The Stantonbury Ecumenical Council is hoping to appoint two full time ministers to replace the Rev David Lewis and the vacancy left by the departure of the Rev Neil Popham.

The last meeting of the council decided to go ahead with plans to appoint one Anglican and one Baptist, with the roles of Team Leader and Vision Enabler tied into these posts. Both would be permanent posts.

The hope is to begin advertising in January in readiness to appoint in late summer 2023. Thanks go to Diana Stammers for her ‘out of the box’ thinking and Adrian Prisk for providing the financial figures to help us see the possibilities.

SEC chairman, Sharron Marland, Adrian and the Rev Paul Smith are holding meetings with Archdeacon Guy, Tim Norwood, David Thom (Chair of MK Ecumenical Partnerships) and we will be joined by Lisa Kerry (Regional Baptist Leader) on 13^th December 2022.

Meanwhile Nicola Martyn-Beck, (Methodist Superintendent) very kindly volunteered to support Christ Church after the retirement of David Lewis and she is also chairing the Leadership Partnership Team, which meets every two months to discuss our spiritual future together.

Full details of these stories can be found in the December edition of the SEP newsletter which is available to download here.

The Knife Angel has arrived in Milton Keynes and city churches all been asked to get involved. It will be outside Stadium MK during the Christmas season which offers  an opportunity to talk about the message of peace and goodwill to all humankind as an “anti-violence” narrative.

Loughton Baptist Church and ROC (Redeeming our Communities) will be there with a Knife Angel interactive Nativity to encourage passers-by to grab a “selfie with the saviour”. At the same time, they’ll be video podcasting people’s opinions on the Knife Angel as well as the message of the Christmas season.

Full details of this and other events are in the first Churches Together in Milton Keynes newsletter. Download it here.

Churches Together in Milton Keynes – the organisation which has replaced Mission Partnership – is planning to appoint a part time administrator, who will start work in the New Year.

This person will help CTMK to build a good communications network across the city, so that news, events and activities can be shared more effectively.

Please feel free to share the advert with others and post it in your local church notice sheet.

The advert and application form can be found on the CTMK web site.

Download the Job Description.

Download the Advert.

Best wishes, Tim Norwood for Churches Together in Milton Keynes.