Jesus Shaped People

Until recently my knowledge of St Francis was limited to rudimentary memories of stories describing his relationship with the natural world.  My picture of him was of a holy man for whom the ‘birds and the bees’ had a special relationship.

All this was to be transformed three years ago when I led a first pilgrimage tour of Assisi. This was to be extended substantially in April 2016 by a further visit to Assisi, plus a few days at La Verna – the extraordinary Franciscan mountain retreat established in Francis’ later years.

We've been hosting Jesus Shaped People Celebrations around various churches in Bradford for some time now. But they have all been events that have been fundamentally aimed at adults

That's going to change with the next planned Celebration on Sunday May 22nd.

For the first time ever, we are having an All Age Jesus Shaped People Celebration. It all takes place at St Michael's Church Cottingley  on Sunday May 22nd.

Dear JSP Friends

Easter Day dawns again - and with signs of springtime all around us.

Jesus Shaped People is offering a springtime of freshness and fruitfulness to an increasing number of churches and church members.  It's a joy to see this taking place in so many places and parishes.

The Reverend Henriette Howarth has been licensed as a priest in the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, with specific part-time responsbility for Jesus Shaped People.

This newly created role strengthens the Jesus Shaped People work, as Henriette will be working to develop new and existing resources, as well as liaising with churches who wish to start their Jesus Shaped People adventure.

In this picture we see, from left to right, Betty Pedley, JSP Childrens Adviser, Henriette, JSP Programme Leader Gordon Dey and Bishop Paul Slater (Bishop of Richmond)

Andy Delmege, the JSP co-ordinator for Birmingham diocese was a contributor to the 'Growing with God' conference. Here is a gallery of photographs that gives a flavour of the event.

Andy Delmege, our Birmingham based JSP team member has shared a raft of feedback from one estate church in Birmingham, St Thomas' in Garretts Green - feedback which amply illustrates the value of Jesus Shaped People in an 'ordinary' parish church context.

Headingley might be known more in popular culture for Cricket and Rugby League - but one Headingley Church is starting its Jesus Shaped People adventure.

St Chad's Headingley celebrated the start of their JSP journey with this engaging visual illustration. On the far left is JSP Programme Leader, Gordon Dey, who joined the congregation of the church for this launch service.

Many of us are praying for Jesus Shaped People - both in the parishes themselves, and more widely. We even have a dedicated team of 'prayer supporters' who are praying for JSP on an ongoing basis.

But we've never held a dedicated meeting to pray for Jesus Shaped People.... until now.

Join with us on February 21st at St Matthews Church, Bankfoot to pray for Jesus Shaped People. The gathering will start at 4.00 pm (note the earlier time from that previously used for Celebration services) and will last for around one hour.

A brand new course to help churches to get ready for Jesus Shaped People has been released

Preparing the Way is an exciting 5-week course based on the life of John the Baptist. A huge part of John's ministry was to 'prepare the way' for Jesus. So it seems an obvious choice that a resource that helps people prepare for a Jesus Shaped advenyure would be all about John...

As with all of our resources, we offer a comprehensive package

We are always looking to develop and improve our resources  - and, today, we are pleased to be able to announce that a complete revamp of core Jesus Shaped People has gone live on this site.