CHURCH LIFE
LIFE in all its fullness
Some of the activities and ministries at Life Church Petersfield.
Women’s Prayer and Share The group was set up about four years ago because there was a need for the females in the church to further their walk with Jesus, to share their problems and to pray, where everything remained confidential. This is what we do today. I asked some regulars to say what they like about the group:
‘I really love to hear people’s testimonies. No matter how long you’ve known them there’s always something new you learn about them.’
‘It’s an opportunity to come and share our hopes and needs in a comfortable, safe environment, a time when we can get to know each other. Our mornings are encouraging and confirming.’
‘I feel relaxed and at ease and really secure knowing that people won’t judge.’
‘…the warmth, friendship, and love and I always feel better at the end of the morning.’
God is good! He has answered so many of our prayers, not necessarily in the way we were thinking but certainly resolving problems in His own way. We have prayed for difficult relations, relationships, sickness, bereavements, jobs, financial matters and many more things. Often we share a meal together after the meeting. The 7:14 evening affected us all and we decided that we must pray for the Prime Minister and Government during our meetings. Last year we had a steady number of people attending, recently this has increased to 12.
If you would like to join us we would love to welcome you on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, usually at Liz Studd’s home, 64 Moggs Mead, Petersfield – just drop in.
Liz Studd
Messy Church is currently in abeyance; hopefully it will start again this year. Watch this space!
Messy Church Emma Dean and I have been running Messy Church for the past 7 years and we’ve seen it grow and develop into a new expression of church within Petersfield. We are helped by a team of folk from across the churches but the “hard-core” team are Liz & John, Sandra & Roger, Pippa, Caroline F, John Ide, John & Gerry, John & Penny, Joan & Terry, Paula, Robbie, Sue S and Jamie, and my thanks goes out to them for the support they have shown over the last 4 years.
The typical Messy Church runs along this pattern; Emma and I plan a theme that has about 10 activities and we start to set up from 1.45pm. Liz & John arrive between 2 – 2.30pm to start the cooking and the helpers start arriving from 2.30ish. Our first helper is nearly always Penny, who along with Emma plans some amazing bits of craft, if you haven’t already have a look at the web site for the King Neb – he got us a mention in the Messy Church news!! Panic happens at 2.30 p.m. when we have crafts without a pair (or two) of hands to run it but God is good and we always have the right number of helpers needed each time!
Children and parents arrive from 3.00 p.m. and the messiness starts from 3.30 p.m.; at 4.20 the call to tidy up is made and then there is a wonderful team who turn the hall around to be a place to eat while the children and parents listen to one of the local clergy give the talk and sing some worship songs then it’s food time! One of the parents recently said that this the part she really enjoys as it is so nice to be served and she always feels very special on the 3rd Tuesday of the month! Then the tidy up team starts – washing up, cleaning kitchen, clearing the hall ready for the Egyptian dancers who arrive at 6.45pm! We’ve only ever met them once and that was because they were in earlier for a practice! Again this is something that relies on volunteers and even if it’s only one in three you can help at that would be wonderful. The jobs that need “fresh” volunteers are from 4.30 p.m. when it’s time to sort the hall out for the meal, to help serve the meal and to help with the tidy up afterwards. I’m sure that I speak for everyone when I say that the end of Messy you get home and sit down shattered! But sure that God has been at work! See Messy Church page on the PACT website for latest information
Come and join in with projects or bring your own. Enjoy fellowship and making new friends. Would you like to learn how to knit or crochet? We have wool, needles and patterns to get you started. We also have card making with Sally Smith Come and go as you please. Wednesday Evenings once a month from 7 – 9.30 p.m. at Herne Farm Leisure Centre, Moggs Mead
Contact: Belinda Shaw 01730 267471
Jesus said, let the children come to Me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”. Matthew 19 v 14 (New Living Translation)
At Life Church we believe that church should continually seek to be accessible and welcoming to every age and learning ability. We seek to provide this through our Children’s Church and a once a month “All Age Meeting”.
What to expect in Children’s Church … Singing, dancing, a drink and biscuit, crafts, games, drama and lots of fun learning about Jesus. On the first three Sundays in each month, after a joint time of worship in the main hall of The Petersfield School, Children’s Church meets in a classroom currently as one “all age group”. This starts at approximately 11.00 a.m. and finishes at 12 noon. All children between the ages of 3 and 12 years are welcome to join us. Pre-school children will need to be accompanied by a parent or carer until they are settled, familiar with the routines and able to join in the various activities. Visiting and new children are always very welcome Safeguarding: All the children’s leaders hold current DBS checks and Life Church has a Child Protection Policy should there be any safeguarding concerns regarding adults or disclosures made by a child whilst in the care of Children’s Church team leaders.
On the last Sunday of each month (during school term times), Children’s Church does not meet. Instead, there is an All-Age Meeting which is a service for everyone to be together. This starts at 10:30 a.m. with a light breakfast. It is an opportunity for relationships across the church and generations to develop. The meeting proper kicks off at 11.00 a.m. and is shorter than usual (approximately an hour long). There is worship for all ages and lots of interactive ways of learning and sharing about our amazing God. Please come and join us… we look forward to seeing you! If you have any questions, please feel free to email Children’s Church leader, Anna Walker or call the Life Church office: 01730 231400 and leave your contact details.
The King’s Arms affectionately known as ‘KA‘ to the young people, is a charity that has been set up to meet the needs of the young people of Petersfield and Alton and their surrounding villages. We run a range of different clubs for different age groups and have loads of cool things for them to do from arts and crafts, cooking or just having space to chill! There are youth workers available every day for young people to support, encourage and just to be a listening ear. We want the young people of this district to fulfil their potential and know their worth. Our hope is that the young people will take ownership of their club and help us to turn it into something that meets their needs and inspires them to get the best out of life!
For more information please contact Caroline@thekingsarms.org.uk
For a fuller list of what they do, check out their website here
‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things’. Philippians 4 v8
Aims of the group * to raise the profile of the Visual Arts in church life, in worship and through inspiration of the Holy Spirit and to encourage those people with gifting or interest in the Arts through discussion and practical work. * to create appropriate Holy Spirit inspired work In and for meetings and events in church life.
Idea behind the workshops
* the small workshops have been designed and created to be welcoming and allow people the freedom to experiment with ideas, materials and techniques.
* The workshops are not formal and you do not have to have any experience with creating ideas or using the materials and techniques.
* If you have the desire and enthusiasm to learn how ti draw, paint, sculpt or work with textiles, glass or clay then please do come along.
* A donation of £5.00 for half a day and £10.0 for a whole day is required. If you use glass or willow then a small additional charge will need to be made to cover the cost of these more expensive materials.
* workshops can be booked by contacting Belinda before hand. Christians and non church people are all welcome.
Informal Sunday meetings take place alternate Sunday evenings at 7.30pm.
Contact – belindashaw44@gmail.com or Belinda@Christian-Art.net
Website showing examples of our work available.
The Men’s Group is currently in abeyance; hopefully it will be running again soon.
Meeting monthly on Monday evening for a meal, a talk, conversaion and relevant activities. For more details on getting involved in the Men’s Group, chat to John Studd.
Visit the Men’s Group website: www.lcpmg.org.uk
U-Nite is a youth collective that meets every Friday evening 4.30 – 6.00 at the King’s Arms youth centre. We are currently working through Youth Alpha and being challenged about our belief in God. It is an opportunity to share a meal together and talk about what is going on in life and support one another.
For more information please contact Mark@thekingsarms.org.uk
Life Church Petersfield has partnered with YWAM for many years, and currently supports the following YWAMers, giving financial, prayer and moral support.
Fiona Gifford – see below
Carol & Chris Hatton – see below
Becky Frith – see below
Leah Broomfield – see below
Jack Cross, – see below
ly miss all of the wonderful people that I have met at Life Church. Blessings to you!
Hello, we are the Hatton family, Chris, Carol Phoebe and Jethro who are currently working with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Harpenden UK.Our involvement with Life Church started with Carol coming to faith through the church in the early 90’s. From being nurtured in Life Church as a new Christian, Carol sensed a calling into international missions and has worked with YWAM in the Pacific region on and off for the past 20+ years. Life church has always been her sending church and her spiritual home. After meeting Chris, and having Phoebe and Jethro while living in Australia, our faith journey has continued with Life Church very much in our DNA. We are currently involved at YWAM Harpenden, in different aspects of training and equipping young people for their part in the outworking of the Great Commission and YWAM’s mandate “To Know God and Make Him Known’. Click here for Jack & Paris Cross’ letter December 2021
Hey my name is Jack and I joined Life Church as part of the youth group when I was 16 years old. I joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Los Angeles when I was 18, where I met my lovely wife Paris who is from St. Louis, Missouri. Together we work in the Anti-trafficking ministry at YWAM LA called Justice 180. I have lead many outreaches, mainly to Chiang Mai, Thailand and subic bay/ Olongapo City, Philippines, where we work with women who are sexually exploited. Currently in LA we have just opened up a coffee shop called Talitha Koum Coffee Roasters. Our heart for this shop is to be able to answer the question we are asked many times when working with women on the street. “If I leave my trafficker who will give me a job?” Through Talitha Koum we will provide jobs where we can start giving a viable way out for the women we work with. We are so grateful for the support and encouragement from Life Church and are blessed that you get to be a part of our mission!
Currently, I teach, train and mentor in the areas of discipleship and communication with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and the University of the Nations (UofN) based here in Cape Town, South Africa (although I’ve travelled to over a 100 countries during these 36 years in missions). Originally, I was one of the Canterbury tribe that moved as a church to join a small group of Petersfield believers in 1980, so I’ve been greatly involved with this church and people for over 40 years now. It’s an incredible joy to journey with these peeps for all this time!In 1990, Petersfield Christian Fellowship (now Life Church Petersfield) officially ’sent me out’ as their missionary, and regularly support me financially and in prayer until now, alongside other amazing, faithful friends. I’m so grateful to have a spiritual home and UK community to which I return for three weeks annually (prior to the pandemic) – to serve, reconnect, teach, and join in whatever way I might be a blessing. In God’s timing, I plan to relocate back to the UK, and look forward to connecting more with what He is up to in Petersfield!
John is a Christian leader who works across the denominational divide by teaching, mentoring and equipping the saints for their works of service (Eph 4:12). He tries to split his time between working in the church and the community so as to ensure that he doesn’t become a professional christian, and that he puts into practice what he teaches. At this period of time his primary community involvement is working with Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth Mediation Service and various organisations in developing a restorati
ve city.
He has journeyed with Life Congregation for the past 14 years as a friend with an apostolic gifting.
Dominic Clarke
Dom currently works as a Programme Manager at The King’s Arms Youth Project. He is responsible, amongst other things, for the charity’s faith-development work. He is married and has two older children and is based in Southsea, Hampshire. Dominic is an ordained Anglican priest, with extensive experience in pioneering forms of ministry, church planting and Christian youth work. Dom’s heart is always to find new ways for people to engage with faith and spirituality in a meaningful, relevant and inclusive way, especially if they find more traditional forms of church difficult. His teaching is always rooted in experience, reason and a deeply practical approach that sees God’s love working itself out in every area of our lives.
He hopes through visiting Life Church regularly over the next year that he can share some of his insights into adopting a pioneering approach to evangelism, mission and ministry, how to engage people in the story of Jesus, and to help and encourage the whole church to really explore and experience the spiritual gifts as part of our everyday lives.