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This shows details of our services and who will be leading them in Autumn 2010.
We will be holding a silent auction in the church on Saturday 20th November from 2:00pm to 4:00pm (this is like an off-line version of an ebay auction). Gifts of produce, craft, vouchers and services are mucg appreciated and will be collected nearer the time.
Also for the church charity project in the autumn there is a Beetle Drive at 3:00pm on Sunday 26th September.
The area quiz in aid of Action for Children is on Saturday 30th October.
South Woodley Messy Church started in April. Sessions are in a relaxed atmosphere, with craft and other activities for children, a family picnic meal, and a very short act of worship suitable for those with little or no church background. They are being held at St James Church Centre, Southlake, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm (except August). The subjects so far have been Celebrating Creation, The Sea, The World Cup. It restarts on 12th September with theme Fresh Start, followed by Harvest on 10th October, Light on 14th November and Christmas on 12th December.
In 2011 the club will start on Monday 8th August. It will run daily until 12th August from 10:00 to 12:30 (come earlier first day to register). As usual it will be free for children aged 5 to 10 to attend.
Our 2010 club was set in a fish and chip cafe called "Rocky's Plaice". Overall 90 children took part with 80 most days. It featured daily puppet shows, dvds, jokes, craft, games, cookery and so on.
Our 2009 club was "ShowStoppers" with a theatre theme. Less children than normal took part this year, but those who did come had a great time learning about God's Great Plan.
In 2008 the club had a sporting theme: "Champion's Challenge"; 90 children attended the first session, with over 100 children taking part in all. In 2007 the club ran with a green theme and the title "Waste Watchers". 101 children (about 80 per day) came. Especially enjoyed were the club song "What a Load of Rubbish", the visit each day by a Wimble (the Woodley equivalent of a Womble) and the cooking of bottle-shaped biscuits.
Through the efforts our our lay worker, Nancy Quinnell, and others, the church is involved with various of the local promary schools. Through RE:Inspired 13 lessons have been given to 600 unchurched children, recently on the subjects of Easter and life and death. Two mock weddings with discussions have been held and the church was visited by a local school for children with disabilities. Beechwood School now have a Power Club focusing on the parables. All year 6 pupils in Woodley are receiving "It's Your Move" booklet thanks to Churches Together in Woodley. In connection with the Airfield Church, Nancy has continues to work at the CofE School with Junior Bible Club, story telling and Rainbow Time councelling, and also she is part of the local puppet ministry. The youth councelling service ARC, which Nancy chairs, has won the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.
The charity project we are supporting in 2010 is the Wesley Guild's charity, the Nigeria Health Care Project (NHCP). Jenny Benfield, a former teacher in Nigeria and trustee of NHCP was at our morning service on 28th March. The Pancake Evening on Tuesday 16th February raised £146.50. It ran from 17:00 to 19:00 to end in time for the Woodley Lent Groups launch meeting in the church.
Our Spring Fair was on Saturday 8th May. It raised about £950. Also over £180 was raised at the following sale at the pagoda in the precinct. A Junior Church cake sale on 20th June raised £44.10.
The Summer Concert and barbecue on 17th July also raised about £150 for the project. It was put on to say farewell to Andrew Emison and family, as Andrew left us in August to take up ministerial training in Durham.
The Countdown Evening on 4th September raised £72.
The church supported Christian Aid Week (9th - 15th May 2010) during which we collected £1743 through the house to house collection. Six church members raised £702 on the sponsored walk. In 2009 our church members raised £1557.30. In 2008 we raised £700 through the walk and £1626 through the collections (part of the Woodley total of £7817.75).
Prayer and Praying Together on Tuesday 22nd June was attended by about 25 people. It was an evening of input, small group discussions with time for Q&A on re-thinking our personal prayer lives and how we can pray more effectively in pastoral settings. It was led by the Revd Dr Andrew Francis, a now-retired UC minister, with an ongoing teaching ministry. Amongst several former roles, he was the URC's Medway District Minister with a specific adult-education brief, for 8 years, has served as a spiritual director and helped develop a French retreat house.
Retiring collections raised about £1000 for Christian Aid's work in Haiti.
The money donated at our Gift Service on 13th December, and all the money raised at our Christmas Day services, is going to support the people of Chikwawa in Malawi, where Tom and Jo Evans are working. Over £270 was raised. A tapestry made by members of Christ Church is now hanging in the church at Chikwawa.
The charity project we were supporting in 2009 was Action for Children's (formerly NCH's) Young Carers scheme. The first event was line dancing on 21st February. The Spring Fair on 9th May raised £1189.96. During the summer we were running Grow Your Talents, where members tried to convert £5 into as much money as possible using their talents; nearly £2000 has been raised, including the filling of sweet pots and the over £100 raised at the Celebration of Talents Concert on 19th September 2009. Five Voices presented "A Dickens of a Christmas" on the evening of Saturday 12th December, which raised another £200. The total raised was over £4800.
The Revd Martyn Neads and his wife Danie have now joined with us and the Airfield Church. His Service of Welcome and Induction was at Christ Church on Friday 4th September at 19:30. It was led by Revd Adrian Bulley, Moderator of the Wessex Synod of the URC, with contributions from Revd Stuart Innals from Plymouth, Revd Chris Jones (Berkshire Methodists), Revd David Ellis (Reading Circuit), Revd Eddie Marquez (St. John's), Viginia Lawson (URC Pastoral Committee) and some of the local members. A magnificent choir of 31 singers, both young and old, led the singing. Thanks go to all who enabled the event to take place and to those who provided the refreshments afterwards.
Harvest Festival 2010 will be on 19th September.
Our Harvest Festival 2009 was on 20th September. The previous evening we held the Celebration of Talents Concert to welcome Revd Martyn and Danie Neads to our church. Gifts from harvest were given to various church members and as before to CIRDIC.
At our Harvest Festival on 21st September 2008 the church was decorated as usual, with plants and produce, by the Worship Stewards and helpers and the Girls' Brigade. After the morning service the food and fellowship of the Harvest Lunch was enjoyed by 46 people. 12 bunches of flowers and 9 plants were given to elder and sick members of the church, whereas the gifts of produce, according to their wish list, were given to the Churches in Reading Drop In Centre (CIRDIC).
This was on Saturday 28th February 2009 and was led by Revd Valerie Fisher. About 30 church members joined in, with results presented at the following Sunday morning service. More work needed to be done so a second day, called Sharing Church, was organised on the morning of Sunday 28th June starting with breakfast at 08:30.
The churches of Woodley have put together a Recycling Guide (PDF) which covers much more beside the usual council supplied services, such as recycled bible study notes!
Our new 25th Anniversary Banner was dedicated at a special Dedication Service on the afternoon of 11th May 2008. Each of the 24 church groups that had contributed a square talked about their group and what the design of their square signifies. You can also see our other banners.
The minister during the creation of Christ Church, Rev Bernard Arnold, lead our 25th Anniversary celebrations on 4th November 2007. Our history weekend was on 29th September 2007. Our new banner was dedicated at a service at 15:00 on Sunday 11th May 2008. The 26th Anniversary service featured Revd Pam Richardson on 16th November 2008 and the 27th Anniversary featured Revd Audrey Simpson on 15th November 2009.
A new online Bible study from the Methodist Church follows the daily reading from the Methodist Prayer Handbook. It offers commentary, explanations and questions to ponder of the selected passages. Also available is an audio version to listen to online or download.
General Church Meetings with Church Council will be on Wednesday 6th October 2010, Thursday 20th January 2011, Tuesday 29th May 2011 and Wednesday 13th July 2011 all at 7:30pm. The Annual Church Council is scheduled for Thursday 17th May 2011.
Page last updated: 6th September 2010.