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Christmas bubbles: Between 23 & 27 December, people across England are allowed to form ‘Christmas bubbles’. There is no upper limit to the number of people who can be in a bubble, provided only three households are included. This means that for this five-day period it will be legal for groups larger than one household to attend church. Read the guidance
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Webinars on the Church’s Net Zero target
The Church of England Environment Programme has organised a series of webinars over this winter and spring 2021, exploring topics that contribute to the Church’s target of having ‘Net Zero’ carbon emissions by 2030. These webinars may help sow seeds in parishes about what you can do to contribute over the next decade.
The topics covered by the webinars include heating systems, lighting, solar generation, electric vehicle charging and – importantly – general housekeeping and ‘quick wins’. Find out more
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In brief ...
- Read a summary of the November meetings of the Diocesan Synod on the diocesan website.
- December's 'Baptism Books' resource to share with your families features activities and prayers around the book - Aliens in Underpants Save the World. Find out more about this resource
- Churches in Dudley are encouraged to get involved in the 'Fill your street with friendliness' campaign which will be launched by Dudley Council in the new year. Look out for more information soon and visit this website.
- Each Saturday at 10am during Advent the Cathedral Facebook page will feature a talk from one of the Cathedral clergy on our Kingdom People values. They will look at love, compassion, justice and freedom, and reflect on how these values shape our lives as Christians as we journey through Advent. Find out more
- Stanford on Teme Church in Teme Valley South and Holy Trinity in Wordsley are both running virtual Christmas tree festivals this year. Read more
- 4Front Theatre have put together an online advent calendar of short films for children which will be released each day. Have a look!
- If your parish has access to a multi-DVD burner or is considering getting one, please contact Sam in Communications.
- November's Church of England Digital Labs newsletter includes Comfort & Joy resources in the resource hub, ideas for your digital channels for Christmas & new webinars. Read it now.
- This case study explains how a church in Nottinghamshire went about the heritage engagement and interpretation for a National Heritage Lottery funded project.
- Read the latest Chaplaincy Everywhere newsletter
- Read the latest news from Dudley CVS
- The Bible Society is hosting An Invitation to Hope: Mission through Prayer and Lament on 9 February. Led by Christian leaders from multiple traditions and cultural spheres, we will spend time in lament, prayer and reflection, asking God what he is doing and how we can partner with him in a new wave of mission across our country. Find out more
- St Albans Diocese and Cathedral, along with Soul Survivor and Wade Brothers have produced a set of Nativity films and resources that will help you to celebrate the Hope of Christmas in whatever way you are able to this year, spreading hope and light, in a time of upheaval and change. See the resources
- The latest Parish Buying newsletter includes LED lights, a contactless payment unit giveaway, an update from Give A Little introducing monthly giving, and three simple ways for people to give to your church this Christmas. Read more
- General Synod member Robin Lunn, has produced this report on the November Synod.
- The Mothers' Union is taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge this year. All money donated through the Big Give website between noon 1st and noon 8th December will be doubled. Support the campaign
- A thank you from the charity Mission Morogoro. Read more
- Read the latest edition of the Quiet Garden Movement newsletter.
- ‘Advent Online’ is a library of shareable, adaptable, and faithful resources for parish clergy and parishioners to use both on and offline. Find out more
- Read the latest edition of Saltmine Theatre's newsletter.
- USPG's Christmas appeal is supporting Anglican Church to ensure children are born HIV free. Read more
- To mark Grief Awareness Week, six brave local people have shared their stories about what helped them with their grief. The films are being posted on the Dudley MBC and Let’s Get Facebook and Twitter accounts. Find resources to help with grief.
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Training Opportunities
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Receiving online donations
Tuesday 8 December, 11am
Every church can now have an on-line giving button on their website or ‘A Church Near You’ page.
To help you with this, the National Church are offering on-line giving webinars.
More information
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Life Events Diary webinars
The CofE's free Life Events Diary can really help churches get the most out of staying in touch with families and couples after a christening, wedding or funeral.
Free 60 minute webinars provide a chance to really get to grips with all the LED has to offer.
More information and book
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Vacancies
Click here to see the latest parish, diocesan and volunteering opportunities.
Please pray for those parishes who are currently in vacancy.
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Sermon Podcasts
Each week a sermon podcast is available to listen to and download. This may be particularly useful for clergy taking annual leave.
This week: Advent 2 : Laura Handy
Next week: Advent 3: Jonathan Kimber |
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Video Reflections
Each week we produce a short video from senior Clergy and Diocesan staff. These cover a range of topics and themes and are published on the website and all diocesan social media channels. |
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Our clergy are amazing, but COVID-19 means we need help to continue to meet the costs of their stipends.
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Please continue to support your local church as your first priority.
However, if in addition to this, you are able to give to the ‘Diocese of Worcester Ministry Fund’, your donation will be used to help pay for our clergy now and in the coming months.
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