2010: Emmanuel turns 100
As the title suggests, we will be celebrating our centenary this year. This page will keep you updated about the arrangements and news, and hopefully, after the fact, some pictures and stories about the event itself.
Date: 25th April 2010
Time: 11.00am
News/Special Arrangements:
The preparations for the centenary service are now in full swing, and with only a week and a half to go, the excitement is mounting. We really can’t wait to see everyone and catch up on old (and not so old) times, but there is still time for you to give us a hand and make this a true community celebration! Getting involved is really easy, be it contributing yourself for a couple of hours, or providing some more material help. So, here’s a quick rundown of the stuff that we have got on our “to-do” list, and any help you feel able to offer would be greatly appreciated:
The Big Garden Tidy-up:
Saturday 10th April, 11.30am
Saturday 17th April, 11.30am
Firstly, can I say a massive “thank-you” to everyone who gave up their time last Saturday in starting the not inconsiderable task of clearing the grounds of the church. Cutting back the dead-wood, mowing the lawn and weeding the car-park are just some of the tasks which we tackled last week, and I think that those of you there on Sunday will agree that the place is already starting to look that bit fresher.
However, the work is not yet finished. As such, we will be going back again this Saturday, primarily for the finer details such as weeding the garden area and moving the rubbish to the dump… It’d be great to see as many people there as can spare the time, the more people that can come, the quicker the work will get done.
The Big Church Tidy-up:
Saturday 24th April, 10.30am
This will just be a couple of hours, to get some intense Spring Cleaning done before the big day. Again, it’s a bit of a physical job, but the more people that are able to come, the easier and quicker the job will be. Who knows, we might even have a laugh at the same time…
The Big Day - Emmanuel’s centenary service:
Date as above
The refreshments after the service will be a bit bigger than normal. As well as the usual tea and biscuits we will be having a little buffet, with things like sandwiches and other small savoury bits and bobs. The church is hoping to provide the drinks and some bread, but it would be great if people could bring a little bit too.
Don’t worry about feeding the 5,000 or anything like that, but any small plate of stuff you could bring along would be great. Generally speaking, at events like this, where the food will be sitting around throughout the service, the best advice I can give would be to make the food as simple as possible, and preferably suitable to be served cold. If you think you would be able to bring something, please do add you contribution to the list at the back of the church, and feel free to ask Eileen on Sunday if you have any questions about it.
Many, many thanks in advance for all your help and support!
Our special guest speaker:
We are very excited about the speaker we have booked to Preach for us at the celebration service. His name is Marcus Honeysett and he is the Great, Great Grandson(?) of our founding Pastor, the Reverend George Gear.
The Speaker for our Centenary celebration service
Marcus is currently the “Director of evangelical training ministry Living Leadership”, and you can read more about his beliefs and vocation on his blog: http://marcushoneysett.squarespace.com/home/
Other News:
We have had some commemorative Bookmarks printed, which are now on the tables at the back of the church. Please feel free to take one (or a few), to keep in your Bible or other books, or to give to your friends as a memento of this very special year.
Keep your eyes out too for the special Centenary edition of the Manifold.
