At Hope.4.All this week, we discussed how and what to pray with theme of Thy Kingdom Come, a global wave of prayer calling Christians to pray between Ascension and Pentecost for more people to come to know Jesus.

Thy Kingdom Come suggest that for the days between Ascension and Pentecost, we pray for 5 people each day. After discussing various ideas on where we can pray, including in the shower, we started two activities focused on different ways to pray.

Everyone split into smaller groups where they were given the beginning to prayers following the intercessions, and were asked to add events or people that affect their lives.

Once written, they were given a chance to say these prayers together in their small groups. 

We all then moved to the creche area near the back of the church, where we discussed how when we see a rainbow, we are reminded of the promise from God to us. Names were put onto the hearts, and added to the rainbow cloud for all those people who we want to pray for, and the cloud has been left in the church for all visitors to see over the next few weeks.

The tables were full for the annual Charity Lunch which was served in Hope Church Hall today.  No fewer than four choices of soup and rolls were on the menu followed by a tempting selection of puddings. 

It was a great opportunity to enjoy a tasty lunch and to give to a worthy cause at the same time. Donations amounting to £287 were made to the 2019 diocesan charity Housing Justice Cymru.

Many thanks to those who generously provided the food and served us so efficiently.

Those of you attending the Welcome Afternoon in the church on Saturday may have caught a glimpse of conservator Dr Andrea Kirkham at work up on the scaffolding.  She is cleaning and conserving the church’s wall paintings above the arches so that we may see them more clearly and understand them better.

Dr Kirkham has confirmed the paintings to be from the 17th century and has found them to include a verse from the King James Bible, Proverbs Chapter 15, verse 3.  This section can be seen in the first photo below.  The second photo shows Dr Kirkham inspecting some of what has been revealed so far and deciding on her next step.

Please don’t forget that, while Dr Kirkham’s work continues, access to the church is limited to services and advertised events.

There were plenty of bargains to be found at the Rail Sale in the Church Hall today.  A great selection of new and nearly new clothes and jewellery were on offer.  Throughout the day there was a steady stream of customers many of whom stayed for refreshments too.

Our thanks to Blodwen and all the other helpers, to those who donated to the sale and to all who came along to buy.  A pleasing sum of £587 was raised for church funds.

We turned Hope Church Hall into a cinema again, to watch the film Risen.

The film, which is only a few years old, is shown from the perspective of a Roman soldier who witnessed Jesus' death. This was a unique perspective that added a really a different element to the story, which was enjoyed by all.

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Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

We had a variety of services at Hope and Emmanuel Churches on Easter Day to celebrate the Resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

In Hope.4.All service, we re-enacted the story of the women finding the tomb empty with the help of people in our congregation. Afterwards, the younger members made their way outside to complete a puzzle, which had two difficulties, to achieve an egg. They were able to colour and play within our creche area at the back of the church.

The service was finished with Holy Communion, or a blessing, from Rev. Adam and Assistant Bishop Jill.

A very Happy Easter to you all, and your friends and family from everyone at Hope and Emmanuel Churches.

Palm Sunday in Hope welcomed back everyone’s favourite Donkey, Max!

During the service, we were treated to a great story about how Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. There was even a great donkey cake and crafts before the service.

We hope if you attended any of our services, that you thoroughly enjoyed yourself. If you enjoyed the style of the Hope.4.All service, remember that we meet at 4pm every week in Hope Church.

Remember to check out our Events page to not miss any of our upcoming events.

All four congregations from Hope and Emmanuel Churches gathered together yesterday for 2019’s Celebration & Vision Night.  We gave thanks for all that has been achieved in 2018 and committed ourselves to continuing to serve God in our churches and communities in the year to come.

The opportunity was taken to thank Barry and Angela Smith for their service to the Parish over the last 30 years and more.  In particular Adam expressed everyone’s gratitude for their unstinting work in running the Church Hall as that responsibility now passes to others.

by Allan Poynton

Rob and Pam Attree organised a wonderful quiz night for us on Friday.  This photo was taken as Rob was explaining the rules at the start of proceedings. We do look serious, but we had a lot of fun.

As you can see, we had plenty of teams. There was a good mix  of people from across our congregations and also the community.

We were grateful to Rob for a quiz that tested our knowledge of music, film and television, sport, product branding and much more.

Thanks also to Pam and Georgia for the smooth running of the quiz, also the ladies for half time refreshments and raffle.

At the end of the quiz, the best team won!