What you need to know about the Partnership Celebration
WHEN: Sunday 20th October, 3.30-5pm (followed by Cake - hopefully around the campfire!)
WHERE: The Main Hall (and out the front, around a Campfire, at the end), The Pathfinder CofE Primary School, Pathfinder Way, Northstowe, CB24 1AW (parking available on site in the school car park)
WHAT: A celebration of belonging and commitment to "praying, exploring, and sharing" across the Northstowe Church Network and with our partner denominations. During the service, Revd Beth will be formally commissioned as the lead minister of the Northstowe Church Network and so invited to use the full range of practices and service-styles of our partnership denominations. Words of commitment will also be shared between Beth and those in the local church
HOW TO PREPARE:
- Think about what makes this ecumenical partnership (different Christian traditions working together) special. We'll invite you to share highlights of your experiences of Northstowe, as well as reflect on the gifts that you see in the traditions that shape us. You might like to focus on your own tradition, or one that you are discovering through out partnership.
- Prayerfully reflect with the words of commitment: the Shared Vision and the Local Commitment.
- Listen to the music samples so you'll be ready to sing along with gusto!
Ministers will be wearing clerical collars but not robes. Dress to be comfortable - whether that means jeans or something a little smarter is up to you! Don't forget your coat (and perhaps hat and gloves) as we'll end around the campfire.
Dietary/Ascessibity requirements: When you RSVP, just let us know. We want to make sure we have cake that everyone can eat. There are a few disabled parking bays in the school car park.
Running Order:
3.20pm - Tea and Coffee available3.30pm - Please gather around the tables, and get to know those sitting near you. As you make paperboats, you are invited to write you draw your highlights from being connected to the the Northstowe Church Network. (e.g. what's been the best thing at Little Explorers, or Pathfinder Church, or Compline, or at one of the festivals? Do you have a story about what God's been doing in Northstowe?)
3.35pm - Welcome and practice notices (while you finish your paper boats)
3.40pm - Gathering together to worship God (with candle lighting and singing WELCOME EVERBODY
3.45pm - Ecumenical commissioning
- reaffirming the Shared Vision Statement
- proclaiming our shared faith (the Apostles Creed)
- Commissioning Beth to lead services across the Northstowe Church Network using the rites and practices of the Baptist Union, United Reformed Church, and Church of England
- re-affirming the the shared commitment between minister and those in the Northstowe Church Network
- Reading John 3:1-15
- Exploring the passage interactively at stations around the room. One station will invite you to write or draw the gifts that you see in the traditions that shape us. You might like to write about your own tradition, or one that you are discovering through out partnership.
- asking "what are we noticing from God?"
- singing "breathe on me breath of God"
- praying together
- singing "Build your Kingdom here"
- (weather permitting) taking the light from the candle outside to light the campfire
- closing prayers
About us:
Those of us gathering in the various new communities that make up the Northstowe Church Network come from all Christian traditions as well as those new to Christianity: together we are pilgrims on a journey, asking questions and exploring the connections we find between everyday life and our spirituality and faith. At the heart of all this is a recognition that we are seeking to follow “The Pathfinder”, Jesus Christ. Our vision is to be people who are praying, exploring and sharing:
The Northstowe Church Network is:
- a network of missional and worshiping communities: you might find your primary home in Pathfinder Church (which has particular links with The Pathfinder CofE Primary School), or Little Explorers, or the Compline Community… or be part of developing something new!
- a local ecumenical partnership of the Church of England, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, and the United Reformed Church. We are working closely with the other Christian traditions involved in Churches Together in Cambridgeshire, including the Quakers and Methodists.
- the charity that provides the umbrella for our shared mission and ministry in the growing new town of Northstowe.
Key commitments
Shared Vision :
Together, we have committed to share in prayer for Northstowe, and provide practical support in setting up the right structures for the next stages:
- We commit ourselves to sharing together in the ministry of Christ to the world, and within this context to explore together the meaning and possibilities of unity for worship, evangelism, mission and service.
- We commit ourselves to assessing the resources of church and community in terms of people, money and buildings, and to deploying them in the best way in relation to the aspirations and needs of local people
- We commit ourselves to maintaining and developing relationships with our parent bodies and with Churches Together in Cambridgeshire (previously Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council).
— This statement has been agreed by the Council of Pathfinder Church Northstowe (now, the Northstowe Church Network), the Diocese of Ely (Church of England), the Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church, the Eastern Baptist Association (BUGB), the Cambridgeshire Area Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and the East Anglia Methodist District.
Minister:
Today I bring myself and the gifts I have,
and I covenant to serve and encourage this church-network and community:
to respect and care for you, to journey with you,
to take responsibility among you,
to seek God with you, to listen to God in you,
and to work with you to be Christ in this world.
Those involved in the Northstowe Church Network:
Today we bring ourselves and the gifts we have,
and we covenant to serve and encourage
this church-network and community:
to respect and care for each other,
to take responsibility for the people we are
and the people we hope to be in Christ,
and to encourage you as our minister
as we make this journey together.
— reaffirming the original shared commitment made between minister and people when Pathfinder Church Northstowe was launched - now encompassing the whole Northstowe Church Network
Welcome Everybody (a firm favourite at Little Explorers)
Breathe on my Breath of God
Build your Kingdom here