Tag: jesus

Youth and children’s pastor

We are looking for a part-time youth and children’s pastor to join our team. Someone who is passionate about developing children’s and youth work within St Katharine’s Church, Holt, Wiltshire and the wider community, and who will build on the excellent work already developed with children and young people.

This is a key role within the life of the church, and is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and passionate youth and children’s pastor to re-start our youth group and develop outreach. The role will equally cover developing the children’s ministry within the church, working with a team of volunteers. You will be a motivated leader who can develop, lead and inspire this team of volunteers. The team is passionate about encouraging children and young people to come to faith, to grow and develop their faith and to share the good news about Jesus.

Recognising that churches have become particularly dependent on links through technology in recent months, it is expected the appointee will have a good working knowledge of on-line technology, social media and digital communications.

The deadline for applications is 26 March 2021

Interviews will be held on 10 April 2021 (although there could be flexibility around this date)

The successful candidate will encourage active participation of children, young people and families in the life and work of St Katharine’s Church and take lead responsibility for organising youth and children’s work, particularly on Sunday mornings and through weekly activities for young people.

Our young people have asked for:

  • “someone who can bring back Friday night Sky 1 as I enjoyed the fun I had there with my friends”
  • “someone interesting and easy to talk to”

The successful children and youth pastor will:

ensure that a youth programme is delivered – this is at minimum Friday nights, but may also include some provision on Sunday mornings.

seek to disciple children and young people into personal relationships with God, in both larger groups and smaller relational settings.

shape a strategy to reach young families in the area, and help them meet Jesus and connect with the church.

seek to grow the children’s and youth ministry by creating attractive and compelling environments to which they can invite their not-yet Christian friends.

Part-time post (0.5 fte – 18.5 hours per week) £22,000 pro rata per annum. Initially for two years.

Start date: As soon as possible after the interview date

An enhanced DBS is required

It is an occupational requirement that the post holder be a practising Christian.

For an application pack please contact Lucy Waterman (PA to the Rector) at the Benefice office.

Email: united.benefice@outlook.com   Phone: 01225 782717

 

 


Online Alpha course

Following our very successful online Alpha, we are ready to go again! The next course will be starting on 2nd March at 7.45pm. Read on to find out more, and then why not get in touch 🙂

What is Alpha?

Alpha is a series of sessions exploring the Christian faith, typically run over eleven weeks. Each talk looks at a different question around faith and is designed to create conversation. Alpha is run all around the globe, and everyone is welcome. This is a very safe space to come along and ask anything you want to about the Christian faith.

A chance to connect

 Each Alpha session kicks off with a chance to meet new people and connect over video chat.  To meet the course leaders, Ian and Rachel, and hear more you can watch our YouTube video below:

Want to know more?  Just use the contact form below to get in touch OR

Email: united.benefice@outlook.com  or phone 01225 782717

Look forward to seeing you 🙂


Everlasting Love

 

The Lord has spoken to you in the past saying “I have loved you with an everlasting love: I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again.                                    Jeremiah 31:3-4

 

 

The Angels look so beautiful blowing in the wind and there was a real stillness peace at the church today as I was watching them blow around in the gentle cold wind.

Available in the porch ready to hang on the tree there are hearts to hang with “You are loved “on them.

Take one of the hearts. As you hold it remember the name of someone who needs to be restored, physically, mentally, or spiritually.

Ask God to wrap them in his everlasting love. Now place your heart on the tree in the church yard .

This God called love reaches us into the deepest parts of us, definitively answering questions that continues to haunt us …..what does God really think of me? Would he still really love me if he know me? Am I good enough, strong enough, smart enough ….for his love penetrates the wall we thought was protecting us … the great sadness, the darkest part of us ….the broken pieces of our heart that have diminished us. The great “I am” is coming to take all of our ” I am nots” and redefining them in his divine embrace …

This song Pieces says it all …

PIECES

unreserved, unrestrained

your love is wild

your love is wild for me

it isn’t shy, it’s unashamed

your love is proud

to be seen with me

You don’t give your heart in pieces

you don’t hide your love to tease us

uncontrolled, uncontained

your love is a fire

burning bright for me

its not a spark

it’s not just a flame

your love is a light

That all the world to see

You don’t give your heart in pieces

you don’t hide your love to tease us

Your love is not fractured

its not a trouble mind

it isn’t anxious

it’s not the restless kind

your love not passive

it’s never disengaged

it’s always present

it hangs on every word we say .

love keeps its promises

it keeps its word

it honours what’s scared

cause it’s vows are good

Your love’s not broken

it’s not insecure our love’s not selfish your love is pure.

( song Pieces by Bethel music )

News in the village

In these times we can feel lonely and have no one to talk to.

As you walk round the village and notice empty spaces and empty benches or may be sitting alone at home isolated with no one to talk to.

We can get caught up with fear and lack of hope.

But God asks us to be courageous and know that we are not alone since he, our Lord our God is always with you.

Deuteronomy 31 v 6

Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me: for I am desolate and afflicted  Turn to me and have mercy, for I am alone and distressed .

Psalm 25 v16

Please contact us if you need some one to talk to or need support we are hear to listen please contact the office:

01225  782717


Online Nativity

We are delighted to have our own online nativity for 2020. One year ago most of us had never heard of Zoom and now we are all experts (well…ok, still learning!) This fun Zoom nativity captures the essence of this strange year and has a gospel message with some fun Zoom moments built in. Hope you enjoy it and share it around it friends and family


Outdoor Church @ St K’s

At St Katharine’s we have been making much more use of our churchyard area to have our all age services, Eco church and Covid safe children’s groups.

Our first outdoor St K’s Together was a day that poured with rain but in this case, rain didn’t stop play! Adults and children all gathered around the campfire…. physically distanced but socially connected….as we celebrated being back together again.

With marshmallows toasting and the fire pit burning, we truly felt connected across the age groups.

Inside the church, similar groups worked on craft projects (physically apart but socially linked!) Using clay and chatting about a wide range of topics, there were times of prayer, laughter and a sense of being the church family together.

Our monthly Eco Church session involved using a Kelly Kettle to provide hot drinks. What a revelation! If you’ve never seen one it’s a real mystery until you know how it works! You’ll have to come along and find out! During this session we had great fun moving leaf mulch from the churchyard to the Coach House to plant daffodils in pots. Meanwhile, another group worked hard to rake the grass in the wildflower areas of the churchyard. Yellow rattle seeds were planted ready for wildflower planting in the Spring.

We are seeking to hear the Holy Spirit in these times and bring scriptural truths naturally into our conversations.  The planting of daffodil bulbs led easily to chatting about how prayers can seem to be unanswered but often God is working in unseen ways.

Looking at the amazing fungus on the decaying tree stumps covered how God has the most efficient recycling system, and His desire for us to care for Creation.

Perhaps most importantly of all, this new way of being church – having fun and even getting soaked – spoke to us all of connection and relationship. Connection with our heavenly Father who loves and delights in us. Relationship with each other, working together, being together, sharing together.  This new way of doing church has revealed again something important….WE… the people…are the church.

 


Let the work begin…

It is good to be back in church for services, though with social distancing and work having started on the interior of the church, the space that is left to us is severely limited. Our congregation has held up surprisingly well and whilst we have to say, rather than sing, the hymns, we did have music at the beginning and end of the service.

The works so far is largely in the north-west corner of the church, where the font will be. This will mean that people will be able to see the font from the pews, rather than having to turn round and crowd at the back of the church. It also means that we have two Victorian pine pews seeking a welcoming home!

 

 

 


Coach House Garden update

As autumn approaches we see signs of the changing season, colour coming in the acer leaves and cooler mornings with quite heavy dew on some occasions.  Some of you will have in your own gardens, the stately spires of Acanthus Spinosus or to give it its common name bear’s breeches. It has been noted that bumble bees get trapped once they have entered the flowers and cannot retreat leading to their demise, with this in mind we cut down the flowering spikes a while ago and this autumn plan to eradicate the plants from where they have been spreading at an alarming rate. The phrase ‘garden thug’ comes to mind. We must protect our bees at all costs.

 

Meanwhile general tidying carries on along with bird feeding. There were some beautiful orange berries on the honeysuckle near the front door recently and I had planned to take a photo on our next visit, however they had all been gobbled up by the blackbirds!

There is a walnut tree surplus to requirements kindly planted in the wrong place by a squirrel, would anyone like to have it later in the season? We continue to enjoy the privilege of this peaceful outdoor space for which we give thanks. Happy gardening…best regards from Lynnette and Arthur


Discipleship 101

For some time the Benefice of Broughton Gifford, Great Chalfield and Holt has been looking at how to provide excellent resources that help everyone continue their journey of faith development. Alongside this the Rector, Canon Andrew Evans, had a clear vision to help everyone share their faith in simple ways, understand how to listen to God and know how much they are loved by their heavenly Father. The lockdown time propelled the Benefice into producing online services and, most recently, the Discipleship Series (also known as Discipleship 101). It was also the catalyst for putting together a new website that reflects the unity of three villages and the diversity of their congregations.  The rather long Benefice name was crystallised into a website name that encompassed all villages and was easy to remember; namely Faith in our Village. Now the website, Facebook page, Instagram feed and YouTube channel all link with the same name and logo across them all. It was interesting to see that the day of the name change immediately resulted in more Facebook page likes and YouTube subscribers as people connected with the friendly and unified nature of the new name.

The Discipleship Series is continuing to be produced alongside a gentle return to in-church services and there is now a growing bank of easily accessible resources on the YouTube channel. Each week’s playlist includes:

Talks explaining the topic

My Stories from members of the three churches where real testimonies of God’s goodness are shared

Worship songs recorded by the music group

Prayers relevant to the topic.

The playlist approach has been chosen so that different elements of each session could be used in home groups, in church services, as a follow up group for those who have completed Alpha and even as a reflective tool for prayer meetings. The possibilities for using these Discipleship sessions are endless.

As well as developing a wonderful resource which will be available freely to anyone who wishes to make use of it, the process has brought out from members of the congregations some previously hidden skills! From those who have provided video editing, those who have been laying down music tracks, those bravely going in front of the camera and those who have courageously shared their stories, we have seen all ages pull together to produce a superb set of resources.

To access the Discipleship series and other services, follow this link and do take a look through the playlists and different sessions. Let us know if you use the Discipleship series and how helpful you find it.  For more information contact united.benefice@outlook.com