Weekly News - 21st July 2024

This weekend’s Bible readings:

8.00: Ephesians 2:11-22 (p 1174) and Mark 6:30-24, 53-56 (p 1009)

10.30: Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 (p 670)

End of term picnic service 21st July at All Saints:

Our service in All Saints this week is a special one. The Little Munden School choir will be taking part, and pupils and parents at the school have been invited. We will host a picnic in the churchyard afterwards (please bring your own food; hot drinks and squash will be provided), and we hope to have activities provided by Red Balloon while we spend time together over lunch. Please come along and help make the LMS families welcome.

Pop up shop 28th July:

The pop up shop is back again next Sunday at the 10.30 service at St Mary’s. There will be fair trade chocolate, coffee and tea as well as Christian gifts and cards for sale, with all profits going to the local food bank.

But no bookstall this time:

Lizzy is off to camp next weekend, so won’t be here for our monthly bookstall. As ever, though, she’s always happy to order books for you at any time.

Opportunities to enjoy music during July:

There are several opportunities for you to enjoy and support music during July. We hope some of these might be of interest:

- Sunday 21st July 3pm at St Mary's Standon - A concert given by the Priory Singers directed by Richard Prince

- Wednesday 24th July 12.30pm at St Mary's Standon - Midweek Music at St Mary's with Catherine Wild (Oboe/Recorder) and Michael Smith (Piano)

- Sunday 28th July 6pm at St Mary's Standon - Choral Evensong sung by the Benefice Choir with music chosen by Carole and Peter Hudson. The service will be followed by a glass of fizz to mark Carole and Peter's forthcoming 60th wedding anniversary in September!

A couple of housekeeping points from St Mary’s:

Firstly, Little Angels have stopped meeting now for the summer holiday, so cleaning teams can access the church at any time on Friday mornings.

Secondly, we had a pigeon in the building again this week. Apart from the mess they leave, birds find it very hard to find their way out again, despite us leaving all the doors open. If you visit St Mary’s during the week, you can help by making sure the glass doors are left closed. (That also means people can see the cross shape created by the handles.)

Visit of Mission Partners from Austria:

On Wednesday 7th August David & Marlene Fry will visit St Mary’s. They will be updating us on David’s work with MediaWorks, part of Operation Mobilisation’s outreach to Asia. They will be arriving about 2.45pm and tea & cake will be available. This gathering is open to everyone in the Benefice so please come and join us. Please contact Diane on 01920 821130 for more information.

Holiday Bible Club 27th – 30th August:

Bookings are now open for our annual Holiday Bible Club and Caroline is collecting names of those who would like to help. It will run for the 4 days after bank holiday Monday, and the theme will be kings and queens in the Bible. Please speak to Caroline if you can help on any or all of the days, and encourage any children you know to come along.

Priory concert in St Mary’s this weekend:

Richard P will be directing the Priory Singers in an afternoon concert this Sunday at 3.00 in St Mary’s. The concert is free, with a retiring collection for St Mary’s.

Sunday lunch at the Star:

Heather is organising the next Sunday lunch on 28th July at the Star Standon at 12.15pm. If you would like a place please contact her on 07909 065550 before Monday 22nd July.

All Saints Quiz Night 7th September:

The Quiz Night will be held in Little Munden School on 7th September at 7.00 pm. There will be a ploughman’s supper and a licensed bar, and tickets, priced £15, are available from Hugh, Heather, Jacky or Chris. Gather your teams! More details from Hugh on 07730 419964.

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) & Bible study, St Catherine's

Wednesdays, 9.30am Morning worship & Bible study, St Mary's

Sunday services:

21st July 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's

10.30am Morning worship, All Saints

28th July 10.30am All age worship, St Mary's

6.00pm Choral evensong, St Mary's

4th August 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's

10.30am Morning worship, All Saints

11th August 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's

18th August 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's

10.30am Holy communion, All Saints