St Peter’s Church, Maidenhead
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What you've been up to....
Back to the youth page. Soul Survivor 2008Soul Survivor 2008 was fantastic!! 11,000 young people (and youth leaders) all in one place for one purpose, to meet God and have a great time. I had never been to Soul Survivor before and so didn’t entirely know what I was in store for but it surpassed all expectations and was a week to remember!
 Whether you enjoy playing in the muddiest 5-a-side football competition in the world, being challenged by the seminars, rappers such as Sammy G and 29th Chapter or just chilling out and getting a coffee with your mates you could always find something that fitted you.
The main meetings which were twice a day at 11am and 7pm were truly amazing; the worship was awesome, the speakers were great and the atmosphere was one of expectancy to see God move and to seek His presence. I for one will never forget the time I spent in Shepton Mallet at Soul Survivor in 2008 and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone!
Thorpe Park trip
Summer Ball 2008
The Fix Photo Challenge
ID bbq social
Guys Only - Summer 08
Girls Only - Amazing Desserts!
The girls of St. Peters youth groups were treated to an amazing girly-night at the church with plenty of delicious desserts, fashion mags and lots of other fun activities like painting your very own china pig!
We started off the evening with a little dancing to some classics like ‘Skater boy’ and Maroon five’s ‘She will be loved’ followed by some gorgeous treats of rich chocolate cake, cheesecake, trifle, lemon meringue tarts…the list goes on! As we satisfied our sweet teeth, we were treated to a few thought-provoking talks from the lovely Jody. We spoke about why being a girl is so great and how important it is being a unique individual and to do what you want and know that God loves you. “Fearfully and wonderfully made” is one phrase that really stuck in our minds showing that God made us all and loves us all. We all concluded it was great being a girl because we get to go to all-girl nights! As well as these inspiring talks, we had a table for all-things girly: hair and nails! Once we’d prettied ourselves up we could go for a fantastic photo shoot- smiles all the way! There was a chance to paint your own pig, a t-shirt or make a badge for all us art-lovers. As well as fun games- ‘What is worse’ or ‘Would you rather’ which confused us all thoroughly, leaving us all laughing on the floor!! And a confidence-booster where you can write lovely things about people and read your comments later! ^.^
All in all, the night was a great success- we all really enjoyed ourselves and left happy with a smile on our faces and a tiara on our heads! Thank you to all those involved- it’s great to be a girl!!
The Ultimate Event
Fi's baptism
Loads of her family and friends came to watch this special event, where Fi wanted to publicly commit herself as a Christian, and talk about some of the things God has helped her with in her life so far. (more info on People's Stories)
St. Peter's turned pink for the day, with balloons, ribbons, flowers and a huge cake to celebrate!
The Big Sleep and Famine Well some people thought we were mad I’m sure, after all this wasn’t a weekend full of creature comforts – no food, sleeping rough and a distinct lack of sleep were on the agenda for a start! But when Q told me what some of the young people were planning to do one weekend, to be honest I jumped at the chance to be one of the leaders involved!
World Vision has run a 24 hour famine for many years and this year the money to be raised was going to street children in
Unsurprisingly we were all a little jaded in the morning and were up with the sunshine sometime around 6am, but of course with no breakfast to be had, we all spent a little time warming up around the oil drum and some of us (but not all – you know who you are…..) changed our clothes. We then spent some time creating games out of junk – something else that children who are living on the streets do to pass the time. Actually some of the games were quite good – it’s amazing what you can do with a bit of bubble wrap and a ball! Later on we set up a carwash which was well attended, particularly by the parents of the young people. This went on for a couple of hours and added to our sponsorship by £326! Not bad, and I certainly remained drier than a lot of the young people……..
In the afternoon there was a firewood walk – for the oil drum J - and it was with great relief that everyone returned before the downpour of rain that began late afternoon and continued throughout the evening and the night. By then everyone was eagerly anticipating the much-awaited ‘mexican feast’ which was being prepared as an end to our famine and much thanks should go to Rosalie who, I think, was cooking most of the day to feed us lot! Needless to say that there was not a lot of food left at the end of the meal. With the sponsorship money, the carwash and collection we were able to split £4500 between World Vision and Street Kids Direct. I had a fantastic time and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a weekend filled with enthusiasm, laughter and hard work, all in aid of bringing something of God’s love to children on the other side of the world.
Battle of the Bands '08
On the 29th of February The Fix held a battle of the bands, it had to be one of the best nights of our lives. We all got there around
After that we had some pizza which was yummy and then the crowd came in and the nerves started to kick in. Up first was the band that we can’t remember their name (sorry!) but they were really good and started the night off well. Then came the Futuristics we liked their cover of It’s My Life and the glow sticks were real cool. Then The Prospects were up we personally thought they were going to win at that point.
Sorry again we can’t remember what the next band was called but they slowed down the mood for some great luvin music. Then we were up we had never been so nervous in our whole life but as soon as we came on they vanished, we started with one of our own songs Used, then we played All The Small Things.
Everyone was singing along and that was a great feeling, after that we hit into our new song 3 things and then it was Anarchy Time everyone was moshing that atmosphere was great! We ran of stage and was meet with loads of well dones which was real nice, after
All the bands were anxious to hear the winner and Ben said Under Appeal we were stunned we ran on stage and finished with All The Small Things. All the other bands were great and thank you so much Ben and everyone else who organized the night.
(Alex 'Gabs' Dunnings)
St. Peter’s ran out as relatively comfortable winners against a resilient Wendover youth group. An 11-1 win on paper seemed dominant, but it must be said Wendover battled well, especially because they were mainly a year or two younger. After a good early defensive display from Wendover, St Peter’s broke the deadlock when rampaging full-back Matt Allen slotted in Tom Hine who coolly finished in the bottom corner. Then Jack “Deano” Dean showed great ability to set up Russell Offord who finished the move. Goals began to come at a flurry when Matt Allen disregarded defensive duties to score two goals in quick succession. The first: he chased what seemed like a lost cause but the goalkeeper dropped it for Allen to score. The second: Tom Hine was unlucky not to score after a tremendous volley, but Matt was there on the rebound. Wendover deserved their goal after much endeavour. A wonderful deep corner was finished off in style by the young striker, incidentally one of the smallest in the box. First half volunteer goalkeeper Jay Ahmed was unfortunate to concede. Then holding midfielder and man of the match the diminutive Alex Dunnings scored after Deano and Russ linked up well to create it. The second half had a more relaxed attitude. Tom Hine scored spectacularly even if not deliberate from a corner. Second half commanding keeper Russell then saved a penalty. The eighth goal was finished off by Jay resulting from another corner. Captain “fantastic” Charlie Green scored from twenty yards, nutmegging the keeper in doing so. James “lanky” Woodhams was pushed to striker and was fouled by a girl, not for the first time in his life I must add. He scored the resulting penalty. Woodhams was on a role at this point setting up Jay to score his second. Defender, Sam Balfour, rounded off the scoring, beating several players. The game was an enjoyable occasion and I hope we face them again in the future.
A Red and White Christmas...
Fireworks Fun!
Chip Challenge The Fix have decided which chips are the best in town and at the top of the pile was Lobster Pot (Harrow Lane) with a wopping 57% of all the votes. Prior to the event one of the leaders drove around Maidenhead to five of the top chip shops and purchased a large bag of chips from each. The chips were then weighed to see which shop gave the most value for money. The young people then tasted the chips in a blind challenge and voted for their favourite. Amazingly the Lobster Pot came out tops for value and tops for taste too. Mr Cod came in in second place, followed by Haka. Unfortunately whilst buying the chips there was a huge queue of 10 people at the Super Plaice (Powney Road) so the leader decided that he didn't have enough time to wait, so they didn't get to compete. Although with such a large queue the local public clearly think it is a good chip shop.
Connect
  (LOADS more photos available here)
Soul Survivor
I had an amazing time a Soul Survivor this year. There was so much to do and see that I did not fit half of it in - I am definitely planning to go next year!
In the morning there was an optional seminar at
The main meetings were brilliant there were amazing speakers morning and evening and the worship was fantastic. It was amazing to see so many young people, who were mostly Christians, in one place. We all met in the Big Top or in another smaller venue called Mini Me, which did exactly the same but was for people who wanted a more intimate worship experience. The seminars were excellent; there were several choices at each time which meant that there was something for everyone. They were also optional so you didn’t have to go to any if you didn’t want to. I went to some really great seminars from enthusiastic speakers who brought Christianity to life. Another amazing thing about the week was the amount of people who became Christians and how many people were healed.
Overall it was a brilliant week and I would really recommend it!
New Wine New Wine is unmissable! Saturday 28th July to Saturday 4th August was Life Changing!
In ‘Thirst’ (14 – 19) I’d never seen so many Christian teenagers! The atmosphere there was amazing. Everyone felt like family even though I hardly knew anyone there. The worship songs were lively but meaningful, and in each evening seminar we had a different speaker, each one shared an experience in their lives where they felt really close to God or felt he was sending them to do something which was all really encouraging.
The camping wasn’t all that bad. It rained on two nights but you’re ok as long as you have a waterproof tent and a warm sleeping bag, and there is electricity. There is a big marquee that charges your phone for you and a plug in some girls toilets for hair straighteners :)
It was an AMAZING week and you would be crazy not to go next year!
The Fix Football Match Report On a cold spring English day,
After sportsmanly gestures from both teams Stan Rothwell the
Guys Only April Fools Fun What a great day we had on the 31st March! It was packed with fun activities, great food, and thought provoking talks! After getting together in the morning we split up unto teams and headed out to video a number of set challenges, such as going one-stop on a bus, doing a summersault and eating a tub of ice-cream in under 2 minutes- this was meant to be a team effort but Eddie tried to eat the whole thing himself! Naturally my team won, despite calls of cheat and fix! After this we headed back to St. Peter's for a Mexican feast! It was awesome- great food and loads of it! Proper Guys Only stuff! Then Andy spoke to us about people who we thought were 'cool or fool' - remeber the guy who had his head kicked off trying to rescue a cap! LOL! Then we headed to the woods at Winter Hill for a brutal wide game! Anyone still got the bruises and cuts?!? Then we made that quality base- has anyone been back to see if it is still standing? I must have been mad to let you guys loose with saws, but you made a really good base. Andy then spoke to us again, with some really thought-provoking questions about Jesus' death- was it a cool death or a fools death? Got any more questions about stuff Andy said then email Ben, or if you wanna get in contact with Andy let Ben know. Finally we did some camp cooking with noodles and pasta and French bread. I hope you all had as good a day as I did! Any ideas for the next one pass them on!
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For me the highlight of the week was probably the football competition. Some youth groups come to Soul Survivor exclusively to win the football competition, some youth groups have loads of players to choose from, and put at least 3 teams into the competition. We are not that sort of youth group we entered our only 5 guys into the senior tournament with the expectation of being well and truly trounced in one of the early rounds. However by some miracle we won our first game and then our second and before we knew what was happening we were playing in the semi-finals! We lost in the semis but we hold our heads high because out of 140 teams we finished 3rd!!
On Sunday 30th March, Fi Sweeney was baptised (a full dunking!) at church, using a special baptism pool. 
The night life there was stimulating, there was always something going on. Discos, which normally had a theme to them. Gigs, with well known Christian bands/singers. The Fridge for under 14’s with music and a tuck shop. The food court with numerous stalls of different foods. The Market Place was indoors and packed with charity stalls, which were eye opening and helped you to learn how to help people less fortunate..
After a tactical team talk, the players lined up for the second half. 
