Dates for your diary

Visit the events page to see what's happening across the whole Northstowe Church Network. 

Here are some highlights for those who find their main home in Pathfinder Church:
Find us 3.30-5pm on Sunday Afternoons during term time in at The Pathfinder CofE Primary School for our regular Sunday Gatherings, or these special events. (Purple shows when we will be offsite)
last updated  21st October 2024

What to expect at our Term Time Sunday Gatherings - Winter 2024 update!

We're not following a blue print for "how to plant a church". We're pioneering... praying, exploring, and sharing together as we respond to what God's doing in this place. So our worship style is emerging in response to the gifts each person brings, with deep roots into the various Christian traditions.  So come as you are, walk with us for a while... experience church - but perhaps not as you know it!

Regular Sunday Gatherings

(3.30-5pm, Pathfinder School Hall during Term)

Our aim is to make space for unforced, authentic ENCOUNTER - encounters with each other, and encounters with God. - as we seek to walk together with each other and The Pathfinder, Jesus Christ.

We are deliberately INTERGENERATIONAL- we find that our worship and discovery is enriched through adults, children, and those at all ages and stages of life praying, exploring, and sharing together. read more below...

We're also MULTISENSORY - if modelling with playdoh, journaling, or colouring helps you focus or worship, do make use of the Table Box of resources 

THIS HALF TERM, we're making a few changes to the flow of our afternoon gatherings as we continue to evolve.

NEW Timings:
  • 3.20pm The kettle is on! 
  • 3.30pm Choose a table/activity to start exploring the theme of the day, perhaps through encounters with friends and soon-to-be-friends, or taking some time to focus on God. The rest of our praying, exploring, and sharing flows (See below), until...
  • 5pm Finish! Everyone helps pack up the tabletop boxes, tables, and chairs, while the Tidy Up Team wash up and make sure everything is reset ready for school in the morning. 

As we arrive at 3.30pm, we help ourselves to refreshments (available throughout), and choose a table or activity to start exploring the theme of the day, perhaps through encounters with friends and soon-to-be-friends, or taking some time to focus on God.  There will normally be a colouring station - feel free to chat with others, or just spend time with your thoughts... and God!

After 10-20 minutes, we'll draw together from across the gathering activities, joining together to worship God - (or, if all this is new,  reflecting on what worship might mean to us)
 

From these roots, we start to look for the crossovers between our experience today and the accounts found in the bible - the lived experiences of God's people down the ages. 

Our Exploration may include dramatic readings  from the Bible (we love to use THE VOICE bible translation alongside the NRSV,and our Church Journaling Bibles (Good News Translation)  reminding us that whenever we read the Bible we read it in translation.) There may also be contemporary input (perhaps through music, poetry, or video). These usually lead to free-flow exploration of various interactive stations. Families often visit these stations together, or children and adults from different households might find themselves working together. Some people may choose to sit in quiet reflections. Others may read some of the books, commentaries, and articles that we share. We make a point of sharing resources from a wide range of Christian traditions - we won't all agree with all that we read!

This half term, we're bringing back the "Chat Zone"  - with discussion prompts to get the conversation started. (And discussions might well continue in the Tap and Social later!)

Afterwards, we gather back to share what we've been noticing. No one is required to speak, but we love hearing from those who want to share. These reflections then inspire our subsequent prayers and worship. On Holy Communion weeks, we will weave our Explorations into our Offering as we prepare to share in bread and wine: and encounter God around the Table.
 

Our time together is special... but it's just the start of a whole week walking with The Pathfinder in our day to day lives. So we conclude by asking what challenge or encouragement we might take with us. How will our faith help us? How will God sustain us? What might God have prepared for us to do, in God's power, in the places we spent time?

Exactly where this element happens might vary depending on the theme, but there will always be space to share important news from the church family, as well as opportunities to join in with the wider Northstowe Church Network or Northstowe Community
Would you like to get involved in the hospitality, setup, or packdown team? Have a word with Beth, Emma C, or Will...

What is Intergenerational Worship?

Drawn from a helpful summary by The Methodist Church :
Intergenerational worship IS about:
  • building relationshipsโ€”offering a key time for people to get to know each other better and build a sense of connection;
  • a time of worship and learning that is offered in a simplified and participatory wayโ€”simple does not mean shallow; rather it enables everyone to contribute and receive in a meaningful and appropriate way;
  • โ€ขproviding an inclusive experience and a sense of belonging โ€”helping everyone of all abilities to feel part of the body of Christ, whatever their experience;
  • being a bridgeโ€”not only between ages but also for those who are exploring what being part of a church means. This relaxed service style can provide a comfortable place for some to discover more about Christianity;
  • encouragement, nurture and inclusivenessโ€”it is a means by which faith can grow and, in turn, inform life-making or life-changing decisions;
  • exploring vocationโ€”an opportunity to discover and develop gifts and calling.
Intergenerational worship is NOT about:
  •  limiting the richness of resources used;
  •  oversimplifying the message or adding a childrenโ€™s talk into the โ€˜usualโ€™ service;
  • unstructured and chaotic worship;
  • children having token responsibilities for roles and participation;
  • limiting potential to explore faith and discipleship together;
  • nuclear families exclusively worshipping together.

How we share Holy Communion within Sunday Gatherings

We come from many different Christians traditions - and many of us our completely new to faith! So sharing in communion is both beautiful... and a little messy as we seek to honour each other well!  We ask that all those taking part do so in line with their own position and heritage., and to be gracious to those whose traditions might be rather different! For those new to all this, we encourage you to talk this over with us, and we love to offer blessings to everyone!

Afternoon Tea

half termly, in place of a regular Gathering, bringing the whole Northstowe Church Network today - see Dates
3.30-5pm in the School Hall

 

WHEN: 3.30-5pm, Sunday 10th November

WHERE : Pathfinder Primary School, Pathfinder Way, Northstowe CB24 1AA

Tickets: Free

Ages: everyone! Children must be accompanied.

We're delighted to be collaborating with Northstowe Arts again to bring this free workshop to everyone in the Northstowe community as part of our regular series of Afternoon Teas!

Every half term, Pathfinder Church Northstowe host at afternoon tea that not only brings together those from across the Northstowe Church Network (those involved in Little ExplorersCompline, etc) but also our friends, neighbours, and those involved in other community groups. It is a joy to see those of  all religious and non religious backgrounds simply spending time together. Often, we'll serve a seasonal treat - pancakes, hot cross buns - or scones and cakes.

For many, this is simply a time to "hang out" and be. The tables have board games and colouring. The baby and toddler area is set up. And news is shared on the rolling screen.

Around the room, there will also be various activity and reflection stations. Some of these might be Prayer Stations or Exploration Stations from the recent Sunday Gathering series, or linked to an upcoming festival. Others will simply be for fun.

We always set up a "side chapel" as a quiet place where anyone can pause and reflect while other activities continue.

One of the main features of the Afternoon Teas, however, are the workshops.  We're looking forward to another Afternoon Tea with Northstowe Arts running a Lantern Making workshop, ready to Light Up Northstowe this winter

Festivals

Festivals - with the whole Northstowe Church Network

We love to draw on the richness of tradition as well as the emerging patterns of our new town as we celebrate the big Christian festivals together.

Our special Advent and Christmas events included Beer and Carols, Campfire compline on Longest Night, a Scratch Nativity, Midnight Campfire Communion, and a Christmas morning Breakfast.

Back in the Spring, Holy Week and Easter together. Every evening, we paused to pray Compline (some of us in person, others joining in from home), and to read the story day-by-day. On Maundy Thursday, we shared a special communion meal, eating Jacket Potatoes as we discussed the biblical stories and traditions. On Good Friday, we hosted a hot cross bun afternoon tea, and journeyed, as if with Joseph of Arimathea, to bury the cross at the heart of the Glade. Easter Sunday dawned as we proclaimed "Alleluia, Christ is Risen" as we lit the Pascal Candle by Bug Hunters Waters, before sharing bacon. And then our musicians led us in singing "Thine Be The Glory" as part of our intergenerational Easter Communion. 
 

Part of the Family at The Pathfinder Church of England Primary School

We've a wonderful relationship linking the church and school. Pictured here are Revd Beth, Revd Stephen, Bishop Dagmar, head teacher Claire Eskelson, and some of last year's Worship Gang - a rolling group of year 5/6 children who help plan and deliver collective worship, sensitive to the range of religious and non-religious beliefs across the school community.

On Mondays (during term), we gather to pray with the Lectio 365 app, weaving in any particular topics of prayer for the school.
Pathfinder Church also support the school community at various key points in the term - such as bringing along the Deckchair Listening Project and offering First Day Coffee and Chat, or providing breakfast and a reflective start to the term for staff on their inset day. 

From our church family...

โ€œI find Iโ€™m talking to people at work about what we did on Sundays, thinking through different aspects as the week progresses. The focus of meetings is not on limitations - what we canโ€™t, or shouldnโ€™t, do - but on how knowing Jesus is the best, most liberating, gift the world offers. And at Pathfinder I feel like Iโ€™m being equipped and trusted to develop this relationship with Jesus myself.โ€
โ€œPathfinder is a beautiful community, in which there is space to explore our faith in exciting ways.


A great church for our young family!!โ€


 
โ€œBeing part of a church community that is multidenominational is a blessing and how Jesus would have wanted us to approach our faith and the community. It's hard to come by a church that makes everyone feel so welcome with no level of judgement and a constant link and connection to the local community and other churches in the area. โ€
 

Want to know more or stay in touch?

Pathfinder Church Northstowe and the Northstowe Church Network are committed to the safeguarding of children, young people and adults. We follow the House of Bishops guidance and policies and have our own Safeguarding Officer. The Diocese of Elyโ€™s safeguarding pages contain vital links and information including contacts for the Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor (DSA) who advise our SO. If you are concerned that a child or adult has been harmed or may be at risk of harm please contact the DSA. If you have immediate concerns about the safety of someone, please contact the police and your local authority Children or Adults Services.