Summer 2010: Saunton Sands

Church Outside has moved to the beach for summer! We have chosen Saunton Sands as our base for June, July & August. Last month we hosted our own 'Beach Olympics' with long jump, target throwing, sand sculpture-building and 'beach race' events.



This month, we're meeting on Saunton Sands on Sunday 25th July. We'll be meeting up at Holy Trinity church car park in Barnstaple at 9:15am to pray and share cars, leaving there at 9:30am to arrive at Saunton Sands around 10am - where our advance party should hopefully have things ready for us! So, what's in store?

There will be two activities taking place on the beach this time:

One will be based on the Bible passage for Sunday 25th July, Luke 11:1-13, which includes the Lord's Prayer and Jesus teaching on prayer. Anyone inspired by this can join us in a prayer event, where we will be asking members of the public if there is anything they would like us to pray for.

At the same time, other members of our group - including children, guests and those who’ve invited guests - will take part in a tide-fight: teams building sandcastles parallel to the incoming sea just below the high tide line, to see whose will stay standing the longest!

Once the tide-fight is over, we will all take time to say 'thank you' to God by writing or drawing in the sand things we are grateful for, before enjoying a picnic lunch on the beach.

This is what we need you to do (please!):

• pray for this event, for weather, for our guests to come along, for connections with other beach users
• bring a bucket and spade
• bring your picnic
• bring your friends
• turn up yourself!

We'll be easy to spot on the beach - we've a big blue flag!

October: Autumn Wanderings...

25th October

"Autumn Watch" at Wistlandpound Reservoir, up near Blackmoor Gate

Gather at Homebase at 10am. Easiest route to Wistlandpound is up Bear St, head for Bratton Fleming, and turn up through Loxhore. Total journey about 9 miles (20-25 minutes from Homebase)

We'll do a circuit of the lake, enjoy the (hopefully) beautiful Autumn colours, do some quiet stuff in the bird-hide, and have some spritual guidance from Tim.

There are also some ready-made fun activities up there that anyone can have a go on, so get your competitive element ready.

Take a picnic, and some walking boots. It's an easy walk, so suitable for everyone

Likely be home around 1-1.30-ish

If you need to communicate with us the week before, Marlene will have her mobile 07969 000 250, otherwise we'll be back late on Sat 24th, (With a cake and one candle!)

Church Outside Goes Cycling

Heres the plan for Sunday 27th September...

10:30 meet in the civic centre car park with bikes, where we will make our way up the tarka trail aiming for Braunton.

After reaching Braunton (or wherever we get to inkeeping with time!!) we will turn round and head home, stopping at the Tarka Inn (was Heanton Court) for a drink and a discussion. After finishing that we will aim to be back at the car park sometime before 14:00.

The plan is to go whatever the weather and just cut it short and go for a discussion. So bring coats if neccesary!

Hope to see you there!

We went to the beach...and we had fun (but not in the sun)

After meeting up at Homebase, we made our way to Croyde and gradually gathered ourselves together until once everyone had arrived there were 24 of us including 8 children. We started off, after some beach safety announcements, with a game of something that resembled volleyball in all bar rules and skill (at least we were using a volleyball and were on the court!). Next Jerry retold the story of the disciples who went fishing and met with the risen Jesus for breakfast on the beach, which reminded me to always be ready for the unexpected where God is concerned, and Jeni prayed for us. We then split up to respond to the passage in various ways- some of us wrote prayers in the sand, some of us blew bubbles which flew across the beach, some of us cleared rubbish from the beach and dunes, while others approached other beach users to offer to take away their rubbish and give lollies to other children. I know a few people had some good chats with other folk- sometimes telling them where we had come from, sometimes just being friendly and welcoming.

At this point most people’s stomachs were saying food so we stopped for a picnic, and then James, Andy, Sam, Nathan and Lucy went surfing, while Liz went bodyboarding and Kevin went for a swim (brave man!)- everybody had fun, and we all survived without injury. At this point Simon, Marjorie and Sarah May arrived bringing cakes and sunshine, so we stayed a bit longer than expected, and it was about 4.30 by the time we got home.

Let’s remember the people we met or who’s lives we touched, and pray that God would continue to speak to them through the people who surround them.

Autumn plans

Plans for the next couple of months are:

September 27th- Bike Ride, co-ordinated by Trevor, Tim and James

October 25th- Autumn walk in at Wistlandpound Reservoir, co-ordinated by Barrie (additional volunteers needed please!)

November 22nd- suggestions appreciated!

If there is something you'd like to do, or be involved in planning, please leave a comment.

Church on the Beach...@ Croyde

Here's the plan for this coming Sunday (23rd August):

10:00 Meet at Barnstaple Homebase car park to share cars

By 11:00 Meet on Croyde beach below Northern slipway.

welcome & prayer followed by a game e.g. volleyball (Andy)

11:45 Rest! Talk on John 21- 'Breakfast on the beach with Jesus' (Jerry)

11:55 Activities to include:

Giving out lollipops / collecting rubbish

Litter picking

Sharing bubbles (younger children)

Writing prayers & psalms on the beach

12:30 Prayer & grace (Jeni)

Bring your own/ share with friends Picnic lunch

13:00 Play in the surf- we'll have a couple of learner surf boards so can do
some instruction/ coaching, plus the lifeguards are there for general swimming. (Andy)

14:00 onwards slope off.

if people are going to need lifts, please contact Jerry or Andy in advance so we can sort out where possible!

Don't forget to bring beach stuff and picnic... see you there.

'And the rain came down and the river came up'

The weather could have been better, but people’s spirits were not totally clouded over, and after a slightly delayed start due in part to ‘innovative’ navigation by the curate the group set off up river, under the canopy of the trees. After an introductory chat from Carolyn, Barrie led us upstream to the next bridge, where we crossed over and walked back down to Tarr Steps. The walk was shorter than the original plan, but the shelter from the trees was much appreciated, and to finish we had a drink in the warm and dry pub rather than a picnic in the increasingly heavy rain. During the walk we stopped at 3 spots for discussions based John chapter 6 (the feeding of the 5000), and shared sweets and biscuits amongst ourselves and with some bedraggled walkers. At the finish Sam gave us a short concluding thought and we finished with a prayer by the river.

Next month… 23^rd August, Croyde Beach for games, reflections on ‘holiday’ and maybe some surfing, 10am meet at Homebase, BYO surfboard (we’ll get hold of a couple of learner boards for novices) and picnic. Pray for sunshine, bring your friends.