St Matthew's Church has plenty of groups, for all ages. Read on for details of these groups and what they can offer...
St Matthew's Choir - The Choir continues to meet at staggered times for the various divisions on Thursday evenings to practise the carefully chosen music for the Sunday Services. Consequently the repertoire of music is continually growing and is rehearsed with an emphasis on aspects of choral discipline and presentation. It is hoped that this will encourage further participation in the RSCM Awards Scheme. Guest singers have augmented the Choir for the Confirmation last May, the Induction Service of Fr. Andrew in October and for the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Mothers' Union
The Mothers' Union is a worldwide organisation operating in 77 countries with 3½ million members. We are part of Reigate Deanery and Southwark Diocese. We are involved with the MU at Deanery, Diocese and Worldwide, we have a Deanery Committee, which consists of the eight churches that have MU members.
Some of our members always attend the General Meeting for the whole of the UK and beyond, where our WW President presides. In the last year we have had a varied programme in the branch from Lenten Meditation to the Passover Meal, from which the collection was sent direct to the Relief Fund, where it goes to help those in need. We had a talk on Zimbabwe from Martha and our Prayer and Spirituality rep came to speak to us; a flower-arranging demonstration by Lilian and on Mothering Sunday we put the posies together and also the sweets etc for the Christingles.
We always like to welcome new members; why not come along to a meeting. No obligation
Lunchtime Music - St Matthew's has been offering music at lunchtime to the people of the neighbourhood for thirty years. All concerts being at 1.10pm. If you have other commitments, please come and go as you please.
Breaking Through
- Listen to and dialogue with stimulating guest speakers on contemporary
isuses,
touching on faith, ethics and spirituality within our society.
Christian Meditation - "Be still and know that I am God" Open to everyone, meditation is deeply rooted in Christian tradition.
Evergreens - Evergreens meet on the first Wednesday of the month in the Parish Rooms from 2.00pm to 4.00pm. All are welcome. Membership is open to all. This year we have enjoyed drama and poetry readings, plus some excellent speakers. There is no charge except for a cup of tea, and, if you wish a raffle ticket. Any excess cash from these is used to subsidise our June cream tea outing, and also the sausage and mash lunch in August. Our future programme can be found at the back of the church.
International Group A few years ago, with the support of the Vicar, we formed the International Group and this group has met on the 3rd Saturday of the month 3 and 5pm except in August and December. The International Group is made up of a few dedicated members of St. Matthew's Church and as a group we support anyone who attends, whether Christian on non-Christian. The objective of the group is to provide social support for those who are from abroad. Usually when someone arrives in Redhill they don't know anyone; some find the environment hostile, and our support is usually appreciated. Meetings usually involve sharing news from various countries, games sharing exotic foods and prayer for those who might have requests. The group meets in the Parish Room and a Christmas party is usually held at the end of the year. The meetings are very relaxed and the highlights are the games and the food.
Children and Young People's Groups
View our Child Protection Policy
Toddlers' Praise
Every Wednesday at 11am, a very special service is held in our church for all pre-school children and their parents and carers. In the holidays we are delighted to welcome some older children too. The service is very informal. We move about the church and there are songs and stories and simple prayers for the children to join in with. Then we go into the Vestry where there are toys to play with and some refreshments for everyone. This is a great way to introduce little ones to the life of the church and for parents and their children to meet together.
Toddler Group
The Toddler Group meets on Monday mornings during term-time, between 9.30 and 11.30. We provide the opportunity for mothers and carers to meet in a informal, friendly place, and for their children to get used to playing and sharing with other children. Children are mostly aged under three, as they tend to progress to pre-schools and nurseries from then on. A variety of toys, books, and puzzles are provided. We are a friendly group, with an average attendance of eight to ten adults, some with more than one child. We provide drinks halfway through the morning. We have been pleased to welcome Fr. Andrew to the group at Christmas and during the spring term. The children have enjoyed his songs, and hopefully will join in more as they get used to his visits. All are welcome to join us - carers have included fathers, grandparents, childminders and nannies, as well as mothers, and come from all backgrounds and nationalities.
Pre-School
Pre-school meets in the large hall during term time. We are open for five mornings and three afternoons (Mon, Tues and Fri) each week. At each session we have four members of staff, a parent/carer helper and 24 children. Our aim is to give children aged three to five a safe and stimulating environment in which they can have fun as they learn. We work to the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage and plan our activities around a topic theme.
When our topic was Visitors and Outings, we enjoyed having a Fire Appliance, Police, Hairdresser and Lollipop Lady visiting us. At Christmas the children retold the Nativity story in church with even the youngest taking part. We also had a Christmas party and the children were excited when Father Christmas visited. This term Fr. Andrew has come in to Pre-school and we have enjoyed singing and doing actions to the choruses that he led. For further information about Pre-school please ring the hall 778162 when we are open.
Trackers
Trackers is a children's group (for children in Reception class, Year 1 and Year 2). We meet during term-time during the 10am Sunday Service (except on Family Service Sundays). We meet at 9.50am on Sunday morning and join the service at about 10.40am.
Stepping Stones
Stepping Stones meets uring the Parish Communion. It is for Key Stage 2 children (school years 3 to 6 incl.). The material used is Scripture Union XSTREAM, which is devised for this age group. It provides different biblical passages each week from either the Old or New Testament, which are read and discussed and then related to life today. Examples of the work can be found on the Young Peoples' notice board in church. I think children need to learn the Old Testament as it provides the background to many of the New Testament readings, and it was Jesus's Bible. There are nine children in the group, with an average attendance of five.
Wayfinders
This group, which meets every Sunday (during term time), for the first part of the 10am service, caters for young people at secondary school. When there is a Family Service, usually on the 3rd Sunday in the month, we are all in church. There are three adult leaders and three adult assistants who come on a rota basis. The syllabus we have been using, called "The Grid", is Scripture Union material and links in with the lectionary readings in church. Young people are welcome to join at any time of the year.
Youth Club
The Youth Club meets on the first and third Sunday evening of the month at 7.30pm in the Parish Hall. It is open to all young people from Year 7 upwards. We try to arrange a varied programme for the youngsters. From nurture and discussion sessions about faith and the wider world to benchball, candlemaking, chocolate fondue, rugby and rounders!
3rd Redhill Rainbows
Rainbows is part of Girlguiding UK, for girls aged five to seven and takes place at St. Matthew's Church Hall on a Thursday afternoon. During our meetings we have fun looking at various different topics taking in countries, special dates, colours, health, nature and many other things. We sometimes work towards a special badge. We give each girl the opportunity to contribute to our evening during circle time, watching their confidence grow in having their say! We have also run stalls at the St. Matthew's Christmas Fayre and have done coffee mornings which the girls enjoy very much. We also take part in the district events and always have a trip to the panto!
7th Reigate St. Matthew's Beaver Scouts
Our weekly sessions, which take place every Tuesday afternoon, have been packed with lots of exciting activities. During the last year we covered various subjects stretching from making and launching rockets to learning about the famous composer Mozart. We had a visit from a local police officer talking to the boys about stranger danger. We also encourage the boys to take part in the monthly Family Service.
18-30/SoNIC (Social Network In Church)
The 18-30s group was a warmly-welcomed pastoral and social initiative of Fr. Andrew's, to cater for the "Forgotten Generation" at St. Matthew's, of those parishioners in the undefined category between the children and the parents. The group, still in its fledgling stages, first met in January and soon discovered a diverse but fervent collective enthusiasm for music. The group's maiden excursion was to East Grinstead, to an acoustic gig by Thea Gilmore. Next stop: a pub quiz! Newcomers to St. Matthew's who fall into the '18-30' category are warmly welcome to join and help form the nucleus of this friendly, developing group; hopefully each member will feel able to contribute to the group's potentially varied social calendar, whilst meeting and socialising with other people of similar ages in similar situations within the parish.
Fortissimo
You may have noticed the Junior Choir sneaking out at the end of the Gospel reading and reappearing during the peace - no they're not avoiding the sermon! They meet out in the Vestry for some nurture time, so they can explore their faith further using one of the readings they have heard during the service. This may be Old Testament, Epistle or the Gospel. We use material from the Roots scheme which provides both differentiated activities and opportunities for discussion. In case you're wondering about the name - it's a musical expression meaning 'loud'. As they can be, no more so than when they are praising the Lord in song!
Fully Reliant On God, F.R.O.G. leaps into action on the first Sunday evening of most months of the year. It is an alternative, lively worship aimed at all ages but planned and led by members of St. Matthew's youth (aged between 11 and 18). It offers an opportunity for people to worship through song, prayer and meditation. Each service has a different theme, which sometimes coincides with the Church's year (we usually do a Palm Sunday and a Christmas/Christingle themed service), but at other times the themes address an issue close to our youth or one that is particularly prominent at the time we start planning (we recently did a service with a Fair-trade theme).
As a way of extending the diversity of our worship, we visited the Hosanna church in Worthing, to get a feel of how they do things and are hoping to participate in a workshop led by two friends of Fr. Andrew's, in order to get some fresh ideas.
We meet for planning about two or three weeks before the service, then meet again about an hour and a half before the service to run through and fine-tune everything. Although most of the participants are involved in the Sunday morning Eucharist as choristers and acolytes, F.R.O.G. is a great and valuable opportunity for our youth to get involved in an informal worship where they can take a step away from the traditional, formal Eucharist and do things the way they want to.