As Guild Year draws to a close we celebrate, not just the wonderful events, but the working of the Holy Spirit in bringing our churches together.
Those of you who were involved in the Preston Passion on Good Friday may be interested in hearing that at a recent awards ceremony it was voted the best Outside Broadcast in the N.W.!! It has now gone forward to the national final.
The members of the Churches' Core Group, who co-ordinated many of the activities, have decided to continue to meet at regular intervals to think about how the "Church in & around Preston" can build on the success of the Guild.
We see our role as one of suggestion and communication. All our churches (and Churches Together Groups) have their own programmes of activities throughout the year and we are very conscious of the pressure on peoples' time.
However, there are certain ideas and activities that can have a relevance to the wider the church community in Preston and South Ribble and it is important that you, as the individual communities, are aware of them and can consider if and how you might wish to participate. We are also very keen to hear back from you about other things that are going on which might be of interest to other groups.
At our meeting earlier this week, we discussed the following:
1. Lancashire Sings Christmas. Thursday 20 December 2012. Lots of opportunities to participate. Get a group together and head off to one of the venues. Look on website www.lancashiresingschristmas.co.uk for venues already registered (30 in the PR postcode area). Listen live on Radio Lancashire from 7pm-8pm on Thursday 20th Dec. - our hope is that groupings of churches would create their OWN venue, as well as there being the option of going to one already in place. Simply requires getting permission (if needed) and then to register at the website.
2. Lent Series. Following the hugely successful Lent Series in the Minster last year, a small group is organising a further series for 2013, again to take place on Monday Evenings in the Preston Minster throughout Lent i.e. Mon 18th Feb to Mon 25th March, inclusive, from 7.30pm to 9.00pm.
Each evening consists of worship, prayer, a talk about one of the charitable organisations active in Preston/South Ribble and a short Bible study comprising a reading, a brief talk and discussion.
Please try to make room for this in your church calendar - we all found it immensely rewarding and enjoyed the variety of each evening.
3. The G8 meeting. As you will have seen on the news, the G8 will be meeting in Northern Ireland on 15-16 June 2013. All the main UK development agencies will be coming together in January to launch a campaign which they hope will be bigger than 'Make Poverty History'. We have few details, but would guess there will be at least a big rally in London. As local churches we might also want to hold events to make our own communities aware of the injustices that make people poor and keep them poor. Be prepared to dust off your Guild skills for mobilising people and making props.....
Maybe local groups of churches could think about an outdoor event in Lent to draw attention to hunger and poverty...... perhaps a hunger event outside our local shops rather than hidden inside our church buildings......
BBC4 is currently showing a series of programmes on poverty which is highly relevant.
4. Serve Our City 2013 will run from 9-13 July 2013. It is part of the 'Hope Initiative' and will follow a similar format to last year. Again, a hugely enriching experience for participants as well as bringing real change to the wider community. More details later, please just book the dates.
5. Ride and Stride Saturday 14th September - please make a note of the date
The National Churches Trust Ride and Stride has become an annual event in many parts of the country. Riders / striders are sponsored to visit churches across their county, the money raised being divided between the Trust and a church chosen by the rider. In 2008, a group of cycling enthusiasts from different churches in Preston set up the first such ride in Lancashire, and it has been steadily growing since then.
It was carried out on a limited scale in 2012 (a touch of Guild Fatigue, perhaps, coming at the end of Guild Week), but all those who participated enjoyed it and commented on how much they had come to appreciate the churches they had visited and how much they had, incidentally, learned about their locality. A final service at Brockholes, with the sun shining on the lake was inspiring.
The Fulwood and Broughton churches are planning to make this a major item on their programme this year, encouraging families, church groups and individuals to join in and ending up with a massive picnic. They will be researching interesting walking and cycling routes and encouraging those who can no longer walk or cycle to participate by car. They would be happy to share information with any other churches or groups of churches who might like to plan something similar.
6. Living Advent Calendar.
You may wish to see this link:Living Advent Calendar. Any comment or interest on this to
Thank you
Peter Lumsden (Chair)
Di Allen
Ken & Joan Curphey
Brenda Dell
Stephen Garsed
Shanthi Rasaratnam
Margaret Thompson