The Parish Magazine December 2023

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10 The Parish Magazine - December 2023 Please mention The Parish Magazine when responding to advertisements Welcoming girls in Year 7 An independent company rated good by Care Quality Commission, our customers and staff alike. Home Carers Wanted! Bridges Home Care is growing... Rated highly by customers... Staff and the profession... Providing quality care in the Oxfordshire area... Why not join our close knit team? I love care work and being around to help people The managers are approachable and supportive My main carer is very good, she is wonderful, like a friend The training gives you confidence to learn more ‘Whatever you dream of, you can do it here!’ ~ Lorenzo, Year 8 Discover the academic and co-curricular opportunities Reading Blue Coat has to offer your child, all set in our beautiful 46 acre site on the River Thames rbcs.org.uk A Co-ed Independent Day School for Students 11-18 Bridges ticks all the boxes n✔ Full training given n✔ Existing skills & experience valued n✔ Guaranteed work, local area UKHCA Supported by Oxfordshire County Council n✔ Flexible hours or shifts available n✔ Supportive hands-on management If you think this might be for you, find out more... call Bonny or Wendy on 01491 578758 or email bonny@bridgeshomecare.co.uk visit www.bridgeshomecare.co.uk Oxfordshire Association of Care Providers FESTIVE SEASON AT THE GREAT HOUSE Cosy catch ups, creative workshops and our events team on hand to make your party planning easier. Snap for all our Festive info including large event bookings.
the parish noticeboard — 3 By Bob Peters Have you ever wondered how many people there are living in the world? A precise answer is impossible because it is constantly changing. At the time of writing, Worldometer (see World Population Faiths below) estimated there are over 8 billion (8,000,000,000) people in the world. An even more interesting fact is that of this 8+ billion people it is estimated that about 16% of the number do not identify themselves with any of the best recognised religions. Christianity is the most popular with 31% of the population. On Sunday 29 October parishioners gathered in St Andrew's Church to share the Parish Eucharist and to say farewell to Rev Kate who left to become the new vicar of Earley St Peter's (see page 7). Her farewell service was attended by over 160 people, and in the evening about 200 people — many of whom had not attended our morning service — also gathered in St Andrew's for a very different type of worship and prayer service. The evening service revolved around a discussion with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel who shared with us the challenge that is facing the Alpha Course that they promote through HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton). Alpha began in 1977 when Charles Marnham, a curate at HTB started a course for church members to explore the basics of beliefs commonly held by many Christians. In 1990 Nicky Gumbel, who was then a curate at HTB, took over running the course and began to revise and promote its use more widely. From just four courses in 1991, the number of Alpha courses rose to 2,500 by 1995 and reached a peak in 1998 when 10,500 courses were run. Today Alpha is running in over 100 countries and in over 100 different languages. More than 24 million people have taken the course which has been tailored for different Christian denominations including Anglican, Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Roman Catholic. The Parish Magazine - December 2023 11 'Everyone, everywhere, to be able to explore the Christian faith by 2033' — Nicky Gumbel THE CHALLENGE TAILORED WORLD POPULATION FAITHS For the most current population total visit Worldometer: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ On 30 October 2023 the breakdown of world faiths was: On the platform (left to right) Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Catherine Karalus and Westy 2,173,180,000 Christians (31% of world population), of which 50% are Catholic, 37% Protestant, 12% Orthodox, and 1% other. 1,598,510,000 Muslims (23%), of which 87-90% are Sunnis, 10-13% Shia. 1,126,500,000 No Religion affiliation (16%): atheists, agnostics and people who do not identify with any particular religion. One-in-five people (20%) in the United States are religiously unaffiliated. 1,033,080,000 Hindus (15%), the overwhelming majority (94%) of which live in India. 487,540,000 Buddhists (7%), of which half live in China. 405,120,000 Folk Religionists (6%): faiths that are closely associated with a particular group of people, ethnicity or tribe. 58,110,000 Other Religions (1%): Baha’i faith, Taoism, Jainism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Tenrikyo, Wicca, Zoroastrianism and many others. 13,850,000 Jews (0.2%), four-fifths live in two countries: United States (41%) and Israel (41%). Yet the Gumbels are not ready to put their feet up. Their inspiration for their latest Alpha project is driven by 'The Great Commission of Christ' found in the Gospel of Matthew 28:16-20 which says: 'Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ HUGE JOB ‘There is still a huge job to be done’, said Nicky, ‘Our vision is for everyone, everywhere in the world to have the opportunity to explore the Christian faith through Alpha during the next 10 years. 2033 is a key moment in history, it will be the 2,000th anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus. 'We hope to make exploring the Christian faith as accessible as possible, so that millions more might encounter the love of God.’ ALPHA INFO To find out more about Alpha visit: https://alpha.org.uk/try-alpha
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