Parish Development Team - Resources

A variety of resources aimed to help individuals, small groups and the church as a whole, expand and deepen their faith

Seasonal

NEW for LENT 2013:

GLIMPSES OF GOD - Hope for today's world (York Course)
“We live in turbulent times. In this course, Canon David Winter draws on the Bible as he shows where we can find strength and encouragement as we live through the 21st century. Under the title Glimpses of God, this course brings a message of hope.”
Session (1) The God who hears our cry
Session (2) The Shepherd who guides and guards his people
Session (3) The Son who is the Way, the Truth and the Life
Session (4) The God who shares our pain
Session (5) The God who calms our fears
Love Life Live Lent!
"The small booklet that started a revolution... Launched in the Diocese of Birmingham in 2006, the Love Life Live Lent booklets help you be the change in your neighbourhood, workplace, or school by offering one simple action for each day of Lent to make the world a better place.Now returning in a new edition with 40 all-new actions, Love Life Live Lent is available in both Adult & Youth and Kids versions. As well as a new theme ‘Be the change’ and new actions, the Adult and Youth edition now contains Bible verses and daily reflections from bestselling Bible teacher Paula Gooder and parish priest Peter Babington, unpacking the day’s action and exploring what it means to be a disciple today.
#BigRead13 with Rowan Williams
‘Big Bible’ are using Rowan Williams’ The Lion’s World (SPCK, 2012) for The Big Read 2013 (Lent). “The book is a very accessible read, and not a daunting huge tome. Unlike Tom Wright’s books, however, this has not been written as a Lent reflection, but has strong themes that will be drawn out in materials for five house groups and through blog posts throughout the week. Download the free resources.”
40Acts
“40Acts is campaign from Stewardhsip that encourages you to do Lent generously. Lent is about ‘giving stuff up’, isn’t it? What if you could add something transformational to the traditional?”
Climate change and the purposes of God
“Operation Noah has published a course which is designed for use as a Lent course – though it is also appropriate for use at any time of the year. It is targeted for use with Church and house groups and the content is based on the Ash Wednesday Declaration.” There are five sessions, each with hand outs for participants and notes for group leaders. The sessions are as follows:
Session (1) Does climate change matter? If so, why does it matter?
Session (2) How can I better celebrate creation as God’s gift?
Session (3) What is God asking of me?
Session (4) What do I need to change?
Session (5) What can I do now to cherish God’s earth?

Harvest:

HOPE for Harvest:
HOPE’s new resource book HOPE for Harvest will help you to look at the festival of harvest in a whole new light, pointing to opportunities to make an impact outside your church, in your work place and neighbourhood. Urban and rural churches can make harvest a mission moment. With dozens of ideas and practical mission examples, a preface from HRH Prince Charles and contributions from Pastor Agu Irukwu, Abbot Christopher Jamison, Dr Rachel Jordan, Rev Joanne Cox and Mark Greene, plus a four-week Bible Study, HOPE for Harvest is packed full of mission ideas and inspiration.

Booklets

Becoming a Healthy Church A short booklet from the Parish Development team, Chester Diocese, summarising the 7 marks of Robert Warren's Healthy Churches handbook.

Individuals:

Now a Christian - Church Army offers a free email-based course to help you discover the difference having a relationship with Jesus can make to your life. It's called Now a Christian and involves a daily email for five weeks.
E100 Bible Reading Challenge - The E100 Bible Challenge offers parishes a way to help people “get into the Bible” and apply its message to their lives.
Bible Society - "You've got the time" - The Bible Society are promoting "YOU'VE GOT THE TIME", to help Christians with busy lives to find 28 minutes each day for forty days to listen in to a Bible reading. It can be used whilst at the gym, walking the dog, commuting to work or doing the house work. It comes as a free download of New Testament passages, following a simple listening-plan, read by Riding Lights Theatre Company. There's also a free CD ROM pack for church leaders with talk outlines, small group activities and prayers.

Small groups:

"JUST10" - ARocha - Most people have heard of the Ten Commandments, God’s basic instructions for our lives that, when followed, help us live in freedom every day. These core principles are designed to equip and guide us through life, keeping us on the right path, and helping us navigate through the tough times. But are they really relevant to us today?
Everybody's Welcome - Resources for Parishes
START! - A basic six-session introduction to the Christian faith for use in small groups and the sessions assume no previous knowledge of anything Christian.
JOURNEYS - A five-week DVD-based course for people who are not yet quite ready for Alpha or similar. Many people have an initial awareness of "spirituality". Indeed, spirituality is quite fashionable. "Journeys" gives them an opportunity to explore their "spiritual side".
Iota Course - A free 8-session course for small groups on big issues in poverty and development. The course champions the truth that no one is too small to make a difference and helps Christians understand the issues behind global injustice and how they can take action.

Fresh Expressions

Mission-shaped Church: Church planting and fresh expressions of church in a changing context
Society in Britain has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, especially in terms of our understanding of community and how we relate to one another. This book gives an overview of recent developments in church planting, describes varied and exciting 'fresh expressions' of church, offers practical help and advice and includes recommendations to make possible the visions of a vibrant future Church.

Evangelism

90 Evangelism resources online - The Anglican Communion has gathered together over 90 resources for evangelism and put the in one place on their website.

Faith at Home

Faith in Homes - Living out the Christian faith at home may not seem easy for families. This website has easy-to-use ideas, resources, events and other websites to help nurture faith in the home.

Worship

Worship resource pack: Mental Health
The Church of England and 'Time to Change' have joined forces to end the stigma attached to Mental Health and created a pack for churches, providing ideas and resources for churches to plan worship on the theme of mental health. The pack is available for free download on the Time to Change website.

Articles:

The Praying changes of changing reigns (By the Revd Patrick Angier)
An article written by Patrick Angier, Vicar of St Peter Prestbury and member of the Diocesan Worship Advisory Group to mark this year being the 350th Anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer.
Case Study: St Philemon's Church, Toxteth (Diocese of Liverpool (Case study written up by staff of the (Resource) Strategy and Development Unit) St Philemon's church, Toxteth has not only held its own but has grown against the background of a population that is both declining and changing significantly in its make-up. The incumbent, the Revd Canon Mark Stanford, identifies the School of Leadership programme run by Liverpool diocese and the church's emphasis on personal invitation and on welcoming everybody who crosses its threshold as key to the church's growth.
Discipleship, children and the non-churched: our Last Chance Saloon? (By the Revd John Walker) John Walker is engaged in doctoral research at the University of Kent, commissioned by the diocese of Canterbury, investigating the extent to which Fresh Expressions there are adding to our understanding of factors which underlie church growth. This paper presents three areas which are emerging as essential to the mission of the Church, children, the non-churched and discipleship. It includes hard data and explores some common themes which are beginning to emerge from qualitative analysis.