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Prayer and worship are at the heart of our life as a church. In prayer we long to draw close to God and seek his will and leading in our lives, in the life of the church and in the wider world. Our prayer and dependence upon God resources our work in the community and our care for others. We are committed to providing sensitive pastoral care and the clergy and Pastoral Assistants are always available to pray with you, visit you and offer support.
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Bereavement When difficult times come along, particularly in the days and months after the funeral of a loved one, we are here to help you. Mark and Di are available to conduct funerals and they will offer to help you plan the funeral of a loved one. They will visit you at home, support you and pray with you through the grieving process. Our Pastoral Assistants are also available to support you in the long term. Please contact the Church Office Prayer After our Sunday morning services there are people to pray with you and for you. It often helps to share your concerns with others and to be prayed for by a team of people who have been trained in this ministry. If you would like to be prayed for after one of our services, please come to the prayer ministry area by the font at the front right hand side of the church and a member of our prayer team will offer to pray with you. Di Whitwam oversees our prayer ministry. Prayer Room. We have a dedicated prayer area in the Stoughton Chapel, where we have created a place suitable for private or corporate prayer. There are sofas, books, art materials, music and subdued lighting. Please feel free to make use of this area when the church is open. Visiting St John’s Stoke has a team of four Pastoral Assistants - Janet, Jane, Elizabeth and Dinah, and 2 training assistants – Anne and Sue who assist Mark in the pastoral care of members of the church and wider community. Contact Janet Durrant or Mark Woodward (Rector) Misssion Beyond Stoke At St John’s Stoke, as part of the worldwide church, we are keen to support mission agencies and people across the UK and the rest of the world. Each year we give a percentage of our income to supporting Colin and Anita Smith working with CMS in Kenya Wendy and Hans-Ueli Gerster working with OMF in Japan David and Linda James working with ECM in Austria alongside supporting other organisations such as the Bible Society, Tearfund, schools workers in Guildford and Footsteps, providing support for homeless people in Guildford. The Besom Project St John’s Stoke has chosen to support and be involved with the Besom Project. Besom is a bridge that helps people/volunteers to give their time or high quality material things onto people who have become known to a variety of community contacts who are in need of some help. The aim of the Besom project is to sweep away poverty in the local community and St John’s Stoke has sent a number of groups to work on projects and provide support to people in need of a helping hand in Guildford. We are always looking for more people to get involved in this work. Contact Jez (Youth and Community Worker) to see how you can get involved. The Marriage Course The Marriage Course is a series of eight sessions designed to help any married couple strengthen their relationship.It’s a great opportunity to spend time together as a couple looking at the important issues in your marriage. More details can be found here Please email office@stjohnstoke.com to register your interest. Toddler Group Please follow this link for details about this group Parenting Course For details of the next Parenting course please contact the office: Leading prayers We are completely dependent upon God for our life as a church and so we seek him at every turn. During every Sunday morning service we rely upon individuals and groups to lead us in prayer. We lift individual and community needs before the Lord and ask for his mercy. We are always in need of more helpers to lead us in prayer. If you would like to lead prayers in church on a rota basis, please contact Mark Woodward or the Church Office. Engage Our fortnightly church prayer meeting is called 'Engage'. Prayer is at the heart of all that we do at St John's. We encourage all church members to attend as we seek to engage with God and lift the needs and concerns of the church, the local community and the wider world before Him. Engage is always held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 8pm in the Church Centre. Prayer Chain We have a dedicated team of people ready to pray in urgent times of need. If you would like someone to pray for you contact Janet Durrant (Pastoral Care Co-ordinator) and a team of people will pray for you in strict confidence – 01483 574562 Morning Prayer A weekly time of prayer is held every Thursday 9.15am-10am in the Stoughton Chapel to pray for regular needs and the Sunday services. All are welcome.
We have a number of bands at St John’s Stoke and a great number of talented musicians who lead us in sung worship. Our musical style is contemporary and lively. |
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