July 2026

It’s coming up to July. That means Liz and I will have been with you for a whole year. The year has been marked with some great and healthy steps forward as a church. Some quick highlights are that we completed the change-over from our old mixing desk, we re-elected our elders, we welcomed Ethan to be our Youth Leader, Liz and I shifted from temporary to permanent, we had a fabulous Christmas and Easter, we launched our Kids Collective, we baptised 5 followers of Jesus, and are part-way through running an Alpha course. In the middle of that we have welcomed some excellent guest ministries among us as well as hearing consistently from Pastor Dave. What a year!

Because of our busy-ness in August with Limitless Festival and the like, Liz and I will be having a break at the end of June early July and will be back ready to go again on July 12th. Entirely coincidentally, that will be the day of our cake sale to raise funds for our youth going to Limitless – bring cake, buy cake, eat cake – all good! We will also be welcoming Paul Bennett on that Sunday – Paul is the leader of Gloucestershire Youth For Christ and he will be speaking for us. The following Sunday 19th is our Church Barbeque – we are still hammering out the details on this but we will be eating together on that Sunday after the service has finished. The following Saturday (25th) is the Charity Football Match at Chipping Sodbury Town Football Ground. Sam and the team will be laying on an afternoon of sport and entertainment – come along for a superb time – entry is only £3.

Let me also give a sneaky heads up for August 16th when we will be having our church picnic after the service. Details to follow soon but make sure the date is in your diary.

Just last Sunday, the Lord spoke into our new season to remind us to make the time and space to recline in His presence. If you haven’t been yet, can I encourage you to join us on our Encounter Thursdays where we do exactly that. In July that will be on Thursday 30th – come for some of it, come for all of it, but do come.

Keep praying for us as we continue to pray for you – your prayers, your giving, and your commitment to God here in Gateway make a huge difference.

Much love