Starting on Tuesday 25th, over six sessions we will explore how you can be confident in sharing about Jesus, how to tell your story making Jesus the hero, how to start a natural conversation with your friends about Jesus.
This is a new course being delivered from Woodlands Academy.
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too have our teams, and we have an exciting volunteering opportunity within our Children’s Church team at Woodlands Central.
We are recruiting for volunteers to join our Children’s Church team to support and underpin some key administrative work for the team at Woodlands Central. We’d love to hear from you if you’re interested and Children’s team admin is something that sounds like an area you’d be interested in helping with!
Key areas of work include:
Volunteer rota checks for acceptances/declines and highlighting gaps where more volunteers are needed.
Processing all new children’s church volunteers through the recruitment process.
Processing new children into groups on ChurchSuite.
Transfer Sunday registers of attendance to ChurchSuite records.
Assist with setting up meeting dates and sending out invitations.
General administration as delegated by children’s church leaders e.g. booking a venue space in the building, sending prewritten emails to groups e.g. for one off events.
Personal attributes and key skills
Strong administration skills with an eye for detail
Good written communication skills
Administering confidential information in line with our Data Protection Policy
Team player
Our volunteer roles require a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a worshipping member of the Woodlands Church Family.
Could you commit to around one day a week to support this ministry? Ideally it would be helpful, if you have availability during the day, to meet with the children’s minister on a Monday between 11.30am - 12.30pm to run through weekly tasks but there is flexibility as to when the rest of the hours/tasks are delivered in the week. You’d be very welcome to join us at our Children’s team meeting too.
Support in volunteering role
You’ll be given in-house training on Data Protection and the use of our ChurchSuite database if needed.
You are also welcome to join in with our wider Central team time on Monday mornings from 10am - 11am where we gather to worship, pray, share good news and have input from key members of the team.
Hannah Dunmall
Assistant Children’s Minister
Please contact our Assistant Children’s Minister Hannah at hannah.dunmall@woodlandschurch.net for an opportunity to meet and discuss the role further.
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.
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with eight sites across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and at Woodlands Central we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our team as Associate Pastor reporting into and supporting our Central senior leaders Nigel Savage and Rachel Riddall.
Woodlands Central is a thriving city church with a vision ‘to transform Bristol with the love and power of God’. We are looking for someone with a proven track record of leading church as part of a team, bringing strategic thinking, operating executive skills and is passionate about turning vision into reality. They must show mature gifting in ministry, have strong communication skills, be passionate about Jesus and love the church. A secure and proven leader.
Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be committed to see the church community grow in their faith and reach the city for Jesus.
Key areas of work for the position of Associate Pastor at Woodlands Central include:
1. Vision, Strategy and Culture
Implementing and maintaining the vision of Woodlands Central and working alongside the senior leaders to implement strategies and plans to see it become a reality.
2. Midweek Church Communities
Supporting and growing mid-week Church communities in line with our vision and holding the spiritual and pastoral oversight of these leaders under the support and direction of the Central senior leaders.
3. Resourcing Sunday Services
Support the smooth running of Sunday Services. This involves being a constant presence on Sundays at our services and joining a congregational service team. Joining the preaching and hosting teams at services and attending our church prayer gatherings.
4. Central Core Leadership Team
Being part of the Woodlands Central core leadership team and holding areas of responsibility.
5. Staff Team
Carrying line management of designated ministry areas and staff team.
Find out more about the Associate Pastor role:
This is a permanent, contracted full-time position.
The salary band for this role is £29k - 34k pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.
The role will be based at Woodlands Central in Clifton, Bristol and there is a requirement should the post holder relocate to Bristol they will be a worshipping member of Woodlands Church Family at Woodlands Central.
The post is subject to satisfactory references.
We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.
The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 10th March 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications.
Please contact Abby Harvey Executive Assistant to Woodlands Central senior leaders at abby.harvey@woodlandschurch.net if you have any questions about the role.
If shortlisted, the first round of interviews will take place online during the afternoon of Tuesday 18th March 2025.
If you are taken through to the second stage in the interview process for this role these will take place over two days and will be held on Sunday 23rd March and Monday morning, the 24th of March 2025.
For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net.
Please send your completed application to abby.harvey@woodlandschurch.net and our HR Lead Julia Shrimpton julia.shrimpton@woodlandschurch.net.
Explore how our lives can be established on the sure foundation of our God given identity. This is a course with stories of breakthrough, teaching, including our ‘Spiritual spring clean’ and opportunities for receiving prayer.
Our next Wholeness 1: Explore Identity course will be taking place over 6 weeks beginning the 25th February and running on Tuesday evenings from 8pm - 10pm at Woodlands. To sign up follow the link below.
To find out more about the wholeness course head to the webpage here.
On Thursday mornings at 10am in The Crypt, we offer new mums and babies the chance to meet up, share a cuppa, refresh and pray with one another.
This group is specifically aimed at supporting the well-being of new mums and their babies.
If you have young children of different ages, check out our Tiny Treasures Toddlers group that meets on Wednesday mornings at 10am in term time.
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.
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with seven sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more.
We are recruiting for volunteers to join our Newcomers Team to support the assimilation of new people to Woodlands Central. We’d love to hear from you if you’re interesting being part of the team.
ABOUT THIS VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY
We are looking for administrative support for the Newcomers team. Ideally we would like someone who could commit to helping us 3 to 4 hours on a Monday and/or Tuesday, after our newcomers events. These happen once or twice each month on Sundays.
Key areas of work include:
Administer the newcomers process by submitting new contact cards, inviting people to newcomer’s events and managing the process flow.
Process newcomers after events, including uploading forms and photos to our database.
Personal attributes and key skills
Strong administration skills with an eye for detail
Good written communication skills
Administering confidential information in line with our Data Protection Policy
Team player
Our volunteer roles require a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and a worshipping member of the Woodlands Church Family.
Support for this voluntary role
In-house training on Data Protection and use of ChurchSuite database
Open invitation to join in with our wider team meetings on Monday mornings where we gather together, worship, share good news stories and pray for one another.
Interested? Get in touch!
Please contact our Newcomers Team by emailing newcomers@woodlandschurch.net for an opportunity to meet and discuss the role further.
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with six sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we have an exciting opportunity for someone to join our team as Senior Children and Families Lead at Woodlands Central.
As a Woodlands Church Family we aim to disciple children and families to be connected, confident and equipped.
1. Connected
We aim to help children and families to connect with Jesus, with one another in friendships, in relationships with the church community and with a sense of belonging.
2. Confident
We aim to help disciple children to be confident in their knowledge of who God is, to have a sense of their own identity in Christ and therefore confident enough to ask questions, explore faith and be curious.
3. Equipped
We aim to equip and support parents as they disciple their children with the help of the Holy Spirit. We aim to equip children with tools to help them to pray, read the bible and experience the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We want to equip them to own their own faith in Jesus, to obey Jesus and to be empowered ministers to the world around them.
About the Role
This position is a strategic leadership role to oversee and grow the Children’s and Families ministries at Woodlands Central. This involves leading, shaping and building an expanding children's ministry for children aged 0-11. This includes planning ministry programmes, events and outreach initiatives throughout the year. You will be responsible for communicating vision to the church. You will lead and line manage the staffed Children’s Team and through them recruit, train and support a large team of volunteers. You will oversee the families ministry including daytime groups and events, equipping parents to disciple their children in the home.
Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.
Requirements: This role requires a commitment to be a follower of Jesus and either a member of the Woodlands Church Family or another local church.
To find out more about this role, download the following documents:
Terms
This is a permanent position contracted at a minimum of 3 days per week (22 hours 30 mins) with the possibility of more hours being added and the role potentially becoming a full-time position.
The salary band for this role is £30,000 pro rata, depending on experience. The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.
The role will be based at Woodlands Church in Clifton, Bristol.
The post is subject to satisfactory references.
We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.
How to apply
The closing date for applications is midnight on Thursday, 2nd January 2025. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications.
Please contact Nigel Savage, one of our Senior Leaders at Woodlands Central (nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net) if you have any questions about the role.
If shortlisted, interviews will take place at Woodlands Church on the morning of Friday, 17th January 2025.
For an application form please contact our HR Administrator Jenny Hanley at hr@woodlandschurch.net
Please send your completed application to Nigel Savage (nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net) and out HR Lead Julia Shrimpton hr@woodlandschurch.net.
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’re getting ready for Christmas at Woodies and are looking for people to join our choir and brass band for the Carols by Candlelight services happening on:
14th December (7pm)
15th December (5pm & 7pm)
Choir rehearsals will be on Monday nights in the Upper Hall from 7.30pm - 9pm on the following dates:
11th November
18th November
25th November
(No rehearsal 2nd December due to the 'Big Singalong' rehearsal)
9th December
Would you like to get involved? Find out how below…
WANT TO JOIN THE CHRISTMAS CHOIR?
For the Christmas choir, ideally you’d have the ability to read music and some experience of singing in a choir. This is helpful, but not essential. You do have to be able to sing in tune and hold a part.
Email our Worship Pastor Jo Demcolli for more information.
ARE YOU A BRASS BRAND PLAYER?
If you are a a brass player at a grade 7 standard or higher, please get in touch with Nigel Savage for more information.
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.
Every September, thousands of students come to study at university in Bristol. What better way to welcome these lovely Freshers than with free food? We gave away 3,000 hot dogs during Freshers Week and had an amazing time getting to meet lots of new people.
One of the most impactful things we can do as a church family to support students is to help them feel at home. Student lunches are a great opportunity for you and your family/friends to invite a student(s) into your home, provide them with a hot lunch and help them to feel connected with the wider church family.
The feedback and impact from previous years has been phenomenal - we’d love to have another great impact this Autumn. If you are able to invite a student for lunch one Sunday in September or October - sign up below!
The Woodlands Church Family (WCF) is a vibrant, growing family of churches with six sites located across the city of Bristol and a vision to plant more. As we’ve grown, so too has our team, and we have an exciting opportunity for within our Children’s Team.
The position of Assistant Children’s Minister at Woodlands Central and Children’s and Community Worker at Branch Community Church can be delivered as a 4.5 day a week role, working across both sites. Alternatively, the individual roles could be filled separately at 2.5 days for the Woodlands Central position and 2 days for the Branch position.
Candidates should be highly motivated, enthusiastic, able to take initiative, work well in a team and be passionate to see children grow in their faith.
The Role
The Assistant Children’s Church Minister at Central role will include the following duties, for example:
Planning and leading groups working with children aged 0-11.
Helping to support a strong team of volunteers, and resource the different Sunday morning groups.
Working with the children's team to review and develop processes to ensure the ministry continues to grow.
The Children’s and Community Worker at Branch role will include the following duties, for example:
You will be responsible for working with the Branch Leadership team to coordinate and oversee our children’s provision, both on a Sunday and during the week.
When undertaking this role there may be times when you come across confidential information, therefore it is imperative that you are highly discreet and maintain confidentiality.
Terms
This is a permanent position contracted with the option of:
4.5 days / 33hrs 45mins per week (both roles)
2.5days / 18hours 45mins per week (role at Central)
2 days / 15hours per week (role at Branch)
The salary band for this role is £23,550 - £24,500 pro rata, depending on experience.
The annual holiday entitlement is 25 days pro rata plus 8 days bank holiday pro rata.
The role will be based at Woodlands Church in Clifton and Branch Community Church in Henbury, Bristol. Travel between the two sites will be required.
The post is subject to satisfactory references and DBS check.
We have a legal responsibility to ensure that all our employees have the legal right to live and work in the UK. Therefore, please only apply if you are eligible to work in the UK as we will have to verify this before you can start work.
For full details, please see the Role Summary & Terms.
Occupational Requirement
As a group of churches our vision is to continually reproduce the life of Jesus. We therefore seek to create a culture and environment in our churches where every team member and volunteer is able to encourage and challenge one another and the many people who pass through the doors each day, to pursue that vision.
As a member of the staff team, you will be joining a faith community that meets to worship and pray together every week and we share prayer and worship moments throughout the day. Around the building, you’ll often come across teams or individuals praying over their work and really speaking the language of faith.
Therefore, the role has an occupational requirement that the post holder be a follower of Jesus and a worshipping member of either Woodlands Church Family or another local church to ensure protection of our strong Christian ethos and values, and our charitable objective of advancing the Christian faith. We also want to ensure all team members thrive and flourish in this environment.
How to Apply
JOB DESCRIPTIONS
Read through the two documents below to find out more:
QUESTIONS?
Please contact our lead recruiters Nigel Savage (nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net) at Central and Matt Smith (matt.smith@branchcommunity.church) at Branch if you have any questions about the role.
APPLICATION FORM
For an application form, please email our HR team at hr@woodlandschurch.net
CLOSING DATE
The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday, 22nd September 2024. However, this vacancy will close once we have sufficient applications.
EMAIL YOUR APPLICATION
Please send your completed application to our HR lead julia.shrimpton@woodlandschurch.net copying the lead recruiters nigel.savage@woodlandschurch.net and matt.smith@branchcommunity.church.
INTERVIEW DATES
If shortlisted, interviews will take place at Woodlands Church from week commencing Monday, 30th September 2024.
This month, Dave Mitchell will be passing on the baton of leadership of Woodlands Central to Rachel Riddall and Nigel Savage. We'll be marking this on a special Commissioning Sunday on the 8th September at all of our services. We’d love everyone to come along to support and pray for them.
Nigel and Rachel have been part of the Core Leadership Team at Central working closely with Dave Mitchell for many years. Practically speaking, Dave Mitchell has been handing over the operational leadership of the Woodlands Central congregations to Rachel & Nigel and their team over the summer. In addition, his Executive Assistant Abby Harvey has also transitioned over to supporting Nigel and Rachel at Central and we’ve recruited Catherine Penn as Dave’s new Executive Assistant.
Here’s what Dave Mitchell, Senior Lead of the Woodlands Church Family, recently wrote in his email to the church:
”My own role as leader of the Woodlands Church Family means I will still maintain a presence and involvement with Woodlands Central but will be released to have time for congregations on the other seven sites that represent the Woodlands Church Family, as well as for our wider connections in the City.
It might be worth reminding you of exactly who Woodlands Church Family is, and some of the nomenclature involved.
Woodlands Central covers the congregations that meet in the Woodlands Christian Centre on Belgrave Road itself. This includes the 8am, 9.15am, 11 am services, the 6.30pm service and monthly Quiet Service also at 6.30pm.
Highgrove is our Sea Mills congregation meeting at 10 High Grove with services at 9.30am and 11am.
The Community Church meets at the Greenaway Centre on Doncaster Road, Southmead at 10.30am.
Branch Community Church meets at Emmanuel Church Satchfield Crescent in Henbury at 4pm.
Southside meets at Victoria Park Baptist Church on St John’s Lane at 3pm.
Woodlands Metro meets at the Cathedral School (Cresswell Centre) at 11am on Sundays.
Hillside will be the name for the congregation meeting in Backwell meeting in Fairfield Primary School at 11 am on 3rd Sundays.
From the end of September Woodlands Church Family will be stewarding Chelsea Christian Centre in Easton, name tbc.
Thanks (I think) to everyone who has congratulated me on retirement, but that is still a little way off though I do become eligible for my state pension at the end of September!”
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.
Unpacking Jesus’ teaching on the Kingdom
Jesus was a master storyteller. Twenty-one centuries on, his stories are still timeless and provocative, but they were also deeply relevant and challenging in the surrounding culture of his day.
Our series Jesus Stories highlights five well known parables told by Jesus to explain the unique dynamics of the kingdom of God. It's teaching that is designed to both reassure us and get under our skin!
The purpose of this series is to explore the teaching of Jesus on what it means to be a disciple and a citizen of His Kingdom. Here’s what we’ll be talking about each week on Sunday…
1st September: Seeds of Faith
8th September: On This Rock
15th September: Lost Sheep & Little Ones
22nd September: Unmerciful Servant
29th September: The Kingdom of God is a Party
Download our discussion notes to go deeper with the topics each week. This also includes recommended reading and videos to watch as well:
Woodlands Church, Belgrave Road, Bristol BS8 2AA
