Vision Day

Where is God leading Christ Church? How can we serve more effectively in our parish and in the wider world? In October 2011 we spent part of a Sunday thinking and praying about these issues. Longtime members, newcomers, old and young joined together to help set our priorities for the future.

Looking down on a group of people studying papers around a table

Small groups, big thoughts

A boy writes down ideas on a whiteboard

Young and old contributed their ideas

Weekend away 2011

Most members of Christ Church took part in a residential weekend in Shropshire in September 2011. There's a full report on this page.

The weekend was led by Rob Bewley, formerly Associate Vicar of St John's Church, Harborne

Rob Bewley speaking

Making space: the Quiet Room

The Christ Church building can be a busy place, with lots of things happening in the halls and side rooms. Many people have felt the need for a space to be set apart for prayer and reflection, and the Quiet Room was dedicated for this purpose in September 2011. It's available for anyone to use whenever the building is open.

A low table with a book, a candle and small stones

A quiet place for prayer and reflection

Candles and small stones on a shelf

Some people find candles and other physical objects helpful

From time to time members of Christ Church express new-found faith through baptism, and ongoing commitment through confirmation. At a celebration in July 2011, four people who took part explained why they were taking this step.

In the audio recording (which can be downloaded using the link on the right), first we hear from the younger generation as Tom and Oliver are interviewed by our youth worker, Ellen. Then Gaie and Corey each describe their journey of faith to our vicar, Geoff.

A boy tells the Bishop he is ready to be baptised

“This is my faith”: Ready for baptism

MP3 format, size 3.1 MB

With All Your Mind

“She told me her faith had been completely crushed by people who held these ideas”

Some years ago one of our members found himself in conversation with a young woman who had been exposed to some widely-held beliefs: that the material world does not matter, and that rational thought is "unspiritual". Down the centuries much Christian thinking has been influenced - even infected - by these ideas, but they are not Christian at all, deriving instead from Greek philosphy.

Peter had recently studied a book countering these ideas, and recalls that this woman cried when she realised that the teaching that had led her away from faith was in fact false. After much further study, Peter has launched a website called With All Your Mind whose aim is to help and encourage us to think about our faith. It contains links to online articles and audio exploring a wide range of topics from a Christian perspective.

Labyrinth

For one day in March 2011 our smaller hall was transformed into a place to contemplate the deeper things of life. Participants followed the maze-like path with time to listen, watch and reflect at a series of points along the symbolic journey.

Young people sitting and kneeling at tables with candles and a cross
Young people standing, sitting and kneeling at various points around the hall

Creative media helped each of us to reflect on relationships with ourselves, God and others

Annual Meeting: giving thanks

At our Annual Meeting in April 2011, members were invited to write down something that they particularly wanted to thank God for in connection with Christ Church. Among a wide range of topics, the most mentioned categories were:

  • Friendship and support within the church
  • Our young people
  • More people being welcomed into the church
A candle, small stones and sticky notes on a table

Giving thanks

“Seeing God at work changing my life and the lives of other people”

Bible reading challenge

It started when a group of young people from Christ Church went to Soul Survivor in the summer of 2010. Many of them took on the challenge of reading the whole Bible in a year - and found it really worthwhile.

Early in 2011, the challenge was extended to the whole church, and 60 adults committed themselves to reading the whole Bible or specific sections of it within a year.

There are plenty of resources to help read, understand and even listen to the Bible, and we've provided some links on our Bible reading page.

Two men holding an open Bible and discussing it

The Bible: provoking thought, debate and action