Alpha starts 4th October

Autumn Alpha 2023

Curious about faith? Try Alpha! This free course offers a chance to ask questions and explore the Christian faith in a fun, no-pressure environment. Each session includes a talk and a discussion where you can chat through your thoughts and questions with a small group of people just like you.

The course is totally free, it will be running on Wednesday nights from the 4th October for 10 weeks. To find out more, including how to register, click the button below.

It is not too late to sign up! Whether it is the first week or the last week, you are welcome to join at any point in the course.

---

Autumn Alpha 2022

Camp Fire Holiday Club

A 3-day holiday club

We are gathering around the camp fire for three fun-filled mornings with field games, a craft cabin, bible stories and a tuck shop!

When?

• Tuesday, 2 August to Thursday, 4 August 2023

• 9:30AM - 12PM each day

Where?

Woodlands Central

Ticket cost?

£12 for all 3 days

My ChurchSuite | All you need to know

My ChurchSuite

The events you have signed up to, the groups you are a part of, the members of your family, these are all things you can manage through a My ChurchSuite account.

With the aim of giving you more control over your personal data Woodlands would like to encourage you to create a My ChurchSuite account. This can be done by emailing data@woodlandschurch.net.

In case you are unsure on how My ChurchSuite works the team have put together some directional videos to help you get acquainted with My ChurchSuite and all it’s helpful features.

---

---

If you already have a My ChurchSuite account you can sign in through the button below.

Special Offering for Turkey and Syria | Sunday 12th Feb

Special Offering, this Sunday

Many thousands of men, women and children have died following the deadliest recorded earthquake to hit Turkey in decades. On Sunday the 12th of February we will be taking up a special offering at all of our Sunday Services. All financial gifts will be used by Christian Aid who are working on disaster relief in both Turkey and Northern Syria.

To participate in giving to this cause please click the link below.

New ID Course: Complete freedom from an eating disorder | Starts 22nd Feb

Struggling around Food?

This course takes place every Wednesday evening for 6 weeks starting on the 22nd of February. To sign up, or to find out more, get in touch through the button below.

Wholeness Course: Explore Identity | Starts 21st Feb 2023

Wholeness: Explore Identity

Explore how our lives can be established on the sure foundation of our God given identity. This is a course with stories of breakthrough, teaching, including our ‘Spiritual spring clean’ and opportunities for receiving prayer.

Our next Wholeness 1: Explore Identity course will be taking place over 6 weeks beginning on the 21st of February, on Tuesday evenings from 20:00 - 22:00 here at Woodlands. To sign up follow the link below.

To find out more about the wholeness course head to the webpage here.

---

Hear some Testimony’s from the Wholeness Course

My ChurchSuite | Sign up now!

My ChurchSuite

We want to give you more control over your personal data. Create a My Churchsuite account to have better access to:

• Your events

• Your team rotas

• Your personal information

To create an account please email data@woodlandschurch.net.

---

If you already have a My ChurchSuite account you can sign in through the button below.

Christmas | Save the date!

Christmas service dates are here

The Christmas festivities begin in only one month, and we can already hear the sound of Dave's banjo, as he sings our folky Christmas favourites! Below you will find a list of all our Christmas service dates, be sure to put them in your calendar and maybe even invite a friend!

More information on these services to come!

---

Join the Christmas team

We love to welcome church family and guests along to our Christmas services happening throughout December. We need helpers to ensure these services run smoothly, so if you could set out chairs, welcome people, chat to newcomers or serve hot drinks, we'd really appreciate your help. Just fill in this online form to sign up and we’ll be in touch via email soon with more info.

Prayer Week

Our autumn term prayer week is coming up from Sunday the 11th of September to Sunday the 18th. Each term here at Woodies we host a prayer week as an opportunity to come before God together and offer him that which is on our hearts. In past events it has been a lovely time of fellowship, as we are able to look forward and prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming season. The week consists of hosted events and prayer space that can be booked by individuals or groups. To book a slot in the prayer room click here.

Holiday Club in August

Woodlands Church is running a Holiday Club full of Fantastic Feats!

Tuesday, 24th August - Thursday, 26th August 2021 from 9:30am - 12.00pm daily.

Come and join the Circus for three days of Storytelling, Worship, Teaching, Crafts, Games and Silliness.  It is going to be fantastic!

Featuring: Acts of Faith, Hope and Courage, Crafts, Worship and impossible challenges from the Ringmaster himself!

For children in reception to year 6.

We're really excited to be able to offer this opportunity for children to connect with God and each other again and are praying they have a great time.

Spaces are limited, so be sure to book your kids in soon!

• Fantastic Feats Holiday Club

Woodies Kids | Saying Sorry

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are thinking about…

saying sorry

Today we are thinking about saying sorry and being forgiven.

Even though it’s not always easy, when we do something wrong it’s important to

say sorry, and Jesus will always forgive us! In the Cheeky Panda treehouse, Benji is

enjoying his favourite pizza and leaves one slice in a labelled box in the fridge to enjoy later. CJ finds the slice and eats it, and learns that it's important to say sorry, just as the woman said sorry to Jesus in the bible.

When was the last time you said 'sorry'? Saying ‘sorry’ can often be one of the hardest things to say. In today's, Elle reflects on when she’s upset someone or has disappointed God, she feels like she has let people down. Elle notes pride as something that gets in the way of her saying sorry to other people, or to God. We need to say sorry when we’re in the wrong – breakthrough and freedom comes, when we say sorry.

I wonder why we find it so hard to say sorry? Vote on the top reason:

1) I don’t like being wrong

2) I am scared I might get punished

3) I feel guilty if I own up

4) It is easier to say “It wasn’t me”

5) No one really knows that I did it anyway so it doesn’t matter.

Choose five friends you could pray for this week. Draw around your hand and write their names in each finger! Is there anyone you need to say sorry to?

Chat and Catch: Tell God what upsets or disappoints you. Ask God to help you to say sorry when you need to.

Woodies Kids | Giving Thanks

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are thinking about…

Giving Thanks

In the Cheeky Panda treehouse the pandas are trying to think of a gift to get CJ for her birthday. They order pink ice skates, but pink iced cakes arrive and are all broken.

They are really sad that they messed up her birthday, but CJ reminds them that it's their friendship she is most thankful for! They learn that there is always something to be thankful for, because every good gift comes from God.

The Birthday Gift I wonder how you might have felt if your

birthday gift had arrived all broken? How might you feel if the gift you had given to

someone arrived all broken? What did you think about CJ’s response to her friends?

I wonder how you might have felt if your birthday gift had arrived all broken? How might you feel if the gift you had given to someone arrived all broken? What did you think about CJ’s response to her friends?

Woodies Kids | Praising God

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are thinking about…

praising god

Even on bad days, it does us good to praise God because it reminds us of how good he is, and how much he loves us. In the Cheeky Panda treehouse the pandas have been nominated for an award but don't win it. They learn that praise is important in every situation, because it shows God how much we love him. Just as Paul and Silas praised God when they were locked in prison, we should praise God because he is good every day!

Let’s make!

Find a small, empty plastic bottle with a screw top. Half fill it with either dried beans, rice or lentils. Seal the top, tightly. Make sure it makes a great sound when you shake it. Decorate your shaker with stickers, glitter, paper shapes etc!

Woodies Kids | How much do we mean to Jesus

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are thinking about…

How much do we mean to Jesus?

We are all like the sheep that wander away from the Shepherd, but Jesus always

comes to find us because he made each one of us and loves us. In the Cheeky Panda

treehouse Milo loses his custom-made guitar pick that is very special to him. They learn

that when God made each one of us, He only made one of us in the whole world, and He

loves us more than we could ever imagine!

Print out the image of the sheep below, cover it with cotton wool balls or Cheerios and mark the eyes and legs out in black. Play a game of hide and seek with the sheep!

Our Tiny Treasures Team are telling us all about their favourite bible stories over the next few weeks

Woodies Kids | Your favourite story

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are thinking about…

our favourite bible stories

Do you have a favourite bible story?

Why do you like that story? Is it the character you like or how God used that person?

Why not ask your family which bible stories they like and why they like them. Ask God if He wants to show you anything in those stories! You can use our chat and catch ideas below :)

Woodies Kids | Pentecost -The Holy Spirit (week 4)

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are learning about…

Pentecost

Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the church!!!

Do you remember when we spoke about when the disciples received the Holy Spirit and began talking in different languages?! The Holy Spirit spoke through them to enable them to speak to people of other nationalities about the wonderful love of Jesus.

3,000 people said YES to Jesus that day and were baptised. The disciples then travelled to different countries to share the good news of Jesus and this is how the church began to grow and spread across the world!

---

Woodies Kids | The Holy Spirit (week 3)

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are learning about…

the Holy Spirit

The Bible is one of the main ways the Holy Spirit will speak to us.

The Bible is full of lots of stories which help us to understand who God is, we can get to know him better by reading our Bibles.

---

Woodies Kids | The Holy Spirit (week 2)

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are learning about…

the Holy Spirit

We are thinking about how the Holy Spirit can guide us. In John 16:13 it says,

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

We watched this clip from the film Moana

Moana’s grandma helped to guide her to know what was true. She helped Moana to remember who she really is and to find her way. Just as Moana’s grandma guided her, the Holy Spirit guides us to find out the truth of who God says we are.

---

Do the children have someone in their life who helps them when they are struggling? This is what the Holy Spirit does for us also.  The Holy Spirit helps us to know what is right and what is wrong.

Chat and Catch –  Focus around asking the Holy Spirit to show the children the truth of who God sees them to be.

Tell God about a person in your life who helps you when you are struggling. What are they like? How do they help you?

Thank God that he sent his Holy Spirit to help us and guide us

Ask the Holy Spirit to show/tell you 2 truths about who you are  

Woodies Kids | The Holy Spirit (week 1)

Welcome to the Woodies Kids blog.

this week are learning about…

the Holy Spirit

The Bible tells us in Galations 5:22-23 that we can stay connected to Jesus and walk with the Spirit as our helper then we will produce good fruit in our lives.

We watched this clip from the film Ratatouille

Linguini wasn’t very good at cooking to start with but Remy showed him how – step by step. We’re not very good at following Jesus to start with, but the Holy Spirit lives in our heart and shows us how to do it – step by step. Mostly, we get a feeling inside about whether we should do something or not do something – that’s the Holy Spirit working and helping us.

Later on in the film, Linguini tries to cook without Remy and makes a big mess of it. If we try to live without the Holy Spirit, we’ll get in a big mess too! The Holy Spirit is our friend for life – if we let him, He’ll live inside our hearts and help us to follow Jesus better and better every single day.