Sundays are FUN DAYS!

It was 19th December, six days til Christmas, and it wouldn't surprise me if almost everyone is suffering from 'hurry sickness'. For anyone running around attempting to buy presents, wrap presents, see people, send cards, make food, and put up decorations as well as a billion and one other things, yesterdays morning service was pretty applicable. 

Guy spoke to us about how to deal with 'hurry sickness' at Christmas, and with Sean leading worship, we had a great morning celebrating Jesus. With joy and dancing, we worshipped for much of the morning as the snow fell outside. It was a lovely time of seeing some people who are often at a different service, and there was a great buzz in the building, as the festive atmosphere, and the joy of God filled the place. 

With lots of students away back at their home towns and churches, and several twenties away doing fun things, or being ill, we were few in number. A few of us cooked a roast dinner, I think some people just had a nice and chilled extended afternoon as church had started at 10.30am!

The evening saw the wonderfully talented Citygate Choir out, as well as lots of us, and a good few guests too. In fact, the building was packed, and everyone sang some beautiful carols and Guy spoke about the answer to Christmas, and to suffering, and the hope that we have in Jesus. Good stuff it's safe to say!

With mulled wine, tea, coffee and bucket loads of mince pies and marshmallows everyone gathered in the Shaw Suite and outside with big bonfires to socialise and catch up with each other. Under the snowy trees with mulled wine in hand, and a mince pie, stood before a hearty fire it was rather impossible to not feel festive. 

A trip to the Lynton finished the day of nicely, and it was packed with lots of people all very chatty! Was great to see some the faces of new people amongst us yesterday, braving the snow, and the faces of some people we don't see very often! In fact it was pretty great to just see people...

Anyway, with snow still on the ground, I know some people are struggling to get home, or where they want to for Christmas, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE message me if that's the case for you and you find yourself stranded in Bournemouth! 

If there is anything we can do for you over Christmas, let me know. We're here to help, in good times and bad so just contact me. We're your friends, and love you, so whatever it is, make sure you give one of the student team a shout!

So, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (and also January 2nd) there will be just ONE MEETING. At 10.30am!!

If you're around we'd love to see you to do some serious celebrating of the things that God has done in our lives over the past year. 

Whatever you are doing over Christmas, whichever city you find yourself in, whatever traditions you may have, whatever food you eat, I hope that you do it knowing the love and joy of the King. 

I would just like to personally say, I wish you all an incredible Christmas. This past term has been an amazing time for me, and hopefully for you too as we've seen so many join us, and so many stepping into more of what God has in store for your lives. 

You are a blessing to be around and I hope that the coming 2011 brings blessings to you and those that you love. I hope you continue to meet with us, and I encourage you, continue to seek God in your life, and for your town. We're on the edge of something of great, great magnitude, so lets not lose it because we ate to much at Christmas and got a little apathetic.

So, have a very, very, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

With lots of love 

Vicki xxxxxxx

PS hopefully see some of you at the final PPP of the year tonight! x

That Time of Year Again

If you're anything like me, 2010 has flown past, and the fact that Christmas is only 10 days away, is seriously scary pyjamas...I am actually yet to sort out any presents, and due to lack of time, people may be getting old recycled socks or something.

Still, with Christmas around the corner, and 2011 very much on the horizon, there is a lot to be thankful for, and a lot to do. 

Tonight is Engine Room, the monthly prayer meeting of Citygate Church. It really is the engine of us as a body of believers; time to get together and thank God for what He's been doing, and seek Him for more of his heart. If you want to see what we're truly about, blood sweat and tears, Engine Room nights are important and as Students and Twenties, and a great number of people in the church, it's your responsibility to get along - cell groups aren't running on Engine Room weeks so you've got no excuse for business!

(I do hope you appreciate my nice photo of an engine...seemed pretty fitting to me...)

This Friday, I'm hopefully going into Bournemouth to hand out some flyers and chat to people about Jesus (as long as I can get hold of some flyers!) If you're around and would like to come and join me, I'd love the support. Our town needs us to speak truth at this time of year.

Sunday morning, we've only got one morning meeting at 10.30am! So, turn up at your usual time and you'll either be an hour early (unlikely for you students and twenties, lets be honest) or an hour late (and you don't want to be the one making noise at the back and trying to find a seat in a packed building!)

For lunch we're planning on heading to the Cat and Fiddle Pub in the New Forest.Click here for more details!. Hopefully people with cars will be pleasant enough to drive everyone out there - if they do, make sure to give them some petrol money, just to make things fair. Afterwards we're going to go for a a wander around the New Forest and walk off the calories we've consumed over a hearty lunch. If anyone can suggest a good walk, I'm all open to suggestions!

Then it's back to St Swithuns for the Traditional Carol Service at 7pm. Again, click here for more information. Last year, this was an absolute highlight. For some reason., regardless of personal beliefs, everyone loves a good sing-song to some carols when it gets near to Christmas. Take the opportunity to invite people along and meet your friends. We want to let people see that Jesus is alive and amongst us and Christmas is much more than mulled wine and minced pies (although we'll be having some of those and some fire pits like the 5th too!)

Make sure to respond via Facebook and maybe use the event page to invite your own friends! We'd love to see as many people there as possible, coming under the sound of the Gospel.

To those of you who've gone home, I wish you the happiest of seasons, hopefully filled with rest, relaxation and some great times with family and friends. Most of all, I hope that Christ is at the centre and you are mightily blessed by Him. 

For those of you that leave Bournemouth for most of the year and are on your way back for a few weeks, we look forward to seeing your smiling faces and catching up. Make sure to be around for socials!

For some, Christmas can be a really hard season, so make sure to message me or James via email (jdruce@citygatechurch.net or vcavolina@citygatechurch.net)
or Facebook if you've got things going on that you'd like prayer for, and if there's anything we can do, we'll be right on it!

I look forward to seeing you all very, very soon and remember - let me know about FRIDAY!

Lots of love

Vicki

x

The result of some hard work

was an incredible Citygate performance tonight at 'He Will Be Called'.

Tonight saw 'The Ella Bewsey' show sharing all sorts of news stories, views, and some beautiful truth about who Jesus is to hordes of people, of all different shapes, sizes, ages, nationalities and backgrounds.

With stage lighting, and a TV set as the back drop, the building was packed out with people there to hear the Gospel and to bring guests along. If you invited people, well done, and I hope that if they came they had a great time!

Ella did a stunning job as TV presenter, with Mr Sam, her roaming reporter, and Reuben and Steve Walls as a snapshot of what people watching the show really thought. You had to be there to experience it. Russell shared a  short Gospel talk on who Jesus is and the names he is given in the book of Isaiah.

Wonderful Counsellor 

Mighty God

Everlasting Father

Prince of Peace

Titles that should inspire awe and wonder in those who know this incredible God. Citygate members, attacked a few weeks ago following an Engine Room, were interviewed by 'Mr Sam' and shared some testimonies about what God has done for them, and what he continues to do. From freedom of panic attacks, to provision of finances, it was clear to all tonight that Jesus is alive, and a Mighty God, worthy of worship and praise.

Sean and the band, otherwise known as the 'Ellerettes' led us in some worship and some Christmas Carols and the sound of worship filled the room. The lovely Student & Twenties team served mulled wine, mince pies and marshmallows afterwards, and big fire pits were lit outside for guests to warm themselves around.

Christmas is here, and it's not quaint, or boring. Jesus is alive and we have grace and hope to celebrate and tonight was a great start to a big season full of worship.

Next Sunday morning will be 'The Pursuit' which continues with the Christmas message, and the following Sunday will be one morning service and a Traditional Carol Service in the evening. In all of our guest services we are totally expecting God to break in and change hearts, so continue inviting those who need to hear the hope of our Glorious Saviour. 

Tomorrow night is PPP and as God refreshes us and speaks to us, we can be sure to expect a great night. And maybe the leftover mince pies from today...if you're lucky!

I am not around for the next week so to anyone who heads back to your home towns, for the holidays, lots of love and Christmas wishes and I hope you have a fantastic time away. Can't wait to see you all buzzing and bold, ready for an exciting 2011. 

Just a reminder that you can begin to book for In Bude, our weekend away, so start discussing who you'd like to stay with. I want to see as many students AND twenties there, it's going to be a great weekend!

If you've just started coming, or have only just decided you'd like to stick around at Citygate, we run an Adopt a Student scheme, where you attend cell groups (which we love btw) and get fed once a month, as well as getting looked after by some lovely Citygate couples. Get in touch if you're interested. 

vcavolina@citygatechurch.net is where I'm at!

Good Night and God Bless 

Vicki

x

He will be called...

By telephone? Over loudspeaker? Maybe by owl noises?

Mmmm not quite. Actually we're not talking about communication methods. 

How about....

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

   Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

If you want to know more about these titles and the one who holds them, you need to be at the St Swithuns Centre at 7pm on Sunday 5th December.

We're celebrating Christmas in style, with 'news, views and reviews', all hosted by our very own lovely Ella Bewsey. 

Lots of students and twenties will be getting involved and it is definitely not something to miss. Mince pies, mulled wine and fire pits will all follow the service before we make our way to the Lynton Court pub.

This is an amazing opportunity to invite your non-Christian friends to see a little of church...and hopefully to see that it's not quaint and irrelevant!

If any of this tickles your fancy, or even if it doesn't I definitely expect to see you Sunday evening.

With lots of love

Vicki x

Mangoes and Mean Girls

So, although by default of gender, half of you couldn't make it, the fresher girls had a great time last night creatively cooking, chatting and watching a film. 

For those of you who've been around a bit you may notice that there have been rather a few new faces over the last couple of months, and a large number of these have been girls. So, hopefully helpfully, some of us got together last night to do 'ready, steady, cook'. Everyone brought two ingredients, something fairly normal and something a little bit more crazy... these ranged from rice, to curry, to jelly, to potatoes, to leeks etc...

Our task was to cook a delightful dinner out of the variety of ingredients before us. Chaotic? A little... Lots of fun? I think so! We ended up with huge amounts of pasta and rice, as well as a yummy chicken, bacon, creamy tomatoey cheesy sauce, and some potato and chickpea curry with mango. We may not be as talented as Delia Smith, but we certainly cooked ourselves a treat.

With food in our bellies and chocolate in hand we sat down to watch Mean Girls, and no, the evening wasn't as cheesy and girly as it sounds. In fact, you could almost have called us civilised! 

Now I can't speak for the boys, but I have heard rumours of early morning prayer meetings and Wednesday breakfast. Pester James and I imagine he'll be all too happy to tell you more!

We believe it's really important to build close friendships. We're not about surface level 'hi, hello, how was your week?' although obviously we love to ask those questions. We want to see a community of students AND twenties gathering to care for each other in love, to enjoy friendship and to encourage one another. 

We're hoping it doesn't feel as if we're running lots of events for new students, because, just to let you know, you twenties...we love you too. And in fact, we love what you bring; your willingness to get stuck in, your wisdom and obviously the way which you look out for each other. Do take the chance to get to know some of the newer people. You may not naturally gravitate outside of your comfort zone, but take it from me, they're worth knowing, and I don't doubt that you have much to offer them as brothers and sisters in Christ. 

With that nice little message and an update for the day, I'm off to finish putting up the Christmas decorations in the office! Enjoy this rather freezing but festive day! December is HERE! Woop!

Lots of love to you lovely people!

Vicki x

For the love of Chicken

we went to Nando's on Sunday. Or at least some people did. With the suggestion of heading for lunch on your own before a walk, everyone scattered everywhere, with some staying around for choir practice, some grabbing some fish and chips, and lots taking a little drive to Castlepoint for some serious chicken munching. 

The poor people in Nando's seemed a tad confused by the large group that turned up rather hungry, but they were very nice, gave us a couple of tables and left us to it. Probably wise. 

The last few days have been pretty great, with Phatfish performing on Friday night. The crowd was made of a wide variety of people of all different ages and whilst perhaps not the usual group of people you might expect at a gig, it was all the better for it, demonstrating the diversity of the church, and the many ways you can worship God. Loud music, some nice lighting and the sound of Lou Fellingham? A roaring success I believe!

With the weekend upon us I gather that lots of people began a little Christmas shopping, enjoyed the market in Bournemouth town centre and people are well and truly into the festive spirit, mince pie eating and all. Basia and Hazel celebrated their birthday on Saturday evening, and lots of people were out and about for that. Happy Birthday to the both of you by the way!

Sunday morning saw a great exposition on Luke 23 titled 'Four Characters of the Crucifixion'. Guy Miller expanded on the various people that were involved in crucifying Christ, and the various things we can observe and learn from them. If you missed it, it's available on the Citygate Church website for your listening pleasure!

All of you students appear to be hard at work as the term draws to a close, so several faces were missing most of the weekend, and miss you we did. Still, uni work is important and we salute you for getting on with it! Hope it's going well, and we look forward to enjoying your company when you're free of all of those assignments. 

I wasn't able to make PPP last night so someone definitely needs to fill me in with what you all got up to, no doubt God was there and it was wonderful! Still, nosy me would love some details so do indulge me. 

Tonight, if you're a fresher, or a brand new face and female you're invited to an exciting event called Ready Steady Cook. We're hoping to cook some wonderful food but it all depends on the ingredients you bring. Hopefully our creativity won't end up poisoning everyone! 

The BIG THING though is HE WILL BE CALLED. If anyone was around last year for He Came Down, you'll know the kind of quality we're going for. Last year saw people giving cardboard testimones - something a little like this:

And this year we're looking to do things just as well. It's aimed at the Students & Twenties age group which means YOU! So, your job is to be there. To make sure you're listening. And invite as many guests as you can find between now and Sunday night at 7pm. We've got good news, and we need to tell it to a broken, hurting generation who desperately need some hope. 

An even better plan is to invite lots of people to cook and share lunch in the afternoon, and then take everyone to church in the evening! Check out 'Festive Feasting' on Facebook.

If there is anyone around who's willing to help serve refreshments, please email me as we desperately need a big team as we're expecting hundreds of people! 

In other news, if you're not serving in the church then you really need to be. It's a great way to meet people, and it's what we're taught to do. To sign up, click here:

Lots of love, and excitement about the coming week. 

Vicki

Has anyone else lost their digits?

...and I don't mean numbers...
Now don't get me wrong, I do love a sunny winter morning. When the sun rises slowly, frost covers the ground and you can see your breath in the air, it's all very quaint and rather beautiful. However, in true British style I'm going to have a little moan about pathetic shoes that mean you lose your toes. 

For anyone who has bad circulation, or doesn't own gloves (or socks for that matter) you'll empathise - winter is not for you. I'm normally someone who walks around bare foot all summer, so winter is always a little bit of a shock. I'm in eager anticipation of the return of summer and all things warm. I think it may be a long time coming...Can you believe Christmas is only a month away?? That means only 30 odd days to prepare for the chaos, tinsel and turkey that for most, Christmas inevitably brings. 

Anyway, for now, I'm going to be thankful that I'm not here: 

and I'm able to sit in a nice warm office. I think cake is being delivered sometime soon too. I hope that you are just as fortunate!

Tomorrow is Phatfish, which I can't really rant and rave about enough. Live music, what can I say, it's going to be amazing! AND in only 10 DAYS we've got 'He Will Be Called' which is going to be an incredible Christmassey, Media filled, God glorifying evening, with lots of mulled wines and mince pies after. YUM! Last year was astounding, so this year is set to be even better.

If you want to look far into the future, start thinking about Burns Night as we celebrate all things Scottish with a nice elegant meal, some haggis and some Scottish poetry. (January 25th for those of you with busy lives and diaries!)
 And if you want to look even further into the future, start booking In Bude. If you don't, I'm going to steal the best house, and leave you camping at the beach.

Well perhaps not, but it'd be good to get booked in ASAP. If you don't know who you want to share a chalet with, message me and I'll put my thinking cap on and arrange some things for you.

Okay, so cake is still yet to arrive, but I am quite happy due to the wonderful weekend I know we're going to have. Check out the event page on Facebook for lunch details. In fact, if you'd like to reply to the billion event  invites we send out that'd be loverrrly as then we can get organising.

Much Love
Vicki x

PS If it does snow, a spontaneous event involving a snowball fight at Meyrick Park will be organised.

PPS Can I recommend a Random act of Kindness to you all. Buy your friends a coffee, or some flowers, or pick someone up from the train station, or surprise someone by leaving dinner on their doorstep. I reckon that'd be seriously appreciated, and make you feel pretty great too.

I finally will stop babbling. I blame the cold. x

Phatfish will be here in THREE days!

PHATFISH TICKETS ARE SELLING FAST, BUY YOURS BEFORE FRIDAY AND MAKE SURE NOT TO MISS OUT ON THIS GREAT EVENT. 

A really great album

in my opinion... 

John Mark McMillan – The Medicine

So, aside from my music recommendations, no doubt you want to hear all about the amazing fun that has been had over the last few days??

Ah, okay, I'll indulge you then, I'm just that nice. 

Saturday night was part 2 of our Pure Hedonist series, that we're covering Five Smooth Stones, which is our monthly worship and teaching event. Lights were low, worship was beautifully powerful with Andy Flood leading and lots of other talented people with him. 

Dave Ashley set up some art points for people to get creative, and we spent a good 45minutes just worshipping God. Not a bad way to spend your Saturday evening. Then came the really intense part. 

Andrew Lawrence brought a talk called 'XXX Church'; this was a frank discussion on Pornography. 

I can almost hear you asking, did we really talk about pornography in church? You bet we did. We want to tackle the issues that people struggle with because God cares about every single aspect of your lives. 

People were able to text anonymous questions in to have them answered, so we had an interactive session which was hopefully really helpful. The whole evening was fantastic, and God definitely showed up. If you missed it, sorry to say, you did miss out. Still, we've got one more of the 'Pure Hedonist' series coming up after Christmas so keep an eye out!!

Sunday morning saw Martin Flood preaching a great message, and then we headed to O'Neill's for some yummy lunch, once again causing lots of chaos and noise with the large numbers of us. Can't wait to see it get even bigger, as we add new friends to the group.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of various people doing various things.
Some saw Harry Potter. Some did uni work. Some attempted to do uni work and didn't get very far. Some had a nap. Some went to Becky's house and watching Finding Nemo.

Hopefuly all had a great time.
In the evening, there was a Regional Celebration in Winchester which lots of people travelled up for, as well as the normal Why Jesus and Why Church courses.

You definitely can't say you didn't have many, many options to occupy you last night. Citygate has got to be one of the busiest places around!

So, I hope after a great weekend, people are heading off to work with a skip to their step after spending time with God, and with friends. Tonight will be PPP in the Shaw Suite at 7.45pm, so why not skip there, share some tea and coffee and perhaps a testimony of what God has done for you, as we gather for prayer, praise and the prophetic.

Phatfish is THIS Friday so make sure you get your tickets. Like live music? Tickets are only £6 for concessions (ie students) and £8 for adults. Check Phatfish out here!

Lots of love on a chilly Movember day.
Vicki
x

Anyone feel like a weekend in Cornwall?

Oh, you do?? Fantastic, cos that's exactly what we're going to do. 

Can I introduce you to
In Bude, a regional Students and Twenties Weekend Away,
in...Bude...Cornwall. 

For those of you who are unaware, Guy Miller, who leads our church also heads up the Apostolic team for the Southwest Region. This includes every Newfrontiers church from Portsmouth, up to Bristol and over as far as Plymouth...just a few then...

In Bude will be a great opportunity for all of the Students and Twenties from across this region to get together, build community, meet some new people and hear from God. The teaching is going to be absolute quality, with the key speakers being Matt Hosier who leads Gateway Church in Poole and Julian Adams, who is originally from South Africa, now in Manchester and has a fantastic prophetic ministry.

Students and Twenties need to get together in groups of 4,5,6,7,8,9 or 11 to live in a chalet together for the weekend. Chalets are self catering so each chalet will be responsible for sorting out their own food, and who sleeps where etc.
If you want to have a little look at the website of the place where we'll be staying, take a little peek by clicking here:

Prices vary based on which accommodation you choose, and how many people are in each chalet/house do-dah. Prices are really reasonable. The average will be around £30 for the weekend but are likely to be less. Obviously food and transport will be the additional expenses but it's definitely a high priority for your pennies, rather than a trip to Topshop or a drink in the pub. 

Bookings will be open from this weekend, running on a first come, first serve basis. You can provisionally book a chalet but to confirm your place, it must be paid by the following week at the latest or the reservation is removed, and open to anyone else.
Obviously some accommodation is likely to disappear quicker than others so make sure you get the one you want by booking in quickly. Each chalet will need to have a team leader who is responsible for finances and that chalet.

WHY BOTHER?
aside from the fact that a weekend away and a trip to Cornwall sound like a pretty great jaunt, it's not just about a few days away and having ludicrous amounts of fun, although we will definitely be doing that. 

We go away because we want to hear from God. We go away because we think that God wants to do something with this generation. We go away because when we're together we grow, learn and strengthen each other. We go away because community is vital. We go away because we want to see we're not alone. We go away because we need some perspective. We go away because we want to be making disciples and going to the ends of the earth, and we need to learn how to do that.

And with sunsets like this, why would you not come


Good enough reasons to get super excited about In Bude? Most definitely.

Email me for more information

Love Vicki

Brrrr it's getting a little chilly!

You may have been caught in the icy fog and frost this morning, but I hope you have yet to turn into a polar bear!
Stick around at Citygate and that's even less likely to happen, because things are really hotting up. 

It has been an exciting week, (aren't they all!) with Sunday topping it all off with a great preach from Guy, a fantastic time of worship and a very apt word from Colin directed at the students and twenties group. He called for a response for anyone who was struggling with being bold in their faith, sharing their beliefs and pronouncing that they were a Christian. I imagine that there were more who could've been prayed for than were, so make sure to continue to press in for what God has in store for you. 

Lunch was Pizza, and that was scoffed pretty quickly, so quickly that there was none left by the time some of the stragglers arrived. Hopefully you got enough food, and had a great afternoon chilling out. 

Why Jesus/Church/Citygate or Pub in the evening, so it was busy, busy, busy but it was great to see so many people hanging out together in the Lynton Court, hearing stories of India, and sharing friendship. Loud...erm...not much! 

With Sunday over, you'd think things may quieten down but far from it. Last night was PPP, and we had a wonderful social time involving hot chocolate, and extreme amounts of cake (I take my hat off to the people who brought the 40 person cake) and so the evening was set to be a good one. Ella led us in a great time of worship, and God did His thing. 

It was a really powerful time with the Holy Spirit at work, prophetic words given, and hearts surrendered to God. If you were there, you know what I mean, it was a fantastic evening where we were free to be in the presence of our Heavenly Father. Definitely stirring and definitely refreshing. 

It is 38 Sleeps, 11 hours and around 55 minutes until Christmas, so that means that's it's only a couple of weeks until the Students & Twenties Christmas Service. Flyers should be around soon and we're looking to have lots of fun during and after with festive activities, fire pits and mulled wine. Mmmmm!

Please do invite your friends, Christmas is probably the one time in the whole year where going to church is acceptable  - don't miss the opportunity for those you know to see that church is relevant, fun and Jesus is very much alive and doing things!

Bookings for In Bude which is our Students & Twenties Weekend Away in March will be opened this weekend. Prices are great, accommodation is done by chalets, so get a group of people together (girls and guys seperate please!) and be ready to book in. Two great speakers, Matt Hosier who leads Gateway Church in Poole, and Julian Adams, an incredibly Prophetic guy originally from South Africa, now in Manchester will be serving us by talking during the weekend. Definitely don't miss out!

Message me for more info vcavolina@citygatechurch.net 

I'd love to hear all about what God is doing in your life, so share testimonies, build each other up and have a great week!

Lots of love Vicki x

Worship, Pizza and Friends!!!

Now I've got your attention with some things you may be familiar with (and what we'll be doing on Sunday - check out Facebook) I'd like to introduce something that you may not be quite so aware of, but is definitely more important than pizza, shocking I know...

Why choose Citygate? What are we about? What do we believe? Where do we think we're going? and a really big one, what does it mean to be part of Citygate Church? As believers, we're all called to be committed to a local church.This means attending regularly, building community, serving and reaching out (in short). This Sunday (14tth) and next (21st), we'll be running Why Citygate. This is the church membership course which allows you to find out more about our vision and values, and some of our key beliefs. 

Some of you may have decided that you love Citygate (hopefully most of you!) and are going to stick around If that's the case, attending this course is absolutely vital, which is why I'm making a bit of a song and a dance and trying to get people to go. If we want to see the church built, and a people on fire for God, it's important to know what you're fighting for, to be under the leadership of our elders, and to be serving the church in any way you are able. 

Why Citygate will give you the chance to meet some of our elders, get to know them and see where they're coming from. In a church of our size, sometimes it can be easy to feel lost - don't allow that to happen.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have, we'd love to see you finding out what we're all about. Don't stay on the edges, get right to the heart of the church, become equipped and make a difference to our town.

So, make sure to click 'attending' on the FB event page, and I'll see you Sunday!
With lots of love on this grey day.

Vicki x

PS - you can head to the Lynton Court for a drink with all of the lovely students and twenties on Sunday night after Why Citygate has finished. See you there!

Autumn themed Cafe 29

This weekend saw the launch of this year's Cafe 29 - our inspired open mic night, set to some ambient lighting and accompanied by some delicious home baked cakes and some strong coffee. It was just as good as it sounds. 

With November upon us, Saturday's open mic was autumn themed! This meant, leaves, spice and autumn punch as well as autumn cake and lots of other delicious things that made you glad that the seasons had changed and you could hide away in warmth. 

I shouldn't be, but I'm constantly astounded by the vast array of talent that is contained within Citygate Students & Twenties, so it was brilliant to see some of that displayed.

The night began with Ella Bewsey and her team of musicians doing some stuff that made everyone want to sing along. We will definitely want to hear them again. The rest of the night included some incredible acts, from guitars to keyboards, to decks to singing and all sorts, each act was of an incredible quality and the time absolutely flew past! 

A highlight for me was seeing that the event not only brought in the Citygate family, but people from other Newfrontiers churches as well as non-Christians! And these guys performed too! We want to be a group of people who are influencing the area around us and we're hoping to see Cafe 29 grow as an event. David Ashley is going to play a big part in that, and this weekend he did a great many things that improved the quality of the night, so if you were there make sure to let him know you appreciate all of his hard work (which is often not seen.)

Sunday morning was incredible, with Andy Oates (one of our fantastic student team) leading worship and Colin Mitchell preaching. I can vouch for the worship being top notch, but someone will have to let me know all about the preach (I was out of the service for that part).

So with the weekend over, Monday arrived, it's probably time to stir you for the things ahead!

• Tonight will be PPP; prayer, praise and prophecy. A great time to worship together for the Students & Twenties. Starts at 7.45pm so meet at the back of St Swithuns for tea and coffee to start. Please bring any first aid kits or whistles that you still have from LOST!
• Wednesday and Thursday nights are cell nights. These are so, so important for you to grow as a Christian, have people who will look out for you, and integrate you into a church. Don't miss out! Make them your number 1 priority!
• Sunday services, followed by lunch (we'll put an event on facebook so look out for it)
• Sunday evening  - Why Jesus, a great course who want to explore Christianity. This is our version of Alpha!
• AND WHY CITYGATE! This is something you all should do if you want to stick around with us. This is our membership course; it allows you to meet the church leaders, understand the vision of the church, it's values and where we want to be going. The Bible calls all of us to be committed to a local church and to be committed to Citygate, this course is essential. It's a two parter, starting the 14th and continuing on the 21st. 
  Love what you've found in Citygate? Then find out even more, become a member and start serving!
  

In the future keep an eye out for some exciting events that are up ahead

• 20th November 5 Smooth Stones - the next session of 'Pure Hedonist' Martin Flood will be opening up the topic of Pornography. Not one to miss.
• 5th December, our Student & Twenties Christmas service. It's going to be exciting, relevant and a great opportunity to bring your friends along
• In January we'll be celebrating Burns Night with another elegant dinner, similar to the Welcome Meal
• In Bude is our Students & Twenties weekend away in the north of Cornwall! 4th-6th March, prices are really reasonable so start thinking about why you'd like to share a chalet with and be sure to book in as soon as we tell you you can.

Okay, so that should keep you all busy, if uni work and such isn't.

Lots of people were away this weekend for the CU Houseparty, so if that's you, make sure to share your exciting stories, and if it wasn't, show you care by meeting up with the people who weren't around. Lets continue to build our family and grow as disciples.

Peace and love friends

Vicki x

PS if God's doing exciting things in your life and you've got a testimony to share, send it to vcavolina@citygatechurch.net

LOST Season 2

LOST Season 2 has been and gone, but it's probably safe to say that the events of that night will not be quickly remembered. For anyone who doesn't know what LOST is where have have you been?! But I'll give a little explanation anyway. We take teams of around 7 people out into the New Forest, at around 1am, leave them there and they have to survive until breakfast completing activities and making their way through the forest in the dark to various treasure points. 

Simple non? Wrong, it was pitch black, and unluckily for some they absolutely failed to read/listen to instructions and ended up using last years maps... Silly people. 

Still, in general the idea worked. Each team began near Knightwood Oak, the largest and one of the oldest trees in the New Forest, and from there, they had to make their way to seperate grid references, finding treasure and grid references to six other points to visit that night.

Amusingly, two teams failed to arrive in the start car park - they even had maps and directions (it was pretty much straight down the A35...) so we sent the other 6 teams off and waited for the three LOST cars. With everyone finally sent off, James, Jim (our legend of a minibus driver) and I trekked to one of the furthest treasure points which we hadn't had time to put in place during our afternoon of fun foresty activities. That done, we sat back and listened to the harried phone calls of LOST teams who were somewhere in the dark and feeling a little confused. 

The night continued in the same vain, as quite entertainingly people became more tired, and consequently more grumpy. Fortunately, armed with coffee and blankets, James and I could definitely see the funny side to all of our friends beginning the evening so jovially and upon failing to read instructions finding themselves somewhere entirely wrong. 

Around half past 6 in the morning, we finally gave everyone the grid reference for the finish location. People mutinied and headed for the car park where we had started and then travelled back to St Swithuns where Floss and Becky had cooked up a storm of sausage baps, and fruit, juice and yoghurts. Despite the tiredness, everyone appeared to have a good time. I've heard stories of huge amounts of singing, seeing dead badgers and a definite amount of cheating that went on with two teams who used their cars!

All in all it was a superb night. Team 5, made up of Charlotte Young, Kate Southey, Ella Bewsey, Aaron Wright, Andy Gordon, Gaz Jenkins, Adam Hunneyball and Jake Neil were crowned the winners at Sunday's lunch, and the team from Christchurch who joined with us, took second place.
(Winners to the left)

Make sure to check out some of the facebook photos to see some of the madness that ensued upon LOST, and some of the epic face paint that certain teams wore. 

My hat certainly goes off to all participants, you worked hard and survived a tough night so well done! We hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully LOST season 3 may occur soon...

So, with everyone pretty exhausted from a manic Friday night/Saturday morning out in the wilderness, we kept the schedule for Sunday low key and chilled out. Church was the second part of our gift week, and Andrew Lawrence spoke on the Parable of the Minas from Luke 19. A great preach - make sure to check it out if you missed it! Sunday lunch was a bring and share deal, everyone trooped to Asda, brought huge amounts of food and added it to a table which seemed to bow under the weight of chicken, Pringles and the left over sausages from LOST. A feast ensued, and with everyone stuffed people either retired home or headed to Becky Welford's house to watch The Notebook. Yes, guys included. (And they loved it!)

Lynton Court in the evening, and again we took over two huge tables, a great atmosphere and lots of faces. 

I think it's safe to say, there is nothing like a good Citygate weekend.

This week you better be at:~

• Monday night prayer, praise and the prophetic 7.45pm
• Wednesday/Thursday night cell groups from around 7.30pm
• Saturday night Cafe 29 Open Mic. Set to be huge and autumn themed, you'd be silly to miss out! 7.30pm
• Sunday morning services 9.30am and 11.30am
• Sunday lunch (look on FB for more details on that one)
• Sunday evening is Why Jesus, great for non-christian friends or if you're a new believer
• Lynton Court pub social. Around 8pm
  
  

So, there's lots to be getting busy with. If you need any more info, get in touch with Vicki in the office on vcavolina@citygatechurch.net or message any of the student team

Have a really great week guys, looking forward to seeing you all out and about!

Vicki on behalf of the Students & Twenties Team

Welcoming and Baptisms - a little update!

It's been another busy weekend for the Students & Twenties at Citygate, with a Saturday evening of posh nosh, and a Sunday of church, pub, baptisms and more pub. What can I say, we like to be social, and we like our friends.

Saturday night saw around 45 people dressed up and looking lovely in suits, dresses and heels (for the girls only of course...) and enjoying some fantastic food, courtesy of James Druce's culinary genius. From puff pastry tartlets with a pesto dressing and rocket salad, to roast lamb with redcurrant and balsamic jus and cranberry stuffing to seriously rich chocolate mousse with raspberries, everyone fine dined and ate themselves full. It was a great way to welcome in some of the many new faces we've seen through our doors over the last month or so, and if that's you - we're thrilled you've decided to stick around!

Sunday was another busy day, with John Hosier speaking at both morning services and the start of our gift week for our new building. Instead of a BBQ or Subway, everyone headed off to O'Neils for lunch and I understand we well and truly took over for the couple of hours we were there! Keep an eye out on future lunch plans - we'll have a noticeboard at the back of the hall and the student team will know what's going on so make sure to grab them :)

One of the most exciting things for me, was being able to see eight people baptised on Sunday evening. Charlotte Young and Tom Bettinson (two of our great students) as well as six others, ranging from youth, to internationals, to older couples, to younger couples were also dunked. It was an incredible example of the diversity of God, and the power of God at work in peoples lives. The testimonies behind people you think you know, were absolutely staggering. There was a room packed with people out to support their friends and family and I think it's safe to say that it was a night of great rejoicing. Chris Vessey presented the Gospel and explained how Jesus takes away our sin clothes once and for all, and allows us to have a relationship with God. It was great to see the church together out and celebrating, and wow do we have something to celebrate!

Celebrations continued at Reef Encounter in Boscombe, before people headed home to crash out after a long day and prepare for the week ahead. 

If you were there last night and didn't manage to write in the baptism cards at the back, or speak encouragement or prophecy to those that you wanted to, do make sure you email the church office at office@citygatechurch.net and they'll make sure any messages are passed on to the necessary people!

So, what's up and coming over the next week or so?

Well tonight we have PPP - prayer, praise and prophecy. Mondays at 7.45pm at the back of St Swithuns we gather as Students & Twenties to spend time with God, ask him to change our town, and to shape us to be better disciples. It's always exciting so make the time to join in and hear from God!

Cell groups will be running on Wednesday and Thursday, anyone who isn't part of a cell group should be. I (Vicki) can set you up with an adopted family who will also help you get settled into a cell group. Let me know if you'd like details. 

Friday night is LOST season 2. We'll be out in the forest, hopefully not getting lost, but finding some treasure and surviving until breakfast. Be sure to be prepared if you're coming and get to St Swithuns on time! If you haven't paid Charlotte will be onto you asking for money - you have been warned!

If you're not about this week we look forward to seeing you on Sunday for the second part of our gift week, a bring and share lunch in the Shaw Suite, and lots of laughter. 

With lots of love and blessings for the week ahead.

Citygate Students & Twenties Team.

x

A wonderful weekend!

So we may be well into the working week but there is a definite buzz from the weekend we had as Citygate Students and Twenties.
Sunday saw a guest speaker Adrian Holloway visiting us, and presenting the Gospel in an interactive, fun, and relevant way. Our very own Colin Mitchell acted the part of God and over the two morning services several of our Students/Twenties played Jesus or Man and showed in a clear way how Jesus has made a way for us to have a relationship with the Father. Amazing stuff! We saw people becoming Christians and people being healed. All very exciting!

Afterwards we gathered over 120 for the final part of our epic free lunch extravaganza to welcome all of the new faces we've seen over the last month. From olives to fresh bread, to Hazel's wonderful baking, it seemed that everyone ate their fill, made some friends and enjoyed themselves.

Sunday evening was spent chillaxing in the Lynton, a great time to wind down and prepare for a manic Monday. There are so many of us now that we took over at least 3 big tables! Definitely the loudest, and probably the happiest group in there.

So, with the weekend over, you'd think things would quieten down? Not at all. Monday nights are PPP; prayer, praise and the prophetic. So we gathered last night to meet with God. It was one of those powerful nights where God breaks in, opens people up and does something tangible. Tom led worship wonderfully (played some of my favourite songs too!) and James shared a little from Isaiah 61 - The Year of the Lord's Favour.

It was a really wonderful evening and there was a real sense of what God wants to do with us as a group within the church. It's going to be an exciting year! If you weren't there make sure to ask people what went on and what God is up to in their lives!

There are lots of exciting things coming up over the next few weeks, and the Welcome Meal is on Saturday. Make sure to message me (Vicki) or James if you want to come. You could always pop into the office and come say hey to us and grab a ticket at the same time. We would love to see your faces...

Speaking of which if anyone needs a hand, wants a chat, wants a moan or wants to share something exciting that's going on, the student team are seriously happy to meet up, chat over coffee and help in any way they can.

Anyhow, go out, find those pretty dresses, smart shirts and your appetite and get ready for Saturday night. We expect to see everyone out, about and ready to do some welcoming over a meal.

Hope everyone is having a great week, evening, Tuesday etc and is looking forward to what is ahead. I know we are!

More media

It seems to me that these days everyone says everything without ever actually speaking. Gone are the days of chatting on a telephone, the era of facebook, twitter and all things technological has arrived.

However, facebook, twitter and all things technological aren't wrong...they are in fact a great way of spreading news quickly, sharing stories, and are an opportunity to tell people a little of what you're about.

All of this said, I've decided to share a bit more of Citygate Students & Twenties with the wider world - hence the blog. Keep a lookout for testimonies, events and updates on what we've seen or been up to!

God Bless