Matt McChlery to play After Hours Live in January

Friday 9th January 2015 sees our very own Matt McChlery take to the After Hours Live stage at Octavia's Cafe in Wisbech where he will be playing a blend of contemporary songs you may have heard on the radio as well as some of his own original material.

Matt's song "Fingerprints" has recently been awarded a 'Finalist' position in the prestigeous 2014 UK Songwriting Contest. Matt will be singing "Fingerprints" at the event as well as having his latest CD for sale which also includes the song. This will be the fourth time Matt has played at After Hours Live and it is set to be another fantastic event.

Doors open at 7pm with music starting at 7:30pm. Entry is free, but do bring some money so you can enjoy the delicious cakes and teas / coffees.

Christmas Day Service 2014

It was with great joy that the free churches from around Wisbech met together in the Queen Mary Centre on Christmas morning to celebrate the birth of Jesus together! This year the event was hosted by The King's Church, Wisbech and the service was very well attended. The srevice was  a combined effort by the ministers from The King's Church, The Salvation Army and the message preached by Graham Licence from Wisbech Baptists who reminded us that Jesus is not just for Christmas day, but for every day of the year. A mixture of traditional carols and modern contempory worship were played by The King's Church musicians  - truly reflecting the different styles of worship of those present.

Thank you for coming and we pray you have a very blessed Christmas!

CAP Money Course update

Peterborough Course Complete

Two of our CAP Money Coaches, Matt and Robyn, have just completed running the course over three weeks at the regional headquarters of Accent housing association in Peterborough. This course was for staff of the organisation in order to help them become familiar with the course content, as well as to help them with their personal finances. It is hoped that early 2015 will see the start of referals being made by Accent to our CAP Money Team of their clients in the Wisbech area who would benefit from financial education.

CAP Money Kids

A new strand of CAP Money is to start financial education from an early age. The syllabus is designed for children between the ages of 9 and 11. The course content fulfils many requirements in the new National Curriculum in the subjects of PSHE and Citizenship. Leaflets are ready to go out to schools in early 2015. Pplease pray that there will be interest.

2015 Dates

Within the next week or so the CAP Money Coaches are getting together to plan for the year ahead. This will include setting the dates of the next CAP Money Courses that will be open to all in Wisbech. If you are wanting to get back in control of your finances, whether you are in debt or not, keep checking our website for the next course date. These courses are run completely free of charge.

My Friend Paul

Friday 13th December 2014 saw a host of Wisbech talent take to the stage in support of the charity 'My Friend Paul'. Orgainsed by teacher Jacob Keet, who is also a member of our church, the event was a fantastic celebration and featured musicians from different parts of the community including Thomas Clarkson Academy Strings, Wisbech Community Children's Choir, Wisbech Grammar School Flute Trio, the Clarkson Singers, Wisbech Community Choir and an amazingly talented young harpist Rosie Scott. Our church was also represented by Jacob, Alan and Clive who played violin and accordian to some very rousing Eastern Eurpoean pieces.

The event was held in St Peter's and St Paul's church in the heart of Wisbech. Just over £500 was raised for 'My Friend Paul', a charity who supports a family of orphaned children in Kenya. Find out more about the charity at myfriendpaul.org

Lucas and Barclay at 'Impact 2014'

Steve Barclay MP and Jeff Lucas

Churches from around Wisbech and the surrounding area gathered together last night for 'Impact 2014'. Special guests included Steve Barclay MP and Jeff Lucas. Steve shared some of the projects he is involved in that he hopes will help to improve life our town as well as suggestions of ways we can actually get involved, rather than sitting on the sidelines and complaining.

This was echoed by Jeff Lucas who delivered his message with his characteristic blend of humour and wit with some serious points mixed in. We need to be the change we want to see in our society. The church needs to lead the way. We should stop waiting for some superhero to come along and do all the hard work because actually it is ordinary people who change the world! By taking responsibility and going in to address the problems present in our community, by churches standing together and working together we can have a great impact in our world.

Daughters of Davis at After Hours Live

Daughters of Davis playing at After Hours Live

 The brilliant and super-talented Daughers of Davis fought the Friday night traffic to be with us at After Hours Live in Octavia's Cafe, Wisbech on Friday. Despite the sub-zero temperatures outside the largest audience After Hours Live has had to date helped make the cafe feel snug and warm. The girls put on an amazing performance with their unique blend of acoustic instruments and haunting harmonies singing a mix of covers such as Michael Jackson's 'Billy Jean' and 'Have a Holly Jolly Christmas' as well as some original material.

After Hours Live is in the process of booking performers and special guests for its 2015 line-up so keep up to date by checking out the After Hours Live website for all the latest news. See you in 2015!

 

Christmas goodies now in stock

Richard and Maggie from the Oasis Christian Bookshop in Wisbech have helped re-stock the church shop. There are lots of Christmas goodies that are not usually available including Fairtrade Christmas Cards, Fairtrade ginger biscuits, Fairtrade dried fruit perfect for making your Christmas cake.

The Fairtrade 'Reeal Advent Calendar' is proving to be a great success - so prder yours if they are sold out!

There is also a selection of Christmas music CDs as well as popular worship CDs including the latest release 'All Things New' from our very own Matt McChlery which will make a great Christmas gift!

Get ready for the new year with some Bible reading notes that last a whole year, or be helped to read the Bible in a year with the 'Every Day With Jesus' Bible.

Do have a look at the shop at the back of church on Sunday.

Shining a Light in the Darkness

 

Inspired by a talk at yesterday's IJM conference and the leading of the Holy Spirit, today we lit a candle in our church service to remind us all about those who are suffering injustice, in slavery and those Christians who are being persecuted around the world.

Lord, may you help us to be a light shining in the darkness

#Dark2Light

IJM UK Conference 2014

IJM (International Justice Mission) held their first UK international conference yesterday and 4 of us from The King's Church, Wisbech attended. It was a valuable time to engage again with God's heart on issues around modern-day slavery, violence and injustice around the world. We were taken to the depths of despair hearing about some of the horrific situations people find themselves in, but we were also shown that although there is great darkness and evil in the world - there is hope!

By following Jesus and obeying his call to look after the widow, the orphan and the poor. By following God's heart to set captives free and bring justice where there is injustice. IJM is engaged practically on the groung in countries around the world setting captives free, restoring hope, vision and dignity. They are also engaged in trying to change legislation that gives more protection to the last and the least.

Through their work they have seen captives set free. They have seen abusers taken to account for their crimes. They have seen entire justice systems reform and govermnents change their opinions. They great thing is, God has called all of us to get involved. To be doers and not just hearers. To take action to bring justice and freedom.

We may not be able to be 'on the ground' raiding brothels and freeing underaged prostitutes in Cambodia or rescuing people from brick kilns in India. But we can educate our neighbour. We can write a letter to our MP to help change the law in this country. We can choose to buy fairly traded goods when we shop. There are ways everyone can get involved!

Find out more about IJM and their work by visiting their website.

Bean Baker at After Hours Live

Bean Baker and his bass guitarist Dave fought the Friday evening traffic all the way from Gloucester to be with us at After Hours Live on Friday evening. We are centrainly glad they did as they produced an amazing top-quality performance singing covers such as Ed Sheeran's 'Lego House' and Emily Sande's 'Next To Me'. To prove their musicianship they also covered a jazz number 'Hit The Road Jack' and then played a medley where they combined the popular song 'Everything Is Awesome' from the Lego Movie with One Direction's 'You're Beautiful'. They also played some original compositions including 'Set Me On Fire' as well as 'The Troll And Ogre Hunter' - their CDs sold almost as quickly as the chocolate cake in the interval!

There were also some people who were at After Hours Live for the first time and it was lovely to meet them. We are hoping they will be back next month to see the fantastic Daughters of Davis who will be getting us into the festive spirit.

New Sermon CDs Ready to Go

New Sermon Series CD Box-Sets are ready in our new look packaging.

Starting with a 2-sermon mini series preached by Clive Butcher about 'Spiritualists, Mediums and the Occult' this series looks at the realities of the spirit realm as well as what the Bible says about things such as mediums, horoscpoes, tarot cards etc. Sermons well worth listening to! Cost £1.

'Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly With Your God' is a 4 disc 7-sermon series that uses the minor prophets in the Old Testament to explore issues around justice and mercy - a topice God has been laying heavily on our hearts recently. A valuable resource to refer to again and again. Cost £3.50.

'Dare to Dream' is our latest sermon series fresh from our recent conference with special guest speaker Hugh Osgood. These contain some invaluable insights into how the church should respond to our community as well as the importance of working together across denominations to build God's Kingdom here on earth. Cost £3.50

All titles are available at the shop at church.

Bite-Sized Sermons Launched

We have launched a new sermon series called 'Bite-Sized Sermons' This series will only exist in video format and consist of a short clip of approximately 60 seconds taken from a recent sermon. the idea behind this series is to enable internet users to easily share the content amongst their social networks and contacts and to gain a nugget of truth contained within the sermon.

Each Bite-Sized Sermon video points the viewer back to the church website where they will be able to watch the entire sermon in order to hear the point being made in context.

So, get sharing the Bite-Sized Sermons amongst your friends today.

The It's Not Fair Visits Wisbech

The It's Not Fair visits Wisbech with tales about human trafficking

Rhema theatre company and IJM visited Wisbech on Saturday 20th September by invitation from The King's Church Wisbech. It was a fantastic event with heartbreaking stories being told, all of them true, about human trafficking and injustice from around the world. Mike and Rebecca Peacock from Rhema theatre company gave a very energetic and professional performance that dealt with serious themes in a respectful yet entertaining way.

Everyone who attended the event were moved by the stories they saw portrayed and were also told about the great work being done by organisations and charities such as IJM in order to provide a solution to the problem.

Human trafficking is one of the biggest problems in the community of Wisbech and the surrounding Fenland area. The most common type being the exploitation and trafficking of some Eastern European migrant workers. Cambridgeshire Police have been focussing on this problem and have made several arrests in recent months as well as rescuing many victims of trafficking through Operation Pheasant.

The King's Church Wisbech cares deeply about social justice and human trafficking issues and will continue to host events to highlight the problem as well as show people how thay can make a difference and become part of the solution. Do contact us if you would like to be kept informed about our ongoing work in this area.

Visited by Rachel Hickson

Rachel Hickson preaching at The King's Church Wisbech

We were very blessed by Rachel Hickson's ministry when she came for a visit on Sunday 7th September. Her sermon was about 'Presence, Passion and Power'. Rachel believes God is looking for people who want to get wet with his presence and spirit, and then God will set them on fire with his passion and power!

This was a word in season for our church and touched on sereval points that we are looking to explore more deeply in the coming months.

Thank you to Rachel and to everyone who came from the church.

You can watch Rachel Hickson's sermon again here:

After Hours Open Mic

On Friday 5th September, the monthly After Hours Live was back. Hosting the ever popular 'Open Mic' event, various performers all contributed to help make the night a success. Some of the highlights were: an original song by Joel Fitzsimmons as well as a beautiful rendition of the Les Miserables song 'I Dreamed A Dream' sung by Serena.

Thanks to all who contributed as well as everyone who came along to watch / listen.

Next month Bob Bell returns to the After Hours Live stage with his country and western classics, along with some witty banter! Don't miss it.

Photos of the event can be seen on the After Hours Live FAcebook page.

The King's Church at Wisbech Rose Fair 2014

 

Henry Olonga sings at After Hours Live

We have had a busy, but productive weekend! The annual Wisbech Rose Fair was back again and The King's Church, Wisbech was more involved than ever! 

 

It began on Friday 4th July 2014 with our monthly After Hours Live event moving to the larger venue of the Queen Mary Centre. Here, an audience of around 60 people enjoyed listening to the singing and life stories of retired international test cricketer Henry Olonga. The usual After Hours Live standard of excellence was surpassed by Henry's exquisite singing. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all who came.

 

Clive in the rain after setting up the Gift Box

The following day saw the church gearing up for the Rose Fair parades. The Queen Mary Centre was open and teas and coffees were on sale for all those involved with the floats - this was manned by members from the church. At the same time there was a craft fair inside the Queen Mary Centre with many from the church having a stall as well as being organised together with the Ferry Project.

 

Our presence in the market place was wuite literally a 'present' this year! We hosted one of Stop The Traffik's UN.GIFT Boxes that catches the eye and helps to raise awareness about the problem of human trafficking. This is a problem in the Wisbech and Fenland area especially when it comes to the exploitation of labourers from foreign countries. Many meaningful conversations took place with hundreds of leaflets being given out, helping people to identify the signs of human trafficking as well as phone numbers to call if they spot something. 

 

Apart from being exhausted, we are really happy that wer were able to take part in the Rose Fair again and pray that we have made a positive impact on our community. Thank you to all those who gave their time and energy to help make all the various events a success!

 

Watch our Rose Fair 2014 video here:

 

 

 







Don't Miss These Wisbech Rose Fair 2014 Events!

An Evening With Henry Olonga

 

Retired international test cricketer, henry Olonga will be paying a special visit to Wisbech on Friday 4th July 2014 at the Queen Mary Centre. He will be appearing as the 'After Hours Live' special guest and will be telling stories about his cricketing career and life as well as singing some amazing songs with his superb tenor voice. He will also be answering some questions from the audience as well as signing autographs.

 

Octavia's Cafe will be on hand to provide refreshments and delicious cakes. The evening will be relaxed, seated around tables in an informal 'cafe-style' atmosphere. Henry's book and CD will also be on sale at the event.

 

Entry is free, but come early to get a good seat! Doors open at 7pm with the event starting at 7:30pm.

 

Visit the Gift Box in the Market Place

 

Saturday 5th July 2014 is the Wisbech Rose Fair parade day. Come along to Wisbech Market Place and visit our 'Gift Box'. These boxes were used in London during the 2012 Olympic Games and there are also some currently being used at the World Cup in Rio right now!

 

They are sure to draw a crowd and create interest - so don't miss out! The boxes contain a serious message that is well worth thinking about as it impacts our community in Wisbech as well as other Fenland towns.

 

We would love to have a converstaion with you as well as show you how you can help.

The Gift Box will be up in Wisbech Market Place until 4pm on Saturday. First parade starts at 11am.



Church Retreat

A group of 14 journeyed to Buckden Towers, a few miles south of Huntingdon yesterday to take part in a church retreat. Ably directed by Robyn Johnstone, there was a lot of time and space for personal reflection, prayer and meditation.

For some who had never experienced this type of worship or fellowship with God before found it difficult at first, but had really enjoyed the experience by the end of the day.

It was a valuable time of relaxing, 'unplugging' from our fast paced digital world and intentionally carving out space to seek and to simply be with God. We are hoping to have another retreat in about 6 months or so - if you didn't make it to this retreat why not join us next time?

 

Some comments from participants:

"Restful and peaceful"

"Such a priviledge to be still and know You are God. The quiet of the chapel was something else. You just had to be there!"

"Wonderful to have permission to stop"

"Wonderful to have time out from a busy life to listen to God. Thank you Lord for making some things clear to me - please give the strength to carry them through" 

 

Terry's Testimony on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Our very own Terry was the main feature interview this Easter Sunday on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

Listen again to this amazingly honest and open interview of a life transformed and hope restored by clicking here.

Any comments, leave them in the comments section below.

Happy Easter!

Wisbech Foodbank Donation

 

A copule of weeks ago, there was a huge response from the congregation at The King's Church, Wisbech for another appeal from the Wisbech Foodbank. A big thank you to all those who gave to the appeal.

Remember, the Wisbech Foodbank is always looking for donations as they give over 40 food parcels to those in need every week!

You can bring your donation at any time to the Queen Mary Centre or the Oasis Book Shop on Norfolk Street.

http://wisbech.foodbank.org.uk/

Cathy Burton and MAF come to Wisbech

Cathy Burton plays at the Queen Mary Centre, Wisbech

 Set out in a cafe-style with clusters of tables and chairs dotted around the room, the audience arrived with picnics and nibbles and sat down to enjoy an evening of great music and inspirational stories at the Queen Mary Centre in Wisbech.

Cathy Burton and the team from Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) came to Wisbech last night (Friday 29th March 2014) as part of Cathy's national tour to highlight the important work of the MAF charity. Hosted by The King's Church, Wisbech this was a fantastic event and was well supported.

Thank you for coming along and a specially big thank you to all the volunteers and back-stage helpers who helped make the event a great success.

The King's Church, Wisbech is putting on other large events such as this one in the near future, including 'An Evening with Henry Olonga' in July. Henry is a retired interational test-cricketer and an amazing singer. Be sure to also check out the After Hours website for more events which include a visit from Noel and Tricia Richards in November.

 

 

Stories about the work of MAF

Audience members enjoying the show

Our time at the IJM Conference

3 of our team who attended the conference (4th taking photo)

 

 We were excited to travel through to St Mark's Church in Battersea in London yesterday to attend the IJM (International Justice Mission) conference. The focus of the event was to encourage local churches to become a 'Justice Church', where an emphasis and focus is given to not just talking about justice, but actively doing justice - within our own communities as well as further afield. The verse from Micha 6:8

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Q&A Pannel

By actively doing justice in society, we become more mature in Christ. We actually put into practise  those things that we have learnt. If we love God, we should love the things he loves and hate the things he hates - justice ministry and mercy ministry does just that! 



In the keynote address, President and CEO if International Justice Mission, Gary Haugen gave some moving stories of a couple of people who had been rescued from a life of slavery and suffering. He also suggested that God does not want to make His people safe, rather He wants to make His people brave! Getting involved in justice ministry requires bravery. It requires extravagant compassion, it requires sacrificial courage and it requires tenacious hope!



Gary Haugen - President and CEO of IJM

There was also opportunity for group discussion which helped churches to figure out how this might work for them in their specific context.

The team left the day inspired and eager to pursue looking into how we can do justice better within our church, community and world. I am sure this is not the last we will be hearing about how we as a church can get involved in justice and the work of IJM, so watch this space!

 

If you would like to know more about the work of IJM, please visit their website by clicking here.



 



 



















    

 

Spiritual Formation Seminar

Thanks to Robyn Johnstone who ran the Spiritual Formation Seminar on Saturday in the new church rooms to the side of the Queen Mary Centre. Around 20 people attended the seminar and learnt about how we are more 'spirit' than we are 'physical body' so therefore it is important to take the time to nurture and grow our spirit. The seminar looked at a deeper understanding of this concept as well as offering suggestions and tools as to how we go about doing this.

By tyring to build up our spirit, by engaging more with Jesus and opening up or lives to respond to Him, this will help us become more spiritually mature in Christ, which is the core of the vision of The King's Church, Wisbech: 'That we may presenting everyone mature in Christ'.

Part of the discussion was about the possibilities of going on a retreat. This is a very real possibility and anyone who would like to take part on a day retreat (or possibly a 2 day retreat with a 1 night stay), please contact the church office for more information.

Alan Vibes Rocking at After Hours Live

 

Friday 7th February saw popular local musician and entertainer, Alan Vibes take to the After Hours Live stage. performing to a packed audience, Alan soon had everyone singing along amd even up on their feet and dancing. Singing covers from Tom Jones, Rod Stewart, The Blues Brothers, Cliff Richard and many, many more Alan delighted the After Hours Live audience.

Octavia's Cafe again played host to the event and were superb hosts. Thanks to all who came. We have an excellent line-up at After Hours Live for 2014 so we do hope to see you again soon.

the month of March (Friday 7th) sees young singer / songwriter Holly Smith from Peterborough coming along to After Hours Live. She is extremely talented and one not to miss! See you there . . .

Chan Abraham visits The King's Church, Wisbech

Chan Abraham visited the King's Church, Wisbech on Sunday. He brought a wonderful message for the start of the New Year about forgetting the past and choosing to look ahead and move on with God into His promises for the future.

Have a watch of the inspiring message in the video above.

Poetry Book launched at After Hours Live Open-Mic Night

Fiona Lankfer reading her poems at After Hours Live

January saw After Hours Live get a fabuolus start for 2014 with the ever popular After Hours Poetry Open-Mic night. This saw several poets and lovers of poetry read poems they had either written themselves or just simply love to read (even if written / published by others). The evening had an added bonus in that it was also the launch event of the new After Hours Live: Little Book of Poetry. Local poets who have read at After Hours events in the past contributed to the book which contains 21 poems that cover a variety of themes, and some with a twist of faith.

The book will be available for purchase at the price of £4 at all After Hours Live events this year. Profits go towards the running costs of After Hours Live.

 There is a fantastic line-up of artists for 2014 who will be appearing as apecial guests at After Hours. Among them are Noel & Tricia Richards, Daughters of Davis, Henry Olonga and South African Stand-up Comedian Mark Palmer. Visit the After Hours website for more information or pick up a 2014 'Artist Line Up' card at Octavia's Cafe to keep informed of who is playing/appearing when.

New Year's Eve

 

Thanks to all those who came and joined in with the Church's New Year's Eve celebrations at the Queen Mary Centre in Wisbech. We had a fabulous time. There was a massive bring-and-share banquet followed by some line dancing and karaoke, while board games and video games were being played in the church rooms.

Half-and-hour before the strike of twelve-o'clock we got together and thanked God for the year that had passed as well as dedicating the future year to Him. We shared in communion together and then at midnight sang Auld Langs Eyne together.

It was a special time. Thanks for joining in and helping to make it special.