The Week Ahead

Reginald D Hunter’s Songs of the Border

Saturday 14 July

BBC Two 10.15pm

Comedian Reginald D Hunter invites us to drive along the “Iron Curtain” separating Mexico from the US, discovering how music has transcended the border.

Inside Facebook: Secrets of the social network

Tuesday 17 July

Channel 4, 9.00pm

An undercover look at the world of the people who decide what can and cannot be posted on the world’s biggest social media site.

Killed by my Debt

Wednesday 18 July

BBC One, 9.00pm

The true story of a popular 19-year-old from a council estate. When two traffic fines rose to over a £1,000, bailiffs became involved. Pay with his zero-hours job was as low as £12 some weeks and, under the pressure of his debt, Jerome took his own life.

The Reith Lectures 2018: Civilians and war

Saturday 14 July

BBC Radio 4, 10.15pm

Margaret MacMillan examines the impact of war on civilians, exploring how they have been deliberately targeted, used as slaves and been subject to mass rapes.

Something Understood
The Voice
Sunday 15 July

BBC Radio 4, 6.05pm

Screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce is intrigued by the way the human voice can spark so many memories and feelings. He invites his friend Steve Coogan to demonstrate some of his impersonations, revealing that the tone of voice can carry more meaning than the words we say.

The Decline of the West

Monday 16 July

BBC Radio 4, 8.00pm

Amol Rajan explores whether historian Oswald Spengler’s century-old prophecy of Western decline, discussed in his book The Decline of the West, is coming true.

The Conference Business Digest

The report for local churches about the business of the 2018 Methodist Conference can be downloaded here.

1000 Letters

Write a letter to the young people attending 3Generate and encourage them to be courageous in their faith by sharing your own faith story. The letters will help children and young people feel connected to, and part of, the wider body of the Methodist Church.

MWiB Podcast

Sandra Goodwin, Methodist Women in Britiain President 2017-2019, talks with Mike Ivatt about Methodist Women in Britain and the place of women within the worldwide Church. Click here to listen.

Colin Morris thanksgiving service

This will take place on Saturday 21 July, 12pm at Wesley’s Chapel, City Road, London.

Faith in Politics Podcast

The Joint Public Issues Team has released its latest podcast, Faith in Politics. One year after the Grenfell Tower fire, the Revd Mike Long from Notting Hill Methodist Church, Emma Dent Coad MP and Portia Thaxter discuss the tragedy. Listen online here.

Methodist Prayer Handbook

Jesus the First and the Last is a great giveaway for holiday clubs, church summer day outs and your local community. Order your free copy from Methodist Publishing while stocks last.

‘More light, less heat’ study day

Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum, Crewe, is holding a study day on Saturday 14 July, 10.30am-3.30pm. For more information click here. Tickets are £10 including lunch, booking essential.

Rural Mission Sunday

Rural Mission Sunday on July 15 provides an opportunity for rural churches to celebrate who they are and to give thanks for their community. Organised by Germinate, part of the Arthur Rank Centre, you can register here and download free resources.

Film screening

Wesley Memorial Church, Epworth, is hosting a screening of Harriet Gavshon’s ‘The Ribbon’ on Wednesday 18 July, 2.30pm. A short service, led by the Revd Angela Long, will follow to remember ‘Over the Rainbow’ day and to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s birth. All are welcome.

This week in Parliament

You can find the UK Parliamentary business online here. If you want to find out the timetable for the National Assembly for Wales, click here. The Scottish Parliament is in recess until Sunday 2 September 2018.

Reflections
  

In the coming week, the Prayer Handbook encourages us to pray for the World Church: Christians in the Caribbean, Middle East and Asia, as well as Britain and Ireland. The theme for next week’s A Word in Time Bible studies is ‘On Eagles’ Wings’.

Video Thursday: Our Calling

In this week’s film, the Methodist Church reaffirms the nature of its mission, known by Methodists as Our Calling. This film can be shown to churches, groups and circuits and shared on social media.