Our Next New Church!

Look out for our new church opening this year on Church Rise Forest Hill. We are now searching for the best name for our new resource. Can you help us? Give us your comments on the 5 names we have selected for your views and opinions! See the New Church Comment Sheet in the lobby of the parish church.

Fr John

Pilgrimages and trips, Taize, Walsingham

As the gorgeous summer sun warms us all up, many people's thoughts turn to holidays. People from our congregation are currently in France, Portugal, Devon and Florida.

For four of us, though, our next holiday is more of a holiday as we go to Taize, the religious community in Eastern France to join 5,000 young people, all seeking God in the extraordinary community that exists there. There's a picture here, but you can find out more here: http://www.taize.fr/.

If that whets your appetite, but you're too late to sign up for that one, think about joining us for our parish pilgrimage to Walsingham. There's a great history from this parish of going to Walsingham: it is, after all, the place voted the most spiritual place in England and a place of pilgrimage for Henry VIII no less!

This is happening in November and will be a great weekend. There's something about that place that speaks to people of all spiritualities, even if it's traditionally Anglo Catholic. There's already 25 people signed up, both veterans and first timers.

Otherwise, there are the usual summer excitements of weddings in church to look forward to. Always a joyous occasion. God bless all the couples being married with us this summer.

Fr Robert

Healing service coming, picnic gone, and a day in the Sun

It's not too often that our Church appears in "The Sun" and generally that's the way we like it, but this morning's paper was an exception. Pedro and Karene's wedding was such an extraordinary story that it's not surprising someone picked up on it. Can you imagine giving birth only to get married three hours later?
If you want to know more, read on with this link:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/real_life/article1447133.ece

We had a great parish picnic yesterday, as the food ambled into rounders and football. Luke Cottrell (5) particularly impressed the talent scouts: look out for his mazy runs in the future, and after all, England has always lacked decent left-sided midfield players. Thanks especially to Ian Bainbridge for organising it.

And coming up this Sunday, as well as our usual Sunday eucharist, we have our healing service at 4pm in the afternoon. This is a quiet time for offering of one's self to God. There will be laying on of hands and anointing with oil. It's deeply peaceful and a time to reconnect one's whole mind, body and spirit and bring it before God.

Leaving school, getting confirmed, the parish picnic!

Can you remember when you first learned to ride a bike? Your first kiss? Your first bereavement?

We all experience changes in life. At St George Christ Church St Paul, we've experienced that in various ways in the last week.


First, we hosted the Big Year Six Event. If you're in Year Six, that means you're 11 years old and you're about to leave primary school (where you've been top dog) and go to secondary school, where once more you're very small fish in a very big pond. Of course, that carries with it worries as well as excitements.
Four classes of Year Sixes from local church schools got together last Tuesday and Wednesday to think about this. Partly, it was about learning new skills: see the photo on the right as they try out various circus activities.
Partly, it was about meeting people, just as they will come September. Partly, it was about thinking together with other children what their concerns are. There was a conference in the middle of the two days when they could ask a panel of secondary school children just what their experiences of being at secondary school were. It was a great event and we look to repeat it again next year.

Then on Sunday evening, we had a change of a completely different kind. Eight people, four at secondary school and four a bit older (the oldest in his fifties), were confirmed into the Church of England. One, Rob, was also baptised.

For all of them, their faith stories were different and unique to them. One had experienced church in Zambia, one in Greece's Orthodox church, one an Alpha course in Bromley! Yet all wanted a new commitment in themselves to the Christian faith and the Church.

Bishop Christopher came to confirm them just before he goes off with other bishops from all over the world to the Lambeth Conference.
The theme of his sermon was that family of God, and it really did feel that the family was extending on Sunday evening.

Look out this week for our parish picnic directly after the service on Sunday (i.e. midday). We'll be going to Mayow park. They'll be rounders-type games and food.