Looking ahead (including CHRISTMAS!) and WWCYP update
Dear friends,
Hope you are well. It's been a busy but good start to the term for me. I've got a few things to share for the months ahead and some news from the youth project :)
November
I'll be on annual leave for the first week so won't be around on Sunday 7th, then on Sunday 14th I'm preaching in Bracknell, so you get a break from me! Please pray that Anna and I have a good rest and for Dan and the teams leading those meetings.
I'll be sorry to miss the 14th as we've invited Faye and Ian from Youth for Christ to speak that Sunday. I've attached the autumn update from WWCYP, open it to find out what the acronym stands for and for prayer points.
WWCYP Autumn 2021 Newsletter.pdf
December
We're optimistically planning our Christmas events, they are obviously subject to change, but this is the plan at the moment:
5th and 12th will be fairly normal morning meetings, but with decorations, a Christmas message and a carol or two!
Sunday 19th is where we get adventurous...
4-4:30pm - Family Carols - a short carol service suitable for families and children with festive refreshments. There will be free tickets so that we can limit numbers and maintain social distancing. People can turn up on the day but we can't guarantee they will get in.
4:30-6:30pm - Christmas Fun (might think of a better name, suggestions welcome)
In the car park we'll have a Hog Roast (free for 50 of the guests we invite) maybe a fire pit to toast marshmallows (let me know if you have one!) and some music playing.
In the main hall we'll have festive refreshments, carols on the screen, plus things happening in the small hall (Gingerbread person decorating competition maybe?!) and some other stuff yet to be planned. (You can suggest an idea but our response might be 'great, you can sort that!')
6:30-7:15pm - Carols - very similar to the family one but with a few extra carols, again this will have free tickets so we can keep an eye on numbers.
The idea is that you can invite people for carols and a hog roast (vegan and veggie options available), or a hog roast and then some carols. We'll have 50 hog roast tickets for you to give to guests so they can eat free and you can pay for your own on the day if you want to get involved.
We'll keep you updated on details or plans changing but please GET PRAYING. We want to share the good news about Jesus with as many people as possible. Free food might be what persuades them. Who could you invite? We've got space for everyone to invite 2 or 3 people.
We'll also need lots of volunteers to make this work! Anna and Dan will be contacting you soon but you can also let me know if you're up for helping.
Looking forward to catching up with those that can make it this Sunday. Let's keep on carving out time and space for Jesus in our lives, for prayer and reading the Bible, for getting together with others (on Sundays, in small groups, for coffee and dinner).
As we do this, we will be filled with faith again. Our vision is God sized, the transformation of communities in the name of Jesus. It goes beyond the West Wight, beyond the island, so let's think big!
Blessings, Ben