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
Dear AllIt has been a ‘get back’ to the routine of our week this week as a community - school is back, toddlers is back, normal working patterns restored, the prayer meeting was on again. Toddler Mums and Grans have been telling us how much they had missed our baby and toddler group, Jimmy’s over the holidays. I had missed Jimmy’s too. Two weeks seemed like such a long time.Our routines help us though don’t they to be ‘ok’ when the world around us is going mad, personally or otherwise. The weather is going crazy, sunshine, wind, torrential rain and hail (all in one day – Monday 15th) and I woke up this morning to see that Israel have retaliated and bombed Iran, and conflict continues in Gaza and between Russia and the Ukraine it feels as if the world is whirling into insanity around us…. and this reminded me of a piece of scripture…“Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire….test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil and may God himself, the God of peace sanctify you through and through”. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22So, hold on to what is good and avoid every kind of evil and God will be with you. I hope you can see God working in your life in the small every day kindnesses you give and receive, the people who listen to you and who you listen to, and pray, pray continually. If it would help we have an online prayer meeting every Tuesday morning at 9.30 am (e-mail for the link) and remember, St James, High Wych and St Mary’s, Gilston are open every day for private prayer. I am available if you want to talk anything through, please use the contact info below.Every blessingAlison
Good morning to you allI am hopeful it maybe a sunny morning for you, wherever you are.I have been at Launde Abbey for a couple of days and it has been very wet, windy and cold so I am really happy to see a bit of sunshine outside my window today.As the Easter holidays draw to a close and school, Jimmy’s toddler group, and other groups that you maybe involved with start up again , I hope those of you who have had a rest or been away are feeling refreshed and looking forward to the new term starting. As many of you know I go into High Wych school on Tuesdays for Collective worship and I am looking forward to seeing all the children again. I’ve also missed seeing our lovely Toddler team for the last couple of weeks and our lovely toddler families, who are all fast becoming friends.We have something new that we are beginning to plan and advertise and which I would like to give you more information on.It is going to be called Wednesday Welcome. The idea has grown from delivering ‘small bags of kindness’ at Christmas to our elderly neighbours in High Wych, Gilston and Eastwick who live alone and getting to know them a little. We would like to offer them somewhere to go and some lovely people to meet up with.We are very fortunate to be able to hold it in a well-appointed venue; No 2-32 Mabey’s Walk in High Wych, CM21 0HN that has been offered to us by our local housing association. It is well decorated with lovely new furniture, is warm and has great kitchen facilities. There is parking available near the building. We are planning to run Wednesday Welcome every month on the first Wednesday of the month from here. The hope is it will create an inviting space to gather, meet new people, eat cake and do things that will be interesting and stimulating. Our first session is on Wednesday 1st May and this week leaflets will be going out to invite all the neighbours in that area, who are over the age of 55 and around during the day. I would like to extend the invitation to all our residents of High Wych, Gilston and Eastwick, for those who have elderly family members who would enjoy some company. Each session will run from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm and we hope to meet you there. If you would like to be involved from the very beginning and help shape what we will be doing at these sessions please come to this first one where we will be asking what things you would like to do. We do see this as a space that will evolve and be shaped by the people who come.We have a great team already and if you would like to join the team to help, just let me know.We have two services this Sunday one at St James High Wych at 9.30 am and another at St Mary’s, Gilston at 11.15 am, both services are followed by refreshments and by a time of getting to know each other better. It would be lovely to see you there.Also, this is a reminder to book your tickets for the Racketeers concert that is happening next Saturday at Gilston and Eastwick Village Hall from 7.30 pm. The Racketeers played at the Scarecrow Festival in the summer and this is your opportunity to see them again. You can reserve your tickets (£10 per head to include a ploughman’s supper and your first drink) by e-mailing myself or Christine law on christine.law2@btinternet.comLooking forward to seeing you again soon.Every blessingAlison
