Events & News
Click on any of the small pictures to see a larger version.
Holiday at Home 2011 – a visit to the DBC seaside
Holiday at Home came to DBC for fish & chips and seaside entertainment – all together now: "O I do like to be beside the seaside …" The guests were arranged in "resorts", and the Skegness table did particularly well at the quizzes. Everyone was in fine voice when joining in with the singing, accompanied by Mike on the accordion, and the Bowes' musical interlude was much appreciated!
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Three heads are better than one |
Pre-lunch mental exercise | The guests find their resorts | Seaside entertainment |
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| Making friends | The goody-bag lady | Time to go home | Making the paper |
Holiday Club 2011 – Mission: Rescue
We all went undercover this summer, learning more about Moses, doing crafts, breaking codes, participating in challenges, singing, making disguises, and watching the adventures of Agents 1, 2 and A. You can see lots more pictures on the Holiday Club page!
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| The Undercover Agents reveal themselves | Communication training: sending messages by plane | Shrunken Agents enjoying their crafts | Spy Masters & Agents in disguise |
Ladies' Walk – Alpaca Open Day
On Saturday 6th August Toft Alpacas held their 5th Anniversary Open Day with alpaca craft activities and farm tours. The Ladies' Walk usually passes the alpaca farm anyway (and its members have become quite friendly with some of the furry herd), so the group decided to drop in there for a visit. The Coventry Weavers, Spinners & Dyers were showing off their skills using alpaca fleeces, and there was an opportunity to try felting which several of our walkers had a go at. We were also introduced to yarn bombing – a sort of removable graffiti in crochet or knitting which unfortunately we forgot to photograph!
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| Spinning the alpaca wool | Carding is an art… | …and so is felting | How alpacas are made |
DBC outing – Twycross Zoo
On Saturday 2nd July a coach full of DBC-ers and Noah's Ark-ers set off for Twycross Zoo. We saw the monkeys and apes, watched the sea lions and penguins being fed, saw the elephants do their training, and had a lovely picnic lunch under the trees. It was a wonderful day out for all ages – our diverse group ranged from those who haven't had a single birthday yet to those who are approaching their 90th!
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| Lunch for the sea lions … | and for the penguins | Spot the otters! | A refreshing picnic |
DBC anniversary picnic
On Sunday 26th June, DBC's anniversary was celebrated with a church picnic at Draycote Water. Pictures to come!
Baptism of Dewi Parsons
During the evening service of Sunday 22nd May we celebrated the baptism of Dewi Parsons. The youth band played, and Dewi witnessed to his faith, speaking of baptism as a commitment you choose when you love God.
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| Dewi's testimony | Getting ready | Answering questions | Going under | Prayer |
Baptism of Russ & Emma, and Church Lunch
On Sunday 3rd April 2011 there was a busy morning service – Mothering Sunday, the baptism of Russ & Emma Pollard, and a Church Lunch. Russ & Emma shared their testimonies with us, telling us of their personal journeys of faith, and the importance of the church family.
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| Russell's testimony | Emma & assistant | Testing the water | Going under |
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| Getting ready | Being baptised | Prayer | |
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| The feast is spread | Sharing a meal | What's for pudding? | An after-pudding chat |
Youth Band service
On Sunday 13th March 2011 the DBC Youth Band led worship during the evening service.
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The 2nd Annual Ladies' Breakfast
Saturday 12th March 2011 saw the second Ladies' Breakfast, cooked by the gentlemen – well, five of them. And once again they surpassed the ladies' expectations: flowers on every table, a printed menu, attentive service and wonderful food. Whether or not the ladies can live up to these standards at the next Men's Breakfast remains to be seen!
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| The tables are laid | Breakfast is served | The team – didn't they do well! |
Dave Woods' birthday
On Sunday 6th March there was a Church Tea to introduce our 40 Days of Purpose programme for Lent. But unbeknownst to DBC's minister Dave Woods it was also a Birthday Tea for him! Sally's special cake was much admired by all.
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| The birthday boy | The cake |
Baptism of Kim Holdsworth
On Sunday 9th January Kim Holdsworth was baptised. She told us about her reasons for being baptised ("helped" by daughter Jessie), and then sang her testimony to us.
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| Kim sings her testimony | Getting ready for baptism | Dave Woods baptises Kim | New life has begun! |
Children's Nativity
On Sunday 12th December the children presented their Nativity, and as always they did a splendid job – the narrator told us everything that was happening in a very clear voice, the characters spoke their lines beautifully, and we were given a regal rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was a wonderful re-telling of the familiar story, and got everyone in the Christmas spirit!
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| Lighting the Advent Candle | Narrator and Angel play their part | No room at the inn | Twinkle twinkle |
Baptism of Kate Gooch
On Sunday 5th December Kate Gooch was baptised. She shared the story of her spiritual journey, of people and verses that had inspired her, and she used a cheese fondue to illustrate how faith envelops and surrounds us!
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| Kate witnesses to her faith | Preparing for the baptism | Dave Woods baptises Kate |
Christmas Craft Event 2010
The annual Christmas Craft Event was held once again at Dunchurch Junior School on 27th November. A record number of children attended, and made 3D snowmen, decorated biscuits, painted glass jars, made sparkly tea light holders, personalised gift bags, stitched christmas tree fridge magnets, used felt shapes to create cards and mini stockings, visited the World of Difference stall – there was almost too much to do, and the parents were often having as much fun as the children!
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| Setting up | Decorating stockings… | …and biscuits… | …and jars |
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| Busy bees | Daddy learns to stitch | Look what I made! | The World of Difference stall |
Holiday Club 2010 – Rocky's Plaice
Rocky's was the Plaice To Be this summer, with singing, craft, dressing up, Bible stories, and the antics of Pepper, Salt and Mr Tagliatelle. You can see lots more pictures on the Holiday Club page!
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| Craft time |
A mermaid runs the chip shop |
Pepper & Salt in action |
Shoebox Appeal
Our church and toddlers groups are once again collecting filled shoeboxes for "Operation Christmas Child" on behalf of Samaritan's Purse. These shoeboxes will be sent out to various destinations in eastern Europe before Christmas and given to children less fortunate than ourselves with our love in Jesus' Name; below are some pictures from previous years.
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| Bringing the boxes | Ready to be sent |
Meals at DBC
Having a meal together is a great way to catch up on things and get to know each other better – but if a meal like that is not for just a few friends but for anyone who'd like to come, how do you make sure there isn't one poor soul who spends the entire day in the kitchen?
Well, you could have a Bring & Share Church Lunch, which follows some of our Sunday morning services. Many thanks to all who bring food along, to all who help set everything up and clear it away again afterwards, and to all who come to enjoy these communal meals.
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| The food is set out | Filling the plates | Seconds, anyone? | Sharing a meal |
Other meals are the Men's Breakfasts (cooked by the women) and in response to that a Women's Brunch (cooked by the men). And sometimes (English summer weather permitting) we take everything to Draycote Water and have a picnic!
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| The blankets are spread | Ball games | Anything left in the cool bag? |
The DBC Egg Challenge
Several recent Easter services have been enlivened by a very special take on the Easter egg – can you make your egg into a Bible character, using as much information as possible from the Bible, and make it possible but difficult for all the other DBC-ers to guess which character it is? This challenge, posed by Chris, has resulted in (among many others) an egg covered in salt (exactly, Lot's wife), an egg standing in front of a divided expanse of red jelly (you guessed it: Moses), an egg sitting in a tree (that's right, Zaccheus), an egg covered in slices of red sugary jelly sweets (Job covered in boils – does that make him a "boiled" egg…?) and the two eggs you see below. Can you guess which characters they are without peaking at the caption?
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The poor widow who put two very small copper coins into the temple treasury. (Mark 12:41-43 and Luke 21:1-3) |
The boy who offered his five small barley loaves and two small fish to Jesus to feed the 5000 with. (John 6:9) |