Still on Christmas Eve they have the first Holy Communion of Christmas at 7.30pm and again on Christmas Day there is a Family Communion Service from 10.00-11.00. You are welcome to come to any of their services.
And Colin is always full of ideas and so joined forces with an attempt to break the simultaneous carol singing record. It stood at 15,000 but the church helped with their merry band of over 100 to over 17,000.
Each session across the country had to be recorded and so verified by the Guinness Book of Records, so we popped along and filmed all fifteen minutes of some wonderful singing.
CHRISTMAS is a time of celebration for young and old alike. It’s also a time when St John’s welcome many people to our special Christmas services and events. A warm welcome awaits you at any of our services.
The Conference concluded with the formal launch of ‘Thurrock Faith Matters’, the newly established borough wide forum for dialogue and activity between the many different faith communities. The conference was a partnership event between Thurrock Council and Thurrock Faith Matter.
YT was in NYC on the day that Thurrock had its first ever multi-faith conference. As it happens, we were at the All Souls Church on Lexington Avenue. This reporter has been to NYC on many occasions but has never seen so many people on the streets, homeless and begging.
The Premier Christian Radio initiative hopes to beat the current World Record for the largest number of people singing carols together across multiple locations. The aim is to recruit over 15,000 people to join in for 15 minutes of carolling.
FAITH leaders from across the borough will be gathering to discuss the effects of faith in the community on Thursday. The Faith Leaders Conference at High House Production Park, Purfleet will feature speeches from council leader John Kent and leader of the Conservatives Phil Anderson about the faith sector as well as the importance of faith by Rev Darren Barlow, chair of the Inter-Faith Forum.
The evening was full of Asian , Western, classical, modern and folk music and dancing. The highlights of the evening were Diwali Songs sung by the Asian Adult Music Group; Bollywood dancing performances by the Zarine Dancers, Storm Entertainment and The Thurrock Naplese Group. A loud cheers came from the audience to the beautiful classical performance of Bharatanatyam Dancers led by Sanskriti. The audience appreciated the vocal performance of Jai Khan and Voilin Playing by Adisha.
IT WAS A very visual and striking way of showing how the religion of Islam has spread across the world: Display the Koran in a vast number of languages.
Fancy dress is encouraged but not the usual 31st October theme! The church wants children to come as knights, princesses, kings or queens. Parents/carers must be in attendance with any children who come, for safety reasons.
WHEN you get to know many of the people of faith in the borough, you get to appreciate, what a fabulous job they do. We know it is annoying if we only mention Colin Baker, Tim Harrold and Caroline Smith and we know there are many others but week in and week out, we see them in Thurrock, doing a great job. You don’t have to believe or subscribe to their faith, you just have to appreciate that these are people trying to make Thurrock a better place.
This Sunday Morning at 9.30 at St Mary’s Dock Road Little Thurrock the church will be having a special service where those who have been baptised can renew their baptism promises. Rev Christine McWilliams said: “This renewal of vows is a reminder to everyone who has been baptised that they turned away from their past sin and turned to God, who loves us and saved us through Jesus.
During the past 12 months, preparations have been taking place in cooperation with churches in the Thurrock area of southwest Essex. More than 500 people recently attended a series of classes designed to help local Christians share their beliefs with others. In addition, a version of the classes specifically geared for teenagers will take place at the beginning of September. Local churches have also been preparing for Rock Thurrock through ongoing prayer and by participating in Community Action Projects.
YT interviewed the Essex Protestant Council three years ago at the Orsett Show. We thought we would catch up with them again. They are a group of Bible-believing Christians seeking to raise “a testimony to God and the truth of His Word” in Essex and East London.
FM419 is the next stage of the Rock Thurrock project to be rolled out – an evening and a day of fast-moving, visual, loud, interactive training for the young people of Thurrock’s churches being held at Grays United Reformed Church on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 September.
Judaism places great importance on the naming of each new child. When a parent gives a child a name, the parent is giving the child a connection to previous generations. The parent is also making a statement about their hope for who their child will become. In this way, the name carries with it some identity for the child.
Rock Thurrock’s Community Action Projects’ Coordinator, Edwin Hughes, distributed black plastic sacks, blue recycling bags, Hi Viz jackets – with their Rock Thurrock logos – and those claspy gadgets for effective litter-picking. There was plenty of banter as the pickers picked tenaciously through the thick foliage beside the London Road between St Stephen’s and Purfleet railway station. A few people walked past and gave strange looks, but their were no comments.
On Sunday, MP Stephen Metcalfe attended a service which culminated in the opening of their new car park. With funds from the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation (DC) and Veoila, the church have been able to lay an ecologically sound car park. Rev Rosemary Pritchard held a short ceremony before the ribbons were cut.
SOME churches are concerned that there pews are empty and the street corners are full. On a quiet Thursday evening in Stanford-le-Hope, the hall in the High Street was packed to the rafters as evangelical speaker, Gary Cobb held another training session in preparation for the big Rock Thurrock event at Civic Hall in the summer.
Around 80 councillors, council officers and veterans joined the MP, Mayor of Thurrock, Cllr Charlie Curtis, Leader of the Council, Cllr John Kent and the Rev Darren Barlow at the ceremony.
TWENTY-FIVE Christian, Sikh and Hindu community leaders gathered at the Beehive Centre in Grays last Thursday evening (26 May) to hear about the progress of the Thurrock Faith Forum. Interim Chairman Rev Darren Barlow was joined by Thurrock Faith Forum committee members Graham Carey, Chair Community Involvement Board; Yash Gupta, representing the Hindu community (and [...]
COME on Saturday 18th June to enjoy another of St Mary’s strawberry cream teas. Cakes, scones and lots of strawberries, as well as plants, bric a brac and other stalls. 2.00pm-4.00pm at St Mary’s Hall, St Mary’s church, Dock Road. This is in aid of our church refurbishment.
The move comes against the backdrop of recent tie-ups between local government and faith groups. seeking to play a role in provision of services in potentially sensitive areas, such as advising on sexual health.
We Are Revival are a band from Coventry, UK. They will be playing their brand of loud christian thrash metal at the All Saints Church on Drake Road on Saturday May 27th at 7pm. The band started in Early 2010 as a coming together of musical styles, ideas and concepts.
