The next Kibworth and Fleckney Praise will be held on Sunday 8 February at the Methodist Church, School Road, Kibworth (7.30pm)We are very lucky to have a special speaker, Lori Lawlor, from the Haven Renewal Church in Birmingham. Lori will be talking about Taste and See (that the Lord is good), and how the Lord has brought her to England. This, together with great worship, fellowship (and refreshments afterwards).

The Revd Mark Battison

The Bishop announces that The Revd Mark Battison will be leaving the Diocese to take up the job of Assistant Priest (House for Duty) in the Guilsborough Group in the Peterborough Diocese and will be licensed as such on Monday 23rd February 2009 at 7.30 pm.

MONEY MATTERS WITH JOHN PRESTON

Tuesday 3rd February 2009, Church House, Leicester

Leading on from the clergy study day John Preston will return to Leicester for two CME giving an opportunity for both clergy and laity to explore and discuss money issues within the Church further.

 

1pm - 4pm ‘Talking about Money’

There are over 2300 verses in the bible on money, wealth and possessions, and over a third of Jesus' parables relate to these topics. Yet preaching on money can be a daunting task, and all too often we only talk about money when the church needs some more!   This session will equip you to teach on some of the broader money issues that people face week in, week out; as well as providing some guidance on how to talk about issues of money and giving as a part of our Christian discipleship.  Issues of debt, ethical spending, giving, savings and pensions are ones which touch most people in some way, and as the Church we have a unique viewpoint to convey.  Resourcing our mission as well as paying the bills is a daunting task, and the session will outline the four key tasks that parishes need to cover to achieve this.

 

7.30pm - 9pm ‘Making Sense of Money’

Whether we're comfortably off; broke, or somewhere in between, we all face money questions.  As Christians, we come some unique viewpoints on money issues. This is a fun, and light-hearted session, that nevertheless tackles some serious questions - issues such as debt, ethical spending, insurance and generosity. As well as considering personal money matters, the session will also look at how Churches can be more effective in handling issues around money; from reaching out to their communities in the area of debt, to being better stewards of the money entrusted to them.

 

John Preston has been the C of E’s National Stewardship and Resources Officer since 2005.  Prior to that John spent 15 years marketing everything from soap powder to sandwiches, having achieved the unique distinction of a PhD in retail marketing which involved more time stacking supermarket shelves than was spent in the library!  He is involved in his local church as a Reader and member of the Leadership Team. John is married to Jane, and they have two children aged 14 and 10.

 

Booking is essential for both of the above session and spaces are limited so please book early, contact Claire Stapleton at Church House.  Tel: 0116 248 7417 or E-mail claire.stapleton@leccofe.org

CHILDREN AND ANNUAL MEETINGS - from National Children's Adviser, Mary Hawes;

"At this time of year congregations are usually busy writing and gathering reports from activities of the past year and planning for the annual meeting. How are children involved in this important reflection and planning in your congregation? In our congregation we stay for a soup and sandwich lunch after worship and then move into the meeting. The children go into another room with their leaders, and bring their report back near the end of the meeting. One year we provided a sheet of mural paper and asked the kids to draw the things that they really liked about our church. Then we asked them to add any new things that they would like to see added, or hoped we might do and put a cloud shape around it. When we returned to the meeting and the children were telling what they had drawn, Matthew said he drew a man sitting on the toilet (which actually surprised me as I had not noticed it earlier). "And why did you draw that?" I asked hesitantly. "Because the men's bathroom smells and I don't like going in there," he replied. The women's washroom had been renovated two years earlier, but not the men's one. The men had not thought it a priority, but now they had a different perspective on it. It was done that year! Sometimes the children have made up a song to sing. There are many possibilities. Be creative and inclusive".

'THE SHACK' - BOOK REVIEW

Ben Witherington has a good review of ‘The Shack'

DAMARIS: LENT & EASTER RESOURCES

A full Lent Course based on our DVD Talking About... Jesus.

Videos for each day through Holy Week - FREE for you to republish on your church website and also available for free download for any subscriber to www.toolsfortalks.com - videos will include contributions from Rob Parsons (Care for the Family), Norman Kember (Iraq hostage), Robin Oake (author of Father Forgive), Jennifer Rees Larcombe (author and speaker), Greg Haslam (Westminster Chapel), Rachel Gardner (Romance Academy).   An Easter Special edition of www.deovox.com to help guide your devotional Bible Study at Easter.

For more details on all of these see www.sourcetalk.tv/lent