The 4th Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival is on this weekend! Buy your tickets now!

The 4th Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival featuring British Jazz award winners, established Soul acts and and an African music showcase is on this weekend in Christ Church and the Community Centre.

THE SOUL : (Friday 19th April, Christ Church) An evening of Live Classic Soul music

THE JAZZ : (Saturday 20th April, Christ Church) A whole day and night of live Jazz featuring award winning and nationally known musicians.

THE AFRICAN : (Saturday 20th April, Christ Church Community Hall) A day and evening of live music from Africa featuring modern and traditional instruments, fusion, afrobeats, groove and funk.

For more information and tu buy tickets, head over to our Events page HERE 

For line up announcements please follow Swindon Jazz & Soul Festival on Facebook and Instagram or visit jazzknights.co.uk

NOTICE OF ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING & ELECTION OF NEW CHURCH WARDENS

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting will be held in Christ Church on the 28th April 2024 at 11:30am.  Please see the notice below: Please note you can click on the image to enlarge it.

Two new Church Wardens will also be elected at the meeting; see the corresponding notice below:

Christ Church Bells 100th Anniversary Peal

On Thursday 11th April at 3pm there is going to be a peal attempt (ringing for 3 hours).

This is being rung to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the ten bells being installed.

The new bells were cast by the John Taylor Bellfoundry at Loughborough.
They were dedicated by the Bishop of Bristol on 11th April 1924.

These are the bells that have rung at Christ church ever since.

If you are interested in joining the bell ringing team, please contact Ann Eyles at: Bells@Christchurchswindon.co.uk

You can watch the bells in action from a previous peal attempt at the link below…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKp8B5G_wA

If you would like to find out more about the history of the bells and the church we have copies of our book, The Beacon on the Hill, available to buy for £13 from the parish office.

King William Street School Church Council helped plant native saplings at Christ Church

King William Street School Church Council helped plant native saplings at Christ Church, recently as part of the church’s Eco Group’s on-going plan to increase biodiversity within the grounds.

Once grown the saplings will provide shelter and food for birds and small mammals.

Mrs Sarah Prevost, teacher at King William Street School, said the children were very excited to be helping with this project and were looking forward to seeing the saplings grow in future years, into mature trees.

Mrs Anne Grainger, the chair of Christ Church Eco Group said “We are delighted that the children have joined us in this very special project. They are after all “our future” and what we do now to promote and conserve the natural environment for them is vital”.

The saplings were generously donated by the Woodland Trust.

You can find out more about the work of our Eco Group and Eco Church awards on our website here at: https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/blog/eco-church/

Annual Revision of the Christ Church and St Mary’s Electoral Roll

Every year as part of the annual church meeting, we review and update all the names on our church electoral roll. This year the review starts at the end of March and will be complete by mid-April. A list of all currently registered Electoral Roll members (Names only) will be available at the back of the Church during the review period.

What do you need to do?

1. Already on the Electoral Roll

If you are already on the Church Electoral Roll and are happy to remain on it, you need to take no further action.

2. You want to join the Electoral Roll

To be entered on the Electoral Roll:

• You must be over 16.
• You must be baptised.
• You must have attended a Church of England church in the parish for at least the last six months.

If you wish to be entered on the Electoral Roll please complete one of the
applications for Enrolment available at the back of the church and return it to the Parish Office by the 13th of April

Names of all those on the Electoral Roll on 27th March 2024 are displayed in both churches – please check your entry and let the Parish Office know of any discrepancies – thank you

Our Easter Services at Christ Church and St Mary’s

Maundy Thursday – 28th March

Old Town Partnership of Churches Maundy Thursday Agape Meal and Holy Communion at Immanuel Church at 7:30pm for 1 hour.

Good Friday – 29th March

Reflect at the Cross – a Good Friday Meditation – 12 noon to 3pm* in Christ Church

Led by Karen Campbell, Secretary for Global & Intercultural Ministries (Mission) in the United Reformed Church, we will join with our partnership congregations from Immanuel URC and Bath Road Methodist for our traditional 3 hours at the cross.
* you are welcome to come and go as you please on the hour or half-hour during the hymn.

Children’s Good Friday Workshop

For children up to 11 years (bring an adult with you)
at Christ Church Community Centre from 1:30 to 3pm, this Friday, 22nd March.
Craft and Activities based around the theme of Holy Week and Easter Day
All welcome!

Holy Saturday – 30th March

Fellowship of Faith presents…. Movie Night at 7pm

Come and join us to watch ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (cert.18)*
*WARNING – contains scenes of a graphic nature
Refreshments available to purchase
Suggested donation £2
Raising money for Christ Church and Fellowship of Faith

Easter Day – Sunday 31st March

6am Sunrise service with Holy Communion on the green outside Holy Rood on the Lawn.

Please bring a chair. Breakfast will be served afterwards. Please RSVP.

In Christ Church

8am Holy Communion

10am Holy Communion

This will also be live-streamed HERE

6.30pm Easter Praise

This will also be live-streamed HERE

In St Mary’s

9am Holy Communion

Easter Monday – 1st April

Children’s Easter Activity Day

Fun activities in and around Christ Church and the Community Centre from 11am to 3pm, including:

Bible verse pebble trail
Easter Bonnet competition
Art & crafts
Picnic area
Refreshments
And a visit from the Easter Bunny!
Children £3, adults free.
For more information, please contact Alex & James Davies-Spratt

You can find all of our Easter Services and Events and more about the life of our church HERE

Passiontide Organ Recital

Passiontide Organ Recital by Tim Eyles, Director of Music at Christ Church.

Wednesday 27th March, at 1pm in Christ Church for one hour.

Free Entry with retiring collection.

Hot drinks and refreshments will be available from 12:30pm.

Music of a sombre nature, though not always soft, by composers such as JS Bach (Sei gegrüsset variations), Rheinberger (passacaglia from sonata 8 ), Flor Peeters, Alan Bullard, Healey Willan and William Bolcom.

There will also be two preludes by women composers Jeanne Demessieux and Sarah MacDonald.

All welcome!

The Friends of Christ Church AGM and Annual Lecture

The Friends of Christ Church next AGM is to be held on Wednesday 17th April 2024 at 2pm in Christ Church.

The AGM will be followed by our Annual Lecture at 3pm. This year’s lecture theme is: Resurrection Art from Around the World by the Revd. Robert Jordan.

Entry is Free but a donation is appreciated for the work of the Friends.

All Welcome!

To find out more about the Friends of Christ Church head over to their page on our website here: https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/blog/join-in/friends-of-christ-church/

Our Recent Lent Reflection Day Talks

We recently held a Lent Reflection day at St Mary’s Church led by Revd Moira Slack.

The theme of the day was ‘Take up Your Cross’. The event offered the opportunity for quiet reflection, teaching and friendship.

If you were unable to attend the reflection day, or attended and want to revisit the talks, you can download a transcript of the talks and the Passiontide Morning Prayer that was used at the event by clicking the links below:

Lent Reflection Day Morning Prayer

Lent Reflection Day Talks

We hope these materials help you draw closer to God this Easter

Christ Church 11th Annual Beer Festival Tickets on Sale Friday 1st March

TICKETS ARE ON SALE FRIDAY 1ST MARCH!

The 11th Old Town Beer Festival is on it’s way!

The Beer Festival is 11 years old and it’s going to be a big one!

Join us from Thursday 9th – Sunday 12th May for our four-day festival of beer, cider, comedy, and live music to help raise funds for the church. Did you know, our annual beer festival is our biggest fundraiser of the year!

Find out more about tickets here!

Moonrakers Folk Concert in Christ Church Next Month

Moonrakers is an Oxford-based group of four musicians who pride themselves in having brought traditional and contemporary folk music to new audiences in village halls, churches, arts centres and festivals across the UK.

The fact that the band “just OOZES quality” (Living Tradition) is down to the careful arrangements and selection of tunes and songs, presenting “exquisite music” (BBC). The material is a combination of traditional Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English music and their own contemporary songs and tunes, still very much ‘in the idiom’.

Dates/Times
19:00-22:00 Saturday, 23rd March, 2024. Doors open 7pm for a 7.30pm start. Pay bar available.

Venue
Christ Church, Cricklade Street, Swindon, SN1 3HB

Tickets
Adult (16+): £10.00 + £0.50
Child: £6.00 + £0.50

Buy Your Tickets Here

Contact details
If you have a question about this event, please contact:

Community Centre @ Christ Church
01793 617237
ccoperations@christchurchswindon.co.uk

You can check out the Moonrakers at their website here: https://moonrakers.net/index.html

Out of the Ashes – Chasing Away The winter Blues Concert Coming Soon to the Community Centre @ Christ Church

The hotly anticipated return of Out of the Ashes following an appearance at the Old Town beer festival in 2022.

Out of the Ashes, jazz and blues band with gospel roots is the creation of a pioneering husband and wife team from Gloucestershire in the UK – Penny Lyon and Kevin Washburn. With hundreds of videos, several hundred thousand views and thousands of followers on social media, award winning Out of the Ashes have built a big online audience and also regularly play live gigs across the UK and Europe attracting rave reviews.

A favourite on the Radio 2 Blues Show, along with many other national radio stations all around the world, Out of the Ashes is fronted by Penny Lyon – lead vocals – and Kevin Washburn on lead guitar. With more than seventy songs across five albums, including their fifth album ‘Where the Warriors Kneel’ which has just released, Out of the Ashes have a wealth of material that keeps their set fresh, engaging and hugely entertaining

Dates/Times
19:00-22:00, Saturday 9th March 2024. Doors Open 7pm, pay bar is available.

Venue
Community Centre @ Christ Church
Swindon
SN1 3HB

Tickets
Adult (16+): £10.00 + £0.50
Child: £8.00 + £0.50

Buy Tickets Here

Contact details
If you have a question about this event, please contact:

Community Centre @ Christ Church
01793617237
ccoperations@christchurchswindon.co.uk