In Touch Keeping you informed

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1 FEBRUARY 2017 In Touch What s happening in the life of St Andrew s and St Bartholomew s Time Out Often in life we need time out. Time out to recover, refresh, refocus, re-energise, release, revision, rethink, recollect, and so on. It may be a holiday, a weekend away, a short break, a day off, a sabbatical, or a season in the year to set special time aside. This is why LENT is a special time in the year. Not to give up chocolate, or some other obsession, but to spend time out recalibrating one s spiritual life. They say it takes 6 weeks to break a habit, and 6 weeks to adopt a habit. Lent gives us just over 6 weeks to create new directions. It may involve us taking on or cutting out a personal habit. This is just a private decision between us and God. I thoroughly recommend this as a practice during Lent. But it can also mean deciding to join in a corporate activity with other Christians. Hence, The Lent Course. This year we are offering a three stream course. Each week will be a standalone so you can opt for a different stream each week. The three steams will be: Theology A Route Through the Passion Week with Dan Button. Worship Passion Story through worship, prayer, and reflection with Rhiannon and Ben. Godly Play The Mystery of God s Presence in our lives. With Alison. Ash Wednesday starts Lent on 1 st March with a service together at 7.30pm. Then the three stream course will follow for 5 weeks on Wednesdays from 8 th March to 5 th April. Then we will come back together for Maundy Thursday on 13 th April. Each evening will be from 7.30pm to 8.45pm. We will even kick off preparing for Lent with pancakes at FUEL on Sunday 26 th February. More details on the course streams will follow, but why not decide now to embrace the time during Lent to refocus our lives? This will be Time Out well spent. Repent then and turn to God.that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Acts 3.19 Jonathan 1

2 OUR CHURCH DAN BUTTON UP IN - OUT 5 YEAR PLAN IN ACTION FRIDAY MUMS CONNECT GROUP Every Friday morning, a group of mums meet at church for an hour of bible study and prayer. Started by Victoria Davenport, has gone from strength to strength. We regularly have 12+ mums and whilst most are from our church congregation, we welcome other local mums. On Wednesday 25 th January, on the Feast of the Conversion of St.Paul, at St.Andrew s, Dan Button was officially licensed by the Bishop of Tewkesbury as Assistant Priest. In the words from the biblical account in Acts 9, may Dan be a chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles. We formally welcome Dan to the staff team, even though he has been on team since last September! What makes this group so special is that a crèche runs at the same time, looking after the children so that the mums can have an hour of uninterrupted fellowship. If you ve ever had a baby or toddler around, you ll know how rare it is to get a moment by yourself (even to go to the bathroom!). If you were to ask one of our mums how important this weekly group is, they would all say that it is absolutely essential for their spiritual growth and feeling of connectedness. They live for their Friday mornings. Our crèche has lost some wonderful helpers and we are now very short of helpers. Alison does a fantastic job, as do the couple of other helpers we have, but we need more help desperately. BLT SOUP BOOKS There are still some books available,@ 5 each. Thank you to all who have bought them for themselves, family and friends. We are now in profit and have been able to donate to the James Hopkins Trust. The books are available from the office, Traidcraft stall, or Betsy Wilson. Could this be you? You don t have to be young, a Mum, or female! You could be a grandparent or someone who has never had their own children. You would have to enjoy playing with little people, reading them stories and generally having fun. If you want to know more, please talk to me (sarah@thehays.org) or Alison Summerskill. Thank you on behalf of our gorgeous little people and wonderful mums. Sarah Hay 2

3 CHILDREN S MISSION Gracie Drake ( Our Group member aged 9), writes about Children s Mission: Our Group, Faith Rocks and Shining Stars have been learning about the parables and how God s Kingdom is a lot different from ours. After learning about Jesus helping others, we decided to help others as well. This is because the Bible is not just a storybook, it is trying to tell us something. One of those things is that when you help others it doesn t just make them happy, it makes you feel happy too. are going to make sure that the Church knows everything that happens because we are working with them. So you ll be hearing a lot more about this during the year. Gracie Drake So we are helping a life changing group called Gloucestershire Autism Support (GAS). This group helps people with Autism of all ages, by running sessions where you can get answers to your questions and where kids can have fun so that their families don t feel alone. Part of how we are helping, is that we are running quarterly fundraising in the Church that everyone can join in. You can do stuff like: Bake something Knit, crochet or sew something Paint something Do sponsored events like football Pray for GAS The first event is in the foyer on the 5 th February. GAS also collect old felt tip pens, used baby food pouches and used Tassimo coffee capsules to recycle them for money. To help we have put bins around the Church building and we are asking everyone to bring in these items if they have any. We know the people that run GAS really well, so we Please help us by putting old felt tip pens, used baby food pouches and used Tassimo coffee capsules in these bins. 3

4 Join us on: Tuesday 21st February at 7.30pm or Thursday 23rd at 2.30pm to find out more about life through the eyes of women in the Philippines Am I being unfair to you? Review of 2016 Our evening and afternoon meetings over the year provided reflection on faith and social issues including: Jodie on her vision of The Region and her ongoing journey; Ben Lillie about The Rock; Life in Cuba; Joyce Wheatley on faith and prayer; Sara on adoption; and Christmas meditations. It was also good to have new members attend some of the meetings - everyone is always welcome. MU nationally continues to be involved with campaigning to challenge worldwide social injustices. It lobbies the UK government on issues affecting family life and in December took a petition to Downing Street asking the Government to reconsider charging abused partners for the use of the Child Maintenance Service which is often the only safe way for the money to be collected from the abusive partner. It also speaks out for gender equality at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and is involved with the 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence, raising awareness and enabling communities to find practical and sustainable long term solutions which help women gain respect and thereby reduce violence towards them. Prayer is such a vital part of MU s work and our branch is delighted that we have been taken on under the umbrella of St Andrew s Mission Team for prayer support. Thank you to everyone who has helped in any way to raise funds and support MU initiatives. If you d like to receive our monthly branch newsletter please let me know at: janet.wkfld@gmail.com Janet Ross Fundraising events and donations raised just over 1300 for MU projects. The monies were raised through a coffee morning, the Mothering Sunday cake stall, Lent Blessings, Strawberry Tea, a social evening and donations. 750 of this was raised for AFIA (Away From It All holidays) which helps MU in Gloucestershire provide a holiday for families who would otherwise find it difficult or impossible. Ongoing funds are needed to ensure that those experiencing stress in their family life can have a much needed break together. 4

5 WOMEN S WORLD DAY OF PRAYER MISSION TEAM This year the local Women s World Day of Prayer service will be held at: St. Andrew s, Churchdown, Friday 3 rd March. Coffee and Philippino refreshments from Service at 10.30am This service is open to all. If you have never been to one of the amazing services then why not come along this year. Catherine Rowland. Am I Being Unfair to You? On Friday 3 rd March over 5,000 services will be held in the British Isles on the theme of Am I Being Unfair to You?. The Christian women of the Philippines wrote the service and it has been translated into 1,000 different languages and dialects, to be used throughout the whole world. In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan named locally as Yolanda struck the Philippine Islands in the western Pacific Ocean. This is mentioned in the service but you will also hear the stories of a girl, a mother and an older woman, recounting their situations, hopes and fears. The service focuses on the Bible story of the workers in the vineyard: Matthew 20 v The Day of Prayer is not just for women. Everyone is welcome to attend the service. We would love our mission links to be prayed for more by people in the church and in connect groups. A small team of us meet monthly to pray for our links, and we receive up-to-date and specific prayer requests each time before we meet. We thought that some of you might like to receive these prayer requests and pray for them at home. We find it a great way to feel closer to the amazing people and projects we support, and to know that God is blessing those people through our prayers. These are the individuals/organisations from whom we receive specific requests and news: Mark and Rosalie Balfour soon going to Guatemala Daniel and Ema Fast, in Romania Mike Frith - OSCAR Paul Hobbs Christian artist Daniel Lemadada pastor in Kenya Samara s Aid relief for Syrian refugees Seurr Sangida Trust (Gill Pulei, Bex Maugham s mum orphanage in Kenya) Shuli family in Belgium, outreach in Albania Warner family outreach in Spain Please sign up with your address on the sheets at the back of the church - and do pray for them at home and/or in your Connect Group. Thank you! Rosie Button 5

6 KNITTING FOR REFUGEES Samara s Aid Knitting for Syrian Refugees The knitting community of St Andrew s, which meets at the coffee shop each Thursday, has been producing items for children over several months, to be sent to Syrian refugees. On Thursday 19th January the finished items were delivered to church as requested (many items came from knitting friends from elsewhere too) and we were overwhelmed by the amount of fantastic knitted goods. These included many cardigans, numerous hats, blankets for children and babies, and toys. Some of our creative knitters had made glove puppets and teddy bears of different sizes; 83 teddies to be precise! Wow! What a blessing, to us and, most importantly, to refugee children and their families who will receive these goods. Four boxes were taken to Norton church to be included in the current consignment of aid. Thank you to all who contributed to this amazing effort. St Andrew s Knitters knit (and crochet) for various charities, at home and abroad, all through the year. We re always to delighted to welcome anyone, no matter what level of expertise you may possess! Liz Robertson and Anne Ewart 6

7 Philippa Hanna in concert Supported by the Beacon Gospel Choir Friday February 10th, 7.30pm St. Laurence Church, Stroud One of the biggest names in UK Gospel music, acclaimed singer-songwriter Philippa Hanna has released several studio albums, an EP and a live DVD, and published two autobiographical books. As one of the most sought-after acoustic performers in the UK, she has opened tours for acts including Lionel Richie, Anastacia, Leona Lewis, Wet Wet Wet, Little Mix and Collabro. 7

8 WORSHIP FOR FEBRUARY 17 All services will be at St Andrew s unless otherwise stated 5 th February 4 th Sunday before Lent 10:30am All Age Communion 3.30pm Evening St.Bartholomew 12 th February 3 rd Sunday before Lent 10.30am Morning Worship 11am Matins@ St.Bartholomew 19 th February 2 nd Sunday before Lent 10:30am Morning Worship 26 th February Sunday before Lent 10:30am Morning Worship 3.30pm Holy St.Bartholomew 5 th March First Sunday in Lent 10:30am All Age Communion 3.30pm Evening St.Bartholomew Weekday Services 9:00 am Monday to Friday in the Quiet Room - Morning Prayer 10:00 am every Thursday in the Quiet Room Holy Communion USEFUL CONTACTS The Vicar Jonathan Perkin Associate Minister Clodagh Ingram Curate Ben Lillie Theology Pastor Dan Button Children s Worker & Reader Alison Summerskill Youth Pastor Jay Niblett Youth Intern Daisy Cordery Creative Pastor Rhiannon Davies Churchwardens Nigel Oakes Kevin Sadler Administrators Loraine Yates Chris Porter Treasurer Rachel Limbrick Assistant Treasurers Alice Oakes, Di Rowe PCC Secretary Enid Castle St Andrew s Church Centre Station Road, Churchdown Gloucester GL3 2JT T: E: admin@standrewschurchdown Office Hours Monday-Friday pm 8