Weekly email w/b 25th July

As I visited Powys Castle on the weekend with some friends, I was truly taken aback by the beauty of the location and surroundings. Everywhere I turned I could see beauty in one form or another. Either in the beautiful landscape around the castle, or in the architecture of the castle, or the lovely peacocks that roam freely around.

There is beauty in all of God’s creation, including you and me. Some seasons in our lives we feel that this beauty is hidden and other seasons it shines through. No matter what season we are currently passing through we always need to remind ourselves that we are truly ‘fearfully and wonderfully made‘. That we are valued , loved and cared for by the Creator himself. Let’s take a minute in our day to see the beauty within us and give thanks for it.

Over the next few weeks with Fun in the Sun we’ve got wonderful invitations to join with others across the church family. Next week we’ll be hosting both ‘Holiday at Home’ for some of our more senior parishioners, and a holiday club for children. As well as praying for these fabulous ministries, let’s commit to walking with others of different generations and seeing what they might teach us about the God of love and His incredible creation.

Grace and peace

Amal Moore, Pioneer Community Minister

This Sunday sees the first of our “summer Sundays”, including quite a few people being at the New Wine Summer Conference in Peterborough. Here at Trinity Peter Madley will be speaking at the 9am and 11am at Meole Brace, and Shirley Stevens speaking at the 10.30am Radbrook gathering. We are continuing looking at Hebrews 11 and what it is to live “everyday faith” in our lives.

It’s the first of our summer Sundays for children and young people. Over these summer weeks Trinity Kids, along with Pathfinders are invited to come and join us as we go up the bell tower, make and write music together, and have some fun treasure hunts (not necessarily all on the same day!) This will be open to ages 4-14 providing an opportunity for Trinity Kids and Pathfinders to journey together. If there are any Anon members who would like to be involved in supporting the activities please let Cerys and Craig know and we will help you get involved.

Our evening congregation meets as usual, 6.15pm for 6.30pm in the Bradbury Hall. Valerie Pitt will be speaking on being a “messenger of the gospel”, the last in our series thinking about what mission-shaped living might look like.

 

A sneak preview of the first three “Fun in the Sun” events coming up:

‘Sport Sunday Plus Picnic‘ on 7th August after the 11am service. People of all ages and stages have had great fun over the summer joining in with Sport Sunday. Remember this is for children, young people and adults, everyone can join in! Remember to bring your picnic lunch!

‘Sunday Evening Summer Social’ on 7th August as part of our 630pm congregation. We’ll start from 6.15pm as usual, hopefully meeting in the courtyard and making the most of some good weather. We’ll spend some time over some light refreshments enjoying a summer’s evening, then we’ll have a shorter service together.

Pudding Party is a longstanding fixture of the summer, 7pm on Wednesday 10th August at The Vicarage, Meole Brace. (Next door to church, opposite the hardstanding / parking area). We ask everyone attending to bring a pudding please, and we all get to share food and company together. All are welcome.

For most of these we’re not requiring people to RSVP, though an idea of numbers is really helpful, so if you’re able to let us know you’re interested in coming then do so on the website or via the Church Office in the usual way. NB Please note the change of date for “Splash Park and Ice Cream” because of the clash with Shrewsbury Flower Show!

More about Fun in the Sun events – and RSVP

We know we’ve had some ‘gremlins’ with the last four Sundays of our livestream congregation. We’re so sorry about that. We are working on it, and when budget allows we’d like to invest in some gear which will make this more straightforward…

We’ve decided – for Sunday 31st July and the four August Sundays – to pre-record a Sunday service which will go out “as live” on Sunday mornings. This will give our amazing tech team a chance to have a month off, as well as to sort out some of the issues. So for those joining us online please go to Facebook or our website as usual from 11am on Sunday mornings and you’ll find your way to our Sunday online gathering, this week hosted by Fi and Phil. The readings and theme of the talk are the same, and the service lasts just over half an hour. If you haven’t joined us online before on a Sunday and would like to do so – whether “live” or on catch-up – then you’re really welcome.

Join us online on Facebook

“Church at Home” and church online have been an important feature of our COVID journey. Thank you to everyone who has been part of this, and the amazing team of people who have helped to make this happen.

Alongside five Sunday congregations across our life at Trinity we are committed to maintaining and improving our online presence. These three areas of our online life below will help us develop this into the future. Complete the survey by clicking on the link below.

Take part in Church Online Survey

We’re really looking forward to Holiday at Home, taking place from 1st to 3rd August 2022. This is our regular gathering of people from across the local area, and gathered from various areas of our ministry here at Trinity. It’s hosted by Keith and Amal Moore and a really great team. Do please be praying for the team, and for a really good time for all those involved.

Meanwhile there’s also a “Commonwealth Games” holiday club for children and young people taking place on 4th and 5th August. More details from Cerys or Craig.