Soul Purpose

What is Soul Purpose?

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Because I'm not very organised I tend to have about a dozen notebooks and notepads that I write in, because I can't find the previous one when I need it. So I have notes all over the place. Today I cam across these scribblings about Soul Purpose and thought I'd share them with you:

"What is SP? It's an opportunity for young people to be involved in social action in Shrewsbury. It's for the transformation of communities and individuals with the Gospel. It should spread across Shrewsbury > ongoing, creative, dynamic

- It's not "for me" but "with me" help
- It's about hopelessness to hope
- Dark to light
- Chaos to order"

You'll have to excuse the next bit because there's quite a bit of jargon but I like it...

"To build a sense of community and see a shift in mindsets.
To have cross-generational engagement (jargon that means adults and young people!)
Challenges perceptions of the church through the active involvement of church in the community.
Impacting families and individuals."

Sounds OK to me, but what would you add?

Soul Purpose Christmas 2009: Sign up

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:19:00 +0000

Christmas Sign Up Sheet 09

Soul Purpose 2009: The Video

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:46:00 +0000

Thank you

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:31:00 +0000

This letter was published in the Shropshire Star.

"On behalf of all the people at Harlescott Grange, Shrewsbury, I would like to thank all the young people who gave up their Spring Bank Holiday weekend to serve the community here (also at Sundorne and Ditherington).

We admired the way that these young people worked so hard, worked together and so enthusiastically. Their thought and commitment, dedication and love for all the people from the youngest to the oldest, from the most able to the most needy, was wonderfully evident. Something of their Christian teaching and faith being worked out in practice was evident to all.

In this area they cleared Senior Citizens' gardens, led youth drop-ins, organised a Family Fun Day, painted church toilets, cleared graffiti and put PVA glue on a mural, hosted a Hog roast evening, cut grass from front & back garden of a severely disabled lady, cleared a huge amount of blackthorn and other rubbish from a local school and picked up litter and delivered leaflets to a thousand homes.

So much goodwill was generated through their endeavours. In a day when young people often get a bad press, it was thrilling to see another side that does not often hit the headlines. We probably saw around 50 of the 100 young people that were involved during that time. We are sure that the other areas were equally thankful for all that was accomplished.

Thank you too for the leaders of this movement, called 'Soul Purpose' and for the investment of time and energy and sacrificial love that you all gave to this project again. Thank you to the 15 sponsoring church youth groups that were represented.

We believe that much good was accomplished through your endeavours and we trust that many barriers will have come down and many bridges built into our communities through the endeavours of these young people and their enthusiastic efforts.

Roy Whittall, 13, York Road, Harlescott Grange, Shrewsbury, SY! 3RD

Tel. Shrewsbury 462581."

TEENS CONTRIBUTE £300 MILLION A YEAR TO SOCIETY

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:26:00 +0000

I read this recently and obviously Soul Purpose is good evidence!

Faith is a significant motivation for voluntary work, says Evangelical Alliance report

Teenagers in England are contributing £300 million each year to the economy, through voluntary work and donations to charity, a report by the Evangelical Alliance has found.

Young People Matter, the report released today with a foreword from HRH The Prince of Wales, surveyed over seven hundred 14-18 year olds and found that 45 percent of young people volunteer at least once a month and 80 percent donate money to charity each month.

Young people who volunteer give on average 3.57 hours a month. When projected across England this is the equivalent of 33,000 full time workers and £210 million a year at minimum wage. According to the report, young people also donate approximately £110 million to charity each year.

Almost 40 percent of the voluntary work carried out by young people takes place through churches or religious organisations and 10 percent of those who declared themselves non-religious still volunteer through a religious organisation.

The report also found that the more active the young person is as a Christian, the more likely they are to volunteer. In the foreword for the report, HRH The Prince of Wales said: “I am deeply impressed by their efforts and these deserve to be recognised more widely,” concluding, “I sincerely hope that young people themselves will be inspired by the findings of this report. He continued: “What is striking, as the report highlights, is the way in which personal faith and religious organisations encourage young people to volunteer.”

Nicole May, 17, from Manchester, serves on the panel of the Manchester City Council Youth Opportunity Fund, which gives young people the chance to engage in positive activities. As part of her role, Nicole helps set up grant criteria, reviews grant applications, trains new panel members and visits beneficiaries. “My youth worker asked me if I wanted to volunteer, and I decided I wanted to give something back to the community, rather than just sitting at home watching TV,” she said. “I am a Christian, and my faith motivates me to volunteer. I am also from the Afro-Caribbean community, and since a lot of young black people get bad press, I wanted to highlight the positive things happening in the community and dispel some of the negative connotations.”

The Alliance’s General Director, Steve Clifford, said: “These results demonstrate what I have seen and known for years; that young people, contrary to the stereotypes, make a massive positive difference in our communities. Far too often they are branded as hoodies or gang members when the real statistics tell a very different story. “I hope this acknowledgement of how many 14-18 year olds are motivated to volunteer by their faith will mean that schools and Government will work with faith groups to encourage this selfless giving.”

The most common reasons for volunteering were wanting to help people (53 percent) and wanting to contribute something to society (43 percent). The most common factors hindering volunteering were lack of time (54 percent) and too much school work (52 percent). 41 percent said that gaining a recognised qualification would encourage them to volunteer.

More Soul Purpose pictures

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:29:00 +0000

Some from Mark Hughes on Facebook

Mr Tumnus on Soul Purpose

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:28:00 +0000

No really, Mr Tumnus. Read this

Soul Purpose 2009

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:26:00 +0000

I dreamed a dream

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Mon, 25 May 2009 16:23:00 +0000

Phil Whittall on Romans 12:2

Sex and Shopping

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:32:00 +0000

Rev Mark Salmon on Romans 12:2 - transformed and renewed

Living Sacrifice

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Sat, 23 May 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Elise Fletcher on Romans 12:1

What could happen?

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Mon, 18 May 2009 23:23:00 +0000

OK - so there 5 days before we get together, 5 days before we serve together, 5 days before we worship together, 5 days before we work together. In 5 days time we will clean streets, paint murals, play football with local children, paint faces, bless parents, sort gardens and footpaths. In 5 days time Soul Purpose 2009 will begin.

But what will happen between now and then? I hope this email will stir you ALL to do at least one thing. Pray. What could happen if hundreds of people called on the Father to bless this weekend, what could happen if hundreds of us asked all the Christians in our facebook friends to join us in praying, what could happen?

You can pray for good weather, you can pray for safety, you can pray for fun, you can pray for practical stuff. Please do.

OR/AND you can pray for God given conversations that change lives, for 'chance' meetings which only God could organise, for the kingdom to advance, for the world to change in one person's life, for love to come to north Shrewsbury. You could pray that.

Dear Soul servants, it's time to get on our knees.

Small Team Leader Application Form

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Small Team Leader Sign Up 09

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal leadership team

Soul Purpose Helper Form

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:18:00 +0000

Helper Sign Up 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal service sales

Delegate Application Forms

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:18:00 +0000

Delegate Application 1

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal conference computing

Delegate Application 2

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal conference computing

Associate Leader Application Form

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:17:00 +0000

Associate Leader Application 1

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal oracle conference

Associate Leader Application 2

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Business & Legal oracle conference

All the forms you need

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:13:00 +0000

Click on the appropriate link, print it off - fill it in, send it back. Make sure you've got both forms if you see a 1 and 2!!

Delegate Application Form 1
Delegate Application Form 2
Small Team Leader Application Form
Associate Leader Application 1
Associate Leader Application 2
Helper Application Form

Soul Purpose Launch

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 23:42:00 +0000

Here are the talks from Sunday night's launch.

I thought Rachel and Tom did well, what did you think?

Feedback needed

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:23:00 +0000

We'd like to get some feedback on Soul Purpose Christmas so we can let people know who very kindly supported it - so if you took part in anything pre-event or on the day, please leave a comment on the blog so we can get some thoughts together. Thanks very much.

The Baby Jesus Among Neighbors in Need

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:30:00 +0000

This article by Will Willimon may have been written for Methodists in Alabama but I think it captures pretty well what Soul Purpose Christmas was all about

SP Christmas dinner

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:32:00 +0000

SP Christmas dinner
Originally uploaded by Sundornvic

A little bit of live action for you - all pics and videos courtesy of the Rev Salmon. Thanks Mark!

Even enjoying the washing up!

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:30:00 +0000

Even enjoying the washing up!
Originally uploaded by Sundornvic

I love the fact that we all can be servants

Christmas dinner for 100+

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:29:00 +0000

Christmas dinner for 100+
Originally uploaded by Sundornvic

Some pics of Soul Purpose Christmas

Prayer for Soul Purpose Christmas (25th)

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 11:45:00 +0000

For everything on the day to be fun and for those staying till the end clearing up that even that will be done well and with good humour!

Prayer for Soul Purpose Christmas (24th)

phil@northshrewsbury.org.uk (Phil Whittall) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 11:44:00 +0000

Ask God that everyone who intends to come will be able to make it on the day and not be worried