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Dear Guest,
We’re talking Lent at the moment and enjoying one another’s stories. Anna gave up jam as a child…because she didn’t like it, Ryan used it as an opportunity to explore vegetarianism…until a bacon sandwich on Easter Sunday, and Rob – as an 8 year old – gave up eating sweets for Lent, and carefully saved up all the sweets he was offered or entitled to, and ate the lot at Easter.
We often use Lent as a time to ‘give things up’ or ‘take things up’ that are good for our body, our wellbeing or our world. Whatever we choose to do (or not do) during Lent, we can use it to grow closer to God. Perhaps you’ve chosen to take on a new spiritual practice, use the time gained from turning off the TV to pray or listen to worship songs as you litter pick.
How can Lent be a time of reflection, renewal and deepening your connection with God?
The Equip Hub Team
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Equip Hub Lent Series 2025 – Living Hope
This Lent, Equip Hub’s Lent Series will explore the same themes as the Church of England’s Lent Reflections – ‘Living Hope’. Our series of 45 minute Zoom gatherings, will complement the resources produced by the National Church, including a booklet and daily reflections.
The ‘Living Hope’ weekly zoom gathering, hosted by Anna Naish and Rob Harrison, will provide opportunity to reflect together with others on the day to day challenges and benefits of living in hope.
These will take place from 8.00pm to 8.45pm, on Thursdays from 13th March, and include contributions from a different guest each week.
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Lenten Wordsearch – Just for fun
Have a go at this short online Wordsearch. The words are common things that are either given up or taken on for Lent
Can you find them all??
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Spring Eco Church Evening 2025
The Diocesan Environment Group welcome you to join them online to find out about the new Eco Church Survey, what grants there are to help and other news, support and initiatives there are in 2025.
Wednesday 2nd April 2025, 7:30pm-9pm, On Zoom
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Christian Worship through the Ages aims to explore how Christian worship has developed and been experienced through nearly two thousand years of history. From post-Apostolic Roman Christianity, through the Middle Ages, the Reformation and into the Modern era, this course allows us to explore and experience together the riches of our Christian worship legacy.
Over 5 weeks, we will explore how Christians in different eras have responded to the call to praise God and proclaim the Gospel in their own contexts. Key questions we will tackle are, how did development in theological thinking and political history shape Christian worship? What might we learn about our own worship from those who have gone before? What might the worship of the future look like in a technological age?
Wednesdays 5th March – 2nd April 2025, 7pm – 9pm, St. George’s, Rugby.
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Upcoming Courses & Events
Click the titles of any of the below courses and events to read more about it.
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It is helpfully said that children and young people are not the church of tomorrow; they are part of the church of today. Whether or not our church currently has children or young people attending regularly, it is important that we ensure that our worship is welcoming and engaging for them in their own right.
The ways that families with children and young people engage with church has changed over recent decades. This session will consider ways to enable children and young people to be actively involved in our current worship, and simple ways to adapt our current worship to be more engaging young Christians
Thursday 13th March, 2pm – 4.30pm, Holy Trinity, Attleborough
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We all want to engage with our communities, yet is this harder than it sounds? During this workshop we will consider several questions: What do we mean by community engagement? Who and where are our communities? Do we have more than one community? Where do we start…who are our volunteers… do we have the skills…do they even want us! And crucially where do we get the money from?
In this session, led by Linda MacDermott, we will each bring and share our knowledge, thoughts, questions and experience.
Tuesday 8th April, 2pm – 4.30pm, St Peter’s, Wellesbourne.
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Preaching isn’t just about talking to people but helping them to include themselves in the message.
This session will explore techniques and ideas for actively engaging the congregation in a sermon, and consider the sermon as a learning experience rather than a teaching opportunity.
Wednesday 9th April, 7pm – 9pm, Holy Trinity church, Leamington Spa.
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Faith is about our whole lives not just about Sunday mornings at church or Tuesday nights at Messy church. Yet, parents, grandparents and other carers do not always feel confident in talking about faith, praying or worshipping together.
This session will help you think about your ministry space (church, schools, community etc) and how you can help families to take faith home, to share with one another and to grow in confidence. There may be big things to consider, but often small actions and changes can have a big impact!
Monday 28th April, 7pm – 9pm, St Stephens’s Church, Canley.
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Who comes to mind when you think of women in the Bible? Is it Ruth, Sarah, Rahab, perhaps an unnamed servant or someone else?
There are so many women within the Old Testament; some are part of a long narrative, a couple have a book named after them, while others remain nameless despite their significant roles.
Over five weeks we will delve into the lives of some of these women, where they come in the biblical narrative, how their experiences & actions shaped the Bible and how they impact our own perspectives.
5 Wednesday sessions starting 30th April, 9:30am – 11am on Zoom.
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When churches and schools have a positive relationship, everyone benefits. This session will look at the breadth of ways we can develop positive relationships with children, families and staff. It will look at the impact these relationships can have on staff wellbeing, opportunities to be involved with the school and children exploring faith..
This session will be led by April Gold and Anna Naish.
Monday 12th May 2025, 7pm – 9pm, St Mary’s Church, Walsgrave
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A eulogy is an emotional part of a funeral service. It is the part where we share about the person who has died and who they were during their lifetime. It can feel daunting to write one whether you knew the person well or whether you only knew of them once they had died.
This session will be led by Anne Richards and Jo King. Anne and Jo both have a lot of experience of leading funerals and writing eulogies. They will be sharing their experiences to help you think about how to ask the right questions and to write a personalised eulogy.
Wednesday 14th May 2025, 7-9pm, St Mary’s Chuch, Cubbington
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This session will help you explore how we approach disagreement personally and how that may affect the conversation. We will also look at some key thoughts to keep in mind in the midst of a difficult conversation to engage in a helpful and honest way.
This session is designed for anyone; you might have a specific role in your church, work or community where there is potential for disagreement or you may be thinking more personally of friends, family and people you come across in your day to day life.
Monday 19th May 2025, 7pm-9pm, Kineton Primary School,, Kineton, Warwick.
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Boost your knowledge about climate crisis and find out how you can help to care for God’s creation. Be inspired and informed as we work together to reach net zero carbon. Join in via an excellent new course created by the Church of England’s Environment Programme team.
Multiple sessions available.
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All of our upcoming courses and events can been seen on our calendar.
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Worshipping God |
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Making new disciples |
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Transforming communities |
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Worshipping God |
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Making new disciples |
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Transforming communities |
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