I hope you are all well and have had a good week.Here we are at the beginning of May so I thought you might like a picture of the Green Man in Church, a traditional symbol for this time of year.Christian Aid Week starts on 10 May with climate crisis being its main focus of attention. The climate crisis is having a devastating impact on communities in Kenya. Right now, families struggle to survive without a reliable water source. Every day, they walk further, dig deeper and build stronger to survive. Unrelenting. Determined.This climate crisis hurts us all. But people living in poverty fight the worst of it every day. From drought to flooding, climate change robs people of control over their lives. Extreme weather means people like Rose are struggling to survive without a reliable source of water. You can lean more about Rose’s story here:- https://www.christianaid.org.uk/appeals-key-appeals/christian-aid-week/christian-aid-week-roses-storyYour gift could help a community build an earth dam, so when the rains do come, they will have the water they need to live. A reliable source of water will help families withstand long drought or relentless rainstorms.Every envelope. Every gift. Every challenge can change lives. There will be envelopes available in Church for the next two Sundays which can be returned to the Post Office in Moore thanks to Don and Elaine. However Christian Aid are encouraging us to give using their e-envelopes which can be labelled to our Church. You will find the e-envelope here:-https://envelope.christianaid.org.uk/envelope/all-saints-church-daresbury?channel=copy. We have given ourselves the challenging target of £500, but if everyone on this circulation list gave £10 we would raise over 3 times this. With everything else going on in the world at the moment, it seems the least we can do. To find out more about Christian Aid’s work, go here:-https://www.christianaid.org.uk/?_ga=2.130203398.869781763.1619888889-2094438108.1619888889Tomorrow's service is attached.With God's blessing,David
We are holding Annual Meetings for the election of Churchwardens, PCC members and report on the work of the PCC over the last year on Thursday 20th May 2021 at 7.30pm via Zoom. Please find attached a copy of our Annual Report which you may find interesting. If you want to join us the meeting Zoom details are:-https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85074281502?pwd=TFpFR01SNXB6Y3B3eTZJTTJaL0FhQT09Meeting ID: 850 7428 1502Passcode: 215667
I hope you and all your family are well and enjoying the late April sunshine. Whatever happened to April showers?! The Church of England has been in the news this week quite a bit this last week. It started with the Panorama programme on BBC1 on Monday asking the question as to whether the Church is racist. It was a very challenging programme and well worth watching on iPlayer if you missed it first time around. Later in the week, the Church published the report of its Anti-Racism Task force. It’s a very important document and you can find it here https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/FromLamentToAction-report.pdf. Please give some time to read it. ‘Racism is a sin,’ as the Archbishop of York said yesterday, and ‘[l]ike all sin it must be confronted with a call to repentance and with the healing, reconciling promise of the gospel.’ You can read the rest of his comments here:- https://www.archbishopofyork.org/speaking-and-writing/archbishop-yorks-presidential-address-general-synod This is an issue that affects and concerns each one of us, whatever our background and whether or not we have a faith. Thanks to all those who supported our special appeals over the last few weeks. The Lent appeal for USPG’s climate education programme in India raised £100. The Easter Appeal for Church funds raised £250. Both of these appeals are subject to a very small deduction by our bank who administer these special appeals on our behalf. A follow up to what I said last week about the changes in marriage procedure. From the 4th May we will not be able to issue Marriage Certificates for weddings that have happened in the past. That will now be done by the Town Hall Registrar. This will be particularly important for those of you who have to provide Certificates for a new passport, mortgage application etc. On a lighter note, I discovered a sleepy hedgehog by the church this week. Have a look at the photo at the top of this news item. It’s been moved to a place of safety and this morning I noticed that it has moved on. Don’t forget to reserve your seat for tomorrow morning’s service here:- https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/all-saints-church-daresbury-15013411336 Gill has already sent out the service for tomorrow in her earlier email but it is also attached With God’s blessing, David