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.

10.30am Morning Worship - Revd Ian Souter

Future worship and recorded services are on this page.

from Rev Wes Hampton

We come again to our Harvest Festival.  We thank God for the harvests of the farm, the mine, the sea, and more beside.  The produce that we enjoy now comes from far and wide: today we eat the result of harvests around the globe and, consequently, of all times of the year.  As Martin Luther King Jr put it, “Before you finish eating breakfast in the morning, you’ve depended on more than half the world.”

Harvest Festival draws our attention to our dependence on the ability to grow food.  An American radio broadcaster called Paul Harvey is often quoted as saying “Man … owes his existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.”  Indeed, we see what happens where drought leads to famine, and where agricultural land is built on or made less fertile.  The part that we play in causing climate change adds to the harm already done and threatens coming generations.  Our politicians wonder how much we are willing to sacrifice to reduce the damage to our environment: we need to be thinking about it too.

We are concerned not only with food production, but also with its distribution.  The reduction in grain exports from Ukraine has directly affected some of the poorest areas of the world and continues to affect food prices here.  This reminds us that, even in the relatively wealthy societies, distribution is not evenly spread. The need for foodbanks is further evidence of this.

October, therefore, provides us with the opportunity to reflect on the wonderful creation that makes physical life possible, and on our responsibility to ensure that all are able to share in the world’s harvests.   It also gives us time: because we put the clocks back in October, it is the longest month of the year.  Perhaps we can invest those extra sixty minutes in giving thanks for the harvest, and in working out how best to share it.

Wes Hampton

A Reflection from Rosi MorganBarry

Keeping a diary

How many of us keep a diary regularly – on a day-to-day basis? What goes into our diaries? Do we ever refer to previous diaries to find out what we did and when – and possibly why?

My father kept a diary, which he began on Wednesday, April 30th, 1941 - an odd day to start a diary – why not January 1st? He gave his reason at the end of that year:

“I commenced this diary in April 1941 as I believed that we would experience a German invasion during that year. The situation was completely changed by the entry of Russia (when Germany invaded Russia) … I expected to record this and did not think it possible that I would fill this book before the event took place.”

He continued to keep his diary of the war years and beyond – until the last entry in June 1976:

“I can hardly keep going”.  He died three days later.

What did he record of those years? One entry in the war years was his comment on the Christmas cake his wife had made, which due to the difficulty of finding the right ingredients was “a sad disappointment!” But it is also a record of quiet commitment to work; to helping folk in their small community; their regular attendance at Sunday services; family events. In fact - a record of a life well lived.

Mark’s gospel can also be seen as a diary, with the amazing events of Jesus’ life of healing and teaching are set out in a straightforward way. Like my father’s diary, it does not begin at the beginning, but at an important point in Jesus’ life, and ends with the last words of the oldest version of the gospel, where the women:

“… went out and ran away from the tomb, beside themselves with terror. They said nothing to anybody for they were afraid”.  (Mark 16: 8: verses 9 – 16 were thought to have been added later by another writer.)

What do these things tell us? That both my father’s diary and Mark’s gospel tell of the lives of ordinary people living through amazing times; surviving; working; learning, and perhaps without being too aware of it, passing on their knowledge and experience of life. Both end on a sadly reflective note, but both are truly uplifting. We give thanks for all the things that stories such as these can teach us.

Rosi MB

Some previous Pastoral Letters are available here.