Synchronised Blogging on Digimission

Today is designated as a synchronised bloging day on the subject of Digimission but i have seen no evidence of this on any of the blogs i have visited. Digimission is a subject very close to my heart because it was the reason I took up blogging in the first place.

My earliest years in blogging were the happiest because I was in direct touch with so many young people, many of whom had problems that they discussed with me and I answered them from a Christian viewpoint. But my blog then was also a mixture of fun and seriousness, as I posted games and puzzles and trick questions. It really was great fun and I felt that I had a host of young eager blog friends, including a 25 year old who was traumatised after escaping the 9/11 bombings. Then my server Modblog went out of business and i lost my digi-family.

I have not found such a ministry since then, despite my yearnings to find another effective way of digimission. I enjoy blogging still, but it is now much more a sharing of information with like-minded Christian people and there seemms to be no contact with the unchurched people, especially young people, out there in the world. I sem to be fulfilling a purpose for a number of people, but it is certainly not what I felt called to do when i took up blogging. So I shall be very interested to learn what IS being effective NOW in digimission.

I get the feeling that one has to be on facebook and twitter these days to be really in touch with the 'real' world, but i don't feel that these are for me. Twitter is such a shallow means of communication and certainly NOT a channel on whch a young man could pour out his heart, pleading for help. I may be wrong but I shy away from Facebook because it seems to me that I would get such a huge number of followers that I would not have time for all the other things that I do besides blogging. So I have not entered that hiher echelon of blogging - yet.

I was hoping that I would be reading lots of brilliant ideas for digimission today, so I am very disappointed. I hope I haven't disappointed you too much! So all I can do is to refer you to this link:
http://www.eauk.org/slipstream/events/digimission.cfm .

Update - For those who have not yet visited the Slipstream website, I feel that the following details might be helpful and perhaps encourage others to book for this Digimission event.

When: 1st December 2009 10.30am to 3.00pm

Where: St. Paul's Church, Robert Adam Street, London W1

Cost: £12 early bird rate until 16 November
£15 after 16 November, booking deadline 25 November
Booking online only

For other details, visit the Slipstream website.

Pressure to drop court case against Fiji Church leaders

British Church leaders to meet with Foreign Office

At a court hearing today, a lawyer representing nine Fijian Church leaders appealed for the case against them to be dropped.

The leaders of the Fijian Methodist Church, including the Church’s President, General Secretary, Accountant and Trust Secretary, have pleaded not guilty to charges of breaching Public Emergency Regulations. Their solicitor met today with the Director of Public Prosecutions, opposing counsel and magistrate to argue that there is no case to be answered.

Tomorrow afternoon, Revd David Gamble, President of the British Methodist Conference and Dr Richard Vautrey, Vice President of the Conference, will meet with Meg Munn MP and Chris Bryant MP, Foreign and Commonwealth Office Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

David said; “We are very concerned for our sister Church in Fiji. This situation threatens to consume so much of their time, energy and finance. Strict bail conditions have robbed the Church of its leaders and we hope to seek a way forward that will enable the Church to continue to worship and serve its communities.”

The Fijian Church leaders are appealing against their bail conditions, which prohibit them from public speaking, preaching or taking part in church meetings.

The Church represents around a third of Fiji’s population and has challenged Fiji’s military government, which is lead by Commodore Bainimarama. Earlier in the year the Church was forced to cancel its annual Conference and choir festivals.

Hold Fast to Hope for Prisons Week 15-21 November 2009

Churches across Great Britain are being encouraged to hold special services and events to mark Prisons Week from 15-21 November.

The theme for Prisons Week this year is Hold Fast to Hope, encouraging Christians to focus on real stories of hope and redemption from around the world.

Revd David Gamble, President of the Methodist Conference, said; “Prisons week reminds us of the harsh realities of crime and imprisonment, but it also speaks of hope in dark places. This is a time to pray for those in prison and those affected by crime as we seek a better future for all. It's also a time to give thanks for and remember the contribution made by chaplains to the lives of those living and working in prisons.”

The Prisons Week website (www.prisonsweek.org) offers a range of free resources, including prayers, sketches and stories of hope from the UK and further afield.

Revd Alan Ogier, Superintendent Methodist and Free Church Chaplain to the Prison Service, said; “The Christian message is one of real hope for all – not just shallow optimism. This is a solid belief that no one is beyond redemption, that change can and does happen.”

You can listen to an interview with Alan about the reality of prison life online here: http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=opentogod.webradio.


Source: Methodist News Service 09/11/2009

Put a little Christmas in your pocket

The Methodist Church is hoping to spread a little festive cheer with the latest edition to their hugely popular In Your Pocket booklet series.

Christmas in Your Pocket offers readers an inspiring collection of images, Bible verses, prayers and reflections on the Christmas season. It draws together contributions from authors as diverse as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Benjamin Franklin and Bob Hope.

Joy Fisher, Series Editor, said; “This is a pocket-sized reminder that Christmas starts with Christ and finds its home in us. Christmas is for everyone - it’s a time of miracles, hope, expectation, excitement and the most precious gift that anyone can receive.”

Christmas in Your Pocket is ideal for personal or group reflection, but churches are also encouraged to share the Christmas spirit with their communities by giving the booklets away.

The whole range of In Your Pocket booklets (also including Prayer in Your Pocket and Hope in Your Pocket), are available from Methodist Publishing at £5 for 50 copies. They can be purchased online here: http://tinyurl.com/yen2zce/.


Source: Methodist News Service 06/11/2009

Date and venue announced for Methodist Conference 2011

In 2011, the Methodist Conference will be heading northwest to Southport, from 30 June to 7 July.

The Methodist Conference is the governing body of the Methodist Church and meets annually in June or July. Next year’s Conference will be held in Portsmouth, from 24 June to 1 July, at the Portsmouth Guildhall.

Six months of searching for a suitable venue to bring the event back to the north of England for 2011 have concluded with the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre.

“This is a newly refurbished venue, well suited to the needs of today’s Methodist Conference,” said Ben Bradley, Connexional Events Coordinator. “I’m excited by what Southport has to offer. Not only does it boast all the best features of a Victorian resort town, but it has all the amenities the modern conference goer would expect.”

The opening ceremony of the Conference and Conference worship are due to be held in the Southport Theatre Auditorium with a capacity for seating over 1,600 people. Conference business sessions will take place in the Art Deco Floral Hall in the adjoining convention centre.

Source; Methodist News Service 05/11/2009

New Youth Assembly comes to Durham

More young people’s voices will be heard in oversubscribed event.

This year more young Methodists than ever will be making their voices heard through an interactive-styled assembly that replaces Youth Conference.

The new process has been designed to maximise the impact of young people’s influence on the Methodist Church in Britain and enable a greater number of 11 to 23-year-olds to have their say. For the first time in 14 years, the event is oversubscribed with around 200 young people set to take part.

The Youth Assembly will also elect its Youth President; a full t ime, salaried role open to 18 to 23-year-olds.

Youth Conference was modelled on the style of the annual Methodist Conference, but the new Youth Assembly will involve sessions facilitated by young Methodists who have been trained with the skills to help groups run their own debates. Youth violence, vocation, climate change and self-esteem are among the issues expected to be discussed during the weekend conference from November 13 to 15 at Ushaw College Conference Centre in Durham. Conversations will be streamed via webcams around the venue and outcomes from the debates will be displayed on plasma screens and graffiti boards as they happen.

Fiona Holmes, 20, from Newcastle, has been part of the planning team right from the start. “The Youth Assembly is ground-breaking, something totally new to the Church, something that will let young people feel they are a part of the Church,” said Fiona, a British Gas engineer. “This will show the Church who young people are and what we can do. We are not the Church of the future; we are the Church of today.”

There will be a “drop-in zone” on Saturday 14 November where a team of consultants from the Connexion will be on hand to help answer any questions which come out of the young people’s discussions. Consultants in areas of work from Faith and Order through to Equalities and Diversity will be asked to share their knowledge in the style of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire’s Phone-A-Friend. Revd David Gamble, President of Methodist Conference, and Vice-President Dr Richard Vautrey will be among the team members who have all been given guidelines by the young people about how to carry out their consultative roles on the day.

Jude Levermore, Participation Development Officer, said: “I am really excited at the way young people have been involved in the planning of this event, so that the format has completely changed. I am confident it will have more of an impact on the wider Church because of their input. I am very proud of every thing that the planning group has achieved.

“The Youth Assembly will enable young people from all different backgrounds and abilities to engage – not just those who are articulate and confident about speaking to a roomful of people.”

Newcastle Upon Tyne District is hosting the event and not-for-profit organisation - Dynamix - has helped enable the young people’s democratic vision to come to life.


Source: Methodist News Service 05/11/2009

Christmas is coming!

There are 52 days to Christmas - with all that that means for us as Christians as well as all the preparations for a big family get-together.

Ecumenically, we usually use one of the shop windows in the shopping precinct for a large Nativity scene. This year there seem to be a number of difficulties in the way. The window in question has been papered over with brown paper, which will need to be removed (and replaced after Christmas)- involving quite a lot of work! It so happens that the hard-working secretary will be away for several weeks at a crucial time and another stalwart is recovering from an operation, though he himself is making light of whether he will be fit to work on the project. It will be a great shame if we have to break with tradition are unable to mount the usual Nativity scene, so your prayers will be appreciated.

Now for the family get-together! I wonder if you have a similar situation in your family? Ours was a big family to start with, but it keeps on growing and growing!
Not only are all my grandchildren finding soulmates (? future spouses) who want to be included, but more great-grandchildren are being born. Well, at my age, in this recession, I am just about making ends meet each week, so what can I possibly do about buying presnts for each and every one of them?

My daughter-in-law, when I made a quick trip up to Derbyshire this week to meet my new-born great-grandson, came up with a suggestion that I think is worth sharing in case it will help your family too. The idea is that all the names are put into a hat and each member of the family draws one out and buys a present for the person whose name (s)he has drawn. Thus buying only one present - but the children are excepted. Before making the draw, a reasonable price is agreed that each present should cost.

This way, every adult receives a good present and no-one knows who has bought which present for whom - and, best of all, no-one has run themselves into debt by trying to buy more presents than they can afford! That has taken a great weight off my mind and it leaves me to enjoy Christmas as it should be enjoyed, with everybody happy and blessed.

But my immediate task is to send out advertisements of all our Christmas services and other events to the three local newspapers and local radio.


Update: Alas! A message has now been received from the owners of the premises in the shopping precinct that are normally used for the Nativity scene to explain that a change of use behind the window covered in brown paper makes it quite impossible for this window to be used by the churches this year.