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. Details of services in June, July and August 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:18.05.09

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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

June

7th	10:30 am	Morning Worship – Mr. John Wing
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Miss Christine Stones
14th	10:30 am	Morning Worship for Church Anniversary - Revd Dr Ward Jones
	4:00pm	District Service at St Albans to welcome Korean visitors
21st	9:30am	Family Communion - Revd Debbie Godefroy
	10:30 am	Reflective Communion - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
	6.30pm	Evening Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
28th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Mrs Clare Campion Smith
	6.30pm	At Westbury on Trym – Revd Peter Grimwood

July

5th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Revd Debbie Godefroy (MethSoc Re-union follows)
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Mr. Ken Napier
12th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Mr. John Treble
	6:00pm	At Brentry - Revd Debbie Godefroy
19th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Mr. John Barnett
	6:30pm	Evening Worship and Holy Communion - Revd Debbie Godefroy
26th	10:30 am	Morning Worship and Holy Communion - Revd. Debbie Godefroy
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Revd. Debbie Godefroy

August

2nd	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Dr. Vicky Davies
	6:30pm	Evening Worship - Mrs. Pam Roberts
9th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Mr. David Speirs
	6.30pm	At Westbury on Trym - Revd Peter Grimwood
16th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - TBA
	6.30pm	At Easter Compton - Revd Peter Grimwood
23rd	10:30 am	Morning Worship and Holy Communion - Revd Debbie Godefroy
	6.30pm	Evening Worship - Revd Debbie Godefroy
30th	10:30 am	Morning Worship - Mrs. Pam Roberts
	6.30pm	Evening Worship and Holy Communion - 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 - Helen Rollinson

Secretary - Ryan Thomas
Treasurer - Stephen Hatch

Victoria Methodist Church

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VIC Magazine

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

Future Ministry at Victoria

During June we will be warmly welcoming Debbie back, following her sabbatical; we look forward to her leadership in what, from September, will be her final year at Victoria.

Whilst putting our commitment and energy into the present we also have to give some consideration to the future by contributing to the Circuit's profile of the appointment which incorporates Victoria. It has to be recognised that the Circuit may make changes to the way appointments due to be filled in 2010 are configured (e.g. we may not be grouped with Sea Mills and the Chaplaincy in future).

The stewards are most grateful for the large number of people (60) who completed questionnaires to indicate their priorities for ministry at Victoria. The results confirmed the numerous and diverse expectations of that ministry. Most churches look for the perfect minister and we all need to recognise that ministers have varied strengths and all share our human frailties.

Amongst the variety of responses (the forms will all be kept and may be used in future discussions with prospective ministers) some clear points of consensus emerged and the stewards have produced a summary of what we believe to be that consensus. We are very limited by space in the profile so what we have produced below may need to be edited.

'Victoria is a theologically diverse, city centre church providing Methodist Chaplaincy to Bristol University. The welcoming congregation, aged 0 to 90+, is gathered from a wide geographical area with a good number of young single people, families and overseas students. For some time the church has been struggling to develop a vision for its people and its listed Victorian building which is in need of modernisation.

The people of Vic feel that they need a minister who is able to help the church to develop and live out its vision, and to lead varied and inclusive worship with theological depth. They ask for a strong, facilitative leader, committed to teamwork with the congregation and with other denominations and with particular skills in engaging children, young people and students.'

We would welcome comments on the summary.

The Victoria Stewards

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