The Association of Building Bridges Churches
BUILDING EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY VENTURES.
Greg,
It's some time since we have been in contact. I hope you are well. I am sure you have been busy and creative since then and we have tried to be the same. The last three years for The ABBC have been taken up to large extent with trying to find ways of keeping the BBH vision alive and influential. The outcome has been an online workbook and related website. A lot of work has gone into preparing these.
This is a major venture for us. We believe it is a way of supporting a vision we still retain of working towards a new kind of Church which is more open and relevant. Click on www.serving-communities.org.uk/public/workbook.php to learn more and buy the workbook. The press release is attached.
The WORKBOOK is basically a self help community building process manual for small groups, which includes the accompanier approach that emerged from earlier BBH work. It can provide practical support for local community groups of any kind.
The heart of the website is the FORUM which has several roles. The main page explains how it works. One role is to enable local groups to gain support from each other on their individual journeys, by sharing problems and progress. The Forum also includes space for more general discussion about community issues, within or outside the Church, or across secular/Church communities.
Essentially Church and non Church groups can use both the Forum and the workbook. We want to reach as wide an audience as possible, and encourage sharing between Church and non-Church audiences about matters of mutual concern. We see this as a very important part of the venture's vision.
It's possible you can use Building Effective Community Ventures yourself when opportunity arises, and please spread the word about its usefulness and potential. Doing this will help to generate interest. In contacting people, please make sure to include the information below in Information to help other people get going.
Remember we are not just thinking about Church related organisations and individuals. Anyone with goodwill for society who you think may be interested in these resources can be included.
I'd like to hear about what you are doing and how you respond to the venture.
With best wishes,
Ron Ram.
25.11.13.
Information to help other people get going.
Website and workbook. Click on www.serving-communities.org.uk/public/workbook.php to learn more. Download the workbook via the publisher's bookshop on the Building Effective Community Ventures website or other suppliers, including Amazon: go to the internet, enter Amazon, go to books, enter Building Effective Community Ventures, and then search. Click on the title on the follow up page to see book details. You can get a free Kindle app. there if you do not have a Kindle.
Press Release. Fast Print, the Building Effective Community Ventures publisher, has prepared a professional press release which you can use for your own personal contacts. It can be downloaded in two formats – pdf and word – which are attached.
Blog site. This has been set up to be used in association with Building Effective Community Ventures. http://servcommunities.wordpress.com <http://servcommunities.wordpress.com/>
