The Week Ahead

Grayson Perry: Rites of Passage

Thursday 23 August

Channel 4, 10.00pm

Artist and contrarian Grayson Perry thinks we, the British, have lost sight of what life’s great rituals – those marking birth, marriage and death – really mean.

Extraordinary Rituals:
Great Gatherings

Friday 24 August

BBC Two, 9.00pm

Great Gatherings looks at rituals that bring people together in huge numbers, and explores how these ceremonies keep communities alive.

Songs of Praise

Sunday 26 August

BBC One, 3.30pm

Claire McCollum reports on Pope Francis’ visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families.

The Missing Hancocks

Thursday 23 August

BBC Radio 4, 11.00pm

Comedy, by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Tony tells Andree a seemingly far-fetched story about how he got his war wound. Re-recording of a lost episode from 1956.

Something Understood

Sunday 26 August

BBC Radio 4, 6.05am

To mark this year’s festival of Raksha Bandhan, Mark Tully discusses the significance of the rite in which sisters tie rakhi threads round their brothers’ wrists for protection.

Crossing Continents

Monday 27 August

BBC Radio 4, 8.30pm

Over the past 70 years several hundred thousand Jamaicans have emigrated to the UK, following in the footsteps of the so-called `Windrush generation’, who first arrived in Britain in the late 1940s.

Refugee stories

Churches who have welcomed and supported refugees are being called to tell their stories. These will feature in a special magazine to be published this autumn, illustrating how Methodist churches across Britain are responding to the call. Please email your stories to George Luke.

Floods in Kerala

The Church of South India Synod has published an update on the floods which have devastated parts of Kerala. Please read the Synod’s assessment of the situation.

Let your light shine!

All We Can has created Harvest resources to inspire churches and schools to let their light shine. The resources celebrate how God’s gift of light transforms lives and how vulnerable communities are overcoming failed harvests with the introduction of solar powered irrigation. 

New automatic disqualification of charity trustees

On 1 August 2018, the rules on automatic disqualification for charity trustees changed, imposing tighter restrictions on those who manage a charity. The new rules widen the reasons an individual can be disqualified to include unspent convictions for terrorism, money laundering or being on the sex offenders register.

Lectionary readings

This weekly blog has been created by the Revd Paul Glass, chaplain at Kent College. The readings are designed to be used in worship.

Thinking lunch

A lunchtime event at Marlborough Road Methodist Church, St Albans on Thursday 6 September, 12.30pm-1.30pm. Matthew Forsyth from All We Can will be speaking on What needs to go: the 0.7% to overseas or the overseas development charities?

This week in Parliament

The UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales are in recess.

Reflections
 

In the coming week, the Prayer Handbook encourages us to pray for the World Church, Christians in the Pacific, Northern and Central Europe, as well as Britain and Ireland. The theme for next week’s A Word in Time Bible studies is ‘Crossing Jordan’.

Video Thursday: Combating loneliness

This week’s film features the Street Listening Project that offers human connection and a platform for people to find balance in themselves.