SPRING HARVEST 2017

Diana Is the group leader for our trip to Spring Harvest 2017.  We will be going to Minehead on the 8th—13th April 2017. There have been changes to discounts available, cost will be approx. £239 in Silver bungalow accommodation, with a deposit needed in June. We are booking on the 15th June.  If you are interested please contact Diana at Church.
Below is the theme video, and the 2017 brochure.  Here is a link to the Spring Harvest website where you can find more details.
UPDATE:  SPRING HARVEST 2016

Diana has booked for next years Spring Harvest, however if you would like to go, changes can be made and the early booking discount is now available till October!

We will be going to Minehead Week  3.  The change is because people wanting to come next year have different Easter holidays, and this is the only week we will all be able to go.

Dates are Weds 6th - Sunday 10th April 2016

Approximate cost for each person in Silver self catering (with early booking discount ) £179, we can also book twin/double rooms  if you prefer to pay for meals.  (Silver room £154 + cost of dining package.  
If cost is an issue, we are also able to apply for discounts if you are on benefits, or a bursary.
SPRING HARVEST 2016

Booking opens on 24th June, so I need to know numbers by Sunday 21st June.

We will be going to Minehead Week  3.  The change is because people wanting to come next year have different Easter holidays, and this is the only week we will all be able to go.

Dates are Weds 6th - Sunday 10th April 2016

Approximate cost for each person in Silver self catering (with early booking discount ) £179, we can also book twin/double rooms  if you prefer to pay for meals.  (Silver room £154 + cost of dining package.  
If cost is an issue, we are also able to apply for discounts if you are on benefits, or a bursary.
Spring Harvest 2014

For those who think Spring Harvest is just for the young, or is very ‘happy, clappy’ I would like to start to challenge that perception.

Each day starts with worship at the ‘Big Start’ where there is an introduction to the theme for the day, aimed at all ages, with drama, music, and leaders (I kid you not) with capes and underwear on their heads!

This is followed by Bible Study in the Big Top, this year with Malcolm Duncan who shared with us his challenging childhood, his difficulties coming to terms with a Father God, but what shines through is his passion for the word of God, he always seemed to overrun a little, and never finished everything he wanted to say!  (Big Top sessions are run live on the Chalet TV if the idea of the Big Top doesn’t appeal) This year we focused a lot on the Apostles Creed (copied below from our theme book)as a statement of what we believe.

This is followed by ‘spaces’ which are where different groups gather to interpret the theme in different ways – This year was different, and they had Life, Head, Home, Work, Culture, and Justice sessions 

After lunch you are able to go to seminars, lectures, matinees, sports programme, arts workshops or prayer venues, take advantage of the fact you are beside the seaside, or use Butlins facilities…There were a range of seminars, some stand alone, some in a series, the variety of topics is incredible.  These are some -  Open the Book, is God a delusion, Supporting the persecuted, Songwriting, Receiving more from the Holy Spirit, Being married in the real world, Nobody seriously believes that stuff these days, What about Suffering and many more.

In the evening there are several different streams of worship, I love the big top evening celebration – two to four thousand

people, together with a worship band, brilliant preaching, some dance, drama and art.  Others prefer the more intimate setting such as Presence - Space to Worship - where worship and prayer is more creative, and you meet with other guests and reflect on the theme of the day, or something in between like the All-age Celebration.

Later on there are After hours sessions, with Drama, Music, Bands or Comedy and of course discussions and prayer between everyone back at our Chalet sometimes going on into the wee hours!

I will be writing more on the sessions I attended and how this week fills me up spiritually, inspires me in worship, challenges my ideas and conceptions, and lets me know what is important.

God Bless

Diana

Apostles Creed 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. 
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. 
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. 
He descended to the dead.  On the third day he rose again.  
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of Father.  
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church, the communion of saints, 
the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen

*catholic meaning universal
SPRING HARVEST 2014 – UNBELIEVABLE

I started thinking about this article as looking at some of the seminars that I had been to, or to impart some knowledge from the fantastic bible studies led by Malcolm Duncan, or to describe the worship that goes on for 2hrs but feels like 30 minutes.  Instead I have this short paragraph about the feeling of being there…

I have been asked many times recently – what did you find out about when you went to Spring Harvest?  I find this a very difficult question to answer, as I feel so blessed when I am there with the quality of the teaching, the discussions, the fellowship and even just the freedom to discuss our faith.  No one thinks you’re strange for being a Christian, and you are free to express your beliefs, but also your questions, and doubts. So I guess that is what I feel.  Freedom; to express myself, freedom to doubt and freedom to question, freedom to worship and only that without having the responsibility that I have when in Christ Church, freedom to talk openly with others both in our group or with almost anonymity when in seminars.  The freedom to laugh and freedom to cry, freedom to give and freedom to receive.  Freedom just to be in God’s presence. 

So I finish with a prayer that can be found in the Theme Guide for this year where we were exploring our confidence and our faith as we see it in the Apostles Creed, and that is that God has confidence in us.

The prayer –

Lord,
Give me the confidence to break new ground for you.
Give me boldness to leave behind old ways.
Help my yearning for change to be stronger than my attachment to what has been.
Let my frustration with the status quo outweigh my apathy.
Give me fresh confidence in who you are.
Give me fresh confidence in what you want to do in the world.
Give me fresh confidence in what my part in your plan is.
Teach me to take risks, not to avoid them.
Enable me to try,
Even if I fail.
Let my life count for you.
Amen
IMMEASURABLY MORE!

Spring Harvest 2015

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…  Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)

We know God is beyond our comprehension,

yet we still string together earthly words to explain who he is. 

We say ‘This is how he works’, so we can safely define and understand him.

WE CAP GOD. WE BOX HIM IN.

But God is, and can do, IMMEASURABLY MORE.

To a dehydrated church he offers more power, more hope,

and more transformation than we could ever imagine.

He calls us to live a RADICAL, EMPOWERED LIFE

that we couldn’t achieve in our own strength.

Join us at Spring Harvest 2015

and together LETS BREAK FREE from our preconceptions of who God is

and journey deeper, higher and wider into the truth of his character

HIGHER
God is higher than anything else we could ever comprehend

CLOSER
God comes closer than we are to ourselves

DEEPER
God draws us deeper into relationship with him

WIDER
God takes us wider into the work of the Holy Spirit

FURTHER
God leads us further as we pursue him and the work of his kingdom

For more details contact Diana by email below,  see the poster in Church or click the button!