West Midlands Region Churches Forum

Mission in Disadvantaged Communities
The next meeting of the West Midlands Region Churches Forum will be discussing ‘Mission in Disadvantaged Communities’.
It will be an opportunity to explore how churches and Christian organisations are responding to and addressing issues of poverty and deprivation in their communities.

  
The meeting will take place on
Tuesday 31st January, 10.30 – 2pm,
at St Paul’s Church, The Crossing,
Darwall Street, Walsall, WS1 1DA
    
Lunch will be provided
  
The forum meeting is an open invitation, and we would particularly encourage practitioners and community missioners, as well as those who network and resource churches across different parts of the West Midlands region, to come and be part of the discussion.

  The meeting will take the form of an interactive conversation and will be exploring the realities of both rural and urban poverty, sharing how churches and Christian organisations are responding to their different experiences, and mapping the resources, tools and support that exist across the region. 

The discussion will be an opportunity to share your own experiences, ideas, and insight; and also to gain a broader knowledge of church activity across the region. The meeting will be designed to help you discover new project models and resources that are available in the West Midlands.

  
Do please pass on this invitation to those whose work connects with this subject.

  
Please contact Rev Colin Marsh,
Secretary, West Midlands Region Churches Forum,
before the end of Monday 23rd January if you are attending the meeting,
by email office@wmchurches.org.uk or tel: 0121 236 3966
  
Please also advise us if you have particular dietary requirements.

    
A briefing from the Forum held in Coventry on 3 November is now available to download:
Human Trafficking: implications for Christian Mission during 2012.

West Midlands Region Churches Forum (WMRCF) aims to:

• provide Churches the opportunity to network with each other across the Region
• interface with those engaged with delivering government policies in the WM and advise them from a Christian perspective of the impact of such agendas

The Forum seeks to fulfil its aims by:

• holding 3 Forums a year in different parts of the Region on themes relevant to both the Churches and Governance in the West Midlands.
• liaising with the West Midlands Faiths Forum and other faith-based agencies in the region, for example, West Midlands Industrial Mission Association, Faith to Engage, Thrive, Faith Action and Faithworks.
• maintaining an overview of developments across the region, for example Local Economic Partnerships.

During the past 18 months, the Forum has prepared briefing papers on:

• Questions for the General Election.
• Big Society, Cuts: implications for Christian mission
• Questions for the Local Elections

In support of these aims the Forum employs a part-time Secretary to co-ordinate its work.

As Secretary of the WMRCF, Revd Colin Marsh links with Churches Together in England through the Churches Regional Network.

Colin also contributes to the Executive meetings of the West Midlands Faiths Forum, works closely with many agencies across the West Midlands.

Forum Chair
Revd Bill Anderson, Chair of Birmingham Methodist District

Forum Management Committee
Chair: Revd Bill Anderson, Chair of Birmingham Methodist District
Secretary: Revd. Dr. Colin Marsh
Treasurer: Mr Patrick Kelly
Director of Saltley Trust and representatives of WMIMA

Forum Membership

• Anglican Dioceses of Birmingham, Hereford, Worcester, Coventry and Lichfield
• Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham, Diocese of Shrewsbury and Hereford Deanery (Diocese of Cardiff)
• Methodist Districts of Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, Chester and Stoke-on-Trent
• West Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church
• Heart of England Baptist Association
• West Midland Division of the Salvation Army
• Warwickshire Monthly Meeting of the Society of Friends
• Greek Orthodox Church

• Birmingham Churches Together (Colin Marsh, Ecumenical Development Officer)
• Black Country Churches Engaged (Philip Webb, Ecumenical Mission Officer)
• Churches Together in Coventry and Warwickshire (Kay Dyer, Ecumenical Officer)
• Churches Together in Herefordshire (Pippa Hadfield, Ecumenical Development Officer)
• Churches Together in Shropshire (Gerard Cliffe, Ecumenical Secretary)
• Churches Linked Across Staffordshire and the Potteries (CLASP), (Philip Webb, Ecumenical Mission Officer)
• Churches Together in Worcestershire (David Ryan, Ecumenical contact)
• Telford Christian Council (Andrew Smith, Ecumenical Dean)