Christmas is almost here. This afternoon BBC Radio Solent was recording the annual Christmas carol concert at Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church. This festive event was hosted by Tim Daykin, and it also featured the Otterbourne Brass Band.
The church was packed with 400 people this afternoon. Were you one of the 400 people there as well? If so, please kindly share your experience with us. [Read more…] about BBC Radio Solent: Christmas Carol Concert at Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church
We are fortunate to have so many concerts, craft fairs, and advent events in and around Chandler’s Ford at Christmas time.
Here are some events that we’ve found and shared. If you know of more events, do let us know so that we could share them with the Chandler’s Ford community.
This article is written by David Gurr, of St Francis Church, on behalf of Chandler’s Ford Churches Together (CFCT). You can find Church Services in Chandler’s Ford for Christmas 2018 on the CFCT page.
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As Christmas approaches there is often a debate in our communities about the place of religion and faith amidst all the presents and feasting. Central stage for Christians is the birth of Jesus into a family with Mary and Joseph. Also central stage is the conversation piece of “are the family coming for Christmas?” or “are you going to the family?” [Read more…] about Christmas – A Time for Families?
The churches of Chandler’s Ford wish you a peaceful and joyous Easter. We will be ‘walking’ with Jesus on his way to the cross and celebrating his resurrection on Easter morning. The churches would warmly welcome you to any of the services and you will find the details at Churches Together in Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about Easter Message from the Rev. Peter Cornick: Christ is Alive!
A while back, the Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church was busy collecting signatures of people in the Church and its community. Visitors to carol services, customers in the Dovetail Café, and all the groups who use the premises were being invited to sign in charcoal or chalk on special paper.
These names have now been turned into a work of art by an artist, Rev David Hollingsworth, who is skilled at community works of art. [Read more…] about Dovetail Art Project with Revd David Hollingsworth
Last night I attended the Candlelit Carol Service at Eastleigh Baptist Church. My friends have recently joined the church and sang at the choir, so I went there for support and friendship.
The service was absolutely brilliant, uplifting, and enjoyable. It was beautifully intertwined with poetry, drama, and songs. There was a choir made up of adults and children, a top-class 4-people band, a modern drama (family got stuck on M25; a sulky teenager; train being late), a classical play (with costumes; tea-towel-headed shepherds that sort of thing), and Spoken Word. The Spoken Word was beautifully written: short passages in rhymes, and the narrators were passionate with their narration. To top that, both screens highlighted the keywords being read, so the visual impact was very powerful. [Read more…] about Beautiful Christmas Church Services 2017. How’s your Christmas Day?
This morning I attended the church service at the Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church.
The service was led by Rev Dr Howard Mellor. He is a great speaker and his speech was full of humour. He started off showing a blue and white t-shirt representing Huddersfield Town, as he told us he watched the match yesterday and he showed his support for the blue and white team!
I don’t know anything about football, but his introduction using football seemed very well received. [Read more…] about Christmas in Chandler’s Ford 2017
Church Services for Christmas 2017 in Chandler’s Ford. From Churches Together Chandler’s Ford. [Read more…] about Church Services: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Chandler’s Ford 2017
QuizAid in Saint Martin’s Church on Saturday, 11 November 2017, by Brian Ridsdale
Quiz participants at Saint Martin’s Church, Chandler’s Ford cheered to hear that the UK Government will double the money they raised for Christian Aid’s Christmas appeal. On Saturday 11th November, 120 guests participated in a quiz with ploughman’s supper at St Martin’s Church. [Read more…] about Quiz Doubles Money for Christian Aid
I was walking along Park Road in Chandler’s Ford earlier in November and overheard a conversation between a mother and her son she’d just picked up from school. The mother told the son that they would put up their Christmas tree that evening. It was another example for me – along with the constant Christmas TV adverts, the endless playing of Christmas music and the Christmas goods in the shops and the Christmas decorations that are pretty much everywhere – that the Christmas festivities seem to start earlier and earlier each year! [Read more…] about Christmas – What’s So Special?
When did you last experience the Christmas Nativity story? No, not hear the story, experience it.
We’re probably all familiar with the story: Mary and Joseph, Donkeys, Bethlehem, “no room at the inn”, manger, shepherds, angels, and all. But what does it all mean and – more pertinently – why is it still important and relevant 2000 years later?
This year, Eastleigh Baptist Church will be seeking to answer this question with the Nativity Experience on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th November – planned to coincide with and complement the Christmas light switch-on in the town centre. [Read more…] about The Nativity Experience, 18th and 19th November
Yesterday morning, a few of us from Chandler’s Ford Today attended the unique ribbon-less re-opening ceremony of the Dovetail Centre at the Methodist Church. It was a warm and friendly place as usual, buzzing with excitement.
It was certainly a day of celebration, and also a day of reflection on the problem of loneliness in our community, and how we could all reach out to support one another. [Read more…] about Re-opening of the Dovetail Centre: to Engage and Share, and Fight Loneliness
In the past few weeks I met some friends at the newly refurbished Dovetail Centre at the Methodist Church a few times.
The place is bright, spacious, modern, and welcoming. It’s accessible to all, and I particularly like the much improved lighting. (I felt a bit dazzled at the beginning as I was sensitive to light due to short-sightedness, but soon got used to it.)
[Read more…] about Transformation: Dovetail Centre and Dovetail Centre Café
A few weeks ago, I went to the Gift Day at the Dovetail Centre of the Chandler’s Ford Methodist Church. The purpose of the day was to raise fund to refurbish Dovetail Centre, one of the most popular community centres in the heart of Chandler’s Ford.
It was a happy morning. We were sitting at the delightful Dovetail Centre, chatting to old and new friends, and were all excited about the new project. [Read more…] about Refurbishment for a Modern and Contemporary Dovetail Centre at the Methodist Church
In the 1980s there were no fancy coffee shops in Chandler’s Ford. It wasn’t common for supermarkets to offer you ‘free’ coffee either. Many young mothers found themselves isolated at home with young children, and elderly people were struggling to meet someone for a friendly chat.
One person saw that acute problem in Chandler’s Ford and decided to do something about it, to change for the better.
Her name is Jane Archer. She has run the Coffee Room based at the Dovetail Centre at the Methodist Church on Winchester Road for 37 years. Many babies who had played at the Coffee Room have grown up to become parents themselves. [Read more…] about Jane Archer – A Simple Vision, and 37 Years Leading The Coffee Room at Dovetail Centre
The Eastleigh Basics Bank have been serving the local community for nearly 6 years – providing much needed food to those families suffering short-term hardship. We were set up by the churches of Eastleigh and continue to operate on a purely voluntary basis from our shop premises in the town centre.
[Read more…] about Urgent Storage Needs – Eastleigh Basics Bank
In a few days Christians all over the world will celebrate Easter. Already the shops are full of a variety of Easter cards, many of which are decorated with beautiful pictures of eggs, bunnies, churches and spring flowers. I offer you instead this lovely photograph of St Martin in the Woods with its lovely Daffodils in the church garden. [Read more…] about Easter Message 2017 by Reverend Christine Whitehead
I attended the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in St. Boniface (CofE) Church this evening. The church was packed. Superbly directed by Dr. Hugh Benham, the carol service certainly defines Christmas musically for Chandler’s Ford.
(If you missed the carol service this year, try not to miss it next year. Trust me, you won’t regret it.) [Read more…] about Review: Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at St. Boniface Church 2016
So, as the old saying goes, “Christmas is upon us and the goose is getting fat” and, to stay in Dickensian vogue, “Bah, Humbug!” Sorry, but I had to get that off my chest! Seriously, I do find Christmas hugely stressful and have often wished that it would simply go away.
As a Clergyman I find that it is a time of high workload, with many additional pressures (as is also the case for so many in the retail trades). [Read more…] about Some Christmas Thoughts
At 6.30 pm on Sunday 27 November 2016, St. Boniface Church Choir will be leading a special service of music and readings for Advent Sunday.
Advent Sunday is the first Sunday in the church’s year, and the beginning of the lead-up to Christmas. [Read more…] about Advent Sunday at St Boniface Church: Sunday 27 November 2016
