This weekend’s Bible readings:
Psalm 62 (p 579)
Choral evensong this weekend:
The benefice choir will lead our monthly service of choral evensong at 6.00 this Sunday in St Mary’s. Please come along and join us for this contemplative service where we worship God in words and music.
The Promises of Jesus:
Our Lent course this year is taking place at All Saints@6, in Little Munden.. The subject is the “Promises of Jesus”. The remaining sessions are:
3rd March Peace
10th March The Holy Spirit
17th March Jesus with us
Everyone is very welcome, whether you usually come to All Saints @6 or not!
Pre-orders for the Real Easter Egg - £5 each:
Marion is taking orders now for the Fairtrade Real Easter Eggs, with a new story booklet to celebrate the real meaning of Easter. The last order date to get them in time for Easter is Sunday 10th March. Payment with order is preferred. Profits go to the food bank. You can email Marion on [email protected].
Pop Up Shop...:
The next pop up shop is this Sunday. There will be some Easter cards and the Real Easter Egg for sale/ to order along with fairly traded and responsibly sourced items and Christian gifts. All profits go to the local food bank. Thank you for your support.
... and a Benefice Bookstall:
Lizzy is adding a bookstall to what’s on offer at our Fourth Sunday services. She will have a selection of Bibles (including the currently very popular Action Bible!), Christian books, study materials, and can order pretty much any Christian book which is in print! There will be more stock over the coming months, but she has a selection to start with, available after the service this weekend.
Issues with the contactless donation point in St Mary’s:
We are having trouble with our permanently set up contactless device. It’s an issue with the app, and we are in contact with the platform that facilitates it to get it resolved. Meanwhile, the QR code will still work for contactless giving, and we will try to have an alternative contactless device available at services and events. We apologise that it’s taking a little while to get this sorted out.
Midweek Music at St Mary's:
This coming Wednesday, 28th February, our concert in St Mary's will be given by David Ranford. David will be singing a variety of different music genres so there will be something for everyone to enjoy. Refreshments will be served from 11.30 and the concert starts at 12.30. Entry is free and all are welcome.
World Day of Prayer:
This year’s service is on Friday 1st March at St Mary’s Church, Standon at the earlier time of 2.30 in the afternoon, with refreshments afterwards. This is an ecumenical service open to all. The service is prepared years in advance and this year’s service has been prepared by the Christian Women of Palestine!
If you would like to help in any way or would like to know more about World Day of Prayer please speak to Margaret.
Soup ‘n’ Snowdrops – thank you:
Thank you to all who supported Sacombe’s Soup ‘n’ Snowdrops event last weekend. £1,155 was raised.
Advent appeal:
Thank you to all who supported our Advent appeal. The total raised for the foodbank is an amazing £6,275.
Palm Sunday:
On Sunday 24th March at 6pm in St Mary's there will be a service of music and readings to mark the start of Holy Week. There will be music sung by our benefice choir from Bach's St John Passion and readers will take us through the passion narrative as recorded by John in his gospel. Please do come along as we begin our observance of the holiest of weeks.
Hope for Rural Churches 16th March, 9.30 – 4.30:
The Diocese is running this day conference at Putteridge Bury Conference Centre, LU2 8DL. The Venerable Stewart Fyfe, Archdeacon of West Cumberland will be the keynote speaker. The event is open to ministry teams and any others who would benefit from the day. There is no charge and refreshments are included. Please book before 29th February, as catering numbers need to be finalised two weeks before the day. Rebecca will be collecting names and will make a block booking for our benefice; please let her know if you would like to go.
Be more informed about Palestine:
Basma will be re-running her talk about the Palestinian people on 16th March at 3.00 pm in Dane End Memorial Hall. For tickets, please contact Sue on 01920 318674.
Hospital transport looking for volunteer drivers:
The dedicated hospital transport team offers lifts to local people who need them. It could be simply picking up someone in the village and taking him or her to the surgery, or it might involve a trip to an outpatients appointment at hospital. If you think you can offer some of your time (however little or large an amount), please speak to Wendy. Volunteers receive reimbursement for their petrol costs.
Website:
Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page can be reached via this link: https://www.achurchnearyou.com/benefice/32-240BF/. The forward from https://ubsms.org.uk should point to that page.
Services for the next few weeks
Midweek services each week:
Tuesdays, 9.30am Holy Communion (BCP), St Catherine's
Wednesdays, 9.30am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary's
Sunday services:
25th February 10.30am All age worship, St Mary's
6.00pm Choral evensong, St Mary's
3rd March 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's
10.30am Morning worship, All Saints
6.00pm Lent course at All Saints@6, All Saints
10th March 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's
6.00pm Lent course at All Saints@6, All Saints
17th March 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's
10.30am Holy communion, All Saints
6.00pm Lent course at All Saints@6, All Saints
24th March 10.30am All age worship, St Mary's
6.00pm Service of music and readings for the start of the Holy Week, St Mary's