This evening we are watching the film ‘Into great Silence’. A remarkable piece of cinema, probably not an easy watch, but a telling a insight into the lives of the Carthusian Monks.

It sounds more like an endurance test than entertainment, yet this one-of-a-kind experience proves surprisingly immersive.

Read the reviews here on Rotten Tomatoes.

It will start at 7pm upstairs in the Chapel – if you are late, come in quietly!

The events that make up the Easter Story are the most significant and dramatic in the Christian Year.  From the 5th-9th April we will join together with fellow pilgrims from our church, our parish and our city at a rich variety of events. Each distinct and beautiful in their own way, each marking one of the great events in the final days of Jesus earthly life. From the Last Supper, through the crucifixion to the amazing events of Easter Morning, join us in celebrating this greatest story ever told. Download the flyer below.

Maundy Thursday – The Last Supper. 7.30 @ All Saints Church
Good Friday – 11.45am Walk of Witness @ N1 Centre
7.30pm Service of Shadows @ Church on the Corner
Holy Saturday - 7pm The Easter Vigil @ St Pauls Cathedral
Easter Sunday 10.30am Family Services at All Saints and St Andrews

Our homegroups are starting a new series of discussions based on the excellent book ‘Surprised by Hope’.

Tom Wright is the former Bishop of Durham, and a leading N.T. Scholar and his work on the implications of the Easter story, not just for the church but for the whole world, is inspiring. You can watch the first session below, and more information about our homegroups can be found here.

Discipline is remembering who you really are and what really matters.

Our Ash wednesday service marks the beginning of Lent. It is a solemn and beautiful service of reflection and contrition.
The ashes at the centre of the service are a traditional reminder of our mortality, referencing Genesis 3  ‘for dust you are and to dust you will return’.
It takes place on Wednesday 22nd February at 7.30pm at St Andrews the old parish church. (here)

We love this fast paced hard wired digital world with its breathless rush of creativity, opinion, noise and ideas. But there are addictive qualities to it, when through the constant stimulus we are in danger of losing the ability to sit still, to be quiet, to listen, even to sleep.

For 40 days this lent at Church on the Corner we are exploring a digital discipline. Choosing to switch off some of the forms of media which demand our attention and switch on to things quieter and richer. And you are invited to join us.

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Starting this week at Church, we are going to be spending time looking at the riches of wisdom in the Psalms. All too often relegated to source material for worship songs, the Psalmists are actually responsible for some of the most honest and vulnerable writings in the whole bible, they explore the heights and plumb the depths of the human experience. They grant permission for us to look at ourselves a little more honestly, and recognise that our struggles and fears are not failings, but are an essential part of our humanity.

Sunday nights, 7pm. Church on the Corner.

Here is a good idea for the New Year. Some of the books which have had the biggest impact on the shape of contemporary Church are the first Christian books that people read. There is a real art to this kind of writing, aimed at those outside or on the threshold of faith. Their simplicity and clarity makes them great reading.

So the suggestion is that we make a New Years resolution to (re)read some of the classic introduction to Christianity books and aim to read them critically and yet humbly. We should be prepared to learn, but also alert to the errors they make, (for those mistakes tend to take root in the Church in disproportionate ways). Just reading a chapter a day  will help to root you (to use the language of Psalm 1) in streams of water that will sustain you through the days ahead.

Here are the top four recommendations;

Mere Christianity  (1952) – C.S. Lewis

Basic Christianity (1958) – John Stott

Simply Christian (2006) – Tom Wright

The Prodigal God (2008) – Tim Keller

You can find them on Amazon (often at very reasonable prices if you buy second hand) and we will run this as an online book group, so in time there with be a forum for each of these books to share your experiences and reflections. Get stuck in, and see this as a good spiritual discipline for the New Year.

Great music, festive vibe, mulled wine and punchy preaching. Our Carol service is our biggest event of the year, and a great event to invite your friends and workmates to.

You can download the invitation here.