Why do we do what we do?
We believe in Church. We believe that, contrary to popular belief, the church is amazing
We believe that when the church looks like Jesus, when it sounds like him, when it feels like him, when it gives off his aroma everything changes. Communities are transformed, people’s lives are restored from the inside out. When the church is alive, people come alive. When the church is alive, communities come alive. If you want to change the world, the best way of doing that, we believe, is to be a part of church. In church people discover love and forgiveness and healing. They discover rhythm, purpose and passion. …

Coinciding with the New Year is a new book which we will be reading together as a church up to Easter. Written by Richard it’s about Discipleship. The main thing is to make the main thing the main thing. This may be hard, but it is not beyond us. The kingdom of God is available to every one of us. It is within reach. It is at hand. It is near. Practical and accessible, this book sets out a framework which will enable you to success in your desire to follow through on your commitment to being a disciple. Seven short chapters outline a rule of life that is easy to remember and possible to achieve. Jesus offered us life. Seven …

Christmas service times over the next couple of days
Midnight Communion – 11pm
Christmas Day – Family Communion – 10.15am
New Year’s day – Rec House – 10.15am

Christmas means different things to each of us.  For us as Christians we enjoy the whole season of celebration and festivity with an added pleasure.  For in this season we look forward, not just back, to the day when the Prince of Peace will come and bring with him the reign of God over all creation.
Jesus’ name given to him at his birth was Immanuel – God with us – and it is this hope that gives us such hope and joy.
If you want to come along to services this Christmas you can be sure of a fantastic welcome.  Look out for our services times.
Peace be with you.

It was a fab weekend! Just getting together, sitting down in the sunshine, going for a gentle stroll, enjoying a cup of coffee, eating great food, were all fantastic, but it was the quality of the the teaching and the sense of what God was saying to us through each other that will really last. During the morning David and Myrtle Lawrence presented us again with the invitation and challenge of Jesus to join in his revolution of love. Once again we were moved and excited to see ourselves as change-makers, system-breakers, culture-shapers. We were encouraged once again to see how this revolution was always intended to extend to the edges of human life. God was …

A few years ago it seemed clear that god was reminding us once again about the centrality and importance of prayer in our lives. We talked together about how Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and went looking for the life of prayer displayed by the people of God at the time and how angered and disappointed he was with what he found. We also talked about the invitation god was offering us to participate in his mission to our loved world by joining him in prayer. This led us to latch upon the phrase ‘house of prayer’ and we were encouraged to both make our own homes ‘houses of prayer’ right across the community, and also …

At the same time that God is looking for a ‘house of prayer’ in which to dwell we find ourselves thirsty for the reality of his powerful and peaceful presence in our lives. Stepping out of the rush and noise of our lives we are launching a new service called DWELL. Our heart is to create a space and time which will enable us to dwell in God’s presence without distraction, to sense his nearness and to draw close to him. Using music, silence, images and prayer we are committed to finding God and finding ourselves in him.
So come. Come if you are thirsty and hungry for more of God in your life. …

Our boiler is finally getting fixed and the sun is coming out and so we are all heading back to the main church building for our Sunday services. It’s been a great experience worshipping together in the school and we will continue to enjoy our first Sunday of the month services there. So this Sunday we are walking down the road from the school to the church to celebrate Palm Sunday and it will be good. Entering the ‘gates’ of the church and making sure that the place is filled with prayer for all peoples we will connect again with the story of Jesus’ last week.
It’s been a late Easter and we are ready to celebrate all …

It’s been an interesting month! On the first Sunday in February we launched a new service at our local junior school (St Michael’s) and it went down a bomb. Then the boiler at the main church building broke down for the umpteenth time this winter and was finally given the last rites. So it looks like St Michael’s Church has a new temporary home at St Michael’s School… at least for the time being. Many thanks to Dave Goucher and the rest of the School staff who always make us so welcome. We really appreciate it!
What’s interesting is how just moving building subtly changes other things – changes the way we relate, the way we …

It was a bolt out of the blue. One word. “Everyone” Nothing more, nothing less.
And I knew it was a God thing.
I am excited about our new series on Sundays called “EVERYONE”. I believe that God wants us to know something simple, but deep – that this thing is for EVERYONE, that he is for EVERYONE, that this gospel is for EVERYONE, that God’s love and blessing and presence is for EVERYONE. It sounds simple and sounds as if we already know it. Which we do. It’s just that we don’t always really know it – or live as though we know it. Somehow we have categories of who is in and …