Minutes of Springfield Church AGM 26th April 2015

Wallington High School for Girls, Woodcote Road at 10.30 am1) Welcome and notices Will Cookson2) Confession3) Worship4) Prayers5) Apologies for absence

None received6) Vestry meeting

Will Cookson thanked Timmy Ajayi and Tim Samuel for all their hard work throughout the year and they were duly re-elected for the coming year.

7) Minutes of 2014 meetingThe minutes were accepted as a true and correct record.

8) Matters arising. None9) Treasurer’s Report and 2015 Budget

David Silcock apologised for the information overload and said that‘Some money had come in: we spent a lot: Some left over = Happy Days’He then highlighted various aspects of our finances: Voluntary and other income totalled £234,836 while expenditure came to £225,767 which gave a notional surplus of £9k but if you stripped out one off legacies and similar, the underlying deficit was about £11k. Following his clear presentation, there were no questions, so David proceeded to lay out the proposed budget for 2015 with a planned expenditure of £208,897 and anticipated income of £186,500 which would lead to a deficit of £22k. This, as historically normal at Springfield, would leave sufficient capital for another three years of operation at present levels. Chair then asked the assembled congregation whether they were happy with the budget and it was accepted unanimously.Will expressed our heartfelt thanks to David for all his hard work through the year

10) ElectionsThere were three vacancies on the Deanery Synod, and one nominationCatherine Usher, proposed David Farodoye, seconded Rosie EdserShe was duly elected to the deanery synodThere were six vacancies on the PCC and six nominationsCarol Pickering, proposed Maggie Barnard, seconded Vicki RamjiawinMat Tomson. Proposed Catherine Darkin, seconded Clare MasonJim Dimmock, proposed Sandie Henderson, seconded Mary BowenCathy Brearley, proposed Nick White, seconded Glen HendersonJulie Cushion, proposed Emma Shepherd, seconded Alan BrearleyAndrew Green, proposed Jean Grima, seconded Philip DarkinThese candidates were duly elected.

11) Consideration of ReportsThe reports were received as written in the Agenda AGM booklet that had been distributed to all. Following a question from the floor, Will gave a brief overview of the synodical structure of the Church of England., and there being no further

questions, the reports were accepted with huge gratitude for all who wrote the reports and took part in the ministries through the year.

12) InterviewsJean Silvester and Mel Jeffery spoke on how the Ashby Grange cell had grown with the input from Caring Cupcakes and involvement with Abbeyfield to become the ROCK which was a mixed group of older people, for many of whom, this was their church. It was great to see an increased level of Christian input from Caring Cupcakes which blessed their community.Will then talked to David Budd about the developing relationship with Foresters School, whose head teacher was very welcoming and had been really impacted by the various contacts and the forthcoming mentoring (under the auspices of TLG) that he was part of the team undertaking training for. He was looking forward to his first one to one sessions as part of the early intervention initiative .

13) Minister’s ReportWill spoke about where Springfield had come from and how we have always relied on the vision God has given us, not forgetting David Lewis’ vision of a river of light flowing down the hill from Springfield and spreading into all the surrounding area. Will emphasised how we build on our values and how they are integral to our DNA: All involved, Becoming disciples, Creating community, Doing evangelism, Encountering God and how these led us to adopting cells as our small group expression which then began to use the River Ministry model for outreach into the community. With the great opportunities and results that we see from these initiatives, it was now time to embrace where we see God at work making us effective by using the idea of Missional Communities. This grouping avoids the awkwardness of cell multiplication as growth occurs, and also gives a larger pool of similarly minded people when it comes to arranging events so it doesn’t all fall on one or two people, but a wider community who can embrace the ideas and actions. We already have a couple of Missional Communities in being with the Men and the Rock and we look forward to more in the future, but this will only be introduced slowly and not by diktat- evolution rather than revolution. Cells are not being abandoned, disbanded or ignored. Will then encouraged us to take on board the promise on our new motto card: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Tim 1:7) as Springfield was a fantastic church filled with great people, so many of whom were involved with so many ministries and it was a privilege and a joy to be part of it.

14) A Year in the LifeA celebratory show of pictures showing some of the wide range of activities that have taken place throughout the year.

15) AOB Following a question from the floor, Will explained the process of applying for a new curate and that we were on the ‘long list’- a preliminary list of those parishes interested in a new curate, but which held no guarantees of an appointment.

The meeting closed at 12.20 with a song and a blessing.

Chairman’s Report“This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it” Psalm 118:24

It has been a year of many blessings and encouragements at Springfield. We have seen some real breakthroughs in some areas of our Church life together and we have seen some real foundational work being done.We have held two spiritual surveys to look at where the Church is up to this year. The first survey, called Natural Church Development, looks at where the core leaders of the Church are. The second is a whole Church survey and both will be vital to the church to analyse where we are up to and where we need to make changes. The leadership one (Cell Leaders, Cell Pastors, ministry leaders, staff etc) allows us to see what help and support we need for our leaders, the whole church survey allows us to test the heartbeat of the whole church.Last summer we held a major Leaders Away Day looking at four key areas of our life together. These included Cells/ Missional Communities, Young Families, Youth and Sundays. Out of this came some great ideas and vision from the leaders there. Using the surveys and the outputs from last year’s leaders away day we are holding a follow up this May to reflect on and to enable us to have a balanced focussed vision for the Church.Our whole mission in the community has continued to develop through existing and new ministries. Tiptoes continues to thrive, Caring Cupcakes is a blessing to many, Café Connect has been wonderful community building ministry, MiX Connect is having real signs of life, the ministries in Roundshaw have continued to grow and develop and we are seeing the beginnings of several new exciting ministries. These new ministries include growing our relationship with Foresters School through a mentoring scheme; as well as the beginnings of a new ministry to help those struggling with debt – the CAP course.We held two very successful Alpha courses in the past year and we are seeking to continue to build on this success by looking to encourage and hold new courses in the coming year, again in partnership with our friends at the Good Shepherd. These can be great places where lives are changed by the simple process of inviting a friend or neighbour along to participate in Alpha.It is exciting that we will be receiving a new curate in June, Jane Petrie, and after the blessing of Donna is a sign of confidence of the Diocese in Springfield as a place of training. Of course, it’s not a one way street. We have a seen a number of people go forward for ordination over the years and this year we have seen our churchwarden Timmy Ajayi being accepted for training at Ridley Hall, Cambridge starting this autumn. Of course, one of the greatest encouragements was the gift day that we held in the Autumn. We had a vision for a number of items that we believed that God was calling us to. These included refreshing our Sunday services with a new PA system, new banners, refreshing of the Welcome area; providing housing for a new curate; replacement Pastoral Care Co-ordinator with Ann stepping down; supporting new community ministries and support for RUSH, the Kenyan charity we support. The Gift Day was beyond most of our expectations with people giving generously and wholeheartedly to the vision of the Church. This has allowed us to do all that we believed that God was calling us to do and has been a major blessing.At the centre of our shared life together are our small groups and the range and variety of our small group activities continue to be a great encouragement. Places where we can encounter God and care for one another. But the real difference of our small groups is their outward focus inviting those outside of the Church to be part of our community. We see this

in so many different ways - Craft evenings at Cricket4life, an evening with the Crystal Palace goalkeeper Julian Speroni to share his faith with people we invited, the Bookstall in the Farmers market, support of the disabled home in Brambledown and many other ways small and large that groups have shared their life and faith with others. As we develop our Missional Communities and learn the lessons then we hope that we will see this balanced life grow stronger and deeper within the life of Springfield.After really successful weekends away for our young people at the MiXXtra weekend away and Emerge weekend we are planning a weekend for everyone this autumn at Ashburnham. We are praying that it will be a huge blessing to the life and witness of Springfield and we do hope that as many as can will join us for a time of teaching and community there.

Will Cookson

Wardens ReportIt has been a privilege to serve as church wardens during the past 12 months at Springfield. During this period, we have had real encouragements through many of the experiences of individuals as well as the collective joy we have been able to share as a congregation.

We are glad to see some new people join the church this year. Also, we are happy about Breathe, and prayer evening services that are becoming really popular with a lot of folks. We are also very thankful that our special services like the Baptisms, Christmas and Easter Experiences had a lot of interests from many people from outside Springfield.

This year, we have seen our Cells and Missional community groups (MCs) continue to be platforms of support, friendship and growth for many members. Some have testified that they have been encouraged in their walk of faith through the prayers, sharing of God’s word and outreach engagements of cells and MCs. It is our prayer that many more people will be able to identify with a cell or MC and be blessed by the ministries they offer.With regards to our expenditure, we continue on the path of living by faith coupled with financial prudence. Nevertheless, we had a real encouragement this year from our Gift day collections, affording us the opportunity to have a new curate, seek replacement for our tired PA equipments, update our welcome banners, as well as have some seed money for new ministries. We hope to continue to be faithful and responsible of all that gets given sacrificially through our regular giving, special collections and legacies.

We acknowledge the sacrificial work of those unsung heroes who serve us in the less visible ministries: leaders of the different (pre-school and youth) age groups who have to prepare beforehand and miss out on most of the services, those who give up their time to pray on Saturdays or before service on Sunday mornings, and many others. Also, we appreciate our PA team, Set-up team, Worship group and Welcome desk for all their untiring efforts. Also, a big thank you to our different cells who help with the welcome, teas & coffees, readings and prayers - what a variety and what a blessing!

We hope and pray that in the year ahead, God will continue to challenge us to grow as a church in the likeness of Christ. We also look to be a more welcoming church that follows in the footsteps of "the Servant King" as we seek to bless our congregation, our community and others in the name of Christ.

Thank you -Timmy Ajayi and Tim Samuel

PastoralPastoral Care is a vital part of our life together at Springfield. Much of this happens on a day to day basis within our Cells and Missional Communities. So, we see much advice and practical help that occurs through these groups. Over the past 12 years this has been wonderfully supported and encouraged by Ann Nicholls who has been our Pastoral Care Co-ordinator helping and encouraging others in the Church to offer support and assistance. The Pastoral Care Co-ordinator plays an important role in the Church to ensure that people are not overlooked and to help others to offer appropriate help and assistance - whether through good listening and prayer or through offering meals and practical support.We see the influence of Ann's (and therefore the Pastoral Care Co-ordinator's role) in our times of corporate prayer, in ministries such as Cafe Connect and above all in the support given to those in need inside and outside the Church. She has helped and supported others - Cell Leaders, staff and others to help others in need in the Church. So many people have benefited from her wise advice, prayers and support and her influence in encouraging others to do the same will be sorely missed.We will, in the next couple of months, be drawing up a job and person description for Ann's replacement and be advertising in Springfield for someone to take on this vital role. Do pray that God will raise up the right person to take on this role.

PCCAs a new member of the PCC, it has been a privilege and very interesting to attend the meetings of the Church Council. Sitting in the services on a Sunday or taking part in the other events that the church runs and participates in, it is easy to overlook the fact that decisions - sometimes easy, but often difficult; sometimes of a practical nature, sometimes spiritual - have to be made on behalf of the congregation as a whole. It has been a fulfilling and enlightening experience to be part of this process of seeking God's direction for Springfield.

This year a particular focus has been the development of the Missional Action Plan, through which we as a community are tasked with setting out a plan for the church's direction and philosophy over the next few years. Prayer and time to meet socially for a while before each meeting have been invaluable as preparation for the discussions and debates that have taken place around the development of this Action Plan. We have spent time exploring God's direction for all aspects of the church's life, including Emerge, youth and children's ministries; the nature and shape of Sunday services; and cells and Missional Communities. As a participant for the first time in the Springfield PCC, it has been refreshing to see the dedication, seriousness and good humour with which these issues have been debated and to see how God uses the talents and abilities of the congregation to shape the work of our church.

Andrew Green

Cells and Missional CommunitiesOur Cells and Missional Communities are at the centre of our shared life together. We have continued to see some marvellous testimony to the work of God within our Cells and Missional Communities. It has been wonderful to hear the stories of how people have cared for one another, encountered God and reached out with the love of Jesus to those around.

Cells and Missional Communities are communities that don’t exist just for their own sake. They exist to serve and to include and to reach out. Different cells and missional communities do this in different ways. Examples include, the ROCK missional community does this through reaching out to the Ashby Grange and Abbeyfield homes; the Clements Cell does this through a book swap stall at the monthly Farmers Market; Live, Love, Laugh does it through River Craft a monthly craft evening held at the Cricket4change club; the Lighthouse Cell has done this through creating a safe space for those in real need.

Each Cell and Missional Community is able to find ways of balancing their worship, community and outreach. All three are needed for a group to be a Cell or Missional Community. A Missional Community is aiming to grow to being a mid-sized community supporting and growing ministries with a focussed missional edge. As they grow they may have a number of Cells within their Community.

We are planning to launch new Cells and Missional Communities in the year ahead and if you are not currently in a Cell or Missional Community then do consider joining one of our existing ones.

Current Cells and Missional CommunitiesMissional Communities Contact

Emerge Emma Shepherd

Mens Will Cookson

ROCK Ann Nicholls

Cell Groups

Bowen David Bowen

Café Wendy Samuel

Clay Jar Carol Pickering

Clements Caryl Clements

Cole Ben Cole

Co-op

Lighthouse Angela Hope

Live, Laugh, Love Jean Grima

Safeguarding"Since the end of August 2015 The Diocese of Southwark has moved from paper to on-line DBS applications. From my own point of view this makes the application process so much easier and from Springfield's point of view speeds the process up as applications, once the ID and proof of address have been verified, are being turned around within 48 hours. There have been some concerns around not everyone being computer literate but a very good helpline number is provided and there is always someone from the church willing to assist. Thank you Sue for helping on a recent application!”

Glen Henderson

Electoral RollThe electoral roll is the legal form of church membership, and gives the right to vote at the AGM, and to stand for church office. It is open to any who have regularly attended the church for 6 monthsThe number on the roll stands at 144 as of 13th April 2016

Nigel Elderkin

PrayerOur prayer meetings before our services are a source of great encouragement to those who come along. Those participating have grown in number over the past year. We invite the speaker or person leading the service to join us to be prayed for and also the prayer ministry team.

We meet from 10 am with one of us sharing a Bible passage or verse. We aim to spend a short time in quiet before God then we pray for all aspects of the service – this includes the speaker, children’s groups (of all ages), worship band, PA, set up team, visitors etc. At about 10.15, the worship band join us and we spend time praying for them to be filled up with the Holy Spirit to enable them to lead us into God’s presence during the service. Prayer Ministry is always available after the sermon and at the end of the service too. We are happy to pray for any need, related the service or otherwise.Our monthly Breathe service gives more opportunity to spend time in worship, prayer, share testimonies, Bible teaching and personally experience the Holy Spirit and receive prayer.

We had a great week of prayer in October 2015 with opportunity to visit different cell groups and use resources to pray for pastoral needs, world issues etc, and we spent 12 hours in prayer during Holy Week this year with different members of our community covering each hourly time slot.

Thank you to everyone who comes along to pray. Please do feel free to join us if you haven’t before. We meet in Classroom G3 at 10 am before the morning service and in the kitchen at St Paul’s before any evening service.

Sarah Miller

Caring CupcakesCaring cupcakes is held monthly, alternately at Ashby Grange & Abbeyfield. We have been blessed with some amazing baking and we have had some wonderful volunteers who have come along to chat to the guests.One of the most fulfilling parts of the mission is to see the guests from both Ashby & Abbey now coming along to each others venues and to watch new friendships develop. We also have guests who come independently or through the Rock Cell.Maggie Welsh offers up a ’thought for the day’ talk which is based around a Christian message … this always goes down extremely well and is appreciated by many of the guests.In January the Cupcakes team hosted - along with a multitude of volunteers from Springfield of all generations - the third New Year Seniors Tea. This event has grown immensely and the hall was packed to the rafters. We were treated to musical entertainment by the Edsers, the most delicious high tea and we had a quiz and raffle for the table flowers.Sadly over the last year we have lost a number of our guests, who have very much become friends over the last few years. But we continue to welcome new guests each month to our little cakey family.

Carolyn Churchyard

Worship group The Worship team serves the church through music ministry in the Sunday services. Our aim is to encourage people to come into a place where they can engage with, hear from and be touched by God. The team is made up of musicians, singers and worship leaders and supported by the PA team.

At Springfield we are keen to get people involved in the worship team who have a passion for Worship and who have musical ability. If you have recently joined Springfield and feel that God may be calling you to serve in the worship team, please come and chat to me or one of the worship leaders.

In December, we had our Christmas celebration service, where despite not having a choir master, a number of people felt they would like to sing in a choir for the carols. I would like to thank all those who participated and a special thanks to Mike Cushion for getting the choir together.

I would also like to thank all the team (Worship and PA) for their commitment, time and support of this ministry in the church, week by week. In addition, I would like to thank those people who encourage and support us in prayer.

Andrew Usher

Children and families at SpringfieldThe AGM gives me an opportunity to publish my heartfelt thanks to all the people involved in children and families work at Springfield. Without your commitment, energy and love and care for those you serve, none of the ministries would be possible. Thank you so much.

Sunday morning ministriesThe crèche team re-formed in the Autumn and met together in the new year to refresh the vision for our provision for under 3s at Springfield. Plans to create a ministry with worship, a Bible story and craft were created as we shared a meal together. Thank you to Brigitte Clark, Bukky Ajai, Christina Lane, Ellie Cookson and Magda Kamienska for your care of our youngest members of church and for your support of their families.Sparklers, for our 3 to 5 year olds, has a delightful group of children and leaders who explore Bible stories, play games and enjoy crafts together each week. The friendship of the leaders and their preparation in prayer and in practical terms is really great to see.Thank you James Stygal, Anna Devitt, Dawn Longhurst and Oliet MsusaRoadrunners continues to be as energetic, fun and challenging for the children aged 5 to 11 as well as the leaders. Relationships with one another and God are our focus as we grow in faith and friendship together. The leaders have grown in their gifting and leadership during the year; leading by example in developing relationships with the children, story telling, sports and worship.It was wonderful to see three Roadrunners declaring their faith and enjoying their full immersion baptism on Easter day. Thanks to Carol Driver, Jenny Noble, Julie Cushion, Katie Cole, Lucy Botfield, Nick White, Peter Devitt, Phil Campbell plus Adam Cady for your help with sportsWe need your prayers for the growth of children and families - do pray for their spiritual growth and for more families to join Springfield. Young families in a church are a vital source of life and growth for the whole church community…..

Foresters Primary schoolThe Head teacher gave a huge and generous vote of thanks to Springfield during the school’s Easter assembly. He thanked us for the impact that the after school fun and the mentoring has made on the school community and on individual pupils and their families. The after school events continue to be hugely well attended and valued by the school. It gives a great opportunity to chat to parents and carers and to invite them to Springfield and events. Several children have come to the Roadrunner sports and crafts outreaches and feast in the field. We pray for more – more families to come and for them to come to know Jesus.Thank you so much to Jane Prince and Karen Brodie who provide the crafts and to Carol Driver, Margaret Boardman, Yvonne Patey and Emma Sachdeva (school parent and Footsteps) for their help and stamina for a very busy hour, packed with families and crafts.Pupil mentoring began in May last year and has seen four pupils in the school partnered with a mentor for an hour each week: the mentors are Carol Driver, Jenny Botfield, David Budd and I.It has been so encouraging to see the growth in confidence and self-esteem of the children. The school have been very encouraged by the impact that the mentoring has had on the individual children. The mentors too have been richly blessed by the time spent with their

child and the encouraging results. One of the pupils and family came to feast in the field last year. We pray that more will come this year. In May /June there will be an opportunity to find out more about the mentoring scheme. Do pray about whether God is prompting you to get involved. We would love to be able to make a difference to even more children in the coming year.

FootstepsOur monthly messy church at HighView has grown in strength over the past year. The committed team of leaders work together and take responsibility to organise the themes, prepare activities, work in the kitchen and lead the celebration time.We have been struck by things that God has shown us;

- The power of prayer. We had many new families at Christmas in answer to prayers from the South London messy church co-ordinators.

- How encouraging and uplifting it is to be part of a large network of messy churches; a training day in January gave the team a huge boost and inspired prayer and ideas

- Eating together as a team. Teenage and adult members prayed and discussed Footsteps together over dinner in the new year

- The commitment and participation of the Footsteps families. They come every month and are opening up to conversations about God and faith.

- Increasing overlapping with other Springfield ministries. Many Footsteps children come to the Roadrunner outreaches and invite friends, many go to Foresters school and come to the after school craft and attend the end of term assemblies when Sue shares the Christian faith, some came to the Good Friday experience and others to feast in the field.

- A large proportion of families live in Roundshaw and of those a significant number go to Foresters school and come to the after school craft run by Springfield

We continue to meet and to pray about how to grow Footsteps spiritually and in numbers and look at where God is leading us as a ministry. Thank you to the Footsteps team:Sarah Downham, Mat Tompson, Anna and Peter Devitt, Jane Prince, Mary and David Bowen, James Stygal, plus other helpers David Budd, Jane Marsh, Helen Elliott and for her support of the ministry; Roisin Marsden. Also our excellent group of young people who are members of the team: Samantha and Sharna Downham, Miriam and Rachel Prince and Matthew Churchyard

Sue Bosley

YouthWe are constantly encouraged as a team by our young people at Springfield – by their searching minds, open hearts, energy and humour.

Sunday mornings have been well attended, with an average of between 20-25 coming each week. As a team we have been trying to think differently about how we engage our young people to come along and feel they’re part of something exciting, so for the last 8 months or so, Nigel has been serving Bacon Butties to our young people before every Taste and See service. This has proven to be a great success – highest numbers of young people coming to Taste and See/All Age services on record! Food is such a good “pull,” that we have just introduced “Toast at 10” every Sunday morning (when it’s not a Taste and See service) and this is working brilliantly. We are getting over 20 young people come at 10am for some toast and jam, giving them time to connect with each other before the service starts at 10.30am.

We have had some fun Outreach events this year; Barbecue and games, Roller Disco, Movie Night, Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday and a Games/Quiz Night. These are always well attended and our young people are very good indeed at inviting their friends along. Comments back from them about these events included: “Great Fun; a good opportunity to get to know new people better; It’s always good to spend time with each other doing fun activities.”

We are richly blessed with willing leaders who come and support, encourage, pray and join in every week: Angie Cookson, Steve Watkins, Roger Brodie, Ivan Ratnayake, Nigel Elderkin and Carolyn Churchyard. Praise God for their enthusiasm and willingness. I am very grateful to them for their support and enthusiasm. Being a “constant” in our young people’s lives is such a valuable part of what they do.

I run the CU at Carshalton Girls’ School on a Thursday lunchtime. This is always a special time – we get girls from all walks of life, all different faith backgrounds, and a wide array of ages: from years 7 right up to year 13 girls (and a couple of boys). It is sometimes challenging to engage with all these different strands and ages, but again, the thing that seems to bring them each week is that there’s something for them each Thursday – a “constant.”

Mat Thomson has started a CU at Stanley Park High – SpaCE, after sensing a prompting from God in the Summer. This is exciting, because up until this time, there hasn’t been a CU at the school.

Roger, Steve and myself took a small group of the older youth to Soul Survivor again last August. We really had a great time; spending time together, hearing from God and joining with 10,000 other young people in praising and worshipping God. This August, we have a larger group booked to go, which we are already looking forward to.

Your prayerful support is always welcome – for Sunday mornings, outreach events, CUs and Soul Survivor; as is the opportunity to engage with our young people if you see them at Breathe services, around church etc. They love it when we show an interest in them!

On a personal note, I would like to say “thank you” to Springfield for the opportunity, last Summer to go on Sabbatical – something I was rather reluctant in doing, but one I discovered to be such an important time of refreshing and recharging.

Becca Watkins

MiX and MiX Connect

Another amazing year for the MiX and MiX Connect. At the MiX, we have seen numbers average at 100 coming each month and around 65/70% of these young people are friends of those at Springfield! I asked our Young People why they come along each month with their friends. Here’s some of the things they said:

“It’s fun spending time with non-members of church.”

“It’s a great social event that’s really easy to bring new friends to.”

“You get to choose what to do – either playing sports, chilling or doing something arty – no one makes you do anything. Good to hang out with friends and make new ones, too.”

“The God bit is always relevant and not embarrassing. My friend always talks about this bit afterwards and at school.”

We are now in a period of waiting on God, regarding the YouthZone at the Phoenix Centre. After May, the council will no longer own this space, and so we are waiting to hear what will become of that room and how (if at all) this will impact us at the MiX. We are really blessed to have a very good relationship with the staff team at the Phoenix Centre, who are keen for us to stay. As a team, we are praying into this situation and we would value your prayers as we wait to hear news.

Mix Connect is a place for parents of young people coming to the MiX to meet, both Church and Non-Church. We have tea, coffee, hot chocolate and chips! Numbers vary, but after the new Prayer bookmark and WhatsApp prayer reminders, we were so encouraged to have 20 people come along in March – the most we have ever had! So please keep praying for us! It's been really good to see people staying to chat and build relationships; even bringing friends to spend time and find out what we are all about.

We have an incredible team of volunteers who turn up after a busy day at work (and school) to serve our young people at the MiX and MiX Connect. Many thanks, guys: Steve Watkins, Roger Brodie, Sandy & Nigel Elderkin, Carolyn Churchyard, Dave Foulkes, David Nicholls, Geoff Batty, Rob Samuel, Jimmy Watkins, Sam Brodie, Tim & Wendy Samuel.

Becca Watkins, Wendy Samuel and the Young People who come to the MiX

MiXXtra and MiXXtra Weekend Away

The MiXXtra is for all young people at Springfield, their friends and those who come to the MiX to hear more about God, in the familiar environment of the YouthZone at the Phoenix Centre. We have been running this for just over a year now; monthly since the Summer. The format includes games, worship, talk and a meal (food again!). Numbers are a steady 8-10 and occasionally includes young people outside of church. Comments from our young people:

“I love the food!”

“We learn about Jesus”

“There’s always an interesting talk and prayer time. It’s relaxed and fun at the same time as thinking about God and feeling His presence.”

The MiXXtra Weekend away to Dalesdown in November was a great success. We took 33 young people, 7 of whom were non-church. It was a non-stop, action-packed weekend of fun, friendship building and God-filled times of worship and talks. Comments from those who went along:

“Loads of sport, good food, activities and worship.”

“Sense of community”

“Creating new connections – with friends and with God”

“I loved getting to know new people and being with friends.”

This year we are looking forward to joining the rest of the church for our weekend away in November, where we hope to share together in hearing and receiving from the Holy Spirit. We are looking forward to lots of fun, laughter and activities and creating new connections with our wider church family.

Our MiXXtra team includes Steve, Roger, Nigel & Sandy (our amazing chefs), Angie, Carolyn, Ivan, Rob and myself. Many thanks for all you do!

Becca Watkins and the Young People who come to the MiXXtra and MiXXtra weekend Away.

Café ConnectCafé Connect continues to be a great meeting place to come together and be community on a Monday morning. The library café staff are always welcoming and often there is such a large group that we take up a few tables. We are all ages including grand children! This provides a lovely place, at the beginning of the week, for the Springfield Community and our friends, a member of the staff team and anyone else to meet, chat, and catch up. Christmas time is a particular highlight where we sing carols, and in return are rewarded with mulled wine and mince pies! Over time we would love this ministry to develop and grow other forms of outreach. Here is a quote from one of our regulars: ‘I enjoy Monday mornings at Cafe Connect because it gives me a chance to catch up with and get to know more people from Springfield. It also gives us a good opportunity to mix with the community and invite others to join us. Do pop in if you can and bring a friend. We regularly meet from 11am onwards’.

New WineWell here we are again, July 2015 New Wine No 2 for us, that year certainly shot by. As it was our second trip, we were more prepared for the camping experience this time. There were many memorable highlights for myself and the girls; we were treated to live music from Hillsongs one evening in the main arena, anyone would think Take That had arrived! There were also some brilliant speakers each evening and from one of these talks we now have a young girl we sponsor and write to who lives in Haiti. The girls had a great time riding their bikes, getting caked in mud, hanging out with other children from Springfield, and their groups are led by inspiring young people.The morning worship in one of the tents called Hungry was very good, the worship and bible teaching was led by the team from St Michael’s in Southfields. We went through the book of Ephesians each morning and on the last day we looked at Chapter 6 about standing in the armour of God, ready for the storms that will come our way to each one of us. The leader of St Michael’s described how one of his most painful storms was when people within his church worked against him, through critical words, thoughts or actions, all of which has a huge impact on our leaders of the church. We were reminded our leaders are there through God’s calling so anything critical, unhelpful or mocking was not from God. I felt this message was place on my heart to share with Springfield on my return which I duly did.I can’t write an article about New Wine without mentioning the weather, which was a bit windy and wet at times and there was one storm at night which was very exciting as I wondered whether our tent would survive it but it surely did. We also enjoyed a day trip to Wells Cathedral mid-week.

To anyone contemplating New Wine, it truly is a great place to go, we always come home feeling so much closer to God, and it is great for all of us to experience living outdoors, even if it is just for one week of the year.

AlphaLast year Springfield ran 2 Alpha courses. The first one was Springfield Church only and the second was run jointly with The Good Shepherd Church, Carshalton. It was an honour to be involved with both courses – and especially to watch God working so amazingly in peoples’ lives. We had fun – we ate together, we laughed together, we chatted, we discussed and we prayed. People became Christians, grew in their faith and experienced God in a new and very real way. It was most wonderful!More than 40 people attended one or more sessions over the two courses, and we want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped and supported Alpha, making it all possible. Those who prayed, provided meals, washed up and cleared away, and in particular, Mat, Dawn, Mel and Jayne. Here’s to the new instalment of Alpha starting end of April 2016.

Please keep asking God to show you who you can invite to the next Alpha – family, friends, work colleagues? Even though we will have had the first session by the time you read this – it’s never too late to ask someone if they’d like to join in!

Praise and glory to Jesus!

Sarah & Mick Miller

Tiptoes 2015

We have had another brilliant year with many new families joining us for our Thursday morning Toddler group at the Crusader Hall.

During the past year we have welcomed 91 families. It has been encouraging to build good relationships and several families, old and new, joined us for Feast in the Field.

We had a successful fund raiser selling homemade cakes and cards, raising £335 for a Tiptoes family whose son needed Proton Therapy in America. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone. It was an amazing morning.

It’s not just the children who have fun on a Thursday. We all enjoy Tiptoes, mums, dads, grandparents and carers as well as helpers. With many thanks to Elizabeth, Margaret, Diane, Yvonne and Kathy for all their help, enthusiasm, for being such a caring committed team and to Sue Bosley for her continued help and support.

Chris Peterkin