Gather Movement - October News

Dear friends

As autumn is drawing in and we return to the hustle and bustle of our day-to-day, I often associate this time of year with new plans and new beginnings. As our churches look ahead for how we might serve and love our cities and towns in new ways this season, we at Gather Movement hope that the stories and resources we share through this incredible network will inspire you and spur you on in your place. Be that coming together in unity for the National Week of Prayer, bringing hope through Tearfund's Middle East Emergency Appeal or breaking the power of injustice on Anti-trafficking Sunday, however you are responding to the vision for your place, we are so excited to be alongside you in the journey!
In this newsletter we share about some great opportunities we have coming up, I would love to draw your attention to three specific things that I believe will help you to develop what you are doing:

The Theology Day (26 Nov 2024) is an interactive day looking at the theology and sociology surrounding our cities and towns' social, spiritual and cultural transformation.
Intercultural Church & City Transformation (31 Jan - 1 Feb 2025) is a gathering for church, charity and community leaders to grapple with what it means to be an intercultural Church that impacts our towns and cities.
The Online Learning Community (monthly) will explore what we mean by spiritual, social and cultural transformation.

I’d encourage you to explore if any of these events could be helpful and if so, to pop them in the diary and get booked in. As we look to see our places transformed, that transformation starts with us being changed by God and open to what he wants to teach us!

Much love to you all
Roger

Upcoming Events

THEOLOGY DAY

26TH NOVEMBER 2024
OXFORD COMMUNITY CHURCH, THE KINGS CENTRE,
OSNEY MEAD, OX20ES

EVENT TIMINGS
REGISTRATION - 9:30AM
START - 10AM
FINISH - 4PM

Exploring city transformation through the theological lens. Making space to pause, so that our theology underpins the mission we undertake together in our places.

Book Now! for the Theology Day

The programme for the Gather Movement Theology Day in Oxford is starting to look really exciting with a great line up of contributors from the UK and around the world.

MEET THE CONTRIBUTORS

PIET BRINKSMA
Reflecting theologically on over 30 years of ministry in Amsterdam
Piet Brinksma is the founder and leader of Urban Life. He is also a researcher, trainer & coach. Piet leads The Global City Changers Movement in Netherlands which mobilizes the church-based Christian community in different spheres of society for the transformation of cities globally.

STEPHEN SUTTON
Theological reflections on building unity based city transformation across Teesside
Stephen is Lead Minister at The Beacon Baptist Church in Middlesbrough. Stephen is also part of the Middlesbrough and Teesside church unity movements.

RACHEL HO
Transforming a city through Art
Ceramicist Rachel Ho will talk about her work and her recent project, ‘Gift to the City'. Rachel’s scarred pots are inspired by kintsugi, an ancient Japanese technique of mending broken pottery with gold, resulting in more beautiful pots. In Gift to the City, Rachel together with other artists, left hundreds of artworks across the streets of three cities as a gift to the public. The project was designed to speak into our collective loss and need for belonging. Rachel will lead an immersive workshop reflecting on the scar stories she collected from the Gift to the City art trail and guide us in a contemplative exercise of making our own scarred pots in clay.

OSOBA OTAIGBE
Why do we need to be One in Christ across all cultures?

Osoba, is a Baptist Minister, working for the Bible Society as Church Engagement Manager, North of England and is on secondment one day a week with Gather Movement working on reimagining mission in the UK. He also leads the Intercultural Church and City Transformation ministry.

GERARD KELLY
The challenge and beauty of building unity in a divided world
A pastor, poet, and missionary, Gerard lives in Normandy, France, where he and his wife Chrissie lead the Bless Network. Alongside church-planting, Bless is involved in refugee ministries, support for Kingdom businesses and The Seven Stories School, a missional education programme. He holds a master’s degree in Evangelism Studies from the University of Sheffield and has been a member of the research staff of King's College, London, and the teaching team of Redcliffe College in Gloucester.

BECKY INGAMELLS
What can we learn from the global south about seeing transformation in our places?
Becky leads the Church Partnerships team at Tearfund. she loves exploring ways to collaborate, network and engage people with our work and values the importance of storytelling to engage people. She is currently studying a Masters in Theology.

STEVE JONES
Reflecting theologically on seeing transformation across Oxford a globally influential city
Steve is Senior Pastor at Oxford Community Church, he’s also part of Renew Oxford and Love Oxford teams, working across churches to bring about city transformation.

The event will be hosted by Steve Jones and Roger Sutton

Book now and have your mind challenged and your perspective widened.

Book for the Theology Day Here

Join us for our Gather Movement Learning Community.

12 Nov, I SEE A CITY OF EQUALITY with Rev Ian Rutherford - Register here
10 Dec, I SEE A UNITED CHURCH with Church Unity Leaders Panel - Register hereIn September we had a brilliant Learning Community with theologian Gerard Kelly. If you missed it, you can catch up here.

You can also catch-up on any Learning Communities that you missed by visiting our Learning Community Playlist of YouTube.

Learning Community YouTube Playlist

ONE BODY. Many parts. From every nation, tribe and language.

10AM, 31 JANUARY TO 4:30PM, 1 FEBRUARY 2025
ALL NATIONS CENTRE, VAUXHALL, LONDON

Book Now! Early bird tickets available until 31 October.

Join us for the London 2025 Intercultural Church and City Transformation Roundtable Gathering! Building on the insights and momentum from the Leeds Gathering, we are excited to announce the London 2025 Intercultural Church and City Transformation Gathering! In Leeds, we produced a comprehensive report, and now in London, we will focus on two powerful Biblical texts: Ephesians 2 and Revelation 7:9, to advance our discussions and experience in worship, fellowship, and mission in our cities.

Don't miss this transformative gathering! Book now and be part of a movement that honours the rich cultural diversity within the body of Christ.

For more details contact: Osoba Otaigbe, osoba.otaigbe@biblesociety.org.uk

Watch the video to find out more about the gathering

Book Here for Intercultural Roundtable

Donate and Share to make a difference

One year on from the horrific attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October, the war in Gaza, Lebanon and other parts of the region is causing devastating humanitarian need, destroying lives across the Middle East. The suffering across the region is escalating daily.

TEARFUND have launched an emergency appeal to support those who are suffering in the region.

Donate Through Tearfund

Anti-trafficking Sunday
18 Oct 2024
Anti-trafficking charity Hope for Justice has launched a new campaign urging people to HELP Spot the Signs of Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. A new video and set of resources urges people to be vigilant in their communities and to think HELP!

Get Resources at Hope For Justice

National Week of Prayer
As the Body of Christ, we are gathering across the UK and beyond from October 12th - 20th 2024; to humble ourselves, repent and pray for lives to be transformed by Jesus, and to see a spiritual awakening in the nations. Join us to remember the good things God has done and continues to do in this country, with thanksgiving, worship and praise and return to Him.

Join National Week of Prayer

Our Vision is to see a unified Church working together across every city and town, to see social, cultural and spiritual transformation across the UK. We are grateful to God for how far the Movement has come but we still have a long way to go. Could you, or your unity group, help us to deliver this vision by becoming a Gather Movement Supporter?