Coffee mornings are held on the 3rd Saturday of the month, usually hosted by volunteers in their own homes. They provide a time for refreshment and fellowship and proceeds now go to Project 21. I would be pleased to hear from anyone willing to host.
Graham
The Friday lunch continues to be very popular and we seat between 45 and 50 people most weeks. The profit is shared between church funds one week and a charity the next. The amounts vary but I have been recording the totals in the newsletter recently. We have a group of about 12 volunteers offering their help to cook serve and wait on tables and I am most grateful to their commitment. I would like to say a big 'Thank You' to David and Pam who have served for many years. Since David's illness we have missed them both, but hopefully Pam will return and hope David will join us for lunch without the hard work. We welcome any newcomers whether they have lunch or help on a Friday. The jobs vary from laying table, washing up, waiting on table, to cooking for 60!! If you feel you would like to get involved I will be happy to talk to you.
Sunday Lunch is slightly different to Fridays, in that you are not waited on but it is self service and all proceeds go to Project 21. Again numbers are very good anything from 25 to 45 !! Also being Sunday it is a Roast dinner and dessert AND cheese and biscuits. ( I have to let you into a secret the cheese and biscuits was an after thought when shopping for the very first Sunday lunch as I thought 1 or 2 may not like sweet desserts and prefer cheese instead so only bought a modest amount. Then when everyone wanted this also after their dessert it has become a tradition)!! Anyway as you know we have made a wonderful total towards project 21. So, as we enter our 3rd year with £7120 raised in the first 2 years, I would like to thank all who support this venture and all who help on a Sunday and those who make desserts. A big Thank You to you all.
Julie
The 09-10 session started 11 Sept., with about 18 members on the books. Numbers have fallen during the session as older members have left, leaving 13 on the books and only 2 boys. Four of the members have direct links with WMC, as children or grandchildren of the congregation.
We have currently 3 leaders, two WMC members (Judith and Mike) and one parent (Kim - Paul having stepped down). Kim has done an excellent job of coordinating the leadership rota. We have about a team of about a dozen helpers, 2 of whom are WMC members (Clive & Ken). Ruth and Faith stepped down as helpers after many years of dutiful service - we are grateful for their loyal support.
Mike has let it be known that he does not wish to continue as leader beyond the current academic year. This is partly because of increased workload in London, partly to offer the opportunity for a new look at provision of youth work within the church without being unduly influenced by previous regimes. Martin has offered to become a leader in his own right, having spent many evenings at the club while Judith provided the leadership role.
We obviously welcome your prayers and support during the period of review and reflection that should probably take place in coming months.
Mike
A very successful Holiday Bible Club was held at our church during the week beginning Monday July 27th. About 65 children of primary school age (older 4y to 11y) participated.
Our theme was &lquo;Into the Deep&rquo; and the aim was to get across the power of God as a reality in our lives. We used the same formula as in recent years with sessions in the chapel (or sanctuary) where all the children took part in humorous drama and singing, and craft sessions in the hall. On the Thursday we had a family Fun Day at Letcombe Regis village hall and recreation ground, and on the Friday we ended the last morning with worship to which parents were invited. We were pleased with the encouraging numbers of families that came to the Fun Day and to the end-of-Club worship.
HBC is a truly ecumenical effort with more than 20 adults and teenage helpers representing most of the churches in Wantage and Grove. We were pleased that the visiting Seagren family all became enthusiastically involved. We also benefitted particularly from the talents of Nigel and Mark from the Community Church who led the up-front sessions in the chapel.
Unfortunately, this year Nigel and Mark are unavailable. This posed us with a dilemma in considering what we might do this summer (2010) but the ecumenical team are very keen to continue Holiday Bible Club and we have chosen material from Christian Aid called Go Mad! This is based on a series of scriptural readings complemented by video clips of young people in economically disadvantaged areas of the Third World, whose stories reflect the Bible readings. All this might sound a bit heavy but the material gives scope for lots of fun as well as serious thoughts.
Holiday Bible Club this year is planned to run during the week beginning Monday August 2nd. A significant number of the children who come to HBC have little other contact with any church and we feel that HBC is a good way to teach them something about Christianity.
Clive and Alison for the HBC team
Our lively friendly group meets on Tuesday afternoons during term time at Eileen's from 1.30pm to 3.15p.m
We have had a very successful year. Currently we have 11 people in the group who meet regularly. We are pleased that our two Anglican friends who joined us last year for the Lent Study still meet with us every week.
Each meeting includes prayer, bible reading and discussion. In prayer time we have used the Methodist Prayer Handbook "Each Returning Day" and the District Prayer Diary together with our prayers of concern and thanksgiving for people and situations in our own Churches, our families and friends. We spend a little time before prayer in bringing our concerns to be noted for inclusion in the prayer session.In the past year we have covered a variety of topics. We began by revisiting the Lent Study York Course "These Three….Faith, Hope and Love. We felt with the wealth of material these revisit sessions were well worth while. This was followed with a ten session study "Meeting the Spirit". We discussed how the Spirit Invades, Speaks, Renews, Empowers, Guides, Liberates, Equips, Transforms and Influences. An overview of the ten sessions helped us to reflect and highlight some important issues. Next we looked at some Parables which were the Parable of the Sower, The Lost Parables, and the Good Samaritan. This was followed by our Advent Study "A Journey through Advent, after which we returned to some further Parables. These included The Unforgiving Servant, The Widow and The Judge, The Wheat and the Weeds, Money and Self Worth and the Wise and Foolish Virgins. We have now embarked on this years Lent York Course "When I Survey…. Christ's Cross and Ours"We value our time together and feel we have helped each other in our faith journey. A warm welcome awaits anyone wishing to join us.
Eileen.
We have continued to meet weekly in term time for about one and a half hours. There are usually about 9 of us present each week. For most of sessions we choose two of the lectionary readings set of the following Sunday. Having read them and put them into context, discussions follow that are wide ranging, interesting and challenging. During Advent we undertook the same study programme as the Tuesday afternoon group - a journey through Advent, based on the Rob Frost book of that name. Each week there was a different ‘journey’ to undertake. I am indebted to Eileen Rennie who generously shared the material she had prepared for these sessions. During Lent this year, we have opted to stay with our usual pattern of using the lectionary readings.
This year, as Jenny’s group has ceased to meet, we will be undertaking to pray for everyone on the church community roll. Each month the monthly newsletter gives the names of those who will be prayed for. We also pray for all the people on the prayer list as given in the newsletter.
We would be delighted to welcome anyone who wishes to join this group. Please do contact me if you are interested. It has been a real privilege to lead this friendly, supportive group, and I am very thankful for having that opportunity.
Helen
In September Zac and Jordan and Robert were given book tokens to recognise their moving to Secondary school. At this stage while we still like to see them in Junior Church, it is up to them to decide whether or not they stay in the main service.
The children now meet in one ‘family’ group from Christopher aged 9 to Emily aged 3. We still follow Roots material and use it as a guideline, but more often choose stories and enjoy games, cooking and craftwork related to them. The artwork is sometimes a combined effort and the result is seen on the board in the hall. We have also enjoyed visits from Christopher who comes to play the piano so that the children can learn songs and hymns.
Junior church joined with F.N.G. to decorate a tree for the Christmas Tree Festival based on the carol ‘Love came down at Christmas’, and they enjoyed making stars and angels out of salt dough.
Jane produced a Christmas Nativity play which was much enjoyed by the congregation and some visitors just before Christmas. I’m sure a smile was brought to everyone’s face when Joseph had to ‘fight’ a King in order to sit down!
The children continue to participate in Holy Communion on alternate months. The children either come in at the beginning of the service or at the end, and in this way they can experience the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine. We are grateful to Martin for his careful preparation to make these experiences as accessible to the children as possible. We feel it is very important that the children enjoy the time they spend in church, and you will have noticed that they are now able to join in the singing with instruments as well as with words.
None of this would be possible without the team of leaders who are not only faithful but also flexible. We never know exactly who will be there each week, so preparation cannot be exact, but somehow it always works out. I am very grateful for all the love and loyal support given by Catherine, Heather, Ruth and Jane and also to the members of the congregation who are interested in what the children are doing, and we thank you for this.
Alison
Music group continues to practice in the church on Wednesday evenings, usually on a fortnightly interval. The core group membership remains much the same (Alison, June. Linda and Rodney and David). We have also been pleased to have the additional support of Andrew and his euphonium at some services.
During the year we have not only practised music for church services but also learnt new songs of worship, which we have sometimes introduced to the congregation. The music group has continued to play at a wider range of services this year. In addition members of the group have played with other pianists from time to time particularly when David has been on duty as Steward. The group also accompanied the organ and piano at the Carol Service and were pleased to have the opportunity to accompany Christopher on piano at the Nativity service.
We welcome any musicians or singers who would like to join the group. We also like to hear of any songs which others might have enjoyed at other churches.
June
Over the last couple of years membership of Party Church has become much smaller as the older children have left to do other things. This year only 2 or sometimes 3 families have attended. The children involved also come to church regularly and enjoy going to Junior Church where they participate in similar activities.
Party Church has been a great success and the children and parents have thoroughly enjoyed it, however, we felt that it was time to stop running the group as it was dupilcating a role already fulfilled by Junior Church. We held our last session on 28th February 2010.
We would like to thank members of the Church for their thoughts and prayers for Party Church over the last 8 years with particular thanks to Julie for her help in setting up Party Church and her wonderful support throughout its early years.
Catherine, on behalf of everyone from Party Church.
Monday afternoons are enjoyable. There are a variety of activities. Painting, needlework, knitting, jigsaws, card making - maybe a game of whist - there is plenty of varity. The group made a valuable contribution to The Craft Exhibition and Sale last July in aid of Action for Children. We also made cards, cushions and other items for sale in aid of Missions in the Autumn. In our opinion a beautiful Christmas Tree was on display at The Christmas Tree Festival. Members are encouraged to bring along their own hobby - new members are very welcome.
Pam R.
We have had another enjoyable year with an average of 40 members present at each meeting. We are grateful to Martin for opening and closing each term with a service of Holy Communion. The end of July was marked by the presence of Rev. Bill Seagren, his wife Jenny, and daughter Rachel from Oregon, USA. As it was Bill and Jenny’s Wedding Anniversary, Richard George made them a cake to celebrate. Photographs were taken and a slightly chaotic but happy time was had by all, after which Bill spoke to us and then gave us Holy Communion.
Our speakers’ subjects have included "Ladies of Blenheim", "Mission Aviation Fellowship", "Riding for the Disabled", "R.S.P.B." and "Street Pastors". The outing to Wilton House in June was blessed with a beautiful sunny day. There was plenty to see and the grounds and gardens were lovely. Wantage Male Voice Choir entertained us in July followed by a cream tea. The autumn saw Pam Martin leading our Harvest Festival. We had our Christmas Lunch at the Bear Hotel. Lois Knighton and the Melody Makers provided our Christmas entertainment but unfortunately our New Year Party had to be cancelled due to the snowy conditions. This past year we have made donations to Riding for the Disabled, Cancer Research, M.R.D.F., Karibundi Childrens’ Charity, Street Pastors, Haiti, as wall as local charities and good causes. In addition we have contributed to the church’s commitment to Network.
As always our grateful thanks go to Jean for leading us, Joyce and Graham for playing the piano, and especially to Gordon, Clive, Alan and Rodney for their help in setting out the room and clearing away afterwards. We really could not function without your help. We look forward to another year of fellowship and friendship and a warm welcome awaits anybody who would like to join us.
Diane and Mary
There are 10 young people in this group and we really enjoy our evenings with the group. Normal attendance is between 4 and 8 and we meet for an hour of fun and discussion on a Sunday evening. We sometimes invite a guest to come along and be grilled! We quite often cook and eat together and generally enjoy each other's company! During the year we coordinated the jam-jar collection in support of Project 21. We are now embarking on a youth Emmaeus course.
Jane & Judith