Starting on Tuesday 25th, over six sessions we will explore how you can be confident in sharing about Jesus, how to tell your story making Jesus the hero, how to start a natural conversation with your friends about Jesus.
This is a new course being delivered from Woodlands Academy.
As Lent begins we want to invite you to join with us thinking about and celebrating the Easter story.
For many churches around the world Lent is like a journey where we join together with the whole church world wide, including our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church. It’s a time of drawing closer to God and thinking about the events of that one week that changed the course of human history.
In 2025, Lent begins on Wednesday 5th March and ends on Thursday 17th April.
This year, why not choose a bible reading plan that will help you follow the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross? Lent culminates in Holy Week, when as a church we try to find ways of pausing each day to remember the specific events of that week, including our Good Friday service and Easter Sunday celebration at Woodlands.
Nowadays there is a wealth of free digital bible plans available online and in apps.
The following resources are available through the Bible App which is completely free, with no advertising and no in-app purchases, or access plans direct from their website version of the Bible online.
Lent for Everyone: Daily Devotionals by NT Wright
Following the story in real time can bring even more significance to arguably the most important week in the Christian year. For each day of Lent, there is a reading chosen from the Gospel of Matthew, plus a reflection by NT Wright.
Journey to the Cross: 7-Day Bible Plan by Pete Greig
Pause and pray as you prepare your heart for Easter. Join Jesus on His journey to the cross, through the tomb, and into resurrection life.
Dreaming the Impossible Bible Plans
DTI have created Bible plans for young people aged 12 - 18. Check out Psalms to Make You Think which is a a 4 day study of different Psalms to help expand deepen your relationship and passion for God. Or try How to Thrive in Teenagehood, written by teenagers for teenagers so that young people would not just survive this season of their lives but thrive in this season of their lives.
Additional free app based daily devotionals from 24-7 Prayer:
Lectio 365
A free daily devotional resource that helps you pray the Bible every day, inspired by Lectio Divina, a way of meditating on the Bible that’s been used by Christians for centuries.
Lectio for Families
Free devotional app that helps families read the Bible and explore faith together.
Inner Room
A Lent prayer series, available through the Inner Room app. The app has morning, afternoon, and evening prayers designed to bring you back into the presence of God for a few minutes throughout your day. This year their theme is ‘what’s shaping you?’, with an invitation to choose to be shaped by God this Lent.
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too have our teams, and we have an exciting volunteering opportunity within our Children’s Church team at Woodlands Central.
We are recruiting for volunteers to join our Children’s Church team to support and underpin some key administrative work for the team at Woodlands Central. We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested and Children’s team admin is something that sounds like an area you’d be interested in helping with!
Key areas of work include:
Volunteer rota checks for acceptances/declines and highlighting gaps where more volunteers are needed.
Processing all new children’s church volunteers through the recruitment process.
Processing new children into groups on ChurchSuite.
Transfer Sunday registers of attendance to ChurchSuite records.
Assist with setting up meeting dates and sending out invitations.
General administration as delegated by children’s church leaders e.g. booking a venue space in the building, sending prewritten emails to groups e.g. for one off events.
Personal attributes and key skills
Strong administration skills with an eye for detail
Good written communication skills
Administering confidential information in line with our Data Protection Policy
Team player
Our volunteer roles require a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a worshipping member of the Woodlands Church Family.
Could you commit to around one day a week to support this ministry? Ideally it would be helpful, if you have availability during the day, to meet with the children’s minister on a Monday between 11.30am - 12.30pm to run through weekly tasks but there is flexibility as to when the rest of the hours/tasks are delivered in the week. You’d be very welcome to join us at our Children’s team meeting too.
Support in volunteering role
You’ll be given in-house training on Data Protection and the use of our ChurchSuite database if needed.
You are also welcome to join in with our wider Central team time on Monday mornings from 10am - 11am where we gather to worship, pray, share good news and have input from key members of the team.
Hannah Dunmall
Assistant Children’s Minister
Please contact our Assistant Children’s Minister Hannah at hannah.dunmall@woodlandschurch.net for an opportunity to meet and discuss the role further.
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and at Woodlands Central we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our team as Associate Pastor reporting into and supporting our Central senior leaders Nigel Savage and Rachel Riddall.
Woodlands Central is a thriving city church with a vision ‘to transform Bristol with the love and power of God’. We are looking for someone with a proven track record of leading church as part of a team, bringing strategic thinking, operating executive skills and is passionate about turning vision into reality. They must show mature gifting in ministry, have strong communication skills, be passionate about Jesus and love the church. A secure and proven leader.
Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be committed to see the church community grow in their faith and reach the city for Jesus.
Key areas of work for the position of Associate Pastor at Woodlands Central include:
1. Vision, Strategy and Culture
Implementing and maintaining the vision of Woodlands Central and working alongside the senior leaders to implement strategies and plans to see it become a reality.
2. Midweek Church Communities
Supporting and growing mid-week Church communities in line with our vision and holding the spiritual and pastoral oversight of these leaders under the support and direction of the Central senior leaders.
3. Resourcing Sunday Services
Support the smooth running of Sunday Services. This involves being a constant presence on Sundays at our services and joining a congregational service team. Joining the preaching and hosting teams at services and attending our church prayer gatherings.
4. Central Core Leadership Team
Being part of the Woodlands Central core leadership team and holding areas of responsibility.
5. Staff Team
Carrying line management of designated ministry areas and staff team.
Find out more about the Associate Pastor role:
This is a permanent, contracted full-time position.
The salary band for this role is £29k - 34k pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.
The role will be based at Woodlands Central in Clifton, Bristol and there is a requirement should the post holder relocate to Bristol they will be a worshipping member of Woodlands Church Family at Woodlands Central.
The post is subject to satisfactory references.
We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.
The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 10th March 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications.
Please contact Abby Harvey Executive Assistant to Woodlands Central senior leaders at abby.harvey@woodlandschurch.net if you have any questions about the role.
If shortlisted, the first round of interviews will take place online during the afternoon of Tuesday 18th March 2025.
If you are taken through to the second stage in the interview process for this role these will take place over two days and will be held on Sunday 23rd March and Monday morning, the 24th of March 2025.
For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net.
Please send your completed application to abby.harvey@woodlandschurch.net and our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton julia.shrimpton@woodlandschurch.net.
Midweek Leaders Gathering:
Did you miss our gathering on 27th January 2025?
Listen to Nigel share our vision for midweek life at Woodies.
Finding God in every season of life
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
- Ecclesiastes
We all love to be in seasons of prospering, success and fruitfulness, where we sense God’s blessing on what we are doing. Of course! Most of us have also experienced seasons of suffering too, where external pressures or internal pressures can impact our sense of well-being and make us question what our lives are meant to look like. Seasons come and go and these ancient words from the book of Ecclesiastes tell us that all of this is normal human experience. It may be more accurate to say that parts of our lives can appear to be in different seasons - whilst one thing is dying, another may be coming to life. Age sometimes seems to correlate with seasons, maturity bringing fruit into our lives that was elusive in younger years.
One idea that can help us navigate the ebb and flow of blessing and hardship in our lives is the idea that just as there are seasons in nature, our lives can follow similar patterns. A winter season can look very dark but God may be at work in the darkness doing essential work in us. Work we can cooperate with or resist. Some people talk about the ‘seasons of the soul’ -- if you had to choose the one you are currently in, what would you say?
This series is called Seasons of the Soul and is all about finding God in every season of life. The series is really asking the question ‘What is God doing in your lifeat the moment? How can you cooperate with the work of the Spirit in your life as he seeks to renew and heal your mind and body to make you more like Jesus?’ We want to give you an opportunity to think, reflect and pray about where you are at with God and allow him to work in the deeps of your soul.
Here’s what we’re hearing about each week in our messages on Sundays:
Winter - 2nd February
Spring – 9th February
Summer – 16th February
Autumn – 23rd February
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week. This also includes recommended reading and signing up for our Wholeness Course as well:
Winter | 2nd Feb 2025 at 11am
Spring | 9th Feb 2025 at 11am
Summer | 16th Feb at 11am
Winter | 2nd Feb 2025 at 6.30pm
Spring | 9th Feb 2025 at 6.30pm
Summer | 16th Feb at 6.30pm
Explore how our lives can be established on the sure foundation of our God given identity. This is a course with stories of breakthrough, teaching, including our ‘Spiritual spring clean’ and opportunities for receiving prayer.
Our next Wholeness 1: Explore Identity course will be taking place over 6 weeks beginning the 25th February and running on Tuesday evenings from 8pm - 10pm at Woodlands. To sign up follow the link below.
To find out more about the wholeness course head to the webpage here.
On Thursday mornings at 10am in The Crypt, we offer new mums and babies the chance to meet up, share a cuppa, refresh and pray with one another.
This group is specifically aimed at supporting the well-being of new mums and their babies.
If you have young children of different ages, check out our Tiny Treasures Toddlers group that meets on Wednesday mornings at 10am in term time.
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
It’s Prayer Week from 19th - 26th January 2025 - let’s get praying and fasting!
You are invited to join the Woodlands Church Family for a dedicated week of prayer and fasting for our church, city, nation and the world. Let's remember the words of Jesus as we pray. Matthew 6 v 33: 'Seek First His Kingdom'.
As we start 2025, it feels wholly appropriate to gather together in one spirit to fast and pray and cry out to God for his kingdom to come here, as it is in heaven. It is a brilliant way to start the New Year, surrendering ourselves to God's goodness and power and his will for ourselves, our church and our world, which so desperately needs it.
There are a few key ways you can get involved throughout Prayer Week and we’d love everyone to take part.
There are lots of ways to join in at home and in person. We’d love it if everyone in our church community got involved…
Book a slot in the 24/7 Prayer Room
You can sign up to pray in hour long slots in our creative Prayer Room space in Woodlands Central. The Prayer Room opens on Sunday 19th January at 7pm.
Come to our Evening of Prayer & Worship
Join people from all eight sites of the Woodlands Church Family on Tuesday 21st January from 7.45pm - 9.30pm in the Main Hall at Woodlands Central for an evening of prayer and worship. Our focus is to pray for all areas of the city to be transformed with the love and power of God and to pray for Unity for us and churches across the City.
Join in with Morning Prayer Watch from 7.15am - 8.15am
Join us at Central from Monday to Friday, the 20th - 24th January for daily sessions hosted and led by different members of our staff team and church community as we pray for ourselves, our Church, our City and the World each morning.
Fast during Prayer Week
The Bible teaches the value of fasting in order to focus on prayer and seek God’s will. We would like for our church family to think about fasting and make a plan for how this could fit into your routine during Prayer Week. It could be that you decide to fast a single meal, or fast for a day or even longer. To learn about fasting, watch this preach from Tim Dobson on Spiritual Disciplines: Fasting & Feasting. If you can only fast one meal or one day, why not fast with others on Tuesday 21st January ahead of the Evening of Prayer & Worship gathering.
Pray the Lord’s Prayer at Noon
Set an alarm and say the Lord’s Prayer each day at 12pm along with hundreds of others in our church family.
Download our Prayer Guide
Use our handy guide to help you focus and pray throughout the week.
To help us pray across the Woodlands Church Family during Prayer Week, we asked the leaders of each church to share their prayer requests so that we can pray specifically for each of their needs. We’ll be posting these on Facebook once a day from Monday through Saturday. Please take some time this week to be praying for:
God with us
People often go home for Christmas. No matter how many messages, virtual meetings, or posted cards and gifts - there is nothing like someone’s actual physical presence in the room. When someone you love comes home, tears often flow. Human beings are wired for this — we are reassured and filled with joy by touching, hearing and seeing someone in our time and space. When Jesus entered into human history he entered our reality, our circumstances, our families, our work lives, our most secret and public lives. And it changed everything.
This series aims to explore the mystery of Jesus entering our world.
The Bible is an amazing book through which God can speak to us, but it can be tricky to understand in places. Here are some helpful tips to read the Bible well.
What does Mark have to say to help us with our life of discipleship?
God with us
People often go home for Christmas. No matter how many messages, virtual meetings, or posted cards and gifts - there is nothing like someone’s actual physical presence in the room. When someone you love comes home, tears often flow. Human beings are wired for this — we are reassured and filled with joy by touching, hearing and seeing someone in our time and space. When Jesus entered into human history he entered our reality, our circumstances, our families, our work lives, our most secret and public lives. And it changed everything.
This series aims to explore the mystery of Jesus entering our world.
God with us
People often go home for Christmas. No matter how many messages, virtual meetings, or posted cards and gifts - there is nothing like someone’s actual physical presence in the room. When someone you love comes home, tears often flow. Human beings are wired for this — we are reassured and filled with joy by touching, hearing and seeing someone in our time and space. When Jesus entered into human history he entered our reality, our circumstances, our families, our work lives, our most secret and public lives. And it changed everything.
This series aims to explore the mystery of Jesus entering our world.
If you missed the Bible school Session in November with Janey Lawry-White, you can listen here
God with us
People often go home for Christmas. No matter how many messages, virtual meetings, or posted cards and gifts - there is nothing like someone’s actual physical presence in the room. When someone you love comes home, tears often flow. Human beings are wired for this — we are reassured and filled with joy by touching, hearing and seeing someone in our time and space. When Jesus entered into human history he entered our reality, our circumstances, our families, our work lives, our most secret and public lives. And it changed everything.
This series aims to explore the mystery of Jesus entering our world.
God with us
People often go home for Christmas. No matter how many messages, virtual meetings, or posted cards and gifts - there is nothing like someone’s actual physical presence in the room. When someone you love comes home, tears often flow. Human beings are wired for this — we are reassured and filled with joy by touching, hearing and seeing someone in our time and space. When Jesus entered into human history he entered our reality, our circumstances, our families, our work lives, our most secret and public lives. And it changed everything.
This series aims to explore the mystery of Jesus entering our world.
Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA
