Following some weeks of planning, we hosted our Friends and Neighbours BBQ today, between 5 and 7.30pm.
The weather was fine, with some cloud, but fortunately a lot drier than our equivalent BBQ last year.
Bunting set up with welcome tent in the background
We set up one marquee in the car-park and the second one out in the park. In addition, we had a smaller marquee set out in the car-park as a welcome tent. Here, Pam and Angela greeted visitors and gave them the option to wear a sticky label with their name on.
The welcome tent
By 5pm the BBQ was lit, the tents and bunting were in place and we had a good turnout from those at Parkside.
Robert at the BBQThe marquee and BBQ in the car park
We had various quizzes ready as well as some games in the park and a treasure hunt.
The marquee and tables in the park
We were pleased to welcome some visitors along to the BBQ although were somewhat disappointed by the overall number of people joining us for the evening and will look to change things accordingly for next year.
We had around 40 people at our August Family Service, which was chaired by Victor Michael.
Victor’s opening hymn was All things bright and beautiful which was followed by prayer.
Victor welcomed those present and highlighted the next Family Service, on 4th September, as well as our upcoming Friends and Neighbours BBQ on 13th August.
It was then over to some of the children’s favourite choruses from Sunday Club before Alan came up with a general knowledge quiz to form this month’s memory verse –
Jesus said ‘I am the light of the world.’ – John 8: 12
Following Alan’s quiz, we sung For the beauty of the earth before Paul Cogger came up to speak, in his own unique style.
Paul spoke, using various visual aids to enhance his talk, on the healing of the blind man from John 9 and focussed on various ‘Ps’ from story finishing with Jesus’ purpose in carrying out the miracle, before closing in prayer.
Click on the image to view or download Paul’s presentation.
We were able to welcome around 70 people to our latest Family Service, a big increase on numbers last month.
The service was once again chaired by David Hedges who had selected Jesus is Lord as an opening hymn before he opened in prayer.
Alan then ran though this month’s memory verse in the form of a short quiz. The verse is John 6:35 – Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
This was followed by a number of children’s choruses which ended with I’m special before our visiting speaker, John Davies, from Reading came to speak.
John spoke simply and effectively and began by asking two questions:
How much does God think you’re worth?
How much is God worth?
God owns billions of stars and galaxies and has infinite resources available to Him. (Psalm 8) In comparison, we are nothing.
God sold everything He had because He saw each of us as treasure. The Son of God loved us and gave Himself for us. When God gave His son for each of us, he gave everything. God loves each of us more than anybody could love and spent everything that we can have forgiveness. All we have to do is believe and trust Him and we can have eternal life, peace and joy.
The closing chorus was Come and see followed by prayer.
Everyone then ventured out into the summer sunshine to enjoy freshly cooked BBQ food followed by a variety of puddings.
A smoky scene in the car parkSome of those gathered in the park
There was plenty of time to sit and chat in the park and before long a game or three of Kubb was underway.
A game of Kubb in full swingHappy couple, Judith and Brian take a break from the game
It was an excellent afternoon which went on until after 3pm before the final clearing up and dismantling of the marquee. Next time it will be used will be our Friends and Neighbours BBQ which is scheduled for August 13th.
I’m grateful to Lesley’s excellent notes from the Family Service which helped greatly with this post.
With a number of people either on holiday or away playing football in a tournament in Wallingford, attendance at our second Coffee in the Park of the summer was somewhat lower than usual.
It was good, however, to welcome back Jeremy and his wife Rotun as they enjoy a month at home from Hong Kong.
As a result of various people being absent we were unable to use the marquee in the park, as we normally do, and instead just had tables and chairs set out under the trees.
Some of those joining us for Coffee in the Park
It was also a quiet morning in the park, although we did have a number of ‘old friends’ who came to join us for a while, which was good.
With no Coffee in the Park planned during August, our final one for the season is pencilled in for 2nd September.
After heavy overnight rain, we enjoyed a mainly sunny day in Kidwells Park for Maidenhead Carnival.
It was the third year in a row that the Carnival had been in the park, after relocating from down by the river, and also the third year that we had decided to take a stall.
We had an early start to the day and were on site by 8.30am.
Setting up two marquees, along with all the tables, chairs, literature, competition entry forms and associated other detritus took the best part of an hour and a half, by which time early-birds had begun to arrive in the park.
We enjoyed a short time of prayer, and a coffee before venturing forth.
The Parkside marquees at Maidenhead Carnival 2011
As in previous years, we had decided to hold a colouring competition for children. This provided the dual purpose of giving the kids something to do whilst allowing their parents to sit down for a while and take a rest. It also gave us the opportunity to talk to the parents about some of our different activities at Parkside, along with what we believe.
Each completed entry for the colouring competition received a goody bag containing a pen, pencil, stickers, lollipop and balloon – along with invites to Sunday Club and the next Family Service and BBQ.
In addition, we also gave out invitations to our next Family Service and had various Christian literature available, as well as invitation cards for our main weekly services.
Like the last couple of years, the morning was relatively quiet. There were many activities going on at the main stage and many visitors seemed to just visit the stalls area once they’ve finished their lunch.
Things were busier in the afternoon with a steady stream of children and adults coming along to take part in the colouring competition.
We also had an unexpected visit from a young song thrush who seemed unable to fly properly and hopped around inside the marquee for a while.
Another welcome treat was a homemade chocolate cake which Paul brought along. It didn’t last for long after this photo was taken.
Paul's homemade cake, garnished with a Parkside business card
At around 5pm, a heavy rain shower forced us to pull everything back inside the marquee. The weather soon relented and with the crowds beginning to disperse, the stall-holders were taking the opportunity to begin dismantling and clearing things away.
It had been a good day. We finished the day with fifty entries into the colouring competition and also had lots of people go away with information. We pray that we will see them return to our next Family Service on July 3rd or to some of our other activities in the future.
Our thanks also goes to Chris Chugg of the Rotary Club for sorting us out such a great location for our stall. We’ve already decided with him that we’d like the same again at next year’s Maidenhead Carnival!
Parkside Christian Fellowship 