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Welcome to the second e-Mission newsletter from the Mission, Leamington Spa!
What a great start to the New Year the 7th January turned out to be! With the first Sabbath of 2006, it was good to see a packed church with probably over 60 people attending and at least half that staying on for lunch. Even better were the numbers of new faces joining us, as well as the more familiar ones, including Alan Conroy, who preached a stirring sermon on 'spiritual and church growth'.
With growing numbers of visitors and regulars, keeping up to date with each other is more difficult than ever before. As we move into 2006, the subject of 'growth' will become an important area of focus for Leamington church and its members. So, to help support individual spiritual development with ever growing numbers, make sure you look out for the mission survey questionnaire in February / March. This will be just one way for us to all learn more about each other's feelings and general regard to how well the mission is serving us. This survey is by no means intended to replace personal contact with each other, but will give everyone the chance to voice their spiritual needs and views as an individual, as well as aspirations for the mission, now and into the future. Make sure you look out for the survey!
Reflections from the last quarter
Web site triumph!
The 1st December saw the new mission web site launched and the first e-shot sent out to over 40 people. In the first week, over 246 unique visitors were registered, whilst December as a whole saw 690 unique visitors with over 1,500 page loads! This is over four times the visitor traffic normally seen in any given month before the site was launched. We've even had visitors from as far as Jamaica, Belize, the Czech Republic and South Korea! Now the dust has settled, we hope to bring regular and consistent updates to the site, so please visit regularly to keep up to speed on new developments. If you would like to own or publish content, please send reply to this e.mail your ideas and suggestions - all replies will be acknowledged.
The Alpha Course
For the third successive year, we ran the Alpha Course in autumn 2005. Alpha is a ten week course that introduces participants to basic Christianity. It went really well with a huge commitment shown by those who organised, presented, cooked, waited at tables and led discussions. It's really exciting to see those who attend discover the personal reality of a Christian belief and make their own commitment to life as a Christian. Three people made a new commitment this year and they have started to attend church, which helps them keep in touch with the friends they made at Alpha, make new friends from within the wider church and develop their Christian belief and lifestyle.
When we were promoting the 3rd Alpha course during late September, one the people who attended the course in 2004 told the church about his experience and how he had discovered Christianity as a result of Alpha. This was a great encouragement to us all, especially as he had decided to be baptised to make a public declaration of his new life as a Christian. Look for an update in a future newsletter telling you about his baptism.
Alpha is a great way of introducing friends to Christianity, maybe you know of someone who you could invite? Maybe Alpha might be for you; there's lots of further details about Alpha on our website where you will be able to find about the next course which will probably be in the autumn of 2006.
Compassion
2006 whis will be fourth year of support for the Compassion programme! Once again, the Christmas tree was adorned with brown envelopes for our annual fund raising plea to support our two sponsored children, Daniel Nthkirutimana, (10), from Rwanda, and Rehema Karisa, (9), from Kenya.
Thanks go to all who pledged a donation - a total of £420 was raised - just what is needed to give a year's support to Compassion. If you would like more information on the two children we sponsor, or to learn more about what the money is helping to achieve, or maybe you would like to sponsor a child yourself, then simply click here.
What's happening this quarter?
Church Business Meeting, 4th Feb, from 2.30pm.
Everyone welcome. If you have an agenda item you wish to discuss, please e.mail rudipuskas@hotmail.com Previous meeting minutes can be obtained from Nigel or Diana Clark.
Prom Praise, Royal Albert Hall - 18th March
What is Prom Praise? If you've never been to Prom Praise, then you're missing out big time! It is a mixture of church service and concert: blending hymns and worship music with an orchestral backing alongside selections of secular music. Singers and choirs, as well as solo musicians provide contributions to the events to create an atmosphere of celebration at each Prom Praise concert.
If you haven't paid your dues or collected your tickets, please see Juliana Tang-Hickey. Also, if you have tickets and can no longer attend, please let Juliana know and we'll find a happy home for them! If you would like to order tickets, then click here.
Monthly Children's Holiday Club
Every second Sabbath (Saturday) in the month we run a children's fun club from 2.30 to 4.30pm. Ideally suited for those aged 5-11, the sessions deliver a fun packed 2 hour array of arts, crafts, games, singing and more, so make sure you come along! For more info, contact Pat Lanham.
The next clubs in this quarter will be the 11th February and the 11th March.
General News
Congratulations!
It is great to hear that Neil Jones and Bronwyn Pretorius got engaged on Boxing Day! Neil is currently working as a Police Officer in Leicestershire and Bronwyn is in her second year of a BSc Forensic Chemistry course at Coventry University. They have been together for nearly 3 years and we would like to wish them the very best and much happiness on their decision to decide to spend the rest of their lives together. A date for the wedding will be set later this year.
Also, some last minute news...
Ruth and Neil Lanham Wright became the proud parents of Patrick Lanham-Wright on the 8th January.
And last, but not least, Emma and Graham Powls became proud parents to Damien Powls, born 16th January.
Preaching Plan Quarter 1
To see who is preaching at Leamington over the coming weeks, click here.
Nominated Officers for 2006
The officer's List for 2006 is available from Nigel Clark.
Small Groups
If you would like to start or join a small group, please speak to Rudi Puskas, or Tristan Simmons if you wish to advertise a group in the next quarterly e-shot.
E.mail updates
If you wish to be removed from future e-shots, please reply to this message with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the subject line. If your e.mail is likely to change in the near future and you would like to continue to receive weekly and quarterly updates, please let us Rudi Puskas know.
News to tell?
If you have any news or Leamington church related events that you would like to communicate in future issues of the quarterly newsletter, then e.mail info@themission.org.uk
You have received this e.mail as it is believed that you may be interested in receiving the quarterly e-Mission newsletter from Leamington Spa Seventh-day Adventist Church. If you do not want to receive future issues of the e-Mission newsletter from us, please send a return e.mail with the words UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject title and you will be removed immediately.
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