News update.

It has been agreed to hold the 1st and last service each month downstairs in the hall. This enables those who find the stairs difficult, to attend. The last service each month will be a communion service, all services start at 10-30am. All welcome.

Worship services.

It was agreed at the last church meeting to hold the 1st service each month down in the hall, enabling those who find the stairs difficult, to attend. The first service in the hall will be on 6th February at 10-30am. All welcome.

Friendship Club

Are you by yourself? No need to feel lonely as The Friendship Club meet each Tuesday afternoon at 2pm in the hall for a sing song, and a cuppa. A good natter, games and quizzes can be enjoyed. Somewhere to meet with old friends or make new ones.

Coffee mornings.

Coffee mornings are held every Saturday from 10am to midday down in the hall. Books, puzzles and bric-a-brac stalls each week. Sorry but due to staffing we no longer open on Fridays.

Saturday coffee morning

Our regular Saturday coffee mornings will restart on 7th August. 10am until midday.
Fair trade tea and serviced with a friendly smile and a biscuit.
‘Come and meet again with old friends and make new ones’

Latest update on worship services

We are now having a worship service each Sunday morning starting at 10.30am upstairs in the chapel.
The services tend to be traditional in nature, bible based and all services are led by a variety of preachers from our Ministry team or visiting preachers.
Our fellowship is small in number, but large at heart and a warm welcome awaits you.

We are OPEN for worship

Following our meeting after the first service back after the long shut down it was agreed to continue to open the church each Sunday for worship at 10.30am.
With no minister to lead us every week some worship will be the Ad Hoc variety of hymns, readings, poems, and private prayer.
Government restrictions on social distancing, track and trace etc. will be followed.
All are welcome to come join us no need to book.

The church is to reopen.

With all the progress that has been made with Corona virus and the success of the vaccination program, the deacons now feel able to reopen the church for worship services.
Our first service, led by our own Liz Hudson, will be on May 30th and will follow all Covid regulations.
This will be a short traditional service and will be followed by a church meeting just to catch up and welcome you back.
See you there.

Church closed in December

To protect our visitors and ourselves in these unprecedented times with all the uncertainties and restrictions of the current pandemic, it is with deep regret that the deacons have decided to close the church until the after Christmas.

Stay safe everyone, we hope to be able to meet in the New Year.

Update on the Corona virus.

All in accordance with the government guidelines we are sorry but we have had to close again.
We hope to open once more as soon as possible in December.

Stay safe and well. God bless you all.

Latest update we are now open.

Latest update on the Corona virus, we are now OPEN and are holding short traditional services each week.
All are welcome, there is no need to book. A sanitising station is situated at the top of the stairs. Track and Trace slips must be completed on entering the building and the wearing of facemasks are mandatory. Social distancing will be strictly observed at all times. All in accordance with the government guidelines.
By staying apart we can praise the Lord together.
Stay safe and well, and God bless you all.

Corona virus

Due to the Corona virus the Church will remain closed until 1st May, when it situation will be reviewed.

This is a precautionary measure to protect ourselves and the community, social distancing is the most effective way to prevent the spread of this virus.

Thank you for your understanding.

For updates please visit our website at : www.stroudcongchurch.org.uk

Please continue to support each other with prayer at this time.

Harvest service

Our harvest service this year was led by Sue Browning and followed the Tearfund theme of ‘Less is more’. A retiring collection raised £137 for the continued work of the charity.

As a church we decided many years ago to give 5% of all the offertory money each year to charity. At a church meeting held after the harvest service it was agreed we would support the Severn Freewheelers and Macmillan Nurses.
Severn Freewheelers offer a free, out of hour’s service delivering blood, human tissue and other essential medical items between NHS facilities in Hereford & Worcester, Gloucestershire and North Wiltshire.
Macmillan Cancer Support is one of the largest British charities and provides specialist health care, information and financial support to people affected by cancer.
Both of these charities will each receive £216.71.
Thank you for your generosity.

Friendship Club Harvest

36 members of the Friendship Club celebrated harvest this month. We all enjoyed a lunch of soup, salad with new potatoes ham, cheese and egg, all followed by apple pie or cheesecake. Many thanks to all who helped make this a very happy occasion. The club for the charity Water Aid has raised a total of £422.75. Thank you for your generosity

Posy making.

This month Ladies of the F.W.O were pleased to welcome Debbie and Becky, Marion’s daughter and granddaughter, and after enjoying lunch together we spent an fun time making posies to decorate the tables. They look very colourful ladies.

1st Birthday

Our Friendship Club which has been meeting each Tuesday at 2pm has now celebrated it’s first birthday with a Mad Hatters bring and share tea party. Colourful fancy dress and great fun had by all.

A BIG thank you

A big THANK YOU to Kay and all those who helped on the evening of our concert with the Gloucestershire Police Male Voice Choir.
We had a wonderful evening and raised a total of £730, which will be shared between the Western Air Ambulance and the church.
Thank you to all who supported the evening and donated raffle prizes. Hope you enjoyed the evening as much as we did.

Mid week service.

We have starting a mid-week monthly worship service for those who find it difficult to get to church on a Sunday. Held on the first Thursday of each month starting at 2pm.
A short half hour service followed by tea/coffee and a biscuit down in the hall. All welcome.

Coffee Mornings

Friday 8th February.
With the snow all gone we’re back open at our usual times 10am – midday Friday and Saturday.

Friendship Club

A good time was had by the ladies of the Friendship Club this afternoon as they made Christmas decoration to go on the steps of the staircase up to the church ready for the 1st Sunday of Advent. And didn’t they do well. It all looks lovely ladies.

Gloucestershire Police Male Voice Choir.

Coming on May 17th.
This unique church, right in the centre of town will again play host to this renowned choir. Doors open 6.45pm. Tickets £7. Proceeds from the evening will be shared between The Western Air Ambulance and the church.

poppies

Thank you to all those who knitted poppies for Remembrance to decorate the church and spiral staircase, and our thanks also go to the ladies of the W.I. who did such a good job of decorating our church window.
Lest we forget

mid week service

We have starting a mid-week worship service for those who find it difficult to get to church on a Sunday.
Our first service held on Thursday 1st November was enjoyed by all who were able to attend and we shall be holding another on Thursday 6th December at 2pm up in the church. A short half hour service followed by tea/coffee and a biscuit down in the hall. All welcome.

Mid-week worship service.

We are starting a mid-week worship service for those who find it difficult to get to church on a Sunday.
Starting on Thursday 1st November at 2pm up in the church. A short service followed by tea/coffee and a biscuit down in the hall. All welcome.

The BIG Draw

Come and join us for THE BIG DRAW up in the church on Saturday 13th October from 10am – 3pm.
Top artist Paul Edwards from Cardiff will be on hand all day to help and guide you. A great free day for all ages to enjoy. Children will remain the responsibility of their accompanying adult.

This is the first year we have joined in with this art festival, there is no need to book and all materials are supplied by the church, so why not come along and enjoy the day.

Heritage Open Days

The church will be open again this year as part of the Heritage Open Days from 10am to 3pm on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th September.
A warm welcome awaits you, no booking needed.

Churchdown Choir

Thank you to all who supported this event, hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. It was a lovely evening and we hope to be able to invite them for a return visit in the future.

Churchdown Male Voice Choir

We are very pleased to welcome the Churchdown Male Voice Choir on Saturday 18th August for a concert starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £5. Advance tickets available from Colin on 01452 714360 or Kay 01453 765056 or you can pay on the door.
Come and join us for this pleasant evening, a warm welcome awaits you.

This was our first meeting after the builders had left and the church had been cleaned, so this month the ladies of the FWO decided to hold a ‘garden party’ to celebrate our return to the church hall.
Surrounded by summer bunting and carefully arranged flower displays don’t they all look lovely in their summer hats?
The ladies enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches, strawberries and cream and cake before enjoying a very light hearted quiz session.

Football free zone

Thank you to all those who made cakes and acted as hosts to welcome visitors to our musical afternoon with The Cirencester Eclectic String Band. A pleasant afternoon enjoyed by all.
Well done the band, and well done England!

The Prom at the Cong

We are very pleased to be able to welcome the Cirencester Eclectic String Band to Stroud on Saturday 7th July for a concert of much loved movie themes. Come and join us at 2pm up in the church. Open to all. No tickets required, admission on the door by donation to church funds. Tea and cake will be available after the concert downstairs in the church hall. Why not come and join us for the afternoon.

Completion of our window project.

We will be hosting a celebratory evening with cheese and wine on Wednesday 20th June, to mark the successful completion of our project to replace six of the church windows.
Toby Falconer and Lucia Milone, from Falconer & Gilbert Scott Architects, will be there to give an insight into the complexities of replacing curved windows that are 6 metres tall.
To help with the catering arrangements please contact us if you would like to attend. The evening starts at 7pm.

Scaffold tours

We have now successfully completed 4 scaffold tours thanks to Darron and Richard from Splitlath and Laura our heritage consultant.
Members from the local Historic Society, Stroud Civic Society, Gloscol and SPAB all climbed to the top of the scaffold to look at the skilled work of the carpenters and stone masons involved with our building project to replace the six large windows in the church.
Thank you all for coming and enabling us to show off our beautiful building. Hope you enjoyed your time with us.

Easter Blessings

Because I live, you also will live. John 14 v 19
Wishing you all a very happy Easter.

Worship service cancelled

March 18th another day to stay safe and warm and say your prayers at home. God bless you all.

Coffee mornings

We like to apologise to all our regular customers but due to the poor weather condition we felt is necessary to cancel both the Friday and Saturday morning this week. Sorry for any inconvenience but we just wanted both our staff and customers to safe and warm at home. Hope to see you all next week when the weather has improved.

Worshiping in the hall.

While the builders are busy doing vital repairs works to the interior of the tower we shall be holding our worship services in the hall down stairs until the scaffold is removed. But we are still open for business with a service every Sunday morning at 10.30am. The Guild will still hold their meeting every Tuesday afternoon at 2.30pm and a warm welcome await you at our Friday and Saturday coffee morning 10am until mid day.

P.U.S.H.

P.U.S.H.
Prayer Until Something Happens.
We were pleased to welcome Johnny O’Hanlon, our church support worker, on 19th February. Johnny helped us to mark the start of our 181st year in the town with an interactive service theme ‘Looking Forward.’ A delicious 3 course lunch cooked by The Girls was served after the service and a good time of fellowship was enjoyed by all.

Window project

After 18 months of intensive planning and fundraising we are very pleased that the project to replace six large windows in the church is about to start.
Scaffolding will be arriving on 5th February when we welcome our builders Splitlath Building Conservation Ltd onto the site.
We would like to express our thanks to our architects Toby and Lucia from Falconer & Gilbert Scott for their guidance, and the Heritage Lottery Fund and Gloucestershire Historic Church Trust for their grant funding, who have all helped to make this possible.
We would like to apologise to our members and church supporters for any inconvenience caused during this 16-week program of works.

Christmas tree festival

We would like to thank St Laurence Parish Church for inviting us join their Christmas tree festival year. Our topic continued our ‘180 years’ celebration theme.

'Looking Back 180 Years'

Our two day exhibition looking back over the 180 years that the church has been in the centre of the town servicing the people of Stroud and it’s surrounding area was a great success, and was much enjoyed by all who were able to visit.
Our thanks to Rev Dr Richard Cleaves who led our service of thanksgiving and praise and to Kevin Cranston our town mayor who are both pictured here with members of the church family who dressed in period costumes for the weekend.

Heritage Open Days

This year for the first time we joined the Heritage Open Days and were able to welcome people into our church that had not visited before. Several children had go at playing the pipe organ and took advantage of the change to ride on our stair lift. Many visitors enjoyed a different view on thing from up in the high pulpit. Our two David’s held on bits of a jamming session so the stewards were able join in with sing-a-long. Fun was had by all.

The Police Male Voice Choir

As part of our celebrating a 180 years in the centre of the town.

The Gloucestershire Police Male Voice Choir have been booked for a concert to take place in the church on May 19th 7-30pm.
Door open 6-45pm. Tickets £7 are now available from Stroud Subscription Rooms or from the church coffee morning held each Friday and Saturday 10am – mid-day.

Easter Eggstravaganza

Our Easter celebrations were a great success and much fun was had by all.
A total of £287 was raised for our church windows and our thanks goes to all who helped to make this a truly lovely afternoon.
Don’t forget the concert by the Gloucester Police Choir on May 19th doors open at 6.45pm. Tickets available from coffee morning staff Friday & Saturday 10am – midday in the church hall or from the tourist information office opposite the church.

F.W.O

At our September meeting we were pleased to welcome back Beryl who had broken her hip and collarbone in a fall earlier in the year. She is now well on the road to recovery and able to get out and about, with a little help, and it gave us the opportunity to help Beryl celebrate her 90th birthday. Also back with us after her holiday was Muriel looking well rested. We all enjoyed a quiz set by Riley, our magazine editor, and sharing top marks were Kay and Sue. Well done girls. We remembered Roger Clarke in our prayers as he had been taken to hospital earlier in the day. Wishing you a speedy recovering Roger, love from FWO.

Coffe Morning

We have regular Friday and Saturday coffee mornings when the hall is open from 10am to midday each week serving Fair Trade tea and coffee at just £1 a cup, and Hot Butter Toast just 50p per slice. We also sell home made cakes, pies and fruit crumbles, with books and bric-a-brac stalls.
‘Come and meet with old friends and make new ones’
A warm welcome await you.

Tea Dance

Continuing our 180th ‘year of celebration’ come and join us for a Tea Dance on Saturday 1st July 3pm -6pm in the church hall. Music by Jim Hannaway. Just Jive Lindy Hop.
Entrance £7 on the door.
Jim will be the DJ for the evening. He will be playing his usual great mix of music for you dance to and you can help yourself to tea, coffee and a piece of homemade cake too.

Easter Eggstravaganza

This year we are celebrating our building being 180 years old with a series functions and parties planned throughout the year starting in April with an Easter Extravaganza on Monday 17 April from 3pm – 5pm.
Music, sing song, fun games and a quiz. Bring your Easter bonnets for the parade. All followed by tea in the hall.
This is a free event but you will need a ticket as places are limited. Tickets available from the coffee ladies Friday and Saturday morning between 10am to mid day.

F.W.O March meeting

In March the ladies had great fun making Easter cards ready for Easter Day breakfast service. This communion service is held in the hall at 9.30am and followed by sharing breakfast together.

The Ladies F.W.O

Having decided not to out for lunch as we have in the past at the beginning of the new year, the ladies decided to stay in and have Fish n’ chips in the hall.
Many thanks to ‘The Big Fish’ shop who cooked our delicious lunches, and to Val who made the most scrummy apple pies for puds, served with ice cream or custard or in some cases both and enjoyed by all. Prayers were said for Muriel at home nursing Arthur her poorly husband and Josie who was able to join us but has her own health problems.

FWO Craft Afternoon

The ladies of the FWO (For Women Only) or (Funny Women Only as the men like to refer to us) met for lunch and a craft afternoon making Christmas tree decorations. A good time of fellowship for the ladies of the church.

David Stanley Smith

Sadly our dear Friend and organist David died on August 20th.
David had not enjoyed the best of health in the last few years, but he continued to play the organ for our morning services up to 2 weeks before his death. He was was our organist for over 20 years, continuing in a career begun at the age of just 14.
David was a devout Christian, loving his Lord and following His word, but he had three others loves in his life – Mary, his lovely wife, whom he married following a whirlwind courtship: music and cars.
In Mary, David found the perfect partner, an accomplished pianist who shared his love of music and they were happily married for 62 years. Their grandchildren spoke movingly of a devoted grandfather who shared his love of nature with them as they walked along the canal, above all, David was a kind, thoughtful man – albeit with a cheeky sense of humour.
His smiling presence will be missed by us all, but we know that he is now safely with his Lord.

Garden Party

This idea was mooted one Thursday morning at Sainsbury’s where we meet every week for coffee. Could we do a ‘Garden Party’ in the church hall to celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday? We decided we could – but where to start? Invitations? Yes! Vintage china, cake stand and tea pots? Yes! We washed, starched and ironed 22 table clothes. We cut out and displayed photo of the Queen on the notice boards along with 20 questions about the Royal family. We hung bunting, made flower arrangements for the windows and vestibule and tables, and had music playing in the background. What to eat and drink? Fruit juice or punch to be offered to guests on arrival? Yes. Small scones serviced with jam and cream; a choice of sandwiches; and fairy cakes all made by the ladies (and a gent, yes there was one) of the church. Yes! Dress code: Sunday best and HATS? Yes! We all thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and the feedback has been wonderful. I think we can call it a success. Thank you to everyone.

F.W.O March

In March we met on the Women’s Day of Prayer. Joan read from Mark 10 v 13-16 and together we sang the hymn ‘All over the world’
After lunch we were each given a bar of soap, a flannel, 2 rubber bands, some ribbon and a pair of stick on eyes and Marilyn showed us how to make rabbits ready for Easter. Well what fun we all had, there’s no limits our crafting skills now.
For our next meeting on 1st April we will welcome a speaker for a talk headed ‘A Village Agent’.

Christmas Day

With no minister to lead the worship, the congregation gather round the piano in the church for a short celebration of our saviour’s birth at 10am.

F.W.O January

For our meeting at the end of January 10 ladies went round to The Nelson for a most enjoyable lunch. Set in pleasant surroundings and with good views over Stratford Park this proved a special time of sociable fellowship for us all.
4 husbands not wanting to be left out decided they would go to a local garden centre for their lunch, and I understand they also enjoyed themselves.
Ladies our next meeting will be held in the church hall and will be another opportunity for us to demonstrate our craft skills by making rabbits for Easter.

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