We now have a map of St James’ Church with various points of interest highlighted. Thanks to Alison for producing this.The map is displayed in the porch notice board- do come and have a look, you might find something you didn’t know was there.
If you’re interested in nature and fancy spotting some wildlife, please come along to the churchyard at St James Church, Acton Trussell to take part in a week-long nature count from 3rd to 11th June. During the week everyone is invited to visit the churchyard at a time to suit you and to spend some time discovering the rich wildlife there, recording what you find and the combined results will be added to the National Biodiversity Nerwork’s database of wildlife in the UK.There will be count sheets and pencils in the church porch to make a note of what you find at the time of your visit plus some information about popular species. Please can you complete the visitors list so we see how many nature lovers come to visit.Please leave your completed count sheets in the polyfolder in the church porch.This initiative is promoted by the conservation charities Caring for God’s Acre, A Rocha UK and the Church of England. The Caring for God’s Acre website (caringforgodsacre.org.uk) gives lots of useful information about what you might want to look for and count. You don’t have to be an expert and children would be especially welcome.You don’t need to know the exact name of the plant or insect although you could look it up- you could count bees, butterflies, ladybirds, buttercups, or even molehills. You could count the number of different types of wildflowers you see and name some of them if you can! There is a conservation meadow at the rear of the churchyard so the longer grass may have some interesting things to count.Please join the Count on Nature at St James and remember Be Safe, Be Sensitive to your surroundings, close the church gate and above all ENJOY.
On this beautiful holiday weekend, hope you are making the most of the sunshine. Here is a message from Rev Delphine for Pentecost and also an activity to do at home.Message from Rev DelphineDid you know that Pentecost is the official Birthday of the Christian Church (Eleanor’s candle idea is very appropriate for a Birthday). Well, what happened, you might ask, on this special day. The disciples were together in a room in Jerusalem because it was a Jewish Harvest Festival and Jerusalem was packed with people coming to worship and celebrate at the Temple. The Disciples didn’t feel like having a party, they were miserable because Jesus had just returned to God, leaving them on their own. They had forgotten that Jesus had promised He would send them something to help them, and that Jesus had said “I will never leave you” (that goes for us too).Suddenly there was a sound like a wind blowing and above their heads were tongues of fire – Jesus’ helper, the Holy Spirit had arrived! They were suddenly full of energy, smiling, laughing, and wanting to tell the people gathered in the street below, all about Jesus. The Holy Spirit helped them with what to say and everyone, even those that spoke a different language, understood. It was the day that Jesus’ Church was born!The Holy Spirit is a super charger. It is a bit like a mobile phone, it won’t work unless we charge it, and we won’t work to the best of our ability unless we plug into God, and we do that through prayer. God, through Jesus, will send us the Holy Spirit to help us be energised Christians . Happy Birthday to us all because we are Jesus’ Church!Activity - Pentecost Candle The Pentecost Candle shown below is very easy to make with some card and coloured pens, pencils or crayons. Before you roll the card into a candle shape and stick the ends with sellotape you need to write some words of Greeting in different languages just as Delphine mentioned in her message. See how many words you can think of and ask your family and friends if they know some more. You can start with Hello, Hi, Hola, Bonjour, Ciao, Shalom. Add a brightly coloured flame on top of your Pentecost Candle and remember the Holy Spirit.Best wishes from Eleanor, Delphine and the Messy Church Team
