February 2025 News

We hope you are being blessed! Here is chapter 2 for 2025:

Please let the editor know if you want to share something in the next edition.


Pastors welcome to February - Dave Food	Preaching Yasmin Chaffer
We are one month in and have already seen new things: new grandchildren, new knees, new cars, new faces, and new groups, and I am sure you could add to this. As we step into spring 2o25, there is a freshness in the air as a new season arises; this is not just about Springtime, but God's time. I want to encourage everyone who reads this month's newsletter to let fresh faith arise in you, to pray for issues that need a breakthrough, pray for healings that have not yet come to pray for friends and family to come to Christ and find a church community in which to grow. God is stirring His people, faith is arising, expectation is building, purpose is growing, please make sure you are staying connected, plugging in, reaching out and encouraging one another. Hebrews 10:23 says Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.	Preaching is proclaiming; teaching is explaining; exhortation is encouragement. We all need all 3 elements, and you might hear all three in the weekly sermon, or the focus might be on just one of them. Those speaking are primarily drawn from the leadership team, supplemented by guest speakers on an ad hoc basis. There is a monthly theme, and the sermon is followed by Table Talk - questions posted on the church WhatsApp group to facilitate discussion “around the table” of the sermon to help embed and apply what has been learned. These can, of course, also be used by individuals in their Quiet Time with the Lord to reflect on what they’ve heard. Every Sunday, in addition to our live stream, we podcast our sermons to most podcasting platforms; sometimes, these sermons are syndicated to other Churches and networks we know who want to share our outstanding teaching and ministry.

International connections	Food from the Nations
We are a widely connected Church through Assemblies of God (AoG) (through which we find our historical identity (which as an organisation is 100 years old this year.) Through our cultural legacy as a prophetic church that is globally networked through Lifelinks International, To our engagement with Global Church Planting initiatives with Five Stones Impact. Our proximity to Heathrow Airport means we often have ministries and Church leaders passing through on their way to and from somewhere and have become exposed to some gifted and anointed men and women of God who have stayed with us over the years.	We are a very multinational Church with over 22 nationalities represented in our midst; this is often most obvious when we get to our Fellowship Feast on the second Sunday of the month after Church at Virginia Lodge (our ministry base), where Jolof rice sits next to a Mexican bean stew, with Butter Chicken, Pizza and a Shepherd's Pie on the same table. We are not recommending you eat them all together. Still, it does mean there is a wide variety to choose from, always something new for you to try and a fantastic representation of the rich diversity that gathers every week at RCF. Food is an important part of gathering, if you want to know about hospitality and our fellowship feasts, or want to volunteer to help (click here)

Sunday School & Children - Julie Stevenson	Sunday Setup teams - Rob Yalley
Between October – and December, we started looking at the Christmas story, which started with Adam and Eve and me, looking at God’s promises and preparing the way; then, we looked at all the individual people who took a role in making the nativity happen. The kids enjoyed listening and participating each week and doing an activity sheet to put in their special Sunday school book. Along with this, we and the children took part in an Advent countdown Activity card set; each day, we selected a card and read the back of it to complete the task with an adult and enjoy the true spirit of the Christmas season. This month (January), we have been looking at Praise – How to Praise and Worship God not only with singing, dancing and instruments but with our hearts, feet and hands too – to keep us praising God in every season of our lives. Please pray for additional Sunday School teachers and a creche supervisor as we see families join us and children join Sunday School.	Following a few prophetic words spoken over RCF and the increase in church attendance in 2024, the Wider Leadership team at RCF felt the need to find another venue for Sunday services from Virginia Lodge (VL), the then-current location for Sunday Services, which was inadequate for the increase in church attendance. After much prayer and fasting, God led RCF to Strode’s College (SC), and the church secured a meeting room for Sunday services in October 2024. There are no storage facilities at SC, and all setup equipment and items needed for church activities are stored at VL and transported every Sunday morning to SC, which is 5 minutes away from VL. This has resulted in 2 main activities taking place before Sunday service starts at 11 am. Pick Up Team A few volunteers meet at VL at 9.30 am to load their cars and drive to SC to offload and set up for Sunday service. We typically have “three” cars available that help load set-up equipment from VL to SC and from SC back to VL after church service(s). We hope to have more volunteers join the team as we grow as a church (want to help sign up here) Sunday Set Up A team with technical expertise, plus student church members from the local Royal Holloway University (RHUL), set up the service after the equipment had been offloaded at SC. With time, we hope that this team will grow. (You can sign up for the technical team here) May God bless the efforts of all involved in the pick-up (VL) and Sunday set-up (SC) as we allow the Spirit of the Lord to move amongst us at RCF.

Guest speakers	Youth - Dave Food
We are a rapidly growing Church, so here are a few things to get into your calendar. Sun 19th January - Wale Adenuga - Worship for Change Sun 23rd March - Paul Jukes - Breathe Church, Stoke Sat 10th May - Val Byrd - LI - Womens Half Day at VL Sun 11th May - Ian Byrd - Lifelinks International Calgary Sun 28th September - Clem Ferris - N Carolina, USA Sun 19th October - Sola Osinoiki - Josh Leadership, Bristol	Our embryonic young person's bible study started at the end of 2024; we meet to study every two weeks on Zoom as Dave shares a study with us. Please pray for us as we seek a name, design a logo and start to build the future. We as a Church are praying for a youth leader to encourage and disciple our young people, as over many decades, we have seen the long-term fruitfulness of youth work generationally. We as a Church continue to see the ongoing connection back to many young people who came to our former youth groups Exodus and Exodusonfire, who are now parents themselves; this community is a rich network of opportunity where seeds have already been sown.

Welcome Deborah Cherian	Something New - Dave Food
The welcome team is enjoying the opportunity to greet everyone coming over and joining our service. The team has grown with new students coming in. We now have welcomers from as young as nine on the door welcoming for our all-age, all-nation services. We look forward to welcoming you with warm smiles and helping you in any way we can. Sometimes, people can decide whether they will return before the meeting starts, based upon how we made them feel; a welcome, with a smiling face and a nice warm drink, is a fantastic start. Be one of our stars who welcome every Sunday. Sign up here	As people are added to our teams, the level of creativity and innovation increases. God stirs us into action, change happens, the Church is inspired, and new giftings and activities are released and shared. So watch this space for something new; here is what we know so far in 2025 January - This monthly newsletter started (it still needs a name) February - New face-to-face small groups start with the Thursday Manor Group. March - The Lingering starts, a quarterly evening of Worship and Prayer at VL. There is plenty more to come, come and join us and be part of the change.

If you have something you would like to share in the next newsletter, please email theeditor@e-runnymede.co.uk

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Planning your Visit

Why not plan a visit to try us out?

Whether this is your first time visiting a church or you’ve attended another church for years, we understand that visiting a new church can be a bit overwhelming. To help make it a bit easier, we’ve done our best to answer some questions you may have, so your first experience is a little less overwhelming.

Runnymede Christian Fellowship is a church based in Egham but serving a much larger geographical area. Those who call us home come from Egham, Virginia Water, Staines, Englefield Green, Egham Hythe, Pooley Green, Maidenhead, Ascot, Camberley, Sunbury, Heathrow, Slough, Ashford, Thorpe, Windsor, Woking and beyond.

Our church is a community of believers who gather regularly to share life and demonstrate God's love. We do this by encouraging and serving each other and the community. We believe in the power of prayer and are always happy to pray for you.

Church - What to expect

Our Sunday service is available to stream online at 11 am. You can join us on Livestream or via Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube or X.

The Sunday Venue is Coopers Hall, Strodes College, Strodes College Lane in Egham, open to all, so if you would like to join us, please feel free to do so. If you have any questions, please call us on 01784 637010.

We run a physical Sunday School most weeks. If you would like your children to receive a weekly Sunday School teaching pack that you can do from home, please email us at admin@e-runnymede.co.uk so that we can send you the materials.

Sunday Venue at Coopers Hall, Strodes College, Strodes College Lane, Egham

Our Sunday service starts at 11.00 and typically lasts about 90 minutes.

We begin each service with lively worship, featuring songs from around the world, followed by inspiring, Bible-based teaching. All our sermons are recorded and are available as a podcast after the service.

We have a monthly cycle of Sunday services, with our Communion Service on the first Sunday of each month and an All-Age All-Nation Service on the second. Our other Sunday services include Spirit-focused and teaching services.

We have consciously adopted being a blended church, that is, both online and face-to-face. You are welcome to join us on Livestream or via Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or X, or catch up with the recordings later.

Joining us in person

Visiting a new and unfamiliar church for the first time can be intimidating, but we want to ensure you feel welcome and enjoy your time with us. A friendly face will be waiting to meet you at the entrance and welcome you.

Doors open at 10:30 for coffee and prayer.
Our Sunday Service starts at 11:00 and typically runs for about 90 minutes, normally followed by tea and coffee.

Driving and Car Parking

Our Sunday Venue is Coopers Hall, Strodes College, Strodes College Lane, Egham, TW20 9DR, which has ample parking.
Click on the link for directions to RCF.

We have plenty of parking spaces right outside the building. Spaces are reserved near the entrance for anyone with mobility issues (those with a blue badge). Please let us know if you need to use one of these spaces, have any special needs, or require any assistance.

The car parking area is a public area, so please ensure that your children are under your control and that, for their safety, they do not run around in the car park.

Visiting with children?

Everyone is welcome at RCF. We encourage everyone, regardless of age, to join the service. We offer Sunday School, which begins after worship and runs concurrently with the sermon for 30 to 40 minutes, serving children aged 4 to 12. On the second Sunday of each month, we have a shorter All-Aged All Nations Service, where the children stay for the worship and the sermon.

After Church

We chat over coffee and biscuits after church on the first, third, fourth and fifth Sundays. If you want to get to know us better, why not join us for Sunday lunch with some of our members? The first meal is on us (Voucher provided). Please contact us and let us know. We would love to share a meal and get to know you better!

Fellowship Feast

Want to connect?

If you're interested in connecting with us, whether to join our online community or attend our Sunday gatherings, please use our connect card.

Any Questions?

If you have any questions, please review our FAQ page. Here, you’ll find answers to many common questions. If you still have questions or concerns, please contact us; we’d love to hear from you.

We look forward to welcoming you to RCF

To contact us or see a map, click here.

Our admin address and Midsweek venue is Virginia Lodge, Heritage Court, Egham
Virginia Lodge Ariel