Our friends from St Patrick’s have sent us an invitation to a Harvest Lunch Celebration to be held at their Church on Friday 26th September, 12.30 for a 1pm start. See the poster for further details and how to obtain tickets.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4 v 32 (NIV)
Remember: Forgiveness is a powerful and transformative act which will bring freedom!
The verse of the week is inspired by the teaching the previous Sunday. You can listen to a recording by clicking on the link below:
Thu
rsday Fellowship has been taking a break from its weekly meetings over the summer but has still had four opportunities to get together at our very popular Coffee Mornings.
It has been really lovely to meet up under relaxed conditions and enjoy each others company and to eat cake!
Our last meeting is:
21st August – 37 The Ridgway
From 10.30am to 12.30pm
Note for your diaries – The autumn session starts on Thursday, 4th September in the Parish Room of the Holy Cross Church at 2pm. All welcome!
Thursday Fellowship will reconvene for its autumn session on 4th September, 2025 and we welcome back Beverley McArdle from Brighton & Hove City Mission to be our first speaker. The programme up to Christmas is listed below.
Please do consider joining us at 2pm in the Parish Room of the Holy Cross Church unless stated – we can assure you of a very warm welcome!
4th September – Beverley McArdle (BHCM Care Homes)
11th September – Maeve Whitchurch
18th September – Sue Cunningham
25th September – Jane Leaver
2nd October – Phil Cook
9th October – Graham Dawson
16th October – Connie Croly
23rd October – Ann Dracott
30th October – Gillian Clark (Books Alive)
6th November – Bryan Pickard
13th November – Sue Cunningham
20th November – TBA
27th November – Roger, Rosemary, Tom & Mike from Seaford Baptist Church
4th December – Our memories of Christmases past!
11th December – Carols, Candles and Cake
For further information head to the following link:- Thursday Fellowship
Yet another overcast and breezy day for the 58th Woodingdean Carnival held this year at Rudyard Kipling Primary School. Fortunately, it didn’t deter hundreds of people from joining the colourful parade from Central Park to the Carnival field and visiting the stalls run by local organisations.
Once again DBC had a stall sited with the other Woodingdean Churches, and one of the event organisers remarked how welcome it is for the local churches to be a part of the proceedings – they really do value the support! And we love being part of what goes on in our community too! 
DBC did something very different this year by providing a free children’s craft stall with tattoo stickers and badge making. This proved to be very popular with the children and there were many good conversations with the grown-ups.
A big thank you to Judith for organising plus her willing band of helpers and supporters.
To know God and to make Him known
A WORSHIPPING CHURCH OF PEOPLE WHO PRAY AND FOLLOW THE TEACHING OF THE BIBLE.
Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14 v 6
A WITNESSING CHURCH OF PEOPLE WHO SHARE OUR FAITH IN WORDS AND ACTIONS.
Jesus said: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” Luke 10 v 27
At our last session before the summer break, we welcomed Roger Case and Mike Kerry from Seaford Baptist Church.
They delighted us with a couple of seafaring songs, a poem based on the Song of Songs and a short message from Luke 9 v 18-20.
The passage about Peter declaring that Jesus is the Messiah, was read by Roger and then Mike asked us to think about our response to Jesus’ question, “Who do you say I am?” Why not meditate on that over the next few weeks and allow God to speak to you! How will your response shape your life going forward?
To close our time together, Mike led us in a song that he had written. 
We then enjoyed fellowship with a cream tea prepared by our hard-working Committee. Thank you so much for all that you do for us – we so appreciate you all!
There will be some coffee mornings over the summer so keep an eye on the news page for further details:
Thursday Fellowship coffee mornings
We return to the Parish Room of the Holy Cross on Thursday, 4th September, 2025 for the start of our Autumn session.
It is always a joy to welcome back Ann Dracott to our Thursday meeting. Ann is becoming a real favourite with her visual aids and practical insights!
Ann delivered a very interesting talk about roads, and you can see from the picture, that Ann brought along a map and a Sat Nav to help us to cement some of her thoughts in our memories!
Most roads connect to somewhere and there are endless possibilities as to where we can go. It is possible these days to walk around the world! It can be an adventure, but even familiar roads can be daunting at times with the many hazards along the way. Ann likened this to our lives.
It is important to :
Ann gave many examples of Jesus meeting people on the road when He was walking. He had such a compassion for people and met them where they were. As you think about some of the things that Ann shared, think about your own journey and the way you live, and the people that you might meet and how you might respond with the love of Jesus.
A few of the guys enjoyed a Curry Night at Malonchos last Saturday.
On Thursday 12 June we were delighted to welcome Claire Withams for a return visit. Claire has spoken in the past about her experiences of working for the Ambulance Chaplaincy. Today Claire spoke about the gift of peace which God wants all His children to enjoy. In the course of her work she often encounters people who are in severe distress, and said she finds it a real privilege to try to bring some peace and comfort into those situations.
She reminded us of Jesus’ promise in John 14 : 27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid”.
She demonstrated graphically how easily this peace can be lost – buried beneath such burdens as anxiety, depression, overwork, money worries and many other cares. We are sometimes carrying heavy loads which weigh us down; our peace seems to be lost altogether, but Jesus also promises the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the Counsellor, and with His help we can find our peace once again. This can be through prayer, sometimes solitude, but is often through fellowship with one another.
To close our meeting Claire chose a very fitting hymn – “When peace like a river . . . It is well, it is well with my soul”.
We had a visit from Bryan Pickard today. Bryan’s talk about faith, centred around the story of Jesus walking on the water in Matthew 14.
The crux of what Bryan wanted to share was that yesterday’s news is yesterday’s faith! The disciples were still caught up with the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 and weren’t really looking for another miracle. So often we do that – we live in the past, but faith has to be lived in the here and now and needs to be freshly experienced.
Peter experienced the power and mercy of God. He was courageous, he believed, he enquired of Jesus and he finally responded positively to Jesus’s invitation to come!
What can we learn from this story and especially Peter’s response? Well, faith is strengthened through difficulties and adversities. At times the wind can turn against us even in a spiritual sense, yet we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8 v 28). Sometimes like Peter, Jesus permits us to step out into an unsafe place – but remember, He is with us! Peter would have learned some valuable lessons that day – do we?
We are all WIPs (Works in progress) and God loves to use imperfect vessels. The key is to keep our eyes on Jesus in every situation that we face.