The Parish of Langdon Hills

This year’s Lent course is on Tuesdays from 8 pm at St. John’s. The course starts on 23rd February and runs until 23rd March.

The theme will be “A Way through the wilderness: Experiencing God’s help in times of crisis”. It will follow a format similar to previous years: meeting at St Johns on Tuesday evenings with a mixture of input together and group discussion. As in previous years we will be joining together with our Methodist friends. We hope you will want to join us. Please sign up on the sheets at the back of each of our churches to assist us in anticipating numbers and purchasing an appropriate number of books.

Tuesday 12th January, 2010: The Old Testament
Tuesday 19th January, 2010: The New Testament

Venue: St John’s, Forest Glade. The speaker will be Ian Hollingworth.
7.45 for an 8.00 pm start.

For more information please contact Eddy Lee on 01268 412016.

Dates: from 5th March to 2nd April:
Every year during Lent (the weeks leading up to Easter) we meet together at St. John’s for a short 5 week course about some aspect of our faith. The evenings include some worship, an introductory talk and led discussion in groups. This year we will be using a course called “Lentwise” which will help us to think about the spiritual essentials we need for our journey through life with God. The course will run on Thursday evenings, 7.45 pm coffee for 8.00 pm start, from 5th March to 2nd April. It will be a real help if we know in advance if you intend to come (so we can get enough booklets etc) so please sign up on the lists which are available at both churches. As in previous years we will be joined by our friends from the Methodist churches.
Prior to the course we will start Lent with a service on Ash Wednesday (25th February) at St. Mary’s church at 8 pm, which includes the traditional imposition of ashes. At the end of the Lent course we will be having special meals in people’s homes followed by a service together at the Methodist church on Maundy Thursday (9th April).

As a  follow up to Alpha we are organising two groups meeting at St. John’s on Tuesday evenings 8.00 pm from 20th January. Led by Steve Spencer and Anna Davis.
Friday afternoons 1.00 pm to 2.45 pm from 23rd January. Led by Colin Hopkinson and Gaynor Carter. (If you require childcare please speak to Gaynor or Colin).

We will be looking at stories from the gospels.  Please let us know if you would like to join one of these groups by speaking to one of the leaders or phoning Colin (542156) or the parish office (490400). You do not need to have attended Alpha to join a group.

At the last Annual Meeting there was discussion leading to the formation of a pastoral care group. Lilian ran such a course earlier this year. Another linked course has been arranged, called Acorn Christian Learning to Listen.

Dates: evening sessions on October 6th , 13th and 20th and November 11th. The location has yet to be determined and will be based either in St. Mary’s Church, St. Mary’s Hall or private homes. An invitation is extended to anyone who either couldn’t attend the earlier meetings but is interested in pastoral care,  or who would like to attend simply for personal development, with no obligation to be part of  the pastoral care team.  We hope to cover the most of the cost of the course, subject to PCC approval, so the charge for attending will be approximately £10, but concessions will be available if this would prevent anyone from attending. 

Please contact Ros Huntley or Julie Coker if you’d like more information about the course.

An exciting time lies ahead for us with the start of this autumn’s Alpha courses at St. John’s Church, Langdon Hills.

Alpha is a 10 week course which gives guests the opportunity to explore the Christian faith and as the advertising says to ‘explore the meaning of life’. It is a chance to ask questions you may have always wanted to ask or to just look at life a little bit deeper. Over 7,000 courses are currently running across the UK and over 2 million people in the UK and 11 million worldwide have now attended an Alpha course.

Alpha is designed primarily for people who aren’t churchgoers, and there is absolutely no commitment to attend church during or after the course. One thing about Alpha is that it is friendly, relaxed and informal. Ask whatever you like, or just sit quietly and listen. Courses attract a wide range of guests of different ages, backgrounds and viewpoints and this makes for interesting and diverse discussion.

Guests attend for a wide variety of reasons - some want to investigate whether God exists; others are concerned about what happens after death. Often, events in peoples’ personal lives cause them to think more deeply and raise questions. Some people have particular questions that they would like to discuss; others want to understand other peoples’ beliefs or would like to explore what the purpose of life is. Many guests have never been to church, others may have attended church occasionally but feel they have never really understood the basics of the Christian faith.

It really is for anyone…bring a friend, partner or just come on your own. Everyone is welcome. So don’t miss out, register now! Call Donna Martin 01268 492175

The evening course starts Thursday 25th September 7.30pm until approx. 9.45pm and the daytime course, starts Friday 3rd October 1.15pm to 2.45pm. There is no charge to attend.
If you would like to find out more and hear what others say about the course then check out the Alpha website at www.uk.alpha.org

Alpha is an opportunity to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed setting over ten thought provoking weekly sessions. Our Alpha Courses begin on the following dates:

• Evening course: Thursday 25 September, 7.30pm

• Daytime course: Friday 3 October 1.15pm. This is an ‘Express’ course with slightly shorter sessions and free childcare for age 2 years +.

For more information on either of these courses speak to Colin, Donna Martin at St John’s or Eddy Lee at St Mary’s. You can also find out more on the Alpha website.

Registration forms are available at St Mary’s and St John’s - simply return to the Parish Office by 7th September.