This weekend’s Bible readings:
Psalm 149 (p 634)
Ephesians 1:11-23 (p 1173)
The Centre this weekend:
The Centre folk will join us at St Catherine’s this weekend, and won’t meet in the afternoon.
Walking Advent calendar:
Once again, we will be inviting people to take part in a Walking Advent Calendar in the run up to Christmas. If you’d like to dress a window, please speak to Sue, who is coordinating it. The leaflet to be delivered to everyone in Standon and Puckeridge will be at the back of St Mary’s by Sunday morning 30th October. Please will the deliverers collect and deliver them asap and if there are any problems, let Sue know on 07754 072148 or 01920 318674, or email [email protected].
Remembrance services:
Once again, we will be holding services in each of our churches on 13th November. At 9.30, we will meet in All Saints. After the service and a cup of coffee we walk down to the war memorial in the village to join with the Parish Council and local residents for a short act of remembrance at 11.00.
At 10.30 in St Mary’s we will welcome representatives of the uniformed organisations for a special service of remembrance.
At 3.00 we will meet by the memorial in the churchyard at St Catherine’s for a short outdoor service. The Centre will meet, as usual, at 4.00 in All Saints.
All are welcome at any of these.
FOSM coffee morning 19th November:
We have two Christmas shopping opportunities coming soon! The FOSM coffee morning and sale will be on 19th November, between 10 and 12. Stalls will include cards, decorations, cakes, plants, books and crafts. Tea, coffee and mince pies will be served. Please come and support this and the Sacombe one the following week!
Sacombe coffee morning 26th November:
Sacombe will hold its annual Christmas Coffee Morning and Sale on Saturday 26th November, 10.30am to 12.30pm. There will be cards, cakes, gifts and bric-a-brac available, as well as the opportunity to chat over tea or coffee. Orders will be taken for fresh table decorations, which will be available shortly before Christmas. If you have any unwanted items lurking in your cupboards, any gifts of bric-a-brac etc. for the stall will be gratefully received by members of St Catherine's.
New bookshop at ANCC:
All Nations and St Andrews Bookshops have joined forces to open a Christian bookshop at All Nations Christian College. It will open on Wednesday 9th November, initially with limited hours on Wednesday afternoons (1:30-4:30pm) and Saturday mornings (9:30am-12:30pm).
Sacombe as a retreat centre!
Since the completion of the new facilities, Sacombe people have been hoping that the church can be used as a place of retreat and for other community activities. We recently welcomed a group of Pentecostal Christians from Harlow for a three day retreat. A few people from the benefice accepted an invitation to their Saturday service with a charismatic guest preacher, which was very different from our normal services, noisy and with lots of movement. This was followed by a glorious biryani in the biggest pot ever seen. Once they had left, the church was as clean as ever and they gave us a generous donation. They were lovely people and we hope to build on this early collaboration.
No sooner had this booking been made than we had another request, for the church to be used for three days to produce a short film for showing at a forthcoming festival.
We are very encouraged that these two very different organisations have been drawn to St Catherine's in this way.
FOSM Christmas cards:
The Friends of St Mary’s have commissioned Christmas cards featuring photos of three of the stained glass windows in Standon church. They are on sale from Diana, £1 each or £5 for 6.
Help sought with St Mary’s brasses:
Ann B looks after our brasses at St Mary’s with loving care, but she would appreciate some help with the polishing. Brian did help her, but he is too unwell to continue for now. If you’d like to know more, please speak to Ann.
Reminder of change in financial procedures for Standon and invitation to volunteer:
Now that Robin has retired from his post as assistant treasurer, please deliver money or submit expenses claims for Standon to Caroline.
We are looking for people willing to take on some or all of Robin’s tasks. These include helping to count the collections, banking money, paying bills, reading the electricity meter, keeping the cash book up to date. If you would like to know more, please speak to Caroline.
Volunteers sought for school clubs:
Our partners, Red Balloon, would like us to recruit some volunteers from the church family to help out with the clubs at Roger de Clare on Thursdays, at lunchtime and after school. If this is something you would like to be involved in, please speak to John or Caroline. We would ideally like enough to create a rota, so that the same people don’t have to commit every week.
Operation Christmas Child:
Lizzy is now packing shoeboxes of gifts to be sent abroad to children in places where Christmas is not going to be easy, because of war or natural disaster. If you’d like to know more about the Samaritan’s Purse scheme, please speak to Lizzy. Filled boxes, empty boxes or anything to go into boxes can be left with Lizzy or Caroline, or in St Mary’s for her to pick up.
Concert for Remembrance, 12th November in St Mary’s:
Our own Michael Smith will conduct Royston Choral Society singing Durufle’s Requiem in Standon on 12th November at 7.30 pm. Posters and fliers are available in our churches, and tickets are available from Caroline.
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:
30th October 10.30am Morning worship, St Catherine's
6th November 8.00am Holy communion, St Mary's
10.30am Morning worship, All Saints
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
13th November 9.30am Remembrance service followed by Act of Remembrance at the war memorial, All Saints
10.30am Remembrance service, St Mary's
3.00pm Act of remembrance, St Catherine's
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
20th November 8.00am Holy Communion, St Mary's
10.30am Holy communion, St Mary's
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
27th November 10.30am All age service, St Mary's
4.00pm The Centre, All Saints
6.30pm Advent service, St Mary's