The Mailing 2008/04

Bringing together every type of Christian denomination, organisation and movement, the year long initiative plays on all their strengths to see lives transformed and bring lasting change. It has the potential to be a catalyst, for much more than a year, for lasting word and deed evangelism. As we move into the Pentecost season we remember when the Holy Spirit first came on the members of the early church. They spilled out of the room where they had been meeting and praying together, their actions were seen by the thousands gathered in Jerusalem, ultimately seeing 3,000 people saved. This is a great reminder to us to let our activities break out of our church buildings and to get onto the streets where we live.

One of the challenges for HOPE 08 is to get Christians all over the country joining together to give 1,000,000 hours of kindness in the form of practical help to their communities. The long Bank Holiday weekend in May (the weekend before Pentecost) provides us with a great opportunity to serve the spiritual, physical and social needs of those around us and to get really practical! Each hour we give to serve others is an hour where we are worshipping God by following the example Jesus set for us in being the gospel as well as talking about it.

We want to hear about your events over the May bank holiday weekend - we want to receive photographs of your hours of kindness. Please email your photos to admin@congregational.org.uk as soon as possible following the event. The aim is to produce a montage presentation for the May Assembly on May 10th.

Come on down!

The 177th Congregational Assembly takes place on May 10th at the Methodist Central Hall Plymouth.
The South West Area Association issues a warm invitation, they remind us we are all needed as the day will be about the Lord’s business.
New style Report and Recommendations are now with churches, further copies available upon request.
Make it a weekend and visit one of the Federation’s nearby churches on the Sunday morning for further fellowship.

CWM opportunity to participate in Global consultation

A Community of Women and Men in Mission global workshop is to be hosted by the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan from 6-11 October 2008.
The Federation is being invited to submit names for consideration to CWM for this gathering.

The Council for World Mission (CWM) is a worldwide community of Christian churches. It is a partnership based on equality and mutual respect for one another’s gifts in God’s mission. Women have played a significant role in the leadership of CWM. Through the sharing of experiences between the churches there was a growing awareness of the need to strengthen the partnership of women and men in CWM and its member churches. This was driven by the desire to enhance the mission we share, in God’s name, by enabling all people, men or women.
The Community of Women and Men in Mission (CWMM) was formed by the Council for World Mission in 1992 with the following aims:

• Promote equal partnership between men and women.
• Put an end to violence against women.
• Increase economic empowerment for women
• Assure equal access to education and health.

To this end Team Visits were organised to member churches of which the Federation was involved in 2004 – you may have well been involved in some way.
This global gathering will now seek to pick up on the common themes and seek to review the present day challenges.
Are you actively involved in addressing issues of gender justice, willing to undertake necessary preliminary research and preparation, willing to report back within the structures of CF
There will be three representatives chosen from the European Region.
Would you like to apply for this workshop – if so contact Michael Heaney General Secretary at the Federation offices for further information and an application form.

Onè Respé  - Honour Respect

Onè Respé ( a Christian Aid partner since 1994) was founded to work in areas where Dominicans, Dominico-Haitians and Haitian migrants shared a common space and similar living conditions. It is based in Santiago, the Dominican Republic’s second city; it is a faith-inspired organisation. 
The Federation will raise £10,000 each year for a period of three years, and any shortfall in donations will be made up from central funds. The main focuses of the work of Onè Respé are: combating racism  - combating discrimination - education - HIV awareness-raising The hope is that through this partnership with Christian Aid our churches will be encouraged and enabled to work for justice in this community in the Dominican Republic, and therefore to bring about change in the lives of deprived people.

As part of the world-wide Christian Church we are always challenged to play a part in bringing our vision of a fairer world to those in need, and to work to turn that vision into a reality.
Look out for more information coming soon as to how you can get involved.

News round up

CWM Partners - Terry Jin of the Presbyterian Church of Korea is beginning a new term of missionary partnership serving two churches at Bilston and Dudley in the West Midlands. Terry has previously been ministering alongside Neil Chappell at Greenacres at Oldham. All concerned are grateful to CWM for enabling this further term of service. Norman Francis of the United Church of Jamaica and Cayman Islands comes to the end of his term of service at Witney. He will be undertaking a year of studies in Edinburgh before returning home.

Churches Main Committee - This valued body serving the churches of the UK through advice concerning legal, government and charity matters has now fully reformed as the Churches’ Legislation Advisory Service. The Federation maintains its membership and will continue to post their full bulletins on the CF Website and provide summary guidance notes to churches. The CLAS has a new website which provides further information and can be found by following the link opposite. We understand it is still work in progress, but will over the coming weeks be up to full speed.