Media Reviews
From The Baptist Times - May 2011 I do not know about you, but sometimes I just need an idea to get me started to create a mission event. The book Creative Mission states on the cover that is has over 50 ideas for special days, celebrations, festivals, community-based projects and seasonal activities. In fact, as I looked through this book, I noticed it had far more than 50 ideas. Some were around events Baptists would normally celebrate, such as Harvest, Easter and Christmas; others were less obvious - midsummer's day, welcoming tourists, Lammastide and Bonus day! For each occasion it has a wealth of ideas to help churches, large or small, urban or rural, to connect with people who have occasional contact with a church as well as suggestions for the church family to join in community events. Many of the ideas are for families, children and adults, to enjoy together or alongside one another. The ideas are arranged to fit the four seasons and the church calendar, plus well known secular points in the year. Each idea, as well as putting it into context, is backed up by biblical texts, website details to find out more, and ideas to get you thinking out of the box. As well as helping you to think of mission ideas and event, this book would be a great help for anyone who has regular school assemblies or all age worship to plan. This is one of those books that you want to have and use often for inspiration and ideas. You would keep taking it off the shelf to get another idea from it or it would springboard further ideas to note in the margins for future occasions. My prayer is that churches, leaderships and individuals will be inspired by this book to see there are ways both within Christian festivals and using secular events, such as Red Nose Days, for the church to be engaged in the community and world. I wholeheartedly commend this book as a resource that should be on the shelf of every Christian worker. More importantly, that it should affect the way we do mission and our missional thinking. Well worth the GBP8.99 cover price. Reviewed by Ian Bunce From Shaped By God | the diocesan vision for mission - 24 May 2011 Brilliantly simple, straightforward and highly practical. Rona Orme, Children's Missioner in Peterborough Diocese, has produced a book packed full with a feast of ideas suitable for children, young families and adults. It's rare to find a book where so many ideas can be taken straight from the page to a group or service and yet Rona manages it with dozens of ideas to suit both Christian festivals (all the ones you'd expect plus some that have been a little forgotten like Lammastide), weird internet days (like national apple day), milestones (like back to school, and the start of holidays) and various other important days (like Red Nose Day, World Book Day, Prisons Week and World Toilet Day). There's even ideas to accompany what people might be thinking of at any given time, for example an idea suited to X Factor/Strictly Come Dancing! It's rare to find a book that can work so naturally in many different environments. I could imagine many of the ideas working as well in a large town or city centre church as in a Messy Church or toddler group of half a dozen. Rona draws on her experience in rural mission (she wrote a book on rural mission with children a few years ago) with ideas that translate well to smaller rural groups, and also her role in service leading (she is a Reader in the Church of England) with ideas suitable as the foundation of am All Age service. Now working with the development of a Fresh Expression in a school on a new suburban estate, one could imagine many of her ideas translating seemlessly into a Fresh Expression of Church. Most ideas come complete with where to go for more resources plus internet links for additional info. They all come with Bible links which could be explored further in the context of a service or extended teaching time. Not all the work is done for the reader in developing the Bible passages in every one of the fifty plus ideas, but activities do emerge from the Bible passage(s) providing a helpful and normally easy springboard for those contexts where additional teaching is needed. In what is already a crowded marketplace of print and online resources, Creative Mission stands out as accesible for many contexts and experiences as well as full of ideas ready to go as they are. From The Chichester Diocesan Magazine - Spring 2011 One of the main challenges Churches face is helping children who attend church occasionally to make a real connection. It is often occasional events that provide an opportunity for children and their families to be given a glimpse of the Gospel and all it has to offer. However, these events require a great deal of creativity, imagination and resources to do well. So often we struggle with ideas that might really connect children with the scriptures and the message of Jesus. It is here that Rona's superb book could be a very helpful resource. It contains over 50 ideas for special days, celebrations, festivals, community based projects and seasonal activities. There are a variety of ideas around each theme and sufficient flexibility to tailor each to your resources, audience and venue. Many of the ideas can be used effectively even when a small number of children or even no children are present. Rona is a Reader and Children's Missioner in the Diocese of Peterborough. These ideas have emerged from a creative ministry across a range of traditions in the Church. The book would be an invaluable resource for Clergy and Teams concerned with reaching children and their families. Reviewed by Richard Jackson
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