Press Release from Prisons Week

CHURCH AND CHARITY LEADERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY ARE HEADING FOR PRISON - “LORD HAVE MERCY”

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release
on behalf of Prisons Week
Registered charity no.1020920

Over 90 Church leaders are expected to congregate in HMP Pentonville to pray during Prisons Week this year.

The Rt Revd James Langstaff (Anglican Bishop to Prisons) has invited Christian leaders from across the Church to gather together with charity leaders on 10th October to pray in this, the 40th anniversary of Prisons Week.

Over four decades the Church has observed a week of prayer for those affected by imprisonment, but never before has such a diverse range of church leaders congregated inside a prison’s walls with the sole purpose of praying together.

Revd Bob Wilson, chair of the Prisons Week Committee and Free Church Advisor to NOMS said

“This event is witness to the church uniting across denominations behind the power and potential of prayer – bringing together prisoners, victims, those who work in prisons, the criminal justice system and communities; people usually separated by prison walls. Prayer knows no such barriers.”

Prisons Week is run by a broad alliance of Christian denominations and leading faith-based charities working in the criminal justice system. It motivates prayer through its resources and encourages practical engagement through the voluntary sector.

Beginning on Prisons Sunday, the week of prayer runs from 9 -15 October. Across the country, people will gather in small groups and large cathedrals to support all those affected by prison, through events and services under the collective prayer theme of ‘Lord Have Mercy’. It is the great unifying prayer of all those who have ever called to God for help and this Prisons Week, the call to prayer will extend to prisoners, their families, victims, communities and all those working in the justice system.

The event at HMP Pentonville will also include the introduction of Prison HOPE, an initiative to encourage the church to engage actively with their local prisons.

Further information and resources can be found at www.prisonsweek.org
 
ENDS

For more information, please contact the following representatives from the Prisons Week Committee:

Rev Bob Wilson
bob.wilson@freechurches.org.uk
020 3651 8338

Tim Rosier
tim.rosier@reflex.org
07803 888 255

Rachel Shackleton
rshackleton@spurgeons.org
07976 323502

Notes to editors

•    Organisations involved include: Assemblies of God, Caring for Ex-Offenders, The Catholic Bishops Conference of England & Wales, The Church of England, Churches in Communities, Clean Sheet, Community Chaplaincy Association, Free Churches Group, Langley House Trust, The Methodist Church, Prisoner Advice and Care Trust, Prison Fellowship, Reflex, The Salvation Army, Spurgeons, Spread Creative Agency, United Christian Broadcasters and The United Reformed Church.  

•    BBC Radio 4 Daily Service will include prayer each day during Prisons Week.  

•    A short film on the theme is available here.

Free Churches Group Moderator, Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, offers condolence on the death of Shimon Peres

We have heard today the sad news that Shimon Peres, the former Israeli president, has died at the age of 93. The Free Churches Group Moderator, Hugh Osgood,  has sent his condolences to the Council of Christians and Jews and the Board of Deputies of British Jews. 

Message of Condolence

"As moderator of the Free Churches Group in England and Wales, I wanted to write to express my sadness at the news of the death of Shimon Peres. I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to the government and people of Israel. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Shimon Peres worked tirelessly for the nation of Israel and peace in the region."

Revd Dr Hugh Osgood

Thy Kingdom Come 2017

Praying Together at Pentecost for mission and evangelism

CTE Presidents’ statement and accompanying video transcript Sept 2016

The 6 Presidents of Churches Together in England - Photo credit Churches Together in England

Statement
‘Thy Kingdom Come – Praying Together at Pentecost 2017’

Jesus invites all his followers to pray in His name to the Father confidently and expectantly. In the power of the Holy Spirit we pray together as one family. All Christians share this gift of the Lord’s Prayer. When we pray ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done’ we long for Christ’s transforming love to bring hope and joy to all.

Earlier this year many of the churches in England took up the invitation of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to set aside the days leading up to Pentecost Sunday to pray for the renewing and empowering presence of the Holy Spirit to make Christ real in our midst, for the flourishing of all. As Presidents of Churches Together in England we are delighted to join together to extend this invitation to all the churches in England to participate in this movement of prayer in 2017.

We want to encourage our brothers and sisters in churches of all traditions to partner in praying ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ in the days leading up to Pentecost, from 25 May - 4 June, 2017. There is no prescription about how we should pray; we hope each church will participate in a way that is authentic to them and where possible to engage in this with their partner churches in their area.

The aim is simple and threefold

- To join with the whole family of God the Father
- To pray for the empowering of God the Holy Spirit
- That we may be effective witnesses to God the Son Jesus Christ

As Presidents, we will be writing to our churches and congregations to encourage them to share this aim and to take part in this movement. We pray to the Father that his family, called to be one in Jesus Christ, may see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to transform many lives and communities in our land.

Video transcript:

Live on: www.thykingdom.co.uk
Global link: www.thykingdomcome.global
Direct link: https://vimeo.com/183026876

Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury:

We are here at Lambeth Palace. This is one of the regular meetings of what are called the Presidents of the Churches Together in England. We all get together to share what’s going on, talk about plans and ideas, and today is particularly important because on the agenda is the programme for ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, and seeking to get all the different churches involved together, praying next summer for the witness and evangelism of the churches.

If we don’t pray, nothing happens. In prayer, we engage with God, he changes us. As we pray together, it will draw us closer together, closer to God, and move forward the cause that the church is here to serve. My hope is that everyone will go out excited and enthused by what we are talking about and will, in whatever way is appropriate, in each church, have them involved in the way they want to be involved.

Rev Dr Hugh Osgood, Free Churches Group Moderator:

I am really excited about ‘Thy Kingdom Come 2017’, as everyone’s able to pray in their own style and in their own way, and yet the fact that we are doing it all together, at the same time, just really make an impact.

Bishop Eric Brown, the Pentecostal President:

What started out as a C of E event is emerging as a global event.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster:

Please do join in before Pentecost, this drive to pray together for the gift of God’s spirit for our mission. We know how rich Pentecost is in the life of the church from its very beginning. That richness can be ours too - if we ask God for it.

HE Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, The President for the Orthodox Churches:

It is very important for the local churches to share this unique message.

The Revd Canon Billy Kennedy The President nominated by the New Churches, the Religious Society of Friends (ie the Quakers) and the Lutheran and German-speaking Churches:

Here is a great opportunity for us all to engage in a broader national, and international project to mobilise the whole church.

Rev Dr Hugh Osgood, Free Churches Group Moderator:

Right across the Free Churches I really want to encourage everyone to get involved in this event. It is such an opportunity to express our unity but also to be praying for the mission of the church. The fact that we can be reaching out and our prayers will prepare the ground for our evangelism.

Bishop Eric Brown, the Pentecostal President:

Get involved. Jesus commanded us, Jesus said always to pray and not faint. This time we are not just praying about our individual needs, but about the needs of the nation and our world.

Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury:

It’s gone very well today. The Heads of each of the denominations and churches were deeply committed to the idea of evangelism and witness, and are going to throw their weight of their own church behind it, in every case. So we are really enthused and people have gone out buzzing.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster:

To have a week of prayer for Christian mission is just a wonderful thing.

Bishop Eric Brown, the Pentecostal President:

I’m so glad that we in the Pentecostal movement can be part of this.

Rev Dr Hugh Osgood, Free Churches Group Moderator:

I’m so excited, let's really make it happen.

 

‘Thy Kingdom Come’: 25th May-4th June 2017
 
For more information please visit: www.thykingdom.co.uk

Recorded 09.09.16 at Lambeth Palace, by Frogspawn Creative TV
 

Justice, Mercy, Hope

 “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, duty, mercy, hope” Winston Churchill
 
I was recently issued with a parking ticket by the Forestry Commission. Or rather I wasn’t! I parked illegally in a car park which they had recently taken over and, unbeknown to me they had introduced a new parking charge. It seems that at some point in the day I was issued with a ticket which subsequently got lost before I returned to my vehicle. I was therefore surprised when a few months later I received a letter from them with a notification of the fine due. “Unjust”, I thought. Unfair! Lord have Mercy!
 
Mercy, justice and hope are key themes in scripture which it is hard to ignore. However, even as a Prison Chaplain I often find myself wondering if I have a good perspective on these – a godly, or biblical perspective.

When I think of the parable of the Good Samaritan in Lk 10, I find myself thinking that the ‘good’ Samaritan was considered a neighbour because he showed kindness. Jesus clearly uses the word “Mercy”.

When I think of the coming messiah, the suffering servant prophesied in Isaiah, I think about the new life that he will bring, about salvation and life. Isaiah clearly talks about the one who will ‘bring justice to the nations’ (Isa 42:3).

And what about that crucial moment in salvation history, the death and resurrection of Jesus? Do I think in terms of a loving Father’s sacrifice and love, or in terms of a just God who ‘will not falter until he establishes justice on the earth’ (Isa 42:4)? 

But perhaps such polarised thinking is not helpful. Perhaps justice, mercy, hope, forgiveness, kindness, suffering, humility and hope are all inter-related terms. Perhaps they are terms which give us an indication as to the means by which we experience God’s passion for justice, a justice that is beyond simply punishment and retribution, a justice that lovingly brings about change. Considering the crucifixion in ‘The Crucified God’, Jorgen Moltmann points out that Jesus “humbles himself and takes upon himself the eternal death of the godless and the godforsaken, so that all the godless and the godforsaken can experience communion with him”. We, who once were godless experience communion, or possibly even community with God through the ultimate act of self-sacrifice, the ultimate act of mercy, the ultimate act of justice. These are not exclusive, they are expressions of the kindness of God, He is willing to travel through the cross without faltering to offer us new resurrection life that is eternally changed.
 
And where we have this sort of justice, we have hope. Martin Luther King said: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”  I love the fact that the first Christians were recognisable as people of hope. Peter, in his first letter, encourages those living as exiles in what is now Turkey to: “…revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Pet 3:15. Hope was such a characteristic of the early believers’ lives that the sense we get from Peter’s letter is that people would stop and ask them about it. “Why are you, of all people, so hopeful?” I wonder what it was about their way of life, their conversations, their worship, their values, that provoked people to ask them about hope?
 
As we all know, hope saves lives. Since 2014 we have seen a substantial recorded increase in the number of people taking their own lives in prison. The figures initially jumped by 69%, continued to rise in 2015, and then we have heard again recently that 2016 has seen a further 29% rise. But day by day I see Chaplains bringing messages of hope that save lives, going the extra mile, making every contact count in ways that offer hope to the hopeless. My hope, my prayer is that as one people, characterised as those who have experienced this life changing justice ourselves, we daily offer mercy and hope in the prisons we serve. Let us continue to be those who demonstrate God’s real justice; a justice that does not ignore the wrong, but deals with it in a way that changes lives … eternally.
 
I appealed to the Forestry Commission for mercy, but really without much hope! I knew that I was wrong, ignorance did not lessen that fact, however I appealed to them for mercy and with a refreshing sense of justice they agreed to halve my fine. God has said through the prophet Isaiah that ‘he will not falter or be discouraged until he establishes justice on the earth’. If we are to experience this, then we must surely cry out with all of our being, as we will this Prisons Week - ‘Lord have Mercy’, and expect that with a passion for justice, He will.
 
Bless you all, and really do take care

Making God smile

I seem to be stuck in Hebrews at the moment! I find myself preaching from the book of Hebrews, leading bible studies based on the faith the letter inspires, and even ministering as a Chaplain to those affected by the Hebrew dietary rules. Even this year’s Prisons Week material is to have a Hebrews scripture as its inspiration. There are so many great messages therein, and until God lets me move on, I guess I’ll stay stuck in the lessons to the Hebrew people.

Hebrews 11 is a great example of the essence of our faith. It is filled with the stories of faithful women and men who follow God’s leading, many times not living to see their works bear fruit. The perseverance we see in them is astounding, and hugely challenging. These are people who experienced the pleasure of God; who knew the comfort of the smiling face of God. These are the people who knew how to please God, for “without faith it is impossible to please God.” . How would we we have responded, faced with the situations they faced. Would we have been more “I’m a Chaplain, Get Me Out of Here” than “What Would Jesus Do”?  

But God has called us to have faith just as those in Hebrews 11

Their faith wasn’t limited to one particular instance or event, but it was woven through everything they did. Everything we do in life and ministry needs to be inspired by our faith in the Faithful One, whether that be breaking bad news to prisoners, leading Sunday services, writing policies to oversee volunteer engagement, attending Equalities or Safer Custody meetings, or (as Chaplains we still get to do this) prayer. James noted in his letter said that if we don’t pray with the faith that God will answer our prayers we are unstable in all our ways. “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Those who doubt should not think they will receive anything from the Lord, they are double minded and unstable in all  they do". (James 1: 6 – 8). As I said earlier – challenging.

Our Christian disciplines can easily become routine and no longer be part of our faith in God as they once were.  It is tempting to let our reading of scripture, our praying, our going into prison be just another thing to check off our list of Christian things to do. Instead, we should do them with faith, knowing that a loving and powerful God will move in and through us as we by faith follow his leading. Knowing that our faith brings a smile to the face of God.

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11: 6.