Knit ‘n’ Journey

For the past 6 weeks, about 15-20 people have joined Lyn and Biddy in a lenten knit-along. Each day there have been around 10 lines to knit with weekly lent-themed meditations to a  accompany them. By the end those who have managed to keep up should have a beautiful scarf to wear on Easter Sunday. The ups and downs of knitting – the unknown mystery pattern, the dropped stitches, the imperfections, the saving and redoing have all added to reflecting on the Lenten journey through the wilderness and the companionship of God. Thank you Lyn and Biddy!

Practising the Presence

“As far as I can see, a labyrinth is a complex maze-like path,” explained Kenneth, who had been doing his research. “Furthermore, if you are suggesting that it’s like the journey of life, then it would need dead ends and bifurcations.” Of course, he is right. Yet the labyrinth which is now on the floor at Victoria Methodist Church provides an opportunity of practicing the presence of the God who is always with us, indeed ‘in whom we live and move and have our being’.

Suffering to Sanctuary labyrinth

So, call in to the church. For the next 4 weeks (27 Jan – 24 Feb) we’re open Monday through Saturday 12-2pm, 5-7pm Wednesday evenings, and – of course – on Sundays around worship. And if you’re wondering what those amazing paintings are behind, the church is full of artwork, including 4 works from the Methodist Modern Art Collection. The whole exhibition is entitled ‘Identity as Resistance’ and includes work by an Iranian refugee, an Egytian photographer and local schools.

More from Richard’s blog ‘The bright field’ here.

Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah

On 4 November 2017 we celebrated our newly refurbished worship space with a “Come and Sing Handel’s Messiah”. Over 100 singers joined the event and over 60 people came to listen to the performance in the evening. Many thanks to our musical director Lyn Lloyd-Jones, the soloists, orchestra and many others behind the scenes who made this wonderful day happen.

 

Refurbished Sanctuary

Here are some photos of of the new refurbished sanctuary (and a reminder of what it used to look like). We are still waiting for the last few things to be finished off – the front door and the lift to the basement. But already, we are delighted with our new sanctuary space and the possibilities it offers us. It is light, it is flexible, the beautiful new seating is comfortable. We have had our At Home day here, Messy Church, our Harvest lunch and the coffee bar in the lobby is a lovely place to socialise after services. Join us to celebrate the new refurbished Sanctuary at our Rededication Service on Saturday, 14 October 2017 at 3pm.

End of building works!

The first phase of our Faith in the Future building works is nearly finished. The inside is looking beautiful, the new coffee point and accessible toilet are installed and we are just waiting for the ramp and lift installation at the side entrance to be completed. We hope that our first service back at Vic will be on Sunday 30 July back at our normal time of 10.30am.

Here is the setup prior the circuit service on Saturday 3 September:

Change in worship venue during building works

The redevelopment work on our sanctuary area at Victoria is due to start in the New Year of 2017. As of 8th January, we will we be moving to another venue for worship for the duration of the work.
After much investigation and thought, the Leadership Team and the Church Council have decided that the best venue for us to worship will be Westbury Park Methodist Church for both our morning and evening services. The congregation of Westbury Park meet at St Albans so the church is vacant on Sundays.
The address of the church is 4 North View, BS6 7QB (link to map). The entrance to the church is in the courtyard between the church and preschool building. There is no car
park at the church, but there is usually plenty of space to park on the road named Westbury Park on Sunday mornings. Bus numbers 1, 2 & 3 run to White Tree roundabout (stop: ‘Westbury Road’). We will be organising a shuttle service from Vic to Westbury Park for anyone who turns up at Vic expecting the service to be there or for those who live near Vic (e.g. students) and would find it difficult to get to the service. The time of our morning service will be moved to 10:45am to allow for potential late arrivals due to the change in venue. The evening service will still be at 6:30pm but only on the 1st Sunday of every month. We hope to be returning to Vic in the summer of 2017.