts and turned my blogging into a real ministry. It was a real privilege to be a part of their hopes and dreams and fears - something that I shall treasure always.

With my current blogging, I have made many (mainly Methodist) friends and even met some of them at a bloggers' day or conference, but there is something lacking! We are predominantly people of similar interests and faith and there are few visitors from out there in Cyberspace who have never even heard of Jesus and His church! I want to be in touch with the real cyberspace again where there are people like the 26 year old that a minister doing our disciple course with us last night told us came to her house to do some electrical work and he was completely ignorant of anything to do with the church. He had no idea of what a minister is or what goes on in church. So, I keep asking myself, why don't I switch to Facebook or Beebo? I wish I could define my aversion to these very popular social networks, but it is something intangible. Is it because they seem too public? or too, sort of, commercialised? I don't know yet. I do know that Facebook would take up too much of my time, however interesting and however involved I might get.

I find that I need to discipline myself in my use of time, and especially in blogging and using the Internet, and prioritise in order to achieve all that I feel called or am asked to do. Going online can eat up your time quicker than anything else I know! (For that reason, I recommend it to those who are lonely or live alone, especially in these dark winter evenings.) I keep promising myself to smarten up my blog - with photos, etc, - but so far I have not been able to devote enough time to my blogging. That's interesting! Having written that, I am conscious that if I had still had my young bloggers visiting, I would have MADE the time to do what was necessary to keep their interest! H'mmm.