TRUE FREEDOM –  a new Lent resource for churches worldwide

Online Presentation on 18 January 2pm CET, introducing new resource for Lent:  True Freedom

                            Use our social media assets to share the resource with your networks

Dear colleagues and friends,

Warm greetings from the World Council of Churches and best wishes for a blessed 2024.

You are warmly invited to register for a webinar on 18 January at 2 pm CET, introducing the new Lent resource True Freedom, which was developed to support Christians in responding to modern slavery.

True Freedom stems from an incredible collaboration between the World Council of Churches and The Clewer Initiative. The resulting 6-week course draws on themes from the book of Galatians, and includes:

1. Bible studies on the book of Galatians
2. Reflections by Revd Dr Kenneth Mtata, WCC Programme Director and Bishop Alastair Redfern, Chair of The Church of England’s Clewer Initiative
3. Questions for group discussion or personal reflection
4. Stories of hope and case studies from churches in the UK, Italy, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Ghana, Uruguay, Jamaica and the Cayman Island.
5. Prayers
6. Art work to contemplate and discuss
7. Background information about modern slavery
8. Action points that are appropriate for different contexts

An incredible collaboration

As part of the creative process, The Clewer Initiative and World Council of Churches organised an online consultation where modern slavery practitioners and church leaders from around the world gathered to discuss early drafts of the material.

This was vital in ensuring that the resource was relevant in different contexts. During the consultation, people were able to share examples of where they had seen churches taking action against modern slavery and we have included many of these stories in the final version. In particular, we are thankful to our friends who reviewed the resource and participated in the online consultation, including:

1. Christian Council of Ghana
2. Presbyterian Church of East Africa
3. Presbyterian Church of Nigeria
4. Christian Council of Tanzania
5. Protestant Church in the Netherlands
6. Reimagining Board of the Latin American Council of Churches
7. The Church of the Lord (Prayer Fellowship) Worldwide
8. Javanese Christian Churches in Indonesia
9. Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP)

.WHAT NEXT?

The webinar on 18 January 2024 at 2 pm CET is planned to support the dissemination of the resource by churches to their congregations and partners. Translations in Spanish,  French, German and Dutch will be available on the microsite True Freedom in January.

The season of Lent begins on 14th Feb 2024. You are invited to review the content and consider how to use it effectively in your context.

We would recommend the following steps:

1. Visit this microsite.
2. Download the resource.
3. Consider groups and people you could tell about the resource.
4. Could it form the basis of a weekly Lent Bible study in your context? 
   1. Ask church leaders to review the material.
   2. Encourage individuals to use the resource on their own throughout Lent.
5. Use our social media assets to promote the resource on your socials or share our regular posts.
6. Join the webinar on 18 January at 2 pm CET (registration link here)

Thanks a lot in advance for your collaboration. Please let us know if you need any clarifications.

Frederique Seidel

Programme Executive, Child Rights / Manager of global WCC-UNICEF Partnership

World Council of Churches

+41 22 791 63 20 / Frederique.Seidel@wcc-coe.org

twitter: @FrederiqueSei @wcc4children

www.oikoumene.org/children