Hello everyone and welcome to the latest edition of THE BUZZ.

THE BUZZ is a great resource that brings the whole Connexion together and allows us to share successful ideas between districts, circuits, churches and church groups. If you have any success stories you would like to promote and share, then please get in touch and let us know how God is working in your local area.

Alison Pollard
  

Four more exciting and encouraging stories from around Methodism. The contacts provided will be pleased to give you more information.

Our members have been doing Disciple courses since 1999 and we have just completed Disciple 4 (which we think we are the first UK church to complete). More than 50 people from our church and circuit have completed one or more courses.

We are a small village church (12 members) and have been looking into learning new ways of being ‘church’ with the Fresh Expressions project. One outcome is the formation of a quiz team which participates in the monthly quiz at the local pub. This gives us contact with members of the community, meeting with them in an environment where they feel comfortable. We have now challenged the Anglican Church to put up a team and this will give an increased ecumenical dimension to our contact.

(By the way, we have won a couple of times!)

Wycombe Winter Night Shelter (WWNS) provided emergency care for homeless people from January to March 2008. Seven churches provided venues one night each week and over 200 volunteers helped with the scheme.

Each night up to ten people were provided with not only the essentials of a warm shelter, dinner, bed and breakfast but also friendship and practical support including advice on eviction, job loss, relationship breakdown, incapacity, alcohol and drug abuse, release from prison, mental health and despair. One way or another all those who stayed with us were helped into more permanent accommodation.

Within CYTUN (Churches Together) in Clydach we have recently formed a group called 'Croeso' (Welcome) which aims to connect Church and community in new ways – going beyond our church walls.

We began by holding more of our meetings in local community centres, growing contacts between Church members and community groups, and we are now in conversation with the local junior school about supporting their proposed wildlife garden. 

In the autumn we hope to run a Christianity Explored course and hold monthly 'drop-ins' at one of the more central chapels, selling fair trade goods and offering a 'listening post' to all who attend.