Shareit No 28 August 2008 by Church Army

THE MAGAZINE OF CHURCH ARMY

2008 ISSUE 28

In this issue From the Chief Executive 3. News update

5. Building tomorrow’s Church 6. Desmond Tutu 8. Reaching out in love 9. Davros and Daleks 10. Befriending the outcasts 12. For the common good 14. A decade of mission research 15. Heavenly Recipes of Hope 16. Life to the full

Shareit! The magazine of Church Army

Patron: HM The Queen President: Archbishop Desmond Tutu Church Army Evangelists share the Christian faith through words and action and equip others to do the same. Evangelists and staff are devoted to a wide range of service in Anglican churches, projects and teams throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. Church Army trains and sends our Evangelists to work in Five Areas of Focus: • Area Evangelism • Children and Young People • Church Planting • Homeless People • Older People Shareit! is the magazine of Church Army and it is available free upon request. Please let us know if you would prefer not to receive further issues of Shareit! or other communications from Church Army. Marlowe House, 109 Station Road Sidcup, Kent DA15 7AD Tel: 020 8309 3519 Fax: 020 8309 3500 email: info@churcharmy.org.uk www.churcharmy.org.uk Registered Charity No: 226226 Senior Editor: David Coleman 020 8309 3516 Editor: Kofo Baptist 020 8309 3515 Design & Print: CPO 01903 264556 Photography: Media Image Ltd 020 8378 1196 If you have a story for Shareit!, or suggestions on how we can improve this magazine, then please contact the editor Kofo Baptist on 020 8309 3515. ISSN 1751-3960

Evangelist support scheme This symbol identifies those evangelists on the scheme who are seeking people to partner with them in their ministry through prayer and giving. It may be that you are drawn to an evangelist in this edition and you would like to find out how you can partner with them in their ministry. To receive further information about the evangelist support scheme, please contact Paul Fitzpatrick at p.fitzpatrick@ churcharmy.org.uk or call 020 8309 3574

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ear friends,

One of the risks of being CEO of Church Army is that it is possible to spend your life talking about evangelism and never doing any. I am trying to make sure I still get time to be an evangelist! Speaking at an evangelistic event in London I met a guy called Richard. Richard had just come to faith in Christ and the whole experience had changed his life. Whenever your faith is a bit shaky it is always good to meet someone who has just found faith. They are full of joy, excitement and passion. Richard was one such guy, and he had discovered the “first love” that John writes about in Revelation 2. I asked him how Jesus had changed him. He said he felt his life had changed from black and white to colour. What a great expression! That is the abundant overflowing “life to the full” that Jesus talks about in John 10:10. Church Army Evangelists have discovered this overflowing life, their world- view has been changed from monochrome to colour, and they are passionate about sharing their faith. All over the UK and Ireland our Evangelists are helping people discover life to the full. I hear story after story of lives being transformed and it is so exciting to see what the Lord is up to. Throughout this issue you will meet people who are sharing the Christian message in all kinds of places. Graham Nunn leads a creative ministry with children in the South East of England; Sue is involved in befriending prostitutes in the North of England; Ian Maher helps students encounter God’s love and Paul and Sheelagh Easby are planting a fresh expression of church, reaching people in exciting ways. Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes exclusively for Shareit!

about why he is chuffed to be the new President of Church Army. The Archbishop of Armagh puts it this way: “On the margins of society, expect to see Church Army quietly working small miracles through the grace of God.” The gospel is about new life, transformation and helping people discover life to the full. There is so much more to do and we need your support. Every pound you give will make a real difference. Will you join us, pray with us, and financially support us, as we seek to share Christ and see human lives transformed.

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Thank you for giving Earlier this year we produced a Lent resource book, Hope in Word, Hope in Action, which told different stories of how Church Army Evangelists throughout the UK and Ireland are transforming lives with the love of Christ. Your response to this resource was incredible. So many people we have spoken to used it not only for personal reflection but also in home groups, in parish prayer meetings, and many of you ordered extra copies for family and friends. We are delighted that it was such a help to your prayerful support of our work. As well as positive feedback, we were blessed throughout the Lenten period

with generous donations amounting to more than £334,000. It is a simple fact that without your gifts, our evangelists would not be able to continue bringing the wonder of the gospel into people’s lives. Thank you. Support from you is vital to Church Army, and we thank God for the kindness that you show. We pray that together we will enable more hearts, more souls, more lives to be transformed by the glory of His Kingdom.

Thanks so much for your support,

Mark Russell Chief Executive

Word-on-the-web PASSES ON-LINE STUDIES BATON TO WORDLIVE Church Army's pioneering word-onthe-web ministry is handing over the baton to Scripture Union's new WordLive service to guarantee a future-proofed multi-media Bible experience for users. Word-on-the-web has been operating since 2000, and has built up a current supporter base of more than 7,000 subscribers from over 100 countries and has issued more than 20 million daily e-mails over the course of eight years, covering 37 books of the Bible written by more than 400 different contributors.

James Burden, Associate Director of Scripture Union says, "We are delighted to be welcoming subscribers from wordon-the-web to WordLive and in doing so celebrate the pioneering work of Church Army in web-based ministry. We are pleased that Church Army will be involved in supplying future content for WordLive and promoting WordLive as part of their future web developments." You can register to receive a daily WordLive e-mail or podcast. Or you may prefer to access WordLive through your mobile or pda. However you choose to use it, WordLive brings God’s Word to you, wherever you go. WordLive is available completely free. Register at www.wordlive.org Shareit! 3

In this issue From the Chief Executive 3. News update

Shareit! The magazine of Church Army

2 Shareit!

ear friends,

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Thanks so much for your support,

Mark Russell Chief Executive

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Building tomorrow’s Church Church Army launch ePrayer weekly Church Army has launched ePrayer weekly, a new way of praying for the organisation and its evangelists and projects. ePrayer weekly is an e-mail service delivering prayers extracted from the paper Prayer Diary sent to supporters and parishes throughout the year. The new weekly e-mail is sent out on Saturday each week to cover the material in the printed Prayer

Diary which runs from Sunday to Saturday. Available for everyone, the new service comes in two formats: e-mail and RSS. This new format of prayers hopes to provide more up-to-date prayer information and requests from evangelists to supplement the printed diary. To sign up for the ePrayer Weekly go to www.churcharmy. org.uk/prayer

Rejesus partners with Church Army to make Jesus famous Church Army is to partner with rejesus.co.uk, a leading home on the internet for all things about Jesus and related faith issues, to bring strategic and managerial support to the future development of the site. Rob Freeman, Chair of the rejesus board, said, "The partnership with Church Army will help bring fresh impetus and additional resources to the development of the site and help build on our success in establishing rejesus. co.uk as the number one place on the web to go to find out about Jesus." Rejesus.co.uk is probably one of the most successful current UK evangelism initiatives with

hundreds of thousands of people using the site each year – many of these not in contact with church – and exploring issues of faith and spirituality.

says, is “seeing young people grow into leaders. I took two 15-year-olds to camp last year and their lives were changed immensely. When they returned, they stood in front of the church and said that they didn’t just want to be a Christian when they went to camp, they wanted to be a Christian every day. That makes a difference.”

Basic Christianity

Graham Nunn invests in young people

Church Army’s National Development Officer for Fresh Expressions, Peter Graystone’s new book Need to Know: Christianity is out now. Published by Collins, this is a teach yourself book that covers everything people may need to know about the Christian faith and it's history.. Peter says, “The idea is that if you are an enquirer, or a teacher or journalist, and you need to get on top of the subject very quickly, you can pick up the book in confidence that you can find out everything that is important in one evening. It's a short book, so it was a challenge to fit in a chapter on Jesus, one on the Bible, what Christians believe, what Christians do, and the story of the two thousand years of what God has done since Jesus' life.” Peter Graystone's book Need to Know: Christianity is available in bookshops priced £8.99.

sk Graham Nunn what he thinks his gift is and he’ll tell you it’s working with children and young people. Ever since he was commissioned as a Church Army Evangelist nearly 17 years ago, he has been making a difference in the lives of children and young people using puppets, magic, music and Bible studies with schools and youth groups.

More at www.rejesus.co.uk

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“I want to show children and young people that the gospel is vibrant, it’s alive and Christianity is not boring,” Graham says. “Jesus loves us all whoever we are, he loves young children especially. Every single one is specially loved by God for who we are and I want to show them the love of God and that they might see something different.”

And he is making a difference. In the last year alone, he has been to more than 40 schools engaging with hundreds of children, helping to improve their role as citizens of their community. This is in addition to the Bible Explorer classes he runs in schools, with one-hour sessions on the Old Testament. Using songs, stories, computer graphics, illusions, video/DVD and interactive tools, Graham puts the Word of God and the story of his people in a format the children can understand. “The other day in Bible Explorer one girl said to me, ‘I’ve been reading my Bible, I’ve been reading about Abraham’,” Graham explains, “and I just thought, ‘wow’. Someone at that school, one of those children actually picked up their Bible and started to read it because of our work. That’s a great encouragement.” This is challenging work especially with the state of youth culture in the UK today, but Graham is not discouraged. He has hope for the future of young people. He wants to build tomorrow’s Church and equip these young people with the life skills to help make tomorrow’s leaders. The most rewarding aspect of the job, he

Alex Clark who was mentored by Graham growing up, added: “Graham has been one of the most important role models for me throughout my life and has been like an extra father figure for me for two-thirds of my life. “What I have most to thank Graham for is showing me God. He truly cares for his young people, each and every one of them. To keep so many people’s eyes fixed so firmly upon the cross is a tribute to Graham’s work. It’s thanks to people like Graham that our church has a tomorrow.” Graham is also now part of the Barnabas freelance children's team delivering RE Days in primary schools in Kent. Barnabas RE Days offer a full day's programme to schools to explore Christianity creatively with primary-aged children through storytelling, drama, dance or music. To book an RE Day with Graham contact Lynda Ward on 01865 319704 or barnabas@brf.org.uk More at www.barnabasinschools.org.uk

How can I help? Pray for safety for Graham, Chrissie and the team as they travel across Kent visiting schools and churches, and that their work will continue to transform lives. Shareit! 5

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hundreds of thousands of people using the site each year – many of these not in contact with church – and exploring issues of faith and spirituality.

Basic Christianity

Graham Nunn invests in young people

More at www.rejesus.co.uk

4 Shareit!

How can I help? Pray for safety for Graham, Chrissie and the team as they travel across Kent visiting schools and churches, and that their work will continue to transform lives. Shareit! 5

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Chuffed to be our president Desmond Tutu on hope, laughter, Bono and Church Army

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was elected last year as the first overseas based President of Church Army and writes exclusively for Shareit! about what Church Army means to him.

n my book God has a dream – a vision of hope for our time, I wanted to share something of the great God that I know. My God stands for love, grace, truth and justice and, however difficult and desperate the situation, with Him, there is no such thing as a totally hopeless case. We didn’t lose hope in the darkest days of apartheid and we didn’t give up hope

when my good friend and Church Army Officer Terry Waite was incarcerated in a Beirut cell. Church Army exists to show ordinary men, women and children that, whatever they are feeling and however desperate their circumstances appear to be, God hasn’t given up on them and there is hope. I was very chuffed to be asked to become Church Army’s first overseas President and so provide my backing and encouragement for the work that Church Army Evangelists and staff do day in and day out to show the love and hope our Lord Jesus Christ brings to the people who really need to know it. I have been so impressed by the range and variety of work Church Army does in sharing faith through words and action. When I recently visited London I was taken by Mark Russell to see the excellent work of the Marylebone Project and it was a

privilege to meet staff and residents and dedicate the Desmond Tutu Chapel there. The next time I am in the UK, and if I have enough energy, I may even drop-in and see one of the nightclub based projects! Every Christian by right should be a prisoner of hope. People often ask me if I am optimistic and I say no, but I am hopeful because at the centre of our faith is this incredible thing. You have a cross that should be a symbol of devastating defeat, complete defeat of goodness. The overwhelming of light by darkness where hate appeared to have had the last word. But we know one of the most incredible things that has ever happened through the cross of Jesus is that what seemed to be such abject defeat on a Friday became a victory of goodness over evil, demonstrated so spectacularly by the resurrection on Sunday. When we were struggling against apartheid here in South Africa, there were very many moments when it did seem as if the perpetrators of apartheid, injustice and oppression were invincible, that they were wiping the floor with all the people seeking justice and freedom. We had to keep reminding people that, despite all the appearances to the contrary, there is no way in which injustice, oppression and evil can have the last word. The death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ declared so incredibly wonderfully is in fact goodness, love, compassion, laughter and joy, which are the things that ultimately have the last word.

who want to be aligned with our Lord’s work in these contexts should be praying for and supporting the work of Church Army.

These characteristics have been echoed in people I have found inspiring, such as Mother Teresa, Trevor Huddleston, Nelson Mandela and for the younger generation by U2’s Bono, a remarkable man who has worked so hard to encourage a new generation to access the message of social justice and freedom. It has been incredible to see the success he has had in convincing world leaders about the need to cancel third world debt and help make poverty history. People today want to see that the Church makes a difference and Church Army has a reputation for going where others would say angels fear to tread. Evangelists and staff are in the forefront of the work that our Lord would be doing: found on the edges of society, around those who are ostracised for one reason or another, those who are not always thought of as being respectable members of society and those who find the usual fare that is provided in our churches is not something that touches their lives. Church Army is about making Jesus famous to those who feel that our churches don’t speak their language or aren’t in touch with them, or reach out to them where they are hurting or feeling bewildered. I strongly believe that those Christians

We do our best to reflect something of Jesus when we can laugh with people who need to see our joy; cry with those who need to see our compassion and do a little bit of loving for those who need to feel God hold them in His hands. Showing the humanity and character of our Lord in all we do is vital as we inspire people with the power and relevance of the gospel message to transform lives. We should always remember that whilst we were yet sinners Christ died for us, as it says in Romans 5. It’s a verse that makes me just wonder in awe at the incredible love of God. Whilst we were yet sinners. Not when we were good, not when we thought we were worth dying for, precisely when we were at our worst. Isn’t that incredible? May God bless you for your prayerful and financial support of Church Army and may He bless and encourage all Church Army’s Evangelists and staff in the fantastic and life-changing work that they do to help people grasp what it really means to live life to the full under the grace of our Lord. Desmond Tutu is Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa and President of Church Army. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and was Chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. You can view a short film of Archbishop Tutu’s visit to the Marylebone project at www.youtube.com/churcharmy

How can I help? Pray that Archbishop Tutu will continue to inspire millions of people with something of the truth, hope, peace and justice of Almighty God as he travels the globe. Shareit! 7

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Chuffed to be our president Desmond Tutu on hope, laughter, Bono and Church Army

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was elected last year as the first overseas based President of Church Army and writes exclusively for Shareit! about what Church Army means to him.

who want to be aligned with our Lord’s work in these contexts should be praying for and supporting the work of Church Army.

How can I help? Pray that Archbishop Tutu will continue to inspire millions of people with something of the truth, hope, peace and justice of Almighty God as he travels the globe. Shareit! 7

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Paul and Sheelagh Easby are Church Army Evangelists who previously served in Stepping Stones, a church plant in Anston just outside Sheffield and are now resourcing REACHOUT! – a fresh expressions of church in Starbeck, Harrogate.

aul and Sheelagh have come full circle since they started out in ‘fulltime’ ministry 21 years ago. The first stop for the couple was Harrogate where they worked with Youth for Christ for 10 years. Then they retrained at the Church Army college in Sheffield, before settling in Anston where they led a local church called Stepping Stones. Here they built a community of around 50 members and brought the love of God to people who may not have heard about him otherwise. God was here, but things were about to change. Paul had been diagnosed with cancer and was on the road to recovery when tragedy struck the family with the sudden death of their son-in-law Phil. “Although he had been unwell, there was no warning of serious illness, let alone death,” explains Sheelagh. “We spoke very little on the journey from Sheffield to Harrogate except to acknowledge that our lives had changed forever. We knew that we had to get back to Harrogate to look after Helen and her children.” In moving back to Harrogate, Paul and Sheelagh were now within reach of their daughter and had also met up with a local minister, Francis Wainaina, who was as passionate as them about bringing Jesus to the community. The result is REACHOUT! – a project funded jointly between Church Army and St Andrews, working to make God known in the community of Starbeck. The aim of REACHOUT! is to educate, 8 Shareit!

Around 30 Doctor Who devotees, some of whom were church ministers, turned up to explore aspects of spirituality that run through a series that has captivated TV viewers since 1963.

enthuse and enable the congregation at St Andrews and also Christians from other churches, to reach out more into the community to those not involved in church. “Much of this builds on existing work but seeks to use small teams of motivated Christians with a heart for their community,” says Paul. A key focus of Sheelagh’s work is working with other Christians to reach out in love to the older community who sometimes can feel lonely and powerless with no family around and very little income. They organise meetings in residential homes, monthly communion services and activities in church premises including a holiday club that sees up to 60 not-so-young people gather for coffee, chat, activities and fun. “During the summer holidays, many older people feel especially alone as neighbours and relatives go away,” says Sheelagh. “Our holiday clubs are there to help older residents develop friendships and get to know more about who this great God is. We have seen big improvements and older people in the area are now being seen as very much a vital part of the church and community. The voice of the elderly person in the community is being heard more.” Paul thinks that building trust and developing friendships is an important part of Christian witness. He works

octor Who's staccato-voiced arch enemy the Dalek, along with its creator Davros, brought a touch of menace to a 'Spirituality and Doctor Who' event held at Church Army's Wilson Carlile Campus in Sheffield recently.

Reaching out in love P

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The event was the brainchild of Church Army's Andrew Wooding, a lifelong Doctor Who fan. He managed to tempt authors Peter S Williams, Anthony Thacker and one of the past Doctor Who series writers and producers, Barry Letts, to share their experiences and insights.

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Delegates were kept in check with Davros who, along with a life-size Dalek, adapted his threat from exterminate to excommunicate for the day. "It was a joy for me to explore this theme,” says Andrew Wooding. “And it was great to see how this wonderful series still captures our imagination over 40 years after it first hit our TV screens." The day was such a success that a second is already being planned for next year. DVDs of the day are available on a not-forprofit basis, but a minimum donation of £10 is asked to support a Sheffield charity. For more information contact andrewwooding@hotmail.com

with a team, prayer-walking, visiting private homes, chatting to people – young and old – on the high street, in shops and local cafes about Jesus. “We believe that St Andrews and REACHOUT! are helping to draw back some people to the established church services and activities; others are enjoying the midweek activities taking place in the church halls or the residential homes, whilst some others are exploring life and faith out in the community, in local cafes or in private homes. REACHOUT! is church at its best in mixed economy mode!”

How can I help? Please pray that the work Paul and Sheelagh are doing in Harrogate continues to make a difference in the community so that people will come to know the fullness of life in Christ.

Exploring art and spirituality E vangelist Colin Brown recently held a two-week exhibition of his paintings at the St Saviour's Church, Knightsbridge, London. Colin, who is exploring ways to share the gospel message through art, offered meditations and workshops on spirituality and explored ways in which art has the power to speak to the inner journey. Combining his love of art and the sacred, many of Colin's paintings are inspired by time spent on Holy Island off the Northumberland coast. See www.colinsart.org.uk to find out more about Colin. Shareit! 9

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Around 30 Doctor Who devotees, some of whom were church ministers, turned up to explore aspects of spirituality that run through a series that has captivated TV viewers since 1963.

Reaching out in love P

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www.churcharmy.org.uk

How can I help? Please pray that the work Paul and Sheelagh are doing in Harrogate continues to make a difference in the community so that people will come to know the fullness of life in Christ.

general information (office hours) 020 8309 3519

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Befriending the outcasts C

ommunity projects take many different forms and when I heard about the work Sue was doing among women involved in prostitution, I e-mailed and asked her if we could meet up and chat. The daffodils in the churchyard where I met Sue and the bright sunshine were a complete contrast to the condom strewn paths we walked down as I joined her on an afternoon outreach, taking hot chocolate and biscuits to the women. Around the first corner we saw a young Eastern European woman being spoken to by two policemen, who were concerned that she was new to the area and keen to know what her background was. We met Emma and Claire next. Out together, they were happy to stop and chat and enthusiastically accepted Sue’s offer of drinks and biscuits. Emma told Sue that another volunteer had taken her out for breakfast a few days earlier and how much she’d enjoyed that time with her. “Tell her, I’ll be in touch with her again. I like her,” said Emma.

Journalist Ruth Adams from Activate Magazine writes for Shareit! about the time she spent talking to Church Army worker Sue and the women involved in prostitution in the red light district of a city in the north of England.

Sue is a natural communicator who clearly has the respect and confidence of the women we met, but she acknowledges that building relationships is very slow. Most of the women live chaotic lives with little structure or routine and so the Monday afternoon drop-in she co-ordinates is less well attended than she’d like. In 2004, Sue, a Church Army Evangelist, was informed about a befriending service in another part of the country. This involved supporting people who were referred by district nurses and doctors – those whose problems were not severe enough to access other support but who were often isolated and desperately needed befriending. After two-and-a-half years, having set up a successful project,

Sue felt God was calling her to move on. The befriending scheme was handed on to be co-ordinated by the curate at the church. The red light area isn’t far from the church where Sue is based, and several incidents led her to believe that this might be the area where God was calling her to minister. Church Army has funded Sue for five years to develop the project. She began by spending five months fact-finding and networking with other agencies and organisations, both secular and Christian, who were involved in similar work in different parts of the country to get a feel of what worked and what didn’t. She saw the

The hardest aspect of the work is the slow progress and patience that is needed, waiting for the small conversations to develop as relationships are built up. A lot of the women have been through the care system, often their own children are in foster care and they themselves have had difficult and often traumatic pasts.

Sue has a big vision for the future – a Christian community for vulnerable women divide between secular projects that were highly skilled in providing a professional service and Christian projects, which concentrated on showing compassion and sharing God’s love. Sue then trained a team of volunteers, not all of whom are Christian, and the work began. There are some unique aspects to Sue’s work. She regularly goes out during the daytime, whereas most projects only do this during the evenings and she is happy to talk to the men as well as the women. I was puzzled as to how Sue might be able to engage the customers in conversation, but she explained that the men she speaks to are the regular partners of the women. They often go out with them, ensure they are seen, so that it’s clear that the women have someone ‘looking out for them’.

It is often a crisis point that will cause a woman to begin to look at her lifestyle. All the conversations build up the big picture and then at a point of

real need it is hoped they will turn to Sue and her team. Sue has a big vision for the future – a Christian community for vulnerable women. Only God knows what form this will take, but Sue has great faith, patience and a real conviction that as God has given her this specific work to do, He will provide everything she needs to see miracles happen in the lives of the women she has such love and compassion for. (Real names have not been used in this article to ensure anonymity).

Do you have the will for an Eternal Future? Born in London's East End, Pat grew up with the help of Church Army, who clothed and fed him. He developed into a fine man and rose to the rank of Major in the British Army. Pat died in 2007 at the age of 91. He never forgot the kindness and love shown to him by Church Army and he remembered us with a gift of £742,000 in his will to help us to continue the work of transforming lives through the love of Jesus. Not everyone can leave such a large bequest as Pat, but by remembering Church Army in your will, you can help us to continue to share the Good News with people, often some of the neediest in our society, so they will have an eternal future with Christ. If you would like to remember Church Army in your will then please write to me, Captain Paul Fitzpatrick CA, Eternal Future, Church Army, Freepost, WD1884, Sidcup, DA15 7AD or call me on 0208 309 3574.

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Befriending the outcasts C

It is often a crisis point that will cause a woman to begin to look at her lifestyle. All the conversations build up the big picture and then at a point of

Shareit! 11

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For the common good

with people of other faiths and it provides real opportunities for discussion and dialogue to open up.” From working with faith advisors from different religions on things that can be done together such as Holocaust Memorial Day and Human Rights Day, to offering support to student religious societies on campus which include the Christian Union and the Catholic Society, Ian has found out that different faiths can work alongside each other with integrity, towards the common good.

Church Army’s Ian Maher speaks to Shareit! about working in a multi-faith context.

bereavement, when the big questions about purpose and meaning are never very far away. He sees his role as important in the overall scheme of things, not least because it “has enabled me to discover first hand from my colleagues some of the issues that they face as members of minority religious groups in contemporary British society. Sometimes it has meant me standing alongside people of other faiths and taking up their cause. My Christian faith makes me duty-bound to do this. The Bible says much about obligations to the stranger in the land.”

Religious leaders who took part in the ceremony to mark the official opening of Sheffield Hallam University's Multi-faith Centre (l-r): Capt Ian Maher CA, SHU Multifaith Chaplaincy Co-ordinator; Dr John Darwin, SHU Buddhist Faith Advisor; Imam Mohammed Ismail, representing the Sheffield Muslim community; Rabbi Jonathan Golomb, representing Sheffield Jewish Orthodox Community; Professor Robert Winston, Chancellor, Sheffield Hallam University; Sister Anne Lee, SHU Catholic Chaplain

heffield Hallam University's Multi-faith Chaplaincy comprises a fascinating team of people drawn from many religious traditions. Co-ordinating the work of the chaplaincy in an institution of around 30,000 students and well over 4,000 staff is Church Army’s Ian Maher. Working alongside a part-time Catholic chaplain and 15 volunteer faith advisors, the aim of the team, according to Ian, is to ensure that student and staff issues relating to religion, faith and spirituality are kept on the agenda within the university. 12 Shareit!

Ian explains, “The multi-faith chaplaincy offers a range of services, from providing students with the opportunity to talk through matters of concern, to working with the university as an institution to help it respond effectively to the religious issues that arise in such a diverse campus community. My particular role also includes providing pastoral support to students and staff regardless of whether or not they are people of faith.” Since taking up post in January 2006,

Ian has overseen the development of a Multi-faith Centre at the university. The centre which was opened officially by the University Chancellor, Professor Winston, in November 2007 is now the home of the Multi-faith Chaplaincy and from where they work to support students and staff from different faith backgrounds. “My Christian witness at Sheffield Hallam has to be worked out in a context of religious diversity and within the parameters of a secular Higher Education environment,” says Ian.

“The basis on which our team works is one of mutual respect, and the commitment to live with the considerable differences of belief and practice that exist between our respective faith communities. We sometimes have to agree to differ but remain united in the conviction about the importance of engaging with the religious and spiritual dimensions of those who study and work at the university.” Ian says that his work here provides him with the opportunity to make a difference at times of crisis, including

The Bible is in fact the foundation of Ian’s work as he works alongside people of other faiths. He works hard to create opportunities for Christians to meet and pray together, and to ensure that appropriate Christian events and initiatives find expression on campus alongside those of other religions. On working with a multi-faith team, Ian comments: “It is necessary to be able to accept that God will always be bigger than the limitations imposed by the beliefs of any religious tradition. As a Christian, I believe passionately that in Christ we come as close as is humanly possible to know what God is like. It is my faith position. Yet that does not negate God being at work outside of Christianity. Holding those two things in tension it is possible to work creatively

He says, “Far from watering down essential religious beliefs (the myth often attached to multi-faith co-operation), the best multi-faith work takes place when people are firm in their faith but respectful towards those with whom they differ. This opens the way for real dialogue to happen and provides the opportunity to correct misperceptions that might exist between religions about beliefs and practices. As a Christian this creates numerous opportunities for me to talk openly about my faith in Jesus Christ to people with whom I might otherwise never have contact, both religious and non-religious. For that I can only thank God, and I look forward to all that the next few years will bring here at Sheffield Hallam University.”

How can I help? Please pray for the ongoing development of Sheffield Hallam's Multi-faith Centre, that it might be a place of genuine encounter and discovery for students and staff of different faiths. Pray also for continued opportunities of appropriate Christian witness within the context of the ministry of a multi-faith chaplaincy team, and through other networks across the university.

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For the common good

Church Army’s Ian Maher speaks to Shareit! about working in a multi-faith context.

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churcharmy.org.uk

general information (office hours) 020 8309 3519

The Sheffield Centre – Celebrating more than a decade of mission research

donations hotline 020 8309 3519

Heavenly Recipes of Hope Bruce Stanley, life coach, explains …

Pictured left to right - Mike Collyer, Andrew Wooding, Laurence Keith, Claire Dalpra, George Lings, Steve Hollinghurst

or more than a decade now, The Sheffield Centre – Church Army’s research unit – has been at work discerning the evolving mission of the Church and making it known through speaking, publications and consultancy. The team’s founder and director is George Lings.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, says of our work, “The shape of the Church in Britain is changing rapidly; few people in the UK have as much awareness of this as George Lings. The Sheffield Centre is a unique resource for all those who want to understand what’s going on and to respond more fully to the great opportunities that God is opening up for all of us in the life of our Church and country.” The Sheffield Centre has close ties and much in common with the national Fresh Expressions Team, including a team member who works for both. However, while the Fresh Expressions team concentrates much of its resources on influencing permission-givers in the

Church and encouraging the Church as a whole, The Sheffield Centre focuses largely on pioneers who are working at the edges of church. A quarterly series of booklets, called Encounters on the Edge, explores the widening range of fresh expressions of church born out of creative church planting processes. It aims to spot emerging trends, identify good practice, and commend strategic connections which have served others well. In addition, The Sheffield Centre helps organise regular themed miniconferences for pioneers, helps to run the Share website (www.sharetheguide. org) for the fresh expressions community, as well as producing a bi-annual Research Bulletin, available for download in PDF format. This free publication is a quick read which aims to cast light on The Sheffield Centre’s research and distribute it more widely. For the latest on The Sheffield Centre go to www.churcharmy.org.uk/ sheffieldcentre or call 01142 272 7451

How can I help? Pray that the work of George and the team will continue to bring something new of the pioneering nature of the Church to more people. Find out if your church could make use of Encounters on the Edge or the Share website.

The Sheffield Centre Team • George Lings, Director, who specialises in church planting and fresh expressions, and Anglican ecclesiology. He was one of the writers of the Mission-shaped Church report, and lectures regularly at various theological colleges. • Claire Dalpra, Writer, consultant and editor whose individual research topics include fresh expressions of church for under 5s and their families, and wisdom on nurturing community for church leaders. • Mike Collyer, Church Army Evangelist, who explores evangelism, spiritual needs and fresh expressions of church among older people. • Steve Hollinghurst, Researcher in Evangelism to Post-Christian Culture. He is part of the team that runs the Elemental venue at the Glastonbury festival, and is involved in several Christian stalls at New Age fairs. •A ndrew Wooding, Church Army Evangelist, who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Share website and the setting up of learning networks for fresh expressions practitioners to share wisdom with the wider Church. • Laurence Keith, Team co-ordinator and PA to George Lings. He helps to organise events, such as the mini-conferences, and runs The Sheffield Centre website.

ave you ever been inspired by feats of great courage, sporting achievement or adventure? Stories of people walking solo to the North Pole to raise money for a charity, overcoming illness and winning Olympic medals, or surviving disasters with heroic credentials. These individuals seem to have special abilities, physical and mental, that enable them to act and behave extraordinarily. All of us are faced with challenges that test our physical and mental limits. Perhaps not polar bears and plane crashes, but from time to time we have challenges that show us what our limits are. “That’s impossible,” we say, “I could never do that.” But news from the world of positive psychology is encouraging. Aside from physical limitations, a lot of the things we thought were impossible might not be. The psychological determination, the strength of will, the optimism to keep going that these extraordinary people have are all learnable or discoverable. And what’s more, positive psychological hope with the spiritual hope Christians hold is an extraordinary combination capable

of charting an exciting course into the future.

won’t be answered with a one-size-fits-all The new booklet, solution. Why not try it? Heavenly Recipes For More on Bruce Stanley at www.embody. Hope introduces this co.uk Heavenly Recipes for Hope is also subject in very practical available through www.hopeinfo.co.uk ways. Throughout, it links examples of hope with Jesus’ On the menu in Heavenly Recipes for Hope teaching and the challenges of the Early Church. Psychological Hope Are you an optimist or pessimist? What is hope and how can you It could be given to anyone who get it if you haven’t got it already? This section introduces some has their future on their mind. It simple thinking tools that can make a huge difference. explores and develops the idea Parties that the best combination is a You don’t need a degree to know that hope and joy go together. healthy psychological hope with We can explore this in the context of parties and introduce some a strong and developing spiritual famous partygoers to learn some lessons. Gardening hope, both inspired by following blossoms into its most fruitful metaphor as we get our hands Hope the example of Jesus. It looks and feels like one of the supplements you find in the weekend newspapers. You might pick it up and flick through it to read a page or two, or you may read one of the six sections you feel are more directly relevant. It has been written with the understanding that the reader is an individual with a particular relationship to the concept of hope. Their particular challenges

Heavenly Recipes for Hope giveaway Thanks to The Christian Enquiry Agency we have 20 FREE copies of Heavenly Recipes for Hope to give away to Shareit! readers. Please complete the coupon and send it to the address below by 31st October 2008. The first 20 drawn at random from entries submitted will get the booklet. Title............... Name ............................................................................ Address.................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................. .................................................................................................................. Email........................................................................................................ Telephone................................................................................................ Postcode..................................................................................................

14 Shareit!

dirty down at the allotment, planting seeds of hope and sorting out that overgrown patch by the shed. Wishing Hope looks to the future. Wishing is fun and revealing but it is also exposing and demanding. We explore how to wish and its spiritual partner – prayer. Actions What’s the right order: hope, motivation then action or action, motivation then hope? Which way round do you work? Right about here we start to put the pieces together … Soul Hope How far into the future does your hope stretch? Where do you hope to be in five years? Ten years? Our journey investigates this life and the life after.

Please tick which of these represents your age band Under 25

25-35

36-45

46-55

56-65

over 65

Please only supply personal details such as address, e-mail address and telephone number if you are happy for Church Army to communicate with you in that way.

Return this form to: Heavenly Recipes Giveaway, Church Army, FREEPOST WD1884, SIDCUP, DA15 7BR 15 Shareit!

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churcharmy.org.uk

general information (office hours) 020 8309 3519

The Sheffield Centre – Celebrating more than a decade of mission research

donations hotline 020 8309 3519

Heavenly Recipes of Hope Bruce Stanley, life coach, explains …

Pictured left to right - Mike Collyer, Andrew Wooding, Laurence Keith, Claire Dalpra, George Lings, Steve Hollinghurst

of charting an exciting course into the future.

14 Shareit!

Please tick which of these represents your age band Under 25

25-35

36-45

46-55

56-65

over 65

Please only supply personal details such as address, e-mail address and telephone number if you are happy for Church Army to communicate with you in that way.

Return this form to: Heavenly Recipes Giveaway, Church Army, FREEPOST WD1884, SIDCUP, DA15 7BR 15 Shareit!

Shareit! 15

ncial iritual or fina sp h it w se o th p them new to faith; ey work to hel Th . th o b e yb a needs, or m lives. ntial in their ? fulfil the pote ” mean to you ll u F e th to e “Lif e But what does emonstrate th d y rl ea cl e w do can As Christians, ur lives? How o s ll fi st ri h C ay-toways in which thers in our d o to ve lo ’s d we bring Go day lives? s in the Full poster to fe Li r u o k r Look out fo tothefull.org.u e if .l w w w t si r vi your church, o copy. to download a theme by post e th n o ts h g u tho Send us your 9 3519. s o n 02 0 8 3 0 u ll ca r o il a or e-m you in God to guide sk a se a le p ort , ll Above a nancially supp fi d n a r fo y ra p how you can our work. CA/comms/Aug08

people’s lives, to in rs te en st The hen Chri ansformation. tr e in u en g is there touch oes not simply d s g n ri b e h By God’s true love permanently. it es g n a ch it a life; are often y evangelists rm A h rc u h C , grace this. instrumental in hope e of bringing em th r u o m o e Moving on fr flecting on th re n ee b ve a h we ular into new lives, ve, with partic lo ’s d o G f o er we awesome pow . This autumn el sp o G ’s n h arishes reference to Jo ividuals and p d in g in g ra u the will be enco try to consider n u co e th n w :10: he up and do rds in John 10 o w s’ su Je f . o meaning life to the full ve li y a m e w has come that nd communities a h it w rk o w ts h Our evangelis ckgrounds; wit a b d n a es g a tally groups of all God or are to n w o n k ve a h people who