Christian Action Bristol Newsletter 9

Website: christianactionbristol.org.uk

Mayoral Hustings - Urgent Prayer Request

You are probably aware that various candidates are gearing up to campaign to be elected as the Bristol Mayor in May. We have tried booking the main candidates for a hustings at which they would be asked to respond to the concerns of the Christian community, but unfortunately the preferred date clashes with another large hustings. PLEASE PRAY that we can find and agree another suitable date quickly, and then arrange a suitable venue for the event. Thank you.

Manifesto

Alongside work on the hustings and preparing the questions to ask the candidates, a small group has been working on producing a 'Manifesto' to help the people in our churches think about how our faith applies to the practical issues we face in Bristol, and to help politicians and decision makers understand the Church and the heart of God a little better. The aim is to articulate some of the key concerns we think most Christians in Bristol will agree about while providing relevant information that many people will probably not be aware of.

We are close to producing the initial draft of the manifesto, but a lot more work is needed over the coming month. Please pray for all those who have been involved, and for those who will be involved over the next few weeks.

This is not the sort of exercise where you can involve many people in the writing, but if you would like to read and comment on the initial draft, pleases let me know - and especially if you would be able to spend a bit of time checking the details are correct.

The aim is to release the Manifesto in time to influence people's thoughts, prayers and conversations in the run up to the elections in May. If there is enough interest, once it has been released we can then collect the feedback and suggestions for improvement, and maybe work on a revised version with greater consultation and input from more people (and maybe a wider range of people) in the Christian community, ready for the following elections.

Homelessness Awareness Week

Homelessness Awareness Week starts this Saturday, 20 February with an event at New Street and ends with the Sleepout at Pip 'n' Jay on Friday 26 through to Saturday 27.

The New Street Launch Event (Saturday, 12 noon to 4 pm) will include a display of artwork by service users of various organisations and display stands.

There will also be display stands from various organisations at the Bear Pit: Saturday 20, 11 am to 5 pm and Wednesday 24, also 11 am to 5 pm.

Some of the organisations working with homeless people and those at risk of homelessness will be opening their doors to the public at specified times during the week - details on the Open Doors Trail Map, available at the New Street and Bear Pit events.

Please pray for the Sleepout - for the people involved and for the weather to be dry and not too cold or windy. Also pray that we raise lots of money for the groups working to help homeless people, and we generate lots of good publicity for them and for the issue of homelessness in Bristol. If anyone can help me with the registration of groups on the Friday evening, that would be appreciated - please get in touch as soon as possible.

More details of these and other events on the Homelessness Awareness Week page on the Bristol Homeless Forum web site.

On the subject of homelessness: there is a new Night Shelter for people who are waiting for a vacancy to open up in a hostel, and St Mungos are looking for volunteers to do overnight shifts to enable it to operate. Training is provided. Please advertise this need. If anyone is interested or would like to find out more, please contact bristolshelter a_t mungos d_o_t org.

More beds are still needed each night for rough sleepers. If you have (or know someone who has) a large room or hall accessible from the centre of Bristol, where 10 to 15 people could sleep on camp beds, please let us know. Either contact bristolshelter a_t mungos d_o_t org or talk to me for more details. Thank you.

Prayer and Planning

The monthly 'Prayer and Planning' meetings have now been arranged for the second Wednesday of each month up to June. They will be at City Road Baptist Church, from 12.30 to 2 pm and light refreshments will be served.

The plan is to have an informal meeting every two months with minimal agenda and planning, as an opportunity for people to get together, share vision and concerns, and pray for one another; and a more formal meeting on the alternate months with an advertised subject of general interest and a few invited experts to contribute briefly.

So the next four planned meetings are:

9 March (A follow up to the Refugees and Asylum Seekers meeting, concentrating on identifying ways for ordinary people to practically support the groups working to help Refugees and Asylum Seekers. More information on the Faith Action Bristol event page.)
13 April (Informal)
11 May (Eric would like us to focus on young people, and especially on marginalised black youth)
8 June (Informal)

We know that no day and time will work for everyone, but we know of one other event the second Wednesday pattern clashes with, so we may change to the first or third Wednesday from July - any thoughts or preferences?

Further Ahead

We aim to work in as informal a way as possible, but some basic structures are needed to enable to people to contribute and shape what we do. We have a small core group which meets on a regular basis to consider what we ought to be doing and make the necessary plans. So far, everyone who wants to be involved has been, and everyone who has been involved is happy with the arrangements.

When we started meeting last year, our expectation was that we would aim to hold a more formal meeting in the Summer of 2016 at which the whole CAB membership, such as it exists, could come together to discuss our progress so far, consider priorities for the future and elect a committee to serve over the coming year.

If this is going to happen, we need to start planning this event. Please let me have any thoughts you have on the subject.

As we said last time, many of those who came to the 'Faith Action in Bristol' event in September were enthused by what they heard about the ways that people of faith are making an impact on the city; they wanted to hear more; and they wanted more people to hear about it. Several suggested a bigger event next year.

I do want to hear your views on this. What do you think we should focus on? Are there particular projects, speakers or subjects we should aim to include? Are there specific difficulties or challenges you think we ought to address? Do you have any suggestions about where we might find sponsorship to cover the costs of such an event? Do let us know what you think - please fill in a short survey with your ideas. Thank you.

Happy Reading!

Over the past few months, we have been working on a range of documents. On the basis that you should be able to say anything important in one page, or at most two pages, of A4, each of them fits onto a single sheet of paper.

Please have a read. You don't have to read all of them, so feel free to pick and choose as seems most interesting or relevant to you. Let us know what you think - especially if you can suggest any improvements! - and and feel free to pass them on to anyone you think might be interested.

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