Hockley Pentecostal Church

We know that God is real and has a daily impact upon our lives.  One of the keys to experiencing the reality of God is prayer. Not that dreary old ‘eyes shut, hands together, fall asleep’ stuff.  I mean active, vibrant, exciting communication with the creator of the universe.  Last January we held a prayer conference to put this vital activity right at the front of our hearts and minds. It was such a success that we’re doing it again in 2008.  As well as fascinating and informative teaching on this important subject, there will be opportunity to receive prayer and pray with others.

The meetings are at 7.30pm on Friday 18th January and 10am-4pm on Saturday 19th January. The cost is £5 which includes lunch and refreshments. For further details contact the church or read this flyer - prayer-conference.pdf

All of us here at Hockley Pentecostal Church would like to wish you every joy and blessing during this festive season. We celebrate the life of Jesus all year round but there’s still something special about Christmas.

As you’d exect we’ve got a packed program of events at this time of year. Most of the regular meetings run as normal but there are some changes during the main holiday week.

The treasure kids party is on Sunday 9th December at 3pm.  The following two Sundays we have Carol services. The Children’s Carol service is at 5.30pm on Sunday 16th December and is particularly suitable for families with children of primary school age.  The main Carol Service is at 6.30 pm on 23rd December.  Both the services will be followed by hot and cold drinks with mince pies.

On Christmas day we have a one hour service starting at 11am.  There will be no midweek meetings after this and the next service will be Sunday 30th December at the usual time of 11am. There is NO EVENING MEETING on this day.

On 31st December at 11pm we have a special service to see in the new year.

Here at Hockley Pentecostal Church we believe that baptism is only for people who have made up their minds to be Christians.  Acts chapter 2 verse 38 says “….Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ……”. This is why we perform a dedication service for babies rather than a baptism.  You can only repent if you understand what you’re doing.

We also believe that baptism should be done by ‘full immersion’ where the person being baptised is completely covered by the water. That’s why we have a baptism pool built into the platform.

On the evening of the 2nd of December we’re having our next baptismal service. If you’re interested in seeing what adult baptism is like then come along and watch.  If you think you might be interested in being baptised yourself, then contact the church and we’ll help you understand what’s involved.

Some time ago Pastor Angela Butcher started writing songs and some of them were used as part of the worship time in the church.  People started asking where they could get CD’s of them and until now there was a simple answer ….”You can’t get them.”  That has now changed as we have produced our first album which is called “No Other Name”.  The album was launched during the Sunday evening service on 4th November but things didn’t quite go according to plan.

A couple of hours before the service the lights went out as all the buildings in our block lost power.  Even the street lights failed and the area was plunged into darkness.  Undeterred we transferred the service to our minor hall.  Seating was limited so some people had to be turned away for safety reasons.  Those who got in were treated to “No Other Name unplugged” as Pastor Angela played the piano with an acoustic guitar accompanying her.

The evening was a resounding success with everyone saying how much they enjoyed it.

Last Tuesday we hosted another BEad CREATIVE jewelery making evening and once again people gathered to design and make their own creations. You can look at the earlier post for the basic details (see June ‘07) but here’s a few new facts. BEad CREATIVE was founded to support the Blue House Care Centre in Bulgaria. You can get more information on this worthwhile project at the Saltmine Trust website.

BEad CREATIVE was responsible for beginning several “fair trade” style jewellery projects, helping needy Bulgarians earn an income rather than just receiving aid. Initially, BEad CREATIVE helped to support those initiatives by supplying beads and fittings, but since 2005 the projects have become self-sustaining and are now united under the name “KRASIF Bulgarian Craft.

‘Krasif’ is the Bulgarian word for ‘Beautiful’, which is the perfect description for their range of home-made Bulgarian jewellery. For some years they have been running this successful initiative providing income and improving the self worth of the makers who include Bulgarian Christians, and even some disabled young people. It is one thing to continually receive aid, but something else to have the dignity of earning a living for yourself.

At the last jewellery party everyone was too busy having a good time to take any photos. This time a short video was made which can be seen on our YouTube channel. A few ’stills’ from the film are shown here.

On Saturday 6th October some nationally recognised children’s workers will be in Birmingham at Hockley Pentecostal Church to share their wealth of experience.  The day starts at 9.30am and runs through until 4pm.  For a look at the programme click on this link training.pdf. Booking is essential and should be done by Tuesday 2nd October at the latest. Cost £15.

On Friday 5th October Hockley Pentecostal Church is hosting this special event.  It is being run by the National Treasure Kids team who will be coming with a full programme of fun, exciting and uplifting activities.  It has been advertised in churches throughout the central region and we’re expecting everyone to have a great time.  The evening is aimed at children aged 4-12 and is from 7-8.30pm. The cost is £2 per child with accompanying adults free.

All our ladies’ events come under the umbrella title of Esther Generation.  The book of Esther is in the Old Testament of the Bible.  It tells of the wisdom and bravery of a woman who overcame difficulties and had a huge impact on her nation.

The latest Esther Generation meeting was last Saturday.  The meeting was from 10am to 1pm and gave the opportunity to enjoy food, friendship, and discussion about practical issues that affect women today.

Towards the end of August N:r-gize went to Ultimate Youth Camp.  This was a week long extravanganza of worship, team building, sports, adventure activities, teaching and most of all fun.  16 of our youth group went and you can see what they got up to on YouTube.  They all enjoyed it immensely and can’t wait to go again next year.  Once again our thanks go to Birmingham City Council who gave us a grant to help finance the project.

The holiday club was a tremendous success this year, with numbers steadily building until we had to lock the gates and turn people away.  Sorry everyone, but 100 children was our limit.  It’s difficult for me to pick out the highlights because each child had their own favourite.  Some preferred the bouncy castle and others the go-karts.  There are photos below but to get a better flavour of the event look out for the video on YouTube. A big thank you goes to Birmingham City Council whose grant allowed us to charge only £1 per child (and that included lunch!)

We plan to run a similar event next year.