Advent and Christmas 2008        

CAFOD

has put together a beautiful  livesimply Advent service, which incorporates the livesimply community challenges. The full order of service is on two sides of A4 and can be downloaded from the worship section of the CAFOD website.

Christian Aid

is holding a "Hope" Christmas appeal, which focuses on rebuilding after the Tsunami. Worship resources and Christmas "prayer box" ornaments are available to download or to order.

CMS 

is offering an advent mission resource called "Share the Light." Their website notes: "Share the Light challenges church members to commit to praying for someone they know for a year. Once they’ve selected someone, they give that person or family a beautiful presentation candle, explaining how they will be praying for them over the next twelve months. Candle recipients are also invited to a special candlelit Advent carol service at your church. CMS provides free worship and activity resources for a “Share the Light” service as well high-quality, low-cost the candles." More information and a downloadable pack is available at the weblink above. 

The Mennonite Central Committee

has a series of Advent resources that focus on the people who lived in Bethlehem at the time of the Nativity and the people who live in Bethlehem today. The material would be particularly suitable for a children's church. There are five powerpoints, and colouring sheets for the children. To view and download the materials, click here.

USPG

is offering a "Christ, Be Our Light" resource pack for Advent. Based around Bernadette Farrell's "Christ, Be Our Light," it offers for each week of Advent a suggested passage, short meditation, and prayer. The sections for each week could also be combined into a single Advent service.

Time for Creation

Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and its constituent members are encouraging congregations to take "Time for Creation" between 1 September and 4 October. If you want to plan a service with a "green" theme then or at any other time, you can't do better than to look at the CTBI resources for Creation Time. Prayers, sermon notes, activities for children and young people. . . . Just an extraordinary collection.

Some Resources for Harvest 2008                             

CAFOD

will hold its Harvest Fast Day on 3 October 2008. The day focuses on training HIV activists, who volunteer their own time to stand alongside families struggling to cope with the impact of HIV and AIDS. Resources available for download at the Harvest Fast Day section of the CAFOD website, or in hard copy from your local CAFOD office.

Christian Aid

offers harvest appeal resources with the theme "We will harvest the desert." The material focuses on the story of Ally Ouedraogo and his community: they are using simple farming and water harvesting techniques to reclaim desert land on the edge of the Sahel in Burkina Faso. Materials include a poster with Ally's story on it, a worship sheet,  powerpoint and reflective video. All are available for download from the Harvest Appeal section of the Christian Aid website; posters can be ordered in hard copy from the Christian Aid office, oxford@christian-aid.org, 01865 246818.

Harvest Help -- Self Help Africa (one charity, in the process of changing names)

This year's resource is called "Hands of Hope," and includes children's activities, an African recipe, youth group suggestions, prayer ideas, posters, sermon notes, and more. To receive a copy, call 01743 277170. A downloadable powerpoint with studies of specific Self Help Africa projects will be available from their website shortly.

Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF)

offers a pack called "Reclaim Harvest!" which "features MRDF's work in Ethiopia, where deforestation and soil erosion have made farming almost impossible, but MRDF support has provided training, seeds and tools that enable communities to manage natural resources sustainably." The free pack includes worship materials, all-age activities and ideas for Harvest celebration events. It can be ordered online or by calling 020 7467 5132, or the materials can be downloaded from the Harvest pack website. An accompanying CD-ROM may be ordered for £5, or its material downloaded from the website.

Tearfund

has a harvest pack called "Step up to the plate," which shares the agency's vision for helping families in the poorest areas access good food. The pack includes: "free recipes from Rick Stein, Delia Smith and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, a short film by multi-award-winning company Pretzel, a 32pp booklet which includes a special report on Tearfund's partners' intervention since 2005's Sahel crisis, activities for children and youth groups, as well as fundraising and harvest service ideas, a poster for advertising, giving envelopes and more." Individual elements can be downloaded, or the whole pack ordered, at the Step up to the Plate webpage.

USPG

has a harvest pack which focuses on "how the San Pablo church, in Villa Felicidad, Uruguay, is reaching out to an impoverished community - by offering a recipe for life that includes a nutritious mixture of faith, pastoral care and practical support." Background information, all-age resources, a powerpoint about San Pablo, children's activities, sermon notes, suggestions of hymns and prayers and material for use during communion can all be downloaded from the USPG harvest website.

And if you're thinking of holding a harvest supper, what about making it a fiesta? USPG is asking its supporters to help raise funds for Latin American projects by holding a Latin American party. Materials available on the fiesta website include recipes, suggestions and instructions on entertainment (make a pinata, anyone?), Latin American prayers and short stories for worship, posters, etc. There's also information on how to order a DVD and traveling photo exhibition of pictures from the Uruguayan Church.