Hope ~ Launch, Prayers and Christmass Carols!

HOPE launch

HOPE launches in October with an all night prayer event for 40,000 people and a reception hosted by the Archbishop of Canterbury for the leaders of Britain’s churches and ministries.

You are invited to join us at the Excel Centre in London on Friday 18 October for the Festival of Life from 8pm hosted by the Redeemed Christian Church of God. This prayer gathering brings together 40,000 Christians every six months to pray for our country. If you are able to attend this special HOPE launch night, please contact the HOPE office: office@hopetogether.org.uk or phone 01788 542782.

A week later, the Archbishop of Canterbury is hosting a reception at Lambeth Palace for 100 key leaders on 24 October, leading the nation as we ask God to transform our nation. Could your church or churches in your area meet during the week 18-24 October to pray with us for our villages, towns and cities in 2014?
 

‘HOPE Together’ are distributing hundreds of thousands of their Mission Prayer Focus Leaflets, which have a Scripture and a prayer point for each day between mid-October and the beginning of January 2014.  The prayers, contributed by a dozen HOPE partners, are also available as a Word document for you to add to local prayer calendars and parish magazine prayer diaries. Download the HOPE’s Mission Prayer Focus from the HOPE website prayer pages: http://bit.ly/14VHQyg.

They’re looking to distribute these as widely as possible to get people across the country praying together about all the mission opportunities 2014 will hold.

                                                                Season of prayer

DAILY PRAYER DIARY

18^th Oct 2013 – 31^st Jan 2014

                                                                                                      

If you think you could facilitate this by receiving a delivery of these leaflets from HOPE and distributing them to your churches, please get in contact with Catherine Butcher (e: cath.butcher@hopetogether.org.uk tel: 01788 542782)

Rhythm of Mission
Harvest is the next season in HOPE’s rhythm of mission. For rural churches this is a key season to bring the community together to celebrate God’s provision. Urban churches are taking the opportunity to celebrate work. Please send us news and photos of what you do this year so we have examples to show the media in 2014.
 
Bags of HOPE
How about doing something positive this Halloween and offer HOPE to those who come trick-or-treating? UCB in partnership with HOPE, One Hope and the 4points, have put together an all-new Bag of HOPE free for this Halloween. To view the Bag of HOPE and place your order (first come first served) go to www.ucb.co.uk/bagofhope and look at the Vimeo add which is on UCB TV at http://vimeo.com/channels/ucbmedia/71503257

Remembrance

Next year the whole country will mark the centenary of the start of World War 1. Your local council and MP might have contacted you already as churches play a key role in 2014s Remembrance events. HOPE is working with a range of denominations, military chaplaincies and ministries to produce resources and provide ideas for you to use to help people who pause to reflect, to consider Jesus’ Greater Love. The resources include a give-away Gospel which replicates one given to WW1 troops, and Silent Night resources to link to the Christmas truce in the trenches.

Sports Stadium carol events

Dozens of sports clubs are working with Sports Chaplaincy UK to plan community carol events. We are hoping that 50 stadiums will host a community carol event this Christmas. Everything you need to plan an event is available to download from the HOPE website. Contact your local sports stadium to ask if churches can work in partnership with the club to host an event.
 

Local church publicity materials
We can provide you with ready-made articles for your church magazine, an A5 HOPE cover for your January 2014 parish or church magazine and a letter template to introduce HOPE to civic leaders. These can be downloaded from the Resources section of the website.

Please keep us posted on your plans to build faith and share hope in 2014...

 

Building Hope - Sharing Faith

Roy Crowne, HOPE’s Executive Director writes…

‘How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! It’s like costly anointing oil…’ (Psalm 133, The Message). It is thrilling to find Christians all over the country working together in mission as we prepare for 2014. Momentum is building as denominations and groups, who’ve caught the vision, are planning word and action mission.

In this last month we’ve confirmed two key events which will begin the countdown to 2014.

On 18 October we will join the 40,000 gathering for the RCCG churches’ Festival of Life at London’s Excel Stadium to launch 12 weeks of prayer in preparation for HOPE 2014.

On 24 October, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will host the HOPE church leaders’ forum at Lambeth Palace.

But HOPE isn’t just about the national initiatives. The impact will be in villages, towns and cities as individuals, churches and communities become followers of Jesus. Use HOPE – The Heartbeat of Mission to plan at least one thing in mission next year – and let us know your plans so we can put you on the map.

Christmass carols in the Amex Stadium Brighton?

Sports stadiums are one of the few places where people sing together outside churches.  Matt Baker, who leads Sports Chaplaincy UK which is partnering with HOPE to back the events, said Christmas carol services are a great way to bring fans, churches and whole communities together. Pilot events have been held for the past two years. This year more than 50 sports stadiums are expected to host a HOPE Stadium Carols event. Andy Rimmer’s tried-and-tested action plan is on the HOPE website here to make it easy for you to plan Stadium Carols for your community.

Churches at the heart of the WW1 centenary plans

‘Greater Love’ is the theme of HOPE’s resources to help churches and communities to mark the centenary of the start of World War 1. We are working with Lifewords, youth and schools ministries and denominational ministry teams to provide a commemorative give-away, which will help start conversations about Jesus’ love and sacrifice, plus other resources and ideas to help churches point communities to Jesus when they gather in remembrance.

Mission Academies

The Diocesan YES team are seeking to set up Academies in the Chichester Diocese…check out http://www.yesonthenet.org.uk/

FUTURE PLANS…

A small group are meeting in mid-July to discuss ideas and plans. Do let us know if you have anything lined up, any good ideas and if you would like to get involved.

Preparing to be people of Hope

Roy Crowne, HOPE’s Executive Director writes: We’ve been bowled over by the demand for HOPE – The Heartbeat of Mission. Denominations and groups of churches have bought copies for church leaders, which is great! Now we are asking you to pray with us, that the words on those 224 pages get fleshed out in action. Wouldn’t it be amazing if churches seize this moment to work together, as never before, to show people in our country what Jesus is like? Now is the time to make plans for mission together in word and action in 2014. Start the conversation in your church and with the churches in your area. And pray, as Jesus prayed to our heavenly Father, that the world will know him and know that they are loved by him (John 17:23). Pray that they will know God’s amazing love through what we do together, as well as what we say.

Big Lunch
Eight and a half million people took part in Big Lunch and Big Jubilee Lunch events last year and churches were at the centre of Jubilee celebrations in hundreds of communities. Lots of churches have told exciting stories about how they have built community, got to know neighbours, and how the Jubilee was a catalyst and inspiration for more community engagement and mission. Read here to sign up for your free Big Lunch pack, with posters, invitations, a planner and more at www.thebiglunch.com

Blessing your community

Are churches in your area responding to local needs, standing in the gap – both in prayer and action? In HOPE – The Heartbeat of Mission there are 18 ideas from The Cinnamon Network on ways to serve your community – each backed with £2,000 of start-up funding. Order your copy of HOPE - The Heartbeat of Mission here.

Do you have a World War I story to share?
August 2014 will mark the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I. This will be an occasion for much national reflection and remembrance. HOPE is working with key Christian ministries to support local churches with resources to serve their communities, marking this key moment in history and pointing to Jesus. If your family or church has a story about the impact of the Bible, prayer or Christian faith on those who served in, and lived during World War One HOPE would like to hear from you. Email HOPE -  email it to us.

Micro-loans for church job schemes
The Faith in Enterprise Award Fund has been launched at the Houses of Parliament to help congregations create jobs for local people. This £200,000 fund of micro-loans of £2,500 to £7,500 is backed up by access to mentors. Find out more here.

Growing mission moment
More people are going to church at Christmas a new report shows. The Church of England Annual Statistics for 2011 show that 2,618,030 people took part in an Anglican Christmas service in 2011, 14.5% more than attended in 2010. That’s great news as HOPE encourages churches to use key dates in the Christian calendar like Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and Harvest as part of a rhythm of mission. Find out more here.

Across the country Churches are gearing up

Birmingham venue for youth summit
God’s Bride Ministries stages its 7th Midnight Oil Summit at Birmingham Symphony Hall from 18-20 July. The 3-day conference brings together 3,000 12-30year-olds. The goal: to equip a united and ethnically diverse group of future leaders to become an effective financial, social, political and evangelical force in their communities. The Midnight Oil Summit includes prayer, worship, ministry, city-centre outreach and on-going mentoring opportunities. Read about the amazing vision of Midnight Oil Summit founder Seth Pinnock and download the poster here.

Bristol Noise
The May Day Bank Holiday weekend saw around 850 volunteers from more than 50 Bristol churches putting faith in action, transforming local communities and praying on the streets. This year’s event, the 12th year for ‘The Noise’ in Bristol, began with ‘100 Days of Prayer’ to prepare for a weekend of serving their city. Read more here.

Who Cares? Norfolk’s 2014 mission plans unveiled
Plans are well under way for Norfolk’s ‘Who Cares?’ mission in 2014, with more than 30 churches involved already. Thousands of young people from the Newday youth festival will be helping Norfolk’s churches to connect with their communities. Preparations step up a gear in August 2013 when Norfolk church leaders and their teams get together for the ‘One Big Launch Event’ to pray, plan and prepare for 2014. Find out more here www.who-cares.org.uk. 

Peterborough churches respond to welfare reforms
Christian leaders in Peterborough gathered last month to find out about the government’s welfare reforms, how people in Peterborough will be affected and how they can respond.

Derby prepares for community engagement in 2014

Roy Crowne is the guest speaker at a day conference hosted by the Bishop of Derby in June. Roy will be speaking on ‘Community engagement: Jesus’ model of ministry’ and ‘Participating in God’s mission’. Members of the HOPE leadership team are available to speak at your events to inspire and teach in preparation for 2014. Contact the HOPE office to arrange a date (phone 01788 542782).

Salford Mission Academy

HOPE’s Mission Academies are training young people to take a lead in mission in 2014. The Salford Hope Revolution has a pilot Mission Academy with churches in Salford coming together with their young people to work out what mission looks like in their region! Read about what’s happening on their Facebook page here.

The Chichester Diocesan YES team are also making plans to set up Mission Academies  

Contact them direct for more information yes@chichester.anglican.org

Building Hope ~ Sharing Faith

HOPE is working towards a year of mission in 2014 – the whole Church, reaching the whole nation for a whole year – together in word and action.

Easter marked a turning point as we move towards 2014 - a year of mission.
Reports have been coming into the Hope Office from all different denominations that churches have taken to heart the challenge to be outward-facing, welcoming and serving local communities. All over the country churches are using key mission moments like Easter to share the hope we have in Jesus in relevant ways. Thousands watched The Passion in city centres including Brighton. See www.soulbythesea.info  Churches gave away Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns with invitations to Easter Sunday services – and churches were packed. Roy Crowne, HOPE’s Executive Director says, let’s continue to serve and pray for the people who heard about Jesus for the first time this Easter. Keep asking God for that amazing harvest he has promised (Galatians 6:9-10).


HOPE – The Heartbeat of Mission in a rural context

‘Congratulations on the publication of The Heartbeat of Mission – what a good resource for churches of all kinds to use,’ says Canon Dr Jill Hopkinson, National Rural Officer for the Church of England. More than 18,000 copies of the book have gone to church leaders and families at Christian events over Easter. Get a copy for your home group here. If you’ve already got a copy, don’t keep it to yourself. Pass it round the different ministry leaders in your church, so everyone can catch the vision and plan for mission in 2014.

HOPE posters

Have you had a copy of the HOPE poster yet and have you seen the latest HOPE video? Thousands of posters are being distributed by ministries and denominations. The aim is for every church to display the poster and show the video so Christians around the country can catch the vision for 2014 and a year of mission. HOPE practitioners have been sent copies of the poster which folds out from a brochure explaining HOPE’s vision. Contact the office if you can distribute the poster to the churches in your area.

Mission Moments

HOPE is highlighting significant mission moments in the calendar and building towards a year of mission in 2014. The aim is to keep mission on the church’s agenda throughout the year – working together, being good news with words and actions in a rhythm of mission that builds on what we already do as part of the church year. Find out more here.

YOUR LOCAL STORIES

Put your story on the map. To help view the spread of Hope a map has been started. HOPE is about local churches making a difference in villages, towns and cities. Send your news so your story can be added to the HOPE map.

Planning New Year’s prayer in Cornwall

Christians in Cornwall started the first week of 2013 with a 24/7 prayer week. Young people wrote out prayer requests and blessings on a huge scroll which was then sent to Plymouth and on into the rest of the nation. Already they are planning for the end of the year and a New Year's Eve watchnight prayer gathering. Find out more here and let Hope know what you are planning.

Mission Academies & Hope Resources

An evening to find our more about Hope Revolution with

Phil Timson -Tuesday April 23^rd  

Similar to the event we hosted as a team earlier this term Urban Saints are hosting an evening with Phil Timson from Hope Revolution at Godstone Baptist Church at 7:30pm – 9:30pm. It’s a great opportunity to find out more about Mission Academies - http://www.hope-revolution.com/ . The address is Godstone Baptist Church, Godstone Hill, Godstone, RH9 8AJ, as part of this evening dinner is included so they will need to know and dietary requirements, if you could confirm your attendance to Richard.h.winborn@gmail.com – attendance needs to be confirmed by April 12^th

Currently the YES team are looking at how we can support and encourage mission academies across Sussex. www.yesonthenet.org.uk

Resources to help you spread HOPE

This Easter sees the launch of HOPE’s resources to prepare the UK church for 2014 and a year of mission.

HOPE 2014 & the Rhythm of Mission is a 3-minute promotional video you can download from our website to inspire and inform others in your area, so churches can prepare together to do more in mission in word and action.

HOPE: together in word & action is our new brochure which folds out to a poster about HOPE and 2014. We’d love to see this poster displayed in every church in the country. Already we have requests for more than 100,000 brochures. Contact us to tell us how many copies you can use to promote HOPE in your area.

HOPE – the Heartbeat of Mission is HOPE’s best-ever collection of tried-and-tested mission ideas. Denominations, dioceses and groups of churches working together have ordered thousands of copies to make sure that every church leader is inspired and equipped to do more together in mission in words and action in 2014. Before it was printed the Methodist churches had ordered 2,500 copies to give to leaders; they upped their order to 3,500 copies when they saw the book. The Revd Ian Bunce, Faith and Society mission networker of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and a member of the HOPE leadership team, said, 'It's a significant resource bringing together hundreds of missional ideas in an accessible way. I think its life will be beyond that of HOPE, as churches use it for ideas.'

HOPE – The Heartbeat of Mission is packed with resources
• Practical inspiration - 150 different tried-and-tested mission ideas that have worked
• Funding sources - 18 community projects backed with funding of up to £2,000 to start each new church-led initiative
• Mission practice - words and action linked to an annual rhythm of mission running through the church calendar

Buy copies of HOPE – The Heartbeat of Mission from the HOPE shop. A single copy costs £5.99 (plus P+P).  Order 20 or more for just £3 a copy.

Prayer
HOPE’s daily prayer calendar is on the Hope website. Churches have committed to pray daily. Contact us to receive the prayer calendar by email at the start of each month.

Vision & Action

Heartbeat of Mission – out now!

Foodbanks and village fairs, Passion plays and parenting courses – churches are getting out into communities, being good news. HOPE – the Heartbeat of Mission, which rolled off the presses earlier this week, tells hundreds of stories in 220 pages packed full of tried-and-tested mission ideas. More than 15,000 copies were pre-ordered by denominations keen to equip churches. There are inspiring, creative ways to work together at the heart of local communities sharing Jesus’ love through words and actions, plus funding sources to start new projects. The book will be launched nationally in Easter week. Buy your pre-launch copy now from the HOPE shop. Denominations, Dioceses and groups of churches can enquire about a bulk discount

Pause for thought from HOPE Leadership team member Ade Omooba

The greatest apostles and prophets that Christ used are people who had revelations for their season. They knew what God was doing and plugged into it. God is willing, today, to reveal to us what he is doing in our season. We have to pray and know his focus and what he is asking us to do. We are his children and the ones he will use when he makes a great move. Our starting point is to have an impact locally. We cannot communicate with media and government if we do not first serve people on a local level. Without prayer first there is no substance to our action. What excites God is when you take action on what he reveals to you. We need the revelation so that each one of us finds our place in his plan: fit into that place, function in that place and be fruitful in that place.

Vision without action is just a dream

Action without vision merely passes the time

Vision with Action changes the world

Let’s change the world!

More stuff on Mission Academies…

Youth leaders gathered at the start of the month for a pilot Mission Academy facilitators’ training event for the south. In the coming year it is hoped that 80 Mission Academies will be launched nationwide helping hundreds of young people to develop a lifestyle of mission. The event was exciting as youth leaders shared their stories and encouraged each other. The Newham and Canning Town Mission Academy have seen their young people develop a passion for praying for people on the streets.

A prayer encounter story. Mission Academy video

Passionate about Easter

Churches are joining together to host Easter celebrations or put on public performances of The Passion - a great way to prompt questions about why Jesus died. In 2012 plays were staged in Andover, Glasgow, Romford and Preston.

Public Passion Plays this year are happening in Leicester, London and Brighton.

For Brighton & Hove check out www.soulbythesea.info

Quick Easter mission ideas inspiration on celebrating with an outward-looking Easter.

And here are some tips on communicating the Easter message

Young People - Building Hope & Sharing Faith

HOPE Mission Hubs 2014

On Thursday 28^th February Ali Campbell, Adviser for work with children and young people in the Diocese of Chichester hosted an event at Church House, Hove to hear news of an exciting youth project.

Phil Timson, Youth Director for Hope is seeking to mobilise and encourage the church – not just to do a short mission week, but to engage throughout the year in missional activity. 

Across the country Mission Hubs are being set up which will seek to draw in young people and key youth workers to give them some basic skills and a support structure. They are based on a cell type model with a central hub and surrounding satellites.

This training and equipping would have a three fold thrust:

a)     What already is – i.e. looking and reading their patch,

b)     What could be – dreaming dreams and thinking of creative ways in which the Gospel can be shared in word and in action,

c)      What will be – i.e. getting on down and doing it, giving it a go.

Ali asks….

• Would you love to see young people inspired for mission and sharing the Gospel?
• Would you pray for this initiative (informed prayer is great!)?
• Whilst you may not work with young people, might you know those who do and can you pass the message on and inform them of what is happening?
• Would you support this initiative as we try and see at least TWO mission hubs kick off in Sussex – but wouldn’t it be great to have more!?

If you were unable to make this gathering but would like to know more let Ali know as there are plans to host a follow-up meeting for those that want to work together and pray into what might happen across Sussex in 2014 . . . .

Telephone: 01273 425694 | Mobile: 07818 574693 

Email: ali.campbell@chichester.anglican.org
Twitter: www.twitter/alicampbellyes

 www.yesonthenet.org.uk           YES, You Equipped to Serve