Christian Aid Week is fast approaching, giving us a chance to share the generous gifts that God has given us. Mark Currie is our local representative…

Now is your chance to share what you have with those in greater need! In order to inspire us to share our love for our neighbours, we are planning to hold another quiz event, and communications about this season’s quiz will be routed through the Life Groups.

I will also be taking on a personal challenge involving a bike (or two); a cathedral (or two or maybe more) and possibly some sheep. It will be a carbon neutral challenge, so will be in keeping with the theme of this year’s Christian Aid Week, which is focused on Climate Justice.

The world’s poorest communities are suffering the most whilst they have contributed the least to the problem of global warming. The devastating climate crisis robs people of the water and food they need to live.

Please donate this Christian Aid Week. Your gift could help a community build an earth dam, providing a regular and reliable source of water in affected areas of Kenya and other affected countries.

• £4.40 could teach 10 farmers how to plant drought-tolerant crops that can survive the drought.
• £10 could buy a pair of taps at a water point, which will be installed at an earth dam making it easier for people to fetch water.
• £42 could buy 350 kg of cement, which is needed to build an earth dam.

Please visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mark-currie8 if you are able to make a donation, so that we can associate the donations with the St Andrew’s community, and I can keep you updated on progress.

Creator God, from the tree of the garden of Eden, to the tree in the city in Revelation, we thank you for your vision of creation healed. Help us to be your agents of restoration, tending to the beauty of the Earth, and enabling your healing of the nations. Amen.

Mark Currie

Welcomers (formerly known as sidesmen and women)

Our loyal team of Welcomers fulfils a vital role in our openness to the community. We are currently looking for more people who feel able to offer a warm welcome to everyone who arrives at church, whether ‘regulars’ or visitors. At this stage, please just leave your name and details with the office team to register your interest and the wardens/Gwen will arrange to have a chat about the role. If you decide to go ahead, you will be put on the rota for whichever style of service you prefer to attend, and the commitment is likely to be roughly once per month.

 

Dear Friends

Would you like to find out more about the GRCT and our on the ground projects? Join us for a short but informative zoom meeting to learn more.
When?
Wednesday 12 May, 10am and 8pm
What?
The GRCT is hosting a zoom presentation on our work “Who, What, Why, How?” The event will be one hour long, and will be lively and informative with a short presentation and time for Q&As.
Where?
We are hosting it twice on zoom on the same day – at 10am and 8pm, so if you are interested in attending you can choose the time that suits you best.
Zoom link 
Please RSVP with your preferred time by emailing  and we will forward the Zoom link to you. We do hope you can join us!

With best wishes
The GRCT Trustees

On 24 April the PCC and Ministry Team at St Andrews held our second virtual Away Day. Although it is true that we all would have preferred to meet in person we were still grateful to be able to get together by zoom. Contact has been necessarily limited throughout the year and it was a real blessing to have the time to catch up with each other.

As Frances asked us to reflect on the work of the church during the lockdown, and in particular things we would like to celebrate, we were able to come up with a surprisingly long list. Many were things that I was aware of, such as the enhanced technical capability which has allowed us a live streamed Sunday service, the invaluable work of the pastoral team and the enhanced role of life groups. However it was great to hear of the work done by the StAks@home team and that the Open the Book online service has been viewed by around 80-100 children weekly.

Small breakout groups allowed us to have lively discussions about how we will welcome people back into church and how we will serve the community of Oxshott.  This was very much the beginning of the process of reopening but nonetheless it was a very productive and encouraging time.

Jill Perrett

Are you someone who has the passion and experience to engage and disciple families & younger children?

We’re a lively church. We’re growing and looking for great people to join our team. We’re seeking a visionary and creative person to help us build and develop fruitful relationships with the many young families in our community in Oxshott, Surrey.

You’ll be someone who:

• Enjoys making connections with families and children
• Is passionate about bringing families to Jesus and nurturing them
• Has experience with children aged 0-11
• Can build and nurture teams of volunteers
• Is a prayerful Christian, open to the work of the Holy Spirit

We have a preference for this role to be Full Time, but hours can be flexible by mutual arrangement. They will need to include Sundays and some evening commitments.  Salary £28,000 – £30,000 dependent on experience. There is a genuine occupational requirement for the postholder to be a Christian and an Enhanced Plus level DBS is necessary.

For an informal chat about the role, please ring Frances (the vicar) on 01372 802316. The job description, application form and more information about us are available below.

• Job Description
• Application form (MS Word)
• Application form (PDF)
• Church of England confidential declaration form (MS Word)
• Church of England confidential declaration form (PDF)

Please complete the application form and email it to:

The deadine for applications 12 noon on Tuesday 1 June 2021.

 

 

 

The ten days of celebration, prayer and witness takes place this year between 13 and 23 May.

 

After the very first Ascension Day, Christ’s disciples gathered to pray and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and, over the centuries, Christians have used this period to pray in the same way. Thy Kingdom Come was started in 2016 by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York as a global prayer movement, inviting us to light up the world with prayer for families, friends and communities to experience the love of God. Since then, it has become a truly worldwide event gaining the support of church leaders across the globe.

Last year it culminated in a truly interdenominational on-line service lead by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, with contributions from Pope Francis, the heads of the Pentecostal and Coptic Orthodox Churches in London and many others.

We are encouraged to use this time to:

• Deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ
• Pray for 5 friends or family to come to faith in Jesus
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower us as we share our faith with others

Here’s how we can get involved:

Visit the Thy Kingdom Come website, watch the short introduction video and join with thousands of other Christians and pledge to pray.

• Download the Thy Kingdom Come App (or the 2020 version can be easily updated simply by opening it and following the Update link which comes up) so you can join in through your phone.
• Pledge2Pray: Add your star to the map and Light Up the World in Prayer!
• In Oxshott, as you take your daily exercise around the village use the time to pray for your 5 friends and family and for others that you meet on your route. Also ask God to show you anything else he wants you to pray for.
• Look out for our two Prayer Trees, one in the High Street opposite the pedestrian crossing and the other on the corner of Kenilworth Avenue and Steels Lane.  We encourage you to stop and use these trees to thank God for all he has done for us, to remember a loved one, or to request prayers for yourself and others. Simple ways to do so will be given and explained. You can also email your requests to .

Here at St Andrew’s, please join us for the following events:

• A short event to launch TKC on Wednesday 12 May, 8pm on zoom.
  This event has now finished
• Thursday 13 – Sunday 23 May, Daily Prayer at 9am: a half-hour meeting via zoom for prayer and reflection using the TKC Novena booklets, including Ascension and Pentecost. (Copies are available free of charge from the Church Office or may be downloaded from Thy Kingdom Come).
  
  Join zoom meeting
  
  
• On Saturday 15 May, our Daily Prayer at 9am will be incorporated in a ‘Super-zoom Breakfast’ led by Andrew and Ruth Burns. This will combine the day’s Novena meditation with a time of fellowship with others in our church family.
  This event has now finished

As we have done for a number of years we are setting aside a special time to pray for our local businesses and shops, schools and community groups. Join us for either or both of these two prayer events as we walk ‘virtually’ through our village on zoom:

• Tuesday 18 May, 10.30am – Schools & Community Groups
  Download the Schools and Community Walk Map
  
  Join zoom meeting
  
  
• Wednesday 19 May, 2.15pm – Businesses and Shops
  
  Join zoom meeting
  
  

And our children and young people are not forgotten either.  Both Bevendean and Royal Kent School are keen to participate through their own version of the Prayer Trees and a range of family resources and creative ideas for prayer will be posted via our StAks@home page.

St Andrew’s Church will soon be hosting Alpha Online, on Sunday evenings from 12 September.

• What? Alpha is a chance to explore life and the Christian faith in a friendly, open and informal environment.
• Why? We all have some big questions about life, faith and meaning – maybe especially at the moment! Alpha gives us a chance to explore the big questions together, hearing each other’s thoughts.
• Who? Alpha is for anyone and everyone. You don’t need to have been to church before, and people generally have pretty diverse points of view, which can lead to great discussions!
• How? With ‘Alpha Online’ we meet together via zoom, to watch an episode about questions around the Christian faith, and have a chance to chat about it afterwards. There’s no pressure, no follow-up and no charge.
• When? 7.45pm-9pm, Sundays, from 12 September 2021. There are 11 sessions, so the course will finish in mid-July.
• Where? You can join us on zoom from wherever you are! Let us know you’d like to join us, and you will receive the zoom link by email. You can sign up by visiting www.standrewsoxshott.org.uk/alpha, or contact us by email: , or phone: 01372 842071.

We do hope you can join us!

Developing Existing and New Ministries at St Andrew’s Oxshott

As we begin to move out of lockdown it is time to prepare as a church for the post-pandemic period we will emerge into. To help the PCC and others in this prayerful and reflective preparation, we are inviting you to input your experience as members of the Church Family at St Andrew’s, and Community of Oxshott. If you would like to, please complete the survey below and press the ‘submit’ button. There are no ‘right’ answers, and responses will be dealt with as confidential, so do please tell us what you really think and feel! Thank you.

Please complete this survey by 20 April 2021

Emily Godfrey (EG), the Electoral Roll Officer, reporting on the Revised Electoral Roll. The figure for this year to March 2021 is 173 (3 less than 2020). The numbers are as follows:

• Number after 2020 revision = 176
• Number now = 173

There is very little change since the revised Electoral Roll done in 2020. The changes were mainly deaths and moving away.