Bishop Graham has welcomed a new globaljustice scheme launched this January by Christian Aid in partnership with theChurch of England which aims to empower a new generation of children to…
Bishop Graham has welcomed a new globaljustice scheme launched this January by Christian Aid in partnership with theChurch of England which aims to empower a new generation of children to speakout against poverty and injustice.
The scheme, GlobalNeighbours, is designed to supportprimary schools work with pupils on global citizenship and aims to developtheir understanding of global poverty and justice, the Christian call to tackleinjustice and their own ability to bring about change as confident agents ofchange.
Schools are now being encouraged to register for the scheme and takeadvantage of the free resources on the Global Neighbours webpage with ideas on how toincorporate global justice learning into the curriculum, worship and schoollife throughout the school year.
Accreditation will come at three levels – bronze, silver and gold – whichwill be verified by the Church of England Education Office which will look forevidence across the five areas of learning, spirituality and worship, pupilparticipation, community engagement and school leadership.
Bishop Graham said: This partnership with Christian Aid provides anexciting new opportunity for us to work together to deliver an education thatis deeply Christian and serving the common good.
Children are keenly aware of deeply troubling issues in the world todayand using Christian Aids extensive experience of tackling poverty and thesystems that cause it, Global Neighbours will help children not only recogniseinjustice but also understand the Christian mandate to act on it.
My hope, and that of the Church of Englands Education Office, is thatthis scheme will empower pupils to be confident agents of change and providethem with real opportunities to transform lives and communities.
It is tremendously exciting to see how schools have already embraced theopportunities in the pilot phase and how it has helped nurture pupilsspiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
I will be encouraging parishes to work with schools to help make themost of the opportunities Global Neighbours brings to create a new generationof informed and courageous advocates tackling the many issues our world faces.
Christian Aid Regional Coordinator for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, EmmaRockey, said: We are delighted to have the support of Bishop Graham and lookforward to working alongside parishes and schools. Many schools are alreadyengaging with issues of injustice and poverty and our vision is that thisscheme will affirm and recognise what they currently do and provide impetus totake that engagement to a new level.
We are now actively recruiting volunteer Christian Aid teachers to helpstaff deliver the scheme and would love to hear from anyone with experience ofworking in education who has a passion for communicating issues and helpingpupils find their voice.
Any primary school can now register for the scheme without any cost orobligation and download the free handbook from the website Anyone interested in finding out more about thevolunteer Christian Aid Teacher role can visit www.christianaid.org.uk/volunteering/become-christian-aid-teacher or contact theBirmingham office on 01212 314706.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally will visit the Diocese over the weekend of 6 and 7 February. She will spend two days in the Diocese visiting churches and meeting with a range of people; hearing some of our stories and offering encouragement.
At the recent Clergy Conference, the diocesan stewardship team launched a Boomerang offering, to help activate generosity across the Diocese. Each person was given a £5 note to take home, pray with and see what act of generosity God was calling them towards. We also asked them to share their stories of how the money was used.
Many of our churches hosted ‘light parties’ at the end of October as a popular alternative to Halloween. Some of our renewal churches hosted the biggest celebrations.
Our diocese has been awarded £3.6 million to continue to support churches as part of phase two of our programme to ensure our churches are healthy and sustainable for the future.
Kelly Gordon is a member of Wordsley Parish in Greater Dudley Deanery. She has recently been selected as one of only three people in the UK to be part of the Leaders Europe programme within the Obama Foundation.
St Peter’s CE Academy and St Peter’s Church in the Saltway Team have been awarded a silver Church and School Partnership Award recognising the close relationship between the church, school and local community.
This year’s Church of England Advent and Christmas theme focuses on the first and greatest Christmas gift of all: the gift of God being born as one of us in Jesus Christ.
An article from Archdeacon Mark for December editions of parish magazines.
The Muslim-Christian dialogue group in Lye, Stourbridge, arranged a litter pick on 31 October to clear up two local streets.
A new singing group for children will launch at St Peter’s Centre at Pedmore Church on 15 November, 10 years after Singing Angels originally began at St Andrew’s Church on the Straits.
