ChurchesTogether

Calling all Christians in Woodingdean!

If you have a deep concern about Woodingdean and have faith that God listens to, and answers prayer, please come and join us. We meet together, usually on the first Saturday f each month for an hour to pray for the community and the people who live and work here.

At present, five churches are represented regularly:

Downs Baptist Church

Church of the Holy Cross –https://www.woodingdeanholycross.org.uk/

Woodingdean Methodist Church –https://woodingdeanmethodistchurch.co.uk/

St Patrick’s Catholic Church – https://www.ololandstp.org/

Woodingdean House Church – https://www.fire-place.org

Next meetings:- 

8am, Saturday, 7th December –  Hosted by Downs Baptist Church  – On Zoom

8am, Saturday, 4th January – Hosted by St Patrick’s Church – On Zoom

8am, Saturday, 1st February – Hosted by Methodist Church – On Zoom

8am or 9am tbc, 1st March – Hosted by the Holy Cross Church

Events:-

Community Carol Singing – Christmas 2023 – Churches Together.

Once again as Churches Together, a 20+ strong team representing the local churches gathered outside DBC Community Greengrocers on Saturday, 16th December 2023 to spread some Christmas cheer in our community by singing carols.

Footfall was fairly light at first but there was a steady stream of people travelling in their cars and we waved to all of the children. A good time was had by all and it is always a joy to witness in our community as Churches Together.

Thank you to Gareth for supplying us we tea, coffee and mince pies to help keep us warm and to Mark for providing a fabulous backing track.

Woodingdean Carnival 2018 – Churches Together.

What a wonderful day for the Woodingdean Carnival – hot and sunny. We were sited in a corner of the field with all of the other Woodingdean churches (quite deliberately I might add – all of the churches wanted to do this) under the Churches Together banner.

We may be diverse in the way we do some things but our hearts are for reaching into our community with the love of God. It was good to gather together as a sign of our unity and to pray before the event started.

Here’s to next year!

Palm Sunday 2018 – Churches Together “Walk of Witness.”

On a mild Palm Sunday morning, a good number from the Woodingdean churches gathered at St Patrick’s for a short walk through Woodingdean past the Methodist Church and then up to the Holy Cross culminating in a short reflection and a light lunch.  It was a really happy time and an opportunity to witness to our faith in Jesus and in our unity as Christians and churches together.

Palm Sunday commemorates when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the crowds waved palm branches and welcomed him as the coming king. We were able to stop at particular points on the way, to listen to Malcolm bring the relevant scriptures, to pray for the witness of our churches in our community and to think about the people who live there.

This year we were without Solomon the donkey but we had Savannah the mare with us which was a welcome addition to our little procession.  We waved palm leaves and gave out chocolate eggs to passers by.

Helen brought a reflection about “walls”. None of the walls we put up reach heaven. Walls may separate now but they won’t in God’s Kingdom.  Hate can’t last forever, neither can walls. Hope must stand strong for us.

Helen then read a beautiful poem called Four Candles by Aino Makato. In the poem three of the candles, Peace, Faith and Love had been extinguished but the fourth one, Hope was still alight.  Hope says, “Don’t be afraid…while I still burn we can relight the other candles.” The message was, never let the flame of hope go out in your life! With hope, no matter how bad things look and are, peace, faith and love can shine brightly in our lives.  What a beautiful thought to meditate on! 

John from the Holy Cross then brought a very moving and powerful testimony of his journey to faith. Being in a hopeless situation he had to admit he was powerless and that no human power could release him from the darkness he was in.  He started to seek God through prayer and meditation being still before Him. Something amazing happened and all John could do was to “just say yes!” “Christ kissed my lips!” Jesus became a friend who walked beside him. John acknowledges that the “wind of grace has blown through his sails”.  Scripture has taken on a new meaning and he encounters God in ways he has never experienced before.  John is so grateful and today asks, how can I honour God?

Thank you John for your faithfulness in sharing your story. It reminds us that we each have a story to tell. May we all be willing to share ours when the opportunity arises and testify to God’s goodness and power and give Him all the honour and glory.

We were then able to share in a delightful lunch of homemade soups and rolls. It was so good to be together, united by our love for Jesus and our desire to reach out into our community with the love of Jesus.

There will be further opportunities for the churches to demonstrate our unity so please do come and join with us. Details will be found on any of the church websites.