Welcome to this Shaped by God mini-website.
In the Bible, in the book of Jeremiah, God expresses a longing to work with His people in the same way a potter works with clay. In 2005, the Diocese of Leicester embarked on a long-term strategy with the clear aim of being ever more shaped by God. As Bishop Tim wrote in the initial strategy document, “We are God’s work of art. Our purpose as Christians is to discern God’s design for each of us and for His church and to allow the loving sensitivity of the potter to shape and to reshape our lives by love.”
The Shaped by God vision has mission at its heart. It is a vision that marks of mission will be visible in every one of the three hundred Anglican churches of the county and city (for more on the ‘marks of mission’ click on the link to the side of this page). This is no small task and one which is impossible without the help of God’s Spirit. Shaped by God also recognises, that the best way each of the nine marks of mission can be developed across the diocese is by working together in Mission Partnerships. These Mission Partnerships vary considerably in size and style, but at the heart of each of them is a desire for effective mission and a place for sharing, learning and growing with others for this mission. Even when the temptation is for us to be introspective, Mission Partnerships remind us of God’s calling to effective mission in His world
Why not visit the new Shaped by Gog blog, updated regularly with more resources, at http://sbg.dioceseofleicester.com Also, visit HERE for a video of Bishop Tim in Autumn 2009 speaking about the latest with Shaped by God.
For a full list of Mission Partnerships click on the link on the left of this page labelled 'Specific Mission Partnerships'. Stories of what God is doing, ideas and resources are being continually added to each Mission Partnership, so please check regularly for more details, ideas and encouraging stories of the Kingdom of God growing.
Shaped by God is resourced by a wide range of people from across the diocese, but with dedicated resource from Barry Hill as Mission Enabler (supported by Carol Gibbons). Barry or Carol can be contacted at Church House, St Martin's East, Leicester LE1 5FX, by phone on 0116 248 7411 or by e-mail here. A Co-ordinating team steers the Shaped by God vision and is always welcome to recieve comments, ideas and questions. A copy of its terms of reference and membership are at the bottom of this page.
Resources
The resources can be saved to your own machine by right clicking on the link and selecting the option to "Save Target As..." - this saves a copy to your own PC.