This weekend’s Bible readings: Isaiah 49:1-7 (p 735) and Luke 19:1-10 (p 1053)Welcome to Mike Duff: We welcome Mike Duff to our 10.30 service this week. Mike heads up the Patronage team at CPAS, one of our patrons in this benefice. He provides leadership, support and advice to parishes on patronage issues and helps vacant parishes through the appointment process. Mike will speak to us about CPAS’ work, and will preach.Volunteers still sought: Our in-house teams are still looking for volunteers on many fronts. In particular, we are now turning children away from the clubs at Roger de Clare because we don’t have enough helpers, and there is a waiting list of 15-20 children. If you can help with this or any of the other tasks listed in recent weeks, please speak to John or the appropriate person.Tree work at St Mary’s: The trees along the wall at the High Street edge of Standon churchyard will be cut back this week, starting on Monday morning. Please take care if you are visiting St Mary’s.Midweek Music at St Mary's Wednesday 25th January: The next in our series of midweek concerts will be on 25th at 12.30. Refreshments will be served from 11.30am.FOSM Quiz Night 28th January: The Friends of St Mary’s annual quiz night will take place at the community centre on Saturday 28th January, 7.00 for 7.30 start. Tickets are now available from Caroline, at £12 each, to include a ploughman’s supper. There will be a licensed bar. Teams may be up to 8 people. Please book early – we already have a number of teams booked in!Concert in memory of Len Sparks 4th February: The postponed concert in memory of Len will take place in St Mary’s on 4th February at 7.00 pm (licensed bar open from 6.30). John Petters New Orleans Jazz Stars will play and proceeds will go to St Mary’s. Please speak to Rebecca for more information or for tickets.Soup ‘n’ Snowdrops at St Catherine’s, 18th February: The Sacombe folk will hold their annual ‘Soup ‘n’ Snowdrops fundraising event on Saturday 18th February, 12.00 – 2.00. There are some snowdrops out already, but they should be in full flower by then; please come along and admire them, and enjoy some delicious home-made soups.Tudor evensong 26th February: The weekend of 25th and 26th February will be a celebration of the completion of the restoration work on the Sadleir tombs. The weekend will culminate in a service of evensong on Sunday 26th at 6.30, where we will, as far as is practicable (and with the exception of allowing women to take part in word and music!), follow an order of service that would be familiar to Sir Ralph. Bishop Alan will take part, and refreshments will be served afterwards.Games morning at the Boot 7th February: The Boot in Dane End is setting up games mornings on the first Tuesday of the month from 11.00 am. All are welcome to come along and play board games and meet friends, old and new. The first one will be 7th February.Kisiizi Hospital parcels: Thank you to everyone who knits for Kisiizi hospital. In 2022 we sent 38 boxes of knitted items, including 130 vests, 76 blankets and 77 teddies. We are now in need of boxes. Those that hold 5 reams of A4 paper are ideal. Please leave them in St Mary’s church.Easy Fundraising and Amazon Smile: Please remember that you can earn commission for the benefice when you shop online. Please sign up with Easy Fundraising or Amazon Smile and nominate St Mary’s, Standon as your chosen beneficiary, then follow the instructions to access the retailers of your choice via those portals. Any commission received is used towards combined benefice expenses. For more information about how to set it up, please speak to almost anyone apart from Caroline!Sponsored Bible reading marathon – St Mary’s, Ware, 26th to 29th January: Over 72 hours between Thursday 26th and Sunday 29th January, the whole Bible will be read aloud in the hall at St Mary’s, Ware. You are invited to take part in the reading, the listening and encouraging, or the sponsoring and fund-raising. There are posters in all our churches.Quiz Night at Thorley: St James the Great, Thorley is hosting a Family Quiz Night at the St Barnabas Centre on the same evening as our concert, Saturday 4 February. More details can be found on their website.Website: Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page is: www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/benefice. Please visit it to see the range of information there.Services for the next few weeksMidweek services each week:Tuesdays, 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP), St Catherine'sWednesdays, 9.30am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary'sWe are looking in our midweek services at the moment at the later chapters of Acts. Often, study of the book of Acts doesn’t get to the latter part, so we have started at chapter 21, when Paul is taken into Roman custody, where he will spend the rest of his life. Please join us if you’d like to explore these passages with us.Sunday services:15th January 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Holy communion, All Saints4.00pm The Centre, All Saints22nd January 10.30am Family worship, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints6.30pm Choral evensong, St Mary's29th January 10.30am Morning worship, St Catherine's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints5th February 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Morning worship, All Saints4.00pm The Centre, All Saints12th February 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints19th February 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Holy communion, All Saints4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
This weekend’s Bible readings: Isaiah 42:1-9 (p 727) and Matthew 3:13-17 (p 967)Volunteers still sought: As well as hospital transport (see below), our in-house teams are still looking for volunteers on many fronts.- If you can help out with the clubs at Roger de Clare on Thursdays, at lunchtime and after school, please speak to John or Caroline. This request has been running for some time, but we do need people from the church family to be involved, to help create relationships between the benefice and these children.- If you are willing to bake for the café, please speak to Deborah or Rebecca.- If you are willing to join our Sunday reading, intercession or coffee making rotas, please speak to the church wardens.- If there’s another job you can see would be helpful, and are willing to undertake it, please speak to John!Christmas cards: As you dismantle the Christmas decorations and take down the cards, please remember that the Sacombe folk recycle cards for next year’s Advent coffee morning and sale. Please remove any personal messages and pass them to any of the Sacombe PCC.Midweek Music at St Mary's Wednesday 25th January: The next in our series of midweek concerts will be on 25th at 12.30. Refreshments will be served from 11.30am.Easy Fundraising and Amazon Smile: Just after Christmas seems a strange time to remind everyone, but please remember that you can earn commission for the benefice when you shop online. Please sign up with Easy Fundraising or Amazon Smile and nominate St Mary’s, Standon as your chosen beneficiary, then follow the instructions to access the retailers of your choice via those portals. Any commission received is used towards combined benefice expenses. For more information about how it works, please speak to almost anyone apart from Caroline!FOSM Quiz Night 28th January: The Friends of St Mary’s annual quiz night will take place at the community centre on Saturday 28th January, 7.00 for 7.30 start. Tickets are now available from Caroline, at £12 each, to include a ploughman’s supper. There will be a licensed bar. Teams may be up to 8 people. Please book early – we already have a number of teams booked in!Sponsored Bible reading marathon – St Mary’s, Ware, 26th to 29th January: Over 72 hours between Thursday 26th and Sunday 29th January, the whole Bible will be read aloud in the hall at St Mary’s, Ware. You are invited to take part in the reading, the listening and encouraging, or the sponsoring and fund-raising. There are posters in all our churches.Standon and Puckeridge Hospital Transport Scheme: HELP - MORE DRIVERS NEEDED: This is a small band of volunteers who take people registered at the Health Centre on Station Road, Puckeridge, to medical appointments. They offer a ‘there and back’ service to hospitals, clinics and the Health Centre. Generally, the time taken is between 1 and 3 hours depending on the destination.Drivers are reimbursed at a mileage rate of 45p per mile for their door to door round trip. Please speak to Wendy or contact her on 07922 519174 to either offer your services or find out more. Thank you.Concert in memory of Len Sparks 4th February: The postponed concert in memory of Len will take place in St Mary’s on 4th February at 7.00 pm. John Petters New Orleans Jazz Stars will play and proceeds will go to St Mary’s. Tickets will be available soon.Website: Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page is: www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/benefice. Please visit it to see the range of information there.Services for the next few weeksMidweek services each week:Tuesdays, 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP), St Catherine'sWednesdays, 9.30am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary'sFor the next few weeks, we are looking in our midweek services at the later chapters of Acts. Often, study of the book of Acts doesn’t get to the latter part, so we have started at chapter 21. Please join us if you’d like to explore these passages with us.Sunday services:8th January 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints15th January 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Holy communion, All Saints4.00pm The Centre, All Saints22nd January 10.30am Family worship, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints6.30pm Choral evensong, St Mary's29th January 10.30am Morning worship, St Catherine's
A very happy new year to all!Please note that the road between Dane End and Levens Green is closed due to a burst water main. If you’re travelling to All Saints for the 10.30 service, please use another route.This weekend’s Bible readings: Isaiah 63:7-9 (p 749) and Matthew 2:13-23 (p 966)Midweek services and activities: Our midweek services will resume this week, but the schools don’t go back until Thursday, so the café will restart next week, 11th January. Please see below for more details about our Tuesday and Wednesday topics for the next few months.Stamps and postcards for TLM: Gwen has received a letter from TLM to let us know that they will no longer be collecting used stamps and postcards after this year.We suggest that in future stamps could be handed in at the Community coffee morning or at Standon post office who collect for charity, or given to Lizzy, who collects them for EDS research.Di has found a recipient for postcards; Medical Missionary News (MMN) collects them. If someone is willing to act as co-ordinator for this, please speak to Caroline or Di, who have details of where to send them.Volunteers still sought: As well as hospital transport (see below), our in-house teams are still looking for volunteers on many fronts.- If you can help out with the clubs at Roger de Clare on Thursdays, at lunchtime and after school, please speak to John or Caroline. This request has been running for some time, but we do need people from the church family to be involved, to help create relationships between the benefice and these children.- If you are willing to bake for the café, please speak to Deborah or Rebecca.- If you are willing to join our Sunday reading, intercession or coffee making rotas, please speak to the church wardens.- If there’s another job you can see would be helpful, and are willing to undertake it, please speak to John!Standon and Puckeridge Hospital Transport Scheme: HELP - MORE DRIVERS NEEDED: This is a small band of volunteers who take people registered at the Health Centre on Station Road, Puckeridge, to medical appointments. They offer a ‘there and back’ service to hospitals, clinics and the Health Centre. Generally, the time taken is between 1 and 3 hours depending on the destination.Drivers are reimbursed at a mileage rate of 45p per mile for their door to door round trip. Please speak to Wendy or contact her on 07922 519174 to either offer your services or find out more. Thank you.Concert in memory of Len Sparks: We have a new date for the concert which had to be postponed from the autumn. It is 4th February. Tickets will be available soon.Website: Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page is: www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/benefice. Please visit it to see the range of information there.Services for the next few weeksMidweek services each week:Tuesdays, 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP), St Catherine’sWednesdays, 9.30 am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary’sFor the next few weeks, we will be looking in our midweek services at the later chapters of Acts. Often, study of the book of Acts doesn’t get to the latter part, so we will start at chapter 21. Please join us if you’d like to explore these passages with us.Sunday services:1st January 8.00am Holy Communion, St Mary's10.30am Morning worship, All Saints8th January 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints15th January 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Holy communion, All Saints4.00pm The Centre, All Saints22nd January 10.30am Family worship, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints6.30pm Choral evensong, St Mary's29th January 10.30am Morning worship, St Catherine's
This weekend’s Bible readings: Psalm 80 (p 592) and Matthew 1:18-25 (p 965)Advent appeal: We have supported the foodbank for a number of years, and never has the demand for their services been greater than it is now. Karen and her team support families in our villages as well as in Buntingford and other surrounding villages. Last year, our advent appeal raised enough for us to organise online grocery deliveries well into this year, and that has made a significant difference to the support Karen is able to offer. In the last 12 months, we have funded over £5,000 of those deliveries, as well as the groceries we have collected in the boxes in our churches.Key facts: Each box of goods they deliver to a family costs £30-£50; They support approximately 70 families each month - this is increasing month on month.You can support our appeal- by leaving contributions in the boxes in our churches,- by collecting an item each day during advent, to be delivered after Christmas (Reverse Advent Calendar),- by contributing financially online,- by giving a financial contribution to any of our treasurers or- by putting financial contributions in the appeal envelopes and into the collection bag.There are fliers at the back of all our churches. Please ask Caroline if you would like more information.Christmas Crackers 15th December: Thank you to everyone who supported the concert on Thursday evening. More than £1,000 was donated to the Hertfordshire Community Foundation, and FOSM raised £332 from serving refreshments.St Mary’s Carol service next THURSDAY: Please remember that our carol services are not on Sundays this year. The one in St Mary’s is on Thursday evening, 22nd December, at 7.00pm. Please join us if you can for this candlelit celebration of the Christmas story.Walking Advent calendar: Have you seen all the Walking Advent Windows yet? Have you or your dog, children or Grandma found and noted where the Baby Jesus are hiding? If not, then there’s time to get out and have a good look again. You'll have the chance to show how observant you are at the Christingle service at St Mary's on Saturday 24th December 5.00pm. A prize is waiting there for the best window. The windows will stay up over the Christmas holiday for your chance to walk off the turkey! https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/page/79423/view/Carols round the tree in Standon High Street 20th December: This year, we will gather at 6.30 pm on Tuesday 20th in Standon High Street to sing carols round the Christmas tree. Unfortunately, the date has inadvertently been missed out of the PS magazine, so please let friends and neighbours know when it is.Christingle preparation Friday 23rd December: We need helpers, please, at 2pm in St. Mary’s church. Please see John if you can help with this. We need lots of helpers to prepare for both services!Stamps and postcards for TLM: Gwen has received a letter from TLM to let us know that they will no longer be collecting used stamps and postcards after this year.We suggest that in future stamps could be handed in at the Community coffee morning or at Standon post office who collect for charity, or given to Lizzy, who collects them for EDS research. We don't know of anyone who wants postcards; if you do, please let us know.Volunteers still sought for school clubs: We are still looking for volunteers to help out with the clubs at Roger de Clare on Thursdays, at lunchtime and after school. Please speak to John or Caroline.Concert in memory of Len Sparks: We have a new date for the concert which had to be postponed from the autumn. It is 4th February. Tickets will be available in the New Year.Website: Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page is: www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/benefice. Please visit it to see the range of information there.Services for the next few weeksMidweek services each week:Tuesdays, 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP), St Catherine'sWednesdays, 9.30am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary'sChristmas services18th December 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Holy communion, All Saints22nd December (Thursday) 7.00pm Nine lessons & carols, St Mary's24th December (Saturday) 3.00pm Christingle, All Saints5.00pm Christingle, St Mary's7.30pm Carols by candlelight, St Catherine's11.30pm Midnight communion, St Mary's25th December 10.30am Christmas worship & communion, All Saints10.30am Christmas Worship, St Mary'sSunday services:1st January 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Morning worship, All Saints8th January 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's4.00pm The Centre, All Saints15th January 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's10.30am Holy communion, All Saints4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
