Newsletters from other Organisations Most of these files are pdf files and download to your Downloads folder unless your computer is set to display them immediately
Are you looking to invest in your marriage and strengthen your relationship? The Marriage Course is a seven-session journey designed to help couples build a strong foundation, improve communication, and deepen their connection — whether you’ve been married for years or are just starting out.
Hosted at True Vine Church,this course provides practical tools, expert insights, and private conversations to help couples navigate challenges and grow together. There is no group sharing — just quality time for you and your spouse to grow together in a warm, relaxed atmosphere.
Each session includes:
✔ Drinks and nibbles
✔ Video session with expert advice and real-life relationship stories
✔ Private guided conversations between you and your spouse
✔ A supportive, welcoming environment
You’ll need to commit to all seven sessions:
9 March – Session 1: Strengthening Connection
16 March – Session 2: The Art of Communication
23 March – Session 3: Resolving Conflict
30 March – Session 4: The Power of Forgiveness
27 April – Session 5: The Impact of Family
4 May – Session 6: Good Sex
11 May – Session 7: Love in Action
⏰ Sunday evenings starting at 7.00pm
📍 True Vine Church in Newport
🔗 Register here
Come and invest in your marriage—we’d love to see you there!
Venue: Verbum Dei Retreat Centre, Nunnery Lane, Carisbrooke, Newport PO30 1YR Details: A quiet space to explore chapters 13 - 17 of St.John's gospel. Please if possible bring a bible and a notebook
A light lunch is provided.
The cost for the day is a suggested donation on £20.
This concert is in memory of Robin Lang who was a longstanding member of the Tritone singers until his untimely death in 2024.
The chamber choir will sing some of Robin’s favourite pieces of music, including Brahms’ Geistliches Lied (Sacred Song) and some of the Gerald Finzi settings of Robert Bridges poems. Also Richard Wilkins has set to music a poem previously written by Judith Lang, Robin’s mother, which was read at his funeral, entitled “Call of Summer” and which aptly sums up Robin’s love of the great outdoors, it’s seasons and the reasons he worked for the National Trust.
A small string ensemble will accompany some of the pieces in appreciation of Robin’s love of the cello and his years playing with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra
Tritone will be supporting, and also donations will be accepted, to Robin’s favoured charities, Unicef and Water Aid UK.
Tickets are £10 (children free) available online or on the door.
Please note this concert starts at 7pm.
FGB Dinner
on Monday 24th March 2025
at 6.30pm for a 7pm start.
At The New Holmwood Hotel, 65 Queen's Road, Cowes.
The guest speaker will be Christopher Cass. The cost of the evening is £28 per person, To be paid by either by cash or cheque on the night. To book, email Jan on janiceosborn82@gmail.com or text 07944 029132 with your choice of menu ( by Thursday 13th March at the latest.ALL WELCOME.
CONSIDER BRINGING ALONG A NON-CHRISTIAN FRIENDSource: David Osborn osborndavid62@gmail.com
If you are already involved in maritime ministry in some way, or you are dreaming about how to combine your love of boats with the Kingdom, this is for you!
The Kings Fleet conference is held annually and exists to Connect, Encourage and Support maritime missions around the world.
Historically it has been held in Sweden, Greece, Germany and the USA, but in 2025 it will be right here on the Isle of Wight!
Join us from the 10th - 14th April for great teaching, sailing and worship!
Imagine what it would look like if Christians lived knowing every day matters because they knew God cared about their everyday matters! Just think about the difference that would make in the places where you show up. It would change the Isle of Wight. It would change the UK. It would change the world.
We're excited to be partnering with LICC (The London Institute of Contemporary Christianity) once again. Their dream is that every Christian would go out into their bit of God’s world confident that God can work through them, confident that Jesus is good news for the people they met, good news for the things they do, good news for the organisation they engage in. This is our dream, too.
Join us for an evening of presentations, films, interviews, and more to think through how this whole-life perspective can transform the way we see our daily lives and work – and how we might partner together to make a difference at this pivotal moment in our culture.
Also on Saturday 10 May at 9am Leaders’ Breakfast at Carisbrooke Priory
An opportunity for a follow up conversation
Booking will be necessary via Sheila Bates sheilambates@googlemail.com
Big Church Festival 2025 -West Sussex Opportunity for discounted TicketsI am a member of St James's Church Ryde and we are gathering a group of people to go to the Big Church Festival (West Sussex) on the August Bank Holiday this year. We had a group go last year and it was such a blessing with 30,000 people all worshiping together! This year, we wondered if other Christians across the island wanted to have a weekend worshipping God and spending time with His people. It is such a fantastic festival and caters for the whole spectrum of ages and tastes and this year they are running kids groups too.
The group tickets are effective as it enables you to access a good discount, which you otherwise can't get, but you don't have to arrive, leave or stick together! It is just a form of booking and the more people go as part of the group, the cheaper the tickets are.
We really wanted to open this up to others and would love for your congregation to be part of it. If you are willing, I would appreciate you sharing the below link. If you don't feel that you can for whatever reason, no problem.
Big Church Group - Isle of Wight Link
Yours in Christ
Alex Hay alexphay@gmail.com
ONLINE CHURCH on YOUTUBE.com /The FAITHCAFE iow On 1st & 3rd Sundays:
Short contemporary worship, prayers & reflections areuploaded for those unable to get to Church. SUBTITLES in English & a variety of foreign languages are included to help make worship accessible to hospital / care workers & those for whom English is not their first language.
Renew Wellbeing Café – A place where it’s OK not to be OK.
Every Monday, 10-2, including soup lunch. Cowes Baptist Church, Victoria Road, Cowes.
All welcome.
On Thursday lunchtimes AFTER 12, local Baptist minister Stella Hardiman offers a listening ear at the ASDA Coffee Shop in Newport. Ask at the coffee shop if you're not sure.
March 5th Ash Wednesday – Whitwell evening service @ 6:30pm
March 11th Lent book club – Whitwell church – 2pm
March 18th Lent book club – Whitwell church – 2pm
March 25th Lent book club – Whitwell church – 2pm
March 30th Mothering Sunday Joint service @ Niton 10am
April 1st Lent book club – Whitwell church – 2pm
April 8th Lent Book Club – Whitwell church – 2pm
April 13th Palm Sunday Chale meet in Wight Mouse car park for procession 9:45am
April 17th Maundy Thursday – evening service St. Lawrence
April 18th Good Friday – walk from Niton church to Whitwell 1:30pm
April 19th Easter Vigil – Chale @ 6pm
April 20th Sunrise – St. Lawrence peace garden @ 7am
Joint Communion – Niton @ 10am
May 8th VE 80th memorial Chale 6pm
It seems extraordinarily discriminatory, not to mention potentially underhanded, that we have to find the devolution consultation and then wade through its detail, rather than every home being consulted directly through mailing. If it is as important as it seems, everyone should know about it and receive a summary on which to base their responses. Yes, that's a lot of paper, but not everyone is tech savvy.
The above notwithstanding, churches on the Island have the networks through which to raise awareness and encourage responses. Indeed, there appears to be openness to gathered responses, as might be the case for individual congregations or Island-wide groups.
You may already be awareness-raising, but, for the sake of our Island community, we should do all we can to get people involved, I feel.
Some people met in churches and joined in collectively, others joined individually. So we had participation from all over the Island - north, south, east, west and central.
Rajinder and I stayed all through and, by virtue of the nature of the event, people were joining and leaving at different times, we were able to see that there was a strong nucleus of people in the meeting praying, throughout the whole 24 hours, even during the difficult early morning slots. We felt the atmosphere of excitement during the last hour as we drew to a conclusion was such a blessing. So well done everyone, you were amazing!
At the end of the 24 hours we asked you to expect unusual things and moves of God.
By the end of the next day, Sunday, we were already receiving testimonies from churches, relating numbers of people attending morning services quite unexpectedly - in one case two people who came to church as they had seen a vision or dream that guided them to come to worship.
If you also, have any feedback or testimonies, we would love to hear from you.
Finally, just to mention two things for the future:
Many told us that they found or outdoor prayer event last Pentecost Sunday, (where we surrounded the Island and the high places, in over 40 different groups, simultaneously making Biblical declarations over the Island during the hour between 4.00pm - 5.00pm), so needful and such a blessing and asking if we could repeat it again. So, to give you advanced notice, the Wight Church Network have asked us to organise it again for this year's day of Pentecost, which will be Sunday 8th June 2025. We will be in touch with you at a later date about this.
Just to give you a heads up, last year, Rajinder and I put a proposal to the Wight Church Network, to start a digital magazine that focusses purely on testimonies from around the Island in all the different churches, fellowships, parachurch organisations, youth works, and all other Christian works and outreach from any part of the Island. They asked us to run with that and we have just been waiting for the right time. We feel that is now. So in the near future we will be writing a separate email to explain.
I sent a link to this video to a teacher in Year 6 who immediately shared it with the Year 5 teacher. Apparently it will help with a part of the curriculum that is not easy to teach.
Feel free to pass it on to teachers / youth workers. There are no copyright issues because I wrote the poem. The adults who appear all have DBS checks and the parents of the children gave written permission for it to be used publicly.
Church Based Jobs at Ryde There are exciting opportunities at Ryde.church based at All Saints. We are recruiting for two 20-hour posts for a Children and Families Leader and a Youth Leader.
Salary scale is: £22,300 - 23,300 which would be pro rata for 20 hours.
These roles could be combined into one for the right person.
Please could church leaders and members share this information.
Did you know there is a CAP - Christians Against Poverty UK ( DEBT HELP CENTRE) on the IOW.
If you need some professional debt help just call the number on the poster and an appointment will be made for someone to visit you in your home and support you with the help you need to get out of debt. This is a free service.
Looking for free Bible study material for your group?
I have a number of copies available of Chris’s book ‘I don’t believe it ’ for small group Bible studies. Chris, who was priest in charge at St Paul’s Barton and later chaplain at Carisbrooke Priory took his title from Victor Meldrew!
In each chapter, he focuses on a different passage from the Bible that he had always struggled with and, as he was so skilled at doing, encourages us to look at it from a different perspective. The style is very relaxed but thought provoking.
It is particularly designed for group Bible study as there are questions at the end of each chapter. My own Bible study group were used as Guinea Pigs at the time of writing and found them very helpful. I am happy to give away a set of books as I would like them to be used. They could either be collected from Carisbrooke or, given a bit of time, I would be happy to deliver them. If you would like a sample copy first, then let me know by email annhawkeriw@gmail.com
I also have some copies of his book The Holy Caterpillar which is more autobiographical. A friend recently said that it was the best Christian book that she had ever read!!
In the grounds of La Charpenterie, parts of which date back to the 15th Century. Great for all year round breaks; each with Wood Burning Stoves. Pet friendly
Nail cutting, removal of hard skin/corns, Diabetic care, cracked heels, general foot care advice.
Home appointments £32
PLEASE CALL LEANNE - 07552628465
110124
Accredited Counselling Training
on the Isle of Wight
Known as WCTI ( Wight Counselling Training Institute) We are an established counselling training provider in Shalfleet, Near Newport that provides 3 accredited Counselling Qualifications:
An introduction to counselling over 10 weeks
A professional certificate in Counselling over 12 months
A professional diploma in Counselling leading to registration as a counsellor ( 2 years)
We also provide organisations on the island with funded counselling support.
If you would like more information or wish to apply, please do get in touch
Charlotte Collins Co-director Wight Counselling Training Institute Web Site01983 722625
010124
The Greenhouse is a Place of Prayer and Worship. A place of Enounter with God. A Place Where You Can Grow
The Greenhouse Christian Centre is situated between Poole and Bournemouth and just a 20 minute walk to the beach. The Centre holds Led and Silent Retreats, Quiet Days, Healing Services, Art Weeks, Discipleship Training Days and so much more.
Are you lonely and not particularly enjoying facing life on your own? Do you wish God would answer your prayers for a soul mate? Then you should contact Friends1st the off-line Christian friendship and introductory agency who've been introducing Christians to each other since 1999. Click here to find out more.
The guest speaker will be Christopher Cass. The cost of the evening is £28 per person, To be paid by either by cash or cheque on the night. To book, email Jan on janiceosborn82@gmail.com or text 07944 029132 with your 
Source: 
