Diocese of Coventry eBulletin

Get ready for Christmas on A Church Near You A Church Near You received more than 77 million page views nationally last year and 81 per cent were first-time visitors. Many of these people will have been looking to visit a local church over Christmas – make sure they can find out what your church is doing. Add your Advent and Christmas events to A Church Near You as early as possible so people can start to find them. Make sure you also tag your services and events with ‘Christmas’, ‘Advent’ and ‘Christmas carols’ and any of the other related tags as appropriate. This will ensure that visitors will find the services and events they are looking for. Read more

The Equip Hub The Online Learning Platform from the Diocese of Coventry. Once you've signed up, this email will contain personalised recommendations for topics you are interested in exploring.     Sign Up Now

Online BCDM Course - Advent The BCDM Advent course is now available online! This is an interactive course designed for you to complete independently online – you can dip in and out of the course whenever you like, at your own convenience and you can take as much time as you like to do the course. What’s the point of Advent? Is it just the run up to Christmas or is there more? Come and join us this Advent as we rediscover the deep wisdom of this season and how themes of coming, waiting and expectation are presented in the Bible. Uncover the true meaning of Advent and how it characterises our life all the way through the year. Sign up now

Advent Retreat Come and join Richard Cooke along with Jen and James from the Serving Christ team, as we take time to rest in God’s presence and reflect on themes of waiting and being, at the beginning of Advent. This event is designed to be a time of peace at the beginning of what is for many in church a very busy season of serving others. This is a time of Being to prepare ourselves for all of the Doing. It is taking pace on Thursday 2nd December, from 9:30am – 2:30pm at All Saints Church Allesley, CV5 9EQ. The cost of the retreat is £5. Refreshments and Lunch provided Sign up now

Children in the Lead Thursday 20th January, 7.30-9.00pm: Growing Faith workshop Children and young people are not just the future of the church. They are already on a spiritual journey and are forming their ideas of faith and the church through their experiences. This means they are also our ‘now’, so how do we journey alongside children and young people hearing their voices, offering them leadership and growing in faith together? This workshop will be focussing on three ways we can support our children and young people to: Lead in worship with others (e.g. services, collective worship, family devotions) Develop a faith they own. Have a voice in decisions and direction. Throughout the workshop April Gold and Anna Naish from the Growing Faith team will be sharing principles and ideas for how this might look at home, in school and in church. Please note our aim is not that you go away with lots of new things to start but that we explore what the next step or shift is for you. This workshop is on Zoom and is open to anyone who wants to think about how they can help children to grow in leadership and faith in school, church or at home. Do share the link to register to anyone you think may be interested. Sign up now

Everyday Faith at Work Monday 29th November, 7.30pm How do we live out God’s call for us in our workplace? God is at work in your workplace. We want to affirm, inspire and equip you to join in with what God is doing there. Whatever your job, senior or junior, part time or full time, paid or voluntary, desk, factory or field, we would love you to join us. This term our Everyday Faith workshops will be looking at how we include God in our rest, work and play. These workshops are aimed at anyone who wants to help connect their day to day life with their faith. These workshops are run by members of the Serving Christ Project (Jen Stewart, Matt Jermyn, Gareth Fitzpatrick and Anna Naish). Click here to watch a video of Gareth Fitzpatrick talking more about this event. Sign up now

Advent 2021 Resources Advent is such an exciting time in the Calendar of Christian worship; as we prepare in heart, mind and spirit for the coming of Jesus – our Saviour and Redeemer. This year, we want everyone to be able to join in the celebration and reflection. To experience the mystery and the beauty. And that is why we are creating a fully customizable 9 Lessons and Carol service for you to download for free, to use, watch and most importantly share with others. Whether you are a church struggling to find musicians to play at your carol service, but still want to host one; A Care Home, School, or Prison Chaplaincy who want to host a time of Worship and Celebration together; Or an individual who can’t get out to attend a Carol Service in person, this year; We are creating a variety of videos, audio and printable resources to suit your context and your needs. Read more

Diocesan news Ansley Church Christmas Tree Festival 2021 The 16th festival will be ‘almost’ back to normal. Commencing Saturday 4th December open each weekend until Christmas. Saturdays 11 a.m. & 5 p.m. Sundays 12 noon – 6 p.m. Hot drinks and mince pies available from the annexe. Admission £2.00, accompanied children under 12 free. In aid of Church funds, with donation to Mary Ann Evans Hospice. With Remembrance Tree, Prayer Tree and candles to light. The crib on the altar reminds us that the gift to mankind of the baby Jesus is the true meaning of Christmas. The satellite before Christmas 4Front Theatre presents this fun show for all the family on Saturday 4th December, 10am at St Mark’s, Coventry. Did you know, that there are currently 3000 dead satellites orbiting the Earth, and plenty more space junk clogging up Earth’s orbit? With all that mess up there, someone should really do something to sort it out. Join Larry and Tim for laughter, songs, fun and festive silliness as they prepare for an out-of-this-world Christmas party. But will the discovery of a strange glowing space rock ruin all their Christmas plans? For more information, click here. Hope4Business By arrangement with the Dean and the Bishop of Coventry, you are warmly invited to join us at Coventry Cathedral on Wednesday 19th January 2022 at 6:30 pm. Hope4Business is open to all Christian business leaders, regardless of their church or denomination, who would like to seek afresh God’s exciting purposes for their working lives. It will feature Bible readings, Worship, Testimonials and a keynote speech from Richard Higginson, founder and chairman of Faith in Business. For more information, click here. Advent Journey with Coffee Shop Sunday This beautifully designed Christmas prayer booklet has been written by 39 co-authors across four Continents and is intended as a prayer gift over Advent. To view the prayer booklet, click here. Advent Wreath Festival The church  of St John the Baptist on Fleet St, Coventry, has been an Icon of the city centre community since the mid fourteenth century. This weekend, the 27th and 28th of November, the church will be hosting an Advent Wreath Festival. This will be the first time for such an event to be held in the city and they hope that it will prove an attraction for local people and visitors. The wreaths are themed and colour coordinated according to the sponsor or community group who made them and will be hung around the church. There will be an Advent celebration, an Icon display, acoustic singing from two choirs, music Interludes, a festive raffle and there will be a small number of stalls with selected foods and gifts. The church hall will be open for refreshments on Saturday. Christmas Charity Concert All Saints Church, Leamington Hastings are hosting this Christmas Charity Concert on 4th December at 7:30pm in aid of Myton Hospice and The Friends of All Saints Church It will be an evening of Christmas music performed by The Chamber Choir of Warwick. Parking and festive refreshments included. Tickets cost £15 and can be purchased by emailing friendsofallsaintslh@gmail.com Gala Organ Performance by David Briggs David Briggs will be playing a gala organ performance at Coventry Cathedral on 27 November at 7:30pm to launch the Cathedral’s Organ Restoration Appeal. Known for his unbridled virtuosity and passion for making organ music vibrant and accessible to a wide and diverse audience, David is one of the most sought after concert organists of his generation.   This will be a spectacular evening of music on the Cathedral’s magnificent and world-famous instrument. David Briggs will play music by Bach, Widor, Ravel and Vaughan Williams, as well as an improvisation. There will also be a masterclass free to the public from 3-4:30pm where David will coach three advanced organ students. For more information, click here.   December 2021 Prayer Diary The December 2021 Prayer Diary is now available to be viewed and downloaded on the diocesan website. Click here.

Diocesan Vacancies Church Administrator - St John the Evangelist Kenilworth St. John the Evangelist Church Kenilworth is looking for a dynamic Church Administrator. The primary purpose of the role is to facilitate the day-to-day administrative operations of the church. The Church administrator is the first point of contact for those making enquires and will be responsible for maintaining and updating Church records. The successful candidate will have excellent communication skills and be confident in handling computer systems for communication, record keeping and basic bookkeeping. The Church administrator will work closely with the clergy and other members of the small staff team and the Churchwardens. This is a part-time role of 30 hours per week with a salary of £17000-£19000 per annum. For more information, click here. Volunteer Coordinator - Coventry Cathedral This is an exciting time to join Coventry Cathedral. As Coventry embraces its identity as UK City of Culture 2021 and as we approach our Diamond Jubilee in 2022, the Volunteers Coordinator appointment offers an opportunity to support and coordinate the volunteer experience of the Cathedral for a new generation who love the building but may not know its story or its significance. The Volunteers Coordinator will have experience of delivery outstanding customer service and be confident coordinating a wide team of volunteers. They will also act as the main point for volunteer department heads, as well as champion and manage the volunteer policy through all aspects of the volunteer lifecycle. This is a part-time role of 17.5 hours per week (permanent) with a salary of  £8751 per annum. For more information, click here. Click here to submit an article for inclusion in the eBulletin