In a New Year message to our diocese Bishop Paul said “The Rule of Life reminds us that God calls us and sends us, and that among other things we are sent to serve. Doing Ten Things is a simple, practical way to serve the world God loves - to see more justice in the world and to enable more people to know Jesus through the things we do. Along with Bishop Bev and the other members of our Diocesan leadership team I am pledging to do ten different things of my own over the coming year.”
You don’t have to be following the Bishop’s Rule of Life to 'do ten things’ (although we hope you are). And we haven’t a fixed list you have to follow. Your ten things are up to you - and if you do eleven, no one will mind! If you choose them yourself then you are more likely to succeed in doing them.
You don’t have to do all ten in one go. Your ten things don’t have to be new. Your ten things are a way of you showing others how your faith makes a bigger difference to you and to those you meet.
Bishop Paul said: “What kind of things do we have in mind? Well, here are a couple of examples from my own life. For the past few years I’ve been involved in “Life NOW”, a charity that aims to sent up hospice care for young adults with life-lifting conditions. One of my things will be to sustain this work and to find practical ways to help Life NOW and to do more to raise funds with and for them. Another and more personal example: I have an Aunt in Yorkshire who is very elderly, and who lives alone - I pledge myself, together with other members of my family, to visit her regularly and to connect with her on the phone so that she always knows that others are there for her.
Things like this are not hard to do - but they contribute to the bigger difference we all want to see, and it weaves the fabric of the common good that we need so much in this increasingly angry and divided world. Together we really can make a difference."
In the Diocese we believe that taking action like this, doing things like these, will create a movement. A movement with a specific sense of direction - towards more knowing Jesus with more justice in the world. A movement that lives out the call God places on our hearts. A movement that enriches us and those around us. A movement for change. A movement for the future.
Bishop Paul says: “I want to be part of that movement. I want to be a person making a bigger difference. And I would love to walk with you as part of the movement. Will you join me in doing ten things of your own? Make the pledge.”
How young people at St Andrew's Denton Green, St Helens are doing ten things
Make your #DoTenThings pledge
To show your support for our diocesan push to Do Ten Things let us know what you are doing by posting to our diocesan social media pages using the hashtag #DoTenThings
You can find out more about at www.liverpool.anglican.org/DoTenThings