Church Life
Sunday Services
10:00am Morning Service with all age Junior Church
6:00pm Evening Service
Church Residential Weekend
Christchurch’s inaugural residential weekend takes place at Windmill Farm Conference Centre in the Cotswolds from Friday 23rd October to Sunday 25th. Leaflets containing the provisional programme, details of accommodation and a booking form are now available in Church.
The theme of the weekend is ‘Transformed by the Bible; ready to be transformed by prayer?’ and our main speaker will be the Revd. John Proctor, who is Director of New Testament Studies at Westminster College, Cambridge. There are additional Adventure Activities planned for the young people.
Departure time from Abbeydale will be about 4.30 p.m. on the Friday and return by 3 p.m. on the Sunday. Transport will be available for those who require it. The conference centre is fully equipped to the standard of a hotel and is well-known for its farmhouse cooking. The majority of the rooms are twin rooms with en suite, but we will do our best to cater for all needs. The cost of the weekend is £115.50 per adult and £28.50 for under eighteens.
We hope that you will join us to learn more about the Bible and prayer or simply to enjoy fellowship with the Church family. The deadline for returning the booking form along with a deposit is Sunday 12th April. If you are not able to come along to the weekend, you might like to consider making a donation which will be used to subsidise the costs for our young folk.
David Evans
Messy Church
Have you heard? – Christchurch has started a new venture entitled ‘Messy Church’ - have you wondered what it is? Perhaps the following description of what happens at a Hampshire fellowship will help:
'Messy Church' is a mixture of games, art and craft, food, worship – and quite a lot of mess. The monthly after-school event at St Wilfrid's Church, Cowplain, draws together more than 60 children and adults for a new way of finding out about faith. They learn not by listening to someone telling them what to think, but by choosing which activities to do and discovering for themselves. It starts at the end of the school day. Children dash into the church hall to have a go at games and colouring laid out for them. Adults chat with them and with each other over Connect 4, Hungry Hippos and much-needed coffee. When everyone is there, Messy Church starts properly. Around the hall are 10 or more tables, each of which features a different art or craft activity related to the theme, and each with a leader to help all-corners.
For Easter, this includes everything from creating a goblet for the Last Supper to making Maundy money pouches, from creating an Easter garden to cooking chocolate nests for Easter eggs.
Everyone chooses which activities they want to do, sometimes with the people they've come with, sometimes with friends or on their own and learn through cutting, pasting, creating and cooking. The vicar takes digital photos of what's happening, to be displayed later. By the time they've finished, everyone - old and young - may be covered in paint, glue or dirt as they show off their exquisite items of craft. There's a short act of worship in the church itself, including songs, prayers and a short epilogue.
It's a formula that has seen them featured on the first Fresh Expressions DVD, and has since spread to other churches around the UK and around the world. A book has been published explaining the theology behind Messy Church and giving others some ideas about how to do it. There's also a website that gives other Messy Churches a chance to share ideas and to build up a useful network of contacts all over the country, while Messy Fiestas, or training/ sharing days bring leaders face to face to develop skills and ideas.
Organiser and author Lucy Moore said: "Many children and adults just love being messy, so that's a real attraction for them! "We take a lot of care thinking about activities that will be fun, but that will also have a point to them. And they learn so much more by actually doing these things rather than being told about them."
http://www.inspiremagazine.org.uk/
The leaders, having prepared the activities, pause for a photo call before welcoming their first visitors to Messy Church on March 5th, 2009.
HARVEST FESTIVAL
The Church ready for our 'Harvest of the Sea'
Shalom
It has been apparent for a long time, that in a church where so much activity goes on during the week, including large gatherings of different interest groups using the worship area as a hall, there is nowhere to go for quiet prayer.
To improve this, the vestry has now been designated as a prayer room, an oasis of peace and quiet where individuals or very small groups can gather for prayer and meditation. The conversion is largely complete, with a few finishing touches to add, but I hope you will agree that it considerably enhances what Christchurch has to offer to our own folk and visitors.
The door via the church office will be kept closed during the week, with access to the prayer room being via the corridor, a more peaceful entrance than having to go past photocopier, busy people etc. The office/prayer room door will be open on Sundays for the movement of equipment, use by the crèche, and also for the preacher to use as a vestry.
The prayer room is called ‘Shalom.’ Western Christians often translate this word as ‘Peace’, but it means so much more than the mere absence of conflict. ‘Shalom’ really encompasses the healing and wholeness that only God can give. So, may the shalom of God be upon you as you use ‘Shalom’ as a place of reflection and prayer.