Welcome to Wokingham Methodist Church

We are now part of the Blackwater Valley Methodist Circuit, formed by the merger of our previous circuit, the Berkshire Surrey Borders Circuit, with the circuit to the south of us, the Hants-Surrey Border Circuit, effective from 1 September 2025.

Our previous minister, Revd Catherine Bowstead, has retired.  We welcome her replacement Rev Wes Hampton, from 1 September 2025.

Starting on Sunday 21^st September, evening service (with Holy Communion) will resume on the third Sunday of each month at the new time of 6.15 pm (new time chosen so you can park in the Rose Street car park without having to pay both an afternoon fee and an evening fee).

We now aim to open Little Fishes every Thursday throughout the year when Café Mosaic is open - including school holidays, but not Christmas/New Year.

Future worship and recorded services are on this page.

10.30am Morning Worship - Mrs Charmaine Dinham

 4.00pm Carol Service - Rev Wes Hampton

11.30pm Midnight Communion - Rev Wes Hampton

10.30am Christmas Morning Worship - Rev Wes Hampton

No service at Wokingham
10.30am Circuit Zoom Service from Farnham - Revd Nick Oborski

Alternative: 10.00am Live Service at Woosehill - Rev'd Cara Smart

from Rev Wes Hampton

Waiting can be tedious.  We have so many experiences of unwelcome waiting – for the delivery which will arrive sometime in a four hour window, for the three-way traffic lights that turned red just as we approached them, and so on.  They are just my experiences of the last few days; you can add plenty of your own.

We do not want to be made to wait, for it feels like time is being wasted while we cannot do anything else.  Yet we know that if waiting a little means that our query can be answered correctly, or that we shall get to see the doctor who understands our problem, then the waiting might seem like a reasonable price to pay.  Until the wait is over, however, we do not know if that will be so.

The season of Advent is a time of waiting.  The decorations in the shops and lights in people’s windows tell us that many are racing towards Christmas.  We get caught up in the headlong rush, even though we know that Advent reminds us that God’s preparation for the first coming of his Son went on for centuries.

Every year we tell ourselves that Advent is a reflection of God’s preparation.  As such, it involves a lot of waiting.  This is not the futile waiting that annoys us and tries our patience, but the waiting that allows us to find God in the hustle and bustle of our days.

RS Thomas, in his poem Kneeling, says:

Prompt me, God.
But not yet.  When I speak
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.

May we, during these days of Advent, find the meaning in the waiting and, when Christmas comes, find the meaning in the celebration.

Wes

A Reflection from Chris Rooke-Matthews

A lifetime ago, or so it seems, I was training to teach in a beautiful area of West Yorkshire.  The college was situated in the grounds of an old mansion house, on the edge of a village, and boasted a large lake and woodland.  We were able to make good use of this setting for practical (college) work, but also using the surroundings for relaxation, building strong friendships along the way.

One of the ideals often mentioned by our tutors was a saying from Confucius:

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Working In a variety of education settings, and raising our own family, I have found this to be the key to engaging learners of all ages and abilities, but the older I became the more I realised the truth of the first two phrases.

I have now become an expert ‘forgetter’, but can remember things about people and places when I see them, which I could not do just by hearing a name.  However, I still find joy in following the last phrase! 

I wonder if the disciples, following Jesus’ teaching, felt the same, as they came to meet and know their friend, and finally understand and share his message.

Some previous Pastoral Letters are available here.