Linking Up for the mission

As a church we would like to try and produce a rolling programme that starts this Autumn through next year. This isn’t just part of our church Hope08 is a national initiative, the idea being for churches to work together in their communities, work together with one another and co-operate in making Jesus known. It is about transforming and redeeming communities. Also about partnership with community groups, the Police, other agencies and about seeing real change made in terms of regeneration. It isn’t however just a social project and those at the heart of it like Andy Hawthorne from the Eden Project would say we need the Holy Spirit. It is about the Word of God, discipleship, people coming to know Jesus, but it is also about sharing our faith in practical ways too. These things coming together is the emphasis of Hope08. We will begin the year with prayer. I am involved in the city wide initiatives and I feel that rather than do a city wide mission we are going to be looking at really supporting things in prayer, trying to support other churches and particularly the challenge will be for bigger churches and richer churches to look to places that do not have resources to reach their own area. We are particularly interested in the North East of the city as well as our own little corner in areas like Firth Park, Burngreave, etc. The feel in the city is not for a year of mission with everyone doing their own thing afterwards, but something sustainable and sustained and that is what I want for our church too. I will be urging caution that we are on a marathon and not on a sprint but I will be saying that a deliberate parity for our church next year is local mission.

There is an agreed plan to work with the churches in S8, particularly Greenhill, Bradway, Lowedges, Norton and ourselves, which is a very diverse group of Christians to see what we can do together. There are 3 things planned already for next year. One will be a night of prayer for Sheffield 8 which will be very interesting. Another will be some sort of march of witness on Palm Sunday. A third thing might be a big festival on Pentecost Sunday and try and get a high profile venue in the middle of that area, and try and put on an event with music, drama, arts, etc, just to get people in and share the love of Jesus with them. On a practical level there is an event coming up around Bonfire Night, but I think the important thing at the moment is keeping our zeal and our spiritual fervour.