RUN - Resource Network Envision

Resource: Hildegard of Bingen (30.10.09)
Interest in the Christian mystics has been growing steadily over the last couple of decades. This is probably due to a number of influences. Meditation usually plays a significant if not crucial role in Christian mysticism and it is through such practice that many contemporary Christians have engaged with Hildegard of Bingen...

Resource: Pocket Liturgies (19.08.09)
Creating words for use in worship that will have a contemporary resonance is one of the ongoing challenges that many have been seeking to meet over recent decades. Pocket Liturgies from Proost are one response to this challenge......

Resource: Torchwood, Children of Earth (17.07.09)
High on the list of TV companies aims is to create ‘water cooler moments’. That is, the moment from the previous night’s television that people in an office discuss when they bump into each other getting a drink of water or making a cuppa at work. Every now and then there’s a water cooler moment that prompts a genuine discussion about a topic a bit bigger than who’s fallen out with who in whatever soap. Torchwood, Children of Earth is one such piece of television drama......

Resource: Square Mile (15.05.09)
Would anyone in your community notice if your church ceased to exist? That’s the starting point for this four week course for small groups produced by Evangelical Alliance - an honest, possibly brutal question which seeks to prompt churches to look at how they are a missional force in their community......

Resource: The Fullness of Life - seven studies in evangelism (20.04.09)
The Fullness of Life is an approachable and well targeted series of studies, aimed very much at churches and individuals. The seven studies each look at a real world situation, first explaining the context and how a church has responded to it, then using bible study and discussion to discover what God might have to say about it....

Resource: The Music of Ben Harper (03.02.09)
Ben Harper is a mainstream musician and songwriter who isn't afraid to sing or talk about his faith and who thankfully, lacks the popular exposure (despite joining the Obama campaign trail) that would put him in the sights of those looking for 'Cliff mark II' (although isn't Cliff, 'Cliff mark II'... anyway?)...

Resource: There's life in the OHP yet (19.01.09)
Is it time to ditch your behemoth of projection technology, confident that your data projector will never need an emergency back-up? Is it time to finally turn your back on this matt silver pensioner sadly remembering a time a when your church did look to be moving towards the 20th century? NO! We say there’s life left in the OHP yet, and to prove it here’s some ideas......

Resource: The Art of Sister Corita (27.11.08)
Corita Kent is acknowledged as an important pop artist and educator who, for almost thirty years, also belonged to the Roman Catholic order of Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles. Her art is bold and colourful, and with its prominent use of lettering and slogans is strongly related to graphic design – one of the hallmarks of ‘Pop Art’......

Resource: Wise Traveller Books (22.09.08)
Throughout the history of Christianity, those with a calling to share the message of Christ have often recognised the importance of speaking the cultural language of the people they are trying to reach. The Wise Traveller books from Scripture Union takes up this baton with a series of three pocket-sized books that would be comfortably at home in the ‘new age’ or ‘self help’ section of a bookshop....

Resource: The Films of Jim Carrey (04.06.08)
Jim Carrey is an actor who tends to polarise opinion. You either consider his manic rubber-faced acting in the likes of Ace Ventura Pet Detective as one of the highpoints of contemporary comic films or you consciously steer clear of any movie bearing his name......

Resource: iMatter (29.04.08)
Adrian Riley looks at the latest resource from RUN and offers some ideas and advice on how it might be used......

Resource: www.hopeinfo.co.uk (29.01.08)
The ‘Hope 08’ initiative has 4 different presences on the world wide web – a site aimed at resourcing churches, one providing info for the press, a site accompanying the youth element called ‘hope revolution’ and hopeinfo.co.uk which is aimed at ‘everyone’ meaning that it’s the online public face of Hope 08. ...

Resources: Distinctly Welcoming - Christian presence in a multifaith society. Richard Sudworth (19.12.07)
As the introduction to this book points out, it’s never been more vital in the UK that faith communities build relationships with each other and learn to work together in our communities. Distinctly Welcoming, by RUN member Richard Sudworth, takes this as a given fact and addresses it head-on in this highly approachable and practical book......

Resources: proost.co.uk (22.11.07)
Proost have been on the cutting edge of worship resources for the last 10 years. If you haven’t come across them before, Proost are the people who have published resources from the alternative worship, and latterly, emerging church movements......

Resources: Jazz Church (11.10.07)
New churches rooted in local subcultures are proving to be a success due to identifying existing cultural, rather than location-defined, communities in which to develop. Music is often a strong unifying theme and so churches have sprung up based around rock, chill-out or dance scenes. Jazz however, doesn’t immediately spring to mind as a potential focus for mission activity......

Resources: sacrifice and salvation themes in science fiction movies (22.08.07)
Using popular movie clips to introduce theological themes can be an effective method of grabbing attention and attesting to the relevance of such themes in contemporary life. This month we’ve rented a stack of DVD’s to look for clips suitable for use in a mission content, so grab that popcorn and settle back for sacrifice and salvation themes in sci-fi films......

Resources: The Life Exhibition (22.06.07)
So you’re a church with a passion for spreading the Good News. You especially long to share with local schools and build a relationship with them, perhaps beginning by hosting something you can invite them to. Thankfully someone has thought all this through for you...

Resources: Emerging Churches, Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures (31.05.07)
Emerging Churches by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger will likely continue to be regarded as a significant publication for some years. This is because the authors have approached the topic understanding the importance of cultural context rather than just defining emerging church as the latest incarnation of western Christianity...

Resources: Holy Ground (29.04.07)
Holy Ground - an art installation by Christian artist Paul Hobbs and supported by the Church Mission Society. The idea is a simple but inspired one – invite Christians around the world to give the artist a pair of their shoes and share their story of having Christian faith in their life in their country...

Resources: Messy Church (20.03.07)
‘Messy Church’ is the name of a monthly after school event at an Anglican church in suburban Portsmouth. This book of the same name explains Messy Church’s origins, how it operates, and gives a host of programme ideas should you feel inspired to get messy yourself...

Resources: Worshipping the Creator (28.02.07)
‘Worshipping the Creator’ is essentially an alt.worship experience in a box. It’s easy: Open the lid, read the short booklet, collect a few bits of kit and off you go...

Resources: Exodus 20 lesson pack for Key Stage 3 (01.01.07)
10 schools were given one of the 10 commandments and asked to explore its meaning in contemporary culture by writing stories set in their own lives...

Resources: Natural Realm & Angelic Realm cards (15.12.06)
Beautifully designed and produced, these cards are an intelligent and fresh approach to mission 'hand-outs' or perhaps even as the base for a seeker course...

Resources : Heuristic Art (17.11.06)
(aka forget everything you thought you knew about Yoko Ono) Yoko’s art has included a wide range of mediums but it is the written word which has the most obvious application for Christian mission, in particular the book ‘Grapefruit’...

Resources : Most (21.10.06)
The film MOST was nominated for an Oscar in 2004 (Best Live-Action Short) and has had glowing reviews from the likes of Christianity Today, HollywoodJesus.com and The Chicago Tribune...

Resources : Glad You Asked (14.09.06)
Glad You Asked is one of several ‘seeker’ group resources that have emerged in recent years in the wake of The Alpha Course. As the title suggests, this is a resource that encourages searching and discussion and values that process as part of a wider spiritual journey...

Resources : The Liberator (14.08.06)
The Liberator is a retelling of the life of Christ based on the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke but written in Rob’s unique, easy to read, ‘street’ style prose. But it’s much, much more than a paraphrase...

Resources : Using PowerPoint in Worship (17.07.06)
Many churches are now using digital projection technology either as a replacement to printed lyrics and liturgy or to add a new dimension to the worship environment...

Resources : Come Home (19.06.06)
‘Come Home’ is probably quite unlike any other worship resource you’ve seen. Beautifully packaged, the box illustrated with tasteful and intriguing domestic photos opens up to reveal a DVD, CD-Rom, audio CD, Leaders guide and other pre-prepared resources...

Resources : in motion’ dvd – ‘spirituality 1’ reflection (18.05.06)
The ‘in motion’ DVD produced by RUN is an invaluable resource for any church looking to engage with the emerging generation. Not only does it contain ready-to-use dramas, narratives and performances, it’s also a resource that has many possibilities for creative use.
...

Resources : Stations of the Cross (06.04.06)
Walking the Stations of the Cross has long been a Catholic and high-church tradition, but in recent years there has been something of a rediscovery and reinvention of this practice amongst more creatively worshipping churches, particularly as a potential means of outreach...

Resources : The lyrics of Robbie Williams (18.03.06)
What music would like at your funeral? This was the question asked last year by UK digital TV station Music Choice. Can you guess the winner? Not Frank Sinatra’s self-satisfied ‘My Way’ or Queen’s resignedly bleak ‘Who wants to live forever?’ (although they were both in the top 5) but Robbie William’s rather more spiritually-themed ’Angels’...

Resources : ‘40’ (04.02.06)
Every so often a Christian resource comes along that has grown out of a unique vision. That most of these resources seem to have come out of the UK lately should be a source of pride and thanksgiving. ‘40’ is one such unique home-grown resource....

Resources : Tune in, Chill out (02.01.06)
For far too long many Christians have ignored or perhaps just forgotten the rich tradition of meditation in our faith. For churches wishing to reach out to a generation of spiritual searchers the rediscovery of this accessible and deeply spiritual set of practices could be hugely valuable....

Resources : Christmas (11.12.05)
If anyone understands the problem of communicating faith in our fast-as-lightening culture, it's Rob Lacey, author of ‘The Word on the Street' (formerly known as 'the Street Bible'). Right at the start of this booklet, we're only just past an amusingly confused retelling of the Christmas story, and Rob is already telling us we can get the real story in three minutes from his website. Job done....

'Equipping your church in a spiritual age' (01.11.05)
When, by the end of the first chapter, a book has warned you three times that some of the content might be considered too radical for some churches, you know it must be onto something. If ever the Church needed radical ideas, this is the age - and contrary to what many Christians think, the authors point out that this is a very spiritual age. ...