What Can I Say?A poem by Mary OliverWhat can I say that I have not said before?So I’ll say it again.The leaf has a song in it.Stone is the face of patience.Inside the river there is an unfinishable storyand you are somewhere in itand it will never end until all ends.Take your busy heart to the art museum and thechamber of commercebut take it also to the forest.The song you heard singing in the leaf when youwere a childis singing still.I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,and the leaf is singing still.I wonder what things nourish your soul?One way God nourishes our souls is through the beauty of nature. Throughout the Bible we read about God communicating to us in the skies, ocean waves, breeze rustling through the trees, fields and flowers, and birds. Jesus often used examples from nature - sparrows, lilies, fig trees, seeds and vines. A reminder that God is constantly speaking through his creation.Nature reveals God’s beauty, glory, power, wisdom, presence, and creativity. As Psalm 8 tells us - the heavens are telling the glory of God. There’s so much in nature that opens our hearts to God. To take a walk on a beautiful day, play with your dog in the grass, or hold your cat on your lap, are ways for many people to connect with God’s loving presence.So take time to enjoy God’s creation, and let go of stress! Rediscover what it was that sang when you were a child… Revd Carol Bates
These eight country churches are all lovely for baptisms and each has a beautiful stone font.Baptisms or christenings are usually part of a regular Sunday service, where the congregation can welcome the newly baptised into the church, but in special circumstances a baptism can be arranged as private service (usually later in the day on a Sunday).Scroll down for more photos!<br>For Baptisms please contact Alison Dale, Benefice Administrator:beneficeadmin@elhamvalleygroupofchurches.co.uk
GIVING – ELHAM VALLEY GROUP OF CHURCHES Everything we do is made possible by your gifts of time, talents and money, reflecting the generous God who loves us and all those we live alongside. In normal times, your giving enables us to hold our Sunday services, work with pre-schoolers, children and families, young people and older people, outreach to our local schools in the Parishes through events and assemblies, provide pastoral care and support and to conduct key life events like weddings, baptisms and funerals as well as seasonal celebrations and memorials. Additionally, through your generosity we support projects that benefit the community such as our local Food Bank, and also the many other community groups and activities that would normally take place in our churches and halls. Our churches are finding this increasingly difficult currently as we are unable to hold fundraising events and, with no services taking place in our buildings, no collections are being taken. It’s only made possible by God’s generosity working through those who pray, serve and give to the work of the church. We could not do it without you! Please consider giving what you can spare to enable us to carry out God’s work in our communities. Thank you Ways you can give: GIVE REGULARLY BY STANDING ORDER Monthly giving is vital because it means we can plan in the longer term things that will reach more people with the love of Jesus. To set up or amend a standing order, please contact the Benefice Administrator, Alison Dale (via the Contact Us link on the home page of this website, or tel. 07985025381- Thursday and Friday mornings). She will put you in touch with the relevant Treasurer. SEND A CHEQUE To give via cheque, please make the cheque payable to the relevant church’s PCC. Please contact Alison as above for the address to send it to. PAYROLL GIVING VIA YOUR EMPLOYER Many employers offer Payroll Giving which allows you to give directly to your chosen church from your salary before tax is deducted. This means if you give £100 per month and are a basic rate taxpayer, the gift will only cost you £80 from your net pay. If you pay a higher rate of tax, £100 a month will only cost you £60 from your net pay. To find out if your employer offers Payroll Giving, contact your HR office. EMPLOYER MATCHED GIVING Some employers offer matched giving schemes. In most cases, the company will match your donation pound-for-pound up to a specific amount; a handful of organisations will even double your gift. Do contact the Human Resources or Social Responsibility Office at your workplace to find out if they operate a matched giving scheme. Some employers may not match giving for religious purposes, though most will match gifts for our heritage work – so it may help us with repairs and upkeep of our ancient buildings. GIFT AID If you pay Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax in the UK, we can claim back 25p on every £1 you donate through the Gift Aid scheme. To permit us to do this, please contact Alison as before.If you pay tax above the basic rate, you can personally claim the difference between the rate you pay and basic rate on your donation (25%). You can do this either through your self-assessment tax return, or by asking HMRC to amend your tax code. *Note: Please do not fill in a Gift Aid declaration if you give via a pre-tax Payroll Giving scheme as you are giving ‘pre-tax’, and thus we cannot claim tax back on the gift.
