Guest User
November Prayer Calendar
November Prayer Calendar
Guest User
Disciplines of the Disciple
Disciplines of the Disciple
Guest User
Tough Talk
Tough Talk
Guest User
October Prayer Calendar
October Prayer Calendar
Guest User
Kingdom Community
Kingdom Community

Life to the Full, a Deep Dive into Colossians

Life to the Full, a Deep Dive into Colossians

Paul writes to a young church in modern-day Turkey, likely planted through the ministry of Epaphras, his co-worker in the gospel (Col 1:7-8). This church, early in its journey, is being unsettled by a local “philosophy”, voices urging them to trade the freedom of Christ for the weight of religious rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” (Col 2:21).

Concerned, Epaphras brings news to Paul. And Paul responds with clarity: Jesus is enough. He is not just part of the story, He is the centre. Supreme. Sufficient. The only Saviour. In Him alone is true life, beautifully captured in the soaring hymn of Colossians 1:15-20.

“15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:

  • A Worthy Life - What is our focus in life?

  • Death to Life - How is Baptism a picture of this?

  • New Life - Putting on your new self

  • A Peaceful Life -Living in peace

  • Sharing Life - Prayer and sharing faith

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

A Worthy Life
3 August at 11am with Clare Thompson

Death to Life
10 August at 11am with Tim Dobson

New Life
17 August at 11am with Jake Perrins

A Peaceful Life
25 August at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Sharing Life
31st August at 11am with Dave Mitchell

A Worthy Life
3 August at 6.30pm with Matt Dobson

Death to Life
10 August at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

New Life
17 August at 6.30pm with Nigel Savage

A Peaceful Life
25 August at 6.30pm with Laura Harris

Sharing Life
31st August at 6.30pm with Jack Saunders

Navigating Life with the Psalms Series

Navigating Life with the Psalms Series

Our emotions can be mystifying. Science struggles to fully explain their origin and for Christians, they can be both life enhancing and seriously undermining! God created us to experience emotions, but wants to give us godly ways to manage them.

The Psalms—ancient Jewish poems of prayer and praise— can give voice to some of our deepest emotions. They are timeless, profoundly human, and deeply spiritual prayers that can help us process life. One aspect of the Psalms is how they can help move us along when we get stuck! They guide us on journeys from sorrow to joy, fear to faith, longing to fulfilment, despair to hope.

Over the next few weeks we will be enlisting the help of the Psalms to help us process some of our most common emotions. As we take the opportunity that summer brings to recharge our relationship with God, we want to dig into the literary and psychological genius of these three thousand year old prayers.

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at:

  • An Attitude of Gratitude - 6th July

  • Overcoming Fear - 13th July

  • Navigating Uncertainty - 20th July

  • Contending for Contentment - 27th July

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

An Attitude of Gratitude
6 July at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Overcoming Fear
13 July at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Navigating Uncertainty
20 July at 11am with Jake Perrins

An Attitude of Gratitude
6 July at 6:30pm with Ruth Morgans

Overcoming Fear
13 July at 6:30pm with Nigel Savage

Navigating Uncertainty
20 July at 6:30pm with Dave Mitchell

The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series

The Holy Spirit for Everyone Series

As a church, we want to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. As Pentecost Sunday approaches on the 8th June, we will be thinking about the gift of the Holy Spirit. But there’s more to it than that.

Living the Christian life is impossible without the help of the Spirit. Our character growth depends on the fruit of the Spirit. Our prayer life depends on the unction of the Spirit. Our ministry depends on the power of the Spirit.

On the day of Pentecost the promise of the Spirit was for everyone (Acts 2:39). This series looks at some of the aspects of the work of the Holy Spirit - for everyone.

Our talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at:

  • Everyone’s Invited – 1st June

  • Good News for Everyone – 8th June (Pentecost and Global Partners Weekend)

  • Generosity for Everyone – 15th June

  • Freedom for Everyone – 22nd June

  • Worship for Everyone – 29th June

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Everyone’s Invited:
1 June at 11am with Clare Thompson

Good News for Everyone:
8 June at 11am with Johnny Walker

Freedom for Everyone:
22 June at 11am with Clare Thompson

Worship for Everyone:
29 June at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Everyone’s Invited:
1 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Good News for Everyone:
8 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Freedom for Everyone:
22 June at 6.30pm with Matt Dobson

Worship for Everyone:
29 June at 6.30pm with Ed Marsh

Our Culture Series

Our Culture Series

This May and June, all of our congregations across the Woodlands Church Family are sharing a preaching series called Our Culture where we’ll be looking at four values that shape our life together.

Our talks in this series will look at how we aim to be:

  • Welcoming

  • Authentic

  • Empowered

  • Expectant

As a church family spread out over eight sites, we're increasingly trying to call together the distinctives that help us understand the shared mission and journey that we're on. It's difficult to boil all of our culture and values down into simple, memorable phrases, but we're going to do our best in this series.

A particular distinctive about the Woodlands Church Family is the ‘both/and’ idea and concept that runs through so much of what we do in our theology and our practice. And you'll find it running through this sermon series as well.

We want to unpack some key things that you'll find and experience if you come into any of our celebrations, gatherings and communities around the city and region.

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week. We hope you find the questions useful to help you look at these values in more detail.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Our Culture: Welcoming
4 May at 11am with Tim Dobson

Our Culture: Authentic
11 May at 11am with Hazel Askew

Our Culture: Empowered
18 May at 11am with Rachel Riddall

Our Culture: Expectant
25 May at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson

Our Culture: Welcoming
4 May at 6.30pm with Dave Roderick

Our Culture: Authentic
11 May at 6.30pm with Nigel Savage

Our Culture: Expectant
25 May at 11am with Dave Mitchell

Our Culture: Empowered
1 June at 6.30pm with Dave Mitchell

Dinner with Jesus Series

Dinner with Jesus Series

As we lead up to Easter we are looking at Jesus in the gospels through the lens of meals he shared with people. We get to see Jesus’ heart toward others and how He used meals to minister to those around Him. Meals welcome others into our lives and help others feel invited and included.

This seven week series will help us see how we can use meals, like Jesus did, to reach out and connect to those around us. In our discussion notes below, we’ve included a handful of questions for you to discuss as a group as well as a challenge to apply the teaching in a practical way each week.

Our talks in this series will look at the following topics:

  • 16th March – Supper with Sinners

  • 23rd March – Would you like a fish sandwich?

  • 30th March – The Uninvited Guest

  • 6th April – Who’s coming to the dinner party?

  • 13th April – One Last Meal Together

  • 20th April – Easter Sunday

  • 27th April – Breakfast on the Beach 

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Supper with Sinners
16 March at 11am: Dave Mitchell

Supper with Sinners
16 March at 6.30pm: Tim Dobson & Ella Harbord

Would you like a fish sandwich?
23 March at 11am: Rachel Riddall

The Uninvited Guest
30 March at 11am: Hazel Askew

Who’s coming to the dinner party?
6 April at 11am: Rachel Riddall

One Last Meal Together
13 April at 11am: Nigel Savage

Easter Sunday
20th April at 11am: Nigel Savage

Would you like a fish sandwich?
23 March at 6.30pm: Rachel Riddall

The Uninvited Guest
30 March at 6.30pm: Dave Mitchell

Who’s coming to the dinner party?
6 April at 6.30pm: Matt Dobson

One Last Meal Together
13 April at 6.30pm: Dave Mitchell

Easter Sunday
20th April at 6.30pm: Rachel Riddall

Prophecy Mini-Series

Prophecy Mini-Series

As a charismatic church, from time to time we press in on teaching around our values on the work of the Spirit and the kingdom of God. Last year, we focused on healing and this March we are looking at prophecy.

We are a prophetic people and we are all encouraged to pursue the gift of prophecy. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14 - “...eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy."

This mini-series over two weeks will explore the prophetic:

  • What do we mean when we talk about prophecy?

  • How do we discern and weigh prophecy?

We hope that these talks will help us find our way forward as individuals and as a community.

Talks in this mini-series are titled:

  • 2nd March: The water we swim in

  • 9th March: Test everything

Watch this 90-second video with Dave Mitchell explaining the vision for the series.

Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.

See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!

MESSAGES FROM THIS SERIES

Clare Thompson | 2 March 2025 at 11am

Nigel Savage | 2 March 2025 at 6.30pm

Vacancy for Early Years Lead

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our Children's team as our Early Years Lead with a focus on children aged 0-4 years at Woodlands Central. 

 As Woodlands Church Family we aim to disciple children and families to be connected, confident and equipped.

1. Connected
We aim to help children and families to connect with Jesus, with one another in friendships, in relationships with the church community and with a sense of belonging.

2.  Confident
We aim to help disciple children to be confident in their knowledge of who God is, to have a sense of their own identity in Christ and therefore confident enough to ask questions, explore faith and be curious.

3. Equipped
We aim to equip and support parents as they disciple their children with the help of the Holy Spirit. We aim to equip children with tools to help them to pray, read the bible and experience the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We want to equip them to own their own faith in Jesus, to obey Jesus and to be empowered ministers to the world around them. 

About the Role
This position is a leadership role to oversee and grow how we disciple our early years generation at Woodlands Central. This involves leading, shaping and delivering our discipleship programme for early years. This includes overseeing our Sunday and midweek ministry programmes, as well as events and outreach initiatives throughout the year.  

The discipleship strategy will be delivered through a large team of volunteers who you will need to recruit, train and support. You will be responsible for communicating vision to the volunteer teams and wider church. You will also be involved with the wider children’s ministry, with an investment in the whole ministry to all our children.    

Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.  

Requirements: This role requires a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a member of Woodlands Central.

To find out more about this role, download the following documents:

Terms
This is a permanent position contracted at a minimum of 2.5 days per week with a requirement to work on Sunday mornings. 

The salary band for this role is £26,000 - £28,000 pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.

The role will be based at Woodlands Central in Clifton, Bristol.

The post is subject to satisfactory references.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.

How to apply

The closing date for applications is midnight on Friday 28th March 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications. 

Please contact Nigel Savage, Senior Leader at Woodlands Central at nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net if you have any questions about the role.

If shortlisted, interviews will take place at Woodlands Church on the afternoon of Friday 4th April 2025.

For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Please send your completed application to Nigel Savage at nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net and our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Vacancy for Senior Children & Families Lead

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with six sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our team as Senior Children and Families Lead at Woodlands Central.

 As Woodlands Church Family we aim to disciple children and families to be connected, confident and equipped.

1. Connected
We aim to help children and families to connect with Jesus, with one another in friendships, in relationships with the church community and with a sense of belonging.

2.  Confident
We aim to help disciple children to be confident in their knowledge of who God is, to have a sense of their own identity in Christ and therefore confident enough to ask questions, explore faith and be curious.

3. Equipped
We aim to equip and support parents as they disciple their children with the help of the Holy Spirit. We aim to equip children with tools to help them to pray, read the bible and experience the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We want to equip them to own their own faith in Jesus, to obey Jesus and to be empowered ministers to the world around them. 

About the Role
This position is a strategic leadership role to oversee and grow the Children’s and Families ministries at Woodlands involving leading, shaping and building an expanding children's ministry for children aged 0-11.  

This includes planning ministry programmes, events and outreach initiatives throughout the year. You will lead and line manage the staffed Children’s Team and through them recruit, train and support a large team of volunteers. You will oversee the Families Ministry including daytime groups and events, equipping parents to disciple their children in the home.  

Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.

Requirements: This role requires a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a member of Woodlands Central.

To find out more about this role, download the following documents:

Terms
This is a permanent position contracted at a minimum of 3 days per week (22 hours 30 mins) with the possibility of more hours being added and the role potentially becoming a full-time position.

The salary band for this role is £29,000 - £31,000 pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.

The role will be based at Woodlands Central in Clifton, Bristol.

The post is subject to satisfactory references.

We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.

How to apply

The closing date for applications is midnight on Friday 28th March 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications. 

Please contact Rachel Riddall, Senior Leader at Woodlands Central at rachel.riddall@woodlandschurch.net if you have any questions about the role.

If shortlisted, interviews will take place at Woodlands Church on the afternoon of Friday 4th April 2025.

For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Please send your completed application to Rachel Riddall at rachel.riddall@woodlandschurch.net and our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton hr@woodlandschurch.net.

Join us for Lent 2025

As Lent begins we want to invite you to join with us thinking about and celebrating the Easter story.

For many churches around the world Lent is like a journey where we join together with the whole church world wide, including our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church. It’s a time of drawing closer to God and thinking about the events of that one week that changed the course of human history.

In 2025, Lent begins on Wednesday 5th March and ends on Thursday 17th April.

This year, why not choose a bible reading plan that will help you follow the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross? Lent culminates in Holy Week, when as a church we try to find ways of pausing each day to remember the specific events of that week, including our Good Friday service and Easter Sunday celebration at Woodlands.

Nowadays there is a wealth of free digital bible plans available online and in apps.

DIGITAL LENT RESOURCES

The following resources are available through the Bible App which is completely free, with no advertising and no in-app purchases, or access plans direct from their website version of the Bible online.

Additional free app based daily devotionals from 24-7 Prayer:

  • Lectio 365 
    A free daily devotional resource that helps you pray the Bible every day, inspired by Lectio Divina, a way of meditating on the Bible that’s been used by Christians for centuries.

  • Lectio for Families 
    Free devotional app that helps families read the Bible and explore faith together.

  • Inner Room 
    A Lent prayer series, available through the Inner Room app. The app has morning, afternoon, and evening prayers designed to bring you back into the presence of God for a few minutes throughout your day. This year their theme is ‘what’s shaping you?’, with an invitation to choose to be shaped by God this Lent. 

Volunteer Opportunity: Children's Team Administrator

The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too have our teams, and we have an exciting volunteering opportunity within our Children’s Church team at Woodlands Central.

JOIN THE TEAM

We are recruiting for volunteers to join our Children’s Church team to support and underpin some key administrative work for the team at Woodlands Central. We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested and Children’s team admin is something that sounds like an area you’d be interested in helping with!

Key areas of work include:

  • Volunteer rota checks for acceptances/declines and highlighting gaps where more volunteers are needed.

  • Processing all new children’s church volunteers through the recruitment process.

  • Processing new children into groups on ChurchSuite.

  • Transfer Sunday registers of attendance to ChurchSuite records.

  • Assist with setting up meeting dates and sending out invitations.

  • General administration as delegated by children’s church leaders e.g. booking a venue space in the building, sending prewritten emails to groups e.g. for one off events.

Personal attributes and key skills

  • Strong administration skills with an eye for detail

  • Good written communication skills

  • Administering confidential information in line with our Data Protection Policy

  • Team player

Our volunteer roles require a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a worshipping member of the Woodlands Church Family.

Could you commit to around one day a week to support this ministry? Ideally it would be helpful, if you have availability during the day, to meet with the children’s minister on a Monday between 11.30am - 12.30pm to run through weekly tasks but there is flexibility as to when the rest of the hours/tasks are delivered in the week. You’d be very welcome to join us at our Children’s team meeting too.

Support in volunteering role
You’ll be given in-house training on Data Protection and the use of our ChurchSuite database if needed.

You are also welcome to join in with our wider Central team time on Monday mornings from 10am - 11am where we gather to worship, pray, share good news and have input from key members of the team.

Hannah Dunmall
Assistant Children’s Minister

INTERESTED?

Please contact our Assistant Children’s Minister Hannah at hannah.dunmall@woodlandschurch.net for an opportunity to meet and discuss the role further.

Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA