Photo by John Stone
Join us for Sunday Service
10.30am every Sunday, followed by a chat over tea and coffee.
Next service:
12th April Rev Chris Evans
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17 West End Road, Mortimer Common, RG7 3TB
Minister: Reverend John Banks
Mortimer Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God’s love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.
It does this through:
Worship The Church exists to increase awareness of God’s presence and to celebrate God’s love.
Learning and Caring The Church exists to help people to grow and learn as Christians, through mutual support and care.
Service The Church exists to be a good neighbour to people in need and to challenge injustice.
Each one of us is God’s special work of art. Through us, God teaches and inspires those who view our lives. ———– Joni Eareckson Tada
Love comes out of heaven, unasked and unsought. Pearl S Buck
Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12 vs 23-24)
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April 2026
Message from Rev Chris Evans
Dear Friends,
It feels like it has been a tough few months for a significant number in the congregation, with a number of dear friends affected by ill health, bereavement and other afflictions. In these valleys life is tricky. Theology and theory often fail us. Understanding eludes us. We’re left with the deep feeling that things shouldn’t be this way; with a sadness at the brokenness of the world; with doubt or an anger towards the God we love.
Even Jesus experienced this. On the cross, as he died to pay for our sins, he felt abandoned and cried out to his Father, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)
It is my faith that Jesus suffered that despair and loneliness because on the cross he carried the separation from God that is caused by our selfishness and that characterises our world.
We are not yet the Children of God we could be, and this place is not yet the City of God it will one day be. And so, until that day, when all is reconciled to God, and we meet him face to face, we are children who must pass through valleys. Some of these valleys are of our own making. Some of these valleys are inescapable consequences of being human. Some of these valleys entirely defy explanation. Yet because Jesus died for us, we know our stories don’t end in the valley! His tomb is empty and he who bore our pain is now our hope. As the famous hymn puts it:
“Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies. Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee; in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.”
Hold his cross in your mind then friends. Know that Jesus knows. He knows you. He knows your needs. He knows.
Accompanied by the knowledge that he lives, and that he loves us, our journey through the valley of tears becomes a pilgrimage towards freedom, forgiveness, healing, restoration and redemption. As Psalm 84 says,
How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
a place near your altar, Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Tears, they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.
Friends, Easter means victory. It means death is defeated. It means tears and pain shall one day be no more. It means that nothing can separate us from the love of God!
“What can separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39.
May he bless you and keep you. With much love, Chris
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Church Service 10.30am every Sunday. Junior Church.
Lectionary
Worship
Ladies Monday Morning Prayers. Ladies Monday evening Bible Study.
Men’s Thursday evening Bible Study. Pastoral care.
Learning and caring
Service to the community
Warm Welcome Faith and friends Who Let the Dads Out Safeguarding
Eco Church Bric-a-Brac
The Philippines Appeal
At the end of the service on 7th December, there was a collection for people in The Philippines who have suffered earthquakes and typhoons in 2025. The total raised was £855 and this was sent to 4Freedom Philippines (4freedomph.com), an organisation co-founded by Peter Clemison, the son of a member of this church family. Thanks so much to all for your generous donations
Citizens Advice Tadley & District
Citizens Advice Tadley & District will continue our presence in Mortimer as part of our Outreach program.
Whether you’re worried about debt and finances, benefits, housing, employment, or something else, our trained advisers can help you understand your options and find a way forward. We’re an independent charity, so everything is free, confidential, and completely impartial — no judgment, just practical support.
The sessions will be held at the Mortimer Methodist Church from 10:00 to 12:30 on every first and third Friday of the month.
To avoid delays, we can make appointments – just contact us using the details below. Alternatively, just pop in, have a chat, and see how we can help. Sometimes a bit of friendly advice can make all the difference. If you do drop in, please be aware that you may have to wait for an adviser to be available.
Contact us Phone: 0808 278 7987 (including a voicemail service)
Online: https://www.catadley.org/email
In person: at Mortimer Methodist Church, 17 W End Rd, Mortimer Common, Reading RG7 3TB.
New Warm Welcome – Bible Study Group
Come along. We meet on the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Friday of each month to be held in the lounge area of the church commencing at 10.00am and finishing at 10.45am. Group leader – John Bale
3rd Sunday of Easter 19 April
Luke 24: 13-35
New International Version – UK
On the road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognising him.
17 He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’
19 ‘What things?’ he asked.
‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.’
25 He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further. 29 But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread.
Prayer of Commitment (inspired by Matthew 5: 14-16) and other prayers.
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Praying for peace between nations, peace in communities and peace in our hearts.
International Prayer of Peach
Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth; lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust; lead me from hate to love, from war to peace.
Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe.
The source of this prayer is credited to both Hindu and Buddhist faiths and it was used by Mother Teresa in 1981 at St James Church, London. It is used by people of all faiths and none each day at noon to form a wave of prayer and hope rippling each day around the globe.
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Mortimer Methodist Church has installed a Bench, (made of recycled plastic) at our Cemetery in Drury Lane. So when waking, you may rest in the peace and tranquility of our wonderful village, and give thanks.
A welcome rest when walking in our beautiful countryside.
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Mortimer Methodist Church 