Liquid Worship at Ely with Archbishop Sentamu

Have you ever found it hard to sit through a whole service? (Or just one of my sermons?) Have you thought you could do a better job than the Vicar at putting the service together? Then come and try Liquid Worship at Ely Cathedral on Saturday 21st November between 1.30 and 5.00. Jokes about beer and sandwiches and Cafe Church apart, the ‘Liquid’ bit means that all round the Cathedral there will be opportunities to engage in the different elements of worship – prayer, praise, study, silence – and you can flow between them in your own way and at your own speed. One section, for instance, will have a selection of Bible passages with comments by those who chose them, figures past and present, as to why they are special to them. (I’m just choosing mine now.) And the Archbishop is bringing his drums …

Filed under: Church of England, Worship, mission

Fresh Expressions Teach-In

Dave Male, our Fresh Expressions adviser, is busy giving some really good teaching on F Ex, pioneer ministry and all stations in between. He’s made his Powerpoint presentation available and you can download it here. You can contact him at dm432@cam.ac.uk.

Filed under: Church of England, ministry, mission , Fresh Expressions, Pioneer ministry

Impact of Reconxile Business Training on Poverty in Uganda

Report on the 2009 Survey of the Date: 5th October 2009

Introduction

This survey was initiated to assess the longer term impact of a training programme to equip people in the slums and impoverished areas around Kampala with basic business skills. The people in these areas have little opportunity for employment and rely on one of three options to sustain themselves and their families: a dependency on charity, falling into criminal activity, or their own attempts at small businesses. The programme, initiated in 2006, was designed to address the high failure rate in small businesses, which was observed to be largely due a lack of basic awareness of simple business skills. The training materials were developed to be simple, focused on the main causes of failure, exercise and discussion centred, and easy to cascade through the local structures. An initial survey conducted in May 2008 demonstrated a marked impact on business success, raising the figure for the number of successful businesses from 17% pre-training to 72% post-training. Over a period of one year, approximately 400 people had been trained through the cascade programme (where local people train others in their community on a voluntary basis), and this extrapolated to 220 newly successful businesses as a direct result of the training. This survey was conducted to assess whether the positive impact has been maintained, whether it continues to grow at the original rate, and also to look at the influence of the training and business success on employment in the area. Conducting surveys in the developing World is notoriously difficult, and we are very grateful to Mr Livingstone Mukasa for his efforts to gain accurate data through September 2009. 54 past trainees were surveyed on a sample basis across a range of locations around the Kampala area. All trainees had been through the training at least 6-months prior to the survey, and six of them had been previously surveyed in the 2008 survey.

Results The overall figures for the impact of the training in the 2009 survey are very similar to those achieved in the 2008 survey (see the table on the right) and although there appears to have been a slight drop in the percentage of successful businesses generated out of the training, this is not particularly significant and could easily be the result of statistical variation given the relatively small sample, but may also be due to a number of other possible factors:

• September (unlike May) is not a good time for seasonal businesses, and at least one of the 2009 respondents is running a seasonal business

• The minimum time period from training to survey was reduced from 9 months in 2008 to 6 months in 2009 and this may have meant that some people have not had enough time to establish their business.

• A greater proportion of the trainees surveyed in 2009 started from a base of having no business at all, and that may represent a ‘bigger hill to climb’ than turning round an existing failing business.

These last two points are reflected to a degree in the free-form comments which respondents made in reply to the question: “How do you feel about the training you have received?” In response to this question, 7 of the ten trainees who were ‘Not in business’ in the 2009 survey reported that they had definite plans to start a business, but in each case they were waiting for something – three of them for finance, one to complete their research by physically working in a business similar to the one they were planning, one to finish their schooling, one for the ‘season’, and one is still assembling what they need to do. In the event that these trainees follow the pattern of their cohort, we can expect them to push the percentage of people in a successful business to over 80%. Further confirmation of the success of the programme comes from looking in further detail at the small subset who have now been surveyed both in 2008 and 2009. While six people cannot really be seen as a statistically valid sample, they were selected as a random set and their stories offer hope even to those who are failing in business a year after completing the training. In the 2008 survey three of these respondents were in a successful business and three in an unsuccessful one. In the 2009 survey five of those same respondents were in a successful business and only one in an unsuccessful one. Furthermore the one respondent who was now in an unsuccessful business was one who had had a successful business in 2008, but who had fallen prey to the recession, and all those who were originally unsuccessful were now successful. This supports our belief, that while individual businesses may succeed or fail due to a whole range of circumstances, the training fundamentally equips people to ensure their economic empowerment on a sustainable basis, and it also gives us hope that the person who has now lost their business will soon have established another one. Finally, the 2009 survey also asked how many people were supported by each of the businesses pre-training and post training. We asked this question because we had anecdotal evidence out of the 2008 survey that some businesses were supporting more than one person, and therefore the influence of the training was greater than could be assessed by simply counting the number of successful trainees. The implications of the table above right show that on average each successful business businesses supports two families through employment, and this then doubles the estimate of the economic impact which we previously assessed.

Assessment of Economic Impact Since the initial cascade training in 2007, we have not been able to keep track of all of the cascade channels which have arisen out of the training, since the intention is that many will be informal and ad-hoc. We have however kept in contact with two ‘organisationally supported’ channels, one through the Full Gospel Church and one through Net2Work Uganda. Between them, these two organisations have overseen the training of over 930 people to date. Based on extrapolating the statistics above for a total of 930 trainees, we estimate that the impact of this training will be the creation of over 450 newly successful businesses, and the economic empowerment of over 980 families. Using the definition of success being the ability to support the family in food and shelter and finance school for the children (a minimum of £1000 p.a. in Kampala), and assuming (based on the sustainability observed in the data) that this will be maintained for at least ten years, we calculate the economic impact of this training to be the equivalent of over £9.8M in Aid and Charitable donations. This figure is perhaps made even more impressive by the fact that it was initiated by a team of just 4 people in just 2 weeks, and by the sure expectation that it will continue to grow over time, independent of that team.

For further information on this project, please visit www.reconxile.org

Filed under: World Development, mission

Uganda Project Update

June Darmody writes from Ramsey: The Principal of the North Kigezi Diocesan Bible College, Rev’d Canon Gershom Muhanga has settled happily to his ten week studies in Wycliffe Hall College in Oxford. The Anglican C.M.S. (Church Missionary Society) have provided him with all his immediate needs and he has accommodation and meals at the college. Richard and I took him out for a meal and with funds provided by St Thomas a Becket Church purchased a local sim card and air time for his mobile phone so he can contact his family regularly and also CMS which is on a site the other side of Oxford. It started to rain heavily so we also got him an umbrella! Gershom as been able to worship at a local church. There are fellowship groups in Wycliffe Hall College and the students and staff meet together for weekly communion services. We continue to pray that his time of study will be of great spiritual benefit. Rev’d Canon Gershom hopes to visit Ramsey in November. Richard and Gershom in Oxford

Andrew the student from Ridley Hall Theological College, Cambridge reported that he enjoyed his student placement at Kinyasano, Rukungiri. He was able to spend some time with Gershom and family too. He has sent us pictures of the school we would like to support. This is a secondary school which has very basic amenities. The main need is to complete the school hall and science laboratory building which currently only had its foundations laid. Although it is named Bishop’s School it is not actually a church property and is in great need of support. We feel our help would be a Christian witness in this area. Pilgrimage to Carrow Road I am sure you know Richard has been a life long supporter of Norwich City Football Club through thick and thin. He is planning to do a sponsored walk to raise money for Bishop’s School, walking from Ely Cathedral to Carrow Road Football ground, Norwich. Richard has started training under the guidance of our local gym. The Bishop of Huntingdon is going to send him on his way from the west door of Ely Cathedral with a prayer. Already one of the daily papers, The Cambridge News is interested in the story. Richard will probably do the walk next Spring, in stages of about fifteen miles a day. Please follow the blog he has started, which seems easiest to access through Google: www.walkforuganda.blogspot.com

Filed under: Church of England, World Development, mission

Ice cream evangelism

Young people in Coventry Diocese are opening an ice-cream parlour, to give away ice-creams and host events for young people in the area who fancy a fun flavour of Church life.

It’s part of the response to the Youth Evangelism Fund, in which young people bid for national money to put mission-minded ideas into practice.

Ely Diocese YPs have had a chance to bid this year and I’m waiting to see what they’ve come up with! Our new Youth Council meets at our place on Saturday so I should get a preview then.

Filed under: mission

New Fresh Expressions website

http://www.freshexpressions.org.uk/news/new-website-launched

A new Fresh Expressions website has been launched

This new site has been launched after a series of consultations and a major survey and we hope it will continue to be the first stop for anyone wanting to find out about the Fresh Expressions initiative and how they might be involved.

The new site is focussed around telling stories of fresh expressions which will give good examples of new forms of church and provide inspiration and share good practice. You can search the stories by location or by keyword or you can simply browse.

We’ve also updated the back end of the site to allow us to integrate more audio and video material and improve the layout and navigation. We’ve got a new media section and an area with ways you can get involved.

You’ll also still find lots of information about us as an organistion, about our training and events and our resources – purchasable from our improved shop.

Filed under: Church of England, Resources, mission , Fresh Expressions

Where you taking me?

When our eldest, Chris, was just a wee bairn, he would sit in his child seat in the back of the car and engage us in conversation. One comment that sticks in my mind was him saying, “Where oo taking me?”

As children and when we were are old – or when we are ill or become disabled – we know we have the experience of being taken places by others, and not always – say the scriptures – where we want to go. At best we may feel a loss of control and dignity.

In this bas relief from the former seminary at Merville the four evangelists are in a boat and a fifth figure is steering, and pointing them where to go. The caption on the stern post makes it clear that he is Jesus.

I wonder what thoughts the picture evokes in you? Try starting with the rather obvious fact that the rowers can’t see where they are going: they are being asked to work hard, but without either control of or direct knowledge about their journey, just attentively following the directions of Jesus. A metaphor for mission and ministry as we meet here in Merville?

Filed under: ministry, mission

Searching

I’ve just heard about an event called Search 09 in three villages near Trowbridge; Holt, Broughton Gifford and Great Chalfield.  What caught my eye was a prayer request for  the 40 – 50 people from the congregations who are each hosting a coffee party in their homes.  They have been asked not to invite any other church members but only outsiders.

Here’s what the Dog Collar Blog on the churches’ website says about the event:

Searching for Something

Everyone is searching for something; love, jobs, information, people, cars, houses, music, books, films, flats, classifieds and a lot of us use Google or some other search engine to help us. We are looking to improve on what we’ve got. For many of us, the basis of our search is the simple premise that there must be more to life than this!

Filed under: mission

Mission Possible: pictures prove it

The local charity Mission Possible ask us to pray for Jon Randall (I’ll be putting him in soon as vicar at Yaxley) and Richard Wallis as they prepare to speak at leadership conferences for rural pastors in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda October 19 to November 5.

Also for the distribution of three shipments of books safely arrived in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.; and of a book on leadership by Pastor Peter Kasirivu being published there which they have funded.

 

 

And as if that was not enough, pray too for their  new Broken Hearts Refuge home for women at risk in Bulgaria. With God’s grace, the building project progresses step by step.

Filed under: mission

Leadership for Mission

The Foundation for Church Leadership’s “Developing Leadership for Mission” event due to have been held on 22nd July 2009 in Ely has been rescheduled.

The new date and location is Tuesday 13th October 2009 at King’s College London (Strand Campus) 10:30 am to 3:30 pm

Les Oglesby and his team from Ely Diocese, whose work and research the new book and event draw on, and the Grubb Institute will be sharing their experiences as they grappled with the challenge of taking forward the Diocesan mission strategy and engaging clergy and laity throughout the Diocese. The focus of the event will be on:

How do we lead our mission strategy in a way which transforms?

Key themes which will be explored include:

- Aligning leadership development to mission
- Bringing the strategy to life
- Developing collaborative leadership teams
- Working with what emerges

The 13th October event will have an experiential element, co-created by The Grubb Institute and Ely, to provide an opportunity to explore these important issues in the light of your own experience and questions.

You can book your FREE place by email

Filed under: Events, mission , leadership. church