Written by Sam Brewster, March 2025
We recently launched our exciting Room for Growth plans. These will see Trinity Church positively transformed as a space that will serve the growth of God’s kingdom here for decades to come. However, they will not happen overnight. In faith, we need to start taking concrete steps now towards our ultimate destination of continued kingdom growth. We are planning three such important steps together after Easter.
1. Our 4pm congregation moves back to Trinity
Although there will be some logistical challenges to overcome, there are some significant advantages to making this move now:
- It will help us all to get used to the space. This will help us to shape the plans for the redevelopment more thoughtfully.
- It will help us all to feel more invested in the space, which will be important if we are to step out in faith together to fund the redevelopment.
- It will help to bring us together as one church family across our different congregations.
- It will be much simpler for newcomers and outsiders to know who we are, and how our two congregations relate to each other.
- Our mid-week groups, all based at Trinity, continue to go from strength to strength. Meeting back at Trinity will help us to create stronger links between these mid week groups and both our Sunday services.
- No longer paying rent at Christ Church will help us to manage our limited resources prudently.
So, from Palm Sunday (13th April), our 4pm congregation will return to Trinity Church, with our regular children’s groups and kids’ tea starting up after the Easter holidays on Sunday 27th April. See FAQs below for all the practicalities!
2. Our monthly ‘Trinity at Ten’ services become our regular weekly 10am service
These monthly services have been warmly received both by the existing 10am congregation and the 4pm-ers who have been coming along. They have included multiple groups for children, have had a more informal feel, and have been wonderfully intergenerational.
From Sunday 27th April, all of our 10am services have this shape and feel. This isn’t a radical departure from the existing morning services- it is simply a conscious effort to be more inclusive of all ages. We will continue to celebrate communion every other week and will continue to sing many of the old hymns that are so rich and meaningful.
A growing group from 4pm have been coming along to the monthly Trinity at Ten services. From 27th April, we would love for these and others, to form a catalyst group who commit to making the 10am service their regular congregation. This will require some sacrifice and change for us all, whether we commit at 10am or 4pm. But it will enable a significant step forward in our vision for growth. There are great relational benefits of having a ‘default’ Sunday congregation, but we also hope that when you are unavailable at 10am or 4pm, this will give us all some flexibility to come to the other service that week instead. We pray that through these changes, God will bring significant growth across the church, and in particular to the 20-25 or so who regularly attend our 10am.
3. We restart a quieter weekly communion service at 8:00am
Prior to the pandemic there was a weekly 8am communion service at Trinity. Attendance was small, but appreciated by those who came. With the continuing evolution of the 10am service, now seems to be a good moment to restart this service, recognizing that there are times when a quieter, more reflective service can be a real blessing. This will be a said-service (no hymns), following the same preaching program as the rest of the church, and lasting 45 minutes. It will restart on Sunday 27th April.
Stepping out together
God has given our church leadership a strong collective conviction that he is calling us to take these steps. However, resourcing these changes will be a significant challenge, and we will all need to play our part.
Those who are moving over to the 10am service will leave lots of gaps in our 4pm ministry teams: children’s teaching, refreshments, and welcoming.
Resourcing weekly children’s groups at 10am will require a team of at least 12 volunteers to help with the groups once every three weeks.
As we introduce live music at 10am, our musicians will also be spread across 2 services, leaving some significant needs.
Please would you join in prayer that God would provide those needs as we step out in faith to keep growing the kingdom together? Would you ask God how he is calling you to help meet some of these needs? If you’re at the 4pm and considering making 10am your regular Sunday service, please would you let us know?
Any thoughts or ideas- we’d love to hear from you! Just get in touch:
FAQs
1. Won’t this make life less comfortable for the 4pm service?
The facilities at Christ Church have been a huge blessing over the past 4 years. In some areas the facilities at Trinity are significantly more limited, but they also have some strengths that are lacking at Christ Church. Over all, we need to think further ahead, and take steps towards realising our bigger vision of life and growth across Trinity Church as a whole. If we don’t take the first step, we’re unlikely to reach the final destination!
2. Where will our children’s groups take place?
We will continue to ensure that our young people have groups for them to engage with God’s word. Sparks and Candles will meet in the Parish Room since they are the smallest and most likely to need the attention of their parents. Once the transitions at the vicarage have happened, the vicarage study will be an additional overflow space for the Candles. Lanterns, Torches and Beacons, all of whom are of school-age, will head across to Trinity School for their groups. As our children’s ministry at the 10am service grows, older children will also meet for their groups in the school.
3. How will kids’ tea at the 4pm service run?
In exactly the same way as it currently does at Christ Church. We’ll have tables set out with picnic-style food, which children can help themselves to after the service. As we don’t have an oven at Trinity Church, we will only be serving cold food for now.
4. Where can we park?
Prior to our 4pm’s move to Christ Church, Henley College allowed us to use their staff car park for Sunday service parking. This is a 5 minute walk from the church, and has plenty of space. They have expressed a willingness to resume this arrangement, subject to insurance checks. We’ll confirm as soon as we know.
You are welcome to drop people off immediately outside the church, but please don’t aim to park on Grey’s Hill or church street. There are rarely spaces, and we want to avoid any disruption for our local residents. There are a few parking places in the vicarage car park for those with accessibility needs.
5. Won’t we have to move out of the building soon for the building work? Why move the 4pm congregation before then?
Yes, we will have to move out of the building when the building work starts. However, this is unlikely to be any time in the next 18-24 months. When looking for an alternative Sunday meeting space, ideally we will find somewhere that both our 10am and 4pm services can meet, which would rule Christ Church out.
