The Methodist Church has produced a new pack, titled ‘Take Up Your Cross’, to help and guide Christians on their paths of faith. The new pack has been released in time for Lent, and been designed to raise support and increase funding given for the Fund for World Mission, which shares in the Church’s mission worldwide.

|TOP|The Fund for World Mission supports mission work carried out by 61 partner churches worldwide. Last year it gave over £2.5 million in grants.

The new resource will look to guide Christians on how to deny themselves and will show why self-denial is more than the usual way that many Christians approach this period.

Michael King, Team Leader for World Church Relationships for the Methodist Church explains, “People can cut back on luxuries such as watching TV, give old clothes to charity or volunteer to help in their community.

“Take Up Your Cross is an important contribution for individuals and churches who want to take giving seriously. Self-denial for Christians is as much about justice as charity, and this resource is for those who want to be challenged and involved as part of the Methodist Church’s overall strategy towards those in need throughout the world,” he said.

|AD|Connexional Mission Support Worker John Newton, who worked on the new resource also added, “We have always strongly supported self-denial practices designed to deepen one’s spiritual life and help those in need, by giving any money saved through self denial to good causes.”

Newton continued, “We’re glad to see so many British Methodists asking for this new resource on self- denial... we receive dozens of calls a month about self- denial, and this pack will answer all those questions and more.”

The Methodist Church has attempted to offer an informative education tool for self-denial, and how this can stress solidarity with those in poorer areas of the globe who have no luxuries.

“In order to assist those in such areas giving has always been at the heart of self-denial events, and the new self-denial pack will include Fund for World Mission gift-aid envelopes so that taxpayers can increase the value of any offering,” a Church press release explains.

Take Up Your Cross will help to resource and inform those organising self-denial events in their churches, by giving information about mission, self-denial, helping the poor, and the work of the Fund for World Mission, as well as listing resources available to support self- denial activities.

More information can be found in the ‘Latest News’ section of the Mission Education web pages www.methodist .org.uk.

Also the new self-denial pack can be purchased online by clicking HERE.