Messiah concert

Musical highlights by All Saints Church Choir to celebrate Advent and Christmas  this year will include a special concert performance of Handel's Messiah on Sunday 7th December (4pm);  as well as the two  popular choral carol services on Advent Sunday and Christmas Eve.  

Messiah will be conducted by our Director of Music Richard Smith with the Gandolpho Players, the robed choir and trebles of All Saints Church and guest soloists David Poe, Jon Grave, and Miles Horner. Details and tickets for Messiah available here

Christmas programme details now available

Full details of Christmas at All Saints, including Advent, are now available on our Christmas website and in fliers to be distributed to every home in the parish. 
Highlights for families with young children include the Christingle Service on 14th December (4pm) and the Crib Services on Christmas Eve (2pm and 3.30pm). 

All-Age Communion on Christmas Day (9.30am) will also be ideal for families with children wanting to celebrate the timeless joy of Christmas.

Baroque music at All Saints Church

In the final concert of the Autumn programme of Baroque Music on the 26th November the audience will be treated  to 16th and 17th century songs of love. loss. loyalty, lust and devotion performed by players from Loki Music, the Kingston based early music specialists. The concert entitled Devotion, Delight and Deception in the Golden Age will feature songs both devotional and profane which emerged against the backdrop of tensions between England and Spain and the struggle between Protestants and Roman Catholics for the soul of England. Details and tickets for Devotion, Delight and Deception in the Golden Age available here

Making the most of Advent

There's a new resource out now for families with children who want to make the most of Advent as a preparation for Christmas . A new booklet from the Church of England "Love Life Live Advent" provides a simple prayer activity for children and families to do together, every day of December until Christmas Day. Brightly illustrated throughout, and written by one of today's most popular writers, Paula Gooder, with her husband, Peter Babington, a parish priest, it is designed to heighten children's anticipation of Christmas and to enrich everyone's understanding of the season of waiting and preparation. Free copies are available from All Saints Church for every family requesting. Please obtain one from the Parish Office or at a service in church from 10th November.

A fresh vision and new plan of action for All Saints Church

Months of consulting ,discussion and prayer about All Saints Church's future priorities and plans will reach a major milestone at an Open Meeting for all parishioners to take place this Saturday 8th November. Hundred of comments and discussion points have been distilled into a fresh vision and plan giving substance to  the desire of the church to serve the community and share the love of God in action. Parishioners are invited to come along to the Open Meeting - give their responses to the new plans and share their insight into what what needs to happen in order for these plans to be realised going forward. Details and timing are here - all welcome to turn up on the morning - signing in will help with catering for the breakfast.

First World War focus at Remembrance Sunday this year

Remembrance Sunday services at All Saints this year will carry the additional dimension of remembering the great tragedy of the First World War in this centenary year. As well as wreath-laying and the two-minute silence silence in the Parish Communion service at 9.30am there will be an Act of Remembrance at the 1WW memorial in the churchyard at 11am timed to coincide with the national Act of Remembrance. Civic representatives, church leaders, veterans, currently serving armed services members and youth organisations will gather at All Saints for the annual Civic and Ecumenical Remembrance Service on Sunday afternoon.This year it will recall in particular the fallen of the First World War. All the names of the 230 young men of Wokingham who fell in the First World War will be read aloud; and in addition prayers will be said for the young men of our European twin towns of Viry- Chatillon and Erftstadt who died in the conflict. Details of service times here

All together for All Saints Sunday

It was a genuinely all together occasion on Sunday morning at a special all age service to celebrate All Saints Sunday. As the service opened a rolling slideshow displayed the faces of parishioners past and present young and old. Pupils of All Saints CE Church School joined with members of the All Saints Junior Church and Choir Trebles to sing "I am the Earth". Hymns and songs were led both by All Saints Church Choir members and the "Ace of Saints" - the up and coming worship band at All Saints Church. Several parts of the service were led by members of the youth church. The Rector Canon David Hodgson gave a short talk based on the theme "Feasting with friends; living like saints" using the biblical image of God's heavenly banquet to which all are invited. Rector David said "We wanted to celebrate not only the saints of old but also the saints we know - all who have decided to follow Jesus - and showing photos of people connected to the church past and present was a great way to do that".