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Our Vision: "We are a people being transformed by the unconditional love of God; seeking to bless our community, and longing for all to experience the hope we have in Jesus." |
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Saturday 27th September
9am Men's Breakfast
Sunday 28th September
The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
9am - Morning Worship 5 Marks of Mission – Transform (Micah 6:8 & Mark 7:1-8) – Sue Marshall
10.05am - Prayer Meeting – in Room 4 for approx. 20 minutes
10.30am - Holy Communion – As above
7pm - Communion@Seven – Spirit, Soul & Body: What does it mean to honour God with our bodies? (Rom 12:1-2) – David Thomas
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Services in the coming week
Wednesday 1st October
10am - Holy Communion – followed by refreshments
Sunday 5th October
9am - Holy Communion – Harvest – Martin Harris
10.05am - Prayer Meeting – in Room 4 for approx. 20 minutes
10.30am - All Age Worship – As above - Ruth Hulme
7pm - Sundays@Seven – Mission Month: Calling / Mission Direct and Impact |
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Church Family News
Rosemary Phillips: sadly, following a short illness Rosemary died on Tuesday 16 th September. Please hold her family and friends in your prayers at this difficult time.
Prayer Diary: The Prayer diary for October is now available from church.
Baptism & Confirmation: We are planning on having Baptisms on 19 th October at our 10.30am service, 26 th October at our 7pm service (by full immersion), and Confirmation on Sunday 16 th November at 7pm with Bishop Richard. If anyone is interested, please speak to David Thomas or Ben Williams.
Harvest Sunday 2025: This year we will be celebrating Harvest on 5 th October, and we are supporting the Bishops’ Harvest Appeal: Rewrite Their Future. This is being run in partnership with Mission Direct, which is led by Wil Horwood who worships with us at Christ Church. They are working towards increasing access to education for some of the world’s most under-resourced communities. In Uganda and Zambia alone, Mission Direct will help over 1,170 children this year to have access to a new classroom, and over the next 20 years these new facilities will be used by 23,400 children. Financial donations can be made in person or electronically (reference Harvest).
We will also be collecting donations of non-perishable food for Bedford Foodbank.
Community BBQ – Thank you: Last Saturday we held our annual family BBQ. This is primarily an outreach event to build bridges with families in our community. We saw over 60 guests, slightly fewer than last year, but had some great conversations. The kids enjoyed the many games, the scavenger hunt, crafts, face painting and (of course) the bouncy castle and everyone loved the burgers and hotdogs. Thanks to everyone who helped out so brilliantly on the day and contributed to another successful BBQ.
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Thoughts from the Vicar
I share this because I want to highlight what a team effort it is here at Christ Church. This is an overview of the various roles for our three Sunday services to function:
9am - warden, service leader, preacher (3).
10.30am - warden, two sides people, two welcomers, live streaming, sound, AV, worship leader + musicians, service leader, preacher, two chalice servers, three children's groups leaders, seven children's groups helpers, one youth leader, one youth helper, five people to serve tea and coffee (~31).
7pm - warden, AV, sound, worship leader + musicians, service leader, speaker, Y@6 leader, Y@6 helper, Y@6 cook(~10).
Each week about 40 people are involved to help our services run smoothly. Of that 40 we have two clergy, one Children's Minister, and one Youth & Student Minister, which means there are ~36 volunteers in that group above. If each volunteer only serves once a month, we need ~140 volunteers.
And that doesn't cover off those who have helped prepare the flowers, organised the rotas, cleaned the church, sorted the chairs, sorted the movable doors. And I am probably forgetting some others as well. An oft quoted proverb is 'it takes a village to raise a child.'
To rephrase for us, it takes a whole community to be a church.
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For your prayers this week
Prayer for Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity:
Lord God, defend your Church from all false teaching and give to your people knowledge of your truth, that we may enjoy eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Please pray:
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Those who have been recently bereaved and coming to terms with the loss of loved ones.
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China and Taiwan in the aftermath of the typhoon.
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Peace in the town centre of Bedford and wisdom for how best to revitalise the community.
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Mission Direct and the Bishop of St Alban's Harvest Appeal.
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For the Ladies Weekend Away, including those who are just travelling up for the day, that they would all have a great time together.
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Children's Ministry and Events
THIS SUNDAY 28th September
THIS WEEK:
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED:
For more information about our regular groups please look on our website here or contact Ruth using: children@ccbedford.org or 07554 537757
Youth Ministry and Events
For more information about our regular groups please look on our website here or contact Hannah using: youth@ccbedford.org or 07384 295757
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Special Focus on Men’s Ministry
Men’s Survey: It would be appreciated if all the men of the church could kindly complete an online survey (paper copies available via John Betteley) regarding men’s ministry in Christ Church, irrespective of whether you have attended a men’s breakfast or social event. The online survey can be found at https://forms.gle/ptnheAhdSPJFuN4t7 All information supplied is valuable to our future plans even if you feel you do not wish to attend. The survey is fairly short and will not take long to complete.
Men’s Weekend Away: At the Garden House, Stamford for fun, food, fellowship, teaching and worship, Friday 17 th – Sunday 19 th October. For details please contact John Betteley on mens.breakfast@ccbedford.org We have nearly 20 people coming including Martin Harris, Steve Gardner, Jon Day, Andrew Russell, Sidney Miller, Phil Janes and many more. Please come along and join us.
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What is happening at Christ Church and beyond
Parenting course: The Teenage Years: Open to all parents with young people! Being run by Christ Church Bedford! Come along to meet and chat with other parents. It is not too late to join the course. For more details speak to Hannah Applegarth or book a space here
Go4Gold Film Club: Friday 3rd October @ 1.45pm. Refreshments (popcorn & ice cream) included. Just turn up if you are free & come & watch a Christian film with others. (Suggested donation £1 to cover refreshment costs)
Ladies Elevenses: Saturday 4th October 10.30am to 12 Noon. Ladies share about their Ladies Weekend Away 2025 experiences. All ladies are very welcome to join us for a warm welcome, refreshments and fellowship
Volunteers wanted: To help with guiding Faith Tours at All Saints Church, Queens Park. Every week, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during term time, All Saints Church welcomes 150-200 school pupils, by means of four tours, two on each day, running concurrently. They are looking for Christian volunteer guides, ideally for 3 hours (two tours) once a month. Each stop includes a tour of the building, an interactive presentation by a member of that Faith community, and a chance to ask questions. The Queen’s Park Faith Tour provides an opportunity for schools to: bring R.E. alive through first-hand experience; enhance the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils and experience community cohesion at work in a rich and diverse neighbourhood. Further information about Faith Tours can be found here at www.faithinqueenspark.org.uk, and what volunteers do, here.
Fantastic news! The Impact Live Nativity performances with schools are sold out. The Live Nativity is a re-enactment of the Christmas story by volunteers from various local churches. It is held at St John's Church in Bedford. This year it takes place from 1st-5th December, but you don't have to commit to helping every day. If you would like to volunteer to act, steward or help with refreshments please get in touch with Becky. Her contact details are: becky@impactbedford.org.uk
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 Bedford Foodbank Shopping List: The most needed items at the moment are: tinned fish/fruit/potatoes, jars of coffee/pasta sauces, bars of chocolate, cup a soup, pot noodles, long-life fruit juice & laundry tablets. Many thanks for your generosity.
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