Services for the week commencing Sunday 29th June - 6th July 2025
in All Saints' Chilton, and St Matthew's Harwell         

Sunday 29th June
All Saints' Chilton 9.30am Morning Worship
St Matthew's Harwell 10.30am Holy Communion
St Matthew's Harwell 6.00pm Evening Worship

Sunday 6th July 
All Saints' Chilton 9.30am Holy Communion
St Matthew's Harwell 10.30am Morning Worship
St Matthew's Harwell 6.00pm Evening Worship

Everyone is welcome to come along to any of our services.

 

Community Cafe on Thursday 3rd July 2025

 A warm welcome awaits you in St Matthew's Church, Harwell on Thursday 3rd July 2025 10.30am - midday when our regular monthly Cafe will meet.

This is a free Cafe serving coffee/tea/squash with delicious cake and biscuits.  Everyone is welcome.

Hope to see you there!

 

Saturday Soak - 12th July                                       

Ladies, do join us for our Saturday Soak evening on 12th July, 7.30-9pm, St Matthew's Church Harwell.

We want to create a space for being together, encountering Jesus and spending time dwelling in His presence. There will be worship, prayer and reflection. We'll finish with a cuppa and brownies.

Do get in touch if you have any questions,

We hope you can make it.

Love from

Sarah Mawle and Sarah Barrett

Sunday 13th July - The next Chilton Village Hall Service 

On Sunday 13th July we will again be combining the 9.30am service and the 10.30am Chilton Village Hall  service into one combined service beginning at 10.30am.

We would love everyone to come along and take the chance to connect with our families and young people by sharing worship and prayer together. The service has a different, more informal style and aims to demonstrate our vision of bringing fun and joy to worship as we work together to grow a vibrant community of young people who love Jesus and walk in His ways.

Following on from this service at 10.30am we are inviting everyone to come along with a picnic lunch, please stay, it would be great to see you there.

As August is usually the family holiday season there will be no service held in Chilton Village Hall, but we are back again on Sunday 14th September at 10.30am.

If you haven't been along to one of our services, why not come along and see what it is like?  You will always receive a warm welcome!

 

FARESHARE PACKERS NEEDED URGENTLY PLEASE!                           

The team that kindly collect, pack and deliver food provided by Tesco and Waitrose to CAP clients need more packers. 

When? Tuesday morning from 8.15am to 9.30am

Where? Wallingford Ridgeway Community Church, 21b & 22 St Mary's Street, OX10 0EW

How often? Once a month

Currently 10 clients are receiving these food parcels (and occasionally flowers). The packers divide what has been collected from the supermarket between the families and two drivers deliver to the Wallingford and Didcot clients. The coordinator for FareShare will explain fully what is involved. 
Would you be able to help us in this way? If so please contact Naomi Gibson on naomigibson@capuk.org Thank you

June Prayer update from the Wilsons 

Dear friends,

Greetings from Addis!

Rainy season is just getting under way here; life quietens down quite a bit at this time of year as many foreigners return to their home countries for a couple of months.

Praise God that Abigail was baptised last month – this was very much initiated by her. She said she felt so happy when she came out of the water that she couldn’t stop smiling. We had a lovely day and it was wonderful to celebrate her and God’s work in her life.

A few weeks ago, Chris had his first opportunity to share his PhD research with leaders here in Ethiopia. He gave a seminar on the church and ethnic conflict, which was attended by the leaders of several NGOs, local churches and theological colleges in Addis. This went well, with the participants identifying many similar challenges facing churches here with those Chris has been writing about in the Northern Irish context. Relatedly, Chris is about to travel to the UK for his viva, which takes place early next week. Do pray for him as he comes to the end of this five-year journey, and for the discussions with the examiners to be helpful for churches here.

As we look forward to the next few months, please pray as the Anglican church continues to work on an agreement with the government which would allow much easier access in to the refugee camps.  We’d like to spend more time training leaders in the camps but we need this agreement to happen to gain access. Please pray too for Simon, who we have mentioned before - a former student from Gambella who has been helping Chris to deliver training in the camps. You may remember he stayed with us in December to try and find a diagnoses to some significant ongoing health issues. Although there was some progress and improvement, he has continued to struggle with an illness that so far is inexplicable; join us in praying for healing for him.

Do continue to pray for the little boy we are taking care of; he’s been living with us for the last 3 months as he recovers from being malnourished and from surgery to repair his cleft lip; he is really thriving, growing and changing every day. We’d love him to have a family for life, but right now it’s not legal for foreigners to adopt so it is not an option for us, and it seems he's unlikely to be adopted by a local family due to his health issues. Please pray that one of these things would change so that he can grow up as part of a family.

Thanks for all your support and prayers,

Love Suzy and Chris.

Ps. Suzy finally got around to writing something: if you’re interested, click here:  https://suzyandchris.wordpress.com/2025/05/27/a-gateway-to-hope/

 

 

Sustainable Didcot The LOT

Is there to promote sustainability. Additionally, to help reduce waste and promote sharing and recycling of items. It also offers people the option of flexibility and financial saving, both in terms of not having to find space to store occasionally or rarely used items, whilst at the same time avoiding extra costs of purchasing potentially expensive items that can often put a strain on household budgets. It works in a very similar way to a library, whereby users can register and sign up, then go on to borrow items from our central storage location at The Green Hub for a period of time.

The LOT is located at The Green Hub, at the rear of the SOHA building down near Didcot railway station and is open and running at the times shown on the poster.

Mid week Communion(BCP) in St Matthew's 

11.00am Mid Week Communion on a Thursday in St Matthew’s  has now come to an end, 
but continues to be offered at All Saints’ Chilton on a monthly basis with the next service being held on Thursday 8th May 2025  11.00am


Everyone is welcome

A Harvest visit from Harwell School to St Matthew's Church 

On Monday 7th October, around 200 children from Harwell School came into St Matthew's to celebrate Harvest Festival and with them they bought a wonderful amount of donations for the Didcot Foodbank.

Firstly, a thank you to Mr Bryn Gibson the head teacher, the teachers, teacher assistants and all the children for walking down to the Church in somewhat changeable weather.  Thank you also to the many parents that also came along.

Anyone passing the church between 1.30am-2.30pm, may have heard the wonderful loud singing by the children, it was rather amazing!

We look forward to welcoming Harwell School again soon.

The image is of all the kind donations made by Harwell School for the foodbank.  Two of our volunteers took all of the items, plus more that had been kindly left in the church to the foodbank on Tuesday.  

As a reminder:

In St Matthew's and All Saints'

St Matthew's and All Saints' continue to have a Foodbank box in each of the Churches where non perishable items, with a shelf life of at least six months can be left for onward transportation to the Food Bank. 

At this present time they would be particularly grateful for:

Long life milk
Long life fruit juice
Hot chocolate
breakfast cereals
biscuits/treats
Pasta
Pasta sauce
Jam
Peanut butter
Rice
Tea bags
Small jars of coffee
Tins of fish
Tins of fruit
Tins of meat
Tins of vegetables
Tins of soup
Tin puddings

Thank you so much for the continued support for the Foodbank.

The Almshouses in Harwell need our help in finding Trustees

The Almshouses in Harwell are a fascinating feature in the history of the village. They are situated in the High Street next to the War Memorial and date back to the early 18thcentury when Frances Geering, a lady with very modern-day views, decided when she married late in life, that rather than allow her new husband to take over her considerable financial assets, she would use them to establish Almshouses which would benefit the village. Since then, they have provided much appreciated housing for many ladies, and continue to do so now.

The Almshouses are a registered charity, administered by a group of Trustees whose duties include the upkeep of the Grade 2* listed building, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Charity Commission, management of the finance and the appointment and well-being of the residents who live there. This is a wide brief and so requires people with a broad spectrum of experience and interest to offer.

At present there are six Trustees who hold evening meetings four times a year. The Trustees are now looking for two additional persons who could, in particular, offer experience in data protection and storage or in fundraising. However, they would also be very pleased to hear from anyone who maybe just has an interest in being involved in the management and preservation of this historic element of our village. While this is a wonderful opportunity for retirees who may have some extra time to spare, the Trustees would encourage younger parties in the community to consider applying, to obtain as broad approach to Trustee duties as possible – please note that Trustees must be at least 18 years of age.

For more information about both positions, please contact the Clerk to the Trustees, Serena Fuller, by phone: 07903637124 or by email: serena.fuller24@gmail.com.

Check out these moments of faith! 

 God is doing some amazing things through CAP across the UK!

• 98 people said yes to following Jesus for the first time
• 47 people re-committed to following Jesus
• 107 people shared their story of becoming a Christian
• 21 people got baptised
• 335 people expressed curiosity to learn more about Christianity
• 109 people attended Alpha or other explorers course for the first time
• 339 people heard the gospel for the first time
• 70 people joined a Bible study or small group for the first time
• 336 people attended a church social or hospitality event for the first time
• 194 came along to a church worship service for the first time
• 125 people accessed the wider support of the church
• 89 people volunteered at church for the first time
• 690 people accepted prayer for the first time
• 220 people experienced answered prayer
• 135 people asked for prayer for the first time
• 447 people continued to attend church, Bible study, explorers course or support groups.

(Nov 2023 till present day)

Take some time to celebrate and thank God for all he is doing week by week around the UK through our churches!

Volunteers needed 

"The Church Hall Project Group has been given the go ahead by the PCC to start to make the church hall more usable and used.

St Matthew’s needs car parking marshals (training provided)

St Matthew’s is looking to build a team of car parking marshals to draw upon when we are expecting large numbers of people who have driven e.g. for weddings, funerals, baptisms and concerts. We can now only use Princes Manor farmyard for parking if we have marshals present. Marshals work in pairs so you wouldn’t be on your own, and of course it would be subject to your availability.

Please contact Jane Woolley at janemn.woolley@hotmail.co.uk or 0794 112 4620 if you would like to find out more.

Training and equipment e.g. hi viz jacket will be provided. We can offer free entry if you marshal for a concert or its rehearsals!   

Do you have experience in Health and Safety? 

 
All Saints' Church in Chilton needs some help to advise us on health and safety.  We need a volunteer with appropriate experience to look at our church building and our procedures to make sure that they meet requirements and advise on any changes/improvements needed.  We would also need occasional advice on an ad hoc basis.  We would really appreciate your help on this.  Please give us a call on 01235 832484 or email judithrussell100@gmail.com to have a chat and find out more.

Coffee Rota in St Matthew's

We are looking for help with Sunday morning refreshments for 10.30am services at St Matthew's church, about once a month.  

An opportunity to explore! 

 Anyone interested in exploring helping out on the concert/event manager rota (that is, being the responsible person in church while visiting artistes rehearse or perform) is invited to a drop-in at St Matthew's 10.30am on Saturday 12 August to be shown what it entails.
It's not only a great way to take part (free!) in the cultural life of our village but a really important outreach into our community demonstrating the church building to be accessible and our welcome to be warm.

Do you have electrical expertise? 

The 5-year electrical installations inspection for St. Matthew’s is due this year. It would be a great help to the Churchwardens and Buildings Committee if there is someone with suitable interest and expertise who could take on the organisation of this work.

If you can help please contact Tony Hughes, Chairman of the Buildings Committee, tel: 01235 835301 or a.hughes09@btinternet.com .

would you have a few hours to spare possibly a couple times a year? 

Would you have a few hours to spare possibly a couple of times a year? The Christians Against Poverty Debt Centre which our churches support is looking for friendly people who could move 'blessings' around the greater Didcot area. A 'blessing' is a donation to help a Debt Centre client get back on their feet. It might be as large as a piece of furniture or as small as a smartphone and needs collecting from the donor and delivering to clients.

If you'd like to chat about this opportunity (which isn't restricted to weekdays).

Please contact Naomi Gibson naomigibson3107@gmail.com or 07884 425460 in Chilton or Liz Roberts lizzyroberts333@gmail.com or 07745 802030 in Harwell.



 

didcot food bank needs our Help

In both St Matthew's Harwell and All Saints' Chilton there is a box at the back of the Church where you are able to leave your kind donated non perishable food/toiletry items which we then pass onto Didcot foodbank.  

What food is needed? 

Tins of meat / fish / potatoes / carrots / peas / soup / fruit / puddings 

Jars of pasta sauces / jam / peanut butter / coffee (small)  

Packets of pasta / rice / packets dried potato / breakfast cereals / biscuits / treats / tea 

Cartons of long-life milk/long-life juice / hot chocolate 
 

also……toiletries, toilet rolls, & clothes-wash items, but no alcohol, razors, medicines, or homemade preserves

Please note that all donated items must be long life and, where applicable, have a best before or use by date at least six months ahead, i.e. anything donated in March 2023 must have a date of Sept 2023 or later.