National Family Week is being supported by Mothers’ Union and members’ near Ringwood are hosting a

FAMILY PICNIC
at Toad’s Corner, North Poulner Road, Ringwood
12 noon – 2pm on Thursday 28th May
Bring a picnic blanket, some food, drink and friends to share the fresh air and have fun in the play area.

Why not join them to celebrate what is important about families… being together!

More information about about activities locally and nationally during the half-term week can be found by clicking on our link to
National Family Week

The idea is that in the short term they will take a share of the flip-flops collected at our Festival Service at Winchester Cathedral at 11am on 29th April, and give them to their local Street Pastor group.

In the long-term it would be good if these people could build up closer links with Street Pastors, especially linking local Mothers’ Union groups with their prayer needs.

If you feel you are in a position to help in this way, please contact us as soon as possible using the link in the bottom right of this site.

We think that such a link is already possible in Basingstoke through a Mother’s Union member whose daughter is involved in the Street Pastor scheme. Members from Basingstoke who will be attending the Festival Service will be returning on their mini-bus with flip-flops.

By the end of our Holy Week thoughts this Maundy Thursday, Jesus will have been arrested, and as Peter denies any association or friendship with him (Mark 14:66-72) he is held as a criminal. Jesus is in prison and alone.

It therefore seems appropriate, that today, I post details from our second speaker at last weeks Diocesan Meeting.

Jade is from the Church Army who fund and support her work as a Community Chaplain at HMP Winchester. She is part of the chaplaincy team working in the prison, but is the only member who is able to work directly with prisoners families, and able to support released and transferred prisoners once they leave HMP Winchester. She was able to share stories of how God has intervened in the lives of guys trying to develop their new-found faith, and relate to both family and community after release.

Part of Jade’s work includes leading the SORI programme. SORI stands for Supporting Offenders through Restoration Inside, and takes the form of a weeklong course that enables inmates to find out more about the impact of their crimes on victims, and change their attitudes and thinking. It brings inmates together with people who have been victims of similar crimes and works towards the inmates being able to express publicly their own feelings about their crimes at the end of the week. With the help of Victim Support the scheme also helps victims to put their past experiences behind them.

Jade asks for our prayers for the following:

• The 9 inmates who will be celebrating this Holy Week and Easter having just completed the first Alpha Course to be held at HMP Winchester for some while;
• The chaplaincy staff who work throughout the prison, especially during this Holy Week;
• The men who God wants to be on the next SORI course to be held after Easter, that they will volunteer to take this important step;
• For the Governor and all the staff;
• With thanks for all those whose financial giving through Church Army supports Jade’s work.

Jade will be making her monthly prayer letter available to several members in future, and the main points will be posted on this website to inform the prayers of members and other supporters across the region.

Please also remember our Diocesan Mothers’ Union Project through which some members visit the West Hill Chapel on the first Sunday of each month, to spend time with the inmates, share in the leading of worship, and preaching during the service.

This appeal is in response to a presentation last week about Street Pastors who provide these items free to those who would otherwise walk home barefoot from nightclubs among the broken glass of our late night city streets.

After our Festival Service (at which Street Pastor groups will also be remembered in prayer), all the Flip-flops collected will be divided among local groups of Street Pastors.

For more information about Street Pastors, take a look at our previous posting!

Groups operate ecumenically with the support of their local police and council, as an ‘urban trinity’, moving among young people on the streets late at night in some of the hottest spots for drunken, offensive and dangerous behaviour. In small groups they seek to transform the spiritual climate of the streets by providing help to those struggling home after a night out, supporting those they find distressed, and diffusing situations before they become violent. To do this go armed with only the love of God, a few basic bits of first aid equipment and spare pairs of flip-flops (for girls whose shoes have become too painful to walk in!)

Three groups of Street Pastors are now operating in the region covered by the Diocese of Winchester: in Basingstoke, Eastleigh and Fair Oak. A new group is being launched in Southampton later this month.

If you live near to one of these groups, please make contact with them and support them in prayer, as they need this to surround their work every night they operate (usually Friday and/or Saturday nights). If you live outside our region, please look at http://www.streetpastors.co.uk/ to discover which groups operate in your area.

More details of what it takes to be a Street Pastor, the training required and the impact of these groups on the night-life of our towns and cities, is available at their national website (see above), and will be featured in the next issue of our ‘Archway’ magazine, due out in July.

Like all our meetings, they are open to anyone who is interested in finding out more about the featured subject or the Mothers’ Union. Coffee is available from 9.30am and the meeting will start at 10.00am. More details of the exact program will be attached to this post as a ‘comment’ when they are finalised.

Crosfield Hall is at Broadwater Road, Romsey, SO51 8GL – Googlemap

We look forward to meeting you.