Celebrating our 10th anniversary....
On 13th January 2008, The Church in Great Notley marked its 10th anniversary with a service of Holy Communion, on the Festival of the Baptism of Christ. This special service was celebrated at the Community Centre, where our Minister, the Reverend Mike Shrubsole was joined by the Ven. Annette Cooper Archdeacon of Colchester and the Reverend Bernard Arnold, Methodist Circuit Superintendant. This photograph shows Mike, Annette & Bernard joined by some of our founding members, around a beautiful ‘birthday’ cake specially prepared for the celebration.
Please click on the individual photographs on this page to view a larger version
The last ten years have seen many changes, not only in the venue for our times of worship but also in the family of the Church. Inevitably, over the years many of our good friends have moved away or are now with the Lord. But always there is a strong sense of fellowship, love and community which has guided us through the ups and downs of each year.
From Here...
And so The Church in Great Notley began to take shape some 10 years ago, when a number of our founder members were engaged in Christian activity in the new Great Notley village. The official founding of the Church can be dated to the first meeting of our Church's Steering Group, when ecumenical representatives of all our partner denominations first met and agreed to go forward together. This meeting took place on 13th January 1998.
“St Portacabin’s” (now pulled down and the space used as a car park for the Cricketers!) became the focal point for our Sunday worship. Dodging the leaks in the roof, and occasional damage inflicted by vandals, we shared wonderful times of fellowship in the rabbit warren that was 'the portacabin'! Mrs. Val Spouge was appointed as the church?s first Lay Leader and she, together with the other church members, helped guide the church forward in many different ways.
Via Here.....
On 29th September 2002 we held our last Service in St Portacabin’s. The younger members in particular were sad when the time came to leave and to make the short move over to our current, albeit temporary, home in the Community Centre. Of course, it didn’t take long for that joyous spirit to return and fill the side room in the Community Centre which served as our place of worship for a short while.
Our numbers have increased so much that, in order to accommodate our ever growing congregation, we now hire the Main Hall of the Community Centre every Sunday. In August 2005,we welcomed the Reverend Mike Shrubsole when he was appointed as Minister for both the Church in Great Notley and for Christ Church in Coggeshall. In September 2009 our Ministry Team doubled in size when Reverend Beth Bendrey was appointed as Priest-in-Charge for both the Church in Great Notley and for St. Peter and St. Paul in Black Notley.
To Here
We look forward to the time when we will be able to share a new purpose-built church, not only for worship but also to serve the needs of our thriving local community – a base from which we can show the love of Jesus in word and action so that others may come to know him as Lord and Saviour.
Here (and below) we can see the architect's impressions of what our new Church building will look like together with a site plan showing the location of our new Church.
Please click on each image for an enlarged view.
The Immediate Future
We already own the land for the new church building. For the past 12 years we have been fundraising to enable us to progress with the building?s construction. In 2009 we announced that we finally had the funds and the planning permission necessary to begin construction. The great day is almost here. We expect building work to begin soon. But the funding we have available is at the very minimum level necessary. Further fundraising is now necessary to equip and furnish and finish the building to a satisfactory standard. After the building is opened, there will also be a need for still more fundraising to repay loans which have been taken out to complete the building.
The Friends of the Church in Great Notley is our fund-raising organisation assisting with the erection and future maintenance of a new church at the heart of the village to provide a spiritual and community hub for the benefit of the whole of the parish. For more information about The Friends of the Church in Great Notley and how you can help, please visit our Friends Page, or visit our Contacts Page to contact the Treasurer of The Friends of the Church in Great Notley.
