December 24 th Christmas Eve

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1 WARWICK TEAM MINISTRY Christmas/New Year Newsletter WELCOME TO OUR SERVICES. If you are a newcomer to St Mary s Church, or a visitor to the area, please introduce yourself to one of the sidespeople or the clergy. We hope that you enjoy worshipping with us. Communicant members of any Christian church are welcome to make their communion with us. If you do not wish to receive communion, but would like to receive God s blessing, simply hold this service booklet when you come to the altar rail. St Mary s seeks to be an inclusive church and welcoming to people of all ages and backgrounds. We have a carpeted area and pew bags available for the youngest members of our congregation, if they wish to use it. And they may like to take an adult with them! If you re a UK tax payer the money you place in the collection can be increased by around 25% if you fill out a blue envelope in the nave chairs or by the main entrance and allow us to retrieve the tax you ve already paid & put it towards the work of St Mary s. Further information about St Mary s, our life and ministry can be found on the website on Twitter and Facebook. Please note that for legal and copyright reasons the taking of videos, photographs and recordings is not permitted during services. December 24 th Christmas Eve 4.00pm Crib Service See special Order of Service 11.15pm Midnight Mass See special Order of Service

2 Preacher: 10.00am Preacher: Reading: Intercessor: Assistants: December 25 th Christmas Day Holy Communion (BCP Said) Vaughan Roberts Choral Family Eucharist (Common Worship: Order 1) Vaughan Roberts Isaiah 9. 2, 6-7 A Church Warden Alycia Timmis Victoria Bartholomew & Helen Fitzpatrick, Noel Reeve, Christine Smeaton, Richard Warren & Sue Hughes NO Choral Evensong December 31 st Christmas 1 No Holy Communion (BCP Said) 10.30am Preacher: Reading: Intercessor: Assistants: Parish Eucharist (Common Worship: Order 1) Vaughan Roberts Galatians 4: 4-7 Alan Faulkner George Mullis Richard Warren & Victoria Bartholomew Coffee, drinks & biscuits are served afterwards All welcome! Acting Director of Music: Mark Swinton

3 NOTICES THE VICAR WRITES: Advent and Christmas is an incredibly busy time at St Mary s and I would like to thank our churchwardens John Luxton, Gail Guest, David Benson, Godfrey Hill; our verging team John, Mark, Phil and Sue; our curate Alycia Timmis; our Lay Reader Doreen; our Music Department Mark, Peter, Paddy and all our musicians plus all family and friends who support; Mary & John Adams our Treasurers, Sally and all who work on Reception; Dee Pipkin and everyone who works in our shop; Felicity Bostock and Glynis Nixon for all their hard work in the Parish Office; Carol, Gill and our sidespeople; Vicky Bartholomew, Grahame Edmonds and everyone who helps with serving during worship; plus all who read and lead intercessions; the flower team for marvellous decorations; plus our church guides. It is an incredible collegial effort and everyone s contribution is much appreciated. I would also like to add my thanks to everyone who has sent Christmas wishes to the Rectory such kindnesses are gratefully received. HAPPY CHRISTMAS & JOYFUL NEW YEAR TO ALL! THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the Christmas Tree Festival including all who decorated trees, musicians and schools who played and sang, our receptionists, guides and refreshments team, our church office and vergers who all made the event such a success and joy for the 4,000 visitors who came through St Mary s & the contribution to church funds is a very welcome The winning trees are: Organisations & Businesses Winner Hill Close Gardens Runners up Warwick Bell Ringers Children s trees Winner Warwickshire Young Carers Runners up Warwick Nursey School GOOD REPAIR: It s excellent to complete the repairs to the south wall of St Mary s nave. This has been a major undertaking which we discovered when replacing the guttering around the church. The water ingress has caused significant problems on that side, particularly over our shop so it is good to have that finally fixed. CONFIRMATION: Vaughan and Alycia are planning confirmation classes for next term. If you re interested and would like to find out more about what it involves please speak to them. JANUARY S PRAYER DIARY is in this edition of the newsletter for folk to take away and use to support St Mary s and wider ministry of the Church.

4 LOOKING AHEAD: Much more is also already planned for There are full details of the Lent Addresses in this newsletter. There are many challenging issues for us when reading the Bible, which is why it often comes up in St Mary s 8EQs surveys and in national questionnaires about Christian belief and practice. That s why we ve invited a group of nationally renowned speakers to help tackle some of key areas of concern. And before that on Sunday 24 th Jan we shall be welcoming Oliver Hancock, our new Director of Music, at a special service of Choral Evensong. This will be at 4pm which enables choristers from Portsmouth Cathedral to be with us (and it doesn t clash with the Churches Together Unity Service at ). LOOKING BACK: It was a delight to have our first Christmas Carol service recorded by BBC Coventry & Warwickshire on 17 th Dec. If you d like to relive that Christmas celebration tune in on Christmas Eve at 6pm or Christmas Day at 6am. Also on Christmas Eve at 7pm on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire Wedge s Warwickshire will feature a behind the scenes look at St Mary s. There will be interviews with many who support the ministry of this church, mixed in with information about St Mary s and music chosen by interviewees. Both programmes should also be available to listen to afterwards on the BBC iplayer. PRAYER OF THE WEEK Father God, we thank you for the gift of your Sonour guiding light of the world, Open our eyes and our hearts to the Word of God made flesh this Christmas. Help us to live the Christmas story all year round. May we show the courage and humility of Mary and Joseph, The joy and wonder of the Shepherds, And the wisdom and perseverance of the Wise men, We ask this through Your only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen. HELP REQUIRED: Thank you to those from our congregation who have volunteered for Choir Chaperoning duties that is much appreciated. If you ve been thinking about this and would like to help, it s not too late! We currently only have one member of musical staff for our choirs, so we desperately need volunteers to cover rehearsals cannot take place if only one adult is present. From January onwards, we will continue to need volunteers as we are without an Organ Scholar and rehearsals will often be divided between our Director and Assistant Director. The rehearsals most needing cover now, quite urgently, are Tuesdays pm. Offers of help on Wednesdays ( pm) and Fridays ( pm) will still be appreciated. There is an online rota which we can give you a link for so you can sign up - we will be very grateful for any help! Please speak to Mark Swinton, Paddy Barr or Margaret Gayler, or Margaret at mgayleruk@yahoo.co.uk

5 WARWICK POPPIES One of our flower ladies is making poppies from plastic bottles. If you have any empty bottles and are able to bring them in these can be left at reception. CHURCHES TOGETHER IN WARWICK EVENTS Sat 30 th Healing in the Street) in the Market Square BELL RINGERS: This year, the Coventry Diocesan Guild of Church Bell Ringers held its annual Carol Service at St Mary s, with over 100 members and friends in attendance. The bells of St Nicholas and the 10 fine bells of St Marys were rung throughout the afternoon. The bell ringers choir, assembled by Barbara Howes and directed by Richard Taulbut sang traditional carols, John Newbold played the organ and Karen French was resplendent in her pearly queen costume, handing out the service sheets. Joy Pluckrose had written a moving service around the football game played between the German and British soldiers in the trenches during WW1. Ian Wilson looked the part in a genuine WWI uniform and delivered the dialogue with warmth and humour. Members of the youth team also took part and the hand bells were rung. Thanks to everyone for making the service so successful. OUT NOW! During 2015 Vaughan was fortunate to have a 3 month period of sabbatical study leave, which he used to undertake a number of writing projects that have all now seen the light of day during 2017, including: A chapter on folk music for The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion & Popular Music came out in May, and which he s very grateful for the assistance of Dick Dixon of Warwick Folk Festival in putting that together. A 28 page Grove Booklet entitled The Power of Story to Change a Church was published in August. It costs 3.95 but signed copies at a special St Mary s price of 3.50 can be found in our shop. An extended study on the same topic called Leading by Story: Rethinking Church Leadership co-written with David Sims from the Cass Business School in London was published in September. That costs 25 but again signed copies at a special St Mary s price of 20 can also be purchased from our shop.

6 VISIT St Mary s Gift Shop Christmas stock Cards for every Occasion & Gifts in Stock CD s, Trays and Candles, St Mary s Tea Towels & Notelets St Mary s Gift shop can supply stamps at normal price but buying them from the shop gives the church a small profit. PRAYERS FOR THOSE WHO ARE ILL: Flo Carpenter, Sian Barnett, Christopher Browne, Clifford Browne, Mandeep Madar, Jack Dixon, Gwen Shilton PRAYERS FOR THE DEPARTED: Mary Formstone, Thomas Plant THIS WEEK: Beginning 24 th December Wednesday 27 th 10.00am Holy Communion 5.30pm NO Choral Evensong Friday 29 th 5.30pm NO Choral Evensong NO Holy Communion Holy Communion Holy Communion FORTHCOMING SUNDAY SERVICES Sunday 31 st December Christmas am Parish Eucharist & NO Choral Evensong Carols Sunday 7 th January Epiphany am 11.00am Family Service & Choral Matins Camels Choral Eucharist Sunday 14 th January Epiphany am Choral Eucharist Choral Evensong Holy Communion Sunday 21 st January Epiphany am 4.00pm Choral Eucharist Choral Evensong & welcome of new Director of Music Parish Office: (01926) Felicity Bostock parishadministrator@stmaryswarwick.org.uk Glynis Nixon - admin@stmaryswarwick.org.uk CTW Unity Service Castle Hill Baptist Church