March:
On the 23rd of the month, Keith and Andrew presented the small group strategy for the church. Many of the congregation remained in the church after the morning service to listen to this and afterwards participate in a 'picnic' style lunch.
G-Force did us proud again this month when they laid on an 'extravaganza' of food, in the New Village Hall, with the now regular annual charity meal. This year the fundraising was in aid of Cancer & Leukemia In Childhood and also to fund the sponsoring of a child within the Compassion organisation. A lot of effort was expended to lay on a spendid evening of food and fellowship. In total, the money raised amounted to £428.78, with £212.78 going to Compassion. Thank you G-Force.
April:
This month three families attended Spring Harvest at Minehead, enjoying the opportunity to spend time with many other Christians worshipping, learning and having a wonderful experience in familiar Christian surroundings.
May-August:
A quiet few months during the early and main summer months. We had a very pleasant evening of skittles in May with stiff competion between a few 'friendly' rival teams!
In July we enjoyed an extremely pleasant summer afternoon with a walk (with a quiz) up and down the lower slopes of Cleeve Hill, completing the journey in Eddie's garden where cream teas, tea and squash were waiting. Those that had energy left played various games whilst us old 'uns took it easy under shade umbrellas or just lazily in the summer sun and heat. Next summer can't come quick enough if this particular activity is to repeated!!
John and Michelle Canning celebrated their wedding with us on the Saturday the 13th. John has been a regular at Woodmancote for many years and recently married Michelle in Canada. The service at Woodmancote was a celebration for his family members and members of the church family to join with the newly weds in a 'UK' celebration. It was really good to be part of a new couple's start to a new life together. We all enjoyed the social gathering afterwards in the New Village Hall with opportunities to meet John and Michelle's family and friends.
October:
Our Annual General Meeting took place this month with its regular review of the highlights of the church year. A good presentation of the church finances was delivered enabling us all to better understand the church's financial position and what our financial commitments are.
Additionally we had end of year review of Splash, Gforce and the Homegroup. For the next church year we have a good number of volunteers to help run Splash and we now have 2 adults working with the older children in GForce. Homegroup has closed after running for three years, but a new initiative is planned for November
The main highlight of this month was our church weekend away at Lindors. Lindors, in the Forest of Dean, is a Christian guest house and conference centre. A group of us (19) enjoyed a time of physical rest and many opportunities to rest in God and get to know each other better. Good Christian teaching was enjoyed by all, wholesome food was plentiful and some opportunities to explore the surrounding beautiful countryside. The whole experience was so enjoyable and worthwhile that we have booked another weekend during March 2005.
During this festive month, the now familiar activities took place within the church; The Church Christmas party, Carols by Candlelight, Childrens Nativity Service and our Christmas morning celebrations.
The Christmas party took place on the 6th in the new village hall. Once again we enjoyed plenty of food and fun, with some quieter activities to tax our brains to start with, then the usual round of passing parcels, trying to sit on too few chairs (musical chairs) and a naval equivalent of 'statues'. This last activity was definitely for the more energetic!
Carols by candlelight again proved to be very popular within the community with a good number of non regular attendees appearing. The service served to present the nativity story entwined with the Good News of Christ's salvation.
A good number of our younger community attended the Nativity Service too where the familiar Christmas story was presented.
Our Christmas morning celebrations again saw the church nearly full, where we enjoyed sharing the Good News of the season, and looked at a few early gifts that some younger folk had brought along.