School in church for end of year service

All Saints CE Primary School filled the church with its pupils parents staff  governors and advisors for the end of year service. The theme was goodbye and go well to Year 6 moving on to secondary schools. Year 6 pupils shared their memories of top moments in their time at the school and there were touching accolades to their Year 6 friends from younger pupils. The whole school sang the Leavers' Song to Year 6 which was a poignant moment. Prayers were led by the children and the school choir sang. Canon David Hodgson talked about the  meaning of goodbye in different languages and how often it is based on a prayer for blessing;   with pupils sharing their knowledge of the word in languages ranging from Romanian to Korean!
Each Year 6 pupil received a copy of the Good News Bible as a gift from All Saints Church.

Tea party in Rectory garden

A family friendly tea party organised by the Mothers Union proved a popular event for all ages today. Some sipped tea and chatted in the shade of the Rectory Garden trees whilst others tried their hand at giant Connect4 or lawn skittles. There were plenty of sandwiches cakes and scones to go round. Anna our new Associate Priest and her husband Andy were there meeting lots of people for the first time. And despite a forecast of a 40% chance of a thunderstorm no rainclouds appeared.

Welcome to Anna

Parishioners and visitors welcomed The Revd Anna Harwood as our new Associate Priest at a special Eucharist led by the Bishop of Reading. Anna's family members and former colleagues and congregation members were among the many visiting supporters some of whom had travelled from her home city of Liverpool. Anna's first official Sunday will be Sunday 20th July when she will preach at the 8am and 9.30am service and help lead the 11am Family Service.

New churchwarden commissioned

Our churchwarden Anne King was sworn in to her role yesterday with other local churchwardens at a special service in Finchampstead with the Archdeacon of Berkshire, The Venerable Olivia Graham, and the Registrar of the Diocese, Canon John Rees.

In her charge - a sermon for the occasion - the Archdeacon affirmed the importance of the role of churchwardens as key people in the church's task to spread the good news of the gospel and be agents of transformation serving God's kingdom. 

Anne is currently the only churchwarden in the parish; as no other persons have been yet found to take up the other vacant positions. The Parish of Wokingham All Saints should have three churchwardens.

The Rector Canon David Hodgson said, "We need to  keep Anne in our prayers and also find ways to make sure that tasks that might have been done by other churchwardens are shared out amongst a supportive team around her. We do have a huge number of dedicated people at All Saints Church working together."

Summer Music Festival publicity launched

The Wokingham Summer Music Festival based at All Saints Parish Church Wokingham is only four weeks away. A feast of music across 5 days culminating in a weekend in which All Saints Church Choir will sing  Choral Evensong and the Requiem by John Rutter on Saturday 7th June and a Choral Eucharist on Pentecost Sunday evening (8th June). 

The festival will also feature world-famous folk singer/songwriter Martin Simpson, widely acknowledged as one of the finest acoustic guitar players in the world.

NEW PRAYER MINISTRY LAUNCHED

Members of our prayer and care teams will now be available immediately after every 9.30am Sunday service if you need prayer for yourself or someone else or need a listening ear to talk something through. We are glad to be offering this regular weekly opportunity for personal prayer as we recognise that issues and concerns can surface or be triggered at any time. Please go to the Lady Chapel after the service ends and look for team members with a prayer badge. This will be offered every Sunday for a trial period until the end of July.

Easter garden ready to be revealed

The Easter garden at All Saints Church is ready to be revealed at services tomorrow on Easter Day. Here is a sneak preview of a detail only. Thanks to the group of children who let Flower Guild members work with them to produce this colourful resurrection scene.