Foreword
From Peter Hill
We had previously run and enjoyed the LICC Fruitfulness on the Frontline course three times and realised that we wanted a prequel. We wanted to go back and explore who we were as ‘real people’ – all different with different joys, hurts, experiences and created differently in the first place. We wanted to look at how, perhaps surprisingly, we all have unique stories which are worth sharing and might also be worth taking to the next level.
We created this course material, reviewed it with leaders in different denominations and areas – city and rural. We then ran pilots in different areas with different leaders, reviewed it and refined it again. It has big questions, big challenges, food, fun and fellowship as we journey together.
It seems to work – sometimes very well – but it isn’t perfect. Please email any suggestions for improvements or even encouraging stories….
Thank you to all who have helped and may you all be surprised and blessed.
Peter Hill
A Welcome
From the Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester:
A number of worshipping communities across the diocese have engaged with the LICC Fruitfulness on the Frontline course and I’m delighted to now recommend a prequel written by Peter Hill. The aim is to enable people to explore who they are as diverse individuals inhabiting different stories and carrying different joys and hurts, daring to discover yet more of the God who knows us by name, loves us and calls us to go on becoming who we have been created to be.
Discovering our unique identity cannot be separated from exploring who we are as people created to live in relationship with God, neighbour and creation in many different contexts, past and present, and it is hoped that the group interaction of the course will engage both the head and heart amid questions, challenges and encouragement. It is not a course seeking right answers but rather an invitation to take risk as we respond to Jesus Christ’s offer of life in all its fullness wherever we find ourselves and in whatever circumstances.
Whilst this course was originally designed to be used during Lent, it can of course be used at any time during the year. Peter Hill and those who have shaped the course would love to hear your suggestions for improvements as well as your encouraging stories. This openness reflect the ethos of the course and I commend it to you. May God bless you through it and may you in turn be a blessing to the people and places of your daily life through who you are and what you do.
Rachel Treweek
