As autumn slides into winter, for us at The Mathetes Trust there is much to be grateful for, with parish missions and Rooted in Jesus conferences bearing fruit. Roger is getting stuck into supporting multi-parish benefices, and we will write to you about that before too long.

We have a Rooted in Jesus team in Uganda at the moment, and have just had a report from the Diocese of Butere, Kenya where a team went in June: Diocesan Coordinator Benjamin Kibara says there are now 87 groups in 36 parishes across the diocese. He writes that “the impact has already been felt in many ways:

Many have grown in their faith and practice
Commitment and turn up in local church prayer meetings has increased
Stewardship and giving has improved as disciples get rooted in Christ
Marriages that were at the verge of breaking up have been restored
More people have volunteered to serve in church.”

Finally, Benjamin says that “The RinJ books were recommended as the confirmation books in the diocese.”

Soon Christmas will be upon us, and then Lent. So we would like to take this opportunity to remind you of some of our publications. Our poetry anthology Something Understood – Poems for Reflection and Meditation makes an excellent Christmas gift, and includes the magnificent Christmas poem ‘Wenceslas’ by Carol Ann Duffy. It’s been well received; poet RV Bailey wrote “Your lovely anthology came today, and it’s full of good things – it’s a handsome volume at an amazingly reasonable price. You range very generously over a wide field, and though there are old favourites there are some welcome introductions to new poets.” Fully illustrated, it costs just £8 and can be ordered directly from our publications page, or by email.

If you are even more forward thinking than that, you may be interested to know that our Lent course Season of Renewal, by Bill Goodman and Alison Morgan, is also available on our publications page, along with a flyer and a sample session. It’s proved an increasingly popular course since it was first written 10 years ago, and is now on its 4^th printing. It comes in a Leader’s Manual and a group member’s coursebook which offers spiritual exercises to follow during the week between meetings. It’s a good way to introduce a small group ministry to your church, and makes a good followup to Alpha too, providing a gentle introduction to the work of the Holy Spirit, the agent of renewal both in our hearts and in our world.

• “A group of about ten of us finished ‘Season of Renewal’ last night. It was unanimously agreed that it had been the most inspiring and helpful Lent course we had ever shared in” – Canon John Gunstone

  

Meanwhile we continue in our life of prayer, thanking those of you who pray with us. The psalm set for today is Psalm 34: My soul shall glory in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.

It’s good to do that, as we watch the glory of autumn fade into the darkness of winter.

Posted 17th November 2017

by Revd Dr Alison Morgan