Groups
Several groups meet regularly. You’re welcome to attend these whether or not you worship at Cotham.
Findings
A monthly creative writing and spirituality group, run by an experienced facilitator, where we can explore our spirituality through creative writing. It provides those who come with a chance to write as a spiritual exploring, an attempt to articulate the thoughts, beliefs and feelings we have within us. This is for anyone who wants to have a go and is willing to be surprised by their writing.
Benefice Art Group
Meets fortnightly on Tuesday mornings. The group is led by practising artist Sara Metelerkamp with different creative projects and practical guidance. Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided and a small donation is requested for materials. You can come to as many or as few sessions as you wish, since each session has its own theme.
Benefice Book Group
The Benefice Book Group is open to any member of Cotham or St Paul’s Church. We meet on the second Thursday of each month from 8pm and usually finish before 10pm. It’s an informal evening hosted by one of the group. It’s a fairly fluid group – members come when they can, and everyone is welcome, even if they have not finished the book (or sometimes even started it!)
Books are chosen in December for the year ahead with the aim of having a varied menu of both fiction and non-fiction. Please contact the group for upcoming titles.
Contact: Rob Booth rbooth3110@gmail.com or 0777 999 1697
For info the rest of 2022’s books click here
| Date 2022 | Title/author/broad genre |
| Jan 14th | Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates |
| Feb 10th | Stammered Songbook: A Mother’s Book of Hours – Erwin Mortier |
| March 10th | Piranesi – Susanna Clarke: A unique and otherworldly fantastical parable … |
| April 14th | The Narrow Road to the Deep North – Richard Flanagan: An ex Japanese POW looks back on his life from old age – 2014 Booker winner |
| May 12th | The Leopard – Guiseppo Tomasi di Lampadusa: A ‘classic’ story of aristocratic decline in Sicily in 1860 during the struggle for Italian unification |
| June 9th | Hamnet – Maggie O’Farrell: Set in 1596 and inspired by the death of Shakespeare’s son from the plague |
| July 14th | The Woodlanders – Thomas Hardy: Classic Thomas Hardy in which the Dorset landscape in a persistent feature |
| Aug 11th | Pompeii – Robert Harris: A well researched fictionalised account of the last days of Pompeii |
| Sept 8th | The Humans – Matt Haig: An alien view of human life: ‘funny, compulsively readable, heartwarming’ |
| Oct 13th | Underland – Robert Macfarlane: A journey into the worlds beneath our feet |
| Nov 10th | Klara and the Sun – Kazuo Ishiguro: A dystopian future told from the perspective of Klara, an ‘Artificial Friend’ |
| Dec 8th | Planning for 2023 |
Time Out Teas
Time Out Teas is a monthly gathering on the first Thursday of the month for tea, cake and sandwiches, and for a chat with friends old and new. There is also a summer outing to the seaside or another place of interest.
Benefice Lent Groups
During Lent and at other times there are ad hoc meetings and discussion groups. For example, in 2016 we read ‘Meeting God in Paul’ by Rowan Williams and in 2017 we looked at the liturgy around Easter and also some of the poems in ‘A Splash of Words’ by Mark Oakley.
Food for Thought
This is a fortnightly group meeting on Monday evenings for those in their 20s and 30s. The group shares a veggie meal and a gently reflective discussion finishing with a time of silence.
Green Cotham
Green Cotham is a project run by Cotham Parish Church in partnership with High Kingsdown and other communities in Cotham, inviting people to get closer to nature, meet others and help biodiversity and wildlife in the local area.
Come and learn in a supportive environment about gardening and how we can support urban wildlife.
Sessions will be on Wednesday afternoons 2 – 4pm, meeting in the Cotham Parish Church carpark. The sessions are free, and all tools and gloves are provided, along with refreshments. To book a place, please fill out this form. For any questions, email greencotham@gmail.com
Programme for Summer 2022
Wednesday 11th May – Cancelled due to illness. Definately back next week.
Wednesday 18th May – Session involving pruning, planting and watering on High Kingsdown Estate (meet at Cotham first).
Wednesday 25th May – Lots of different things to do in the blossoming Cotham garden’s, including pruning lime trees, feeding the soil, creating bug and insect friendly hotels.
Wednesday 1st June – Break for Half Term
Wednesday 8th June – 6th July: more information on these upcoming sessions coming soon.
Whether you are well-established in the Christian faith, feeling called to a new expression of your faith, or teetering on the edge of any faith, we hope you will find resources, inspiration and good company here with us.
Cotham Parish Church is a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 1132307)