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Home page

Home page

of Christ Church, Selly Park
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Sunday services

Sunday services

at Christ Church are informal in style. Regular service times are 10.30 am and (most weeks) 6.30 pm
Aerial view of a congregation standing to sing

Sermons from morning services are available for download

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News and events

News and events

Calendar of services and other events for the next few weeks

Keep up to date on our news page or download our latest notice sheet

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Christian living

Christian living

Small groups and other events to help us live and grow as Christians Two teenagers reading a Bible and pointing something out

Resources to help read the Bible in a year and a report on our Weekend Away in September 2011

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Vision and values

Vision and values

What we stand for at Christ Church
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Alpha course
The Alpha course at Christ Church
Bible reading challenge
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Weekend Away 2011

Weekend Away 2011

A report on this special event in September 2011
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Children

Children

Activities for children (age 0-11) include Toddler Club, Sunday and midweek groups, Scouts and Guides and special holiday events
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Young people

Young people

Our two youth groups covering the age range 11-18 are led by youth worker Ellen Eagling
Photo of Ellen Eagling
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Young adults and students

Young adults and students

The Nexus group provides a link for students and others in the 18-30 age range
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Our building

Our building

is used for a wide range of church, community and private events each week
The Christ Church building as seen from across Pershore Road Find out more about its facilities, take a photo tour or visit the Building Project archive
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Community action

Community action

Using our building, recycling, why we love the Birmingham Half-Marathon (now renamed the Great Birmingham Run), Helen Tomblin's Comedy Club, enhancing our lives with fun and creativity, and more... plus links with other local churches
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Worldwide connections

Worldwide connections

Our partners rescue street children in Tanzania, engage in Christian media work, combat poverty and much more
Beccy and Dan with younger people in Bolivia
Beccy and Dan travelled to Bolivia to help with church projects there
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Our story

Our story

How a centre of worship in an ageing hall grew into today's Christ Church
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Contact details

Contact details

How to get in touch with us, where to find us and other practical information for visitors
You can phone us on 0121 471 2379 or send an email
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Site map

Site map

List of pages on this site and their content
“The Bible is a remarkable book. If you open a Bible at random you could come across poetry, proverbs, history, love-songs, architectural details or a national legal code. This amazing collection of literature was drawn together by numerous authors over a period of hundreds of years, yet amazingly - miraculously, even - it still tells one consistent story.” - Wycliffe Bible Translators

Getting the big picture

Young people in Christ Church pioneered reading the whole Bible, starting in the summer of 2010. They have contributed most of the quotes on this page

Two teenagers reading a Bible and pointing something out
“Reading the whole Bible gives a sense of perspective - how all the individual stories fit together”

Advice and study guides

  • Biblefresh
    Offers advice and encouragement, with links to a wide range of resources related to the Bible.
“Reading a section every day helps me to stop saying, ‘God can wait till tomorrow’”

Reading the Bible online

Both sites allow the whole Bible to be read or searched in a variety of translations, and offer commentaries and other resources.

Copyright restrictions limit the range of translations that can be published online. Both the above sites offer the New International Version (NIV), which is the translation used for public readings in Christ Church. Christian bookshops stock a range of modern English translations.

“I was surprised at the relevance of a book that was written such a very long time ago”

The Bible in audio

“It's hard to relate to books like Leviticus where the context was so different to today”

Bible reading plans

Read the whole Bible, the New Testament or selected passages in a systematic way. A whole Bible plan typically covers about 4 chapters a day (depending on length), chosen to provide variety in what is being read.

Essential 100 cover
“Reading it over a year means it doesn't seem like too much each day”

Taking the challenge

At Christ Church we encouraged our members to start reading the whole of the Bible in 2011.

Many churches used the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Authorised (King James) translation to promote Bible reading. We also wanted to follow the example of many of our younger members who had taken up the challenge several months earlier at Soul Survivor.

“I started reading because I thought it was important to get the background on the Christian faith”

Most people need a bit of help and guidance to cope with such a large and varied book. This page provides some links to Bible reading plans and other online resources that may prove helpful.

If the whole Bible is too much, try just the New Testament, or Scripture Union's Essential 100 passages.

“It's definitely worth doing, but be prepared to be challenged by what you find - such as the amount of violence in the Old Testament”

We shouldn't just brush over the difficult bits, and one of our 2011 Lent courses looked at just this issue.