17th April: Faith through Charity
Fidelma Meehan, Save the Children
Format for the evening: Short time of worship followed by
a 30-40 minutes presentation, then an opportunity for questions,
discussion & conversation.
SUNDAY FOR EVERYONE!
On Sunday (3rd March) the 10am service will be for people of all-ages!
The theme is Psalm 23 The Lord’s my Shepherd
And in case you feel you might be too busy, here’s a revised version for 21st Century living!
Psalm 23 for Busy People
The Lord is my Pace Setter, I shall not rush,
He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals,
He provides me with images of stillness,
Which restore my serenity.
He leads me in ways of efficiency,
through calmness of mind; and his guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret, for his presence is here.
His timelessness, his all-importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity,
by anointing my head with his oils of tranquility,
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruit of my hours,
For I shall walk in the pace of my Lord,
and dwell in his house for ever. Toki Miyashina
Every 6 years, church law requires us to recompile our Church electoral roll. This is our year. This ensures that we have up to date details for everyone
Being on the roll is an important way of confirming your commitment to Christ Church with St Mary’s and to our vision of community. We always welcome all those who visit us and feel part of our church and joining the roll is not compulsory. However, if you wish to:
Stand for election to the PCC or other synodical council (such as the Deanery, Diocesan or General Synod) or attend and vote at our Annual Parochial Council Meeting you must be on the role.
Its easy to do. Simply print and fill in the form below or collect one from the back of the church. Hand the completed form to any member of the clergy or put it in the box at the rear of the church or hand it into the Parish office.
If you have any queries about the process please talk to me or any member of the staff team.
Simon
The recent cold weather brought some brilliant pictures of Christ Church. You can see more in our album
http://bit.ly/CCnewspictures
We are looking for someone who is passionate about developing families within the church and the wider community alongside the ministers and team. This is a new post building on a foundation of previous successful lay work. Active links with local schools are in place. As a church we are excited about this new opportunity. If you share this excitement we’d love to hear from you.
0.5 part time post (18 hours)
Salary: up to £22,672 pro rata
We are looking to find out what our congregation and supporters like or don’t like about our services. Please complete a form and let us know what you think.
On each night between the 3rd November and the 10th November, Christ Church will be floodlit to commemorate those men who gave their lives in the Great War and who are remembered on our War Memorial.
Each day you will be able to see the names and details of each man on our special Remembrance Page https://www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/remembrance.php
The floodlighting will end on 10th November with a dramatic, blood red lighting scene provided by our Lighting company, Enlightened. This will herald our Festival of Commemoration event – a celebration of the role of Swindon people in the First World War. Do join us for a night to remember
This year marked one hundred years since the end of the First World War. We staged a major event to commemorate and celebrate the rarely told story of the people of Swindon; the sacrifice, service, community spirit and contribution that ordinary people made in extraordinary times.
It told stories of those who served at home and abroad using letters, accounts, poems and songs of the period.
We were joined by The Aldbourne Band, students from Commonweal school and readers and musicians from our local community. Thanks to the generosity of our Sponsors, Charles Harding, Deacons, Arkells, Hilliers and Book Online as well as the support of those who attended, we are able to donate £400 to the Royal British Legion.
Take a look at our new History & family research pages at
www.christchurchswindon.co.uk/tour.php
Janet French & Stephen Grosvenor
Recently we heard about our new recommended giving policy from Brian Harris, Chair of our Finance Committee. Having trialled membership of the Parish Giving Scheme (P.G.S) with 
members of our staff team and PCC taking the lead, we are now ready to roll it out to the wider congregation.
The PGS is sponsored by the Diocese and is free to use. It allows us to dramatically reduce the administrative effort required to collect Gift Aid on the regular gifts from our friends and congregation as well as greatly improve our cashflow.
Watch a video that explains how it works here
If you currently support the church with regular giving or wish to start and have not yet heard about the scheme, please do take a moment to listen again to Brian’s presentation given at each of our recent Sunday services. It explains very clearly what is involved and why we want to introduce PGS. You can also read about it on the link below.
Remember this is not a request for you to increase your giving (although that is always welcome)but rather to change the way that you do give.
If you would like to see the letter that I wrote explaining the scheme and why we propose to adopt it read it here PGS letter
If you would like to recieve a PGS application form to support the work of Christ Church then email us here parishoffice@christchurchswindon.co.uk with your contact details or ring 01793 522832 or contact our Gift Aid Secretary Stephen Grosvenor (in confidence) at s.grosvenor@gmail.com
Thank you for your support
Simon
