Christmas at Christchurch 2022

Christmas at Christ Church 2022

Many of us will face challenges this Christmas. We hope and pray that in the midst of all the anxiety, we will together find both comfort and joy in the Christmas story: that God loved the world He created so much that He sent His Son Jesus, to live among us, to experience human pain and loss, and ultimately to give His life that we might know life in all its fulness.

Please do join us if you can - in church, or online. And please be assured of our prayers for all in our wonderful community of Gipsy Hill.

~ Hope is here ~

Sunday 11th December
- Christmas Crafts, 4pm & Christingle Service, 5pm
In church

Thursday 15th December
- Carols Live at 7pm
Around the Gipsy Hill Christmas Tree

Saturday 17th December
- Carol Service, 6pm

Join us in church at our service of readings and carols by candlelight

Saturday 24th December - Christmas Eve
- Nativity Live, 4pm
In church

- Christmas Eve Communion, 11.15pm
In church

A traditional service of Holy Communion as we celebrate the beginning of Christmas morning

Sunday 25th December
- All Age Service with Communion, 10.30am
In church and live on Facebook

Unanswered Prayer Course

The Unanswered Prayer Course

Do you have questions about why God seems to answer some prayers, whilst others go seemingly unanswered? Have you ever spent time feeling as though your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling? Would you like to go deeper in your understanding of what happens when we pray and be encouraged in finding the presence of God in difficult times?

Over this Lent, we will be hosting the Unanswered Prayer Course - a new course from 24/7 Prayer which opens up opportunities to dig into some of the harder questions we might have about prayer.

Over five weeks, we will watch the course material together, hosted by Pete Greig, founder of 24/7 Prayer and the author of God on Mute. Each session will pick up on themes from Jesus' journey through his final days towards the cross, and will feature interviews with guests sharing their understanding of God at work in the midst of real challenges to their faith. There will be time, too, to discuss and pray about what we've heard in smaller groups.

All are welcome to join us for the first session on Thursday 25th Feb at 8pm. Please email curate@gipsyhill.org.uk to be sent the Zoom meeting link.

Marriage Preparation Course

The Marriage Preparation Course is for couples who are exploring the idea of getting married and for those who are already engaged. It’s designed for those who want to give their marriage the best possible start, whether they’re exploring marriage for the first time or have been married before. The course is based on Christian principles but designed for all couples with or without a church background. You do not need to be getting married in a church to come on the course.

Our course will start on Thursday 29th April 2021 at 8pm – over Zoom - and will last 5 weeks. Please email curate@gipsyhill.org.uk if you would like more information.

“We have found that getting engaged is very exciting but also a little bit daunting when you think about the significance of the commitment and what we are about to do! The course was an excellent way to explore issues that we were having in our relationship and a fantastic opportunity to discuss things that we would not otherwise have found the time to talk about. It helped us a lot to realise that all the other couples in the room were all going through issues in their relationship too and we were not alone. We will definitely be recommending the course to other family and friends considering getting married in future."

— Catherine and Mikey

Christmas at Christchurch 2020

Christmas at Christ Church 2020

For most of us this is going to be a Christmas like no other in living memory. We hope and pray that in the midst of all the anxiety and fearfulness, we will together find both comfort and joy in the Christmas story: that God loved the world He created so much that He sent His Son Jesus, to live among us, to experience human pain and loss, and ultimately to give His life that we might know life in all its fulness.

Please do join us if you can - in church, or online. And please be assured of our prayers for all in our wonderful community of Gipsy Hill.

Tuesday 8th & Wednesday 16th December
- Carols Live at 6.30pm
Around the Gipsy Hill Christmas Tree

Sunday 13th December
- Christingle Service, 5pm
In church and live on facebook

Sunday 20th December
- Carol Service, 5.30pm & 7pm

Join us at one of our services of readings and carols by candlelight

Thursday 24th December - Christmas Eve
- Nativity Live, 4.15pm
Live on facebook, (not in church)

Part of the Christmas tradition for Gipsy Hill - this time online. Please join in with the conversation on facebook after, you can even dress up at home if you like!

- Holy Communion, 9pm
In church

A traditional service of Holy Communion as we celebrate the beginning of Christmas morning. Please note the earlier time due to COVID.

Friday 25th December
- Holy Communion, 9.30am and 11am
The 9.30am service will be broadcast live on facebook

As rules and guidance change in coming weeks, we may move more activities online - please keep an eye on our facebook page before setting out - https://www.facebook.com/christchurchgipsyhill

Wonder Zone Holiday Club

Get excited about our Holiday Club - Wonder Zone!

Wonder Zone is a church holiday club that is open to everyone in Reception to Year 6. With games, crafts, teaching and music around stories of Jesus, we welcome children for three mornings of fun and activity, as we explore more about God’s world using science and faith.

The club is running Monday 6th-Wednesday 8th April 9:30am-12:30pm, with lunch from 12:30-1:30pm

There is a £15 cost per child.

You can download a booking form here.

Forms should be completed and sent back to the church office - full details are on the form itself.

If you have any further questions, please email ministry@gipsyhill.org.uk.

Christmas at Christchurch 2019

Christmas at Christ Church 2019!

In the midst of general election campaigning, we would love to see you at one of our Christmas events as we celebrate God’s Good News for all People. There is, as always, plenty going on for all the family.

Do look out particularly for our carol service with St Christopher’s Hospice which marks our collaboration in the area of dementia care.

Merry Christmas!

Jonathan
Rev Jonathan Croucher, Vicar

Sunday 8 December
- Morning Prayer, 9am and Holy Communion, 10:30am
- Christingle, 4pm for crafts & making Christingles
- Christingle service , 5pm

Bring all the family along at 4pm to make a selection of Christmas crafts and prepare a Christingle for the service at 5pm - half an hour of singing, Christmas drama and fun, finishing with a Christmas tea.

Sunday 15 December
- Holy Communion, 9am and Morning Worship, 10:30am
- Carol Service, 7pm

Join our service of readings and carols by candlelight, followed by mulled wine and minced pies.

Tuesday 17 December
- St. Christopher's Christmas Service, 7.45pm

We are delighted to be hosting at Christ Church the Christmas Service for our local Hospice, St Christopher’s. Please come along as we mark our collaboration in the area of dementia care. We will also be singing our favourite carols. There will be mince pies and mulled wine after the service with a retiring collection for the work of the hospice.

Sunday 22 December
- Morning Prayer, 9am and Holy Communion, 10:30am

Tuesday 24 December - Christmas Eve
- Nativity Service, 4pm

Part of the Christmas tradition for Gipsy Hill - come and join in our nativity for all the family. Dress as your favourite nativity character or come early and borrow some of our dressing up clothes to join in the retelling of the story of the first Christmas. Please stay for tea afterwards as we celebrate Christmas together.

- Holy Communion, 11.30pm

A traditional service of Holy Communion as we celebrate the beginning of Christmas morning.

Wednesday 25 December
- Holy Communion, 10.30am

Come and join the celebration as we engage all ages in a service of Communion to celebrate the good news of 'God with us'.

Kintsugi Hope – Honesty Over Silence

Honesty Over Silence - Kintsugi Hope
Sunday 24 November @ 6:00pm - 8:30pm

It's OK not to be OK!

Would you like to be able to have open conversations around topics such as trusting in God when life is painful, dealing with anxiety and depression, learning to look after ourselves, developing our character, and living with thankful hearts even in tough seasons?

In an evening of live music and performances opening up the themes of honesty, faith and hope, Diane and Patrick Regan (former founder of XLP) will host an event. We hope you will join us and invite friends to this exciting evening at Christ Church.

Tickets cost £5 and can be purchased from www.ticketsource.co.uk/christ-church-gipsy-hill

Big Questions – Church Weekend Away Autumn 2019

Church Weekend Away

FRIDAY 13TH TO SUNDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER
ASHBURNHAM PLACE, EAST SUSSEX

The church weekend away is an unmissable opportunity to enjoy each other’s company and to learn more about the Christian life. The theme for the weekend is ‘Big Questions!’ We do hope you can come.

As well as the teaching sessions, there will be lots of other activities, including prayer, worship, sports, entertainment...

Groups are able to enjoy campfires, lake swimming, woodland walks, the stillness of the prayer garden and even a spot of fishing. There is also the Orangery Tea Room.

We have planned the programme so that there will be time to relax and enjoy each other’s company as well as to learn and be inspired by our main speaker for the weekend, Rev Mark Thomas.

Over the weekend we will be exploring some of the challenging questions we face up to in our Christian faith - can we really know God? What about science? And other religions? Why do we trust the Bible? How do we deepen our confidence in what we believe so we can share it with others?

Big questions require thoughtful exploration and we are delighted that our teaching will be led by Rev Mark Thomas, who works with the church planting team at Holy Trinity Brompton. A former colleague of our new curate, Emma Lowth, Mark is a physicist and prior to HTB, he was Associate Vicar at St Mark’s Battersea Rise.

There are a variety of accommodation options available and the cost includes a meal on Friday night, two nights’ accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner and a number of tea breaks on Saturday, and breakfast, lunch and a number of tea breaks on Sunday. In addition, there will be workshops, activities for children and young people, and Saturday night entertainment.

If you are unable to come for the whole weekend there is some availability for day visitors. Ensuite rooms will be allocated according to need and then on a first come first served basis.

We have subsidised the cost of the weekend, but if it will be a struggle to meet the full cost please speak to Jonathan or Pippa in confidence.

You can find the booking form here. Once completed, please enclose the form along with the deposit in a sealed envelope and put in the weekend away box or hand to Jonathan Croucher or Pippa Evans.

If you feel able to either pay for an extra person to come or to make a donation towards another subsidised place, please complete the section at the bottom of the second page on the form.

Any further questions?
Please contact Pippa Evans on ministry@gipsyhill.org.uk.

Faith, Hope, Love & Lament – Sermon Series 2019

Faith, Hope, Love and Lament

A sermon series for Summer 2019

May

5^th Faith God the Father

12^th Hope Living in the presence of God

19^th Love Compassion

(Speaker from Compassion International)

26^th Lament Finding God in the dark times of life

June

2^nd Faith God the Son

9^th Hope Hope in and for a hopeless world?

16^th Love Love is…

23^rd Lament Facing up to domestic violence

(speaker from Restored)

30^th Love Love in action…

July

7^th Faith God the Holy Spirit

14^th Hope Hope for the future

21^st Lament Wrestling with illness

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

Probably one of the most famous passages in the Bible, Paul’s exposition on the nature of love ends with this wonderful verse of encouragement: three elements that are at the heart of our belief in, and encounter with, God.

As we explore those fundamental aspects of our lives as followers of Jesus, we recognise that we do so in a world that remains impacted by sin, and that our faith leads us through both green pastures and the dark valleys of this life.

So this term we are exploring those three - faith, hope and love - alongside lament: how we hold on to the promises of God as we journey through dark and difficult times.

As well as our regular team of speakers, including our new curate Emma Lowth, we have guest speakers from Compassion International, working with children in poverty across the world, and Restored, a charity that encourages the church to support those facing domestic violence.

I hope together we will continue to build confidence in our faith, and not shy away from difficult questions, as we seek to work out what it means to seek the Kingdom of God, and follow Jesus day by day.

Jonathan

Easter at Christchurch 2019

Easter at Christ Church 2019!

We would love to see you at Christ Church over our Holy Week and Easter celebrations.

In the first week of the Easter holidays, bring your children to our successful holiday club for primary age children, Alive and Kicking! Each morning, from Wednesday to Friday (10^th to 12^thApril), there will be songs, drama, games and bible stories on the main stage and sports and craft activities for kids from reception to year 6. Grab a form from the church office (email ministry@gipsyhill.org.uk) and register your children as soon as you can.

The following week, beginning with Palm Sunday on the 14^th, sees us mark the final days of Lent towards the wonderful celebration of Jesus resurrection on Easter Day.

Monday to Wednesday (15^th-17^th) we have evening reflections on Jesus’s last days, and on Maundy Thursday 7.30pm, we will share in a meal together that reflects on the Jewish Passover and its significance for Christians today.

Good Friday takes us on a journey to the cross, as we gather to walk around the parish for prayer before joining Churches Together in Crystal Palace for a collective service on the green outside Sainsbury’s at 11am. And at 2pm, we gather in church for an hour of meditation and reflection, in words and music.

On the Saturday before Easter, we are inviting all children in the area to join us for our Easter funday, where there will be crafts, games, songs and the building of our Easter garden.

And finally, we celebrate with great joy the wonder of Easter on Easter Sunday, with communion at both our 9am and 10.30 am services.

Do come and join us – for any or all of our services and activities. You will be most welcome.