Hope 2008 Birmingham, hope in our towns, villages & cities
Hope08 Birmingham
What would you do if you had more money?
Or more time?
What if you weren’t tied down by red tape?
What if your community was fully behind you?
Let’s find out, together.
Churches in Birmingham are coming together, to give meaning to the message of hope that Jesus came to bring. Every community needs something. Maybe it’s a practical need such as cleaning, teaching, or healing. Maybe it's a spiritual need in a community broken by crime, poverty and anger. Whatever the need, the Christians of Birmingham are coming together to try and help.
This is just the beginning. We are aiming to add news, events, and so much more! So keep coming back and get involved.
Upcoming Events
ROCK - the story of Simon Peter
November 1, 2008
Premiere of Roger Jones’ latest musical on the life of Simon Peter. Tickets are now on sale at the Adrian Boult Hall in Birmingham. http://rockthemusical.blogspot.com/
1 and 2 November 7.30pm
A BIT OF A DO TWO -Family Fun Afternoon
July 5, 2008
Saturday 5th July 1 – 4pm at St. Bernard’s Church, Broome Avenue, Great Barr, B43 5AL
Lots of fun and silly and not so silly games all round for all ages for anyone in the community.
No entry charge – but drinks and refreshments will be on sale. There will be a tombola and raffle.
Family Fun Day, Harborne
July 5, 2008
Family Fun Day Saturday July 5th 11am-4pm
Bouncy Castle, games, activities, refreshments
St Faith and St Laurence Church, 115 Balden Road, Harborne, B32 2EL
Previous Events
Gathered together in one place: Pentecost Sunday
Last Sunday several hundred Christians prayed their way into the City Centre for a massive Hope08 Pentecost celebration. The sun was blazing, coloured flags were flying and many voices were rising in the grounds of St Philips Cathedral. Reminiscent of the first Pentecost described in Acts 2, it was inspiring to see that Christians in […]
Bishop & Pancakes
In spite of driving rain, on a wet Shrove Tuesday, the Bishop of Birmingham was out in Birmingham Markets to find out people’s hopes for 2008. Bishop David Urquhart listened and chatted with market buyers and sellers, as part of the launch of his Lent initiative inviting Christians to spend more time with God called […]
Posters !
Lizzy has put together a great poster to help get the word out about the site and about Hope in Birmingham generally.
If you’re looking for easy ways to help, printing one or two of these off and popping them up on your notice board would be great 
Hope 08 News in the West Midlands
Lizzy Sharman is just one member of the new fully fledged Hope News teams now operating in the West Midlands. They are looking for stories of what God is doing throughout the region during Hope 08 which they can report on national Christian media.
Hope News stories will be delivered in rotating 2 minute slots throughout the months on UCB Television (Satellite 766). The news clips are also available on the HopeNews website. This team is just one of 17 volunteer news teams from across the country. Lizzy reported on the top quality news production training these teams received this February, in Horsham, West Sussex….
http://www.hopenews.co.uk/hope/
Gathered together in one place: Pentecost Sunday
Last Sunday several hundred Christians prayed their way into the City Centre for a massive Hope08 Pentecost celebration. The sun was blazing, coloured flags were flying and many voices were rising in the grounds of St Philips Cathedral. Reminiscent of the first Pentecost described in Acts 2, it was inspiring to see that Christians in Birmingham from such a variety of church traditions and ethnic backgrounds had ‘gathered together in one place’, raising their voices to God in worship and prayer. I chatted with some sisters from the community of Saint Francis. One observed: “What’s important about today here is Christians coming together from all over Birmingham and all sorts of traditions worshipping together.”
We were reminded by one woman who gave her testimony that Jesus speaks Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi. The Jesus who changes lives is for all nations, all tribes, all tongues. And this wasn’t just an event happening in Birmingham – many other Christians around the world got together on the same day as part of a Global Day of Prayer. Throughout the afternoon, we worshipped God through song, heard stories of hope and prayed for the City. Speakers included Bishop David Urquhart and Archbishop Vincent Nichols and we were treated to the great singing and musical talent of Just Related, Academy Gospel Music (Choir), and the New Jerusalem Band.
I asked Bishop David Urquhart what the event was all about and what his hope was for Birmingham:
“Today was about celebrating the Holy Spirit and the people of Birmingham who believe in Jesus coming from all parts of the City – some of them walking, some by canal boat, some by bus, some by car, so that we can be in St Phillips cathedral gardens in order to worship God but also to acknowledge that we need his help for our own lives and … moving in the City.”
“My hope is that everyone across Birmingham and the region will encounter Jesus and make up their minds for themselves about him. That encounter will happen in a thousand different ways - it might be a word but more often it’s the actions of Christians - signs of love – whether it’s helping a neighbour, speaking out at a public meeting, just doing something unexpected to help someone and they’ll enquire ‘why are you doing this?’ and people will answer ‘It’s because I love Jesus and Jesus loves you’.”
Vincent Nicholls spoke to the crowd about the Holy Spirit. He gave us an analogy – the Holy Spirit is like rain – it falls on potato fields and produces potatoes, it falls in the rose garden and produces roses, it falls in the wheat field and produces wheat. In the same way, the Holy Spirit falls on us and we each respond in our own way – we are not all of the same kind of crop, but together we make a harvest for the Lord. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in this City and throughout the world.
The event closed with the Hope08 Declaration:
With God’s help:
I affirm that in 2008, I intend to bring:
Harmony in place of discord
Opportunities out of challenges
Praise instead of criticism
Encouragement to replace despair.
We affirm that in our Church, 2008 will be a year of:
Holiness and wholeness
One purpose for many people
Prayer that leads to action
Everyone finding a place to belong.
We pray that for our community, 2008 will be a
year of:
Healing for those who are broken
Order where there is chaos
Protection for the vulnerable
Enterprise for all.
We pray for our nation, that 2008 will be a year of:
Health of body mind and spirit
Open-hearted attitudes
Passion for justice and mercy
Expectations and visions fulfilled.
We pray that The God of all Hope will give us
the faith and courage to live lives that will
release HOPE this year.
I make this declaration and pray this prayer in
the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord.
Amen.