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NATIONAL URBAN MISSION CONFERENCE ADELAIDE SEPTEMBER 24-26 2013
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the Visit of Dr Chris Baker of the William Temple Foundation
This UPDATE will keep you in touch as we finalise the details of the September-October 2013 Australian visit of Dr Chris Baker of the William Temple Foundation, Chester UK. The visit of Chris is being organised by a number of groups and churches and these include the Urban Mission Network (UCA SA), Uniting Communities, SA Council of Churches and several UC congregations in association with Pilgrim Church as the host congregation. |
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NETWORK RESOURCES
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Congregation size.. implications and insights?
Over the past twenty years researchers have studied the way congregations of different sizes respond to ministry opportunities and manage their tasks. Some small or neighbourhood congregations work like an extended family, others with larger memberships need to manage change and communication differently. |
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NETWORK NEWS
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Congregations of the Urban Mission Network gathered at Morialta on Thursday 24th May. The focus was Church and Community: |
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As the season of Lent opened, the season of Network Gatherings for 2012 began.
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Modbury and Para Vista congregations treated us to a feast that included worship and hospitality, friendship and fellowship, information, and encouragement and concluded with Candlelight Reflections, a quiet space among the flickering candles to contemplate matters of the soul. |
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RESOURCING URBAN MISSION 2012-2014
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Pilgrim Church in cooperation with the Urban Mission Network and other agencies is planning a series of events over the next three years to help churches reflect on the ministry implications of the emerging post secular city. |
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Urban Mission Network 2011 Report
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2011 has been a year of welcome and affirmation in the Urban Mission Network. |
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Action Research Project: Ministry with Seniors
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We are pleased to report that Pilgrim has appointed Lynne Taylor as the coordinator of the Seniors Research Project. Lynne will be working on the basis of one day a week and is looking forward to hearing from members and others in the wider community about their experiences of transition into retirement and the possibilities for developing social support groups based at Pilgrim. |
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Report for Western Region Study for UCA
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The reports emanating from this research project have been produced from conversations with fifteen (15) congregation leaders from fourteen (14) congregations and are summarised under five major headings – background, community context, strengths, challenges and opportunities.
To Download the report click here |
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Some thoughts about Healing by Rev Leanne
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When I was a thirteen I was in church one morning listening to a woman tell the children’s talk. Right in the middle of the story she stopped and slumped forward. It took everyone a moment to realize that something was wrong. |
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Pastoral Practice in the Urban Mission Network
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In this initial phase of the new structures the Network has developed a number of supplementary pastoral practices that are now part of the annual calendar. There is a study conference late in the year that focuses on the lectionary readings for the subsequent year, annual retreat held early in the year and two lunch time occasions when ministers, students and retired minister meet socially and catch up. |
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Centre for Music, Liturgy and the Arts established at Brougham Place
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Dr Virgil Howard, Professor of New Testament at Perkins School of Theology, was an exceptional teacher whose wisdom stretched well beyond the classroom. He told the story of when his wife died. They were young and had very small children. He was inconsolable. He knew he needed to have the strength to carry on and raise their children but he didn’t know where to turn. A friend gave him an album. It was all opera. He had never enjoyed opera, never really listened to it. But there in the lamenting tones, in the unsuppressed emotion of the music, Dr Howard was able to take solace. Music brought him healing when nothing else could. |
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What is church? From Peter Trudinger
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What is church? In my early university days, I discovered the art work of M.C. Escher, a Dutch artist who delighted in producing images that confused the mind through subtle transitions from one perspective to another. Each small segment made sense, the total image contained mysterious contradictions. |
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What does it mean to minister to our neighbourhood?
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People make up their minds about our congregation if the first six minutes. Not long is it, considering that the six minutes includes any encounters they make between parking the car and walking in the door!
Hear Rev Rob Stoner’s wisdom on connecting to our neighbourhood through one (or more) mission activities through which congregation members are in relationship to those beyond the church in ways that give expression to the presence of the reign of God and through providing those qualities and activities which people are looking for when they come to us. Audio and Power Point Presentation can be down loaded from the “Reports & Presentations” page. |
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