Pentecost fruit

Worshippers at today's All Together Communion service experienced the Messy Church approach as they were invited to make cut out paper fruit to hang on a potted tree. (See photo).These symbolised the fruits of the Spirit; the topic of the service for Pentecost,  when the Church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Revd Helen Charlton introduced the activity and spoke about the importance of spiritual growth; one of the four current priorities at All Saints. A slide show illustrated the recent Parish Awayday and members of the Church,  adults and one the children,  spoke about what they had enjoyed at the day

Large audience for lecture by John Bell on Sexuality

A large audience gathered at All Saints Church last Wednesday evening to hear John Bell, international Christian speaker, writer and musician, speak on the topic of Sexuality and the Church. The topics covered by the lecture included:  What does the Bible actually teach about homosexuality? How can the church move away from its homophobic image? What are key issues for the church around same-sex marriage? Can we view gayness as a gift, rather than an issue? 

John spoke from his wide reading, deep listening and friendships with gay Christians and others. He explained how he believed that faithfulness to the authority of Scripture need not be a barrier to acceptance of gay relationships and equality because Scripture does not really address this matter.  He showed how many culturally-determined practices such as slavery and apartheid had been defended in the past by the abuse of Scripture. He called for compassion, acceptance and welcome by Christians and the Church for gay people; and that their need for fulfilling personal relationships should be recognised and celebrated by the church just as heterosexual relationships are. 

Talking about growing in mission as a church

Clergy , lay leaders and other members of All Saints Church met this morning to talk about increasing the church's capacity to make a difference in the community and people's lives.

The meeting welcomed The Rev'd Rachel Ross Smith, who is the Bishop of Reading's Co-ordinator for a process known as Partnership for Missional Church. This is a scheme to be piloted in Berkshire which aims to equip churches to develop and grow spiritually, building capacity for mission.

Rachel outlined the key features of the scheme in practice and discussed the questions that members present had about its application to All Saints at this time.

One of the main questions addressed was whether this will complement or conflict with the Mission Action Plan the parish has put in place. It was Rachel's message that she believed that use of the PMC process will  support and increase engagement of both the congregation and the community with our Mission Action Plan objectives

The Parochial Church Council will make a final decision as to whether to join the PMC scheme in early June.

Call for church to reach out to youth

Giving the main address at today's Parish Communion service was Kat Vaughan the Parish Youth Leader. Kat spoke about the motivation of Christians to reach out and support young people today; based on the need for sacrificial love following the example of Jesus. 

Kat said: "This is a commitment we've made as a church; with our vision to be a loving church, accessible to all,including children and youth". 

Kat described some of the current activities with youth including the important work at St Crispin's School, including mentoring, and the way prayer and the Holy Spirit had opened doors. A rolling slideshow with pictures before the service illustrated the main points. (Link here to view all slides).

Kat also outlined the youth objectives in the Parish Mission Action Plan (see details below) and made a call for everyone to get involved in some way.

Youth priority in All Saints' Parish Mission Action Plan

Encourage all young people to grow in faith by making it relevant to

them.

( Leaders: Kat Vaughan and Kevin Wernham)

Current specific objectives

· Raise the profile of the youth in church- to have young people stand at

the front 3 times before Christmas 2014.

· Research styles of service with the view of starting a youth friendly service at

some point in the week – complete research using visits to other churches by

April 2015.

· To have a group available for young people that is mainly social but with a

chunk of Christian input into it, in addition to the current youth social – by

end October 2015.

· Mentoring scheme for young people – details, timeline to be discussed.

Could you be a churchyard friend?

Enjoying the sunshine and fresh air today were some of the Friends of the Churchyard at All Saints.

Rector, Canon David Hodgson, said:

"Some churches sadly experience their churchyard as a burden, but the Friends we have at All Saints make it a joy. Could you be a Friend of the Churchyard at All Saints?"

Images of the Confirmation Service

Andrew, Bishop of Reading, lit the Confirmation Cake firework,  after confirming 5 candidates from All Saints and 3 from Winnersh in an Ascension Day service at All Saints Church.

Some of the young candidates from All Saints expressed their thoughts and feeling about Confirmation through the medium of art work.

Special focus on adoption planned for service at All Saints

Mother of two and Adoption Champion Carole Arnold will be the guest speaker at a Parish Communion service at All Saints Church.

Carole writes:

"My husband and I have 2 children; one birth child, one adopted child, both of whom have Downs syndrome. Our son is 10 years old now but was 3 and a half when we adopted Libby, who was then 12 months old and is now 6. I began work for PACT as an Adoption Champion In November 2014. I am particularly keen to help more people realise that they have the ability to parent a child with additional needs. It is not about making everything rosy, but about balancing the challenges with the wonderful rewards of everyday life."

Rector, Canon David Hodgson, said;

"We are a parish which supports our local adoption charity PACT (Parents and Children Together) and we wanted an opportunity to hear more about how the church is uniquely placed to help. Carole's message and experience will be an inspiration to us".

For those who want to learn more Carole has recommended two video clips from recent TV programmes as follows;

The first one is an interview with another of PACTs Adopter Champions, Jackie

Adopting a child at 51: & 39;I wanted to do it& 39; | Hot Topics | Lorraine

 the other is from a recent broadcast of The One Show (view from 32:30 for about 10 minutes)

BBC iPlayer - The One Show - 29/04/2015 

A highly recommended paperback book is

 Home for Good: Making a Difference for Vulnerable Children: Amazon.co.uk: Krish Kandiah: 9781444745313: Books

Carole will speak at Parish Communion 9.30am on Sunday 7th June.

Huge interest in forthcoming lecture on Sexuality and Church by John Bell

There is huge interest being generated by the forthcoming visit of international Christian speaker John Bell; who will deliver a lecture on Sexuality and the Church at All Saints Church next week.

Attendance registration is strong with attendees coming from Reading, Newbury and Henley as well as Wokingham.

Rector, Canon David Hodgson, said; 
"We are looking forward very much to a stimulating lecture from John Bell on this important topic. We are expecting a full church; though there is still capacity for late bookings even at this stage; and tickets will be available on the door."

Admission is free. Attendees will be asked to make a retiring donation of £3 to defray the costs.

Online registration is still open via Eventbrite

What is CC2020?

Much interest has been aroused by this special display in the church entitled CC2020. 

But what is CC2020? 

Currently it's the working name of a research project. The CC2020 group is doing the background research for one of the objectives in All Saints Mission Action Plan -  to adapt the church building into an environment appropriate for 21st century worship and other activities, making it more versatile as a venue, with things like a good welcoming area, full accessibility, and up to date AV, lighting and heating systems. 

Rector Canon David Hodgson said: "Do have a look at the display next time you are in church; it's a very good way into understanding what this part of our Mission Action Plan is all about."

Anne King, churchwarden, co-ordinating the CC2020 project said

" Do tell us if you happen to visit a church elsewhere which has been through this process already - we'd love to find out more about what other places have done -  what has worked well and what has not worked so well. Especially ask about what uses the adaptation have made possible which were not possible before".

Packed with diversity the 2015 Wokingham Summer Music Festival

Packed with diversity, the eight-day Wokingham Summer Music Festival
brings internationally renowned musicians and local talent to the heart of our community.

Full programme details are now live on the website and tickets are available for all concerts.

2014 was a year of new faces and new ventures

2014 was a year of new faces and new ventures according to the Rector, Canon David Hodgson, in his Annual Address to the Annual Church Meeting last month.

Read the full address here which contains photos of church life in the past year.

New churchwardens for the parish

Clive Charlton - one of  two new churchwardens

New churchwardens

New churchwardens were selected at the Annual Meeting last month. Clive Charlton and Geoff Davies were nominated to act as wardens alongside Anne King who was re-elected to serve again.

All Saints Wokingham is unusual in having three churchwardens - one for each of the three historic divisions of the parish: Berkshire, Town, and Wiltshire.

The Rector, Canon David Hodgson, said:

"I'm delighted to welcome Clive and Geoff as new wardens to join Anne. This is the first time we've had our full complement of wardens in the parish since 2010. Please pray for them and give them your support." 

The three wardens will be officially admitted by the Archdeacon of Berkshire to serve for the coming year at a special service at St Paul's Church Wokingham on Tuesday 19th May.