Easter Sunday

Hi all, a quick reminder that we meet this coming Easter Sunday at the Herbert Shiner School for a family friendly celebration of Easter rather than the scheduled Kids Church/Cafe Church.

Could as many people as possible bring some Hot Cross Buns!

We'll have sung worship with an emphasis on celebration and thanks, refreshments and drama from the kids. We will also share bread and wine together to mark this most important of celebrations.

See you there!

Life Support...

This morning we were very pleased to welcome Nathaniel Edwards from Storrington Community Church. He shared the amazing story of his journey into work with  AIDS orphans and prostitutes and the birth of the charity Life Support, working in Zambia and Congo. If you would like to read more about his work then you can click here to visit the Life Support website

You can also view Life Support videos on their You Tube Channel

It is also that time again when we need to all be signing up to help make our Sunday meetings happen. Lots of you signed up to various slots on the programme this morning but there are a few spaces left. Click here to view the programme and type straight into the square.

During the spring term we have been hearing from various different visitors about the ways in which they have been called to meet a need, bring restoration and kingdom justice. Over the next few months we will exploring that concept of justice further.

On the second Sunday of the month, during our kids church/cafe church mornings, we need people to bring a few, brief and informal words or stories with questions, prayer pointers or discussions starters. On the fourth Sunday we need a more traditional 'talk'. Clear as mud? Good.

Coming soon...

Hello all!

We meet this Sunday at the Herbert Shiner Centre. We have our friends Nathaniel from Storrington coming to share and our church meeting 'Slurp & Share' afterwards. We will have dates for the next few months where we will be focussing on justice, what it means and what it looks like now and in the Bible. Please bring your diary and if you can, sign up for helping with kids, speaking or overseeing.

We also plan to be creative with our times together on our cafe church mornings so if you would like to share some thoughts informally on one of those morning then again bring your diary and sign up on Sunday.

Sport in the Slums

Right now, Esther and an old friend of ours Ben Wilkes, who both work for charity Children On The Edge are in Haiti helping to set up administration for an amazing project.

Esther recently reported "Today we took over 20 children from the slums to a place closely resembling paradise. They have never been out of Port au Prince before and will remember this day for the rest of their lives, as will I. I am completely blown away by this project." 

Of the same day Ben said "We have touched the richest of the rich and perhaps the poorest of the poor and today we brought them together when we took 20 children out of the city for a day trip to the most amazing place with a pool overlooking mountains. The best for those who until today had the least. I'm being challenged and inspired on every level. Patrice is an incredible man. It's an honour to work with him."

Both Eshter and Ben have left family at home so remember them also in your prayers and pray for a safe return on Wednesday.

Click here for more on the project

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

If you were with us on Sunday you will have heard that Esther has jetted off to Haiti to carry out important support work with charity Children On The Edge.

Please remember the whole family in your prayers.

This conversation with Joseph suggests that he wasn't too keen on her going!

Joseph: Why do you have to go to Haiti ? Are they DEFINITELY poor?
Me: Definitely
Joseph: So have you got food in your bag or are you going to let them die?
Me: Umm I have a football kit in my bag, the man we're staying with gives out lots of food.
Joseph (after long pause): Mum it would be well funny if you took loads of food in your bag and they said 'only joking, we're not poor'.
Me: Yes Joseph, that would be hilarious.

Nice to see you, to see you...

It was good to see everyone yesterday and great to hear from our guest James and see some old friends.  We next meet on Sunday 11th March for our Kids Church/Cafe church style gathering.

We also have a busy day on March 25th when we meet as usual at 10:30 but also spend some time going over church business towards the end of the morning. That same day there is also the Sunday Live worship event in Tillington at 4pm.

As mentioned yesterday some of us are getting together to chew over a book that by chance many of us seem to have read or be reading. The book is Love Wins by Rob Bell and the date is 29th March 7.30pm at the Welchs'.  If you would like to borrow a copy of this book to read, there are a few around the church, so ask around.  There are also some helpful articles on Christianity Today, which you can find by clicking on Rob Bell's name above.

Finally an update to a previous blog post... On Friday 20th April Sandy Millar will be giving a lecture at St Mary's in Petworth (for details click here). Sandy is also speaking at All Hallows in Tillington on Sunday 22nd of April. We will not be meeting at the Herbert Shiner School that morning but will join our friends at All Hallows. Time to be confirmed.

See you all soon.

Stop Press!

I know it feels like we've not long got Christmas out of the way but Easter is not far off! During the Easter Holidays the Petworth Area Churches Together are running a Kids Club morning. You can click on the poster above to view the details in full. If you feel like getting involved on the day then speak to Annie.

Bishop Sandy Millar comes to Petworth!

You will be pleased to hear that Sandy Millar ( now a Bishop) has accepted PACT's (Petworth Area Churches Together) invitation to speak at our Spring Lecture on Friday 20th April ( 2nd Friday after Easter). The Lecture will be held at St. Mary's , Petworth at 7.30pm.

Sandy Millar can be considered to be one of the most influential men in the Anglican Church in the last 30 years. He qualified as a   barrister before being ordained and going on to be Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in Knightsbridge, London.

During his time there, with the Holy Spirit and Nicky Gumbel's help, the Alpha Course  went international  and is now in over 160 countries.  The Marriage Course was also started then. Because of the pressure of space on HTB, eighteen congregations were "planted " in churches  all around the capital, as well as  St. Peter's in Brighton which now has a flourishing congregation .

SANDY IS A REMARKABLE MAN, HIGHLY INFLUENTIAL IN CHRISTIAN CIRCLES, VERY PERSONABLE ,  HUMOROUS AND A TRULY GODLY MAN.

After the Vicar of Baghdad , Canon Andrew White in October,  PACT now has yet another outstanding speaker in Bishop Sandy.