Capenwray Student mission to the parish of St.John's, Birkdale

     The 10 day visit (1^st to 10^th March) from students from Capernwray Bible School was a huge success in the opinion of everyone.  They were able to visit all our church organisations, preach on both Sundays and also visit Farnborough Road and St. John, Ainsdale schools.

     Back at college they had many positive things to say about their experience with us.  They described the church as "great, very open, friendly, welcoming and supportive."  They also said that they would really recommend this placement for future outreach teams.

     Many thanks to all who entertained the students for meals and other forms of hospitality.

Thank you too to Geoffrey for organising the visit, liaising between the college and our church and submitting this article to the blog.

Visit from Farnborough Road Infants (Year 1) 2011

On Wednesday 25th May, "Year 1" children from Farnborough Road Infant School came to visit St. John's Church as part of the Key Stage 1 R.E. curriculum.

They were welcomed by Christine who told them all about the church and the purpose of a variety of the church furniture.

John then told them about, and demonstrated the powers of the organ. He even encouraged them to sing along to "Give me joy in my heart, keep me praising" which they did with great enthusiasm - almost raising the roof with their "Sing hosanna!"

After that the children got the chance to look around the church at their own pace.

They had a "close up" view of the various parts of the building and its contents including the portable font, the lectern and the pulpit.

Some of them even got the chance to try their skills as "trainee organists".

Everybody seemed to enjoy their visit and we certainly enjoyed having the children here.

(I apologise in being so late in getting this information up on the blog.)

Entertainment at the St. John’s Charity Christmas Tree Festival 2010

The Christmas Tree festival (see blog above) was much enhanced by the quality and variety of music and singing that was happening in the church at intervals throughout the weekend.

The local Jazz Group, Fisherman’s Friend, played for the opening and even orchestrated the “great switch on” at 6.30 p.m. Their particular fusion of the sacred and the amusing struck (or should that be blew) just the right note to set the festival going.

Later in the evening we were entertained by a group of children from Farnborough Road Junior School led by Mrs Barton. For various reasons their numbers were depleted and Mrs Barton feared that they would not be able to fill the church with sound. She need not have worried! The children showed great skill and professionalism and by the time they had finished there was barely a dry eye in the house. They were amazing.

The evening’s entertainment concluded with The Southport Youth Band. Their numbers were also reduced but, nevertheless, they ably brought the evening to a close.

Members of Farnborough Road Infant School began Saturday morning’s programme under the metaphorical baton of their teacher Mrs. Cookson. They too performed in a much smaller group than they are accustomed to and rose as well as their older school mates to the challenge. Once more tears sprang unbidden to many an eye not least when the children signed the first verse of "Away in a Manger"!

[I later met someone who had had a troubled week. The infants happened to be singing when she arrived at church. She sat and listened to them in the light of the trees and although her problems didn’t go away, she felt that “This is what it’s all about”, she felt more relaxed and gained a sense of proportion.]

They were a hard act to follow but John Cotterall “stepped nobly into the breach”. Or as it was the organ he was performing on perhaps that should be “pedalled into the breach”! (Ugh! Sorry!)

The day’s entertainment ended with the self styled “St. John’s has got talent” (see blog below)! This turned out to be a selection of Julie Ann Carr’s pupils of varying age and experience, all of whom (including Julie herself) are regular worshippers at St. John’s.

We would like to thank all the wonderful entertainers, their leaders, teachers, and parents, for giving up their valuable time during this already extremely busy season. God bless you all.

Preparing for the 2010 Charity Christmas Tree Festival

Preparations are well underway for our Charity Christmas Tree Festival. The first tree arrived on Monday, still covered in real frost. This was followed yesterday by over thirty more trees. Now, as I type, church members and representatives of local schools and charities are busy decorating “their” trees. The church is buzzing and full of the fragrance of pine.

All the trees have been sponsored by local individuals and businesses. There will be more than thirty charities represented and by the time of the opening tomorrow (Friday) all the trees will be individually decorated.

Don’t miss the Charity Christmas Tree festival which runs from 6.00 p.m. tomorrow with entertainment from the local jazz group,
“Fisherman’s Friend”. The grand switch on will take place at 6.30 p.m. but you will need to get there in good time to be sure of a seat!

After the switch on, St. John’s Christmas Market and Café will open in the hall. This will run throughout the festival providing an opportunity to relax, and catch up with family and friends, over a cup of coffee or a seasonal snack. You will also have the opportunity to do some Christmas shopping and enjoy a variety of activities. Children can visit Father Christmas in his grotto for FREE!

If you can not manage Friday night the Festival and Market will be open from 10.00 a.m. until 3.30 p.m. on Saturday. Get Christmas off to a fantastic start by making the effort to come down to St. John’s to support the charities, have fun and relax.
Entry to the Festival, Market and Santa’s Grotto are all FREE!!!

The trees will remain in church for the rest of the Christmas season so you can enjoy them again if you attend any Christmas service at St. John’s.

We hope to see you there!

A “Thank You” from Farnborough Road Infants.

I thought you might like to know that we received a lovely “Thank You” card from some of the Year 1 children who visited St John’s on 21st January 2010. You may have noticed it at the back of church.
It was lovely to hear that they had enjoyed their visit, and made their own “stained glass windows”.

One of the teachers also sent us some photos, which I have included here, of a display in school which resulted from the visit.

Farnborough Road Infants visit St. John's 2009

On Monday, 6th July, children from Year 1, walked to St. John's Road to visit our church. They managed to dodge the rain showers (at least, it did rain heavily soon after they had left ,so I hope that they managed to get back to school before it started!)

After welcoming the children, our vicar, Philip, explained the historic link between St. John's Church and Farnborough Road School (which was formerly St John's school). We were reminded that the link is maintained via the Eagle emblem which is emblazoned on our front doors and the children still wear on their sweat-shirts. In fact, when the new glass doors were installed a few years ago the church council could not find the original design as used by St. John's school and so we borrowed a school badge in order to recreate the emblem for our doors.

Christine, one of our lay readers, pointed out and explained the purpose of various aspects of the church building, including the stained glass windows, the lectern, the pulpit and the font. Then our organist, Val, described how the organ worked and played two short pieces for the children - one soft and lyrical and one startlingly loud!! The children sang "All things bright and beautiful" accompanied by the organ. It sounded great!

Finally the children asked us many interesting questions including "Where is Saint John?". They then had an opportunity to explore the church in their own time when they could read from the lectern, look out at the church from the pulpit, discuss the organ with Val, look for Eagles throughout the building, explore all the nooks and crannies and ask the vicar any outstanding questions.

It was lovely to have them and we hope they enjoyed themselves and will visit us again.

Farnborough Road Infants visit St. John's

Y1 children from Farnborough Road Infant School came to visit the church on Tuesday 24th June. They were able to find out about the church and its links with their school - including the eagle which is emblazoned on their sweatshirts. They were able to talk to the vicar, listen and sing along to the organ and wander around looking at all the church artefacts.