Church News

Between the start of the year and May, we will all be receiving information from social media or the news or pamphlets delivered through our letterboxes, from political parties informing and promising us what they will do if we vote for them. They will set all this out in  their manifestos.

Towards the the start of His public life, Jesus sits down on a mountain and lays out a manifesto for His followers, on how they are to live out the revolutionary lives that have been transformed by His love.

From (wet?!) January through to the (hot dry?!) summer, we will be spending time in the gospel of Matthew listening to these challenging words of Jesus. Jordan will be preaching regularly, as well as others from the church and sometimes folk from other churches.

Come along, listen, ask questions and possibly be prepared to change your points of view about how to live a good life.

If you come to us on the first Sunday of the month, we will meet you in the church hall at the rear of the church for our CAFE CHURCH. This tends to be even more informal than our regular Sunday services and starts and ends with tea/coffee and refreshments.

If you visit us on the last Sunday of the month, at some point in the service we will hold Communion, which is open to any who love to follow Jesus.

Doors are open from 10am. The service starts at 10.30 (sometimes!) and usually finishes around 11.45am.

Why not come along. We would love to see you.

If you wish to make a booking for our Monday morning Toddlers session, please send a text to 07563626545 and wait for a confirmation of the booking BEFORE attending please.

With a change of church leadership, what better time than to explore some of the challenges for our church during a period of change: a time for reflection and looking forward. Come and join us as we seek to follow Jesus as He REBUILDS-RENEWS-RESTORES us.

AUTUMN SERIES

Rebuild, Renew, Restore – Haggai, Ezra, Nehemiah Sermon Series

Haggai, Ezra, and Nehemiah, highlight a unified story of God’s post-exilic restoration work—rebuilding structures, renewing worship and covenant faithfulness, and restoring community identity. These themes are implicitly woven throughout as God revives and reforms His people through worship, obedience, repentance, community and His Word. Perhaps Haggai 1:9 summarises all three books well… “in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of Hosts”. Peace, meaning wholeness, completeness and maturity, spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.

Ultimately, the collective message of these books’ points beyond physical renewal to the deeper need for a Messiah—Jesus—who redefines the temple, who brings God’s presence to earth as Immanuel (God with us) and the Word which was with God from the beginning, offering true spiritual rest through restoring true relationship between God and humanity through His incarnation.

Part 1–4: Haggai – Rebuild   Rebuilding priorities around God’s presence and Peace

Sept 7 CAFÉ CHURCH – Consider Your Ways (Haggai 1:1–11)

Sept 14 – God Is With You (Haggai 1:12–15)

Sept 21 – The Glory Ahead (Haggai 2:1–9)

Sept 28 – From Defilement to Blessing (Haggai 2:10–23)

Part 5–8: Ezra – Renew   Spiritual renewal through scripture, worship, and repentance.

Oct 5 Jordan’s Induction – God Stirred Their Hearts (Ezra 1–2)

Oct 12 CAFÉ CHURCH – Laying the Foundation Again (Ezra 3-6)

Oct 19 – A Heart Set on God’s Word (Ezra 7–8)

Oct 26 – God’s Word of grace demands a response (Ezra 9–10)

 Part 9–13: Nehemiah – Restore  Restoration through leadership, social justice, communal unity and God’s Word

Nov 2 CAFÉ CHURCH – A Leader with a Burden (Nehemiah 1–2)

Nov 9 – Building Together, Standing Strong (Nehemiah 3–4)

Nov 16 – Confronting Injustice (Nehemiah 5–7)

Nov 23 – Returning to the Word (Nehemiah 8–12)

Nov 30 – Final Restoration or further failure (Nehemiah 13)

THIS WAS A GREAT SERIES!! IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU MISSED, GET IN CONTACT WITH US.

We have recently amended our previous Statement of Faith, to include a Beliefs and Ethos statement (which you can find on this website).

That document highlights the type of church we wish to be, and emphasises the core Christian beliefs that binds us together (as opposed to the multitude of things that we differ on!).

We have therefore based our Summer preaching series on the Nicene Creed – a set of core beliefs that were written 1700 years ago to counteract strange ideas that were circulating about the identity of Jesus. So what better to do in the Summer months (or however long a British summer lasts) than to consider the person, work, centrality and magnificence of Jesus to our faith?

At our April Cafe Church, the Writing Group led us in a guided contemplation of aspects of our understanding of God and our experiences of living a life of following Jesus. Contributions from the groups were collected at the end, and Liz collated them into the following:

Sketty Community Church Psalm

Ein Tad, unserer Vater, our heavenly Father,

unchanging, beloved friend, help us.

Forgive us, cleanse us of our sins.

Draw us deeper into you with faith to love you more.

Let us know joy and strength, harmony and forgiveness,

patience and inner peace.

Lord of all being, giver of strength,

build your church here in Sketty

with Jesus at its centre.

As we reflect you, may we be a beacon of light to every generation.

Make this church a place of welcome,

hope, love, happiness, encouragement.

As the church grows let there be unity

and diversity.

Father of all mankind,

help us break down barriers,

sharing the love of Jesus that cost you so dear.

May we learn to respect each other

and may the community see us as approachable.

Don’t let them be embarrassed .

We know you are real.

We know you are faithful.

We know you are love.

As for us, what can we do?

We will trust.

We will pray.

We will share.

We will be thankful.

We will listen and hear,

from you and from others.

We will look and see for ourselves.

We will live lives worthy of you.

We will use our God-given skills.

We will build a community centred on Christ.

We will be open to you, Holy Spirit.

Give us strength, give us love,

help us to be open and responsive.

Holy Spirit, find us humble, find us obedient, find us willing.

So in hope and faith

We praise your name.

Your unfailing love remains the same.

Hi, you’ve landed on the page for Sketty Community Church Writing Group. Whether it was
deliberate or accidental, you’re very welcome here!
SCC Writing Group was founded in November 2025. We meet monthly and, as well as writing
exercises, we write to a given theme each time. Our writings are sometimes used as part of the
Sunday service, and, indeed, café church has been given over to us completely on occasion.
Our group is made up of some who’ve always written as a hobby and others who’ve never written
creatively before. Sandra was one of the latter. This is what she says:
When I heard the announcement in church about starting a writing group my first thought was
definitely not for me! I wasn’t particularly good at English and hated it during my school days but
something stirred in me so I decided to go along to give it a go.
From the first time we met I enjoyed it and now I love meeting every month with a group of people
who are all different personalities. We all gel together as we share and write about our life
experiences. We have a good old laugh and it has been known for us to shed a tear at such beautiful
writings.
And Liz’s chocolate brownies are the best you can get!
(If I can give it a go, anyone can )