2 • news

THIS WEEK

Community

Christians needn’t be wary of interfaith p5

Environment

How the Church can care for creation p13

News .............p3 Interfaith ...........p5 Local news .........p6 Comment...........p8 Outside Edge........p9 Rackley’s Reflections .p10 Resources .........p12

Charity

Fund raising gets interesting p10/11

Study

Part one of a look at Baptist spirituality p17

Creation care.......p13 Classifieds.........p14 TV & Radio ........p18 Hazel Southam .....p18 Books ............p19 Picasso ...........p20 Final Word.........p20

THE BAPTIST TIMES

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THE BAPTIST TIMES

Thursday, April 2, 2009

New eco-resource will help ministers

By PAUL HOBSON A SIGNIFICANT new ministerial resource which sees creation care as part of modern mission is now available.

Futureshape? has been produced by BMS World Mission in partnership with the Baptist Unions of Great Britain, Scotland and Wales, and A Rocha, the international Christian conservation organisation.

It is designed for ministers to help their churches get to grips with issues such as climate change, over-consumption and threats to bio-diversity – all from a biblical perspective.

The resource contains a collection of six mission studies for ministers, and six different ones for home groups.

There is also a meditation, plus video files featuring a range of experts giving answers to frequently asked questions on the subject.

Those filmed include Sir John Houghton, the former co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Revd Dr Elaine Storkey, and the Revd Dave Bookless.

Other contributors are the Revd Dr Vinoth Ramachandra from Sri Lanka and the Revd Prem Mitra, of A Rocha India.

Futureshape? grew out of a series of mission studies written by the Revd Alan Pain, director of the BMS International Mission Centre in Birmingham.

Baptist ministers were given the opportunity to comment on online draft versions of the studies as they were developed,

and their feedback was important as the resource grew.

Mr Pain told The Baptist Times, ‘We originally conceived FutureShape? as a set of mission studies integrating creation care into a contemporary view of mission.

‘As time passed, we caught the vision of an exciting and accessible resource with a wellresearched range of visual material and expert comment to supplement the core studies.

‘I believe the end product is the result of some outstanding teamwork which we hope will offer timely help and inspiration to our colleagues in ministry.’

The Revd Gareth Wilde, BMS mission education co-ordinator who managed the project, told The Baptist Times that demand is already high.

He said, ‘There has been a huge response to it.

‘I can’t believe how many ministers have been contacting me to ask about it.

‘The Church has woken up to this issue, and is saying “We really want to work this through.”’

All materials can be downloaded from the project website (www. futureshape.org), which went live last Friday and

will be managed with new content being added

regularly. The studies are also available online in Welsh.

Alternatively people can order a free DVD via the website, or by calling BMS

on 01235 517617.

Students pledge their vision

M a r ie P a t t is o n

ic tu re :

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Committed - SCM’s Rosie Venner lights a candle while praying for SCM’s future

CHRISTIAN students and their supporters from across Britain have committed to act for social justice and be ‘a radical challenge to society’s norms’.

The pledge was made at an ecumenical service marking 120 years of the Student Christian Movement (SCM) at Manchester Cathedral on Saturday.

SCM restated its vision of Christianity that is ‘inclusive, aware, radical and challenging’.

Participants were reminded of SCM’s tradition of openminded faith along with action on issues such as peace, gender, climate change, trade justice and interfaith dialogue.

The sermon was delivered by the Revd Tim McClure, Archdeacon of Bristol and a former general secretary of SCM. See Open Line, p9 for more on the Student Christian Movement

Nazir-Ali set to retire Service offers healing

THE BISHOP of Rochester, the Revd Dr Michael NazirAli, has announced he is to step down later this year.

Dr Nazir-Ali said in a statement on Saturday that he hopes to work with church leaders in areas where the church was ‘under pressure, particularly in minority situations’.

Leaders have asked him to ‘assist with education and training for that particular situation’, the statement continued.

This is likely to involve working with Christians in the Middle East and Pakistan, but also with Muslim converts to Christianity in Britain.

Dr Nazir-Ali has held his post since 1994 and is the Church of England’s first and

only Asian bishop.

At 59, he could have held his post for a further 10 years and his move is a surprise, according to reports.

It is being seen in some quarters as signalling an end to the split in the Anglican communion, which saw 230 bishops boycott last year’s Lambeth Conference over issues such as homosexuality.

Dr Nazir-Ali, an outspoken champion of traditional Christianity in Britain, was a high-profile Lambeth absentee and attended the rival Global Anglican Future Conference.

He received death threats last year when he wrote that Islamists were creating ‘nogo’ areas for non-Muslims in Britain.

By PAUL HOBSON A SERVICE for survivors of sexual abuse is to take place this weekend.

Let Your Light Shine will be held at Shirley Warren Action Church, a Baptist church in Southampton, at 2.30pm on Saturday (April 4).

The church held a similar service in 2008.

Its minister, the Revd Jenny Elliott is herself a survivor of sexual abuse and believes God has called her to offer a place of healing to others who have been affected.

‘The truth is abuse happens, sadly in every walk of life.’ she told The Baptist Times.

‘This service and this church is for all those who seek

acceptance, and freedom from the wrong-doing of others.’

This year’s service is designed to offer the same level of support, reassurance and comfort, but is more focused on how people ‘can let go of the past and journey forward through selfacceptance and forgiveness’.

She added that while it was a challenge for many who attended the service last year, ‘in various ways everyone expressed the value and meaning of feeling included and recognised in some way’.

The church has received letters of thanks, and has subsequently set up a support group for survivors.

More information can be found at letyour_lightshine@ o2.co.uk or on 023 8078 7930.