Welcome to Enews+ for December 5
The latest resources, important information and more.
This is for all clergy, Churchwardens, Treasurers and PCC Secretaries, and is your chance to find out what is going on….
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From the Desk of the Diocesan Secretary
New from Church House
Energy Grants
Property Team
- Property Information update
Finance Team
Children, Young People and Families Team
- Resourcing and supporting parishes
- Calling Messy Church Teams
- Staying connected
Church Buildings and Pastoral Reorganisation Team
- Energy costs and health and safety
- Understanding Health & Safety Responsibilities for Churches
Lay Training Team
- Rhythm of Life Lent course
- Rhythm of Life Get Started session
- Lay training courses
Environment Team
- Training for your would-be Parish Environment Officer
Stewardship and Income Generation Team
- Money for Mission: Issue 40
Safeguarding Team
- 16 Days of Activism - It's Not Just Black Eyes and Bruises
Candles in the Dark - LyCiG event
Resources
Vacancies
Other Useful Links and Information
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From the Desk of the Diocesan Secretary |
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Dear all,
Luke 1: 13: 'But the Angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.”'
As part of my Advent reading earlier this week I was struck by this verse in Luke’s Gospel. The John the Baptist part of the story has often seemed to me quite outcome focused, in that it's about John, and not about Elizabeth and Zechariah.
But the words of the angel saying, "your prayer has been heard", caused me to pause and reflect afresh on both the faithfulness of Elizabeth and Zechariah in continuing to seek God in prayer, and the goodness of God in that He hears our prayers.
I know that for everyone reading this bulletin there will be a million and one things to do over the coming three weeks, and so we will seek to keep our communications as minimal as possible. But we will also be praying for you, and doing so in confidence that those prayers will be heard.
On behalf of all us at Church House may I wish you a very happy Christmas.
Jonathan
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The Energy grant money will be transferred to benefices in the next week. We have now worked through all the additional applications for support and have validated all the bank details. |
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Property Information update |
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Our latest Property Information update can be found here, with information on:
- Gutters
- Condensation
- Energy Conservation
- Hardship Funds
- Emergency Contacts
To ensure that any queries are dealt with as efficiently as possible, we ask that all communications to Property are directed through the following email address: property@leeds.anglican.org.
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The cut-off date for 2022 Parish Share payments will be 5pm on Friday, January 6, 2023. Please ensure your payment reaches us by this time to be counted towards your 2022 account.
As always, thank you and your church community for your Parish Share.
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Resourcing and supporting parishes |
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Calling Messy Church Teams |
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Our project to support Messy Churches to grow and flourish in their contexts will begin later next term and we would love to hear from you if you’re interested in learning more. Please email childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org to register your interest.
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If you would like to receive the Children, Young People and Family Team newsletter, please subscribe to the Digital Learning Platform here and be sure to tick the ‘Children & Youth’ and ‘Sign me up’ boxes! In addition we host a Facebook group for anyone involved in children, young people and family ministry where people share details of events, resources, activities and training and also ask questions, debate ideas and learn together. As always, if you require any specific help or information, please do contact us on childrenyouth@leeds.anglican.org.
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Energy costs and health and safety |
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Many of us are making difficult choices this winter about how we might reduce energy costs in our homes, and we face similar challenges for our church buildings. The good news is, that there are various things that can be done to reduce energy needs, without causing too much disruption. The church buildings team has worked with Wellsprings Together to produce a cost of living toolkit which can be accessed here, and there are presentations available on the diocesan website from recent training given by the church buildings and stewardship officers.
There are also some really useful and user-friendly guidance notes and videos on the Church of England’s website, accessible here and here.
Also, a friendly reminder to ensure you keep up with maintenance of your church buildings and church halls, including having professional gutters clearing carried out after the autumn leaf fall. Water and damp getting into your building will make it colder and more expensive to heat. More on this can be found here.
With the approach of wetter and frostier weather, also make sure that your health and safety plans are up-to-date, as trips and slips can be more frequent in this weather.
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Understanding Health & Safety Responsibilities for Churches |
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Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 2pm - 3pm; Church House, in-person session
Heather Ford, Church Insurance Consultant with Ecclesiastical will be leading this session on Health & Safety. Using easy to understand language, it will explain why managing health and safety effectively is important, provide an overview of health & legislation relevant to churches and offer a step by step guide and the tools to enable churches to feel more confident in managing their health and safety responsibilities.
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Rhythm of Life Lent course |
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The course explores Lenten themes, combined with some key issues, including poverty, racism and the environment. Sessions will provide an opportunity to engage with the Rhythm of Life areas for deepening commitment: praying, encouraging, sharing, reflecting, celebrating, resting and creating.
The course consists of five sessions and can be run in-person (using video clips) or on Zoom. Download the flyer here.
For those wanting to take their engagement with the Rhythm of Life further, there will also be Episcopal Area retreats taking place during Lent.
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Rhythm of Life Get Started session |
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Tuesday, January 17, 2023, 7.30pm - 8.30pm, online
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A morning for new and continuing Parish Disability Reps and for those who considering the role and wanting to find out more.
A day course for clergy and laity to develop their understanding of how to avoid unconscious bias ad to make the church more welcoming for everyone.
A Diocesan Lay Pathway for lay people who are unable to commit to becoming Licensed Lay Ministers but still feel called to a preaching ministry on an occasional basis. Please note that applications for this course must be received by 12 noon on Wednesday, December 21, 2022.
A 10-session course which aims to encourage confidence and skill in anyone who worships in the diocese of Leeds and is interested in providing pastoral care and support to others.
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Training for your would-be Parish Environment Officer |
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Do you have a volunteer who needs upskilling to help your church navigate carbon net zero, biodiversity in the churchyard or the Eco Church award scheme? The new Saving Creation ministry pathway of environmental enabling will be running the 8 session Saving Creation Silver (Parish Environment Officer) course from Wednesday, January 18, 7pm - 9pm online.
Who in your parish could benefit from this training? Details can be found here.
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Money for Mission: Issue 40 |
The December edition (Issue 40) of Money for Mission is out now. In this edition, read about Generous Christmas Resources, saving energy and money on your church heating and much more
- Thinking About Generosity.....
- Generous Christmas Resources
- Parish Share Communications
- Free Wills from the Church of England
- Reducing Your Church Energy Bills
- Create a Christmas Background for Contactless Device
- One-off Giving with the PGS
- Diocesan Grants' Scheme 2023
If you would like to receive Money for Mission directly, you can sign up for direct mailing by clicking the link in the newsletter.
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16 Days of Activism - It's Not Just Black Eyes and Bruises |
The Church of England is supporting the international campaign for 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence, as newly released figures show that there has been a 37 percent increase in reports of domestic abuse to diocesan safeguarding advisers over the past three years.
We would also like to remind you of our excellent on-line Raising Awareness of Domestic Violence E-learning which can be accessed here. If you have not already registered with the Church of England Safeguarding Training Portal, you will be asked to register before being directed to the online courses. Please also see our other available courses here.
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Candles in the Dark - LyCiG event |
Sunday, February 5, 2023, 6pm; Bradford Cathedral
Every church a beacon, every one of us a candle.
A celebration of worship, inspiration and encouragement for everyone who wants to see their church growing, with the Rt Revd Sophie Jelley, Bishop of Doncaster.
'Candles in the Dark' is organised by the diocesan LyCiG team.
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The Diocese of Leeds has launched its resources to help churches reach carbon net zero by 2030, 'Saving Creation: Strategic Action to Combat Climate Change'. These include a video, toolkit, and case studies, with more to come. Read more here.
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Following a series of difficult Christmases, churches across the Church of England are hoping that 2022 offers a chance to welcome people back to services and events that haven’t been possible recently with the Great Invitation. Discover resources to invite your community back to church this Christmas. Read more here.
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Christmas is a time of remarkable generosity. God gave the most generous gift of all when he sent Jesus to us as a baby. It’s also the time when friends and neighbours who don’t normally come to church will do so. Visit this link to find out how to make giving easy with QR codes and Online & Contactless Giving. You can also download a Generosity Logo to use on your posters and newsletters.
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The latest edition of the Prayer Diary is now online to download.There are fresh prayers for Sudan as well as prayers for Tanzania. Download prayers here.
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The Diocese of Leeds is embarking on an exciting programme of transformation which seeks to support and enable our 600 churches to move forward in their mission to be good news in their communities. Barnabas: Encouraging Confidence will use data in an evermore sophisticated and humane way to help us identify where support can be most effectively targeted, and how we can improve our use of resources. Find out more here.
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We are seeking a project support worker who will help us to make the promise of our Barnabas: Encouraging Confidence programme a reality for our diverse churches. Our diocesan vision is to see confident Christians, growing churches, transforming communities. Barnabas: Encouraging Confidence is an holistic, targeted programme of support for our churches, offering resource across seven key themes. We are looking for someone who is able to work relationally and in detail so that the support we have available is matched to churches. They will be a person who has strong interpersonal skills, experienced at working with volunteers, who is able to work at pace alongside a fast moving team. Find out more here.
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For all vacancies across the diocese please follow the links below:
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Other Useful Links & Information |
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For safeguarding issues, contact our advisers on:
Carla Darbyshire - Safeguarding Team Leader
Jenny Leccardi - Safeguarding Adviser
Narinder Lyon - Safeguarding Adviser
Nikki Rose - Assistant Safeguarding Adviser
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Moves and Appointments
Revd Chris Enwerem to be Priest in Charge of St Michael’s Shelf with St Aidan’s Buttershaw (0.5) and Associate Leader (0.5) of Fountains Church (Bradford EA)
Revd Dr Tracey Raistrick to be Minister Among Deaf People in the Diocese of Leeds
Revd Chris Balding to be Vicar of Wortley and Farnley (Leeds EA)
Revd Bob Shrine has been granted Permission to Officiate in the Diocese of Leeds
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The Who's Who directory lists clergy & diocesan staff (email addresses & phone numbers). Access it here
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Contact us with your news |
Please contact the Communications Team with your news so we can share it with the wider diocese. Our regular Enews is published twice a month. Area news stories to enews@leeds.anglican.org
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Follow us on Social Media |
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© Anglican Diocese of Leeds, 2022
Church House, 17-19 York Place, Leeds, LS1 2EX
0113 200 0540
Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not necessarily represent those of the Leeds Diocesan Board of Finance
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