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
Bumps & Babes Sessions
churchadmin2015-04-10T18:23:36+01:00Calling all mums. We had to suspend the weekly bumps and babes sessions due to lack of numbers. Recently, though, we have received some enquiries from local families asking if the sessions could be resumed.
Bumps and babes was specifically for expectant mums and those with babies under 1 year old. It created an ideal opportunity to meet, make friends and share experiences over a cup of coffee or tea.
If you are interested in taking part in such a group then we would love to hear from you – if we get enough interest it may be possible to re-start the sessions. Please contact Ailsa in the parish office if you would like to know more.
01793 522832 or parishoffice@christchurchswindon.co.uk
Sunday@4 – St Mary’s Church Commonweal Road
churchadmin2016-02-17T21:28:33+00:00Sunday@4
Important: THIS WEEK ONLY – Sunday@4 will be starting at the later time of 4.30pm because of a previous booking for the hall.
Come and join us for a friendly and informal service with some wonderful modern worship songs and time to explore what it means to be Christian today.
Starting a new year with a new series for 2016: Programme – January – Easter 2016.
Remember too that we are meeting in the Community Centre @ Christ Church.
This Sunday part of our Lent series on God’s Mercy we are looking at God’s mercy to us. We will be thinking about God’s mercy experienced as friendship. We’ll also be looking at how we often judge ourselves harshly and expect the same from God which means we don’t experience that friendship.
All are very welcome.
Celebrating the bells
churchadmin2015-03-08T17:57:28+00:00
The new board kindly donated by Enid Roberts to mark the 60th anniversary of the original Coronation Peal.
The original Peal board celebrating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953
Last Sunday we celebrated the work of our bell ringers and the important part they play in the every day life of the church and community and also remembered some important historical milestones that they have marked. We heard a fascinating talk given by Brian Harris, our Tower Captain, about the bells and how and why they are rung. You can hear his talk again here.