The coffee morning on 9th May raised £200 for Christian Aid
Baytree House
A Preaching Service will be held at Baytree House on Monday June 22nd, speaker Gilbert Rowley.
Thursday Coffee mornings are held between 10.30 am and 12 noon.
Aldridge continue to offer a range of worship experience comprising
Early morning Communion once a month
All Age Worship each third Sunday morning every month
Chill Out Worship at 3.30 each fourth Sunday
Selestial 8pm evening service after traditional worship on the first Sunday of the month
WEEKLY CALENDAR
SUNDAY
9.30am Prayer Meeting
9.30am Early Communion (Monthly)
10.30am Morning Worship/Sunday Club/Creche
6.30pm Evening Worship
MONDAY
6.30pm - 9.30pm St.John Ambulance Brigade
6.00pm - 8.00pm 5th Aldridge Guides
7.00pm - 8.00pm Call to Prayer
TUESDAY
9.00am - 1.00pm Unemployed Group
10.30am - 12.30pm Coffee Morning
11.30am -12.30pm Gentle Exercise for the Young at Heart
5.45pm - 6.45pm Beaver Pack
6.45pm - 8.30pm 33rd Walsall Scouts
WEDNESDAY
8.00pm - 10.00pm Youth Fellowship
11.00am - 1.30pm Anchors Luncheon Club
2.00pm - 3.15pm Wednesday Fellowship (2nd in month)
6.30pm - 8.00pm 2nd Aldridge Brownies
7.00pm - 8.30pm Chillout (Years 7-9)
THURSDAY
10.00am - 12 noon Parent & Toddler Group
10.30am -12 noon Coffee Morning
5.30pm - 9.00pm 1st Aldridge Guides & Brownies
FRIDAY
10.00am - 12 noon Bereavement Group (10.30 start)
7.30pm - 9.30pm Men's Social Fellowship
SATURDAY
10.30am-12 noon Charity Coffee Morning (1st in month)
Holy huddles are out. Warm welcomes are in. That's the conclusion of a new survey from Christian Research reprinted from the Aldridge newsletter.
Mystery visitors - none of whom attended church normally - were sent to more than 70 congregations across the country. Around 90 per cent said the church they visited had a tangible sense of community. Over three quarters said they would go back. And over half said they felt comfortable, involved and genuinely welcome.
The remarkable findings quash the belief among some that churches are horribly out of touch with the community they serve - and suggest that Christians should not be worried about inviting , non-Christian friends to church.
We wanted to hold up a mirror to the Church and see how it looks from the outside,' said Christian Research Director Benita Hewitt. 'It is part of Bible Society's mission to help equip the Church be more accessible to its local community. And the results are
incredibly positive. The Church is not in as much of a holy huddle as we'd thought. Most of them were warm and welcoming.'
Churches were secretly judged on everything from the comfort of seats and volume of worship to the building's appearance. But the main emphasis was on how strangers were treated. Ninety per cent of mystery visitors said they were welcomed at the door.
With declining church attendance, fewer newcomers are visiting our churches,' said Benita. 'If they get a poor experience of church, they may well reject the whole faith. That's why it's so important churches are welcoming'
The reality confounded the visitors' expectations. 'Some expected church would be dull, boring and dark,' she said, 'and that the sermon would not speak to them.'
One couple prepared themselves for a 'stuffy' experience. 'We thought it was going to be a hard slog,' they said, 'but it wasn't a: all. We loved it - and are thinking of going back.'
Another visitor expected the sermon to make them feel guilty. 'It was a nice surprise,' they said, 'to hear something relevant about current affairs.' The report found most churches made an effort to explain their services. Four out of five churches helped newcomers to understand and follow the service. In the north 92 per cent had information that was well presented and easily understood. And in nearly three quarters of these churches this information was actively provided to the visitor.
But some things made visitors feel uncomfortable. Fifteen per cent did not feel comfortable after the service they either felt accepted as an outsider, unwelcome or excluded. And 95 per cent said the seats were adequately comfortable.
The survey comes at a time when church attendance continues to decline. Latest figures show just over one million people attend Church of England or cathedral services every week. However, the number of children and young people attending services has risen by two per cent.
‘The Church is too hard on itself when it thinks about how it is seen,’ said Benita. ‘There’s room for improvement, but these results show most visitors are genuinely impressed.’ But the Church should not be complacent. ‘There’s a risk that even Jesus would not be welcome in some churches,’ she said. ‘Only a few churches seemed to have no sense of community. Sadly if a church appears this way to a stranger, the congregation may feel the lack of community too.
• Hazel Southam is a freelance journalist and columnist
As many of you will know Tony and I were privileged to spend a holiday in South
Africa - and very enjoyable and exciting it was too. Lots of lovely warm sunshine and plenty of trips to see the wild animals. However one tour which we had not expected to take was the most moving experience of all.
When we arrived we found that one of the trips which was included in our itinerary was a tour of the New Brighton Township, a legacy of the Apartheid era in South Africa. At first, along with other guests, we were very reluctant to go on such a tour. Surely people who have been so unfortunate in life, do not want a load of tourists coming to see how they live?
Nevertheless we went along, and on the way the tour guide explained that this was not the case at all. The people would welcome us with open arms, they would wave and invite us into their community. There were two main reasons for this, one was they realized that world wide public opinion had helped to bring down the Apartheid regimen, and that now tourism was helping to rebuild the country's economy. We learnt that tourism was now a greater part of the economy than the gold and diamond industry put together. We also learned that the company that we were travelling with, "Calabash Trust", donated part of our fare to help with rebuilding the townships, and sponsored a pre school play group and a Primary School in that area.
Even so, when we first saw the state of the housing in the township it was an horrendous sight. It had to be seen to be believed. that human beings could live in such conditions. Homes the size of our garden shed, and not in such good condition. Little shacks with no running water, no sanitation and no electricity. Indescribable poverty, 40% of the adult population unemployed, and many children orphaned by aids. It indeed a very sobering occasion.
However things are improving. The government are trying slowly to replace housing, but there is, a very long way to go. They have also decided the key to the future is to try and educate the children so that they will be better equipped to provide for their future. Hence the emphasis on supplying sponsorship for schools, although parents have to find school fees and many cannot afford to do so.
Later we were taken to visit a preschool playgroup and The New Brighton School This was indeed a moving experience. The children were obviously so pleased to see
us. The little ones sang their nursery rhymes for us with great gusto. The older Children sang for us, and their singing was very advanced and beautiful, mostly singing unaccompanied and in perfect harmony. Obviously South Africans have music in their genes.
Well please forgive me, I know I am rambling on, but one cannot cope with such experience and not do anything about it. So we
hosted July's Coffee Morning. All the proceeds will go to Calabash Trust, Via the Saga Charitable Trust which is the UK. Contact company.
Mary and Tony Gessey
Thanks to Gwen Hughes for supplying these two photos:-
