More Food for Thought!

Attack of the giant muffins!

No seriously though, muffins and coffee, off to a good start!

The age old equation,
children happy = everyone happy

Man, those sounds are JUMPIN!

More tea vicar!Well, Deacon actually, I’ve just always wanted to say that.

Village Hall, 27th May
4pm, See you there?
You’ll be most
welcome!

More Food for Thought………….

I wish you could be with us at one of our appraisal meetings, getting together after a Food For Thought service, to see what worked, what didn’t, what needs changed etc……..

How can we get baguettes fresh enough on Sunday afternoon? how can we prevent children falling over power leads? Who will source sixty good sized pebbles for the prayer session? ( anyone whose been to March’s meeting will understand this?), how big should the words be on the screen?

On second thoughts perhaps you wouldn’t like to be there, they do go on a bit! But feedback is good ( Food for Thought – feedback, get the connection, good eh!) and we need as much of it as we can get. So far, what we have got is positive, and we hope it will continue that way.

But meetings aren’t just about ironing out the small issues, finding solutions to the practical questions, they’re about the hard questions too. How do we talk about God in a way which is relevant, how do we talk about prayer in a way that will feel comfortable to those who find it difficult ground, how do we care for those who come, …really care for them, how do we make this a place for people in Winterslow, a welcoming, fun and unthreatening place to meet together and talk about spiritual things.

Time will tell, but we’re learning all the time. Someone asked me to mention where children come in. Children are welcome, and we really mean, welcome. This is one place where you don’t need to worry, you don’t need to worry about noise, moving around, finding something to entertain them. One of the primary reasons for setting Food for Thought up was to provide a meeting where families who don’t maybe go to church could feel comfortable and experience God together, on everyone’s level. So bring the children, please, they’re every bit as much a part of what we’re doing as you are.

It just remains to say a big thankyou to the Methodist Church for their reference to our meeting in the last magazine and to reiterate how much we pray Gods blessing on their new venture, Souper Church as well. We now know that having one type of service is no longer enough to connect to everyone’s experience of God, we need choice, ….choice of styles, times, venues etc and more choice is something to celebrate.

By the end of January this year, 600 churches had registered their involvement in providing a fresh expression of what church is, groups in housing estates, mums from toddler groups, Saturday night discussion churches, coffee and Sunday papers breakfast churches. Why not come and see if our fresh expression of church is right for you and your family.

……….More Food For Thought

Well, with a couple of Food for Thought services under our belt we can now safely say, perhaps it wasn’t such a crazy idea after all. Yes, people do indeed want to think about God, they do enjoy church in a fresh way; they do like doughnuts (we’re certain of that!) So where do we go from here. Keep doing what we’re doing I guess. Six services down the line, we’ll sit back and think… think, is it something our community wants, is it something we need? Time will tell, but so far your response has been, yes, we think it might be.

So who has come so far? People who go to church, people who don’t go to church, people who are curious, people who saw the leaflet through the door and thought, maybe… just maybe, this might have something for me. People whose friends go, people who come alone, people with children (lots of children!). People like us. Just ordinary people, enjoying some time, some food, some music and some thoughts together. We welcome suggestions, things we’ve left out or could do differently ...........but so far, you seem to like it.

“Nice relaxed atmosphere”

“Not one of my children was bored, even my 13 year old son”

“Music was nice and modern”

And it goes without saying, people liked the food!

Well, onto Food for Thought number three. Will the hall be packed out again,? Perhaps, perhaps not. But you know, numbers are not really important to us. What is important is that we’re offering choice. All Saints church is brilliant, it’s full, it’s vibrant. Along with all of our village churches it has supported our community for centuries….but it’s not for all. We at all Saints know that. We know that to offer a place for others to meet God we’ve got to get out of that building and do something new. Something in a fresh way, in a place where you feel comfortable, where you feel at home. It would be so great…..if you could come.



Susan

More food for thought….

By the time you read this (articles are always written a month in advance), we will be meeting to review how our first Food for Thought gathering has been received. All the months of careful thought, planning and expectation managed to culminate in a flurry of last minute panic and “Why did we ever get into this” thoughts. Why did we ever get into this? Good question! We’re a funny mix of people, I’m sure no-one would argue with you there, solicitors, housewives, artists, chemists, teachers, a mixture of ages, backgrounds and interests, so why are we meeting in the village hall on a Sunday, why at four o’clock, why aren’t we dozing under the Sunday papers after a morning of hymn singing in the beautiful, historic surroundings of all Saints church?

Actually - the answers quite simple. We know not everyone in this village, -the friends we know and love, the faces we greet – not everyone can feel comfortable in that beautiful old stone building on the hill. For some, childhood memories have removed any chance of contact with the traditional church again. For others fears of not matching up, not fitting in or simply, not identifying with the language of traditional church life has meant that, when life raises questions, the traditional church, sadly, is not always the place they turn for answers.

The Anglican church recognises this and at the turn of the millennium, began to explore new ways, new “fresher” expressions of being church. This has resulted in groups of people, all over the UK meeting in schools, toddler groups, supermarkets and homes to explore together, a faith in God. And so, our group came together. All different people, but all committed members of All Saints in Winterslow. For us the traditional church has great warmth and meaning, but we know that not all people can see it that way. And so we decided to set up Food for Thought. New, but familiar premises, a new time, to suit more people and hopefully, a new approach. We won’t have any structured service to get lost in, no dress code to uphold, plenty of stuff to keep the children happy and engaged, and no pressure. A place for you to explore and enjoy God, at your own pace, in your own way.

Oh, and the Food thing. - doughnuts and coffee, sharing meals together, BBQs in the summer… sound good? Why not come this month and see what we mean, if there’s something you think we could do differently, let us know, we’re learning as we go

Susan