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Welcome to our April Newsletter

As we rapidly approach Easter Week we begin to think about new life, new birth and fresh starts. We see easter decorations with eggs and chicks, see the new lambs in the fields and we give and receive Easter eggs and maybe cards with pictures of spring lambs, bunnies or freshly hatched chicks.

But as we all know Easter isn’t really about eggs or chicks. It’s about Jesus! The real meaning behind Easter is because Jesus, who was crucified on that first Good Friday, rose to new life on the first Easter Sunday.

This is not just a wonderful story, it’s an historical fact. Jesus’ body was never found, and his resurrection never disproved. This was despite the best efforts of the mighty Roman Empire and the committed and powerful Jewish leaders to destroy the early church and discredit their belief.

The early disciples were changed from a frightened and disillusioned group to men who stood up against injustice and spoke out for what they believed – for what they knew to be true – that Jesus came back to life on Easter Sunday.

The events of that very first Easter are still relevant today. When Jesus died and rose, he did it for us. He offers us new life, eternal life, with him; life that starts now, but continues beyond this life. Now that is worth celebrating!

I attended this for the first time this month and it was a really rich experience. It is a fabulous way to understand better what Churches Together in England and ecumenism, in general, is all about. There are lots of different denominations and charities represented and the conversations, both within the official programme and all around it in less formal capacities, are a real opportunity to meet people with different perspectives and qualities in a ‘safe space’ created to engender such encounters and fruitful outcomes of many kinds. I met people from different Churches Together regions and charities, denomination leaders and heard from lots of inspiring presenters.

I would highly recommend that our own Cumbrian denominational officers take a few days out of busy schedules to do likewise as that opportunity arises again in about three years’ time! They also welcome youth delegates to come and participate, so it would be great if you could be on the look-out for suitable candidates for that too.

Some of the highlights for me were hearing from the high calibre presenters, having opportunity to chat with the CEO of Linking Lives, Jeremy Sharpe, about the development of projects across Cumbria addressing the problem of isolation, attending a workshop with Ruth Rice, Founder and CEO of Renew Wellbeing Cafés, the opportunity to experience different kinds of worship, meeting other County Ecumenical Officers, finally meeting Fr Jerome Ainsworth from Cumbria, in person, and bumping into an old friend, now working with the Evangelical Alliance.

On my return there remain several new links and relationships to follow up and teaching and information to process in thought and prayer.

If anybody would like to know more about Forum or have questions, I’d be happy to hear from you. (jo@churchestogethercumbria.org )

This is what CTE have to say about the event:

The Churches Together in England Forum, the broadest ecumenical gathering in the country, ended on 16/3/22 with a renewed commitment that the church is ready to serve a ‘broken world’.

More than 300 delegates from CTE’s 52 national Member Churches, Bodies in Association and partner organisations met to discuss the theme ‘Reconciling Hope: A broken church for a broken world’ viewed through the lenses of racial justice and the climate emergency.

CTE President, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spoke on reconciliation in a post-Covid world. He urged the church to embrace its diversity and, “where we disagree, we must learn to disagree well…look outwards and respond to the crises that surround us, with the love of God that is within us, and with the unity that can be reached between us.”

Tearfund Global Advocacy and Influencing Director, Canon Dr Ruth Valerio, addressed the question of reconciliation with the earth. She said facing the climate emergency is an integral part of the Christian faith: “We need to get hold of God’s love for the world. In Genesis 1:31 ‘God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.’”

Professor Anthony Reddie and Rev Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson spoke on reconciling communities. Professor Reddie demanded that the church confront its collusion with the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. Dr Henry-Robinson challenged individuals to think where they found themselves - as oppressors or following Jesus’s way of justice, hope and peace.

Orthodox theologian Dr Ralph Lee reminded delegates that, “as we seek to understand one another better, deep listening helps us overcome the difference in our language and traditions.”

During the gathering, the Forum attendees made two statements on Ukraine. The first, calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities and for churches everywhere to campaign for an end to the war in Ukraine. The second, appealing to the UK government to support the churches offering welcome and sanctuary to Ukrainian refugees.

As Forum drew to a close the new General Secretary of Churches Together in England, Bishop Mike Royal was commissioned into his role. He addressed Forum with his vision for the Church across England:

“We’ve got to build a bigger table to gather around and listen to the voices which are often not heard. We need to raise a new generation of ecumenists. And to be ready to respond practically and relevantly to the needs in the world that God has called us as a church to serve.”

For those of you who might be looking for opportunities to help in financial or practical ways, or by praying for the situation, I have tried to gather some useful information. If you have questions about any of this please do contact me at jo@churchestogethercumbria.org.uk and I will do my best to answer your questions myself, or connect you with someone who can.

Denominational

Salvation Army – pointing folk to financial donations and local support in any way. Ukraine crisis | The Salvation Army

Methodist – Details pulled together at Connexional level. Asking folk who sign up, do so through Reset UK so they get training and support. They are asked to keep records at circuit or district level of those participating. Financial donations being directed to Methodist Church and All We Can relief and development fund. https://www.methodist.org.uk/our-faith/prayer/ukraine/.

CofE – Toolkit for churches wanting to get involved and a safeguarding guide. https://www.churchofengland.org/resources/community-action/war-ukraine-responding

If your denomination is not included here perhaps you could send me some relevant links or information!

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Other Christian Resources

Sanctuary Foundation – useful webinar on how it all works, how to help, etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n-Wmru5LIA&t=5s

Cinnamon Network – useful page with lots of links on the process of how to prepare your church to help support refugees and find resources. https://cinnamonconnect.co.uk/ukraine/

CTE & CTBI – Prayer resources https://cte.org.uk/prayforukraine/

Global Connections - have gathered some useful links for financial donations and prayer from: BMS World Mission, Crosslinks, European Christian Mission, Evangelical Alliance, FEBA, OM, Slavic Gospel Association and World Share. https://www.globalconnections.org.uk/content/pray-for-ukraine

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Secular Links and Relationships

COWC & CRAG point to Red Cross, Polish Migration Forum, DEC and partners working in Poland and Moldova (physical collection of listed items through Polish Dino shop https://www.facebook.com/DinoSupportsUkraine/ ).

A hot food kitchen has been set up to feed people as they wait at the Moldovan border. They have experience of doing this at number of sites around the world, and are a continual presence supporting refugees in Cyprus and Greece (Also worth considering that Moldova doesn’t have the economic resources of Poland or Romania, so is perhaps more likely to struggle to support people arriving there): https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/RefugeeSupportUkraine

Red Cross (Ukraine Appeal), working on the ground there: https://www.icrc.org/en/donate/ukraine?fbclid=IwAR1cdCJoueAymNNGGz6KIAY72YW_fdY7ZrGPzh4rpzPAgo3StD22i7qKUEQ

Polish Migration Forum, who have worked for years supporting refugees in Poland: https://forummigracyjne.org/donate

as well as the DEC Ukraine appeal which supports several UK charities and local partners on the ground.

PERN – produced some useful briefing slides. Email me and I’ll share them with you (jo@churchestogethercumbria.org.uk )

Cumbria County Council – at the time I put these notes together the webpage had not yet been updated with guidelines for Ukrainian refugees, but it will be soon so I include this link https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/refugees/

City of Sanctuary – advice for those thinking of welcoming a family https://cityofsanctuary.org/2022/03/17/things-to-consider-before-applying-to-sponsor/

Red Cross – more advice, likely issues to arise, process information and a document on different scenarios one might encounter. They also have documents in Ukrainian and Russian that might be useful for those arriving. Again, get in touch with me if you’d like me to email them to you.

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If you have any questions, please ask and if I can’t answer them I’ll try to find someone who can.

There are Cumbrian groups forming to address the needs across sectors, if you’d like to get involved, again, do get in touch.

The Anna Chaplaincy ministry in Cumbria continues to support older people on their spiritual journeys due to the hard work of our Chaplains, Dementia Enablers and volunteers who support them.

The Anna Chaplaincy team across Cumbria continues to grow with new appointments coming in Carlisle, South Lakeland and the Penrith area. More widely than that we are aware of many others involved in a ministry supporting the spiritual journeys of older people and would encourage anyone interested in this ministry to get in contact. Do join us at one of the training opportunities offered below.

We continue our monthly zoom workshops and they are open to anyone interested in spiritual care with older people:

We will be running the 6 week Exploring Anna Chaplaincy course again, starting in April 2022. The course will be delivered by zoom and offers an introduction to spiritual care for older people and Anna Chaplaincy ministry.

Past participants have said:

‘I found it interesting and enjoyable and I particularly enjoyed listening to others describe their ministry. They were inspiring.’

‘I am enjoying it so much. My ministry to older people has been confirmed.’

The course is for people engaged in a ministry of spiritual care for older people or considering moving into this ministry so if interested please contact Katherine Froggatt on ac@churchestogthercumbria.org.uk

Established in October 2015, FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria is operated by the Recycling Lives Charity which works to rehabilitate offenders in prisons and supporting homeless men in a residential facility. Every week, supermarkets, manufacturers, farming groups and distributors have surplus food they need to get rid of. Perhaps they might have produced too much, it might have been mislabelled or not labelled at all, it could be close to its expiry date, it could be 'wonky' veg that doesn't sell well on the shelves, branding might have been updated, or there could have been a shift in public demand.

Sedbergh Food Club serves around 130 families a week from right across the community spectrum. It was initiated around the start of Covid Lockdown by Lib. Dem. Cllr. Suzie Pye as she reached out to other members of the community to partner in the project. Participants sign up to the project and pay a nominal weekly fee to come and pick up available groceries on a Thursday afternoon from the Cornerstone Church Hall. They don’t know what kind of food will be available, but I think that’s half the fun of a project like this.