Hope 2008 offers an amazing platform and profile for churches to join together and reach out and engage with local villages, towns and cities.

At its heart Hope 2008 is about making Jesus known through positive involvement in our communities. It is about loving and serving people in the name of Jesus; it is about coming alongside our neighbourhoods, listening to their needs and working in partnership with others.

By working in partnership with the police, local authorities and primary care trusts as well as other local churches, your church could help provide services to address issues such as debt dependency, hunger, homelessness and drug and alcohol addictions. There will be many school and university missions, fun days, barbecues, kids clubs, estate clean-ups and much, much more.

If you have any information about ideas that are planned or testimonies of how events have gone then please contact Dave Martin with the details.

There are three core aspects to Hope 2008:

Engaging with the unique profile and needs of your community
Hope 08 has arisen out of various initiatives focussing on practical mission to the poor and marginalised in communities. What could and should churches do in terms of word and action in your local area? Is there something relevant and sustainable that Hope 2008 could provide the impetus for local churches to do? There are lots of ideas and resources at www.hope08.com and in the Hope 08 Great Ideas book. There is also a team of people who would be willing to help your church or local churches to think though what that might mean for you.

Connecting with the High Points of the year

Much is planned around these - how can you make them your own as a church or group?

Prayer
We have nothing to offer if it is not offered in the context of prayer. A useful website related to this is www.pray4exeter.co.uk. There was a county wide prayer day on 6th October at Southernhay URC, Exeter and all-night prayer at Exeter Cathedral on New Year's Eve, where people prayed for Hope 08 (details available online at www.hope08.com).

For more information about Hope 2008 in Devon please visit the Hope 08 Devon website or the main Hope 2008 site.

Alternatively, you can contact Exeter Anglican Diocesan Missioner Mark Rylands ( 01392 294930) or our District Evangelism Enabler Dave Martin ( 01752 604096) for futher information.