Photo by John Stone
Join us for Sunday Service
10.30am every Sunday, followed by a chat over tea and coffee.
Next service:
15th March Local arrangement
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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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Lent Week 4:
Let go of appearances,
embrace what’s inside
We live in a world obsessed with appearances: status, image, success. We may make quick judgements based on what we see, often missing the deeper truth. But God sees the heart.
This week, Lent invites us to look deeper: to notice dignity in others and in ourselves, to see beyond the surface and recognise the image of God within.
Jesus saw a man born blind not as a sinner to blame, but as someone through whom God’s works would shine. Samuel learnt that God’s choice of king wasn’t about outward appearances, but about the heart.
What would it mean for you to see others – and yourself – with that kind of grace?
How might it change the way you speak, act and relate to others?
Try this spiritual practice
Spend some time each day noticing and affirming the dignity of someone you might usually overlook.
Say a kind word, write a note of thanks, or pray silently for someone you find difficult to understand.
You may choose to focus your thoughts on people whose dignity is often ignored or challenged – those of us living with disabilities, who are migrants, from racially minoritised communities, or who are survivors of violence – and ask what recognising our God‑given worth might mean for you this week.
Bible readings for the week
1 Samuel 16:1–13
John 9:1–41
Watch the reflection below.
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Message from Rev Chris Evans
March 2026
Dear Friends,
I’m writing to say ‘hello’ as, during John Banks’ illness, I’ll be stepping in to provide pastoral oversight and care in Mortimer. My time is stretched with my day job, so I might not be nearly as good as John, but I’ll be praying for you, preaching in Mortimer once a month, and doing anything I possibly can to support you.
My family (Lana and I, plus our four children Daisy, Noah, Tom and Zachy) live just round the corner in Burghfield, and know Mortimer well, having lived nearby since we were married in 2007. I’ve loved this church for a long time. I made my first clear decision to follow Jesus during an evening service in Mortimer in about 1993. In 2001 I used to help run a youth club in Silchester which engaged many young people from Mortimer, and whilst I was training for the ministry for a couple of years from 2008, my wife (Lana) and I ran a youth group at Mike and Val’s house. Through the work in Burghfield, I’ve loved supporting two Alpha courses with Mortimer, and still see three of Mortimer’s teenagers every fortnight at a youth group in Mortimer West End Chapel.
Whilst this might be for just a short time, I hope you’ll let me know if I can do anything at all to support you. The email I get to quickest is cevans@reading-school.co.uk, my phone number is 07784476881 – please do reach out anytime. Sandra [Williams] has already added me to the prayer chain. It feels as though this is a tough time for a number of you right now – with desperately ill children and grandchildren, health afflictions and personal challenges. Yet, “The One who calls you is Faithful” (1 Thessalonians 5), and he is “Able to keep us from falling” (Jude 1)… so “This we call to mind and therefore we have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3)
I’ll do anything I can in these weeks or months to encourage all the wonderful things that go on in the fellowship and in your outreach, and give thanks to God for each of you.
Sending you love and prayers,
Chris
Some words of encouragement from Psalm 91:
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness.”
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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.
3rd Sunday in Lent 8 March
John 4: 5-42
New International Version – UK
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’
11 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’
13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’
15 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’
16 He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’
19 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’
21 ‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’
25 The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’
26 Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you – I am he.’
The disciples rejoin Jesus
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’ 30 They came out of the town and made their way towards him.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’
32 But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’
33 Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’
34 ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying “One sows and another reaps” is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.’
Many Samaritans believe
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’ 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
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 