St Stephen’s Church in Redditch has hosted a gathering of Christians in education from across the West Midlands. The event aimed to connect school staff, volunteers and students across the region to find creative ways of working together to share the gospel. The Church has worked with Youth for Christ and the Association of Christian Teachers as well as other organisations to put on the evening.
Renewal Church leader, Fraser Oates, said: “We want people to be encouraged, inspired and connected, with students, teachers and governors thinking about how they might work together in local networks. It all stemmed from us thinking as a church about how we might better connect with our local schools to share the gospel and to empower students and staff to take ownership of that themselves through Christian Unions and Alpha courses. We thought we could be more ambitious and support people from across the West Midlands! We hope that this might become an annual event.”
Ron Skelton is a Trustee at St Stephen’s Church, as well as heading up Youth for Christ in the Midlands. He is also a headteacher at Broadway Academy Secondary School in Aston, Birmingham where he works with both the Muslim and Christian communities in the area. He brought the school choir to open the event, and those present were also treated to a performance from a young guitarist from Iran who also attends the school.
Ron said: “There is some amazing work happening across schools. We want to connect people and give them opportunities and resources for worship. I have seen the difference it makes to both children and staff when they are worshipping together in schools.”
Lizzie Harewood from the Association of Christian Teachers spoke at the event, sharing stories of encouragement and signs where God is at work in schools through Christian Unions.
She said: “God has not stopped working in our schools and he is drawing young people to himself. As Christians we can often feel isolated in schools and dealing with tricky issues can be tricky. We want to bring people together, encouraging them to make the most of the opportunity of being ‘salt and light’, helping teachers to think through their vocation holistically and encouraging young people to interrogate what the bible says.”
Throughout the evening, there were stalls from different organisations. Those present joined together in prayer and worship and there was also the chance to hear testimonies from both students and teachers.
Kate Harvey was manning a stall for the charity Naked Truth, who go into schools to talk about pornography. She is a member of St Stephen’s Church and also a qualified teacher. She said: “This evening has been a great opportunity to meet others that are sharing the gospel in schools and to find out what’s going on across the region.”
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