Welcome to St. Mary's Church, Arnold

For the past few years, a small group from St. Mary's has been going to Spring Harvest in Skegness for a week every Easter to learn more about God and his plan for us and to come together with thousands of like minded Christians for praise, worship and for prayer, reflection and meditation.

We think it would be great if a larger group could go and so if you are at all interested, please contact Andrea and Eddie Sands on 920 2023 or see contacts if you want to email. Some brochures are also available.

A summary of this year's trip is given below:

What is it that brings over 25,000 people of all ages to Skegness every year and a similar number to Minehead? What is so enjoyable about a holiday on the cold, wet and windswept east coast every Easter? Well if you haven't been before you're probably wondering what it's all about. And if you have been before you will know and be like a small group from St. Mary's, who can't wait for next year!

Six of us set off to Skegness on the Saturday before Easter: Anne Hill, Andrea & Eddie Sands, Peter Spencer and Wenda & Roger Broadberry. We shared a three bedroomed self-catering apartment with a single bathroom with a shower. This appears quite daunting but once we had established a routine everything worked very well although getting through the bathroom every morning required an early start for some of us. I very kindly was prepared to be last and let the others to go in front of me. However there was someone who was prepared to go the extra mile!

The menu and food was organised the week before and so we brought most of the food with us and being blessed with some excellent culinary skills within the group, we certainly did not starve.

The programme is varied and offers something for everyone - whether you're seven or seventy, a Christian or just thinking about it, with a group or on your own. Everyone's welcome - families with children, young people, students, adults on their own - whoever you are and whatever your background, there's something for you!
The adult programme features a choice of styles and can be both interactive and reflective whilst there are other programmes specially designed to reach young people, right where they're at. Children can learn, play and grow in a safe and secure environment
At this year's Spring Harvest, the theme was "The Big Story: One God - Celebrating that our God is the God of the whole earth". We looked at four elements: Creator God, Universal God, Human God & Sovereign God. This was a challenging programme but helped us all to explore in some depth what makes Christians different and how we should live in authentic, biblical and practical ways. With the challenge of Christianity being marginalised in our politically correct society, we also looked at how we should respond with grace and truth to those of other faiths.

Well what did we do?
A typical day's programme would look like:
9.00 am Short Service in the Big Top
10.00 am Theme Seminar or Bible Study
11.15 am Coffee
11.45 am Theme Seminar or Bible Study
1.00 pm Lunch
2.15 pm Seminars
5.15 pm Finish
6.45 pm Big Top Celebration
or Alternative Worship
8.45 pm Finish
10.30 pm After Hours: Music, Theatre, and Comedy

However it would be exhausting if you attended everything and so the majority of us did a seminar and bible study in the morning with another seminar in the afternoon and then one of the Worship events in the evening and then sometimes an After Hours entertainment.

Well, why did we go?

It is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with each other to share our faith and also to just relax, chat and have a laugh together. With the beach so close, there was also an opportunity to get out into the fresh air and reflect on what we had learnt.

The worship is also amazingly uplifting with different styles of service ranging from Evening Celebrations, lead by some of the country's best worship leaders through Youth Service to a more reflective style Alternative Worship - this year lead by the Northumbria Community with a Celtic flavour.

There is no doubt that Spring Harvest helps both energise you spiritually through the worship and the preaching and brings you to a closer relationship with Jesus through the teaching.

It is also hugely encouraging to be with 4,000+ Christians of all denominations from all sizes of churches coming together to worship and share their experiences from around the country as we try to bring God's Word into our communities.

Final words from those that went:

" A great opportunity for reflection and to spend more time with God " - Eddie

" After spending so much time with children & young people at St.Mary's, Spring Harvest allows me the personal freedom to listen and learn from some wonderful speakers, join in amazing worship and come back home spiritually energised!" - Andrea

"A chance to immerse yourself and learn more about God's Grace and a chance to reflect on where you are going" - Peter
"A chance to reconnect with God and give Him a chance to make more footprints in your life." - Annie

"It is so hard to sum up: a break, a holiday, a rest; a place for fun, for friendship and for fellowship; a chance to discuss, to question and to learn; a space to think, to grow and to worship; getting to get to know each other and ourselves better and most of all to realise God's love for each of us. I wouldn't want to miss it." - Roger

The booking office for Spring Harvest 2007 will be opening at the beginning of June 2006 and since it gets booked up very quickly, decisions need to be made very quickly.

Hope to see you there next year!

This page was created on May 1st 2006




For the past few years, a small group from St. Mary's has been going to Spring Harvest in Skegness for a week every Easter to learn more about God and his plan for us and to come together with thousands of like minded Christians for praise, worship and for prayer, reflection and meditation. We think it would be great if a larger group could go and so if you are at all interested, please contact Andrea and Eddie Sands on 920 2023 or see contacts if you want to email. Some brochures are also available. A summary of this year's trip is given below:
What is it that brings over 25,000 people of all ages to Skegness every year and a similar number to Minehead? What is so enjoyable about a holiday on the cold, wet and windswept east coast every Easter? Well if you haven't been before you're probably wondering what it's all about. And if you have been before you will know and be like a small group from St. Mary's, who can't wait for next year! Six of us set off to Skegness on the Saturday before Easter: Anne Hill, Andrea & Eddie Sands, Peter Spencer and Wenda & Roger Broadberry. We shared a three bedroomed self-catering apartment with a single bathroom with a shower. This appears quite daunting but once we had established a routine everything worked very well although getting through the bathroom every morning required an early start for some of us. I very kindly was prepared to be last and let the others to go in front of me. However there was someone who was prepared to go the extra mile!
The menu and food was organised the week before and so we brought most of the food with us and being blessed with some excellent culinary skills within the group, we certainly did not starve. The programme is varied and offers something for everyone - whether you're seven or seventy, a Christian or just thinking about it, with a group or on your own. Everyone's welcome - families with children, young people, students, adults on their own - whoever you are and whatever your background, there's something for you! The adult programme features a choice of styles and can be both interactive and reflective whilst there are other programmes specially designed to reach young people, right where they're at. Children can learn, play and grow in a safe and secure environment At this year's Spring Harvest, the theme was "The Big Story: One God - Celebrating that our God is the God of the whole earth". We looked at four elements: Creator God, Universal God, Human God & Sovereign God. This was a challenging programme but helped us all to explore in some depth what makes Christians different and how we should live in authentic, biblical and practical ways. With the challenge of Christianity being marginalised in our politically correct society, we also looked at how we should respond with grace and truth to those of other faiths.
	Well what did we do? A typical day's programme would look like: 9.00 am Short Service in the Big Top 10.00 am Theme Seminar or Bible Study 11.15 am Coffee 11.45 am Theme Seminar or Bible Study 1.00 pm Lunch 2.15 pm Seminars 5.15 pm Finish 6.45 pm Big Top Celebration or Alternative Worship 8.45 pm Finish 10.30 pm After Hours: Music, Theatre, and Comedy
However it would be exhausting if you attended everything and so the majority of us did a seminar and bible study in the morning with another seminar in the afternoon and then one of the Worship events in the evening and then sometimes an After Hours entertainment. Well, why did we go? It is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with each other to share our faith and also to just relax, chat and have a laugh together. With the beach so close, there was also an opportunity to get out into the fresh air and reflect on what we had learnt. The worship is also amazingly uplifting with different styles of service ranging from Evening Celebrations, lead by some of the country's best worship leaders through Youth Service to a more reflective style Alternative Worship - this year lead by the Northumbria Community with a Celtic flavour. There is no doubt that Spring Harvest helps both energise you spiritually through the worship and the preaching and brings you to a closer relationship with Jesus through the teaching. It is also hugely encouraging to be with 4,000+ Christians of all denominations from all sizes of churches coming together to worship and share their experiences from around the country as we try to bring God's Word into our communities.
	Final words from those that went: " A great opportunity for reflection and to spend more time with God " - Eddie " After spending so much time with children & young people at St.Mary's, Spring Harvest allows me the personal freedom to listen and learn from some wonderful speakers, join in amazing worship and come back home spiritually energised!" - Andrea
	"A chance to immerse yourself and learn more about God's Grace and a chance to reflect on where you are going" - Peter "A chance to reconnect with God and give Him a chance to make more footprints in your life." - Annie
	"It is so hard to sum up: a break, a holiday, a rest; a place for fun, for friendship and for fellowship; a chance to discuss, to question and to learn; a space to think, to grow and to worship; getting to get to know each other and ourselves better and most of all to realise God's love for each of us. I wouldn't want to miss it." - Roger
The booking office for Spring Harvest 2007 will be opening at the beginning of June 2006 and since it gets booked up very quickly, decisions need to be made very quickly. Hope to see you there next year!