Prayer Spaces in Schools'
‘Prayer Spaces In Schools’ are enabling children to explore faith and spirituality in a safe, creative and interactive way. In the UK, prayer spaces are spreading fast. Schools and youth workers say these creative, prayer/reflective spaces provide simple effective ways to communicate and to welcome young people into experiences of Christian faith. Teachers say prayer spaces fit well with different curriculum areas - R.E. and Citizenship being the most obvious but not the only ones. There were 6 prayer spaces in 2008, 12 in 2009, 48 in 2010 and 92 in 2011. There are others known about but not officially recorded. A Conference in London promoting Prayer Spaces in Schools attracted 110 teachers, schools and youth workers; and there were training events in Aberdeen and Belfast that helped speed up the spread of prayer spaces in Scotland and Ireland.
Praise: God for the growing number of prayer spaces being hosted in schools, and may He continue to anoint organisers as they develop new resources in 20212 (Ps.8:2)
More: http://www.prayerspacesinschools.com/news/item/reflecting-on-2011-looking-into-2012
Prayer Spaces in Schools'
‘Prayer Spaces In Schools’ are enabling children to explore faith and spirituality in a safe, creative and interactive way. In the UK, prayer spaces are spreading fast. Schools and youth workers say these creative, prayer/reflective spaces provide simple effective ways to communicate and to welcome young people into experiences of Christian faith. Teachers say prayer spaces fit well with different curriculum areas - R.E. and Citizenship being the most obvious but not the only ones. There were 6 prayer spaces in 2008, 12 in 2009, 48 in 2010 and 92 in 2011. There are others known about but not officially recorded. A Conference in London promoting Prayer Spaces in Schools attracted 110 teachers, schools and youth workers; and there were training events in Aberdeen and Belfast that helped speed up the spread of prayer spaces in Scotland and Ireland.
Praise: God for the growing number of prayer spaces being hosted in schools, and may He continue to anoint organisers as they develop new resources in 20212 (Ps.8:2)
More: http://www.prayerspacesinschools.com/news/item/reflecting-on-2011-looking-into-2012
50 Norwich churches to join in unity prayer
Members from around 50 churches across greater Norwich will be forming an annual chain of prayer at St Luke’s Chapel in Norwich Cathedral on Thursday January 19 to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Other churches and Christians are invited to join, said organiser Graham Fletcher, and help form the chain of prayer for Christian unity. The allotted times shown on the link are designed to ensure that the chain is unbroken, but everyone is welcome to join in the prayers at any time during the day.
Praise: God for this work of unity among the Norwich churches and pray that other towns would follow these moves to unity.(Jn.17:23)
More: http://www.networknorwich.co.uk/Articles/294733/Network_Norwich_and_Norfolk/Partners/Transforming_
50 Norwich churches to join in unity prayer
Members from around 50 churches across greater Norwich will be forming an annual chain of prayer at St Luke’s Chapel in Norwich Cathedral on Thursday January 19 to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Other churches and Christians are invited to join, said organiser Graham Fletcher, and help form the chain of prayer for Christian unity. The allotted times shown on the link are designed to ensure that the chain is unbroken, but everyone is welcome to join in the prayers at any time during the day.
Praise: God for this work of unity among the Norwich churches and pray that other towns would follow these moves to unity.(Jn.17:23)
More: http://www.networknorwich.co.uk/Articles/294733/Network_Norwich_and_Norfolk/Partners/Transforming_
Consultation on Freedom of Speech
The Home Office is currently consulting on whether to remove the word ‘insulting’ from section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986. This consultation is extremely important because a number of Christians, including street preachers, have been arrested under section 5. It represents a continuing threat to freedom of speech and the word needs to be removed to prevent further persecution of Christian evangelism on our streets. The Home Office consultation on police powers to promote and maintain public order closes on Friday 13th January 2012
Pray: for every detail of this consultation to be resolved according to God’s purposes for Britain. (Ps.2:8)
More: http://www.christianconcern.com/sites/default/files/Section%205%20Consultation%20response.pdf
‘Religious literacy’ lacking in public life
Britain’s Christian heritage is no longer understood in the ‘corridors of power’. The Rt Revd Michael Nazir-Ali made the comments as he reflected on the Prime Minister’s recent speech on the place of the Bible and Christianity in national life. While the Bishop welcomed much of what David Cameron said he cautioned that religious literacy is an issue in the Civil Service, Parliament and local authorities. He said: ‘What Mr Cameron said about Christian ideas being embedded in our constitutional arrangements is no longer understood in the corridors of power. ‘A disconnected view of history and the fog of multiculturalism have all but erased such memory from official consciousness. A concerted programme is needed if this literacy is to be recovered. Church leaders can help, but this has to do with the place of Christianity in schools, and the teaching of history. Education on citizenship cannot ignore the fact that our cherished values have biblical roots.’
Pray: for a renewed understanding of the Christian context of public life in the UK. (Dt.27:10)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/religious-literacy-lacking-in-public-life-bishop-warns/
Critics blame tax system for number of single parents
More British children are being raised in one-parent families than in any other major European country because the tax and benefit system ‘encourages transient shack-ups’. One in five British children live with a single mother or father. This figure is some 35 per cent higher than in Germany and 50 per cent higher than in France. Researcher and author Patricia Morgan points out that these are the countries whose tax and benefits systems reward parents who stay together. She said: ‘You can look at these figures and see immediately which countries help couples through tax and benefits. In France, people get help if they draw up legal family contracts. In Germany, Holland and Italy, married people get tax relief and tax relief for children.’ Recent studies highlight that a child brought up by one parent is much more likely to underachieve at school and grow up to suffer drug, alcohol, behavioural and employment problems.
Pray: that the government would look again at the benefits of marriage support. (Pr.27:12)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/critics-blame-tax-system-for-number-of-single-parents/
Grim predictions for UK family finances
Grim predictions for UK family finances up to 2015 are revealed in new evidence produced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) for the Family and Parenting Institute (FPI), published yesterday. The report says the median income among families with children is projected to fall between 2010 and 2015 by 4.2 per cent. For a couple with two children this equates to £1,250 less a year by 2015. Families with children aged under five, families with more than two children, and lone parent families not in paid work will bear the biggest financial pain in years ahead, says the research. The report, is the first to reveal the prospects for poverty rates and income for different family types up to the year 2015. Dr Katherine Rake, Chief Executive of the FPI, commented: ‘These figures reveal the full extent to which families with children are shouldering the burden of austerity.
Pray: for the Government to ensure there are proper safeguards to protect the most vulnerable from the more serious effects of the austerity measures. (Ps.83:3)
Chaplains of the Armed Forces
There are over 450 Service Chaplains both full and part time attached to ships, units and stations, at home and abroad, ministering to Service personnel and their families. Some deploy to operational theatres such as Afghanistan and other areas of the world, others remain based at home. They spend time with service personnel and their families wherever they may be. They all offer spiritual and moral support and guidance, they live in the same conditions and share the same dangers and stress as all service personnel. They visit the sick, injured and bereaved and spend time with those who may have been involved in a variety of traumas. The demands on the Chaplains continues to increase and yet at the forefront of the ministry is prayer and worship.
Pray: for Chaplains in what can be a demanding and increasingly busy and challenging role. For spiritual wisdom, guidance, the right words, encouragement and that the Holy Spirit would continue to refresh and replenish them. For civilian clergy to offer themselves for ministry in the Royal Navy, Army or Royal Airforce. (Col.4:2-6)
Human Trafficking in Olympic year
The 2012 Games are likely to be a key target for criminal gangs who will look to take advantage of a larger than usual number of visitors heading to the UK. In July Theresa May launched a human trafficking strategy and started working with other countries to combat the expected increase in human trafficking in the British Isles in the run up to the Games. Police estimated that 2,600 people were trafficked for sexual exploitation alone in 2009 and fear around 300 children are smuggled in to the UK every year. Anti-trafficking campaigners are saying, ‘Human trafficking may increase during the 2012 Olympic
Games in London because of a heightened demand for sexual services and cheap labour,’ and Bex Keer of Stop the Traffik said, ‘There is always talk around any big sporting event of how it increases the demand for trafficking victims, whether that’s for sexual exploitation, forced labour or street begging and crime.’
Pray: for unity between experts in the fields of clubs and vice, human trafficking, immigration and crime, as they work together to powerfully to eliminate human trafficking. (Ps.29:11)