What’s your view?
churchadmin2015-05-25T17:43:53+01:00Give us your views and comments on our new development plans.
https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/blog/2015/05/whats-your-view/
What’s your view?
churchadmin2016-04-27T17:53:12+01:00We are in the process of putting forward proposals to make some changes to the interior of Christ Church (A simple summary of the proposals). They are in response to the need to preserve this Grade II * listed building for future generations by ensuring that it continues to play a central role in the local community and, as such is able to cope with the demands of 21st Century users. In brief these changes involve the installation of a new energy efficient and controllable heating system, new LED lighting, a flat wooden floor throughout the church to enable improved access for the young and old. It will mean the removal of the remaining pews in the North and South aisles and the proposed removal of a number of pews at the very front of the Nave. You can read about the changes in more detail here:
Sunday Club at Christ Church
churchadmin2017-02-12T18:11:01+00:00
The Sunday Club at Christ Church meet as part of the 10am Family service during school term time.
The children arrive in church with their parents/carers for the start of the service then go out together with the Sunday Club leaders to our Community Centre next door to the church.
On the first Sunday of each month at 10am the families meet together in church for an All Age Service and there is no separate Sunday club session.
You can find out more by downloading our Sunday Club Term leaflet which provides dates, contacts and more details of how it all works.
Download the leaflet here: Sunday club1.
Christ Church is also part of the Old Town Partnership of Churches which runs a Messy Church session on the 3rd Sunday of each month at King William Street School. You can find out more about these services on the Messy Website – http://messychurcholdtown.co.uk/
Your chance to have a say in what the church does next!
churchadmin2015-05-18T15:30:14+01:00The Bishop of Bristol, Mike Hill says, “Our Synod is at its best not only when differing views are represented, but also when the rich diversity of gifts available to us across our diocese are brought together. It is important that in today’s world we have people of prayer, stature and vision standing for election who will embrace the right range of competencies to play their part in the decision making of our Diocese.”
The Bishop of Swindon, Lee Rayfield adds, “The next few years are going to be hugely significant for the Diocese of Bristol, and indeed the future of the wider Church of England.
Nominations are now open for people to stand for Diocesan Synod (the advisory body to the Bishop of Bristol) for the next three years. You have until 19 May 2015 to get yourself nominated.
Any church member on the electoral roll over the age of 16 is eligible to stand for election. You don’t even need to be a PCC member first. All licensed clergy are eligible too. And to stand, you simply need to get nominated by two members of your Deanery Synod. We can help you with this bit if you have no idea who this is.
Find out more from the Diocesan website.
God’s Trees – an illustrated talk
churchadmin2015-05-25T18:13:12+01:00
Trees, forests and wood in the Bible, Bible Lands and how they were used. An illustrated presentation by Professor Julian Evans OBE, President of the Institute of Chartered Foresters At Christ Church Community Centre, Old Town on Sunday, 5th July, 3 – 5 pm. Tickets £5 to include tea and cakes Organisers – Friends of Christ Church, Old Town and Swindon and Allotments & Leisure Gardens Association For tickets and details please contact Parish Office on 01793 522832 – email parishoffice@christchurch.co.uk Or Jan Flanagan (S.A.L.G.A) on 01793 523048
Read the Annual Report 2014
churchadmin2015-05-06T23:23:02+01:00
The Annual Report is now available to read or download from here.
Details of our Easter Services 2015churchadmin2015-04-10T18:22:31+01:00
Buy 3rd Old Town Beer Festival Tickets
churchadmin2015-04-14T17:02:02+01:00The 3rd Old Town Beer festival is on Saturday 16th May from 12.00 noon to 10pm.
Buy your tickets here: https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/events
Easter Eve Walk
churchadmin2015-05-02T13:18:12+01:00
We visited Bincknoll Castle a seldom visited small Iron Age fort which sits on the end of a promontory on the escarpment beneath the Ridgeway to the South and overlooking the plains around Swindon to the North.
Easter Eve Walk – Saturday 4 April 2015 – Bincknoll Castle and Quidhampton Wood
Out
We took the 11.10 am bus from outside the Swindon Advertiser Office on Victoria Hill (Service 49) to Broad Hinton. Walk back to Wroughton via Bincknoll Castle and Quidhampton Wood.
We enjoyed packed lunches.
Back
Bus from Wroughton back to Swindon ( e.g. 15.49 or 16.49). Suitable refreshment was sought in Wroughton, and later bus home. Contact Daniel Pitt 521732 if you would like to join us for future walks. All welcome.
Our Church Plan
churchadmin2015-05-06T23:23:29+01:00Since work began on development and renewal at Christ Church, we have spent a lot of time reviewing our plans, gaining information from other church’s experiences and planning and building our Community Centre. In all this detail of practical and logical decision making, it is often easy to forget why we originally set out on this journey. Do take some time if you can to read our vision for this church.
We have a vision that Christ Church and its site should be at the heart of Swindon serving the needs of local people and becoming a useful meeting place for a whole variety of community activities. Continuing and developing what we do well now but also looking to meet future needs. Christ Church was built 160 years ago and has been part of the Old Town Partnership of Churches with Bath Road Methodist church and Immanuel United Reformed church for more than 40 years. Our vision is ‘Connecting the Community with Christ’. Many visitors remark on the beauty of Christ Church, a place of serenity and peace in the midst of a very busy town but while the building is beautiful outside, inside it is cluttered and tired and expensive to maintain.
We want to bring a resurrection feel to the Church that Swindon can really be proud of, serving our town through the 21st century and beyond. Through the development and renewal of Christ Church we will have a lighter, warmer more comfortable and flexible place to meet, and from which to expand its outreach.
Our vision is that Christ Church and the newly rebuilt community centre will be in use throughout the week; morning, afternoons and evenings. There will be an enhanced awe and wonder about the church building which will be full of God’s presence. We intend to operate both the church and the Community hall for the benefit of all, trusting that our openness and outward looking attitude will establish our whole site as a valuable resource for our local community. We look forward to hosting many concerts, creative arts, community celebrations, conferences, school events and artistic exhibitions in both the church and hall.
Our vision is our site will increasingly pay for itself, allowing us to develop our pastoral care, listening and healing ministries and to look outwards sharing God’s heart for mission and outreach within Swindon and across the world. As a Christian community we passionately believe that God works in every scene of life and wants us to expand our perspective of his activity and presence in all things. We believe that God wants us to have the gift of imagination. By enabling this to happen we can play our part in connecting the whole community of Swindon through outstanding buildings and service that bring the best of the past alongside the needs of the present.
We would like everyone at Christ Church to work together to achieve this vision for Christ Church to keep it at the heart of Swindon for the next 160 years.
The letter from the house of Bishops about the 2015 General Election
churchadmin2015-05-06T23:17:07+01:00
Who is my neighbour?
The following is the introduction to this thought provoking letter.
How should Christian men and women approach the General Election to be held on 7 May 2015? This letter from the Church of England’s House of Bishops is addressed to all members of the church. And, as the Church of England strives to be a church which seeks the good of all the people of the country, we hope that others, who may not profess church allegiance, will nevertheless join in the conversation and engage with the ideas we are sharing here. This letter is not a shopping list of policies we would like to see. It is a call for the new direction that we believe our political life ought to take. Read the full letter here: whoismyneighbour-pages