Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry update

Over the last few weeks we have been updating the website and A Church Near You pages for the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry. Our website can be found at http://wickfordandrunwellparish.org.uk/index.html and the A Church Near You pages at https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/6704/benefice/. Do take a look and let us know of any ways we can further improve. 

The churches and congregations of St Andrew’s, St Catherine’s and St Mary’s supported by the Ministry Team form the Wickford and Runwell Team Ministry. We are seeking to be churches, and a Team of churches, that are at the heart of the communities of Wickford and Runwell, while also being with those on the edge.

We want to explore what that might mean for you and how we can best share the riches of current practice and past history within these churches in ways that engage the wider community more fully, whilst also seeing the ways God’s Spirit is at work in the area and joining in. We are looking to see where the energy and life of God’s Holy Spirit is already at work in Wickford and Runwell, so we can get more involved in all that God is already doing here.

As a result, we have begun consulting with our congregations and the wider community on what people value about the area, issues to be addressed, and how churches should engage with the community. Would you be willing to give us your views? If you would, please complete either our our Church survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QGSJJG5 or our Community survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/QGDCM3F. We would be very grateful if you could share your ideas by completing the survey by Friday 9 September 2022.

We have also begun livestreaming Morning Prayer from our churches on the following days: Tuesdays - St Andrew's; Wednesdays - St Catherine's; and Thursdays - St Mary's. These services can be viewed at our Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/WickfordandRunwellCofE. To see the latest Morning Prayer go to https://www.facebook.com/WickfordandRunwellCofE/videos/1114296376161806.

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Ho Wai-On - Blessed.

#Joytotheworld

Today the Church of England launches its #JoyToTheWorld Christmas campaign with www.AChristmasNearYou.org and four special videos.

Over 27,000 services and events, ranging from the contemporary to traditional carols and nativity stories, have been added to a new website that enables the public to enter their postcode and find Christmas services and events happening near them.

Smartphone users will also be able to geo-locate the nearest services and add a reminder to their calendar. So far more than 2,300 congregations are providing mulled wine and 3,500 sharing mince pies after services.

In addition to the www.AChristmasNearYou.org website, there are four videos being released throughout December, each one sharing a moment of true Christmas joy. The short films star Gogglebox vicar Revd Kate Bottley, Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Becoming Revered author Revd Matt Woodcock and comedian Paul Kerensa.

Underpinning the launch of the campaign will be a targeted nationwide social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter to encourage the public to share Christmas #JoyToTheWorld.

Speaking about her moment of Christmas joy from her former church in East London, Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin said:

"Mine has got to be at the very end of the Midnight Mass then we hear the words 'Yea, Lord we greet thee' - our first acknowledgment that Christmas has now arrived.

"Most Sundays people rush home to their rice and peas and dinner but we mingle, we stop and we greet each other and it's a wonderful moment. The Christmas Mass has got people attending who you wouldn't normally see and we get to pass on this Christmas joy."

Watch Rose's film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFjyw_njzvg

Commenting on the launch of the new website, Revd Arun Arora, Director of Communications at the Church of England, said:

"We think a perfect Christmas includes a Church Christmas. No matter how good the dinner or how expensive the present, a deeper joy is to be found in Church at Christmas.

"Whether it's midnight mass, a nativity play, a carol service of the joy of welcoming the Christ child on Christmas day, the best kind of Christmas involves a visit to Church."

Visit www.AChristmasNearYou.org to find out more.

Church of England parishes across the country can get still involved by uploading their services to www.AChristmasNearYou.org/upload and also by sharing their moments of joy on social media using the hashtag #JoyToTheWorld.

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Pentatonix - Joy To The World.