We are delighted to announce that this handsome Barn Swallow is just one of the second clutch this year to have been reared successfully in our Church porch.Earlier in the year, the birds raised two young, and this time three or possibly four have been spotted. Barn Swallows are graceful birds with a beautiful swooping flight. They catch flying insects on the wing, particularly in the air above our nearby water meadows.With the aid of the Merlin bird identification app, your intrepid reporter identified the following in the Churchyard this evening, in the space of just four minutes:Robin, Goldfinch, House Martin, Chaffinch, Barn Swallow, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove and Greenfinch.#ecochurch #chalkevalleychurch #charltonallsaints #proudparent
This is an anonymous survey that we’re inviting everyone in our Church to complete, to help us understand ourselves as a Church and shape our prayers and our planning for the year ahead. It can be completed on this website (see link below) or on paper - to suit you.The survey will help us answer three questions:· What should our focus be?Your answers will help us decide about what we could be doing more of or less of as a church.· How do we like to express our faith and grow our faith in this church? Your answers will help us spot our strengths and how we could grow in our faith journey together.· What groups of people do we have in our church? The survey will also ask you for some demographic information, such as your age group and ethnicity. We ask these questions so that we can check how far the makeup of our church mirrors the makeup of the local community. This will help us see which groups we're reaching already and where there are opportunities.What we find out will help us understand where we’re doing well and to help us discern areas where we might need to do something new or different.The more people who complete the survey, the more accurate the information will be, so please complete it if you can.Click here to complete the survey online Church Development Tool - A Church Near You, ask Clare Penny for a paper copy or pick one up from the back of the Church.Please respond by 30 September 2024.Thank you!
The Church of England is celebrating the wealth of glorious English church architecture with the Church Door Challenge. To join in, take a photo of your church door, upload it to your favourite social media site and use the hashtag #ChurchDoorChallenge. There's no limit to how many photos you can upload.This image shows the main door of All Saints' Church, Charlton All Saints, resplendent in the July sunshine and sporting some patriotic bunting. Note the Victorian greeting painted on the arch "Draw Nigh to God, and He will Draw Nigh to You".#ChalkeValleyChurches #CharltonAllSaints
This year, in a break with tradition, we started at 3.30pm on Saturday 13 July with the coffee & cake stall, craft stall, give & take stall and the bar with wine & local beer. Once everyone had some cake, we started the Fun Dog Event in the front churchyard. A dozen or so dogs and their owners were put through their paces by our local dog trainer, finding their way through a maze, trying to come when called despite being distracted by sausages and doing a speed trial. They finished off with a Sniffari - an area with multiple scents - which dogs find enjoyable and relaxing.To encourage our youngest villagers to come, we had a colouring table and a treasure hunt of letters which spelt out a word. We provided our usual BBQ fare of meat and veggie sausages & burgers, and chicken drumsticks an hour earlier than in previous years, which went down well with (most) of the guests! As always, our talented BBQ chefs did a great job and our home cooks provided a wide variety of delicious salads. We ended the evening with the traditional raffle. Very many thanks are due to all the stall holders, helpers and cooks, but also to everyone who came along to spend their money to help support our Church. We raised £1050 towards the upkeep of the building.Same time next year?
