Victoria Methodist Church, Bristol

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Victoria is situated at the city end of Whiteladies Road, near the University of Bristol and BBC. Our minister is Revd Debbie Godefroy. She can be contacted by 'phone on 0117 962 1200. Her monthly letter comes from our Magazine. We worship at 10:30am and 6:30pm on Sundays. From August 2007 we are worshipping at 10:30 on Sunday mornings for a trial period of one year. Details of services in May and June We have a wide range of weekly activities and act as hosts to Bristol MethSoc. Debbie is part of the Bristol University Chaplaincy team. Our Mission statement is: "The purpose of Victoria Methodist Church is to respond to God’s Love in Christ and to live out that love in God’s world ."

There are strong historical links between Bristol and John Wesley, who first preached in the open air here. The oldest Methodist building in the world, John Wesley's New Room, is in the centre of Bristol.

Here is a prayer written by John Wesley, it appeared in ‘Thoughts upon Slavery’, in 1744

God of love,

Whose love embraces all humanity, whose mercy is over all, and who has mingled of one blood all the nations of the earth,
have compassion on those who have no helper,
who are outcast, downtrodden, and by the sins of men held captive.

Arise, burst their chains asunder,
and, more especially, break the chains of sin.
By your love, release us, free us all, that all may be free indeed.

Services/ Activities/ MethSoc/ History of Victoria/ Magazine/ Other Web Sites/ Podcasts

You can contact us here: e-mail

Last update:07.05.08

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Online Bible Study

Recently, the web team at Methodist Church House launched an online Bible study called A Word in Time at www.methodist.org.uk/bible

A Word in Time follows the readings in the Methodist Prayer Handbook and offers commentary, explanations and questions to ponder on the selected passages.

Writers from all around Methodism have written a week of studies, providing the reader with a tool that allows them to make sense of the Bible and its relevance to 21^st century life. This new application brings together the 40,000+ readers of the Methodist Prayer Handbook along with online disciples in their search for daily spirituality.

In December, an audio version of A Word in Time was launched, giving readers the chance to listen live to the Bible reading and study, or download the day’s offering to a computer or mp3 player to be listened to on the journey to work, or while making dinner or at a time more convenient to them.

A prayer from the Methodist Prayer Handbook

Jesus, abject and despised, let us not be ashamed to follow you.

Jesus, hated & persecuted, let us not be afraid to walk in your footsteps.

Jesus, blasphemed and condemned, let us be counted your friends.

Jesus, mocked and scourged, let us bear all things patiently

Jesus, crowned and derided, let us not be overwhelmed by our injuries and grief. Amen

John Wesley, 1703-91

A Word in Time is a daily Bible Study linked to the Methodist Prayer Handbook on the Methodist Church web site.

Victoria Methodist Church

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Services

Please note that our Morning Services
now begin at 10:30 for a one year trial period
(until July 2008)

May

4th	10.30am	Morning Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
11th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
	4:30pm	Ecumenical picnic then open air service at 5.30pm on the Downs
18th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Revd Paul Braisdell
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Mr Ken Napier
25 th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Dr Victoria Davies
	6:30pm	Evening Worship & Holy Communion - Revd. Debbie Godefroy

June

1st	10:30 am	Morning Worship – Revd. Dr John Newton
	6:30pm	Evening Worship – Mrs. Lorna Wells
8th Church	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Revd. Dr Neil Richardson
Anniversary	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
15th	10:30 am	Morning Worship and Holy Communion - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
	6:30pm	Evening Worship – Farewell service for Univ. Chaplain David Goodall
22nd	10:30 am	All Age Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
	6:30pm	Evening Worship and Holy Communion - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
29th	10:30 am	Morning Worship – Mr. David Goodall
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy

Victoria Methodist Church

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Activities

Day	Activity	Time	When	Where	Contact
Sunday	Worship	11:00am & 6:30pm	-	-	-
-	Junior Church & Crèche	11:00am	-	-	Pam Roberts 0117 973 6904 Cath Bant 0117 974 3266 (créche)
-	MethSoc	8:10pm	-	The Manse	Debbie Godefroy 0117 962 1200
Tuesday	Women's Fellowship	2:45pm	Last Tuesday monthly	-	Sheila Lang 0117 924 7478
-	Bible Study	7:30pm	-	15 Montrose Ave Redland	Mary Hill 0117 942 2193
-	Prayer Group	8:15pm	-	15 Montrose Ave Redland	Mary Hill 0117 942 2193
-	Women's Night	7:30pm	Alternate Tuesdays	-	Phyllis Slade 0117 951 3119
Other Groups	House Groups		-	-	Janet George 0117 942 1706
-	Enjoying Art Group	-	-	-	Sarah Ball 01275 392034
	Vic Rambling Group				Ian Campion-Smith 0117 973 8026<>
	Book Club		Alternates Sunday/Thursday	Hodgkin House	Pam O'Hara 01275 373691

Victoria Methodist Church

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Other Events

Victoria Methodist Church

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Podcasts

The sermon given by Revd Andrew Mottram on the morning of Sunday 3 February 2008, in the context of our current review of our premises. The file is in MP3 format, size 10.0 Mb, and can be heard here

The sermon given by Revd Jonathan Pye on the morning of Easter Sunday 8 April 2007. The file is in MP3 format, size 6.0 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Revd Debbie Godefroy on the morning of Sunday 11 February 2007. The file is in MP3 format, size 6.3 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Mr John Barnett on the morning of Sunday 4 February 2007. The file is in MP3 format, size 5.9 Mb, and can be heard here (The last few sentences are missing from the recording, so the text is available for download here as a pdf)
The 3-part address given by Revd Debbie Godefroy at All Age Worship on the morning of Sunday 28 January 2007. The file is in MP3 format, size 6.9 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Revd Debbie Godefroy at the Covenant Service on the morning of Sunday 14 January 2007. The file is in MP3 format, size 5.9 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Mrs Clare Campion-Smith on the morning of Sunday 7 January 2007. The file is in MP3 format, size 4.9 Mb, and can be heard here Lunchtime Lecture on "Weaving the Threads " given by Revd David Deeks on Tuesday 24 October 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 11 Mb, and can be heard here
Lunchtime Lecture on "Recognising the Go-between God " given by Jane Stacey on Tuesday 17 October 2006. There are two files in MP3 format, size 4.6 Mb and 14 Mb. The short file omits the time during which a film was shown and the questions after the talk and can be heard here. The long file includes the time during which a film was shown and the questions after the talk and can be heard here .
The sermon given by Mr Derrick George on Sunday 1 October 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 2.7 Mb, and can be heard here
Lunchtime Lecture on "Christian Witness and Inter-faith dialogue" given by Revd Edward Williams on Tuesday 10 October 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 9 Mb, and can be heard here
Lunchtime Lecture on "Refugee Action " given by Claire Stern on Tuesday 3 October 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 10.1 Mb, and can be heard here
Lunchtime Lecture on "Euthanasia" given by Revd Jonathan Pye on Tuesday 26 September 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 13.2 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Revd Peter Grimwood on the evening of Sunday 24 September 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 4.2 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Revd Colin Hayes on the morning of Sunday 24 September 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 6.9 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Revd Debbie Godefroy on Sunday 10 September 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 4.0 Mb, and can be heard here
The sermon given by Revd Colin Hayes on Sunday 3 September 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 4.5 Mb, and can be heard here

Our first podcast was the sermon given by Revd David Deeks on Sunday 30 July 2006. The file is in MP3 format, size 5.3 Mb, and can be heard here (To download, right click the link and then click 'Save Target As...')

Victoria Methodist Church

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Bristol MethSoc

A Welcome to Students!

Bristol Methsoc is the Methodist society for University students in Bristol. We are supported by Victoria Methodist Church, please find out more on our own web site

President - Jenni Gill

Secretary - Ryan Thomas
Treasurer - Emily Baughan

Victoria Methodist Church

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VIC Magazine

Our magazine is published monthly - some recent articles may be displayed here.

A Letter from our Minister

Dear Friends,

Often we come along to worship and don’t really take much in. We know what we like and don’t like, when we have been entertained by the preacher, challenged, or even disturbed. We also know if we are bored or even angered by the service and the preaching, and we certainly know if we like or dislike the hymns!

One of the challenges that we face sometimes in worship is to try and get our heads around some of the more difficult ideas which form the backbone of our theology.

This month we celebrate Trinity Sunday, it is often a struggle for preachers - let alone congregations - to get to grips with what it means. Some avoid it altogether; others try to take hold of the challenge.

Teaching on the doctrine of the Trinity is what defines those who are orthodox and those who are not; it is part of our core belief as Christians. We have an affinity and bond with any Trinitarian Christian, but our relationship with those who believe in three gods rather than three persons in one God is very different from that of fellowship within our faith tradition. Groups like the Jehovah witnesses and Mormons believe in three gods and are considered cult religious groups. Similarly the Unitarian Church, which is so like our own in many ways, also rejects the Trinitarian understanding of God and therefore is not considered to be orthodox in Christian belief.

There have been many attempts to explain the Trinity – from three leafed clover (mistakenly attributed to Saint Patrick) to an understanding of how steel is made. (I don’t understand that but I can understand things like liquid, ice and steam all being water, another popular image of the Trinity). Maybe the most helpful for me is to look at myself and see what sort of person I am. I am your minister, but I am also a mother and a daughter. Each of these roles is clear and different and has a different persona attached to it. To my children, I am a nurturer, one who loves them and is always there for them yet also one who is willing to stand back and let them live their own lives. To my mother, I am a daughter who has turned to her for support, guidance and love, a role which is now mutually beneficial and may increasingly become reversed as she gets older. To you, I am a minister - someone who is appointed by the Church to be available, to teach, to preach and to enable. You are not my children or my parents (although I suppose biblically you are my sheep!).

In all this I am ‘Debbie’, no more no less. I am one integrated whole, one person who is motivated in all things by the gift of love. Surely this is what drives God – God who is different in Creating, Sustaining and Saving but is total love. This is what helps me make sense of who and what God is. ‘God is God’ no more no less, both male and female, both omnipotent and self limiting, but above all God is Love.

The ‘Hastings Dictionary of the Bible says the phrase ‘ ‘God is love’ means that God is the infinite home of all moral emotions, the fullest and most highly differentiated life, love must imply relationships, and as He is eternally perfect in Himself He can realize himself as love only through relationships within His own being’.

It does not matter how you do or don’t get your head around it, the one thing that matters is that we see God as a whole being, total and perfect, and that each one of us aspires to be a reflection of God in His/Her Trinitarian presence. Anything else and we become dysfunctional as God becomes smaller than our minds.

With the Gift of Holy Spirit, that we will celebrate in Pentecost we can accept by faith a Trinitarian God who reveals a character and nature of Love in different ways to each and everyone of us.

May we celebrate this gift and pass it on Debbie

Victoria Methodist Church

Paul Braisdell – Who Is He?

I am a student minister training at Wesley College and on placement at Victoria, working with Debbie and learning what it is to be a Methodist minister. My home town is Wrexham in North Wales, where I have spent most of my working life in the catering industry. My wife, Bronwen, is a primary school teacher; my daughter Sarah is in school year 13 and they are still living in Wrexham; my son Gareth is at Sheffield Hallam University studying sports science.

The call to full-time ministry is something that has been a strong conviction in my life for many years, and after a period of vocational discernment I considered that it was what God was calling me to do. So, at the age of forty five and because, in the words of my son ‘if you don’t do it now you will be past it!’, I offered for the ministry.

One of my favourite texts is Jeremiah 29:11 ’For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’. This has been a great encouragement to me, no matter where or what situation I find myself in.

When I do find time for extra curricular activities I enjoy genealogy and watching T.V. programmes in which celebrities trace their family, sometimes discovering that they come from all over the world. My family tree has not proved so exciting, so far!

I look forward to being part of the church at Victoria, getting to know you and learning more about full–time ministry.

Paul Braisdell

Victoria Methodist Church

Directions for Singing

Here are John Wesley’s original instructions for singing from his ‘Selected Hymns’ of 1761. They serve as a reminder that singing was, and still is, an important part of Methodist worship.

i. Learn these tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.

ii. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; if you have learned to sing them otherwise, un-learn it as soon as you can.

iii Sing all. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up, and you will find it a blessing.

iv. Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

v. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

vi. Sing in time. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

vii. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

Victoria Methodist Church

Other Web Sites

Other Methodist Pages

• Methodist Church in Britain
• A Word in Time
• Bristol District of the Methodist Church
• Bristol (West) Methodist Circuit
• Methodist Recorder
• Bristol Methodist International House
• Methodist Relief and Development Fund

Other Pages

• Christian Aid
• Traidcraft

Victoria Methodist Church