A whole year has passed since our weekly newsletter and service sheet for St. Mary's , Swynnerton and St. James, Cotes Heath began being produced.Jackie Stokes our wonderful editor has worked very hard producing a weekly newsletter that has been both fresh and creative keeping our church family and local community up to date and informed with church and parish news. The accompanying service sheet has allowed those who have been unable to attend church during the pandemic to follow the services that have been held in St.Marys when restrictions have allowed us to open the church . So many people have found this invaluable as a way of being kept in touch with church family and local news . A copy of this newsletter is sent out to around 80 households via email and with a reported over 100 people regularly viewing our website to read it . In this Holy Week edition there are details of our planned Easter services and in addition there is a short meditation on Maundy Thursday evening at 7pm via zoom accessed by the link. Everyone is welcome . There are also details of the TV and radio programmes being broadcast by the BBC for Easter and also included are Holy Week services at Lichfield Cathedral with details of how to access these via their website. Finally our #LiveLent course reaches its penultimate session 6 on Sunday entitled " Finding echoes of the story of Jesus in our world today." June Steed leads the session this week which has proved to be really enjoyable and thought provoking by all who attend ! Everyone is welcome to join via zoom link in the newsletter.
Read how through the toilet twinning project generous donations have funded toilets for our links in Uganda with Archdeacon William Shakespeare Paschi.Following the recent installation of the new toilet in St Mary's the generosity of church members have made this possible . The 23 rd March marks the date of the first lockdown and a national day of reflection is planned . The newsletter gives details on how you can reflect and also ways of showing support to those who have been bereaved. Our thought provoking and engaging Lent course #Live lent continues with this weeks session 5 called ,'Passing on the story of Jesus'.Do join us for at 3 pm via zoom everyone is very welcome. This Sunday the church celebrates Passion Sunday and the start of what is called in the church calendar as Passiontide . This is the time when our thoughts turn to the last few weeks of Jesus ' life on earth. Our reading for this Sunday is from the gospel of John and focuses on a discusion between Jesus and his disciples , Andrew and Philip and a conversation that doesnt appear to make sense writes Rev . Jeanette Hartwell! But in this passage Jesus is really telling them why he came, what he is about and that soon he will reveal the glory of God . Jesus also speaks of a cost of following him and that is of losing our life in order to keep it for eternal life . Read more of this weeks sermon to find out what that might really mean for our daily lives. Our intercessions for this Sunday have been prepared by Frank Mugglestone.
Mothering Sunday can evoke mixed emotions for many read but how this day was celebrated in times past and how things could get a little out of hand in the 13 th century ! Follow our prayers on our service sheet as we celebrate Mothering Sunday and also read a prayer from St. Patrick whose day we also celebrate on 17 th March.This weeks bible passage is taken from John 19:25b-27 and records the words said by Jesus to his mother as he hung on the cross to die. Ven. Paul Thomas offers insights in to the three R's of motherhood taken from this passage in this weeks sermon. Our thought provoking and enjoyable #LiveLent course continues for the fourth week and this Sunday's session is entitled, 'Communicating like Jesus ' and is led by Nicky Beasley. Come along and discover how we can share our story with others and learn new practical ways of telling the gospel story.Everyone is welcome join via the zoom link in the newsletter.
Fairtrade fortnight continues ! Check out their festival and be inspired in your shopping choices and help support overseas farmers and their workers who are on the front line of climate change. Closer to home ,do you feel that God is calling you to something ? Read about how a one year course can help you to discern your gifts and what God might be calling you to .This weeks sermon by Dr. Lynsey Hall asks what the new normal will look like as we return to church after the challenges we have faced and how the pursuit of normality might perhaps distract us from seeking God's kingdom.Our Church of England Lent course , 'God's story our story,' continues at 3pm on Sunday and this weeks session is entitled 'Jesus was in the transformation business '. All our welcome to come along to whats proving to be an enjoyable and thought provoking course. This week the session is being led by Nesta Williams. Our prayers this week have been prepared by Denise Snowball.
