Offering our times and giftsAll the time we need our members and friends to ‘get involved’, in all sorts of ways. Here are examples of the areas in which we would welcome offers of help:WORSHIPWelcomer'sAltar ServersReaders and IntercessorsHelp with refreshmentsADMINISTRATIONSecretarial and admin supportPUBLICITYGraphic design skills‘Scallop Shell’ writers, editors. assemblers and distributorsMAINTENANCERegular cleaning on rotaOccasional maintenance jobsChurchyard gardeningFlowers for decorationCOMMUNITYInvolvements with local organizations and charitiesLocal support for national charitiesVolunteering for helping agencies locallyHelp with organizing church/community social eventsPASTORAL WORKCaring for neighboursVisitingWhat are your particular skills? Contact Canon Colin Gough to discuss these and other possibilities (581100)Offering our Money for God’s workAll that we have comes from God and part of our Christian commitment must be to return a portion of it in support for the Church’s work locally and nationally. The Church of England invites its members to work towards giving 5% of our incomes for this purpose (and hopes that a further 5% will be offered to other charities etc you want to support) . Because of ‘Gift Aid’, if you are a tax payer, your gift can be enhanced by a further 25% through the church being able to reclaim the tax you have paid on what you give. What St James’ needs is to know what income it can expect and to be receiving it regularly through the year. Please will you ‘share responsibility’?Friends of St James’ ChurchA company of ‘Friends’ has been formed to provide extra financial support for ongoing maintenance and repair work that the church will require in years to come. This will be of special interest to those who have Shilbottle links but perhaps don’t live here anymore. You can have individual or joint membership on an annual or lifetime basis.The Open Church ProjectMajor repair work to the Church tower will take place. This will be accompanied by other work which will increase the flexibility of use for the building as our ministry develops, providing open space in the building for music, drama, displays and work with children, serviced with the provision of disabled toilet facilities and a servery for refreshments. You can read more about this in the Open Church section of the websiteWe invite donations to further this workFor further information about the Project and to make other offers of help, contact Christopher Lendrum: 575846
SundayThe regular Sunday service is at 10am at St James.This is usually a service of Holy Communion with hymns lasting 1 hr.About every six-eight weeks we have a more informal Cafe style gathering.This weeks services can be found on the notices here MondayHoly Communion This service is held in the Haven Community Room Every first Monday at 10:30 am for ½ hour. Coffee is served after the service.WednesdayHoly Communion Every Wednesday at 9:30 am for ½ hourYou will be welcome at any of our services. We use the Anglican forms of worship with dignity yet in an informal way that encourages the engagement and participation of all. Perhaps the short comments above will help you identify something that sounds right for you. THURSDAYAfternoon ChurchAfternoon Church comprises a short service in church, with one or two hymns, followed by a cuppa and an opportunity to have a good chat. The idea is that those who find being part of a full length church service difficult could at least spend some time in the building in both worship and fellowship, and catch up with people they haven’t seen in a while. We meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at 2pm.If you feel that this is something that might help you, then please do come along, you will be very welcome! And if you need a friend to help you get to church, they would be welcome too. We do now have a wheelchair kept in church if you feel the path is too much for you.We also welcome support from our regular church worshipers, and other members of the community, who can add to the fellowship.
Having your Funeral Service at St James’ ShilbottleWhat better way is there of marking the end of your earthly life than for your body to be brought into Church for a final time so that family, friends and neighbours can thank God for your life and discipleship, pray for you and commit you to God’s safekeeping for all eternity? We would like to encourage all parishioners (whether regular churchgoers or not) to think of ordering things in this way, prior to burial or cremation.Preparing for one’s deathBut even before that, invite the Church to be closely involved in your dying, if you know that it is upon you. We will want to support you with our prayer and practical help; you could have Holy Communion brought to you at home or in hospital; it can become an opportunity for engaging with the living God and allowing yourself to be sustained by him. In the first instance, make contact with the church (01665 575705) so that you can explore all of these issues together and even perhaps make preparations for your funeral service when the time comes.There will also be other things to which you will want to attend:making sure that your Will is as you want it to bedoing what is within your power to mend any broken relationshipsexpressing your thankfulness to God and others precious to youensuring that your family knows what your wishes are as your health deteriorates further and of your preferences about funerals, donations in your memory etc.The Churchyard at St James’ has been closed for some years, though burials of bodies or of cremated remains can be made in existing family graves. We are fortunate in having a fine Cemetery adjacent, which is the responsibility of Shilbottle Parish Council.What needs to be done? When someone dies, it becomes the responsibility of the next of kin (or executor) to register the death and to make funeral arrangements. Funeral Directors will be willing to do much of the arranging for you. Please give them clear direction about where the service is to be held and who should be asked to preside at it.Prior to cremation or burial (traditional or ‘woodland’), a service can be held at St James’ or at a Crematorium, led by our own parish clergy. Occasionally families have asked for a brief service at the Crematorium, followed by a Thanksgiving Service for all friends and neighbours in Church. All of these arrangements can be made between the Funeral Director and the officiating minister.The Minister will always want to meet with the closest family and learn more about the person who has died, and is more than willing to offer and receive suggestions about the funeral service itself.Bereavement is a process that can stretch over some years. The Church wants to offer its support and to encourage the bereaved to use this as a time for renewing their own relationship with God. We can offer friendship as well as pastoral support and spiritual comfort.Each year (usually at the turn of October and November) we invite bereaved families to a Memorial Service at which those who have died in the past year are remembered by name in the prayers. Anyone can also add names to the list of those to be prayed for, in the preceding weeks.Families can ask that the name of someone who has died be entered in the Memorial Book in Church. Donations and gifts in memory are also welcomed: please ask Cynthia Bishop about all of these things.Contact Cynthia Bishop (01665 575705) for further information and enquiries. See also: https://churchofenglandfunerals.org/
What is it all about?Asking to have a child christened of baptised (another name for the same occasion) demonstrates that you want God to have a real influence in the child’s life – not just on Christening Day, but for ever. At Baptism, God pours his Spirit into us (demonstrated by the ‘washing’ with water)and we become truly his (symbolized by being ‘signed’ with a cross).So the person being christened becomes Christ’s and a member of Christ’s family, the Church. Being part of the church and sharing in its worship, learning and service over many years means that we grow in understanding about what it means to be a Christian and are strengthened in our witness and service. What we hope for is to be close to God – now and in Heaven, once this earthly life is over.How can I arrange this?Contact the Vicar, The Reverend Helen O’Sullivan (01665 712002) to talk things through in plenty of time in advance. Normally you must live within the parish of Shilbottle, or attend worship here regularly or have had some contact with the church in the past. We will invite you to come and worship with us, invite you and the godparents to a preparation session and have given you options of when the service can take place.A child being christened, usually has godparents – perhaps up to three, but at least one. Godparents have themselves to have been baptised.What happens after the service?We hope that you will continue to bring your children to worship with us and play a full part as members of the Church family.We can baptize people of any age, though by the age of 12 on-wards, we’d expect this to be followed by Confirmation, usually at the same ceremony.For further information about Baptism, see the Church of England’s website – www.churchofengland.christenings.org We will do our best to make this a joyful and memorable day for you and your family and friends!
