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Tuesday 13th April 2010

GWR 175 – Civic Service of Thanksgiving for the foundation of the Great Western Railway.

Sunday 29th August 2010 at 3.00pm at St Augustine’s Church, Summers Street, Even Swindon.

Please join us for this very special occasion to give thanks for the foundation of the Great Western Railway.  The service will take place on the nearest Sunday to the actual anniversary (31st August) and will be attended by the Mayor of Swindon and local councillors.  Invitations have also gone to the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, and when known following the General Election, Swindon’s MP’s will be invited.  The preacher will be Right Revd Mike Hill, Lord Bishop of Bristol.

Refreshments will be available following the service.

 

Monday 5th April 2010

Easter flowers and thanks!

 

Many thanks to all those who came and made the church look spectacular for Easter!  Photo's can be found by clicking here.

 

Sunday 7th March 2010

Nave Platform and Altar

 

The new Nave Platform and Nave Altar were dedicated in memory of Arthur Done, a great supporter and benefactor of this church for over 90 years.  Other works have been carried out on the church thanks to a generous legacy left to the church in Arthur's memory.

 

Sunday 29th November 2009

A very special Advent Service

 

We welcomed our friends from St Barnabas and All Saints to a United Benefice Eucharist.  It was a lovely service and included lighting the first of the Advent Candles. 

 

Also during the service, Revd Canon Alastair Stevenson dedicated new candlesticks in the choir stalls, in memory of Derek Holmes and donated by Carol.  They are a very worthy edition and looked wonderful as they were lit during the service.  They are removable and can be used in procession - but they will primarily be lit for festivals and special services, particularly over the Christmas period.  A photograph will appear here shortly.

 

Thank you Carol for this very fine gift.

 

Sunday 9th August 2009

An update from St Augustine’s on our recent All Age services. 

We really do enjoy these services and they try to involve everybody. 

In June, we looked at flags as it was Flag Day in America – and thought about the theme of belonging, and the fact we all belong to Christ’s family, just as people in a country ‘belong’ to their flag.  We started the service with an ice breaker, where we matched up things/sayings/people together for example Morecambe and Wise, War and Peace….you get the idea!  We then went onto to think about what symbols could represent St Augustine’s in order to create a banner.

Thanks to Heather, and lots of hard work, we are now in possession of a beautiful, vibrant banner with the following four symbols (from top left): the dove of peace, the sign of the fish with Jesus in text form, some musical notes representing the wonderful musical history of the church and a steam train to represent the Great Western Railway and the railway works.  Thanks Heather – the banner looks great, and gives a corner of the church a splash of colour.

July’s service fell on Sea Sunday, so we thought about the sea and how it affects us all.  Every member of the congregation was invited to decorate a fish (we’re all part of Christ’s Shoal) which formed part of a piece of artwork with the theme “The Spirit hovered over the waters” which was hanging from the beams in the roof.  There were many positive comments about the art – and it stayed in place for a month until it was adapted to fit in with the next month’s theme!

 

In August, we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the moon landings with a ‘Space and Creation’ theme.  The service started with a countdown, the music from 2001 a Space Odyssey and even our own rocket launch!!  The bible reading from Genesis 1 was done in a more interactive way, with pictures on the screen and music from the Planet Suite playing gently in the background.

The peace was done differently – instead of shaking hands and hugging because of the swine flu ‘restrictions’, we launched rocket balloons into the church (much to the amusement of congregation members!).

The prayers were also done differently – around the church we had six prayer stations:

• God’s amazing creation: with pictures on the screen and nature sounds where people could reflect on the most beautiful place they could imagine and thank God for the beauty of his creation.

• God’s provision: after taking a piece of fruit, we thought about its journey from tiny seed to our homes, thinking of those who grew and worked on the fruit, as well as those who work to provide us with food.

• The earth as a gift: Remembering the earth is a gift that is passed on from one generation to another, as it has for thousands of years, we held a globe with a ribbon tied round it, which was passed on from one person to another

• Destruction: we thought about climate change and the way the earth has been treated, and of those who suffer.

• Graffiti Wall: Graffiti is seen as a way of spoiling the environment, but on this wall we wrote our hopes and dreams for the future of our planet.  The wall is still in church and people will be encouraged to add to it as time goes on.

• Be the prayer, be the change: Think about the simple changes you could make in your life.  We asked God to inspire, challenge and encourage us about a few in particular.  We then lit candles and placed on a map of the world.

For this service, Emily and friends made a model of the solar system which is now hanging from the centre of the church from the piece of artwork we created in July (minus the fish).  Lee’s space rocket has now formed part of this.  The artwork will be up for about a month, so if you get time, pop in and see it!