Dear FriendsThe sunshine has arrived and so has the café in High Wych.Sam has done his London to Brighton bike ride; friends have moved; I’ve been to the Clergy Conference and am back – what a week.And, good things are still happening - It is our Great Get Together on Saturday at High Wych Memorial Hall from 10.00 am to 12 noon, to remember MP Jo Cox and to encourage our community to come together. I hope to see many of you getting involved with this with your friends and neighbours as we begin to make bees for the Scarecrow Festival (amongst other things).There will be a children’s table and resources available as well, so come along, and have some fun.Our First service on Sunday will be at St James at 9.30 amAnd then we will be at St Botolph’s for 11.15 am when our Mission Enabler, Rosemary Davis will be taking Morning prayer and I will be leading a dog walk from the War Memorial in Eastwick. Both followed by refreshments.If you would like to join us for our online prayer session on Tuesday morning at 9.30 am we would love to see you there. See the link with all the info on the Welcome sheet – we are praying for our General Elections at this time using the resource given out by Archbishops Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell, a copy of the booklet is at the back of church.ThanksAlison
Dear AllHaving just returned from Clergy Conference I can tell you that it was interesting, full of provoking seminars around racial and disability matters and good fun to catch up with so many of my clergy colleagues.We have also been asked to share the following information with you with regard to praying for our elections.The Church of England campaign #PrayYourPart is now launched to promote prayer and participation in the life of our nation and communities, both as voters and as citizens.I have a few booklets to show you on Sunday and we will be using these as part of our Pray online sessions on Tuesdays.We are being encouraged to pray, both in our public worship and also in our personal prayers.To participate in the election both as voters and citizens.Resources to help you with this can be found on our Diocesan websiteGeneral Election Resources - The Diocese of St Albans (stalbansdiocese.org)Just click on the above link.Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday – Father’s Day – when we will have the pleasure of welcoming Glynn Barker as our guest speaker.Every blessingAlison
Dear AllBy the time you read this – we will be into all the events we have to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.You are very welcome to attend a short time of reflection and a lying of a wreath at St James at 12 noon on Thursday 6th June and also a Thanksgiving Service at 7.00 pm at St Mary’s, Gilston, followed by bell ringing and prosecco.We have as many people signed up for the Saturday event as we can cater for and we are really looking forward to that.It is still not too late to come to St Mary’s on Sunday afternoon for the dog walk (dogs not essential) to Hunsdon Airfield where Kirsty and Paul are going to give us a short talk about how important the airfield was during WW11.Then back to St Mary’s for refreshments. If you do not want to walk why not join us at St Mary’s from 4.00 pm for Christine and Rosemary’s lovely cake.Next week I am away at the Clergy Conference from Monday through to Thursday so if you have any urgent requests please talk to Janet or Sam. I will be checking my messages and e-mails throughout my time away when possible, but I will not be at the Rectory (although my family will be).I hope you are enjoying the turn in the weather to less rain and I hope I will see you at any of our D-Day events or at either of our normal Sunday services 9.30 am Communion service at St James and 11.15 am Communion service at St Mary’s, Gilston.Every blessingAlison
Dear AllWell, the sun has arrived this week – Yippee – I feel like I have been holding my breath and waiting for this week for so long.I do not sit out in the sun particularly, but seeing it and feeling it on my face makes me so happy.For this next 10 days we are being called to follow ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ a worldwide wave of prayer which has spread to over 172 countries around the world.We are being called in this 10 days – 9th to the 19th May to pray and wait for the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit, praying for 5 people we would dearly love to come to know Jesus Christ.The resources can be found both at the back of St James, High Wych and St Mary’s, Gilston – both churches that are open every day between 9.00 am and 4.00 pm for quiet pray.Please help yourself to the resources and pray for 5 people, your friends, or family, that you would like to draw closer to God through this time, pray also to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit anew in your own lives. God hears us when we pray.The Alpha course has started well but can still be joined next Wednesday at 8.30 pm without losing anything from the content, (please contact me for the online link invitation), after that it is wait until the next one we run. The Alpha course helps you to understand a little more about the Christian faith and gives you a safe space to ask questions – no question is too small or too large, that we will not benefit by discussing it together.Please read our Welcome sheet for all the events that are happening through the rest of May and June, enjoy the sunshine.Should you want to talk to me – my contact details are on the bottom of this e-mail.Every blessingAlison
Dear All I cannot believe we are in May…….I was so happy on Wednesday 1st May as at our first gathering for Wednesday Welcome we were able to open the hall doors and some of us sit outside. It was lovely and warm with no coats!! For our first session we had a good number of people join us to eat cake, chat and get to know each other, it was lovely with a good variety of ages with us. Our next Wednesday Welcome will be on 5th June 2024. Don’t forget we meet to pray online every Tuesday morning at 9.30 am:- Online prayer sessionsTuesday mornings at 9.30 am – link below https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84557900182?pwd=MDhIR2ZBSFc4RXdxWW4zL3FJRGx0dz09Meeting ID: 845 5790 0182 Passcode: 640464 And it is not too late to join in with the Alpha Course, here is the link:- Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81553868122?pwd=TC8vSWdDYVJVMzIyTDI4ZGMwQ3J2Zz09Meeting ID: 815 5386 8122Passcode: 246665 Thy Kingdom Come This year it was agreed at PCC that we would join the global wave of prayer calling all Christians to pray between Ascension and Pentecost for more people to come to know the love and peace of Jesus Christ. We invite you to take part in this from 9th May to the 19th May 2024, where we commit to pray for five people we know to come to know Jesus, along with churches from over 85 different denominations and traditions in over 172 countries around the world. In praying ‘The Kingdom Come’ we all commit to playing our part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities. Resources will be available on Sunday at the back of church to help you with this and this will be the focus of our prayer meeting on Tuesday. You might want to be thinking about the 5 people you would truly love to come to know the love of Jesus in their lives before you begin praying for them on the 9th. Looking forward to meeting you again soon. This Sunday we have our BCP said service at 8.00 am and our Family service with breakfast at 9.30 am. Every blessingAlison
Hi EveryoneI seem to have been in baptism week this week, which is lovely and I’ve been able to hold a few babies I have spoken to three families who want baptism and I have another 2 who are coming to see me in the next couple of weeks. We are looking at baptizing both adults and children and the hope is that these new families will find their home in our Family Service once a month on the first Sunday of the month. For your information, our Family service starts at 9.30 am in St James, High Wych with breakfast, followed by a more informal, family friendly service which runs for about 45 mins to an hour. There is always a children’s activity and we love having the children with us, we usually get the instruments out to make lots of ‘joyful’ noiseIf you are exploring faith and have questions about the Christian faith, or just curious to find out what the Alpha course is, we will be running our Alpha course again from Wednesday 1st May through to 5th June so that you and/or your friends can join us. We will start at 8.30 pm so that all children could be in bed! Alpha is a video led, introduction to the Christian faith that lasts for 6 weeks – we do it online, so no need to find babysitters and we finish the course with a get together at the Rectory where we meet face to face. Here is the link for you to click on the night.Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81553868122?pwd=TC8vSWdDYVJVMzIyTDI4ZGMwQ3J2Zz09 Meeting ID: 815 5386 8122 Passcode: 246665Our Bible study – The Bible Course finished on Wednesday night and was thoroughly enjoyed by the many of you who came.The last session spent a little time with Revelation and I thought you might like to watch some of the videos that the Bible Project have put together. They have done one for each book of the bible I believe so you can watch whenever and whichever you want. This link takes you to Revelation:-https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/revelation-1-11/Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday.Every blessing Alison