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Praying, exploring, and sharing

This Sunday: 20th March

Litter Pick - 10.30am

Meet us outside Woodpecker Close at 10.30am for an hour. In partnership with Northstowe Town Council, Sustainable Northstowe, and Plastic Free Longstanton and Northstowe

3.30pm Afternoon Communion in the School Hall

What’s your favourite bible story/verse/character?

This Sunday, we continue our series picking up Wesley’s Wisdom as we think about how Scripture plays into our spiritual practices. We’re back in the school hall, and slowly reintroducing our characteristic movement and flexibility. It’s always helpful to have an idea of who might be coming - but feel free to simply turn up

COVID UPDATE: If you can LFT beforehand we would be most grateful. We are still encouraging people to wear masks unless leading, but use personal discretion. There will be hand sanitizer on every table. If you are comfortable mixing and using multisensory resources, that’s great. But you are also welcome to pick one place and stay there.

We’re not yet able to resource refreshments yet, so please bring your own drinks and snack, especially if little ones will need them

Responding to the War in Ukraine: praying, giving, acting

The brutal war in Ukraine has triggered the largest war-related migration of people since the Balkan War of the 1990s. The church of england has put together a helpful page with information for churches and individuals seeking to respond.

War in Ukraine: responding | The Church of England

Church Council are meeting on Sunday evening to decide on some next steps: please talk to any council members during Church on Sunday to feed into that.

You can also see some of the resources we used at our Wild Church, and on our Reflection Table recently, by clicking on these images:

Volunteer Opportunities in Northstowe

Have you visited Northstowe’s community café yet?

Pioneer Café – at Northstowe Community Wing, Pathfinder Way, Northstowe CB24 1AA – is open to anyone from Northstowe, Longstanton and the surrounding area every Wednesday from 10am until 12.30pm. It’s a great place to meet friends, pick up a book from the microlibrary, or make use of the free wi-fi to answer a few emails.

They’ve got some exciting new developments to share! They’ve listened to customer requests and expanded the menu to include milkshakes, and are thrilled to be supporting local businesses by offering specials each week, such as brownies by the Chocolate Queen and delicious sourdough toast by Raised in Rampton.

They are launching a loyalty card: buy ten hot drinks and get the 11th absolutely free, and a “buy it forwards” scheme where you can donate a coffee to someone in need when you purchase your own.

They are also going to trial opening on a Wednesday afternoon for a few weeks after Easter: 3.30-5.30pm from 27th April. They’d love to hear from anyone interested in volunteering at the café for the morning or afternoon: please get in touch at friendsofthewing@gmail.com.

Although the afternoon café will be open to everyone as usual, Northstowe Youth Hive (supported by Pathfinder Church) are hoping to run a youth drop-in session at the same time: they’re looking for volunteer youthworkers to help provide a safe place to hang out after school, perhaps playing games, completing homework, or simply meeting new friends. If you’d like to get involved with youthwork, please contact youth@northstowe.info.

Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, build self-confidence, and develop new skills. Friends of the Wing, who run Pioneer Café, and Northstowe Youth Hive will both provide you with appropriate training and support, and we’d love to hear from you, or see you there!

If you have teenagers in your household, why not send them down to Monday’s Youth Hive Campfire to find out more, and help them plan what happens in the Cafe after the Easter break.

A visit from our Bishop’s Visitor:
April 3rd - SAVE THE DATE

SAVE THE DATE We’re in the process of confirming a vist from Mark Rodel, our Bishop’s Visitor, to help us pray and dream together about where we are called to be in 5 years time… especially asking questions about fundraising and bidding for land for a hub-building for praying, exploring and sharing.

We hope to meet after our end of term lunchtime communion picnic. More to follow soon…

More dates for your diary

At the end of term, we’ll be celebrating Easter itself with a week of special events in including a Palm Sunday Adventure Trail; Maundy Thursday Campfire Music Night, and A Walk ending with Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday, culminating with our now-traditional campfire communion (9am, Easter Sunday), Watch social media for more…

We know that many of us have family and friends spread out across the country. Northstowe often empties out during school holidays! So before we commit any further to our special events during Easter holidays, we’d love to get a feel for who is likely to be able to come… and who might help ensure we run safely and well.

Please let us know your availability using this form. (Typical completion time 3 1/2 mins)

Help us plan well for Lent and Easter by filling in this short form

Exploring Spirituality with the Wisdom of Wesley

Something particularly exciting about Pathfinder Church is the ecumenical backstory that continues to shape us. We’re the result of many years of prayer from local churches across different traditions, who continue to support and encourage us to grow as a church for this time and this place.

Our minister, Revd Dr Beth Cope, is an Anglican Priest, but those who are coming together to form Pathfinder Church come from all traditions and from none: together we are pilgrims on a journey, asking questions and exploring the connections we find between everyday life and our spirituality and faith.

In the run up to Easter this year, we are digging into our Methodist heritage, exploring the spiritual practices promoted by John and Charles Wesley… and trying them out for ourselves: praying, exploring and sharing. Why not come and find out more?

We’re picking up these themes Sunday by Sunday. But there are also midweek opportunities to did deeper. Read more on our website, and talk to Beth, Rachel, or Ellie.

Read more on our website

Lent resources to try at home

At our Wild Church with Pancakes, we shared some ideas for things to try during Lent - traditionally a time to try out new habits that help us notice God around us even more. How are you getting on?

We talked about how we form good habits - starting small, and slowly building up. (Think Couch to 5K)

Here are some of the things people are trying

  • Exploring Silent Prayer. One way to do this is pick a name of God, or phrase from the bible, and slowly say it over in your mind as you sit in silence and notice what happens as you hold a space to become aware of God’s love around you. We suggested getting a 1 min timer, and trying that for the first week. In week two, you can increase that time a little. Maybe read more here: www.contemplativeoutreach.org

  • Walking and Noticing. Set out on a walk, deliberately noticing what’s around you. Be aware of God with you: (As we’ll sing on Sunday, God behind, God beside, God ahead). What does he draw to your attention? What conversation might you have with him as you walk? Again, start small - perhaps 5 mins three times a week in the first week. And then extend a little in week two?

  • Reading or Listening. Here are a few of the books and podcasts people are trying out. You can get them from all good bookshops. We’ve linked here to Amazon to help those looking for audio versions.

  • Prayer Apps

Don’t be overwhelmed by that list. Remember, little and often… one thing at a time. And we’re all different!

Stay in touch

Whatever the coming months bring, please remember that we are all still here praying, exploring, and sharing. And keep using the WhatsApp Chat to stay in touch - let us know if you want to join!