Together Lancashire in ........ East Lancashire: Serve Newsletter... Lots of events and resources


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Do you need some funds for your church project or Christian charity? As you enter the room you see 50 business executives sitting in rows. In your hand you are gripping your notes for a six-minute presentation you about to make. What concerns you most is that once you have made your presentation, the audience will have six minutes to ask questions on any aspect of your work. You are a volunteer, perhaps a co-ordinator or even a trustee of a Christian community project. You are told that the business executives are Christian philanthropists and they want to give money to great projects like yours – what a dream! Enter the Dragons' Den. These Dragons' Den-style events for the benefit of church and charity community projects are interested in supporting small 'kitchen table' ventures. Over 80 percent of registered charities in the UK have an annual income of under £100,000 and are run by volunteers and trustees, who often meet around the kitchen table. These sorts of ventures tend not to have professional marketers and fundraisers, nearly all their money goes to the front line of the work and nearly all the volunteer and staff time is spent on getting the work done, rather than building the work. If this sounds like your church or charity, then why not ask to present at a Dragons' Den event? If this doesn't sound like you, but you know someone who would be interested, then please forward this email. To request the opportunity to present at a Dragons' Den-style event… 1) The Cross Pollinate Foundation for small social action projects: Click here 2) The Kerygma Fund for small evangelism and discipleship projects: Click here





Matt Bird, Chair of The Cinnamon Network & Member of the Serve Leadership Team

In this edition you'll find.... new resources, latest news, stories and events and training.

NEW RESOURCES Potentially the biggest blockbuster of the year, Les Miserables, hit box offices on January 11 in the UK. "Les Miserables" (meaning wretched ones), adapted from Victor Hugo's novel, explores key Christian themes, such as forgiveness, hope and redemption. With so many of the scenes related to the gospel, Les Miserables gives great openings to talk about the forgiveness and hope Jesus offers us all. Damaris have a range of free resources for community groups, built around movie clips, addressing fresh starts and difficult choices; an ideal way to engage community groups, church, friends and colleagues. Visit http://www.damaris.org/lesmis for more resources.
LATEST NEWS "Homelessness is a problem which forces us to reconsider the values on which we are building our society." Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York visits a new initiative to support rough sleepers. and encourages the Salvation Army volunteers. Read more here. Celebrating the success of ACE3 Thank you to everyone who came along to ACE3 at Liverpool Lighthouse. Together with about 20 Christian projects, we celebrated local projects making a difference in their neighbourhoods including Serve, the Cinnamon Network, Tearfund, Wirral Street Pastors, Liverpool CAP, Y Kids, St Andrews Clubmoor Foodbank, Debt Advice, Wirral Foodshare, Wirral Youth for Christ, Hope Corner, Liverpool Lighthouse, Prison Fellowship and Together for the Harvest. We had the great pleasure of awarding 3 churches with a £2000 grant to start a community franchise. Billinge Family Church have been awarded a grant for CAP provision, extending their work into the Wigan borough. http://www.billingefamilychurch.org St. Leonard's Youth & Community Centre: Bootle, Liverpool will continue to serve their community through a Trussell Trust Foodbank, working both ecumenically and with the local Council in Sefton. Community Change Programme: Were unable to collect their grant on the day owing to bad weather. Their award is to allow them to deliver CAP Money courses to their local community. http://www.community-change.co.uk

	Award ceremony photos
STORIES We love this film from Street Angels. What an incredible group of committed people, bringing love to city centres and caring for anyone they come across who needs a helping hand.


Street Angels and the Christian Nightlife Initiative Network: the impact on the streets Are you a Street Angel? Have you got a story to tell about reaching out with God's love on the streets? Why not contact us and let us know? Perhaps you have a story to share that might encourage others. We'd love to hear from you. Visit our stories section here.

EVENTS & TRAINING Makaton training day with Prospects Date: Sat 16th Feb 2013 Venue: Newton Flotman Primary School, School Road, Newton Flotman, Norwich, NR15 1PR. For more info and booking visit the Prospects website.

Introduction to homelessness training with Housing Justice Date: 23rd February 2013 The Housing Justice one-day training workshop on homelessness and related issues is particularly suitable for volunteers in churches and homelessness projects or people new to working in the field.
The day covers: * role of the church, statutory and voluntary sector * homelessness law and local authority duties * mental health awareness * drugs and alcohol awareness * boundaries and personal safety Cost: £30 per person for Housing Justice member organisations. £40 per person for non-members Venue: Housing Justice 256 Bermondsey Street LONDON SE1 3UJ Further info / booking: visit the Housing Justice website for more information or call 020 3544 8095

Working Together with Gather Date: 20th-21st March 2013 Venue: The Life Centre, Manchester, 235 Washway Road, Sale, M33 4B More information and booking visit the Gather website. "Not since World War II have we faced such a fundamental economic and social crisis." This was how one senior civic leader recently described the current situation.
In part because of this crisis, significant opportunities are now opening up across the nation for churches (particularly those working together in unity to reach their cities and towns) to engage with their councils, police forces, health authorities, housing trusts and other civic institutions. Working Together is a special consultation drawing together experienced practitioners with civic leaders and those who want to start engaging with statutory authorities. We will hear from church unity movements and Christian leaders who are playing significant roles in the regeneration of urban areas, taking up leadership roles on health boards and local strategic partnerships; those working in partnership with statutory authorities on issues such as education, adoption and poverty. The chief executive of a large borough council and a former senior police officer will be speaking about the financial crisis facing civic life, and the need for effective partnerships with the third sector and the dos and don'ts of churches engaging with statutary authorities. We will be looking at the development of the Church in a local area as a public leader in the civic square. How do we become a voice for good in the media and politics? The consultation will also highlight some of the possible dangers of civic engagement such as the silencing of the prophetic voice, or being distracted from our distinctive calling.

Life Expectancy Wirral: Together for Life Venue: Life Church, 1A Old Chester Road, Bebington, Wirral, CH63 7LA.* Date: 9th Feb 2013 Time: 9.30am to 12.30pm To book: If you would like to attend please email Victoria Day at victoria.day@chester.anglican.org How churches can and do make a difference to poverty on the Wirral. An Invitation from the Right Reverend Keith Sinclair, Bishop of Birkenhead: We began Life Expectancy Wirral in 2009 in response to the fact that people living on the Mersey side of the Wirral die, on average, nearly 12 years earlier than those on the Dee side. The central aim of the work is: 'To enable Christian communities to respond to the issues surrounding the unacceptable differentiation in life expectancy on the Wirral'. Changes to the benefit system are on the way and these are going to have an impact on the lives of many people living on the Wirral. In order to live out the Gospel, we think that we need to be informed and prepared to support people living in increasingly difficult circumstances. Therefore, we are inviting representatives from all churches of every Christian denomination on Wirral to attend our next event. The purpose of the event is to: Alert us to the facts and figures about poverty on the Wirral – John Highton (NHS Wirral) Provide information on the effects of the changes in benefits to people's lives Hear from churches already engaged in social action and the impact of this on their church and community Consider and reflect upon what the Bible has to say about the Christian response to poverty Learn more about what faith based organisations are doing to tackle poverty and to encourage greater support of them from churches (displays) We have specifically chosen a Saturday for this event so that people at work during the week are able to attend and we will provide a crèche – please come! This is a great opportunity for the church to stand up and make a difference to the lives of our neighbours. * Bebington railway station is across the road and there is parking available in a car park at the end of the row of shops on Barlow Avenue. If you have access needs, please let us know.

Talitha Koum A day for Christian women who lead, and aspire to lead. Join us for 'Talitha Koum'. A day of new friends, enriching conversations, inspiring journeys. Another step to becoming the leader God is asking you to be.
A core part of Tearfund's work has for decades, involved empowering and working with women in a range of leadership roles. Now we feel it's time to explore together how we can personally practice what we preach! Our main speaker will be Rev Dr Kate Coleman, founder and co-director of Next Leadership, Chair of the Evangelical Alliance Council, (formerly president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain 2006/7), and an associate pastor. Kate is the author of 7 Deadly Sins of Women in Leadership. We'll also be joined by Arianna Walker, Executive Director of Mercy Ministries UK, Elaine Storkey, Tearfund President and Director of Education for the Church of England Church Army, and Hilary Nichols, principle stylist from FrockChicks. Date: Saturday 9th March 2013 from 9.30am to 4.30pm Venue: Tearfund, 100 Church Road, Teddington, TW11 8QE Cost: £20 (+ £1.85 booking fee) which includes a sandwich lunch. For more information and tickets - head to the website.