Welcome to Earlsdon Methodist Church

Newsletter and Notices
Number 277: 21.12.25

Minister: Revd Doreen Koffie-Williams

The weekly newsletter with further information is available by email and we warmly invite you to join the mailing list. Please contact: earlsdonmcnews@gmail.com

Additional information can be found on this website

Dear Earlsdon Methodist Friends,

This is our last newsletter for the year.

Together we greet each other with love and good wishes for Christmas and for the year 2026 hovering on the doorstep.

Christmas is a festival of joy and celebration, and we hope that you know some measure of its message of peace and hope wherever you are.

We also know that it holds mixed emotions and experiences for many. Memories bringing warmth, loss and perhaps pain; feelings of isolation against a backdrop of ‘togetherness’; a time to be with family, in happiness and fun, in awkwardness and struggle.

At Christmas, we celebrate GOD IS WITH US, whatever our experience.

We reach out to each other in love and in the name of Jesus, the human face of God for us all.

Ed

Please Note Christmas Day Worship at Earlsdon is at 10am. (Not 10.30 as indicated in last week’s newsletter.)

Fourth Sunday in Advent

Were the Magi ready? I think, up to a point, that they were. They had been studying their books and knew that something was coming. They had been studying the signs as they understood them and realised that there were momentous changes on the way. These signs came together and they acted. They were not Jews, but they knew these signs affected them too, so they acted and travelled. We have more resources than the Magi, but do we see them? Think back to Advent Sunday & the Prophets, and our hopes of the Second Coming and remember, ‘Coming, ready or not’.

It is Christmas in a few days so this is the last newsletter until the new year. Christmas is coming, Jesus is coming. Are you ready? Don’t forget, ‘Coming, ready or not’.

Mike Spokes

Sunday 21^st December (Fourth in Advent)
Worship at 10.30 am led by Karen Brooks

Morning Worship is available to access via the usual zoom link
Coffee and tea are available after morning service

Community Carols at 4pm

Christmas Eve.
Earlsdon, Radford and Woodside Avenue Churches gather at Radford & Holbrooks Methodist Church Rupert Road, for worship at 4.30pm led by Revd Ian Coates.

Christmas Day worship at 10 am led by Ethel Martin & Heather Mills.
(NB. NOT 10.30 as indicated last week and in Circuit News)

Sunday 28^th December
Worship at 10.30am by Local Arrangement.

Sunday 4^th January
Worship with Holy Communion at 10.30am led by Revd Becki Stennett.

Sunday 11^th January
Worship at 10.30am led by Bill Holdforth.

Church Family Christmas Greetings are shared in different ways.
Here are a few messages via the newsletter:
NativityCard

David & Judith send their greetings to all for Christmas

Lois & Ian add our Christmas good wishes to you

The pigeonholes are out for personal cards and the posting box for the cards for display for church family are now in church.

Regular Groups and Activities will be closed over the Christmas and New Year period. See below for restarting dates.

Mondays

‘Come and Sing!’ 7.30pm in Church. Next Meeting 12^th January

Tuesdays

Intercessory Prayer Group: 11am online resuming on 6^th January

Evening Bible Study and Fellowship Group 7.30pm at Ray’s fortnightly and resuming on 13^th January

Wednesdays

Prayers and Bears 9.30am in term time (open from 9am), for pre-school children and a parent or carer. Contact Penny or Helen if you feel you could help in any way.
Resuming 14^th January

Wednesday Worship 7pm. A short act of worship held fortnightly. Coffee available from 6.45pm. Next meeting 7^th January.

Praying for Church and Community: Fortnightly, and next meeting on 7^th January, following worship from 7.45 to around 8.30pm. This meeting can be attended in Wellspring or online, using the usual Sunday worship link

Fridays

Earlsdon ‘3in1’ Youth Group meets in the Church Hall, 6- 8 pm for 5–18-year-olds.
(First and Third Fridays each month during Term Time)

Wellspring Café

Wellspring will be closed for two weeks and reopens on Thursday 8^th January

Thursdays & Fridays 9.00 a.m. - 2.00 p.m. Saturday 9.30 a.m. - 12.00 noon

Open Christmas

Please see these two posters (1) (2) with information which might be of real value to some regarding a hot meal and a safe place at Christmas.

Christmas Tree Festival
The trees are down, and the festival is over for another year. ChristmasTree

We had some lovely entries this year and though we had fewer than last year, we are sure you will agree that they made a very nice display.

For those who did not manage to get to see them, the songs went from the traditional (I’m dreaming of a white Christmas), more modern (driving home for Christmas), the unknown (I want a hippopotamus for Christmas), and even a Christmas LP from Brandon House.

Dayspring performed on Friday evening to entertain us, and we enjoyed the hot samosas from the Royal Bengal.

As always, we wish to thank all those who spent so long decorating trees, all those who volunteered to help during the 4 days of the festival and the set up on Wednesday. Thanks also to Shahin Ahmed and our friends at the Royal Bengal who donated the samosas that were available on Friday evening and Saturday.

Planning has already started on next year’s festival, and the theme will revealed in the new year.

See this years results HERE.

Penny & Adrian

WOODSIDE CHURCH FELLOWSHIP
We will meet again in the New Year on Tuesday, 13th January, 2026, at 2pm, for our AGM and to find out about New Year traditions around the world.
The following meeting on Tuesday, 27th January, 2026, at 2pm, will be especially interesting. A member of Solihull Rotary will be giving a talk about APS - a little-known auto-immune condition that causes the blood to clot too quickly and can cause potentially fatal illnesses - come along and find out more about it.
Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year to all our Earlsdon friends - thank you for your support during 2025.

Kathleen Wykes

Please Note: There will not be a newsletter for two weeks - Sunday 28^th December, and Sunday 4^th January. The Editor is taking a break!

Events coming up:

Circuit Outdoor Worship. Winter seasonal gathering. Saturday 17^th January at Coombe Abbey. Arrive 10.45 for 11am start at the café area. Gentle walking, worship and fun for all ages. (Approx 1 hour).

Eco-Meeting online. Monday 19^th January, 7.30pm. All welcome.

Church website: http://www.earlsdonmethodist.org.uk/

Church office email: office@earlsdonmethodist.org.uk
Church Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/EarlsdonMC
Church Twitter (X) account: @Earlsdon MC
Circuit website: http://covnunmethodist.org.uk/
District website: https://www.birminghammethodist.org.uk/
District Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Birminghammethodistdistrict/

Do let others know of these e-letters. Anyone can go onto the mailing list by posting ‘I’m in’ to earlsdonmcnews@gmail.com . You can opt out at any time by sending an email to this address.

Lois Talbot (Web version by Tim W), 20/12/2025

Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Visitors click here.

Planning your Visit

A Warm Hello

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at the Church Building (details below) for our Sunday Service starting at 10.30am. For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you should be greeted by someone on our Welcome Team.

Parking is available at the front & back of the adjacent Church Hall, accessible from Earlsdon Avenue South.

Tea, coffee and biscuits are available after the service, please stay and have a chat.

Plan your journey:
Open Google Maps

what3words

Accessibility: Both the Church & Church Hall have level or ramp access, and chair lift access to upper floors. There are disabled access toilets in both buildings. The main worship area of the Church also benefits from a hearing loop. Please let one of the Welcome Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up.

Our Service

The main service begins at 10.30am, but when the music is led by our Worship Band, we have a few hymns &/or songs before the service starts. There is then a warm welcome from one of our Stewards. Church news & extra notices may also be given at this time. Our services are typically an hour long, with a mixture of hymns, prayers, bible readings and a sermon. One of our leaders will give the sermon that is bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We finish with a final worship song before a final prayer is said. (Sometimes there is an opportunity to receive prayer at the end of the service.)

EMC Congregation

What about my children?

If you would like information of the activities available for children please Contact Us.

Have you got children? Would you like to bring them to church?

Earlsdon Methodist Church aims to provide a safe & welcoming environment in which children can be themselves & have fun learning about our Christian faith. Please see our Sunday Services page for more information on Sunday morning groups for children.

Current mid-week groups available for children are as follows:

Prayers & Bears – every Wednesday morning starting at 8.45 am. This is hosted by the church but led by Tulo & Sarah Raistrick from St Barbara’s C of E Church & is open to parents & carers with children aged ?).
Dayspring Steel Band – please follow this link for more information.

If you have any questions about any of the above then please Contact Us .

Children

Getting Connected

Church Groups

While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, morning, afternoons and evenings.

Our groups include:-

Centenary Choir (alternate Mondays)
Tuesday Prayer Prayer & Reflection online
Tuesday Intercessory Prayer online
Wednesday Midweek Prayer & Meditation
Wednesday Worship (held fortnightly)
Dayspring Steel Band
3 in 1 Youth Group
Wellspring Café
Prayer Shawl Ministry

Check out Church Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes