Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at your Church

Youth outreach can be daunting, but now a new organisation promises to help local churches begin to do it, ‘stress free’. Amplify is the nation’s national Young Evangelists’ Academy for 11-17s. HOPE Together’s Youth Director Dan Randall says, “We would love to serve churches by equipping their young people to reach their generation for Jesus....

Our teenage years are those in which we grow, discovering who we are through our new-found independence. Imagine then, pushing through these years with your independence stolen by a global pandemic. In a survey by Young Minds (2020) it was found that 80% of young people (those aged 13-25) agreed that their mental health had...

Following the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in August, Christian Aid has launched an emergency appeal to help people that have been affected. The nation – which is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake that killed 300,000 people and Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and more recently dealing with Covid and the aftermath of the assassination...

How to make the most of a church meeting Learning lessons from a graveyard Female clergy Two thirds of churches in UK plan to keep streaming online, says survey Five things we’ve learnt about Truth in the pandemic ** Editor:  David Pickup, a solicitor, offers some tips for holding a successful church meeting. How to...

Open and close every meeting with a prayer. It can be a very simple request for a blessing and guidance. You could select a Bible verse from the daily reading to go with it. Apologies for absence. These are just an acknowledgement that someone knew the meeting was on, but was not able to attend....

If you’re looking for a quiet oasis away from the bustle and busyness of everyday life, there’s a place where nature, heritage and the life histories of hundreds of local people are on peaceful display. Take a walk in your local cemetery. The chances are it’s a place where nature abounds, where socially-distant peace can...

In 1992 the Church of England voted to allow the ordination of women.  Since 2014 they have also been able to become Bishops. The percentage of female clergy across all denominations in the UK in 1992, the first year it was counted, was 7% (of which 5% was Church of England). By the year 2000 it...

Almost two thirds of UK churches plan to carry on streaming online, even after restrictions lift. According to a recent survey by the insurance group Ecclesiastical and The Bible Society, 93 per cent of churches have used new ways to keep in touch with their congregation and over two in five churches (43 per cent)...

I’m involved in a project rooted in the Church of England’s St Albans diocese, north of London. We bring together people from a range of backgrounds and faiths to address the question ‘Where is Truth now?’ A vital issue for us from recent months has been ‘How has truth fared during the pandemic? Here are...

Prayer Walk 21 and OIKOS A celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Social Justice Iran set to intensify Christian persecution Five things we’ve learnt about Truth in the pandemic Hardship for those who rent ** Prayer Walk 21 and OIKOS Hope for Every Home, part of HOPE Together, has recently launched OIKOS, a new prayer...

Hope for Every Home, part of HOPE Together, has recently launched OIKOS, a new prayer walking app, as part of Prayer Walk 21. You can find the app free in your app store under OIKOS Outreach. Hope says that: “During Covid and lockdown God has taken His church out of the building, reconnected people with...

A four-day Bank Holiday from 2nd to 5th June 2022 will mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This is being called “an amazing opportunity” to bring our communities together for the celebrations, which end on Pentecost Sunday. HOPE Together, the Church of England, the Methodist Church, Biblica and other key partners are currently planning for the...