Pray each day
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
At the start of the year, it is good to take a review of our lives, reflect on God's love and how we can serve him whole-heartly for 2026.
For many of us, we spend a significant amount of time in the workplace. How is our faith relevant there?
We are running a morning workplace conference on Sat 7th Feb called Illuminate. Illuminate is a short programme to explore how you can be a positive influence in shaping the culture of your organisation in a way that truly reflects God’s Kingdom in your workplaces. It is an opportunity to consider the impact you can have in your organisation, and what God might want to say through you.
Unpacking the Power of Repentance
“The quest for spiritual formation (really, as indicated, spiritual transformation) is in fact an age-old and worldwide one. It is rooted in the deep personal and even biological need for goodness that haunts humanity.”
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart
In this series we are exploring the transforming power of repentance. We want to look at confession, receiving forgiveness, healing, and taking spiritual authority in areas that were once places of defeat. The aim is to ground new Christians in these essential foundational practices but also to offer long-term believers a renewed experience of grace.
Our morning and evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
Repentance and Transformation - 1st February
The Prayer of Confession - 8th February
Repentance and the Heart of God - 15th February
Repentance and Spiritual Revitilisation - 22nd February
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Renovation of the Heart - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the Livesteam!
Join us during the 6.30pm service in the Crypt at Woodlands Central on Sunday 11th Jan
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
We want to start the new year with a focus on prayer which will include the WCF Prayer Week (18th-25th). During September 25 Prayer Week at Central we felt God say to us ‘prayer is the key’. We want to use this series to unpack what that means. The aim of this series is to encourage, provoke, teach and deepen our corporate and individual prayer life.
Our morning and evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
The Future Now - 4th January
Vision Sunday - 11th January
Keeping in Step with the Spirit - 18th January
Keeping Watch, Keeping Guard - 25th January
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Prayer is the Key - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the Livesteam!
The Future Now
4th Jan at 11.00am with Clare Thompson
The Future Now
4th Jan at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson
“And He shall reign forever and ever, King of kings! and Lord of lords!
Hallelujah Chorus by Georg Friedrich Handel
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.
What kind of king is Jesus? In the fear, confusion and division around the world many long for a ‘strong leader’ who will lead us through troubled times, but sometimes leaders are the ones causing the chaos. In bible times the Israelites were led by God through a relationship mediated by spiritual leaders, but in their insecurity they begged God for a king, “a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” thinking that this would give them status with their enemies, help them to win battles and expand their kingdom. They wanted an impressive, stronger, more visible leader, a kingsized leader! God warns them that that they will lose more than they will gain and true enough, they got their king and it brought them all kinds of trouble! (1 Sam 1: 8). But then God promises them, one day I will send you a king who will lead like no other king. He will be powerful and victorious but also holy and humble. This is the kind of king that Jesus is.
Our morning talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
A Humble King - 7th December
An Unexpected King - 14th December
A Wise King - 21st December
A Peaceful King - 25th December
See you on Sundays or catchup on the Livesteam!
Each month, you’re invited to pray for church and all that is happening with our monthly Prayer Calendar. You can view and download the calendar below as a PDF.
This month Rachel spoke on the interaction of Jesus with Women in John’s Gospel
Here are the audio recordings of the Preaching workshop run as part of the Woodlands Church Academy.
It is a truism to say that the discipleship life involves discipline. What differentiates it from legalism is about desire. The person with a desire to play a musical instrument or excel at sport chooses to make time to practice and develop skills and disciplines ‘because of the joy set before them’. It is not compulsion but choice.
Of course, sometimes the coach/tutor sets exercises that are demanding and not at first inherently pleasant, but even these become a joy once mastered. This series looks at Spiritual disciplines and picks up some areas of ‘discipline’ that we don’t talk as much about.
Our Evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
The Disciplined Life - 2nd November
The Scriptures - 9th November
The Tongue - 16th November
Stewardship - 23rd November
Pursuing the Spirit - 30th November
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Disciplines of the Disciples - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!
The Disciplined Life
2nd Nov at 6.30pm with Clare Thompson
The Tongue
16th Nov at 6.30pm with Jack Saunders
The Scriptures
9th Nov at 6.30pm with Tim Dobson
Stewardship
23rd Nov at 6.30pm with Deborah Marsh
Bible School this month looked at what the Bible story says about Creativity. Meg Nurcombe, who is currently studying for a PhD in Theology and Art, is our speaker
Our November morning sermon series looks at some of Jesus’ teaching from the Gospels which can be hard. Hard to understand or hard to put into practice, or both! Jesus’ call to take up our cross and follow him comes at a cost but the benefits are always rich, deep and wide as we surrender every area of our lives to him and learn how to be his disciples.
Our Morning talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
The Way of the Cross - 2nd November
Friend of Sinners - 9th November
Love Your Enemies - 16th November
Two Masters - 23rd November
Authentic Faith - 30th November
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!
The Way of the Cross
2nd Nov at 11am with Rachel Riddall
Love Your Enemies
16th Nov at 11am with Hazel Askew
Friend of Sinners
9th Nov at 11am with Nigel Savage
Two Masters
23rd Nov at 11am with David Mitchell
Dan Viner and Jack Johnson take us through the second part of Philippians chapter 1 and the amazing Christ poem at the beginning of chapter 2
Here is the first session of our Autumn Bible School on the book of Philippians.
Here’s a whistle stop tour of what the Bible has to say about one of Jesus’ main obsessions - The Kingdom of God
The Christian life was never meant to be lived alone. Jesus calls us into His Kingdom, a community under His rule, living out His ways, and showing the world what love looks like. Over these weeks we’ll explore what it means to belong to the body of Christ, to practice the “one another” commands, to join in God’s work of Kingdom growth, and to honour Him even in our bodies and relationships.
Our Evening talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
The Body of Christ - 5th October
One Another - 12th October
Kingdom Expansion - 19th October
Sex God? - 26th October
Helpful Resources
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Kingdom Community - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!
The Body of Christ
5th October at 6.30pm with Dave Roderick
Kingdom Expansion
19th October at 6.30pm with Matt Dobson
One Another
12th October at 6.30pm with Laura Harris
Sex God?
26th October at 6.30pm with David Mitchell
This October we are looking to come together as a church to take a fresh look at worship and the place it takes in our lives individually and as a worshipping community in a world that worships many things other than God. The context for this series is the Exodus story but we also want to reference how this points to Jesus and how we worship him. The story of the Exodus is the pivotal salvation event of the OT. The story is driven by God’s desire for his people to worship him. He wants a people for himself who will worship him exclusively. God frees people from the powers of Egypt in one night but the challenge of idolatry in the hearts of the people takes many years to remove. There are many aspects of worship that are seen in the Exodus
narrative, from the Passover, the presence of God, establishing the tabernacle as a place of worship of God and being filled with the glory of God. It’s also a story of human failings, idolatry, grumbling and judgement.
Our Morning talks in this series at Woodlands Central will look at the below topics:
Free(d) to Worship - 5th October
Sacrificial Worship - 12th October
Worship as Resistance - 19th October
Encountering God’s Presence in Worship - 26th October
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week.
Called to Worship - Discussion Notes
See you on Sundays or catchup on the livesteam!
Freed to Worship
5th October at 11am with Hazel Askew
Worship as Resistance
19th October at 11am with Rachel Riddall
Sacrificial Worship
12th October at 11am with Tim Dobson
Encountering God’s Presence in Worship
26th October at 11am with Jake Perrins
At Woodlands Central, we love to pray and each September we celebrate Prayer Week, where we come before God together and offer him what is on our hearts.
Prayer Week is happening from the 22nd - 27th September 2025. It is a lovely time of fellowship, where we look forward and prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming season. The week consists of daily events and a 24/7 Prayer Room that can be booked by individuals or groups.
Here’s how you can get involved:
Pray the Lord’s Prayer at 12 noon every day
Come to Morning Prayer Meetings from Monday to Friday from 7.15am - 8.15am in the Foyer
Come to an Evening of Prayer & Worship event on Wednesday, 24th September at 7.45pm
Fast on Wednesday 24th September before coming to our evening event (Learn about fasting)
We take a good look at Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs in our final session of Woodlands Summer Bible School.
Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA