A bountiful harvest 

 Didn’t the church look wonderful for our Harvest festival and parade service on Sunday?



 Thank you to everyone who helped decorate and to our children and young  people from Babes and Toddlers, Sunday Club and uniform groups who created the beautiful displays. 


Thank you too for all the donations for the Bexley Foodbank. It was fascinating to visit their depot when we dropped all the donations off. But also sad. They said there's a massive need for cereal in the borough, requested by schools, because so many children are going without breakfast.  Also we really need to pray for Bexley Foodbank because in 12 weeks’ time they have to leave the premises as the council will be renting to someone else (they provide it free to the food bank). At the moment they have nowhere to go so please pray that a suitable venue will come up. 

It’s definitely feeling more autumnal now! Please do check out all our Autumn events. 

Support our Rainbows
8th Welling Rainbows were chosen as one of the charities that the Coop Local Community Fund were supporting this year. This ends on Saturday 17 October when the money in the fund is allocated according to how many people have supported each cause. Thank you to those who have already chosen us and been supporting us.  If you haven't chosen a cause to support yet, now is the time to choose 8th Welling Rainbows. Your support will help to make sure 8th Welling Rainbows can continue to give great experiences to young girls. You can use this link to choose us directly instead of searching "8th Welling Rainbows" on the Coop website. Many thanks for your support.  Pat, Sian and Sarah of 8th Welling Rainbows. 

Poverty and Hope Appeal
For 50 years the Diocese of Rochester's Poverty and Hope Appeal has tackled the causes and effects of poverty in different parts of the world. Last year, over £20,000 was raised! Thank you! This year, we are invited to show our generosity again in support of a range of projects that will give children and young people a better future, including three schooling initiatives in Myanmar, Gaza, and Tanzania. We know times are hard right now, especially with the cost of living, however, even small contributions can make a disproportionate difference in the lives of impoverished people. Find out more.

World Homeless Day 2026
World Homeless Day 2026 is on Saturday (10th October),  a global opportunity to raise awareness of homelessness and the challenges faced by people experiencing it. Church Homeless Charity publishes practical guides for churches and individuals to help respond to homelessness with confidence and understanding. Find the guides here. 

Big Knit is back! 
Making Miracles annual Big Knit is back on Saturday (10 October), 10am to 1pm at Rochester Cathedral. Find out more. 

Deanery Synod
The next Deanery Synod meeting will be on Thursday 22 October 2026 at 7:15pm at St John’ Welling. It’s local and the talk sounds very interesting so please do go along to be inspired. Find out more.

Ladies Bring and Share Meal
The next Bishop Ridley Church Ladies Bring and Share Meal will be on Saturday 24 October at 7pm in the church. 

Next month
In Loving Memory
Our annual service of thanksgiving to remember and celebrate the lives of those no longer with us takes place on Sunday 1 November at 4pm. Please email info@brchurch.org.uk if you would like us to remember your loved one. Find out more. 

Be a lifesaver
Would you know what to do if you saw some having a heart attack and you needed to use the Defibrillator? Come along to a hands-on session on Saturday 14 November from 2pm to 4:30pm at the Church, which will cover these essential skills recognising a cardiac arrest, basic life support and how to safely use the defibrillator plus much more.  Find out more here. Book your place today by emailing info@brchurch.org.uk or speak to John.

Working together
We’re still looking someone to represent BR at the Churches Together in Welling (CTW) meetings. CTW is a group which represents nearly all the churches in Welling. It meets five times a year (including one meeting for its AGM) to hear how other churches are building God’s kingdom here in Welling and to arrange joint church activities. We need someone to take BR news to the meeting and to bring news back from the other churches. Please speak to Mark, Grace or Karen if you would like to discuss this opportunity further.

Finally, this is the second week of our new look weekly news and we’d love to hear what you think of it. Please let us know how you have found it to use – could you find everything you want? Is all the information clearly laid out? Is there anything missing? We’re still evolving how the weekly news will look and what will be included so now is the time to let us know your views. Please help us make the weekly news the best it can be by emailing info@brchurch.org.uk.