HousegroupsHouse/Small Groups Report 2008-9
We rejoice that, parish-wide, we now have 22 House/Small groups for adults who meet for fellowship, and Bible-study & prayer, inclusive of : - 12 Housegroups - led respectively by Paul & Gill Trueman, Roger & Fiona Peach, John & Claire Lowe, Rachel Shaw, Chris Prideaux, Alison Bracken, Geoff Richards, Helen Jennings, Bill & Wendy Harwood + Paul Jenkins, Les Herbert, Martin Burton and Margaret Herbert - 10 specialised pastoral groups – Rachel Hall’s Julian Group, the Prayer Group following Wednesday’s Holy Communion led by Rose Smith, the Healing Group led by Joyce Chivers, the Alpha/Post-Alpha Group (see below), the Wives Group, our three Mothers Union groups, the Queen Charlton Housegroup and the Chewton Home-Communion group. (All this is complemented, of course, by our Youth, Children’s and various Music Groups – which are covered in different Reports.) A huge thank-you is in order for all our group leaders whose often unseen service includes faithfully caring and praying for their group members week by week – and helping them forward in their Christian growth. What a massive gift they are to the parish.
New Housegroups emerging from the Alpha source Two new housegroups have come into being this past year – and the way they have come into being is important in revealing our strategy for growth. The now regular Alpha/Post-Alpha programme, that myself, Ruth and Carl & Sharon Chalker have run at the Chalker’s house on Monday evenings since April 2008, has attracted a good number from our fringe-membership (about a dozen per course). To illustrate from our current course : the participants include an ex-regular member of Keynsham Parish who had drifted away but started to return, parents who bought their children to be baptised, people who recently got married here, the spouse of someone who was on the last course, someone who only came to church at Christmas and picked up an Alpha leaflet there, a bell-ringer, a sidesman and his wife, two folks struggling through debilitating ailments and a couple of regular church goers using Alpha as a means of making steps forward in their faith. It has been an extraordinarily blessed time with visible manifestations of God’s presence in people’s lives - for the first time for some. Our Alpha Course is designed so that members are subsequently invited to the Post-Alpha course (dealing with initial matters of Christian discipleship), hence further cementing friendships of trust and thus naturally leading into the formulation of a housegroup – led by mature Christians in the church, and picking up a few other new church members in its assembly.
We now have three distinct Wellsprings, and other potential Wellsprings : Living Water : a conglomerate of house-groups across the Parish - under the leadership of Roger & Fiona Peach - for whom their Christian discipleship is stimulated by Renewal (spontaneous prayer and worship, space for God’s Holy Spirit to minister corporately and individually, exercising of the Biblical ‘spiritual gifts, public testimonies etc). This is now our regular Parish evening service meeting at Awe & Wonder : incorporating the related elements of Anglo-Catholic, Franciscan, Orthodox and Iona spiritualities,the 25 or so members of this Wellspring meet monthly for services rich in liturgy, icons, incense and chants – a setting intended to create an atmosphere of holiness. Led by Edmund Cannon and Rachel Hall with Simon Howell. This is now our regular Parish evening service meeting at St Francis’ at 6pm on the second Sunday of the month (all are invited). The Chewton Eco-Congregation : incorporating the elements of creation (environmental) spirituality, and geared for environmental action in the local community, the Chewton congregation together with the ecumenical More-to-Life Eco-Group meets for
Simon Howell. Wellsprings (larger pastoral groups for those sharing similar spiritual paths, the ripples from which extend throughout the Parish) Existing house/small groups |
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The Parish of Keynsham |
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