St Catherine's, Sacombe

Weekly News - 23rd April 2023

This weekend's Bible readings:

10.30: 1 Peter 1:17-23 (p 1217)

6.30: 2 Timothy 2:3-13 (p 1195) and John 15:18-21 (p 1083)

Lily to be baptised:

Please welcome Lily Roberts, with her family and friends. Lily will be baptised in our 10.30 family service.

Pop-Up shop 23rd April:

The pop up shop will be in St Mary's after the 10.30 service this Sunday. There will be various items for sale, including Christian gifts and second hand Christian books. You can also order items from Marion at any time and the website will be displayed. All profits go to the Buntingford Foodbank.

Choral Evensong to mark the coronation:

We will be marking the coronation with a special choral evensong this weekend at 6.30 pm on Sunday in St Mary’s. The music will include 'The mountains shall bring peace', written for the occasion by Joanna Forbes L’Estrange.

Midweek Music at St Mary’s 26th April:

Our next recital is on Wednesday. Light refreshments will be served from 11.30 and the recital by Peter and Nick Hudson will take place at 12.30. All are welcome.

Florence and our youth work:

Florence has recently left Red Balloon and will be resuming her work as a nanny. I know that recently this has been a time of overwork for her and a reduction of workload will be for her benefit. We are extremely sorry to lose her from all of our youth and children’s work, but pray for God’s blessing on her as she moves forward. Of course Red Balloon will continue to service all the work we do with other members of staff, initially Luke and Lizzy whom we know well.

FOSC change of date:

The Friends of Standon Churchyard will meet a week early this month, on 29th April. Not only does this avoid the date of the coronation, but it means our churchyard will look at its best for our Mayday visitors. The team is always looking for more volunteers to help keep the churchyard tidy. Please speak to Mike B or just come along at 9.30 on Saturday.

Mayday in Standon High Street:

The usual Mayday celebrations will take place in Standon on 1st May and we are looking for helpers, please. We need people to welcome in church, to make cakes, to help with teas in the village hall and to prepare and / or serve salads. There’s a sign-up sheet at the back of St Mary’s, or you can contact Caroline (salads), Stephanie (teas) or Keith or Angie (welcoming in church). We’re asking people to commit to an hour at a time, so don’t worry that you’ll be stuck for the whole afternoon (unless you choose to be!)

May Day Music in St Mary's Standon Monday 1st May:

1.30pm Piano duets played by Marion and Michael Smith

2.00pm The church bells will be rung

2.30pm Standon Sing directed by David Ranford

3.00pm Organ music played by Thomas Martyn Stephens

3.30pm Members of the choir of our United Benefice will sing songs and anthems

“A lifetime in the making” All Saints Church, morning and afternoon Saturday 27th May:

Barbara Springate will be showing and speaking about the silk quilt she has been making for a lifetime! The silk comes from the Queen’s coronation in 1953 and she has made the quilt from it. Barbara also helped make the Archbishop’s cope for the occasion. More details to follow.

APCM reports:

Time is running out to send reports to the secretaries! Many of the annual reports are shared across the benefice, and need to be collated and on display in advance of the meetings. Please let our secretaries have them as soon as possible.

Two events for garden lovers on 10th June:

The annual Open Gardens event will take place in Standon, starting at 11.00 am and finishing at 5.00 pm. Posters and fliers are available in all our churches.

Then at 7.00 pm the same evening Sacombe will be hosting a talk by Graham Burton who is the gardener at Sacombe House. It will be titled ‘Restoring a Devon Garden’ covering his previous job in doing exactly that. There will be refreshments afterwards. More details will follow nearer the time.

Website:

Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page can’t currently be reached but you can find the three churches individually by going to https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/ and clicking the links there.

Services for the next few weeks

Midweek services each week:

Tuesdays, 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP), St Catherine's

Wednesdays, 9.30am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary's

Sunday services:

23rd April 10.30am Family worship, St Mary's