Sunday’s 10.30 service:
Sadly, the heating oil has been stolen from the tank at All Saints. Fortunately, the tank was not full, but there will be no heating there this weekend. Please wrap up warmly to come to church, and we will make sure the tea and coffee is especially hot for after the service! We are looking at additional security as we refill the tank.
This weekend’s Bible readings:
Philippians 4:4-9 (p 1181); John 6:25-35 (p 1070)
Harvest Appeal:
Our harvest appeal this year is for our mission partners, the Ellis and McGoldrick families.
Catherine McGoldrick grew up locally. With her husband Stephen she trained at All Nations, and they are now serving with WEC International in Burundi with frequent visits to the Congo. They have two adopted sons, Asher & Jacques.
Andrew and Samara Ellis were placed at All Saints and St Catherine’s by the College some years ago. They live and work in Harare, Zimbabwe, leading the River of Life church as well as Youth discipleship and Church leaders development. See https://www.riveroflifechurch.co.zw/ for more information on the River of Life church.
Members of the Benefice provide regular support to both families for their work in the Gospel, and this Appeal is to provide them with essential funds for healthcare, travelling, education and general living costs. Please give generously. Whatever we receive will be divided equally between the two families.
Our service this weekend in All Saints will be a celebration of harvest. Please use the special envelopes in our churches and put your donation in the collection bag or give it to one of our treasurers or church wardens. Online donations should use the reference ‘harvest’, please.
Thank you!
Lisa and Niall would like to thank everyone for the support they received last Sunday as they were baptised in the river! We attracted a reasonable amount of interest from passers-by as well as those who had come especially. A good number of adults and children, along with several dogs, enjoyed a brief service at the riverside, followed by songs and prayers in church, and then tea and cake to round off the afternoon. Please pray for Niall and Lisa, and for William, who will be baptised (in church!) next month.
New series at Sacombe:
This week, we embarked on a new sermon series on Tuesday mornings, on ‘Christ and the Law’. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be looking at parts of Leviticus through the lens of the good news of Jesus. Everyone is welcome to join us for this communion service – 9.30 every Tuesday morning.
Rotas of all sorts:
As summer comes to a close and we start planning for the autumn and winter, please consider whether you can spare some time for our churches. All our rotas have space for more volunteers: cleaning, coffee making, baking for and helping with the café, ringing bells; the list is extensive. In particular, Ann would appreciate help with the brasses in Standon. If you’d like to know more, please ask!
BGWM is looking for new members:
The next meeting of the Benefice Group for World Mission will be at 2pm this Tuesday at All Saints. The group keeps up to date with news from our mission partners around the world and supports them with prayer. It brings to our attention particular prayer needs, through the ‘Pray for our mission partners and the world’ section of this sheet, and it makes recommendations to PCC about our regular appeals. They would love to see some new faces joining them. For more information, please speak to Peter A.
October lunchtime concerts:
Thank you to all who supported yesterday’s lunchtime concert. The remaining concerts are:
Saturday 8th October A musical miscellany with Marion and Michael Smith
Saturday 15th October A10 Strings directed by David Boarder.
Concerts begin at 12.30pm (retiring collection). Lunch (suggested donation £5) is available from 12 noon.
Choir singing in Canterbury cathedral:
Our choir has been invited to sing Evensong in Canterbury Cathedral on Friday 28th October at 5.30pm. This is a wonderful opportunity. There will be a coach travelling to Canterbury, leaving Puckeridge at 10am and returning by about 8pm. If anyone would like to travel with the choir and enjoy visiting the cathedral and hearing Evensong then please speak to Marion.
Safety first:
Please can we remind you that if you are working in one of our churches, we must be mindful of safety and safe-guarding matters. If you expect to be there for any length of time, please arrange to be there at the same time as someone else if at all possible. This is not only to protect all of us but also any vulnerable visitors who might come in.
Website:
Our benefice website is on the www.achurchnearyou.com platform. The benefice page is: www.achurchnearyou.com/church/7825/benefice. Please visit it to see the range of information there.
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:
2nd October 8.00am Harvest holy communion, St Mary's
10.30am Harvest morning worship, All Saints
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
9th October 10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
16th October 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's
10.30am Holy communion, All Saints
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
23rd October 10.30am All age service, St Mary's
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
6.30pm Choral evensong, St Mary's
30th October 10.30am Morning worship, St Catherine's