Focus: News of Christian Projects

January 2008

Christian Projects/OCU PO Box 44741 London SW1P 2XA

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YOUNG PEOPLE, PARLIAMENT, AND A CELEBRATION…

…That was the mixture at the annual prizegiving of the Schools Bible Project, held at the House of Lords in December. In what has become an established tradition, young winners of the nationwide project gathered in the Central Lobby with their parents and teachers, for a tour of Parliament and a whirlwind glimpse of its history, before a tea-and-cakes celebration and the presentation of prizes, cheques and certificates.

The Schools Bible Project is run by an ecumenical group, bringing together Christians from the mainstream denominations in Britain, first established  in the 1950s. Over the years it has sponsored conferences on Religious Education, produced reports and sought to support teachers working in this area. Each year, students at schools across Britain are invited to take part in the Schools Bible Project, in which they study events in the New Testament and then write essays about them. The essays are read by a team of judges during the summer and four winners are chosen. A large number of certificates of Merit and Special Merit are also awarded.

The 2007 winners, who received their prizes from Baroness Cox, a Trustee of Christian Projects, were:

FIRST PRIZE: Ella Chandler, Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
SECOND PRIZE: Emily Collins, Highclare School, Erdington, Birmingham
THIRD PRIZE: Alice Bridgewood-Taylor, Alleyne’s School, Stone, Staffs.
FOURTH PRIZE: Luke Wilson, Dalriada School, Co. Antrim, and Stuart Cumming s of St Andrew’s School, Buckhold, Reading.

The pupils win cash prizes for their schools, and personal prizes, including a Bible, for themselves.

With this copy of FOCUS comes a brochure about the 2008 Schools Bible Project, and for further information, do visit our website www.christianprojects.org, which includes some of the award-winning essays.

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ANNUAL MEETING

Following the prizegiving, the annual meeting of Christian Projects/OCU took place, and we are pleased to announce that author John Jolliffe has agreed to become a Trustee, joining Baroness Cox and Sir William Benyon. Tributes were paid to Lady Lothian, and to  Rt Rev Maurice Wood, former Bishop of Norwich,  both of whom served as Chairman and as President of the group over the years, and who both died during 2007.  Lady Lothian effectively established the group in its present form, enabling a whole range of projects to be launched, and Bishop Wood took on the work and presided over our first Schools Bible Project back in 1989.

Christian Projects/OCU PO Box 44741 London SW1P 2XA
Chairman: Mrs Joanna Bogle Vice Chairman: Lady Benyon Bursar: Mr Andrew Pollock

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DISCOVERING CHRIST: the Schools Bible Project for 2007

Pupils at these schools received Certificates of MERIT or SPECIAL MERIT in the 2007 Schools Bible Project:

The Portsmouth Grammar School
Whitburn Church of England School
Murray Park School, Mickleover, Derby
St George’s School, Ascot
Liverpool Bluecoat School
Hampshire Collegiate School
King’s High School, Warwick
Sir James Smith’s School, Camelford
Dalriada School, Co. Antrim,
Altrincham Grammar School for Girls
St Aidan’s CE High School, Harrogate
The Derby High School, Bury
St Andrew’s School, Buckhold, Pangbourne
Merchant Taylors’ School for Girls Liverpool
St Mary’s CE High School, Hendon
St Bernard’s RC School, High Wycombe
Alleyne’s High School, Staffs
Hampshire Collegiate School, Romsey
John Willmott School, Sutton Coldfield
Dr Challoner’s High School, Bucks
New Mills School, Derbyshire
Birkenhead High School
Sir John Lawes’ School, Harpenden
Blancheland Girls College, Guernsey
Beaulieu Convent School, Jersey
Notre Dame High School, Greenock
Bloomfield Collegiate School, Belfast
Lawrence Sheriff School, Warwicks.
St Edmund’s RC School Portsmouth
King Edward V11 School Kings Lynn
The Judd School, Tonbridge
St Bernard’s High School, Westcliff-on-Sea
St Teresa’s School Effingham Hill Surrey
Dunfermline High School
Bowbrook House School Pershore
The Nicholson Institute, Stornaway
Old Palace School of John Whitgift, Croydon
Yr Ysgol Uwchradd (Prestatyn High School)
Highclare School, Erdington
Bishop Luffa School, Chichester
Kings High School for Girls, Warwick