St Matthias Anglican Church, Torquay\Activities&Groups

The Parish of St Matthias, St Mark and Holy Trinity, Ilsham, Torquay, Devon
in the Anglican Diocese of Exeter

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There are a number of small groups which meet regularly, both in the daytime and the evening for Bible study, discussion, prayer and caring fellowship. We encourage everyone to join a small group and details of the various groups may be obtained from the Church office.

Every Wednesday morning , there is an opportunity to meet other members of the Church family and visitors for a chat over coffee/tea and biscuits. Come and go, as you wish, at any time between 10.00 am and 12 noon. On the first Wednesday of each month from May to November, the coffee morning is followed by a ploughman's lunch from 12 noon to 1.30 pm. The net proceeds of these lunches are used to help support Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon's ministry in the Diocese of Kaduna in Northern Nigeria. Similar lunches are held on the six Wednesdays before Easter with the net proceeds being donated to Christian Aid.

The Thursday Club is mainly attended by retired members of the congregation but membership is open to everyone. There is a admission charge of £1, including for tea and cakes but no annual subscription. The Club provides a time of friendly fellowship, together with interesting speakers covering a wide range of topics from local interests to worldwide adventures. See Current Programme .

Meets in the Rose Price Room of the Church Centre on Monday afternoons from 2.30 to 4.45 pm. In addition to making banners, the group makes and repairs altar frontals, stoles etc.

A group for toddlers, aged under 4 years, and parent(s) meets in the Church Centre on Tuesdays from 9.30 to 11.30 am during term time and provides an opportunity for the toddlers to play together and for parents to chat. Parents must remain with their children during the meeting.

St Matthias Church Pre-school is registered under section 71 (b) of the Children Act 1989 to provide sessional day care for up to 20 children from the age of three to school entry. The Pre-school hours are: -

Monday to Friday morning sessios 9.00 to 11.45 am
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday afternoon sessions 12.45 to 3.30pm

The Pre-school at St Matthias' is based on Christian principles and aims to provide both play and learning experience in a setting where children are secure and happy. The qualified and experienced staff encourage all aspects of development as children make friends and learn to play together. Activities are adapted to challenge each child to develop his/her full potential whilst working at this/her own level and pace. All children are welcome to the Preschool regardless of race, colour, culture, gender, ability or religion. Everything is done to ensure children with special needs have adequate support and opportunities. Liaison with parents and other professionals is maintained and encouraged.

The Pre-school is managed by a committee made up of qualified representatives from the Church, the local school, Pre-school staff and parents' representatives. The team will advise on all aspects relating to the Pre-school including policies, the curriculum, funding, staffing and training.

For more information on the Pre-school or to request a visit, please contact the Leader on 01803 215068 or e-mail the Secretary.

The Church used to run a Christian based Youth Club for young people between the ages of 11 and 15 from the Church and elsewhere. This Club, which is known as "Powerpoint", hopefully will resume when the new Youth worker arrives.

Meetings are held on Tuesday evenings 6.15 - 7.45 pm during term time, in the Pine Room of the Church Centre.

Girls between 7 and 10 years can seize the opportunity to have fun, make lifelong friends and learn new skills.

Our parish magazine is published under the title "Our Link" at the beginning of each month other than January and August.

A wide selection of Christian books may be borrowed from the library which is in the Rose Price Room of the Church Centre.

The Sunday sermons and often the whole of the 10.30 am Sunday service are recorded and cassette tapes may be purchased or borrowed. Tapes are usually retained for 2 weeks before over-recording. Usually two copies are made of each service, one for sale/return , the other for retention in expectation of requests for further copies. To obtain copies please speak to the Tape Operator.
Taped versions of each edition of "Our Link", the magazine of St Matthias, are available for members of the congregation who are visually handicapped.

For many years, the Church family at St Matthias has shown a deep concern for the wider mission of the Church in other countries. In particular, it has strong links with Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Primate of the Anglican Province of Kaduna, and his clergy and people in the Diocese of Kaduna in Northern Nigeria, with David & Rosemary Harley working with Overseas Mission Fellowship in Singapore, with Shelagh Wynne, who is a missionary nurse working in Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand as Personnel Co-ordinator for the Friends of China – a consortium of twelve Christian Mission Organisations, and with Pastor Biku and his congregation in Berat, Albania.

Several times a year, there are opportunities for members of the St Matthias Church family to meet together for a variety of social activities such as musical and games evenings, bring and share meals, picnics, barn dances, barbecues, walks in the beautiful Devon countryside, organised by the Social Core Group or one of the Church groups.

The Friends of St Matthias Church is a registered charity (No:1071191) which is committed to raising funds to pay for the maintenance of and alterations and improvements to the buildings and grounds of St Matthias Church and its Church Centre. Membership is open to all who are sympathetic to the objects of the Friends.

St Matthias' Church is a member of Christians Together in Torquay and Torbay Evangelical Fellowship. The Church also supports the Factory Row Hostel in Torquay which, as the Torbay Project, is now part of The Langley House Trust and provides accommodation for a number of otherwise homeless people, Project 58, which offers support, care, respect and healing to anyone, who is homeless or disconnected from their usual social environment and Linx Christian Youth Trust (Charity No: 1067449), which is a Youth Ministry operating in the secondary schools of Torbay and supporting the young people of local churches. We are also part of Tell Torbay, which, following a Bay-wide mission from 25 June to 12 July 2002, continues to encourage churches in Torbay to work together with each other and to encourage individual churches to reach out in a pro-active way to their community with the Good News of Jesus Christ.