For this month’s newsletter please have a read of an excerpt of our first report to the Growing Faith Network Learning Hub. “Before we get into the story of the first few months of work, allow me to introduce the main players of our work in the Stroud District. First we have Archway School, the largest comprehensive school in Stroud, then we have the local network of parish churches, and finally we have ourselves the Read more…
A short reflection from Isak Recently I have been reflecting on the book of Joshua in the Bible, specifically when the two spies are sent into Jericho and go into the house of Rahab the sex worker. As I was reflecting on this I feel it relates to how God consistently works beyond our expectations, and how this is happening with our work now. In the story Joshua sends two scouts into Jericho, and in Read more…
Isak’s Update February 2025, the second month of my illuminate adventure, has been full of excitement and rewards. I have had the privilege of teaching some RE lessons at Archway, sessions in the Tin Church (Paganhill) continue to draw in many young people, the curious questions lunch time group is organically growing and providing a safe space for young people in Archway to explore big life questions, and most excitedly we took a group of Read more…
Isak has been a member of The Door and illuminate teams for a few years now, but as of January 2025 he has stepped up to become the illuminate Coordinator part-time alongside his other community youthwork activities across Stroud and beyond. We asked him to introduce himself… Let me start by saying how excited I am for the potential impact illuminate might have in Stroud and how privileged I feel to now be in the Read more…
illuminate has had an encouraging start the the new term, reopening it’s drop-in youth sessions in Stroud and in Dursley. We had the privilege to host all of the new year 7s from Archway for a lesson in the Tin Church, sharing with them all about what it means to be part of a local church community. Many of those year 7s have visited our drop in session on a Monday. Isak has been leading Read more…
Have you ever wondered how to best disciple young people and encourage passion in them to put their relationship with God front and centre in their lives? Primarily, I would say that is done through consistent relationships with each other and trustworthy adults. However, it is also well worth considering taking your young people off to camp. In youthwork, there is nothing quite like taking a few days away on retreat with the sole purpose Read more…
During the summer holidays the illuminate team went to a youth festival called Satellites. 3 leaders, 17 young people and 5000 other delegates descended on the Bath and West Show Ground for a week of learning, worship and fun. One of those young people Isaac tells us all about his time at Satellites: Satellites was very different to any festival I have been to before, in that it had lots of amazing speakers over many Read more…
We’re delighted to welcome Lia Mills to the illuminate team as our new Intern for the next year. Lia, who will be based in Cam & Dursley, will be part of the illuminate team, as well as spending some time with our partner churches in the area. Alongside her role she is studying with South West Youth Ministries on their “Engaging with Applied Theology” course. We caught up with Lia during her first week to find Read more…
The new year 7s in Archway had an exciting visit to their local church as part of their Modern World RS module. Each class met with members of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Paganhill and had a good look around the fascinating church building, which was bought “flat-packed” from a department store and erected on site in the late 1900s. The young people were full of questions, and learnt about the layout of Read more…
The academic year finished in real style as the illuminateStroud team and guest Artist Steph Cormack, took over year 7’s RS lessons in Archway School. Focusing on the question “How can people express their spirituality through art?” Students were encouraged to reflect on their first year in Archway from a spiritual and wellbeing perspective, building on their learning from earlier in the year which look at the character of Jesus and looking at depictions of Jesus’ life in art. During individual Read more…