News

Weekly Notice Sheets and Circuit Plan

January 2024 - Urgent appeal launched to raise £30,000 to fix leak in roof. Donations welcome. See our fundraising page.

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Saturday 25th. November 2023

Festive Afternoon Tea 1:00 pm. - 3:30 pm.

St. Paul's Church Centre, St. Paul's Drive, Covingham

Raffle, Tombola, Refreshments, Mulled Wine and Mince Pies

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Announcement: New Methodist Minister appointment for the Dorcan Church.

The Rev Stephen Roe (Deacon) and his wife Angela are coming from North Wales to join us from September, to continue his ministry here in Dorcan, and in Stratton, as part of the North Wiltshire Methodist Circuit.

We look forward to what Stephen will bring to share with us as he proclaims the gospel, and together we explore new opportunities to build God’s house here in Dorcan and more widely in the East Swindon community.

04/02/21

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2020 Link To Hope Shoebox Appeal

Our Shoeboxes have been delivered. Read the report here.

04/02/21

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Free money!

We are raising free donations this Christmas through easyfundraising.
If you’re buying a gift online then you could help, and it won’t cost you a penny!
Here’s how easy it is to do:
Just visit a retailer (like John Lewis or Amazon) via the easyfundraising website and any purchases you make will raise a free donation for us. It’s that simple! 
easyfundraising have already helped raise over £7million for charities and good causes across the UK. They work with the leading retailers including Amazon, John Lewis, Argos and Marks and Spencer to name but a few.
It takes just a couple of minutes to register for free and no payment details are needed. 
Please visit our page to find out more:
http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/dorcanchurchswindon

13/11/14

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Vigil Service to commemorate the beginning of the First World War

On 4th August 1914 Britain declared war on Germany. 2014 marks 100 years since the start of the First World War.
The Dorcan church community rememberd the impact of this in a Vigil Service held at St Timothy's church, Liden at 6pm on 4th August.
The Vigil service offered, prayers, reflections and readings as we prayed for the dawning of God's mercy, protection and peace.


St Paul's church Covingham, was open from 2pm - 4.30pm for quiet private remembrance, reflection and prayers.

Nationwide, services were held on this day, including a televised service from Westminster Abbey at 10.00pm, which was broadcast live on BBC 2
http://staging.churchofengland.org/ww1.aspx

21/7/14

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Licensing of Rev. Trude Wigley

What must have been a unique event took place at St. Paul's on Tuesday 29th. April. In a true Dorcan Church fashion our unusual single ecumenical congregation now has an ecumenical family with a husband and wife team as Methodist Minister and Anglican Priest-in-charge.

Video
Article in the Diocesan news.
Photos on the Diocesan Fcebook Page.

03/5/15

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Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme

This is a new scheme announced by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs which enables charities and some other organistations to claim top up payments on small cash donations they receive. It is a way of increasing the value of gifts of money received from U.K. taxpayers. The scheme became effective on 6th. April 2013.
We will be using this scheme to claim on donations of less than £20 which are not in our main Gift Aid list. Both envelope and cash donations may be claimed which enables us to top up the value by 25%.

The full description and arrangements can be seen on the H.M.R.C. website here.

07/4/14

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'Walk with Jesus' a 10 day Pilgrimage, 24th February - March 5th 2015.

A group from the Dorcan Church visited the Holy Land.

15/1/14 updated 28/01/17

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Hilary's Words

Remember Rev. Hilary Cooke, who was with us from 1985 to 1993, and her 'Tales from the Toy Cupboard". She has written some short stories, poetry and a novel all of which can be viewed on her website.

13/12/13

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Just Text Giving.

We now have a new tool for our fundraising. Text: DCFA14 £5 to 70070 to donate £5.
Help fix the heating and other items on our wish list.

08/12/13

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2013 Christmas Fayre

This year's Christmas Fayre raised over £1300. Pictures from the event.

23/11/13

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East Swindon Churches' Cluster Muster

Members from the twelve churches in the cluster met for a social evening on Saturday 19th. October 2013. Pictures from the event can be seen in our photo album.

23/11/13

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New Revised Standard Version of The Bible

Copies of this version of the Bible have been placed on the lecterns of our churches for normal use in the readings. Should you not have your own copy of this version it is possible to read the set readings on the Bible Gateway website.

2/10/13

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Does it really matter if the world knows Jesus?

Does it really matter if the world knows Jesus? from Church Mission Society on Vimeo.

13/4/13

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Harvest Barn Dance Pictures

Pictures and a video can be viewed in the on line photo album.

24/9/12

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On Line Photo Album

We are in the process of gathering together photographs from past events in the Dorcan Church. So far we have an album for the Diamond Jubilee Party and a recent visit as part of our Uganda link. More will be added over the coming months. The next collection is from the card making in April. Keep an eye on this page for future developments. If you have any photographs from past events that you would like to share please e-mail them to Tony Prichard.

5/8/12

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Rita Muff - The Minister's Family

Peter Muff was our Methodist minister from 1972 to 1976 and lived in Larksfield with his wife, Rita, and their daughter Elizabeth. Rita has just written her first novel based on their family life following Peter's ordination. A work of fiction but I am sure that many of us will recognise the situations. Available in Paperback and on Kindle from Amazon. All proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Care where their daughter Liz, a member of St. Andrew's, Morden, now works.

28/7/12 updated 13/4/13

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The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Party Photographs

Photographs from the event held at St. Paul's Church, Covingham can be seen in our new photo album.

24/7/12

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The Gigantic Welcome

Neil gave us an interesting service all about 'Welcome' and what it means.
If you would like to see the quotations he used they can be found here.
The recipe for 'Welcome biscuits' to share with your neighbours is here.

22/7/12

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Uganda Fire - An experience of African Music and Faith

Uganda Fire visited the Trinity Centre in West Swindon on Tuesday 22nd. May 2012. They gave an entertaining concert of different styles of music, some requiring audience participation.
The team prepared a meal for the choir at St.John the Evangelist, Haydon Wick. Pictures of the event.

23/5/12

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Card Making Class - Thursday 12th. April

The Card Making classes at St. Paul's have been very successful, and most of all, enjoyable. On this occasion, fifteen of us listened and watched Claire Curtis, (Lucy's mum) as she demonstrated three new techniques to us. We spent a couple of happy hours putting our creativity to the test...and of course, doing what we love to do best... chatting. I'd like to emphasize that these classes are for beginners and seasoned card makers alike. Claire takes us very carefully through each stage and everyone finishes up with cards to be proud of. Thank you Claire.

Everybody Welcome - 2012 Lent Course

Our five week 2012 Lent course ran at St. Timothy's from Thursday 1st. March. Nearly forty people attended and looked at ways we might make our church more welcoming to newcomers.

Beth's Fair Trade Breakfast

Sunday 26th. February 2012.
In a departure from our usual 10:30 style of worship Beth introduced us to café style church.
Nathalie gave us a talk on Fair Trade and the PowerPoint presentation can be viewed here.
Pictures from the service.

Christmas Fayre 2011

Secondhand book sale

Will & Kate's Family Fun Afternoon

Pictures from the Family Fun Afternoon clebrating the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on Friday 29th April 2011.

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Charitable Status & The Governing Document

The 2011 Annual General meeting approved the Church Constitution and application for Charity Status.

Copies of the model constitution were available but if you were unable to see one it available as a pdf document here.

19/4/11

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Christmas & Easter for local schools

Children from our local schools came to St. Paul's & St. Timothy's to hear the Christmas and Easter Stories through activity sessions called 'Christmas Unwrapped' and 'Easter Cracked Open'.
You can see a short presentation of Christmas Unwrapped below.

15/4/11

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A History of the Dorcan Church

Christine Parsons has been gathering material about the history of the Dorcan Church. Tony Prichard has edited what there is into a single document which you can view here. We would be grateful for any additions or amendments which you may have. Look for dates and question marks. You can send your comments via this e-mail address.
Sadly a lot of the work by Nigel Sharpe has been lost. If you know its whereabouts we would be pleased to receive it. If you contributed anything to Nigel please consider resubmitting it to dorcan.history@dorcanchurch.org.uk

30/11/10

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Church Floor Renovation.

At the end of the Sunday services on 24th. October all the chairs and furniture were removed and the front section of the dais lifted so that renovation of the floor could begin. It was planned for half term when the Church and Centre have the least use. Advice was sought from Rev. Derek Collins who had masterminded the renovation of the Hall Floor and a plan was drawn up. It was hoped to complete all the work by Thursday evening.

This was the state of the floor before work commenced. Note the reflection of the lectern.

   
The team busy stripping off the old polish and varnish then applying the first coat.

The finished job

Now note the reflection of the lectern. Three coats of varnish and three coats of polish have been applied and buffed. The opportunity was taken to repolish the hall floor while waiting for the last coat of varnish to 'cure'. The whole job was completed by Wednesday evening one whole day ahead of schedule. If you are interested in the schedule of work you can view it here - schedule of work

27/10/10

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Harvest Gifts 2011

This year our gifts were distributed between the Broad Green Breakfast Club, the Swindon Food Bank, the Swindon Women's Refuge and the Filling Station. Breakfast Club are always in need of cereals, tins of beans and tomatoes, sauces, salt and pepper, sugar and orange squash. The Food bank and Women's Refuge require UHT milk, cereals, long life fruit juice cartons, sugar, biscuits or snack bars, and pasta sauces. Tins of the following are also welcome, baked beans, potatoes, spaghetti,vegetables, meat and fish, soup, rice and sponge puddings.

29/11/11

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Showstoppers

Nearly 90 local children attended The Dorcan Church Holiday Club entitled "Showstoppers". The children enjoyed a fantastic week led by Abi and Helen, singing, dancing, hearing stories, playing games, and taking part in workshops and crafts. All this was made possible with the held of 28 adults and 15 young people. A big THANK YOU, you were all the stars of “Show stoppers”. Sandra

 
The Showstoppers set

22/8/10

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Pentecost Sunday at Dorcan

On a rare, bright Sunday morning some twenty young people from our VYBE group served breakfast before our morning service. This was followed by a lively and meaningful service led by Rev. Tony Knapp and Rev. Beth. Brown. Tony explained the roots of the ancient Jewish festival of Pentecost and Beth gave us an insight to the thought and feelings of Peter and his fellow disciples following their awakening through the Holy Spirit. An interesting drama was played out by Stuart and Brenda as interviewer and eye-witness to the events of the day now celebrated as the birth of the Christian Church.

Bristol - Uganda Link

Janet & Tony Prichard recently visited Uganda and were able to re-establish friendships created when a group from the Dioceses of Kampala and Luweero visited the Dorcan Church some years ago.

Duncan & Marion collected us from Entebbe Airport and took us to their bungalow in Kigaasi Village North of Central Kampala. It was midnight but they offered us a meal as we had been travelling all day. On the first day we visited Rev. Canon Micah Bwami who showed us around his church and project office. We also visited Namirimbe Cathedral and central Kampala.

We took with us several sets of reading books donated by Covingham Primary School. Those for younger pupils were given to The Alpha pre-School and Kindergarten.

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Turning Point Visit

A group from Dorcan visited Kenya recently and spent some time with visits to Turning Point and also local initiative projects. For some it was their first time in Africa, so many new experiences were taken in and adjusted to. They enjoyed their trip and spen a few days on safari.

Jon, Jo and Family visited the Dorcan Church for a weekend in the Summer.

Some of the group's photographs can be seen by following this link.

24/01/10 updated 22/8/10

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in:School

Church and School working together for the children of East Swindon

Abi has been busy working with our local schools. In a typical week she will take several assemblies and R.E. lessons. Abi is also involved in running a number of clubs as well as attending various meetings to keep everything running. Please pray that the assemblies will be well received by children and staff, the clubs will be successful and Abi will have inspiration and good time management for her planning and preparation.
See the in:School page for details

16/11/09 updated 29/3/10

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Christmas Fayre 2010 Pictures

 The event raised  approximately £1000. Well done everyone.

Blue Wave Rally

You will have heard by now about the Blue Wave Rally which happened in London on 5 December 2009.  Churches, congregations and Christian relief agencies are in the forefront of drawing attention to the need for action in response to Climate Change. The rally - and assemblies for prayer and worship that accompanied it - are aimed at persuading the UK Government and the world's leaders to act collectively and positively during and after the Copenhagen Summit. What you may not know is that there was also  a cycle ride from Bristol and Swindon to London over 3-5 December which attracted interest and publicity. The details can be found at bristolbluewave. Please draw this to the attention of your congregations. This is a key opportunity for Christians to bring their influence to bear on a crucial issue of care and justice which affects everyone on this planet. Yours in Jesus +Lee

23/10/09 updated 14/11/09

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Parish Weekend at Lee Abbey

A party from the Dorcan Church recently spent a weekend at Lee Abbey in North Devon.

£180,000 programme to strengthen local churches.

The Arthur Rank Centre has launched a £180,000 training project to strengthen churches in the countryside in response to an urgent call from church leaders, in early May. "Rural Life and Faith" could benefit 13,000 rural churches of all denominations, and will equip them for a modern role in villages and the countryside. ARC will spend £180,000 over 3 years to fill major gaps in training provision which threaten the life and work of the rural church.

Full details on The Diocese of Bristol Web Site.

12/5/09 updated 27/1/10

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'Filling Station' needs volunteers

Filling Station is a soup kitchen charity which has been running for approximately 15 years in the Town Centre. It currently takes place on a Tuesday and a Thursday evening from 7pm to 8pm. The aim is to meet with the hungry on the streets of Swindon, providing them with a bit of food and other essentials, some friendly conversation, and acting as a platform for the Outreach Workers from local homeless charities who provide some much needed knowledge and experience. Currently we are in need of some more volunteers. I lead the Tuesday night event and urgently need a person over the age of 25 would be willing to drive and load the van (a Ford Transit) on a by-weekly basis, which is approximately a 2-2.5 hr. commitment every other week. In addition to this both nights need people who would be willing to serve and just come down to chat with our clients. You can do this as often as you like, although it'll be much more beneficial in building relationships if it can be on a regular basis (either every week, or by-weekly), as this adds some consistency and familiarity to the situation. There is no upper age limit, although it is preferable if you are at least 18 years of age (although this is variable based upon the individual and parental consent). If you're interested or have any questions then please email me or phone me on 07834271497. Thank you, Gareth Hutchinson

1/5/09

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Christmas Unwrapped

Classes from Covingham Park Primary School and Nythe Primary School visited St. Paul's to experience Christmas Unwrapped. The children formed small groups to visit a series of tables where members of the Church In:Schools team explained the Christmas Story.

Barn Dance & Supper

Our popular Barn Dance and Supper which took place on Saturday 29th. November has almost become a tradition of the Dorcan Church. John and Therese have been doing the calling for twentyfive years. The usual arrangement of bring your own drinks and glasses to go with the Ploughman's supper provided works well and over £180 was raised. 'Off The Rails' dancers entertained us while we ate our ploughman's.

Advent Day

The Swindon and Marlborough Circuit of the Methodist Church organised a Day of Activity for Advent Sunday 2008. Nearly two hundred and fifty people took part in the day at St. Joseph's Catholic College on Sunday 30th. November 2008. The day started with Worship and breakfast followed by various activities catering for the whole family.

Hall floor resurfacing

Derek Collins with a little help from John Stott and Tony Prichard recently spent several days stripping, repairing and resurfacing the hall floor. The finish has been chosen to suit premises used by anyone who may be unsteady on their feet. It is hard wearing and marks should buff off easily. It is hoped that the Church floor may be treated in a similar fashion early next year.

Word Live Goes Live

The wordlive website has been launched by Scripture Union to bring the Bible into the digital age. www.wordlive.org allows users to access audio Bible passages, video clips, worship songs and prayer activities as well as a daily Bible reading. It is described as a Multi Media Bible reading experience

1/1/08 updated 1/12/08

This page created
June 16 2007
Last updated
February 17, 2021

 

    The Dorcan Church            Swindon, Wiltshire     

Anglican: Diocese of Bristol                         Methodist: Bristol District, North Wiltshire Circuit

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