As part of our Church Mission and Discipleship framework, “Gardens, Dining Rooms and Kitchens“, we offer courses for individuals to grow. In our framework Gardens are about settings suitable for Guests, Dining Rooms for building Friendships and the Kitchen is the place for the Family. As we resolve dates for each course we’ll show them against each below. They will normally be at 7.30pm in our Upper Hall on the Church site accessible off Beaumont Road.
And so it is in the Kitchen where we grow into the family likeness of Jesus. Here we refer to the Sink where we discover our Ministry and the Oven where things in the Kitchen get finished off and where we discover our place in Mission before passing out the back door into the garden and mixing with guests. Therefore we offer courses to help you in these areas of growing as a disciple of Christ to help fulfil our church aim of being a C4 Church. A church that wants to be about: Christ and our Committment to grow in him and his Commandments and Commission.
One regular courses will be
Welcome to St Judes – Next on Tuesday 1 May (Changed from 17 April) and 16 October 2012
An evening with refreshments led by our Vicar, Tim Smith, where he will give you a tour of the church’s ethos and offer an opportunity to ask any questions at all.
Then we have some further more specific courses we would encourage you to attend over a year or two. In general our small groups don’t meet on Tuesdays so you can easily still be a part of a group and just join one of the following for a short season every now and then:
Basic Christianity: Alpha (Next begins on – Tuesday 15 January 2013)
Alpha is a Christian basics course where you can explore the meaning of life over 9 evenings.
Basic Discipleship: 40 Days Of Purpose (Next begins on – Tuesday 6 November 2012)
What are we here for? What is our purpose in life? What would it look like to live a balanced life as a Christian? A great course over 6 evenings that has been transformational for many in their approach to life. Highly recommended.
The Sink: Discovering Your Ministry (Next begins Spring 2013)
What S.H.A.P.E. has God given you? None of us want to be square pegs in round holes. Its the same when it comes to discovering the ministry that best suits you. This isn’t about finding you a job in the church, but to help you consider what role God may have got you readys for as we explore together Sprititual gifts, Heart passions, Abilities, Personalities and Experiences of life. Over 5 evenings you can begin to see a way forward into a fulfilling ministry because you’ll the have the tools to find what will best suit you either in our outside the church.
The Oven: Just Walk Across The Room (Next begins early Summer 2013)
Mission is so much easier when we partner with God. that means making friends and listening for his prompting. This course helps take the pressure off evangelism and maintains mission throughout all our lives and friendships. Only 4 evenings to discover that evangelism isn’t scary and you don’t need to knock on any strangers doors or stand on the street trying to convince people about Jesus with a flip chart. Just make real friends and listen to God’s promps! A liberating few weeks that removes any guilt about fulfilling your part in the great commission to go and make disciples.
What is the Church’s teaching on divorce? The Church of England wishes all who marry a lifetime of love that grows within God’s protection. But we recognise that some marriages do fail for all sorts of sad and painful reasons.
As someone who is divorced, can I marry in church? There may be a way forward for you to be married again in church. The Church of England agreed that divorced people could remarry in church under certain circumstances. However, because the Church views marriage to be lifelong, there is no automatic right to do so and it is left to the discretion of each Parish Priest. That will mean that you will need to have a conversation with the Vicar about the circumstances behind your divorce before it will be possible to confirm if a marriage can be proceeded with.
Also, while most weddings take place under banns it will also be necessary to send a notification of the proposed wedding to the Bishop using a standard form which must have the Vicar’s support. The guidance notes that includes an application form are here to download. Once you have arranged a time and date to meet the Vicar by phone or e-mail just bring it along having completed it.
If you want any further clarity, please do just contact us.
Watch a short video for an intro to our ideas on Mission and Discipleship where settings are important – TheGarden, Dining Room and Kitchen with its Sink and Oven.
(If you want to download a higher quality version of it without any of the main text right click here and select save and then choose your destination folder. If you just want to watch it left click only)
An Intentional Outreach & Discipleship Strategy For St Judes
C4 is not just an explosive, it is also the shorthand for our aim as a church that if you read on will become unravelled. “Danger-Explosive!” signs warn of the potential to explode – not of an actual explosion. We believe St Jude’s is on the brink of something really exciting.
We might have a Vicar, a Youth Minister, a Curate, five Readers – two Church Wardens and a Parish Council – several missionaries overseas from our own congregation, last year trained and sent out to another parish a new priest but we have also enabled one young adult to be a Christian Youth Worker in Canada and a second to attend Bible College, but that is not all – because we aim to be a fellowship of ministers.
Our vision is to enable everyone to discover Christ and all that it means to grow in him as we commit ourselves to him and his Church. In growing we can all discover the gifts he gives us and use them within ministries that will suit our own God given characters to finally explore our mission in life – joining in with God’s mission to his world. Our aim is to be a church that is about “CHRIST and our COMMITMENT to grow in him and his COMMANDMENTS and COMMISSION”. C4 Church.
Our Mission Action Plan
Exeter Diocese is wanting to encourage individual and groups of churches to form Mission Communities – fellowships large enough to be self sustaining, discipling and outreaching – under its strategy called Moving On In Mission And Ministry. St Jude’s has now submitted its Mission Action Plan to be considered as a Mission Community in its own right.
It is built around the strategy of Gardens, Dining Rooms and Kitchens initiated by our Vicar, Tim Smith, that ties together Outreach AND Discipleship in a way we believe is crucial for growth individually and communally. (If you are interested in the book click on the image of the book cover)
It also means reviewing how we do church in our Small Groups – that has begun through our RNLI Small Group Church process – with lots of exploration to come! We are also looking at all of our church buildings in our Next Era project to adapt a Victorian set of buildings into a unified site which can work for us in varied and flexible ways. St Jude’s is on the edge of something new and exciting – following Jesus has never been dull!
(Special thanks to Architects Design Group in Plymouth for generously producing the walkthrough video for us and in giving permission for it to be freely used publically.)
Sunday evenings at St Judes are from 6.30pm each week in our Upper Hall that faces onto Beaumont Road behind the Church…
Reflections
REFLECTIONS
These evenings are an opportunity to reflect on a passage of scripture that might not have been that obvious or needs deeper study and it will be in a context of sung worship and prayer.
We also have various resources available each week to help us explore more and a downloadable data sheet on the particular book of the Bible we will be in will be available from here (or a printed version in Church the Sunday beforehand) so you can pre-read and prepare a bit. See below for the downloads against each week.
Hopefully, we can learn from each other in how we approach and interpret what we read. You can gain confidence in reading your Bible as we try to allow the Bible to speak to us more and more of God’s love and character.
And, is there a passage you would like us to look at? Let us know on one of the evenings and we’ll try and slot it in. We want to use different books of the Bible each time as you will also be able to build up a free resource of backgrounds to each book of the Bible.
(Click on the reading below to download the background to the book the reading is taken from. They are all in pdf text versions to keep files smaller – if you need to download a pdf reader for free, click here)
PROGRAMME
No Evening Services over Easter Holidays 8 Apr and 15 Apr
If you’d rather contact someone and speak on the phone please either call our Church Office (Open Wed to Fri mornings) on Plymouth (01752) 263163 or the Vicar on 224178 View Larger Map
If the map isn’t showing above just above this sentence, please do just click on its link. If you need coordinates for a Sat Nav, then St Jude’s Church is at 50.372781, -4.127651 and is on the corner of Tothill Road and Beaumont Road in Plymouth.
There is a car park at the church and the local streets are suitable for parking ,except Monday to Friday between 10am and 11am, when resident parking only applies on many of the roads.
If you want to see the parish and its boundaries, maybe to see if you live within it for a wedding application, on a map click here
If you are looking at this page – Congratulations! (We guess you’re reading it because you’re thinking about getting married. If you are just looking for information on Banns of Marriage click here . Also, if either of you have been married before and are divorced, please follow this link).
IMPORTANT – PLEASE READ DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE FOR IMPRITANT INFORMATION ABOUT POSSIBE CLOSURE OF THE CHURCH SOMETIME IN 2013 FOR REFURBISHMENT
This is a big step that you both need to think through – how it will work out – how you will both care for each other after the first rush of love, wedding and honeymoon. So just to get you both thinking – here’s a comic video with a strong message – just for you…
If you want to talk through these things before the big step – do take the opportunity to do so. You can speak with the Vicar or show the video to close friends and ask them to chat about their experiences and you both need to find time to speak honestly to each other about how you would deal with these and other situations before you commit to marriage. Marriage is a big step, but so worth it if its right and you can get God at the heart of it.
Weddings in churches of the Church of England are covered by the law of the land and the local clergy operate as ‘Clerks in Holy Orders’ which gives them authority to marry folk under certain controlled circumstances. The rules for who local clergy can marry changed on the 1st October 2008.
An early step you’ll need to take if you want to get married at St. Judes is to contact the vicar, Tim Smith, to arrange to meet him for an intitial discussion. Before you do that, please take the time to read the information below to see if you are eligible to be married at the Church. The vicar will need to see certain formal documents, details of which can be found on the application form you can dowload below.
You have a right to marry under Banns (Churches involved read out your names in Church over three Sundays to make sure you meet the criteria below, in the hope that someone who may know you would confirm any irregularities – such as you’re married already etc!) in your local parish church if:
• You are both over 18 (or over 16 with parental permission)
• One of you has a qualifying connection (see below for what they are) with the Church and the Church’s geographic parish boundary. (If you want to check which Church of England Church parish you live in now, or have lived in, and know the postcode, follow this link to check.)
• Neither of you has been married before. If one of you has and is now divorced, there is no right to re-marriage, it is at the sole discretion of the minister. If this applies to you then we need to have a conversation about the circumstances of the divorce to see if re-marriage is possible at St Jude’s Church. Follow this link for more information that you will need to consider before you proceed any further.
After the 1st October 2008 you can marry in a Church of England church of your choice, subject to the conditions above, if you can prove one or more of the following connections:
1. You were baptised in the church.
2. You were confirmed in or from the church.
3. A Parent or Grandparent of yours was married in the church.
4. You have had your usual place of residence in the parish of the church for at least 6 months.
5. Your Parent has had their usual place of residence within the parish of the church for at least 6 months during your lifetime.
6. You have habitually attended public worship at the church for at least 6 months.
8. Your Parent has habitually attended public worship at the church for at least 6 months during your lifetime.
If you are thinking about getting married in Church, but you don’t go to one – why not look into why we find St Jude’s a great place to be part of by joining one of our Alpha Courses? Maybe the video above raised a question for you about faith and its impact for a relationship? We have discovered a very real relationship that’s available with God through Jesus and lives filled with hope and purpose. Ask about going on one of our Alpha Courses. Then if you did discover something new and exciting, you might want to join us anyway!
Fees for weddings are set by the Church of England nationally and in February 2012 a change to the structure of the fees was agreed to include more of the variable costs that can sometimes be confusing. The full details are not yet known, but it would seem if you are marrying at the Church in whose parish you both live and only one set of banns need to be called, then the cost for a 2013 wedding would be £405.50 and in 2014, £417.50 excluding things such as an organist or special requirements. If one or both of you live outside the parish boundarioes the cost may rise a little as banns will need to be called in those parishes too. This is only a guide and we can give you further details when we meet and the actual fees will always be those in force the year you marry, not when a wedding is booked.
If you want to know more about this or any of the things mentioned here, please initially contact the Vicar before you book anything to make sure a marriage is possible on the dates you prefer in St Jude’s Church (there is a ‘contacts’ link at the top of the page). Even if you qualify to get married in St Jude’s Church, it may not be possible to hold a wedding on a particular date or time – therefore it is crucial you do not book any other venues until you check with us that the date you require is available in the Church.
If you wanted to look at some general ideas about a service, hymn selections etc, why not try the Church of England’s ceremony planning web site. (The site is really helpful and gives some ideas on planning your service, but the actual service at St Jude’s might be in a different order to the way the site shows its results - so please don’t get anything printed until you speak with the Vicar!)
SPECIAL NOTICE
St Jude’s Church has plans for a building project. We do not yet know timings (the earliest will be a Spring 2013 start, and it could be closed for up to 12 months) so it is possible the Church may be closed for those works. If that happens at the date of your wedding we will still be able to hold your marriage ceremony, but it will instead be under a licence we obtain to carry out a wedding in an adjacent parish.
Thank you for looking at this information about baptism at St Jude’s. As this involves making promises, we feel it’s right to explain what’s involved so that you can make an informed decision about whether it’s right for you (or your child if you are thinking about your child’s baptism – called christening by some). Please take the time to read the following. (the main content is also available to download in our leaflet, “Baptism at St Jude’s Church“)
If at the end of this you want to move towards baptism, then coming to some of our services is a good first step. Why not come along on a Sunday morning (the promises you would make at baptism include churchgoing, so you do need to make sure its what you want to come to!) and catch the Vicar for a chat after reading the following to make sure it is what you want to explore for yourself or your child.
Baptism. What do the words of the video mean? Baptism marks the start of a new beginning, a relationship with God, the Creator of the Universe, through his son, Jesus. As we recognise Jesus for who he is, that he did everything needed to enable us to come into this relationship with him we can decide we want to follow him and tell others about the great things he does in our lives. And that means turning away from stuff that messes up our lives and get in the way of knowing God to lives that work the way they were made to be – in a relationship with God. Baptism is the start of that process, a life long one that is so fruitful and meaningful.
There are two ways of looking at baptism. The first is a response by an adult to discovering a relationship with God through Jesus and then wanting to acknowledge that publicly by obeying Jesus’ request that we repent (turn away from the things that hurt others and God) and be baptised. In this case it is you saying at the start of your journey of faith that Jesus has become special to you and you want to begin something new.
Baptism signifies that you are joining with the community of believers known as the Church.
Patently, children cannot take these decisions in the same way as they are still young, but baptism is made available for both adults and children, so we need to look at the baptism of children differently. That is why the second way of seeing baptism is to consider it as children being welcomed into the same community that their parents and godparents are already a part of – the community they want to acknowledge as being important – the community who acknowledge Jesus as the saviour of their lives and the world – the local and worldwide Church.
This is why, at either an adult’s baptism or at a child’s, versions of the following Baptism Service Extract are used to acknowledge what is happening. The promises being made can only be said honestly when a relationship with Jesus has started and when the adults involved are part of the community of a church – showing their belief by their walk with others in getting to know Jesus more and more. This is also why we use our normal Sunday morning services so the community they are joining can welcome them.
Baptism Service Extract
You would say the parts in bold
Parents and godparents, the Church receives N with joy. Today we are trusting God for his/her growth in faith. Will you pray for him/her, draw him/her by your example into the community of faith and walk with him/her in the way of Christ?
With the help of God, we will.
In baptism N begins his/her journey in faith. You speak for him/her today. Will you care for him/her, and help him/her to take his/her place within the life and worship of Christ’s Church?
With the help of God, we will.
In baptism, God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light. To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him. Therefore I ask:
Do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?
I reject them.
Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?
I renounce them.
Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?
I repent of them.
Do you turn to Christ as Saviour?
I turn to Christ.
Do you submit to Christ as Lord?
I submit to Christ.
Do you come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life?
I come to Christ.
What is next?
If you are thinking about making these promises on behalf of your child to bring them up to follow Jesus and be part of His church, we would recommend you come along a few times to see if it is what you expect. We often find folks’ thoughts about church don’t match the way we meet and worship today. And, when the last three questions ask about your relationship with Jesus Christ – if you don’t attend a church somewhere, it is a bit difficult to see how you can affirm them. Also, you and your chosen godparents should be baptised, as again the promises you will be making don’t make sense unless you have already taken the step to follow Jesus. If you want to explore baptism for yourself, again, please just ask. It is a good iodea to give the Godparents a copy of this information – you can get our leaflet for them here.
So before you ask for a baptism, please do join us for a variety of our services to find out what we are like, and also think if this is what you believe before you promise to come and say so publicly. If you aren’t sure about the meaning of the promises we can help, please just ask. And there is no rush for baptism. It isn’t an “innoculation” that means you or your children are safe and can go to heaven – that comes from a living faith In Jesus and all he has done for you. Instead, baptism is about acknowledging Jesus as the one who has saved us from an eternity without God and our wanting to join Him and his worldwide family – the Church, for an exciting journey through life and into eternity with Him.
So, for baptism of children, it only makes sense if the parents of the child have a living faith and are members of the Church. If they are not, then the promises can’t be honestly made. Also, please do consider this before you ask any friends or family members to be Godparents as it would be very easy for them to feel uncomfortable making promises they can’t yet keep.
To be baptised at St Jude’s you normally need to live within its parish boundaries. However, if you are a regular worshipper at St Jude’s Church, but live outside the parish, then it is quite reasonable to want to have your children baptised where you worship. There is no charge made for baptism.
So, please don’t plan your thoughts for a baptism without coming to a few services. Your aim should be to decide if you can commit to this community, but more importantly, to Jesus Christ. Then speak with the Vicar on a Sunday morning (NB not every service is suitable to include baptism so please don’t plan any dates until things are confirmed with the Vicar)
And if you want help exploring a faith in Jesus, the Vicar will be able to give you some options.
Re-affirmation of Childhood Baptism Vows
We offer the opportunity to our own Church members to re-affirm their childhood baptism vows. Some adults want to publicly affirm the promises made on their behalf by their own parents. You cannot be baptised twice – you are accepted into the worldwide church once only – but for some that doesn’t ‘feel’ enough. Therefore, on a few occasions when we are considering some full immersion baptism, re-affirmation is always a possibility.
Baptism Application
Once you have been attending church for a short while and are sure about everything above, please ask the Vicar for a Baptism Application Form.
We hope we have everything you may be wanting to find linked from this page or above – please do explore!
We also love to showcase good videos ( there are several in different parts of this site) and this next one gives a great insight into humanity’s problem and the cost of the solution to our broken relationship with God.
At our Sunday morning services we offer worship suitable for all with Kids Church most weeks too (except some of the main school holidays and a monthly All Age service normally on 2nd Sundays of the month). Kids Church is at the same time as the adult gathering, a different group for the toddlers called Starfish and a creche in the church for the youngest members of the community.
Our Sunday evenings are at 6.30pm in our Upper Hall – see here for more!
We’re also going through lots of changes – buildings and services, small groups and kids. It isn’t just blind busyness, but we are following a firm strategy based on outreach and discipleship – C4. And all this pressure this year is reflected in our chosen verse for the year – check it out here.
We have great childrens’ times across the week – not just Sundays – see whats on offer here. Families can find space, Youth can gather in different ways, folk who want to grow more in their relationship with Jesus often meet up Sunday evenings and our older community are encouraged, especially at our Midweeker. A new after school drop in is up and running too, do check out our Roots Cafe
Parking is easy in our own car park and nearby streets. We hope to keep up lots of social activities. All folk of any age or background can find friendship here. Together we try to follow Jesus, welcome the Holy Spirit and bring glory to the Father.
We encourage members of the community to support ministries in the city, not just in the church. And it isn’t uncommon for individuals and families to feel a call further afield and we have several of our church family in overseas ministries and missions.
If you want to know more about giving at St Jude’s, have a look here.
And so it is in the Kitchen where we grow into the family likeness of Jesus. Here we refer to the Sink where we discover our Ministry and the Oven where things in the Kitchen get finished off and where we discover our place in Mission before passing out the back door into the garden and mixing with guests. Therefore we offer courses to help you in these areas of growing as a disciple of Christ to help fulfil our church aim of being a C4 Church. A church that wants to be about: Christ and our Committment to grow in him and his Commandments and Commission.
Basic Christianity: Alpha (Next begins on – Tuesday 15 January 2013)
Basic Discipleship: 40 Days Of Purpose (Next begins on – Tuesday 6 November 2012)
The Oven: Just Walk Across The Room (Next begins early Summer 2013)
