14th – 27th May 2012

To arrange for a team to come and lend a hand phone:

• 783814 (All Saints’ parish and Long Newton)
• 781919 (Eaglescliffe – Orchard/Sunningdale estates)
• 611734 (Central Stockton)

Following on from our succesful Springboard event in 2011, All Saints’ is joining forces with eight other churches for a similar Stockton-wide fortnight in the Spring of 2012. We will be joined by a student team from the USA as well.

For two weeks, members of churches all over Stockton on Tees will setting aside time to be of service to anyone in and around the local community. And it’s free. It’s going to be good news for people around our town.

Jesus told his followers to “love your neighbour as yourself”. We are organising Love Stockton because Christ-followers want to be good neighbours. We want to help in any way we can. We’ll be serving tea at bus stops, tidying up litter around the area and lots more.

The kind of service we will be offering include:

• Cleaning
• Gardening
• Walking the dog
• Shopping
• Sewing and ironing
• Transport
• Small decorating or DIY jobs
• Filling in forms
• Debt counselling

Love Stockton is the second of four high profile outreach events at All Saints’ in 2012.

Churches involved in Love Stockton:

• All Saints’ Preston on Tees
• Life Church Stockton
• Portrack Baptist Church
• Rivers of Life Church, Lightfoot Grove
• Saint Mary’s Long Newton
• Stockton Baptist Tabernacle
• Stockton Parish Church
• Tees Valley Community Church
• The Vine Church Teesside

Tuesday 5th June 2012 (11.00am – 2.00pm)

Plans are underway for a street party style celebration for church members and local residents to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this summer. Get your bunting ready and save the day…

We plan to have fun activities like face painting, a bouncy castle and fancy dress to make the occasion really special.

Residents of Dunottar Avenue and Swinburne Road have been contacted about the plan and the overwhelming response has been positive.

Stockton Borough Council has granted authorisation to close Dunottar Avenue for the duration of the Street Party (see map below, road blocks are indicated as a red line).

The May 2012 edition of In Touch is out now.

Once a month at the 6.30pm service there is a format we call The Source.

It is a fluid, unstructured approach that gives the opportunity to be completely open in worship and in experiencing God’s presence and power.

The Source is usually led by worship leader Dave Benjamin and his band. Each service is hosted by a service leader for the purposes of weighing prophecy etc. The band leads a number of songs, with instrumentals and quieter periods that give space for people to share a message from scripture, a word from God, or to simply sit and reflect, pray and bring spiritual gifts.

Forthcoming dates:

• 10th June 2012
• 8th July 2012 TBC
• No Source in August 2012
• 23rd September 2012
• 14th October 2012
• 4th November 2012
• 2nd December 2012 TBC

23rd – 27th July 2012

The Greatest Show on Earth is coming to London this summer. Plans are underway at All Saints’ for an Olympic themed Holiday Club in the week running up to the Games, which is the first week of the summer holidays.

The Opening Ceremony (Friday 27th July) is expected to be a stunning and spectacular event. Why not make an evening of it, enjoy the party atmosphere with all the family and watch it on a big screen?

More details to follow. Watch this space…

John Lambert was interviewed by BBC Radio Tees broadcast Sunday 13th May 2012 about Love Stockton (the interview begins at 2 hours 12 minutes 54 seconds.

The BBC Tees website published a page on All Saints’ Springboard project. To read the article click on this link.

A piece about Springboard appeared on BBC Radio Tees on the morning of Sunday 17th July. It featured a presentation of the project, the views of two volunteers and some people who took up our offer of services and an interview with John Lambert. To hear a recording of the file click here: BBC Radio Tees 17th July 2011

John also appeared on the BBC Tees Drive programme on Wednesday 13th July to answer questions about a report expressing alarm at declining church attendances.  To hear a recording of the file click here: BBC Radio Tees 13th July 2011

Springboard also featured in the Evening Gazette on 14th July.