Exciting times ahead

God gave me the idea of starting a book club, 10 months before I actually did anything about it. I am glad I eventually did. When I finally launched “Activate” on the 9th of February 2008, 14 ladies signed up. Since then, “Activate” has been growing in size. My husband once said to me, “where there is God, there is always growth”. Currently, there are 35 ladies signed up.

In order to create room for growth, “Activate” Book Club has now split into three groups. There is only One “Activate” Book Club, which is made up of three small groups. Apart from creating room for growth, the small group will have a cosier atmosphere and will be easier to coordinate. There will be more time for each member to be heard and more time to socialise. However, group members will need to be committed to keep the meetings lively.

Remember, book clubs are meant to be fun. We certainly want “Activate” to be fun. "Activate" isn’t just about reading and discussing the chosen book, it is also about meeting other ladies, developing friendships, learning from each other and strengthening ourselves spiritually.

In order to keep “Activate” exciting, we have opted for a dynamic split. With the dynamic split, the group members are not permanently attached to a group.

The split process is as follows:

· There will be two “big bang” meetings annually where all members of “Activate” will meet.
· These “big bang” meetings will take place every six months, where the groups will re-shuffle so that all groups will hopefully have new members.
· Re-shuffling will be done by balloting (hence some people may end up in the same group as before).
· Apart from the two “big bang” meetings, there will be 4 small group meetings. Every big bang meeting will be followed by two small group meetings.
· In total, we will have six meetings in a year - 4 small group meetings and 2 big bang meetings. Therefore, we will read 6 books annually and will aspire to meet bi-monthly.
· For now, starting from this first split and to avoid any further complexity, all groups will read the same book. Reading the same book will make the “big bang” meetings (where all members of “Activate” meet) easier to organize and handle. As we won’t have to break up into three groups during the meeting to discuss each groups current reading book.
· For “big bang” meetings, we will have the following venues available – K2, Oakwood and Costa Café in Bracknell town centre.
· Group meetings will take place as usual, in member’s houses. Group members will volunteer to host group meetings (we do not impose hosting on members). Where no member of the group volunteers, then the group leader will host the group meeting.
· Ideally, all groups (A, B, C) will meet on the same day (for consistency and time scale) at their various venues. Where not possible, the meetings should be within a week of the other groups meeting. Ideally we want everyone to have the same timescale for reading. This will also be helpful when we have to meet up for the “big bang” meetings.


The dates for our next 3 meetings are as follows:
17th January 2009 – group meeting;
28th March 2009 – group meeting;
13th June 2009 – big bang meeting;
On 17th January 2009, we will meet at our various venues to discuss our current reading book: “BLOOD & FIRE” by Roy Hattersley.
On 28th March 2009, we will meet at our various venues to discuss our next book: “GET OUT OF THAT PIT” By Beth Moore


You can now subscribe to the "Activate" blog by email and receive an email whenever someone posts a comment on the blog.
For those of you who may not want to be active members of “Activate”, but want to read along side us, please feel free to subscribe to the “Activate” blog.
The link below will take you to the “Activate” blog. You can then subscribe to the blog. Please follow the instructions on the screen to complete your subscription.

http://uniqueactivate.blogspot.com/

If you want more information on "Blood & Fire" by Roy Hattersley, a synopsis of this has been posted on the "Activate" blog.

Happy reading!

God Bless.

Ope

Blood and Fire

Many years ago I read a biography (no longer in print)of Catherine Booth and was deeply affected by the passion and purpose that this woman had in an age where most women were powerless in a world led by men. I felt that she was a woman of courage and action who lived out the gospel and tirelessly managed to keep the two principles of bold evangelism and selfless social action evident in all that she and her husband did.

Catherine Booth led an exemplary life but also started a movement that we still know today as the Salvation Army. This movement has centres in major cities all over the world ministering to people who are vulnerable. The Sally Army gives practical support, shelter and is a major agency acting to relocate the "lost" both spiritually and those who have run away from home.

This reminds me of the vision and remit of our CAP ministry. We do not live in a world of child labour, work houses, or slums but we do see people enslaved to payment plans that they cannot meet. This book has been written by Roy Hattersley who is a labour peer and was for many years a labour MP. He clearly draws many of his political ideals from these forefathers and I hope that this book will demonstrate that the true source of all compassion and mercy comes from Christ and the compelling call of the gospel.

This book is available on line through a number of sources. I am currently enthralled by the BBC's Little Dorrit written by Charles Dickens. The heroes of this tale use their influence and finance to bring hope and reform for one or two people. The imagery of this programme can help us to know that the Booths were working at the same time to bring hope, health and salvation not just to the privileged who had fallen on hard times but to the least of the brethren.

Enjoy! Jacqui Webber-Gant

Activate meeting update and split

Hello ladies,

Thank you for very much for attending the last “Activate” meeting on Saturday 15th November 2008. It was a wonderful meeting. It was nice to be able to come together once again to share our journey, learn from each other, socialize and discuss “Dangerous Surrender”. You ladies were so real and open, and I believe that sharing together like we do will surely help us all in our spiritual growth, especially at times when we feel we are struggling with our faith.

Thank you Heather for hosting us.

We thank God for the growth of “Activate” which has now led to the book club splitting up into 3 groups.

Overview

There is one book club - “Activate”
“Activate” will consist of 3 groups

Group A – Lead by: Ope O
Group B – Lead by: Ly P
Group C – Lead by: Paula R


All 3 groups will read the same book and will meet on the same day at their various venues.
An email will be sent out notifying you of the group you belong and more detailed information about the split.

Our current reading book, chosen by Jacqui is “BLOOD & FIRE” By Roy Hattersley.

A synopsis of the book will be posted up shortly.

Jacqui has kindly amended the “Activate” blog, so you can now subscribe to the blog by email and receive an email whenever someone posts a comment on the blog.

The date for our next meeting, where we will be discussing Blood & Fire is 17th January 2009.

Happy reading!

God Bless.

Ope