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The re-designed Resources Centre at Church House

Resources Centre

Last Updated on Monday, 14 February 2011 11:56

Development Day 2010 - Resources on the road with Kathryn Bliss and Liz Fell.

Resources Centre

Church House
95-99 Effingham Street
Rotherham
S65 1BL
Tel 01709 309105
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The Diocesan Resources Centre is a lending library and is available to be used free of charge to everybody living within the Diocese of Sheffield.

We have over 1800 members and over 11500 items available to be borrowed.

There are quite a variety of items available to be borrowed which include: Books, CDs, DVDs, Puppets, Videos, Cassette tapes, Equipment, Parachutes, Godly Play boxes, Posters, Icons, Garden Games, Slides and Display materials.

Our aim is to provide a ‘full package’. So for example if your aim is to create a special service from scratch we can provide a talk/sermon, hymn books/CDs, drama scripts, prayer books, visual aids eg puppets, balloons, posters and display materials.

If you are organizing a church fete we can provide: garden games, gazebos, display boards, badge makers, playchutes and microphones with amplification etc

If you are trying to raise money for your church or organization we have a PC available in the Resources Centre which can be used to access the Directory of Social Change Trustfunding Website. This must be booked in advance.

Why not have a trip to the Resources Centre with your Mothers’ Union Group, Sunday School or Youth leaders? We will provide drinks and hope to make your visit enjoyable. Maybe you would like to combine the visit with a business meeting? Why not book the Boardroom or a smaller room for your School Inset Training Day or church meeting and have a brief look round the Centre.

The Resources Centre is always updating its stock so do check each month to see our new purchases

Latest additions:

The Centre is not always staffed to it is always advisable to ring first.

Opening Hours: Monday – Friday 9.30 – 16.30

If our opening hours are incompatible with your working schedule we are willing to make arrangements to enable you to borrow or return books.

Liz and I very much look forward to meeting you

Mrs Kathryn Bliss
Resources Centre Administrator

RESOURCES POLICY

The Centre's Purpose:

To offer support to parishes and schools in the diocese, by making available materials for evangelism, for
worship and for the training and formation of Christians of all ages.

The Centre's Aims:

To maintain a varied collection of books, videos, CDs, DVDs audio tapes, slides, posters, equipment and similar resources, both for reference and for borrowing.
To provide information about current events in the diocese.
To provide facilities, expertise and advice, and materials for individuals and groups.
To make itself and its services more widely known.

SERVICES

The Book Collection

There are three collections of books; one for children (approx 0-11); one for teenagers (approx 12-16); and one for adults (17+). Books are arranged in order of subject, according to the Dewey Decimal classification system used in most public libraries. There is also a small collection of books for reference only; these all have large notices and red labels on their spines to indicate that they aren't to be removed from the Centre. Some reference-only books (including spare copies of especially popular titles) are kept on the main shelves.

Journals, Magazines and Reports

Various periodicals cover theology, children youth and adult education, church administration, evangelism, worship, retreats and current issues. We also keep copies of all General Synod papers; these will be held for a minimum of a year.

Video and Audio Tapes, CD's, DVD’s, Slides, Filmstrips, Posters, Icons etc

Videos and DVD’s are at present arranged alphabetically by title in three sections: children, teenagers and adults. A feedback sheet is provided for comments on videos, all borrowers of videos are asked to complete one (per video) to provide information for other users. There are several collections of slides film-strips, posters and icons which can be viewed on request.

Godly Play Boxes, Fresh Expressions/ Spirituality Resources, Artefacts etc

We have a large selection of Godly Play boxes available to be borrowed. In the Centre as well as posters, CDs and DVD’s of ‘background’ music we have boxes full of materials, feathers, pebbles, shells etc etc and books with ideas for alternative forms of worship. We also have lots of books and artefacts for Christianity and other world faiths.

'Hardware'

The 'hardware' stock includes such items as slide, video and overhead projectors, an audio cassette and voice amplifier, CD player, flipcharts, display boards and badge makers. A full list is available.
Visitors may also use the photocopier for a small charge to cover materials used. Users of the photocopier are asked to be careful to note the restrictions imposed by the law of copyright.

PROCEDURES

Opening Times

We are open Mondays to Fridays, 9.30am to 4.30pm and occasionally at other times e.g. Open Days and Workshops. A member of staff is usually available to deal with enquiries and requests; if not, help can sometimes be obtained from staff members in the Training Department. During Christmas, Easter and summer holidays the Centre may occasionally be closed to visitors – we apologise for any inconvenience caused. It is always advisable to ring first, especially if it is your first visit to the Centre.

Booking in

In order to keep a record of the Centre's use, visitors are asked to sign in at the desk on the left inside the entrance door. This is for all visitors (including Church House Staff) and for all forms of use including 'just looking'. The Centre's resources can be used by all parishes and schools within the Diocese of Sheffield. New users are asked to make themselves known to a member of staff who will explain the necessary procedures, and to complete a registration card.

Borrowing

All resources borrowed MUST BE SIGNED FOR, in the loans register, AND RETURNED WITHIN FOUR WEEKS (TWO WEEKS FOR PACKS AND VIDEOS). If unforeseen circumstances make this impossible, users should telephone to find out whether the loan could be extended; normally it will be, unless someone else needs the resource in question. If items are returned outside opening times, they should be left in the box under the pigeon holes in the front office, or in the red plastic box near the loans register in the Centre, and a form attached to indicate who has returned the item and when.

A TOTAL OF 5 ITEMS ONLY MAY BE BORROWED BY MEMBERS. If this causes a problem please have a word with a member of staff.

Loss or Damage

Users are expected to pay for or replace any items lost or damaged whilst in their care.

We hope you enjoy your visit and find the Centre helpful please do ask if you require any assistance

Suggestions and Comments

These would be welcomed, in respect of any aspect of the Resources Centre's policy, services and/or procedures. Funding is limited, but we are keen to use the available funds on materials that the Centre's users want and need.

Kathryn Bliss (Resources Centre Administrator)
Resources Centre
Sheffield Diocesan Church House
95-99 Effingham Street
Rotherham S65 1BL
Tel: (01709) 309105

April 2012 DVD Course Review by Revd Canon John Thomson, Director of Ministry

Last Updated on Friday, 20 April 2012 13:59

Reaching Out: A Practical Guide to Pastoral Caring

(DVD and Course) from the Diocese of Oxford.

Pastoral Care is challenging with ‘sticky moments’ liable at any time. ‘It’s about engaging with human life in all its fullness’ says this course. So the authors have provided us with case studies, bible passages and questions to help us learn ‘what to say and do when you don’t know what to say and do’. The course of 4 sessions helps us face who we are, what caring means, how to listen well, how theology is part of the picture and how Jesus is part of all of this. It uses video clips, drama and has a helpful introduction to its themes and content. We are invited to consider our feelings, our thoughts and our actions in response to a number of situations. The course would be particularly good for a group of pastoral workers and for a parish care group but would also enrich anyone in ministry or who is involved in caring for someone. Why not borrow the DVD from the new resources Centre which was opened on 16th April?

Copies can be purchased from the Diocese of Oxford as long as stocks last. The price is £6 inc p&p if purchased before 30th June 2012. Order forms can be printed from the Oxford Diocesan web site: http://www.oxford.anglican.org/social-justice/pastoral-care/

March 2012 Book Reviews by Revd Canon John Thomson, Director of Ministry

Alastair Redfern, Being Anglican (London: DLT, 2008)

and

Samuel Wells, What Anglicans Believe: An Introduction (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2011).

With the debate on the Anglican Covenant in full swing, it is worth digging around to get some idea of what Anglicanism is and how it has come to be in its present shape. These two books are easy access helpful introductions.

Alastair Redfern’s book was initially published in 2000. He begins by noting that the Church of England as it emerged from the controversies of the Reformation era rooted its life in common worship and human experience rather that in ideological views of church or Bible. It was shaped around the priorities of pastoral practice, church order, parish and inclusivity. Over time three key views of its unity were advocated but never resolved: the Book of Common Prayer, a distinctive theological method (Scripture, Reason and Tradition) and episcopacy. Essentially Redfern sees the English Anglican church as different fundamentalisms in conversation. He then tells the story of being Anglican through the work of key figures in that history. Richard Hooker provides the foundation with his sense that God participates in Scripture and nature and therefore these sources of insight about salvation are compatible through wise reflection. George Herbert shapes the tradition with his emphasis on parochial identity and the parish church as a praying community for all. William Laud shapes the national church with his conviction that the parish belongs to the wider Christian society within which monarch and bishops have appropriate authority. William Law shapes spirituality with his emphasis on the serious call of God to a distinctive godly life rooted in prayer and practical care for the poor. Joseph Butler enables the English church to grapple with its mission in an increasingly indifferent world with his emphasis upon the value of ordinary life and a personal rather than rationalistic approach to God. Charles Gore reforms Anglican identity by emphasising the witness of the committed community to the wider society in his notion a spiritual aristocracy expressed in moral and Eucharistic witness. Josephine Butler represents a prophetic as well as pastoral witness in her commitment to the cause of female emancipation and dignity whilst Henrietta Barnett embodies the commitment to work among the marginalised as she and her husband sought to connect such parish communities with the wider church as signs from the margins of God’s integrating love. Finally Michael Ramsay, the first seriously travelling Archbishop, represents the increasing need to see Anglicanism as beyond England, a communion held together historically with bonds of history, common worship and affection, but increasingly finding these insufficient as diversity overwhelms memory.

Samuel Well’s book is an introduction to what Anglicans believe as doctrine, the sources of faith, (Scripture, Reason and Tradition), the ordering of faith (worship, ministry and mission) and the character of faith through case studies of English, USA and now global Anglicanism. Much of the ground overlaps with Redfern but the value of this book is its clarity and yet comprehensiveness about Anglican faith.

Both books argue that Anglicans have something distinctive to offer. They help us to locate the current debates in historical, theological and contemporary realities. You can borrow them when the Resources Centre re-opens after Easter.