To mark International Day of People with Disabilities today (December 3rd), Christians in the Church of England in Greater Manchester and Rossendale who live with different disabilities share very personal stories on video about how they have found a welcome in the Church of England and been encouraged to fulfil their Christian calling.In a series of short films released today, (please click on link to watch the films) a diverse group of Christians who are training for ministry in the Church of England, or who already serve as clergy, tell their stories in moving and honest accounts.In the five films we hear from ordinands, who are studying at theological colleges, a serving member of clergy and a retired minister who lost his sight as an adult. Each contributor has something to say about how people who have experience of living with a disability, either personally or within their family, can flourish in the Church.Helen Tyler, who was diagnosed with dyslexia just as she started discerning her calling to ordained ministry and was worried about the training, said:“I realised ‘I can’t fix this. This is all part of me – it’s who I am – and I’ve got to learn to try and embrace it. I am still on that journey.’”Helen had this advice for someone in a similar situation: “Know your strengths, but also, be aware of what you struggle with and don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help because there are people out there who are willing to help you.”Canon Nick Smeeton, Director of Vocations in the Diocese of Manchester, commissioned the films. He said: “As part of our ongoing work to encourage and enable everyone to fulfill their vocation in the Church, we wanted to hear from individuals who have experience of living with any type of disability, either themselves or within their family, as they pursue their calling. We are very grateful to the men and women at various stages in the discernment process who have volunteered to tell their stories on camera.“We are challenged and will continue to do more to encourage vocations from as diverse a group of people as possible.”The five films are published to mark International Day of People with Disabilities on 3 December 2021. Further films will be added to the series in the coming weeks.View the videos at www.manchester.anglican.org/disability-and-vocations
If the Lord had not been on our side’, let Israel say, ‘then the raging waters would have swept us away’”… It’s an arresting start to one of the ‘Songs of Ascent’, sung by pilgrims as they made their way to the Holy City; and the imagery in Psalm 124 – of feeling attacked, swallowed alive, engulfed, trapped – continues to resonate nearly three millennia after the song was first written. Underlying the Hebrew here is the word ‘Emmanuel’, though couched in the negative: ‘if God had not been with us, then imagine what would have ensued!’. But God has been with them, is the message of the Psalm, so that real disaster has been averted. ‘And let’s celebrate that together’, adds the Psalmist, as he encourages all Israel to join the song. It’s an important message, not least with the gloom surrounding the announcement of an omicron variant of Covid-19 and all the ensuing challenges faced by our churches, schools and businesses. How many more letters in the Greek alphabet will become common parlance, we wonder, before this wretched pandemic is behind us? In response, there’s no promise of an easy life here, but the prospect of both hope and help in the midst of our struggles and difficulties. And where better place to start this Advent than in joining together in another song – the one that starts, ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’? Every BlessingBishop Andrew
The Church of England is to release a Christmas single as part of a campaign to encourage more people to hear the real Christmas story through their local church.The single, a new carol version of In the Bleak Midwinter by one of the country’s top young composers, Rebecca Dale, will form the soundtrack to this year’s Church of England Christmas campaign.The single is released on all streaming platforms from Wednesday 1st December.'#AtTheHeartOfChristmas' is the Church of England’s theme for Advent and Christmas 2021.Local churches all over the country will be welcoming their communities – onsite and online – to celebrate and share the good news of Christ’s birth with special services and events, supported by a wide range of national resources.The new carol’s composer Rebecca Dale is one of the country’s most exciting young composers who has been hailed as “a household name in years to come”. Her 2015 debut self-release for choir and orchestra, <em>I’ll Sing</em>, reached No.1 in the iTunes Classical Single Charts and was Classic FM's Choral Classic of the Week. She made history as the first female composer to sign to Universal Music's Decca Classics label, with her debut album, Requiem For My Mother, going to No.1 in the specialist Classical charts. She has written works for numerous classic artists and ensembles and has contributed music for various well known TV programmes and Films. Born in 1985, she was composing from a very young age and has fond memories of singing in church choirs while at school.She said: “It’s so exciting to have been invited to write this new Carol for the Church of England’s Christmas theme #AtTheHeartOfChristmas. “Although In the Bleak Midwinter is a poem which was written nearly 150 years ago, it has a timeless mystery and is wonderfully evocative of a journey from the wintery landscape to the stable and the heart of the nativity story.“I have long wanted to set this text, and so when the Church of England asked me to be involved in this project, this was my very first thought. I hope people will enjoy the setting and that it helps connect them with the amazing story which is at the heart of Christmas.”The Carol has been recorded by St Martin’s Voices, under the direction of Andrew Earis, in the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London.The Church of England has worked with the popular UK classical music station Classic FM to develop the piece. Alexander Armstrong, host of Classic FM’s flagship weekday morning programme, will give the new carol its radio premiere on his show later in December. Armstrong, one of the nation’s best-loved presenters and broadcasters, is also an Ambassador for the Cathedral Music Trust, and one of twelve contributors who offer special Christmas reflections as part of the campaign.“The light, colour and warmth of Christmas stand out starkly against the dark midwinter palette and make our enjoyment so much more focused, especially when it comes to Christmas music,” he writes in his reflection. “There is no other season whose music we devour so hungrily, nor any that carries so many happy associations for us from down the years. That is why it is so thrilling when we hear the first strain of Christmas music each year.”The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said: “Singing carols is a beloved Christmas tradition for so many – so we’re delighted to be sharing this new carol as the national Church of England’s first ever Christmas single. “At Christmas, God becomes human. His heart beats. As a frail child in a cold manger, he takes his first breaths on this earth. We often dress this time of year up, adding all the trimmings. “These things are wonderful, but they are not the heart of Christmas. The only thing that makes Christmas perfect is Jesus, who sees, loves and welcomes all. The message of this carol is that the only thing we need to give him and each other is our hearts – our very own selves.“Wherever and whoever you are, you too are welcome and invited this Christmas, to worship the child, the God, whose heart beats for you.”All royalties from the digital streams and downloads of the track will be donated to charity, helping people experiencing homelessness in the <span style="font-size: 1rem; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;">At the heart of Christmas is a deliberately simple and open theme – one that we hope can be used by local churches to invite their communities to share in celebrating the good news of Christmas in a whole variety of ways, whatever the prevailing circumstances.</span>The Church of England Christmas Advert, due for release in early December, will look at what is ‘at the heart of Christmas’ for different people, with tales of hardships overcome, generosity, faith, Christmas memories and hopes for the future from around the country. It will be shared across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.In 2020, the Church of England’s Christmas theme, Comfort and Joy, was seen more than 35 million times.The theme encourages viewers to visit achurchnearyou.com – a site which received 77 million page views last year – and find out about services and events near them. Find out more about the campaign at churchofengland.org/Christmas.
