All welcome 🎄🎅🏻🎄⭐️14/12 Carols by Candlelight 6pm17/12 Village Carol Singing 6.30pm21/12 Nativity & Christingle 3pm25/12 Christmas Day Service 10am Harthill with Woodall Parish Church
Dear Friends Well here we are in December and the start of another Advent. I hope you’ve all got an advent calendar as we mark the days down to the big day itself. And if you value the Christian faith don’t forget to put a crib up as well. As I type I’ve just about untangled the fairy lights ready for my Christmas tree. As we step into this season of preparation, I’m reminded that Advent isn’t simply about getting ready for Christmas; it’s about getting ready for Christ. And those are two very different things.One involves lists, in fact I’ve just finished my Christmas shopping. Well, I’ve finished thinking about starting it which is pretty much the same thing! The other involves stillness, prayer, watching, and making room for God—things which, ironically, are often the first to go missing at this time of year.Many of us feel anxious as December picks up speed. We worry about plans, presents, gatherings, family and everything we might have forgotten. But Advent invites us to do something rather counter-cultural: to stop, to breathe, to wait. God is not in a hurry. Christ arrives whether or not we’ve ironed the tablecloth.So if you’re feeling overwhelmed with your life or the world, try this: give God the same attention you give your phone when it pings.Pause. Look up. Take a moment of quiet - even if it’s in the car, on the loo, or in that aisle of the supermarket where no one ever goes. God doesn’t mind where you are; He’s already there.My prayer for each of us this Advent is that, amid the bustle, we find pockets of stillness - little manger-shaped spaces where the love of God, found in the Christ child, can be welcomed again.May peace find you, hope steady you, and may joy sneak up on you like the carol singers you weren’t expecting.Advent blessings,Reverend Gary
Dear Friends Tracing your family tree. Genealogy is one of the fastest growing leisure pursuits and, we’re told, the second major search activity on the internet. Knowing your ancestors – not just their names and dates, but the social, political, economic and family context – is all part of knowing yourself.Having access to archival resources is extremely important. Sheffield archives is a good place to begin to view original records. Below you will find a link to Thorpe Salvin Parish Registers. It is a comprehensive list of the baptisms, marriages and funerals from 1580 to the early 1900’shttps://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/WRY/ThorpeSalvinTracing your ancestry can be a very long, time-consuming process, so before launching into the project it is important to take some preliminary steps. Decide which line of your family tree you wish to trace. It is so easy to be sidetracked by coming across records of other branches of the family, or unrelated families of the same name, and so waste time and effort. It is always advisable to talk to older members of your family in the first instance and note down what they can remember. Look through family documents and memorabilia and search out any certificates that you already have, and any other relevant papers and photographs. There are a number of books you can purchase or borrow from Kiveton library. https://www.rotherham.gov.uk/libraries/libraries-neighbourhood-hubs/6The Library is a great resource and a true community hub with a number of online ancestry links to help you in your search. You just need to become a member.Find my Past and Ancestry are also excellent subscribing ways to begin researching family history. Loving God, we thank you for Thorpe Salvin Parish Church. Where love and life are celebrated and tears shed in the saying of farewells. Bless all who enter our days in the seasons of living we prayer. InnJesus name. AmenBlessings Reverend Gary
