The first Sunday of Advent saw our Gift Sunday. Presents were donated by members of the Church family to be given to young people in our community who would otherwise not have anything this Christmas. They were received by Dawn Froggatt who works from the Dracaena Centre. She counted 74 gifts! Dawn told us about last year's gifts and the difference they made to the lives of the recipients. What she told us was inspiring.

The generosity of the Church family is much appreciated, as is the thought put into the gifts. Well done FMC!

Dear friends

Imagine the situation…… A nation divided between the ‘have’s’ and the ‘have not’s’…. conflict ever present in society over different views about sovereignty…… a general distrust of foreigners…. people unsettled, angered, frustrated….. economically, things not going well…… a lack of trust in national leaders…a sense of hopelessness for the future……. a nation at odds with itself.…..and in the background, the threat of terrorism always lurking.

On Sunday at cafe church we started to anticipate the arrival of Jesus, as it was the first Sunday in advent. We thought about how we anticipate events in our own lives, sometimes with joy and sometimes with dread. The members of the church also showed amazing generosity by presenting gifts for young people in our community. They were given to the youth worker at the Dracaena Centre to give away. Biscuits of stars and angels were made and we wrote our prayers on paper prophets. At anytime during the service we could help ourselves to tea, coffee and breakfast.