My Reflection of Church... Making Bread - Miles Latham (age 8)

We were given flour, yeast and water. Add the flour and all the ingredients. It was all about the having the right ingredients. What I learned was you have to have all the right ingredients. If you have all the right ingredients in the church, you can make it grow and make it healthy. It was fun because I got messy, very messy.

My Reflection of Church: Time for Reflection - Martin Latham

When I listen to a sermon and a sentence strikes a chord and I drift off in thought and introspection, and even though it is in the middle of a service, God grants me the grace and peace for reflection. You have to listen carefully sometimes, the message can be very quiet and in our busy lives it is easily missed. There are other times the quiet is so loud it is deafening you; you wonder then how you missed the message. Being part of a church allows me to feel the quiet because by sharing it I grow and others grow as well – that is the most wonderful feeling.

My Reflection of Church: No More Nightmares - George Foulds - Age 10

When I was younger I kept having nightmares. I prayed to God to make them stop, and they did. I am almost 11 now and I have barley had any nightmares since

My Reflection of Church: My Rollercoaster - Lisa Foulds

Sitting thinking, struggling to know what to write about has been a positive experience. I realise that there are so many experiences in church that have been good, fun, positive, peaceful, spiritual and sometimes profound. These experiences range from having fun whilst getting messy with the children in craft activities, getting ‘merry’ with the other older members of the church family on the wine tasking evenings, enjoying the fellowship and opportunities to explore my faith in small house groups to having prayers answered, being held by God in times of crisis and sharing the rollercoaster journey of my faith with others.

My Reflection of Church: Spiritually Motivating - Dan Taylor

One Sunday morning the image from the stained glass window was shinning on the projector screen at the front of the church, during the service. The image reflected was that of Jesus. It can only happen perhaps once or twice a year, when the sun is ‘just right’ in the sky. That day the atmosphere was very calm and peaceful and I immediately felt spiritually touched and that God was watching over us all.

Another time I can recall is when the congregation were sharing ideas about how best to measure our strengths and weaknesses to of church and church growth. The positive approach and sharing of ideas and opinions contributed very well to a feeling of well being in God.

The “peace” during the service used to be a part of the service I didn’t look forward to much. It felt threatening sharking hands with people I didn’t really know well. However, since I have been attending St Peter’s regularly over recent years it has become a part of the service I enjoy much more because of the sense of fellowship and community that I get. And nowadays that part of the service seems to take a lot longer because of the warmth and sense of belonging which is fostered in everyone.

Having been on the PCC in recent years it has become clear how we have all started treating the PCC meetings as a positive opportunity to work as a team more and more and plan how we plan to share the faith with the rest of the church and those outside the church. Already my personal relationship with God seems to be improving daily.