Thinking, Reflecting, Growing, Developing

We provide a number of ways within the Benefice for thinking and talking about faith.
Details are below, and will be publicised in the Benefice Notice Sheets and in the Shelswell News.
For further information contact Alice on alicegoodall313@gmail.com

Lent 2022 – a series of four talks and suppers
Thursday 10th March – John Alderdice will talk on ‘Faith in a post pandemic world’. John has been a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on ‘Life in the Post Pandemic World’, which will complete its report by the end of this year.
Thursday 17th March and Thursday 24th March – still being finalised
Thursday 31st March – Melissa Morbeck will talk on ‘the power of God to change lives’. Melissa heads up the Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence (CAADV), encouraging businesses to wake up to the issue of domestic violence and consider how they can support employees who are victims.

Inspired to Follow.
From time to time, usually around Lent and/or Advent, a small group meets to read and discuss together. Most recently we have been using ‘Inspired to Follow’ a course prepared by St Martin in the Fields, London. This course uses paintings from the National Gallery of religious subjects, to enable discussion. It has proved to be a stimulating way to get people talking – and there was no need to know anything about painting!
The group tends to meet once a week for about four weeks. Meetings usually start at 8.00pm and last about an hour. Anyone can join and will be most welcome

Come and See
A small group of men meeting via Zoom at 7.30 pm on a Tuesday evening for no more than an hour on a (more or less) fortnightly basis.
We are working from the basis that if the Christian faith is worth anything, then it should make a practical impact on our day to day living. So we choose a bible story and over a few sessions we ask the questions:
1. if this story happened today, what would it look like
2. what is this story saying to me? What am I getting out of it?
3. Could the story make a difference to my life? If so, how?
4. (Then at least a week later) Did this story make a difference to my life? If so, how?
You don’t need to know anything about the Bible. It doesn’t matter if you have been a Christian for years and years or not at all. The only proviso is that (unless you are Alice) you have to be male!!

Possible future groups – register your interest!
We are considering running study groups around a couple of topics but need to know that there are enough people interested to make the groups viable:
A) A discussion group based on ‘The future we choose’ by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac
‘A cautionary but optimistic book about the world’s changing climate and the fate of humanity, from Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac—who led negotiations for the United Nations during the historic Paris Agreement of 2015.
The authors outline two possible scenarios for our planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be like by 2050 if we fail to meet the Paris Agreement’s climate targets. In the other, they lay out what it will be like to live in a regenerative world that has net-zero emissions. They argue for confronting the climate crisis head-on, with determination and optimism. The Future We Choose presents our options and tells us what governments, corporations, and each of us can, and must, do to fend off disaster.’
I have found this book an inspiring and challenging read – rather than just feeling overwhelmed by the climate crisis, I am now fired up to do my bit!
B) A discussion group exploring ‘Living in Love and Faith’
How do questions about identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage fit within the bigger picture of the good news of Jesus Christ? What does it mean to live in love and faith together as a Church?
‘Living in Love and Faith’ is a Church of England initiative that has come about because ‘there are disagreements among us about same sex relationships and the Christian understanding of marriage as the Church of England has received it. There are also disagreements about pastoral practice in relation to gender identity, sexuality and relationships ore generally.’
LLF invites us all to join in a process of listening and learning together, and be part of the process of discovering Christ’s call to the Church today. There is a mass of resources on the LLF site: https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/living-love-and-faith/living-love-and-faith-learning-hub, but might you value being part of a five session course exploring these issues further?

Contact me now to register your interest in either group.

rector@shelswellparishes.info / 01280 848192