Chandlers Ford Methodist Church

Rev. Rachael Hawkins Minister	Welcome!
	A word from our Minister
	"We pray that all will find a welcome at CFMC. We are a busy church with our buildings in regular use throughout the week and the cafe is a meeting place for many in the community. Central to our life together as a church is our worship. Our main service is on a Sunday morning at 10:30am and lasts about an hour, but there is also a shorter service at 10.30am on a Thursday and every month there is breakfast church, an earlier, quieter communion service and an evening service. The 10:30am service generally includes hymns which are both modern and older, prayers, Bible readings and a sermon. All ages worship together at the start of the service and activities are then available for children and young people. We share in communion once a month.
During the week there are various church activities, from the toddler group to the Women’s Fellowship, Boys' and Girls’ Brigades, youth club and Badminton club and more. Housegroups give a space for those who want to discuss and explore their faith with others. We also live out our faith as we care for each other and as we seek to help those in need both locally and overseas. Amongst others, we support the Eastleigh Basics Bank and there is a larder near the front door which is regularly restocked and available to any in need. We take the need to care for the world seriously and became an eco-congregation in 2011. There are drop off points for recycling more difficult items in the Linkway. Whether you are visiting the website, attending a group, joining us in worship or just wanting to enjoy a cup of coffee and a toasted tea cake, we hope that you find a warm welcome at CFMC and glimpse something of the wonder of God’s love for you. Blessings, Rachael

Our services

The Church is open for worship on Sundays at 10.30am
On the first Sunday of the month there is Breakfast Church from 9.15am
On the 2nd Sunday there is Early Communion at 9.30am
On the 3rd Sunday there is usually an evening service at 6.30pm
The midweek service is on Thursdays at 10.30am in the Church
Services will also be available on Zoom
Details are in the weekly notices

Click here to access the weekly order of service at home sheets
Please phone 023 8026 0128 for any enquiries or pastoral needs


Our Focus this Month
June is Bible Month
From our Minister, Rev Rachael Hawkins June is Bible Month and this year we will be looking at the letter to the Philippians. For each of the four weeks in June our Services will be focused on a different chapter. It’s an opportunity for us to look at this letter of Paul in a more focused way than we may have done previously. What happened in Philippi? Philippi was a city in north-eastern Greece which was situated near a gold mine. It was also a crossing place for transport links and was a powerful city. The church in Philippi was founded by Paul, along with Timothy and Luke. Acts 16 tells of Paul’s arrival in Philippi. On the Sabbath he went to the river looking for a place of prayer and began to speak with the women who were gathered there. One of those women was called Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She responded to Paul’s message and invited him into her home. Paul also experienced opposition in Philippi and was arrested and put in prison, although there was a violent earthquake and prison doors were opened. Paul and Silas however did not take the opportunity to escape and as a result their jailer and his family were baptised. Paul’s writing It is likely that Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians when he was in prison, possibly in Rome. Many of us will know the letter because of the ‘hymn’ in chapter 2 which speaks of God ‘taking the very nature of a servant’, humbling himself and ‘becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross’. But there are also other verses and passages that you will probably recognise – ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’(4:4),’I can do all this through him who gives me strength’(4: 13), ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’ (3: 13-14). I’m sure there will be others that you might think of. Some of themes we will be looking at from the letter will be joy, living like Christ, growth and unity. Homework? Perhaps you might want to take a moment to read through the letter as the month begins? Its only four chapters, so not too long and there’s something good about remembering that this is a whole letter, written to real people, rather than just the short passages or verses that we may sometimes concentrate on. Hopefully we will all get new insights and encouragement as we explore this letter together. I’ll be interested to hear what you discover! Blessings, Rachael

Our Focus this Month

June is Bible Month

From our Minister, Rev Rachael Hawkins

June is Bible Month and this year we will be looking at the letter to the Philippians.

For each of the four weeks in June our Services will be focused on a different chapter. It’s an opportunity for us to look at this letter of Paul in a more focused way than we may have done previously.

What happened in Philippi?

Philippi was a city in north-eastern Greece which was situated near a gold mine. It was also a crossing place for transport links and was a powerful city. The church in Philippi was founded by Paul, along with Timothy and Luke. Acts 16 tells of Paul’s arrival in Philippi. On the Sabbath he went to the river looking for a place of prayer and began to speak with the women who were gathered there. One of those women was called Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She responded to Paul’s message and invited him into her home. Paul also experienced opposition in Philippi and was arrested and put in prison, although there was a violent earthquake and prison doors were opened. Paul and Silas however did not take the opportunity to escape and as a result their jailer and his family were baptised.

Paul’s writing

It is likely that Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians when he was in prison, possibly in Rome. Many of us will know the letter because of the ‘hymn’ in chapter 2 which speaks of God ‘taking the very nature of a servant’, humbling himself and ‘becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross’. But there are also other verses and passages that you will probably recognise – ‘Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!’(4:4),’I can do all this through him who gives me strength’(4: 13), ‘Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus’ (3: 13-14).

I’m sure there will be others that you might think of. Some of themes we will be looking at from the letter will be joy, living like Christ, growth and unity.

Homework?

Perhaps you might want to take a moment to read through the letter as the month begins? Its only four chapters, so not too long and there’s something good about remembering that this is a whole letter, written to real people, rather than just the short passages or verses that we may sometimes concentrate on. Hopefully we will all get new insights and encouragement as we explore this letter together. I’ll be interested to hear what you discover!

Blessings,

Rachael