Lent Course 2022 - Life on the Breadline
This Lent we are exploring 'Life on the Breadline' through five 1 hour sessions through a Lent Course on Zoom that is open to people across the Vale and Cotswold Edge. The sessions will be interactive, thought provoking, and conclude with take-away actions to reflect and act upon this Lent.
The sessions have been developed from 3 years of Life on the Breadline research at Coventry University as a result of engaging with Church leaders, Christians, and community groups across the UK. The project included interviews with national Church leaders, a large online survey with regional Church leaders, and spending time with people experiencing and responding to poverty locally in six areas across Birmingham, London, and Manchester. One of the researchers on the project, Stephanie, who worships at Blockley will be leading the sessions.
The sessions cover 5 themes:
Christian responses to poverty - What will it take for us as Christians to treat poverty as morally unacceptable, and for people not to be living in poverty?
"Love thy neighbour": poverty and inequality - How can we sensitively help people experiencing poverty and avoid creating a divide of helper/giver and receiver?
Race, ethnicity, austerity and faith - This session will consider some of the spiritual skills we need to be ‘looking’ people who see, understand, and act on ethnic disparities.
Deficits and assets - How can we focus on gifts, but also address the inequalities that people experience in our local communities?
Poverty and structural inequality - This session brings together the previous five sessions to focus on poverty and structural inequality.
Each session combines prayer, a short video, a Bible passage, guided reflections, discussion questions, and take-away actions.
The course will run on Zoom on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm for an hour (9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th March and 6th April 2022). You don't need to commit to all the sessions, but if you can then you will get the most from the course because the sessions build upon each other.
To register your interest and to receive the Zoom link, email the Blockley parish administrator, Sophie, at blockleychurch.office@gmail.com
Image credit: Beth Waters and Life on the Breadline research.