Karen Vineyard Church website launched 23 March, 2009

One of this year’s first big projects for our church was to reinvigorate the website and to add functionality so ministry leaders could refresh their own pages.

That led us to use Joomla, the open source software that my team has already used to create projects at World Vision.  We employed a great local consultancy, Kivuli Arts, to put the architecture together, and kept our hosting with Hetzner, the South African hosts who have looked after us all along.

So, please go along to the Karen Vineyard Church site and check us out!

Christmas Day at home … with the crowds 25 December, 2008

Rather than go to church on Christmas Day morning, we invited Karen Vineyard Church to come to us.
It’s the second year we’ve done this. Though we’re in a different house now, we’re blessed once more by having a large garden in which to hold these kinds of events.
It sounds a bit lazy, getting everyone to come to us rather than get out to church, but it takes quite a bit of work to organise. The pleasant informality of the event, combined with the real sense of putting the celebration of Jesus at the heart of our Christmas, makes it more than worth it.
We expected about 50 people, had chairs for about 75, but actually had around 90 turn up.
Carols were led by guitar and flute (cheers, Dov and Claire!) which was a beautiful effect under the gently whispering gum trees and bamboo, while the fish plopped lazily in the sun-dappled moat beside us.
After that it was up onto the deck (flat roof) for refreshments, and everyone went their separate ways.

Electra welcomes us back 22 April, 2008

So, we got home from our safari amidst the exotic wild beasts and birds of Africa (see three previous posts). And Electra, who has her own taste in animal-watching, was ready to welcome us.

We’re grateful it wasn’t a bird … or a bat … a frog … or toad … or lizard … or any of the other slightly more desirable creatures that she has shown an interest in.

Our worst experience with a gift-rat from Electra was minutes before a church home group meeting we were hosting, when Jane quickly went round plumping up the cushions on the sofa. Many of our guests are of a certain age and, while not exactly timid, are not the sort you would wish to find a large and neatly beheaded rat with its intestines spread out under their cushion. So, it’s as well Jane found it first.