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The Year of Mission was linked to our Building Project, hence the title "Living Stones Project-Building to Grow". Year of Mission Thanksgiving Service On Sunday 23 September 2006 we had a joint morning service to give thanks for the Year of Mission. David Sanderson gave a short resume of the Year. He said mission had been through three areas of our church life: -Events in Church, e.g. Holiday Club, Big Draw and other events for children and their families, Flower Festival, Open Days, Embryo, Quiz Night etc. Our young people also ran events. -Outreach to Seniors primarily the Summer Rendezvous which has developed into the monthly First Thursday Rendezvous. -Events run by House Groups to which family, friends and neighbours where invited. One group delivered Easter Eggs to their neighbours with invitations to our Easter Services, another had a garden party, another a trip to Blackpool and another a folk concert. David then spoke about Mission. Listen to the sermon here (2.5mb)  He said coming to Christ is a very complex business, especially to the many people today who have no Christian background. They need easy steps to move forward. As a church we need to recognize this. We need organisations and arrangements which engage people on the fringe as well as clearly preaching the Gospel...and everything in between. In order to do this we need -A Christian Presence, being in the community and setting a example by the way we live. -To Proclaim the Gospel, being willing to tell people about Jesus. -To Persuade People, to have events and situations to get people to come in contact with the Gospel. As a church we need to be continually at work making sure all the stepping stones are in place for people to come to Christ. The Year of Mission as a project funded by St Thomas' is noa over but our responsibility to reach out to others is not. -Posted 17 September 2006 Sunday 23 September 2006 Service of Thanksgiving At 10.30am there will be a Service of Thanksgiving for the Year of Mission -Posted 17 September 2006 30 August-1 September 2006 Summer Rendezvous 2006 Although not strictly within the 'Year' after the sucess of last years event, the Summer Rendezvous was repeated again with great sucess. Read about it here. See photographs here. -Posted 31 July 2006 Holiday Club, Clues from the Deep ran from 24-28 July. Some 150 children attended. See photographs here. -Posted 2 July 2006 Church Open Wekend and Flower Festival was held. Details and pictures can be found here. -Posted 5 May 2006 The 'Embryo' event held at St Thomas' last Saturday was a great success with around 100 people from churches all over the Chesterfield area attending, including a good number of our own young people. Many people have commented on how moved they were by the worship and that there was a real feeling of the Spirit moving among us on Saturday night. Thanks are due to ALL who contributed. Special praise goes to Steve Willis and Chris Witham for their tireless support over nearly 12 hours on Saturday in setting up all the PA, sound and multimedia equipment. EMBRYO simply wouldn't have happened without you guys. See some pictures here -Posted 9 April 2006 'Explore', an outreach event for children, exploring the meaning of Easter was held on the morning of 8 April in St Thomas' Church. Graham Nunn was there. There was singing, games, craft and an example of the Last Supper. Some 50 children attanded. In the evening there was a church family party to which about 80 people came. See some pictures here. -Posted 1 April 2006 The Thursday Ladies' Open House Group hosted an open day on 30 March. Coffee, chat, prayer and a light lunch were provided. Traidcraft goods were on sale. -Posted 24 March 2006 21-22 March 2006 Captain Graham Nunn, Church Army visited several schools in the parish -Posted 3 March 2006 2 March was the first 'Monthly Rendezvous'. About forty five or so people came together for a Thursday afternoon of fun and fellowship. This will be held monthly on the first Thursday of the month. Read more here. -Posted 30 January 2006 29 January was 'September Rendezvous Revisited Again'. Fifty or so people got together for a Saturday afternoon of fun and fellowship. From March 2006 the Rendezvous will be held monthly. -Posted 15 December 2005 'Ready, Steady, Christmas' was an Advent activity afternoon followed by a short Christingle service held at St Thomas'. Around 100 people shared in the activites and said they would come again next year. -Posted 20 November 2005 Saturday evening 19 November was was a Quiz Night and Pie and Peas Supper at St Thomas'. Over 100 members of St Thomas' and friends attended. Two teams tied with the highest scores. The play off question was: how many official types of English apples are there. The winners were the team that gave the nearest answer. Do you know? The answer will apppear soon. (Over 1,000!) -Posted 5 November 2005 3 November was 'September Rendezvous Revisited'. It was a special get together for all who were involved in the September Rendezvous. There was a simple lunch followed by an afternoon of various of activities. Photographs of September Rendezvous were shown. Some fifty people attended. -Posted 31 October 2005 This year's children's alternative party to Halloween was called 'The Treat'. Some 80 children enjoyed food,games, a trick workshop and a giant inflatable slide in St Thomas' Church. -Posted 15 October 2005 15 October 2005 the Church participation in the National 'Big Draw' initiative. Activities included pastels, painting, drawing, computer art, spray gun painting, clay, potato printing and much more. Our theme was 'Drawing closer to God.' Children and adults of all ages and abilities joined in, even those who said 'I can't draw!'. See some of the pictures here. Read about it here. -Posted 18 September 2005 17 September 2005 Some 40 people attended a seminar entitled 'Working Well by Working Spiritually' dealing with faith and life in the workplace. It was led by Geoff Shattock, National Director of 'Worknet'. The sessions covered dealing with personal pressure and stress, being good news to others and work/life balance. A CD of the seminar is avaliable from the Church Office. Read the report in the church magazine here. -Posted 10 September 2005 7-9 September 2005 was the 'Holiday at Home' September Rendezvous, a 'Holiday Club' for over 55s. There was a time of fun and laughter and also a time for learning new skills. Each day will included a ‘Thought for the Day’ which drew us closer to our Lord. A 'Songs of Praise' was held on Sunday 11 September. About 50 people attended the event each day. Read about it here. See photographs here. -Posted 1 August 2005 Called 'Party People' the children's Holiday Club week was a great success with over 160 children attending each day. On the Friday evening a party was held for the children and their parents, and on the Sunday there was an all age service. Both were well attended by children and their parents. Big thank you to everyone involved. Planning for Holiday Club 2006 will soon start! More about 'Party People' here including photographs. -Posted 17 July 2005 Year of Mission launched with 15-17 July as a Weekend of Prayer and Commitment. David, our Rector emphasised that although we were doing God's work, it would not be easy and would need commitment and sacrifice. Those who were willing to be involved prayed a Prayer of Commitment. Motto cards were distributed. There were all the usual things like the Harvest and Christmas events.
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