ENCOUNTER… coming in 2010

The Saltbox invites you to a Special united Christian event:
“If you believe you will see the glory of God” John 11 v40

Worship & prayer to see the glory of God revealed

Saturday evening 9 January 2010 at 7.30pm

(March and May dates to be confirmed)

Venue The Bridge Centre, Birches Head. ST2 8DD

Join with Christians from across our area

A year ago in January 2009, at the monthly CONNECT Christian leaders meetings, a prophetic word was received about ‘mining for gold’ & that God wanted to take us on a new journey together. At subsequent CONNECT gatherings this year further prayer & reflection has taken place about what God’s unfolding strategy might be.

The recent discovery of Anglo-Saxon gold in Staffordshire seems to be a remarkable physical confirmation of what many Christian have been praying about.

The September CONNECT meeting was a powerful gathering, attracting over 40 leaders to pray & share together about the recent discovery & what clues it might provide for future forthcoming spiritual developments. There was both excitement & urgency about seeking together for God’s glory (‘gold’) to be revealed in our area & the nation.

In response to this growing sense of urgency this ENCOUNTER evening has been arranged.

“This could be very special, I suggest that you don’t miss it”: Lloyd Cooke

Graham Kendrick
‘Dreaming of a Holy Night’
Plus guest Philippa Hannah

Date: Sunday 13 December
Place: The Queens Theatre, Burslem
Time: 7:30pm
Prices: Adults - £10.00
Children 14 & under / concessions - £7.00

For more information contact Swan Bank Church Office on 01782 575129

http://www.grahamkendrick.co.uk/

Street Pastor’s

We now aim to get the training program up and running by February 2010.
Please spread the word in your church that Street Pastors are now in Stoke. We are looking for people who are
Christians and would like to train as a Street Pastors,
as well as that we are looking for team members who would like to help as background staff.

More information about dates, times, posters, DVD’s, will be sent out to local churches in due course.
We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and support over the past
18 months that has helped bring Street Pastors to Stoke-on-Trent.

If you are interested in training as a Street Pastor
or would like to know more please e-mail or write to us at:

stokeontrent@streetpastors.org.uk

Stoke-on-Trent Street Pastors
Office 11, First Floor, Wellington House
St. Marks Street
Shelton
Stoke-on-Trent
ST1 4LN

Community Chaplaincy is in need of bedding, curtains, cutlery, crockery, saucepans and other kitchen equipment to stock their houses. As well as these items we would be grateful for Christmas presents for our tenants, such as socks, toiletries, personal products, chocolate and many more. Donations of these items would be much appreciated.

For further information contact us at:

17 Regent Road, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent
Telephone: 01782 252708

An evening with Nonny James
Singer; Songwriter; Broadcaster

Charity Concert in Aid of Fresh Start Beginnings

Fresh Start New Beginnings
Shrewsbury & Telford Community Chaplaincy Project
Charity Number: 1130368
Fresh Start New Beginnings is an innovative multi faith initiative founded by the Chaplaincy at HMP Shrewsbury, to relieve poverty and promote the care, resettlement, rehabilitation of offenders and ex-offenders, in particular but not exclusively by providing support services and mentoring on issues such as employment, training and housing, that will enable them to take control of their lives and remain free from offending.

Date: Saturday 14 November 2009
Place: The Trinity Centre, Church Road, Meole Brace, Shrewsbury
Time: 7:30pm
Price: £5.00 incl. refreshments

Tickets will be available on the door and also available in advance from:

Judith Drury 07800 749 782
Helen Little 07908 781 701
Tony Sharpe 01743 236975

Tickets are also available from Café Connect, Radbrook.

For further information, please visit our website: www.fsnb.org.uk

IGNITE
Sounds of Heaven Conference

…sounds of the throne room …sounds of the changing atmosphere …sounds of the roaring of the lion

Date: 26 – 28 November 2009
Place: Hope Centre, Stoke-on-Trent
Time: 2pm on Thursday 26 November until 4pm Saturday 28 November
Price: £50 per person

with
Pamela Stead - IHOP Kansas
Jane Holloway - World Prayer Centre
Brian Mills - Interprayer
William & Karen Porter - Ignite

For more information call: 01782 827238
www.igniterevival.net/conference
http://www.beaconhop.org/

Delirious
‘History Makers’
Farewell Tour

Age restriction apply

Place: 02 Academy Birmingham
Date: 27 November 2009
Time: Doors open 6:30pm for a 7:15pm start
Price: £17.50 + booking fee
Tel: 08444 772000
Web site: www.delirious.co.uk
www.02academybirmingham.co.uk

embrace 2009

Worship & Unity…
Prayer to see the glory of God released…

12 HRS UNBROKEN WORSHIP

Date: 26 September 2009
Place: St Marks, Shelton
Time: 9.30am-9.30pm

A continuous 12 hours flow of worship facilitated by various worship leaders and bands from around North Staffordshire. Embrace 2007 is remembered as being very significant; this is your opportunity to be part of Embrace 2009. Simply come for an hour or two, or stay for the whole 12 hours. For further details 01782-207200.

download the flyer

AN EVENING WITH J. JOHN

Tuesday 29th September 7.30pm,
Bethel City Church
£5 per person
For Tickets please call 01782 537 079 (cash payments only)
Tickets can be reserved for seven days

THE PRESENCE

A day to stand together to pray and proclaim:

THE GLORY OF THE GOSPEL
THE GLORY OF THE CROSS
THE GLORY OF HIS PRESENCE

SATURDAY OCTOBER 17 2009
at the NEC, BIRMINGHAM

11am to 6pm

Tickets £7
www.worldprayer.org.uk
0121 633 7393

Special event:

“Jobs & the Economy”

Friday 2 October 7.30pm,

The Bridge Centre, Birches Head.

Guest speaker: Rt Rev Gordon Mursell, Bishop of Stafford

Special “Question Time” panel

Bryan Carnes, Gerard Coyne, Alison Knight, Joan Walley

for further details and to submit a question -

01782-747737 (David Lingwood)

STREET PASTORS

STREET PASTORS
Tuesday 5 May at 7.30pm
You are invited to explore the possibilities of putting Street Pastors on the streets of Stoke- on-Trent
Venue: Swan Bank Methodist Church, Burslem
Date: Tuesday 5 May at 7.30pm

What is a Street Pastor? - Street Pastors are Christian volunteers from local congregations who have a concern for their communities. After training, teams go out on the streets to engage with local people where they are, on their own ground. For more details go to http://www.streetpastors.co.uk/

Who is the meeting for? - Anyone is welcome to come and find out more and to listen to our guests from Manchester Street Pastors and ask questions.

Who to contact? - The meeting has been arranged by local church leaders from various networks and groupings who share a vision to bring the compassion of Jesus onto our streets. For more details contact:
Stuart Janes – 07595 309195
Revd Rod Clark – 01782 212639

BLUE TREE IN CONCERT

Bluetree in concert - Thurs 7 May

Date: Thurs 7 May
Venue: Bethel City Church,
Leek Road, Abbey Hulton, ST2 8BY
Details: Purchase by phoning 01782 537079
or http://www.ourc1ty.org/

Puppet Ministry Training Day

Puppet Ministry Training Day
Saturday 13 June 2009
By 'One Way UK'

This training day is one of 10 nationally and includes performaces and demonstrations on how to use various puppets.

This day is open to all denominations and designed to give hands on experience of puppetry within the following area:
Basic and advance puppet manipulation techniques
How to start a puppet ministry team
Props and scenery
Resources available for purchase
The day is for adults, young people, school workers, church leaders, sunday school teachers,
youth & children's workersand puppet team leaders.

It is not suitable for children under the age of 10 years old, unless they are part of a puppet team.

YOUTH WORK CONFERENCE

YOUTH WORK CONFERENCE
Date: Saturday 16 May 2009

Venue: St Andrew's Church Westlands, Newcastle-under-Lyme

Time: 10:15 - 4:10pm Registration from 10:30am

Cost: £15 per person

For more details contact Chris Gill 01782 625924
or e-mail chris.gill@tesco.net

Discovery Day - Saturday 21 February 2009

Discovery Day - Saturday 21 February 2009
A time to explore the call of God to discipleship and ministry
Saturday 21 February 2009 10.00 – 3.00

The Potters House, The Bridge Centre, Birches Head Road, Birches Head, Hanley, Stoke on Trent, ST2 8DD

Speakers:
Revd Stephen Poxon, President of the Methodist Conference
Mr David Walton, Vice-President of the Methodist Conference

Workshops on many areas of Christian and Church Life including:
Discipleship in the workplace
Youth Work
Working with children
Mission and Evangelism
Local Preaching
Deacons and Ministers
Church administration
Mission overseas
Prayer and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Community Chaplaincy
Hospitality and catering in Church life
Introducing new music and worship

Cost of the day £5 (advance booking required – forms from District Office)
More information from David Syson (01260 223343) dsyson@googlemail.com
Or the Methodist District Office (01270 627774) chester.stoke@btconnect.com

Nightchurch - Friday evenings

Nightchurch
Christian Outreach to Clubbers
"The Lounge"
Gitana Street, Hanley
Every Friday evening - 9.45pm-4.00pm

Come & be part of the team & make a difference in the lives of young people

LEADERSHIP TRAINING & ENCOURAGEMENT DAY

LEADERSHIP TRAINING & ENCOURAGEMENT DAY
Saturday 21 March

We are staging a special one-off leadership training and encouragement event on Saturday 21 March 2009. The event will last from 10.00am until 3.00pm and will be held at the Bridge Centre, Birches Head Lane, Birches Head, Stoke-on-Trent. The cost will be £10 per person which includes a buffet lunch.

Our guest for the day is Dave Gilpin, leader of Hope City Church, which has branches in Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle-on-Tyne. Dave will be sharing inspiring and challenging insights into Christian leadership. Having spent most of his childhood in Australia, Dave was called back to the UK upon hearing of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. In the last 20 years, he has founded and built a group of strong churches in the north of England. You can find out more about Dave's life and work at www.hopecitychurch.tv or www.davegilpin.com

This training event is open to all current church leaders, emerging leaders and potential leaders. It presents an ideal opportunity to bring your entire church leadership team, in order to explore together around the issue of Christian leadership in the 21st century. It will be especially helpful and inspiring to younger and emerging Christian leaders.

This event forms part of the new 'Timothy' leadership training course, which is jointly sponsored by Phil Barber (Potter's House), Ashley Cooper (Swan Bank Methodist Mission), James Galloway (Bethel City Church) and ourselves.

Advance booking is strongly recommended. For further details and booking, please contact Jyoti Whicker on 01782 207200 or via jyoti@saltbox.org.uk

Every Blessing
Lloyd Cooke + Robert Mountford
(Saltbox) (City Vision Ministries)

HELEN SHAPIRO - 14 February

Helen Shapiro - Gospel Outreach
at Swan Bank Church
14th February 2009 7.30pm
Come and hear the Good News!

Tickets £5 each from the church office 01782-575129
Burslem Methodist Mission, Swan Square,
Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent ST6 2AA

“MONEY MATTERS…” Saturday 14th February

“MONEY MATTERS…” Saturday 14th February
How your church can help people in financial difficulty

Saturday 14th February 2009 9.30am—2.00pm
The Bridge Centre (Birches Head)

A half-day seminar for local church leaders/members on:
Setting up a debt advice centre
Delivering money education courses in the community
Undertaking personal budget coaching

With speakers from Community Money Advice , Christians Against Poverty and Christian Stewardship

Please contact:
joanne.speed@nlchurch.org.uk for more details and to complete a Booking Form
Tel: 01260 274380
Cost: £10 (including lunch), non-refundable

Pray for China

Pray for China

Monthly united prayer meeting specifically for China
Every second Wednesday of the month in the prayer chapel at the Bridge Centre, Birches Head .
For further info email: carolinehaynes@hotmail.com

Level 2 Certificate in Christian Counselling Skills

Level 2 Certificate in Christian Counselling Skills

From Alison Macklin, Senior Leader CGC Stoke:
In the Spring (2009) we will be hosting a Level 2 counselling course run by Barnabas Training International. The course will run on one Saturday a month over 12 months and will be held at St Clare's Church Centre, Meir Park. A start date for the course is yet to be fixed and it's running will depend on there being 10 people who want to do it. Below is an overview of the course and full details about BTI and their work can be found by visiting their website www.barnabastraining.com If you have anyone who might be interested in gaining this counselling qualification please can you let me know and I will let you have full details as soon as I have them. I also have a supply of posters and leaflets if you would like some.
I hope to hear from you soon
best wishes
Alison Macklin, Senior Leader CGC Stoke.
01782 398755 - 07906577305

Level 2 Certificate in Christian Counselling Skills
Certificate in Counselling Skills (CSK-L2) accredited by ACC and CPCAB Course Overview
This is a 90 hour course, typically run on one day per month over the course of one year. It is for individuals who wish to learn counselling skills so that they can help people in a voluntary or an employed situation, or for those who wish to find out more about counselling. It will not qualify students to be counsellors but is a first step towards this and can progress to further training in counselling. It is not necessary to have completed a Level 1 or similar Foundation course before starting the Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills.
The Level 2 Certificate course covers the following topics:
• difference between caring, helping and counselling• Biblical principles used in counselling • communication • listening skills • structures and frameworks for counselling • models of counselling • stress • prejudice
Students are required to attend 90% of the course sessions and to complete two essays, two book reviews, a personal journal and group project as coursework. It is estimated that an additional 90 hours private study time will be needed in addition to the course sessions.
The course is accredited by the CPCAB and the ACC (Association of Christian Counsellors). Following completion of the Level 2 Certificate, students would be able to progress onto a Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies. The CPCAB (Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body) recommends that a student complete both the Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills and the Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies before starting to counsel clients under supervision.

JOBS...

JOBS...
UCB: are seeking to recruit:

Broadcasting News Journalist
UCB is looking for a news journalist to assist with the researching, producing, presenting and editing of news bulletins and daily news and currents affairs programmes. A great deal of flexibility will be required to keep up to date with breaking news and, on occasions, travel to events to assist with the production of live and pre-recorded interviews/reports. The team you will be joining are accomplished in their field and work well together; so you must be a team player.

The successful candidate will preferably have a journalism qualification or be able to demonstrate equivalent experience; be computer literate with a good grasp of technical equipment but, above all, will understand what UCB’s vision and ethos means from a broadcasting perspective.

This position is based at our Broadcasting Centre in Stoke on Trent.

Please note that you will be required to provide a demo CD with your completed application form.

Salary: £14 -18,000 per annum depending on expertise and experience.

Closing Date: Friday 23 January 2009
An application form and job description can be downloaded at ucb.co.uk/vacancies


Media Administrator (Maternity Cover)
UCB is looking for an experienced media administrator who is knowledgeable in the use of RCS software products as used by radio stations. This position also involves the management of data, listener and client liaison as well as reception work. You must be able to demonstrate good time management skills and communication skills; both verbal and written. In addition you must possess excellent administrative skills, have a willingness to assist others and work well within a team setting. The successful candidate will be computer literate, able to liaise with other ministries, operate Microsoft Office Applications and possess a basic knowledge of broadcasting functions; but above all, will understand what UCB’s vision and ethos means from a broadcasting perspective.

This position is based at our Broadcasting Centre in Stoke on Trent, for a period of 12 months maternity cover.

Salary: £12,500 per annum depending on expertise and experience.

Closing Date: Friday 23 January 2009
An application form and job description can be downloaded at ucb.co.uk/vacancies
UCB is a Christian organisation. Regulations 7(2)a and/or 7(2)b of the Employment Equality (Religion or belief) Regulations 2003 apply.

£350,000 AVAILABLE NOW

£350,000 AVAILABLE NOW

FOR STAFFORDSHIRE’S CLUBS AND COMMUNITY GROUPS.

If you run a club or community group in Staffordshire, then you may be eligible to receive help from The Staffordshire Community Foundation, which has over £350,000 to give away before the end of March 2009.

The money is part of a three year long £130 million nationwide drive by the Government, to support thousands of groups and projects across the country, working to improve their local communities. In Staffordshire there’s £1.3 million pounds available for clubs and community groups between now and March 31st 2011.

If your community group is doing valuable work, but you’re finding it hard to raise money for equipment, maintenance, or essentials that would help ensure the group’s long-term existence, then we may be able to help. Grants are available up to a maximum of £5,000.

If you’d like to find out more about the initiative – and whether or not you qualify - then visit our website – www.staffsfoundation.org.uk. There, you’ll be able to see the criteria and download an application form. If you need to ask any questions, then please do call either Terry or Melanie on 01782-683000.

If you want to maximise the chances of receiving a grant, then we prefer it to be a request that’ll help ensure the long-term sustainability of your organisation. Whether it be equipment, repairs to your club headquarters, rent, insurance, training courses for volunteers, or funding for a special project, let us know. It’s all about making a difference by helping voluntary groups across Staffordshire.

Notes to Editors:
· Eligible groups must be volunteer led; have a constitution or set of rules; a turnover under £20,000 a year and be based in Staffordshire. If the £350,000 isn’t spent by the end of next March, it has to be returned to The Treasury.
· There are 58 Community Foundations across Britain. The Staffordshire foundation was the most recent to form and aims to build up at least £2 million of permanent endowment funds over the next three years, enabling it to award even more grants to needy communities.
· For more information (and case studies of grant recipients in your area), call the Staffordshire Foundation’s Director on 01782-683018 or 07973-785641.

Congratulations

Congratulations
to the Beacon House of Prayer & to everyone who supported the recent 24/7 Prayer Week

Great way to start 2009. Inspiring & strategic "If you believe then..." John 11v40

Great venue for church visit, house group prayer meeting, away-day, etc
www.beaconhop.org/hop/