Churches Together in Sandbach represents churches situated in and around Sandbach, Cheshire.
The work of CTiS was summed up by the retiring Chairman, Revd Jeremy Tresise at the January 2023 AGM in these words: “Through the distribution of the 600 angels, the Carols on the Cobbles, the Christmas Meal, in the Food Bank and the Pantry, we were and are able to share a message of hope; we recognise the divine spark in all and want to help others to see it in themselves, and the recent involvement of members in Black Lives Matter and in the Sandbach Pride Event are further evidence of this.”
The knitted angels were greatly appreciated, once Abbeyfields residents were reassured that the distributors were not “trying their door handles”.
Carols on the Cobbles got a good attendance and a warm reception and is due to be repeated in 2023.
Christmas Lunch 2022 was eaten at the Cubar Restaurant, which generously hosted a meal for many isolated, lonely and disadvantaged people in our community, who were transported, tended and given a little gift by a team of volunteers.
The World Day of Prayer services were hosted by St Winefride’s and St. Mary’s.
Throughout the year we had two joint services: for Advent, when attenders were also invited to send greetings cards to human rights victims through Amnesty International; and at Pentecost - a service to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. There were also shared events where individual churches invited others to join them. These included a Passover meal and an Easter Dawn service at St Mary’s; the Net Zero workshop hosted by our own Wednesday group; Unity Methodist Church’s farewell to Rev Jeremy Tresise in July and the welcome to his replacement, Rev Carolyn Lawrance in September.
Other shared projects include Christian Aid, when the sponsored Bike Ride and coffee mornings raised in excess of £2500 and the Christmas Shoeboxes appeal, which was generously supported by other churches.
Plans for the future include a visit by a Christian theatre group, Lamps Collective, to present the Passion story on Palm Sunday 2024.
10th November 2023