Welcome to the Diocese of Sheffield Weekly eBulletin. Please send your copy for the next edition to Sheffield@media33.co.uk. Contributions should be no more than 100 words, including a web link for readers to follow for more information. Please use copy from the Weekly eBulletin for your church magazine or weekly newsletter.
Wednesday 28 October Simon and Jude, Apostles
Thursday 29 October James Hannington, bishop and martyr (1885)
Saturday 31 October Martin Luther, reformer (1546)
Sunday 1 November All Saints’ Day
Monday 2 November All Souls’ Day
In a week when we celebrate All Saints and All Souls – we offer thanks for all those who have served the Diocese in previous times.
News from General Office: Diocesan Directory 2009/10
The final proof has now gone to the printers and we hope to have it ready for distribution early November. Watch this space for further information. To assist us in keeping our information on the Database, in the Directory and on the website as accurate as possible, it is essential that parishes and individuals let us know of any change of address, email or telephone number as soon as possible. Any one of the General Office team (Christine, Carole or Jean) will be happy to receive this information. 01709 309117 reception@sheffield.anglican.org
Most PCCs are ‘excepted’ charities under traditional charity law. However, all PCCs with an income of £100,000 or over must now register with the Charity Commission, following changes brought about in the Charities Act 2006.
Most of those PCCs needing to register as a result of their 2007 income have now done so. They have generally found the process reasonably straightforward but they have had to follow guidelines agreed with the Charity Commission specifically for churches.
Some PCCs will not have had an income of £100,000 or more in 2007 but have either crossed this threshold since then or, with an income over £90,000, are about to do so.
If you have exceptional income that has taken you over this figure, perhaps because of a legacy or a building project, there are ways that you can seek dispensation from registration if your income is normally well below the threshold.
If any of this applies to you, please contact Nick Hutton who will tell you what is involved in your particular case and help you through the process. It is important that you do not try to register without talking to him first.
nick.hutton@sheffield.anglican.org 01709 309151 (direct) or 07764 188847 (mobile).
Assist, supporting destitute asylum seekers in Sheffield and Rotherham, invites you to its "Big Sing" on Saturday 31 October 2009. The event will feature songs from the Iona Community, and will be led by Philip Jakob, the Master of Music at St Marie's Cathedral and a member of the Community. The evening is open to all and families are welcome. No singing ability is required, just willingness to join in. The event is free, but donations can be made to Assist.
Venue: CURC, Norfolk Street, Sheffield. Time: 7-8.30
For more details, contact Assist (www.assistsheffield.org.uk): 0114 275 4960/07791 450620, assist_efa@hotmail.co.uk.
Led by Gareth Wroe and Joe Houghton
St Mary’s Bramall Lane on Saturday 7 November 9 – 1.00
If you are involved in youth work and want some fresh ideas, thinking of starting a youth group and want some guidance, or wondering how to reach young people in the parish, then come and be part of this action-packed practical morning. Cost £7 per parish. To book please contact Trish Stafford 01709 309147 trish.stafford@sheffield.anglican.org
Workshop for Church Treasurers
19 November - 13.30 to 16.30 Whirlow Grange Conference Centre, Ecclesall Road, Sheffield. 23 November – 18.30 to 21.00 Church House, 95-99 Effingham Street,
Rotherham S65 1BL. 24 November – 13.30pm to 16.30pm St Peter’s Community Hall, Warmsworth Road, Doncaster DN4 0TW Please respond by Friday 13 November 2009.
kathryn.dixon@sheffield.anglican.org
Christian Ministries come in all shapes and sizes, but one sadly neglected area is Prison Ministry. Do you have a calling to visit those in our prisons? “I was in prison and you came to visit me…” (Matt 25 v 38). Perhaps we at Prison Fellowship can help you explore the possibility of Prison Ministry. As with all of PF Volunteer ministries, we offer full training and support to enable you to fulfil your calling. Perhaps you would get involved in our Angel Tree or Sycamore Tree programme or join a local prayer group. Whichever it is, a very warm welcome awaits you.
www.pfew.org 01621 843232
Foundations of Faith is the Discipleship Development course in Sheffield Diocese. During 2010 we will be piloting the next four units: Church & Ministry, Mission & Evangelism, Christian Belief, and Spirituality & Vocation, over eight midweek evenings in January-March 2010 in Sheffield; then again in April-July 2010 in Doncaster, and September-November 2010 in Rotherham.
The course has no minimum academic entry requirement.
01709 309147 trish.stafford@sheffield.anglican.org
An experiential course to explore and deepen relationship with God, grow in faith and develop listening to God, self and others. This Course will be held from January to June 2010 on alternate Wednesdays at Central URC Sheffield. There will also be a weekend retreat. Closing date for applications is November 16, and there will be a taster evening at Church House, Rotherham on Wednesday 4 November from 19.30 to 21.00. Whirlow Grange Spirituality Centre www.soulspark.org.uk spiritualitycentre@whirlowgrange.co.uk 0114 235 3704. To attend the taster evening, please contact Angie Lauener by Tuesday 3 November; a.m.lauener@shu.ac.uk 0114 236 2188 or 07949 403 992
We ask you to pray this week (22-28 October) for people from the following occupations; Buyers, brokers and sales representatives.
The Occupational Prayer Cycle, which runs week by week, covers nearly all occupations over the course of the year. It is produced by South Yorkshire Workplace Chaplaincy, and more information can be found on their website at http://www.sywc.org.uk/opc/.
Sales representatives in some of the companies visited by South Yorkshire Workplace Chaplaincy are among the most highly stressed employees. Buyers' and brokers' decisions have a profound effect on many lives.
This week, Revd Canon John Thomson reviews “Just Walk with Me: A True Story of Inner-City Youth Work” by Jude Simpson & e:merge. (See appendix for the review in full)
Anticipating the Coming King…daily readings for Advent and Christmas is out now! The book now includes a weekly resource for group reflection by popular demand.
All proceeds from sale of the books go towards student bursaries and the College development fund. Price £4.99 per copy (post free). Discount for bulk orders. To reserve your copy now contact us: Tel: 0115 925 1114 email: college@stjohns-nottm.ac.uk www.stjohns-nottm.ac.uk (quote Advent Book)
“An educated public may be an argumentative and even unstable one, but it is more in tune with the calling and capacity of human beings than a passive population always at risk of being manipulated and enslaved. Christians continue to be committed to education, therefore, as a matter of doing justice to humanity, seeking its liberation and self-awareness.”
– Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
Don’t forget to keep us up to date with what is happening:
All contributions to the Weekly eBulletin should be sent to sheffield@media33.co.uk by not later than 5pm each Monday
Sarah & Rob
Communications Office
Just occasionally a book really hits me between the eyes and Just Walk with Me is one of those books. It is a very straightforward book marrying a diary narrative by a youth worker, Niki with reflective commentary on the Bradford 4 youth project, e:merge by Yan, the project’s director. Yan described Niki when she arrived as ‘a very Christian Christian. A stereotypical evangelical full of ‘Ooh, Jesus is good, I’m so happy, the world is such a great place’’ Yan confesses that he too shared this approach but the experience of working in one of the most deprived communities in England, Bradford 4 as it is called, had made him revise many of his uncritically held assumptions about God, Christ, grace, mission and evangelism. Niki’s story is also his and the team’s story and it represents a raw and refreshing recognition that ways of mission are not portable but are discovered in the context by those prepared to inhabit that context alongside those they are called to serve. This is mission for the long term, a stripping down of naïve faith and its replacement with mature discipleship. It reminds us that mission takes time, relationships are key, trust is always fragile in broken communities and that the complexity of damage experienced by many in ‘deprived communities’ subverts ‘quick fix’ spiritualities. Yet along with the stripping there is the stretching as the youth project workers learn a new way of walking with others that enables them to talk about faith, of staying with others to embody the commitment of Christ and of being vulnerable and learning from those they serve. When much talk about mission emerges from relatively powerful and secure stables, this sort of story and its profound theological reflection on the practice of mission in challenging contexts is both refreshing and disturbing. Though rooted in the evangelical-charismatic stable and committed to much that this tradition has given them, their insights are pertinent to the whole Christian Community for all mission thinking. Borrow this copy from the Resources Centre.
Alternative to Halloween - fun and treats for kids under 12years
Tickets £1.50 per family. Prior bookings only.
Sat 31 Oct 16:30 – 18.00
Church Hall, Park Lane, Thrybergh, Rotherham S65 4BN
janet.french@sheffield.anglican.org 01709 850336
Sunday 1 November at 9.15. At 11.00 there will be services. The Preacher will be +Steven. The event concludes with a concert by Hallam Sinfonia. 1 Nov - 7 Nov
http://www.ecclesall.parishchurch.org.uk/page.php?page=221
As usual we remember those who are loved but seen no longer at our memorial services. Names of those who have died during the year are read and a candle lit in their memory.
31 October 18.00 St Mary's Kirk Bramwith
1st Nov 9.30 St Cuthbert's
1st Nov 11.00 Holy Trinity Sykehouse
Sunday 1 November 3.30pm All Souls Memorial Service:
We remember those who have recently died and celebrate new life in Christ.
Sun 8 Nov 17.00
Operation Christmas Child
http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/pages/home
Bring a gift or a shoebox full
Thrybergh St Peter's Whinney Hill, Oldgate Lane Thrybergh Rotherham S65 4JL
On January 8 2010 author Michele Guinness is to give a talk in St Mary’s Church, Wombwell at 19.00. She will speak about her own story and about her new book Autumn Leave.
Tickets are £5 including refreshments and will be on sale from:
Anne Eastwood, 26 Colewell Close, Wombwell, Barnsley S73 8JL
01226 270697 biganne1@btopenworld.com