Our drive to becoming a more eco aware church continues, following our intial award of Bronze certification from the A Rocha organisation.
You can read the latest update from Phil Mansfield who leads our efforts here.
It shows the sort of steps we need to take to improve our efforts to protect and nourish God’s creation.
If you would like to take part in our Eco programme then contact the Parish office and let us know.
We were delighted to welcome Rev’d Trudie Wigley and her family to join us at our 10am Informal Communion service. Trudie became Vicar at St Paul’s Dorcan eight years ago following her Curacy at Christ Church and recently became the Chair of the House of Clergy for the Bristol Diocesan Synod. Please remember Trudie, Andrew, Ben and Grace in your prayers as we look forward to a wonderful celebration together.
You can hear the whole service on our You Tube channel here
Listen to Trudie’s sermon on the player below
We are looking forward to our annual Old Town Partnership Confirmation which will be on Sunday 8th May at 10am Bishop Viv, Bishop of Bristol will be confirming, along with Mark and Robert at Bath Road Methodist Church.
We will run a Confirmation preparation group on Sunday evenings from the middle of March. Please remember all the preparations in your prayers that we will see the joy of welcoming new Christians and growing disciples in our community over these coming weeks.
Please speak with Simon or one of the staff team, if you are interested in exploring this possibility. You can also phone the parish office 522832.
Simon Vicar
This week we heard Simon telling us about the importance of hope in a time of uncertainty. He reminds us too of our Christ Church mission and values.
We have a vision that we should be Christ’s Church in the community, serving the needs of local people and becoming a central meeting place for a whole variety of community activities. Our mission is to proclaim Christ through teaching and example. Welcome and serve all, through hospitality. We encourage people to find God through worship, faith and prayer by providing a spiritual home and resources for the local community. We seek to transform Swindon and beyond with God’s hope and compassion.
We do this with humility, grace and respect, listening prayerfully to God and our neighbour.
As well as offering traditional life events like baptism, marriage, blessings, funeral and bereavment services, we host a modern community centre which provides education, leisure, social and entertainment facilities to our community.
We also heard about the Partnership Confirmation Preparation – this will run on Sunday evenings from mid March. Confirmation will be on the 8th May at Bath Road Methodist Church. If you would like to find out more speak with Simon or one of the staff team or via the parish office 5228332.
As the PCC have now agreed their goals for 2022, we are praying that our worship, ministry and mission will grow in the power of the Spirit. To this end please can you let us know if you can help with any of the following;
If you would like to talk about the gifts you have and how they can grow and where your time is best used in God’s service, please have a word with Simon or members of the staff team.
Sunday 13th February is Racial Justice Sunday This is an opportunity for all churches to focus and reflect on the importance of racial justice, to give thanks for the gifts and beauty of human diversity, and to commit to end racism and acts of discrimination. You can read about some of the resources available here
A Prayer
Merciful God,
you are righteous and love justice:
stir the hearts of your people that,
rejoicing in our diversity,
we may repent of the wrongs of the past,
and, by your grace, seek the peaceable kingdom of your Son,
our Saviour Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Our final Mission giving day of 2021 is this week and we support Water Aid and Swindon and Gloucestershire Mind
Water Aid
Donations can be made on-line via the following link By cheque and post: Send us a cheque, postal order or charity voucher made payable to
Freepost Plus RTXT-JATZ-LJS
WaterAid,
York House, Wetherby Road.
York YO26 7NH
Swindon and Gloucestershire Mind
Donations via the following link
In church we can also accept donations in our collection plate at the rear of the church. Donations can be made via a gift aid envelope marked with M for mission. This will then be split between the two charities.
THANK YOU
At our last meeting to review our responses to the Covid pandemic, the opening group agreed to consult over the next two weeks on the following proposals.
Distanced seating arrangements would be relaxed altogether during normal services. The distribution of Holy Communion would take place from the front of the church as before, with people queueing from the back pews first, being organised by the sides persons.
Those who requested it can still receive communion in their seats if they wish. Unless there were strong objections from the congregation, this proposal could be introduced from Advent Sunday 28th November.
The wearing of masks would still be encouraged.
It is vital that we all feel comfortable with the arrangements for worship. If you would like to comment on these proposals, please do so in person to members of the staff team or by email to staffteam@christchurchswindon.co.uk or Tel Simon 01793 529166
The Knife Amnesty is to raise awareness across the county of the risks and consequences of carrying a knife, and reduce the harm to our communities from knife crime by enabling people to surrender knives and weapons to the police without fear of prosecution.
The purpose of the amnesty is to remove knives from criminal availability, thereby reducing the risk of harm to the public, protecting our communities and reducing the likelihood that the knife will be available for criminal use.
An appeal will be made to the public for the surrender of illegal knifes kept lawfully within their homes. This will include flick knifes, lock knifes, zombie and butterfly knives.
This is a Old Town Partnership of Churches initiative with the local police. From this weekend,12th November, secure bins are being provided in local churches, including Christ Church, to dispose of knives. Please pray for the Wiltshire Police in this excellent initiative.
The amnesty will run for 2 weeks.
Listen again to a recording of our service on Sunday 7th November remembering those who have died in the past couple of years. The service is led by the Rev’d Daphne Hardwick and Rev’d David Day. Download the order of service so you can follow the service ( opens in a new tab)
The names are read out at 26:30 minutes
COP 26 has brought out many stories of individual and collective ingenuity and committment to engaging with Creation and the climate emergency. The Hazelnut vision is of a growing community: Creating a sustainable model of church and community engagement able to flourish in a climate crisis, using urban agriculture, food production, and waste management as tools for social innovation, economic inclusion, and political and spiritual transformation.
Churches throughout the country are seeking to become greener and reduce their carbon footprint. Creation care is at the top of all our agendas so we must do all we can both individually and collectively to increase awareness of the climate emergency and learn how to take action to prevent it.
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