Issue No. 80: Winter 2007
Theme: Light in the darkness
Editors: Gail Sheppard and Jacqueline Shirtliff
In this issue we explore what God’s love can do to move people from darkness to light. In our centre pages that can be used as a pull out, we have a series of Bible studies, one for each Sunday in advent, instead of just one Bible study. We include prayers in these studies and the prayer focus is intermingled with them. We look at some wonderful stained glass and find out more about how it lets the light shine through. Ian White (lecturer at Cliff College) tells us about the work of ‘Highway’, sharing God’s love with people in the Holy land. We have an article about gun crime in London and we share in some thoughts on working as a chaplain with young offenders. We want to emphasize that with God’s help dark can become light. As we look at people who work in the evening and throughout the night, we discover that darkness can also be good. This is an enlightening issue.

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Issue No. 76: Winter 2006
Theme: Communication
Editors: Gillian Collins and Jane Dowell
In this world of fast and immediate communication, with mobile phones and the Internet, we are looking into our personal communication with others. Communication across the faiths, communication without words through the medium of art. How do we communicate? What do our mannerisms tell others about us? And in this world of immediacy our worship will focus on Advent, the waiting time. Plus all your favourites will be there, prayer focus, bible study, meditation pages and your letters.

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Issue No. 72: Winter 2005
Theme: Truth
Editors: Gillian Collins and Jane Dowell
“What is truth?” The question which Pilate asked Jesus has fascinated thinkers through the ages. The winter issue of Magnet explores this theme from various perspectives: there will be bible study on Jesus, “full of grace and truth”, and worship for New Year on the truth of the Spirit which sets us free to develop our full potential. We feature personal stories of people who have faced the life’s challenges and followed the gospel with integrity despite the cost, and we debate the sometimes opposing claims of justice and mercy. There are lighter features too – is there a grain of truth behind some traditional wisdom surrounding the Christmas season? And we suggest simple but effective ways to decorate for Christmas which truly reflect the meaning of the festival. All Magnet’s regular features and full colour meditation pages will be there too, so make sure of your copy now.

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Issue No. 68: Winter 2004
Theme: Celebration and laughter
Editors: Alison Brophy and Jasmine Bryan
This issue reflects on the importance of laughter and celebration in our lives. We look at the transforming and therapeutic power of laughter and share in the festivals of other faiths. Among our regular features there is a service of joyful celebration for Christmas, entitled Time to Celebrate, a Bible study on new beginnings, and a prayer focus on The Compassionate Friends. Discover some novel ideas for gifts and find a new use for old magazines.

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Issue No. 64: Winter 2003
Theme: Reaching Out
Editor: Christine Braithwaite
The winter issue of Magnet explores the challenge of mission and service. We hear personal stories from people reaching out to all ages through chaplaincy work, medical charities, nightclubs and the Churches' Criminal Justice Forum. There are also words and pictures for reflection, seasonal articles and craft activities. Informal worship for Epiphany is prepared for us by Revd Heather Noel-Smith and looks at the theme Where your treasure is...

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Issue No. 60: Winter 2002
Theme: Turn the world upside down!
Editor: Gillian Collins
Vision and hope is the theme of Magnet 60, with a theological focus on "Thy Kingdom come" and worship resources drawing on the Magnificat. We look at ways of helping to ‘turn the world upside down' through political involvement, shared interest schemes, and projects for the empowerment of Afghan women and the Dalit people, and we discover how Christmas is celebrated in New Zealand. A seasonal meditation entitled Your will be done looks at the point of view of Mary's mother.

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Issue No. 56: Winter 2001
Theme: Open hands, open heart
Editor: Gillian Collins
What do we understand by ‘ministry'? Some have the gift of listening to others, some use their gifts creatively in the performing arts, others are called to the presbyteral, diaconal or lay ministry within the Church. In the winter Magnet we explore many kinds of service offered in Christ's name. Look out for Christmas worship material on the Ministry of Mary, along with the regular music and resources pages, Networking news of people, places and events and all our regular features.

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Issue No. 52: Winter 2000
Theme: Building Bridges
Editor: Lynne Ling
We may find ourselves caught up in situations of distress and conflict, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes consciously stepping in to try to help. In this issue of Magnet we look at times and places where we are bridge-builders; serving, negotiating, rebuilding lives. Features include an account of the aftermath of bombing in Serbia and information about reconciliation projects in Croatia and Bosnia. There is encouragement to speak out on behalf of asylum seekers and articles about Palestine, music in worship and surviving marital breakdown. We are helped to separate out fact from fantasy in the Christmas story and taught how to make posters. There is candle-lit worship material for Advent, entitled Darkness to light, seasonal meditations and resources.

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Issue No. 48: Winter 1999
Theme: Love one another
Editor: Ruth Reavley
In this issue, the injunction to 'love one another' is taken at a personal level. Articles on friendship, marriage, being parents, family life and our personal relationship with God are anchored in a bible study on God as the source of love and in a series of exercises on being in touch – with our friends, our family and with God. We also touch on Millennium hopes in Panama and on hope in one particular prison. Worship resources include material for Christmas and the Millennium (For all and for each), a psalm and regular features of pictures with meditations.

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Issue No.44: Winter 1998
Theme: Euro-Vision
Editor: Margaret Nicholas
This issue sets out to show, in the European context, how we can build bridges over our many differences to discover how much unites us. It includes an exploration of the theme by Stephen Plant following a visit to Bosnia, a personal experience of reconciliation and its importance in creating a new Europe, stories from Poland, Switzerland and from women who attended a European Seminar in Norway. Artist Edith Reyntiens explains the meaning and theology of icons in the Orthodox Church and we hear of an innovative Lydia Project that helps women from Eastern Europe develop language, training and leadership skills. A Christmas service, Child of Hope, and a bible study on Psalm 87 provide useful material for groups.

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Issue No. 40: Winter 1997
Theme: Down to such a world as this
Editor: Kathryn Schofield
The seasons of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany offer us stories of great richness. We can come to them year after year on our faith journey and find new insights and challenges. The articles and pictures in this issue are stitched together with the thread of biblical material. In reflecting on six episodes of the biblical journey, a contemporary article places a new light on the story. A wide variety of contributions from around the world offer new insights, stimulate new connections and bring a fresh understanding of stories we may be tempted to take for granted. Worship resources and words and picture pages help us to reflect on each episode of this journey. They include: The Lord's Servant, God Among Us, The Waiting Time, Refuge Among Strangers, and Hope was rocked in the arms of Mary.

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Issue No. 36: Winter 1996
Theme: Milestones
Editor: Philippa Normanton
From the time of our birth there are many significant events which shape the course of our lives. This issue explores some o the 'milestones' in life, in faith and in events around the world. One contributor talks about her life and the unexpectedness of her calling to offer as a candidate for the Methodist Diaconal Order. Another shares with us the milestones in her life which are all the more remarkable for a woman who is severely disabled. Other milestones include becoming a grandparent and growing old. Six women who attended an Assembly in Brazil talk about events in their own lives within the historical context of their countries. Frances Moffit looks back to the cease-fire of 1994 and reflects on what it meant for the people of Northern Ireland. A selection of resources for Advent and Christmas are reviewed and the service in this issue is for use 'At the turning of the year'. Naomi is the subject of this issue's bible study.

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Issue No. 32: Winter 1995
Theme: Peace on Earth
Editor: Margaret Nicholas
This issue focuses on signs of hope in a divided world. A look at how Japanese people view their history, how three women in Northern Ireland are breaking down barriers between the different communities in Belfast and how women in former Yugoslavia are working for peace across ethnic boundaries, form stimulating articles. The need for forgiveness as a first step towards peace and the need for repentance and reconciliation to bring about change are also dealt with. A meditation helps us to review our relationships with those around us. Worship material appears in the form of a Christmas service – Celebrating Reconciliation. Words and picture pages also take up the Christmas theme.

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Issue No. 28: Winter 1994
Theme: Great Expectations
Editor: Patricia Hughes
Here, writers tell of their experience in the home, at school, within and outside the Church. They tell of their efforts to open up channels and provide ways and means for the Gospel to be communicated. This is an issue of personal challenge, too. How real is my faith? Articles look at God-talk with children, youth work in Grimsby, getting alongside young people in Oxford and Northamptonshire, religious education in school, Christmas in prison and a story about work in Haiti. Worship material includes a meditation for Candlemas, an Epiphany service suitable for all age worship, a litany for children and regular meditation and picture pages.

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Issue No. 24: Winter 1993
Theme: Sharing Vision
Editor: Mollie Locke
In 1993, Women's Network groups studied issues affecting other countries and a local concern in their community, in a programme entitled 'Vision of Peace'. This issue strove to look at some of them, too. Brian Brown reflects on the situation in South Africa, Margaret Nicholas reports on issues raised at a European Seminar in Dublin, Helen Lee 'talks of angels' and Chris and Mark Kellet describe a Jamaican Christmas. Visions of new life and new hope are the focus of an article on Nigeria and another on becoming a grandmother. There are reviews of resources for Advent and Christmas, a Christmas service – 'The Word of Life and Light' – and the regular feature of picture pages with poems and meditations.

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Issue No. 20: Winter 1992
Theme: Emmanuel – God with us
Editor: Tricia Graves
Looking back, looking forward, here and now – if we can only be aware of it, God is indeed 'with us'. Circumstances may vary enormously, from one contributor in Segbwema to another in England, but the wonder of God's presence is there. Articles feature Christmas in a nursing home and in a primary school, on local radio and in Newcastle District. We read of Christmas memories from 1942. Mary's story is retold and offers new insights on a familiar story. Learn how to create a Christmas flow arrangement with holly and ivy, how to put together a spiritual scrapbook for Advent and what a Moravian Christmas involves. Worship material is provided in the form of a service for Christmas, entitled 'A Great and Mighty Wonder', meditations and reflections on the theme and 'the twelve days of Christmas' told in an unusual way.

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Issue No. 16: Winter 1991
Theme: Shalom
Editor: Stella Bristow
This was the fist of the Winter issues of Magnet magazine and marked a departure from three issues a year to four. Here, we reflect on peace, not just as a personal feeling of well-being, but linked inseparably with justice. An article on Palestinian women is a clear reminder that peace has to be worked for, that it means we have to be politically involved to ensure that others receive justice. We offer articles on windows as an important focus for worship, Christmas in India, tips about drama and music in worship, the story of 'the other wise man', and a meditation on Mary and Joseph. A picture meditation on Botticelli's "Mystic Nativity" and instructions to make a Christmas banner appeal to our creative side. The service for Christmas is called 'The song of heaven' and more material is available in a further item, 'Receiving the song'. A useful and imaginative Christmas resource.

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