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Church notice sheet - 20 June 2010
Readings
9:00am - Numbers 21:1-9 and John 12:23-33
11:00am - Numbers 21:1-9 and John 12:23-33
Pray for Paraguay
Please pray for every believer in Paraguay that they will be servants of Christ on whom He can depend. Grant that serving You will become a more urgent priority in our lives.
Swindon Food Bank - July
3rd July, Store Collection ASDA West Swindon - please sign up today
16th July, Fun Quiz at Swindon Family Church, 7.30pm. £2.50 per head 18-25th July, Sponsored Bike Ride from Ilfracombe to Plymouth in aid of Swindon Food Bank. Janet Gash & Bob Hayward are representing St John's.
Do You Know a Man (or woman) with a Van? To transport the bikes and equipment to & from Devon. Please contact Russell Riggs for more details of these items.
Two upcoming weddings
Tim Mortimer will be marrying Carly on Saturday June 26. Please pray that their wedding day will be full of joy, and that their life together will be a very happy one. Pray also for Rod and Sharon, who have two weddings in two months. Mark, their eldest son, will be marrying Stephanie in August in Holy Trinity Brompton, no less. Perhaps Matthew will decide to marry before the end of the year and make it a hat-trick!
Prayer walking
Prayer is not something that needs to be confined to a church building - or even a home. Walking and praying are two activities that go very well together. It's a great way to keep spiritually and physically fit at the same time.
We want to do some prayer walking in pairs around the area on the evening of Tuesday, June 22. This is an opportunity for home groups to come together, so we are asking homegroups not to meet during that week so that you don't set up a conflict for your members. And of course, the prayer walking evening is open to everyone, even if you're not a member of a homegroup.
We will explain more about how it works on the day. However, let me stress, the aim is to pray, and not to draw attention to ourselves. The only people who should hear your prayer is the person you're walking with, and the Lord.
Children in St John's
Outcome of our Children's Leaders Meeting
Raymond writes: I am delighted to say that we have one of the strongest teams of children's leaders during my time here. And we have had some outstanding leaders over that period. Nothing in children's work stays the same two years in a row.
Unlike schools, we don't have a regular number of children in each year group. There are often bulges, in the sense that we have many children in one age range and few in another. It is a constant challenge for teachers who have to gear their classes to the children in their care.
As a result we sometimes have different groupings and different class sizes each year. And teachers are required to move around. This year is no exception, and we will be informing parents of the arrangements for September over the next couple of weeks.
Unattended children
We have been discussing this issue since Jam in Deep Water. Needless to say, we are delighted to accept children who come without their parents, or whose parents choose to drop them off. However, issues of safety need to be taken into account. Lizzie Tunley, our children's administrator and Janice, our church administrator, will be working on a leaflet giving full details of our children's work. This is something we will be able to give to all new parents, whether they stay in church with their children or not. And of course, it can be updated every year.
Is St John's a Child Friendly Church?
Launched by the diocese of Bristol in 2009, the Child Friendly Church award is designed to encourage parishes to welcome and integrate children and their families into the worshipping life of their church. Karen Madni, encountered this scheme as part of the Growing Leaders course in discussions with her mentor, who worships at All Saints, Lydiard Millicent.
Charlotte Hopkins, a volunteer children's leader at All Saints explains why she applied for the award: "We wanted to help children and their families feel comfortable at All Saints and know that they are valued members of the congregation. Applying for this award has given us ideas on where we can improve and just as importantly it has helped us to highlight and celebrate what we already do. Getting our certificate has been a great morale boost but we wont be satisfied until we have the gold award, with the full 5 stars!"
The Child Friendly Church Award Scheme is a voluntary scheme, with a light touch and limited hassle. There are three levels: bronze, silver and gold. Even the highest accolade is achievable for any church. Though, as you can see above, it has to be worked for, both by children's leaders and the congregation as a whole. Enthusiastic children's leaders on their own are not enough. To gain the award we need the wholehearted support of an encouraging congregation, prepared to accommodate children in our midst. I think we have got that.
PCC will have an opportunity to discuss this issue at our next meeting.
Salt Mine Theatre Company
From Eden to Eternity. Friday, June 25, 2010 7:30pm at Freshbrook Evangelical Church.
Many of you will have seen the Saltmine Theatre Company at Spring Harvest. They are outstanding performers Jeff Lucas describes this production as "professional, polished, thought-provoking and entertaining." It is the story of the Bible in an hour (or so!). It sounds like it could tie in very well with our present sermon series. Tickets are £7. To book call 01384 454808 or book on line at www.eden2eternity.org. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Footsteps
Rodbourne Cheney Baptist Church 9.30am Coffee. 10.00am-Start. Finish by 12noon We welcome all ladies to the Footsteps meeting on 26th June, Our speaker will be Margaret Allen. She and her husband Geoffrey were missionaries in the Congo (later known as Zaire), after they returned home she initiated the first Lydia Prayer Fellowship Conference in Kent. After the meeting we have a Bring & Share lunch, any food you can bring would be welcome, but this isn't a hard and fast rule - we usually have plenty to put on the table! Fruit juices will be provided.
Parish Office
The Parish Office is open on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9am to 1pm. Please provide all items for the bulletin in writing first thing on Wednesday please!
Do you buy on line?
If so, please consider buying through http://www.buy.at/StjohnsHW. The church receives commission from 2% to 12% on anything you purchase.
There are over 100 retailers involved (including M&S, Amazon, John Lewis, Comet) some of which offer exclusive discounts and promotions - and best of all ... there is no extra cost to the purchaser!
Tape Ministry
If you or someone you know would like a recording of the service, please contact Nigel Crowhurst, our Tape Co-ordinator. We have also started to podcast some of our sermons.
What's on | Church notice sheets
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