The Evangelism Year materials are nearly on their way!

We are pleased to announce that the new materials for the Evangelism Year, starting in Advent this year, have gone to the printers. This means that after the production process and sorting out distribution, we hope to have them with you by early September.

HOWEVER – WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We need to ensure that signed up churches get their deliveries of 50 booklets each to the correct address. If you have changed your delivery address or sign up details at all (perhaps your church secretary or minister has changed since you signed up which may be as long as 2 years ago) please email Tracey Hardingham at tracey.hardingham@urc.org.uk A huge number of booklets were returned last year because we had not been informed of changes. Please note that the Vision4Life database is separate from any other URC databases and therefore will not have been automatically updated with changed details unless you specifically tell us.

Please note that we are unable to send out booklets to addresses outside the United Kingdom.

We have decided to send out 50 copies of the materials to each church regardless of their size. This is the most cost effective way of distributing and printing. The costs for labour and time involved in sorting the correct numbers for each church far outweigh the printing and distribution costs of sending 50 each. If you receive too many for your church, why not give one away to a friend and encourage them to get involved. If you still have too many, please take them to your autumn synod meeting where other churches may be able to ask for extras if they are a larger membership. Churches who are not signed up could take some copies to encourage their participation. All churches not signed up will also receive 2 copies each a few weeks later.

Thank you for your help – if you email us your changed details, you can save a lot of hassle and also the URC some money!

With every blessing
The Vision4Life Steering Group

You are receiving this email because you have signed up as a church to the Vision4Life process. We hope you will continue to stay on our email list so you can keep in touch with what is going on in Vision4Life. We only email out a few times a year and promise to never reveal your email to a third party outside the United Reformed Church. If you wish to unsubscribe from this email please click the link below or copy and paste it into the address line of your browser.
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Who are we?
The Vision4Life Steering Group is made up of members and ministers of the United Reformed Church who work in a variety of situations from local churches to serving on other URC committees, either in a full time capacity or as volunteers. Some are working in other ministry situations such as chaplaincy, and some are retired. They come from a broad variety of theological backgrounds and traditions. We only have one part time paid employee who works to coordinate the Vision4Life process and all are offering their time to this work alongside other, often very demanding workloads. The materials are produced by a variety of people in different situations. The materials are developed as the process continues and this means that sometimes materials are not available when some churches would like them to be. However we are finding that as God leads us through this exciting process, we are discovering new approaches to prayer, bible study and evangelism which we offer as they become available.

The 24/7 prayer movement is a global, non-stop prayer meeting that began in Chichester in 1999 and has spread into most Christian denominations and into more than ninety nations.

A rota of churches will be set up for the United Reformed Church prayer event so that the prayer chain is unbroken during the week.  Committing to this event only requires devoting an hour or so to meet together and pray with others in your church.  Prayer could focus on our intimacy with God and involvement in the community.  The focus of our prayers are emphasised in the new 24/7 book ‘The vision and the Vow’ However, there are resources available should you want them; in particular at www.24-7prayer.com

We cannot anticipate what the result of a week of non-stop prayer will be.  The idea underpinning 24/7 prayer is to get people to stop and talk to God, and see what happens as a result of that.  Surely that’s reason enough to get involved?

If you do feel that your church is called and able to participate in this event, please contact Heather Latimer on 020 7916 8682 or at youth@urc.org.uk On doing this you can sign up for an hour or more prayer time, or longer during the evening hours.

Download the flyer here

using the menu

• Go to ‘Bible Year’
• Then click ‘Bible Year Videos’ from the drop down menu
• On the page you are given 3 different clips in low or high resolution
• To simply play the video, left click each one
• To save them for use later, right click and click “Save link as” (in Firefox) or “Save target as” (in Explorer). You can then choose where to save your clip – in a folder you can easily return to. You can then play the clip in something like Windows Media Player.

This is the place to find extra bible year materials. This list is being expanded all the time so keep coming back to see what is new

New Main Courses

• A series of 4 studies – The Gospel of Mark
• Encounters in Mark – a developing series by John Campbell of up to 16 studies based on Mark
• Using film to look at bible issues – Film and the Bible

New starters

• Loaves and Fishes – A sketch for use in worship or any other time

• Called to be peacemakers – being peacemakers from a biblical perspective

• Great Escape – Exploring climate change through Exodus

• 4 Gospels – Exploring the similarities and differences in the gospels

New All Age Main courses

• The Four Friends – an all age study based on Mark 2:1-12
• Bible Smells – obvious really!

New desserts

• A Video Diary – create your own diary using video or other media to think through the events of Holy Week, Pentecost or any other time of the year
• Bible Picnic – a way of using the bible in the open air, anywhere, even on a picnic
• Summer reading – some suggestions to keep the grey cells working while enjoying summer sunshine!

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