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Group No Th3
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and
he will make your paths straight.”
Members – Tessa Auty (co-leader), Tony Beet (co-leader), Stewart Henshaw, Joanne Nangle, Bill and Joy Stockwood and Camilla Gosden.
We are a small group meeting on Thursday evenings. We try to meet every week, but inevitably with such a small group sometimes meetings can not take place. We were formed seven years ago after an Alpha course. Some of us were still searching and uncertain, some had been Christians only a short while and some all their life. It was a wonderful and stimulating mixture of certainty and doubt and really set the tone of the group which has lasted to today. We have continued to be a very open group and speak openly about what our faith means to us as individuals and how we practice it. This includes expressing doubts and uncertainties and all this has led to greater faith and spiritual development. It has also led to a greater understanding and acceptance of the variety of ways in which we as Christians can be close to God. And of course all this takes place at the same time as having a great deal of fun as well as caring for each other as needs arise.
We take it in turns to lead the meeting which always requires a certain amount of preparation. We usually use the material recommended by James the coordinator, but sometimes go our own way. Meetings start with prayer focussing on the area we are about to study. The discussion is open and varied and always fun, the function of the leader being on coordinating the discussion as opposed to teaching. After the discussion we have a period of prayer covering both developments from the discussion and any specific requests from members of the group.