Services
The Act of Consecration of Man is celebrated
on Thursdays and Fridays at 9am and Sundays at 10am
Die Menschenweihehandlung (Act of Consecration of Man in German) is celebrated on the first Saturday of every month at 9am
There is an evening service for those who have died at 6pm on the first Saturday of the month
The Sunday Service for Children is held fortnightly at 11.15am, followed by a story. 7th and 21st November, 5th and 19th of December
Other regular events
Tuesdays 10.30am
Discussion Group (the church will be open from 10am and tea and coffee will be served)
Thursdays 7.45pm
Gospel Study Group (please note the new time)
Diary
Please note that events can be changed and updated as the public health situation changes. Please refer to the latest Update and our online diary, which you can view here.
Friday, 5th November, 8pm
Spiritual Journeys – Talk by Julia Katharine Soper on her inner and outer journeys
Saturday, 6th November, 6pm
Memorial Event followed by an Evening Service for those who have Died, with Music and Sermon
There will be an opportunity to hear the names of those whose funeral service has been held by The Christian Community in the last year, and also to name anyone with whom you are connected.
Friday, 19th November, 7pm
The journey towards making an altar painting
Illustrated talk by Greg Tricker
Saturday, 20th November, 10-12.30, followed by bring and share lunch
Garden and House Day
We will prepare our garden and church for Advent. Please bring garden tools. A soup will be provided.
Sunday, 21st November, 11.30am
The Companion
A Norwegian Wonder Tale Told by Kenneth Gibson
Saturday, 27th November at 7.30pm
Signs in the Heavens
Evening Service for Advent
Sunday, 28th November at 4pm
Advent Spiral
Wednesday, 8th December, 7.30-9pm:
Contemplative evening with artistic contributions: music, poems, reading, singing, listening. Please let Katharina Baiter know by 30th November if you would like to contribute
Sunday, 19th December at 11.30am (following the Children's Service)
Carol Singing with Katharina Baiter
Friday, 24th December (time tbc)
Shepherds’ Play
Holy Nights Workshop
The New Creation
Talks with artistic activity
27th December
The Beginning of Worlds
28th December
The Recreation of the Human Being
29th December
The Birth of the New World
30th December
Discovering the New World in the Midst of the Old
31st December
Sermon for New Year’s Eve
Epiphany
9th January at 11.30am
The Light of Christ in Every Day Life
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Update
The church is open in the mornings Tuesday-Saturday 10am-12pm.
Please wait to return to church if you have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last ten days or have new symptoms. We need to maintain the flow in our public spaces, particular the foyer and entrance lobby, which are not large enough to allow for circulation with a lot of space.
For the moment, we are using the weekly Updates as our rolling programme of events. Please do make sure to consult the latest Update for full details of any changes that may be necessary, or visit this link, where you will see a diary that is constantly updated and contains all the regular events as well.
We are looking for two more volunteers for the coffee rota. Please ask one of the priests, or Ria for more information.
With best wishes,
Nataliia and Tom
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Notice
Karin Bittleston passed away on 29th October, 2021
Details of her funeral and memorial service to be announced
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Notice
Jean-Laurent Francois Bos passed away on 3rd November 2021 in Stroud
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Worship in Heaven
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 1And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 1saying:
“Amen!
streaming blessing and shining revelation
and heavenly wisdom and sacrificial thanksgiving
and uprightness of honour
and dynamic power and strength of deed
be to our God for all cycles of cycles of time.
Amen!”
Revelation 7:9-12
Living with the readings from the Book of Revelation, which we hear from the altar in these November weeks, we can feel how we are taken into the heavenly realm: ‘Then I saw heaven opened’ – away from earthly matters, earthly concerns – and we look with the eyes of the apocalyptist at what happens there.
Chapter 7 reveals that an act of worship is continually being performed in the spiritual world. This means that the acts of reverence and worship that we strive for when we celebrate the Act of Consecration of Man have their living counterpart in the spiritual world.
Reverence is vital for the education of children. A true teacher brings reverence into every interaction with a child, reverence that stems from the conviction that every child is a divine being, who wishes to unfold and reveal him or herself. Reverence is a welcoming gesture that allows children to be themselves, giving them space and creating the loving and caring environment that they need.
Adults also need the reverent space where they can unfold and become who they truly are. This means not only what I want to become as human being with all my aims, but who I want to become as a divine being in my very physical body. Something wishes to become through me. Trying to tune in with that, we can reach a deeper understanding: becoming who I truly am cannot happen unless I have respect for that higher self within myself and within my fellow human beings. Gradually, I learn to give thanks for my own life and existence to every human being, every plant and stone and animal, and the Earth upon which I walk every day.
The Act of Consecration of Man teaches us gratitude. Tuning in to the higher being within each of us, we gather in reverence to worship the spiritual world, so that what happens in heaven can create a new reality in the earthly world.
- Nataliia Shatna
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We will take some time in the Open Congregational Meeting on Sunday, 7th to speak about these changes.
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Gospel readings
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| Sunday, October 31 |
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Revelation 1:1-3;9-20 |
| Sunday, November 7 |
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Revelation 7:9-17 |
| Sunday, November 14 |
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Revelation 14:1-13 |
| Sunday, November 21 |
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Revelation 21:9-27 |
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Advent |
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| Sunday, November 28 |
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Luke 21:25-36 |
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Some useful resources
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Landline |
Mobile |
Email |
| Church |
01342 825 436 |
n/a |
tccinfr@gmail.com |
| Tom Ravetz |
01342 458132 |
07749 662717 |
lenker@tcc-mrr.co.uk |
| Nataliia Shatna |
n/a |
07763746175 |
nataliia@tcc-mrr.co.uk |
- You can download a shortened, printable version of this email here.
- See previous issues of our Updates here.
- If you are not on our mailing list, you can subscribe here.
- Reply to this email direct or by clicking this link.
- Gospel readings for the Act of Consecration of Man are listed here.
- Our Facebook page.
- Perspectives, quarterly journal of The Christian Community.
- Header picture by Deborah Ravetz
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