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Last updated 8th November 2024

Being Witnesses

Sharing the Gospel with Confidence

“Utterly amazed…we hear them declaring the wonders of God in their own languages.”

(Acts 2 v11).

Caedmon

In the 7th century, there was an incredible flowering of mission in the North. St Hilda is well known – she was abbess of a mixed monastery in Whitby that sent out bishops, evangelists all across Britain. Caedmon is far less well known. He was a cattle herder, who looked after the animals in the monastery. He was shy & tongue tied: he found it very difficult to make himself understood. But one night he had dream that he can sing a heavenly song about the creation of the world. When he woke up he can remember the song – in fact he can still sing it. He told his boss and his boss told Hilda who invites Caedmon to sing at the feast. This was the start of an incredible ministry – Caedmon would sing the gospel in the local Anglo-Saxon language in words that the ordinary people could understand.

There are modern day Caedmon’s everywhere. Often in hiding, tongue-tied, unable to get their words out, but it seems the Spirit of God releases them to speak the wonders of God in their own language. It is beautiful to behold.

Inspiration and resources to help us share our faith with confidence include:

  • Pray: Join us for the Year of Prayer for Growth and Renewal: resources for schools, children and young people can be found here and for parishes here
  • Lighting the Beacons: Bishop Jill's book is a great resource for individuals and parishes.  More information can be found here.
  • Call out Caedmons to speak their language: Caedmon's story can be found here as well as other people’s stories of faith here and here.. 
  • Pray for your family and friends; it is one of the most powerful things we can do.  For ideas on how to do this, click here.
  • Join or start a Christian Enquiry course; it is an excellent way to learn more about our faith and help others explore what it means to know Jesus.  For more information on courses, click on the following links.  Alpha; Start; Christianity Explored and Pilgrim.  Go!Sign have Christianity Explored videos with British Sign Language and English subtitles.
  • Talk about Jesus with young people using this Board of Education resource here.
  • Use sport as a means of sharing your faith.  The diocese is working with the Church of England sports’ team.  The Church of England has a Sports and Wellbeing Hub which you can access here.

Meet Human Need with Actions as Well as Words

Churches are responding to differing needs in many ways.  Here are some useful resources on a range of topics:

Plant 200 New Local Congregations and 10 Strategic Church Plants

Around the diocese, New Local Congregations are taking root. In the past four years, 50 churches have started a new congregation in a different place or at a different time.

In the following video, the Revd Prof. Jeremy Duff describes the New Local Congregations he planted during his time as a vicar in Widnes.

  • At the October 2021 Diocesan Synod, Bishop Jill presented a paper on New Local Congregations which can be found here.
  • Beacon Course: if you are interested in exploring starting a New Local Congregation, Bishop Jill runs the Beacon Course.  If you would like to join a course, please email: beingwitnesses@blackburn.anglican.org
  • Congregations are growing in the outer estates; read more here.
  • Leading Your Church into Growth have written resources to support churches and  Christians as they seek to be witnesses; click here.
  • Baptisms, weddings, funerals and other life events are significant occasions in people’s lives.  To find out how to make the most of these opportunities, click here
  • All ages and stages of life matter.  Some of our congregations are reaching out using: Messy Church  and Lyrics and Lunch.

Caring for Creation

  • The Energy Footprint Tool (EFT)  enables parishes to calculate the carbon footprint of their church and associated buildings based on the energy used to heat and light them. Please help us calculate the baseline carbon emissions from our churches as part of our roadmap towards the 2030 Carbon Net Zero target agreed by General Synod in July 2022.  Last year 69% of our parishes entered their 2023 data into the EFT.  It would be great to improve on that return rate this year by parishes submitting their EFT 2024 data via the Parish Returns portal when it opens in February 2025 (https://parish/returns.churchofengland.org) before the deadline of 31 July.  [Please contact Dave.Champness@blackburn.anglican.org – Carbon Net Zero Project Manager] if you need help with completing the return or your parish has a story to share about your carbon net zero journey].  A helpful guide can be found here.
  • The Church of England Environmental team run a whole host of webinars.  For the whole programme of net zero carbon webinar dates and topics, plus videos of past topics, go to their website.  
  • Eco Church is a scheme run by A Rocha UK equipping churches to care for God's creation through their worship, buildings, land, community engagement and individual lifestyles.  You can find out more about Eco Church and their webinars here. 
  • Changing the Climate: find out how three Lancashire schools are leading the way here

The Five Marks of Mission

Our Bishops and Archdeacons created a Lent Course on the Five Marks of Mission.  

You can still watch the recordings now the course is complete. Just click where indicated to go straight to the relevant talk you want ... 

If you would like more information on Being Witnesses, please email: beingwitnesses@blackburn.anglican.org

 

 

 

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