Rapturous reception for Dame Emma as Summer Music Festival opens

Dame Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg receive the rapturous applause of the audience after their stunning virtuoso performance of early music at the opening night of Wokingham Summer Music Festival in All Saints Church Wokingham.

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Pentecost service with a Christian Aid focus

This year's Pentecost Sunday All Together Communion Service had a Christian Aid Week focus as the two dates coincided. There was drama from Stage-Fright about life from a refugee perspective; there was a guest speaker Jessica Hall, our regional Christian Aid rep, who spoke and sang a song. A special prayer activity included lighting the candles on the church's birthday cake. 

The film above was shown at the start of the service. Technical problems prevented the second film for children "Wonderful Worms" from being shown. This can be seen here 

Cakes from churches to welcome new residents

These freshly baked cakes were among those given as a welcome gift from Churches Together in Wokingham to residents of the new housing developments in Wokingham. Members of All Saints both baked cakes and took them on the doorsteps.
If you would like to get involved in future "cake-bombings" please contact Revd Anna Harwood.

Celebrating Pentecost with Christian Aid

Pentecost Sunday this year falls at the start of Christian Aid Week. So All Saints Church will be combining both celebrations at two of its service on Sunday 15th May.

9.30am All Together Communion service will include:

- drama from Stage-Fright youth drama group

- films on the theme for Christian Aid Week

- guest speaker Jessica Hall, regional Christian Aid 
representative who is rumoured to be planning to sing in her talk


At 6pm All Saints hosts the Wokingham United Service of Churches Together in Wokingham for Christian Aid Week. The service will include:

- guest speaker Jo Cawdell from Christian Aid

- film on the theme for Christian Aid Week

- commissioning of Wokingham's 2016 Christian Aid Week collectors.

BBC Young Folk Award winners 2015 Talisk come to All Saints Church

On Friday 6th May, BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award Winners Talisk will be raising the roof at All Saints Church.  Music starts at 7.30pm.

Tickets are going fast!  You can get them from The Cornerstone, online from https://allsaintswokingham.yapsody.com/event/index/15901/talisk or on the door (subject to availability of course).

Annual Church Meeting update

Parishioners came together last Sunday morning for the All Saints Church Annual Meeting . The meeting was opened in prayer by the Rector using a prayer from the Partnership for Missional Church process. The meeting elected church wardens and church councillors; received the 2015 Annual Report and 2015 Annual Accounts from the Parochial Church Council;  heard from the Rector and Associate Rector about the life and mission of the parish;  and discussed issues and matters of concern.

Anne King was thanked on the completion of her current term as church warden. Steve Smith was thanked as he stepped down from 14 years in total as church Treasurer. A new Treasurer will be appointed by the Parochial Church Council next month. Clive Charlton was elected as church warden by the people and Geoff Davies appointed as church warden by the Rector. A third church warden was not appointed in the absence of any nominations.

Graham Leeson was elected as a new member of Deanery Synod. There were no new additions to the Parochial Church Council though some existing members were elected to serve a second term. There are currently 4 vacancies on the Parochial Church Council.

Four existing representatives of local residents and centre users of the Cornerstone were re- elected to serve on the Cornerstone Steering Group.

Revd Anna Harwood, Associate Rector, gave a presentation with photographs of stories of the journey of faith of members of the new growing Family Service and Messy Church congregations under the theme of living water of Jesus. 

Revd Canon David Hodgson, Rector of the parish, gave an overview of the life and mission of the Church under the theme of the church as being on a journey of pilgrimage. Rector's report and other Reports may be read here

There were discussions about the excess of expenditure over income in 2015; about the financial aspects of the concert programme and other music; and about improving communication of strategies and decisions across the whole church membership.

All Saints Church set to take part in Archbishops' Call to Prayer for the nation

The congregation of All Saints Church is being asked to respond and take part in a national Call to Prayer for England which has been launched by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.

Every Church of England parish is being invited to join the Archbishops in a week of prayer for the evangelisation of the nation. The Archbishops are wanting to see a great wave of prayer across England in the week leading up to Pentecost (8th - 15th May).

Listen here to All Saints Church's Rector, Canon David Hodgson, talking about how All Saints Church could take part.

There is more information about the Call to Prayer on its website