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The Parish Lent Programme, to look again at
the stewardship of our lives as Christians, has started. This
combines the Sunday's sermon with personal activity within House
Groups.
The programme will follow this timetable:
Sunday 29 February/House Groups 1-6 March
The Challenge of Being the Church
Aim : To be able to state the purpose of the church as
an institution
Sunday 7 March/House Groups 8-13 March The
Challenge of Christian Discipleship
Aim: To be able to understand the purpose of the church
in a spiritual dimension.
Sunday 14 March/House Groups 15-20 March The
Challenge of Trying to Live by God's Standards
Aim: To begin to see how the Church as an institution
and as a spiritual force becomes part of our way of life
Sunday 21 March/House Groups 22-27 March The
Challenge of "Looking After Things" - Stewardship
Aim: To offer ideas on how we (Collectively and individually)
can take responsibility for all that we have been given
Sunday 28 March/House Groups 29 Mar- 3 Apr
The Challenge of Mission
Aim: To be able to see the ways in which those things
for which we have taken responsibility in stewardship can be
used for the greater purpose of mission
Sunday 4 April Thanksgiving Palm Sunday
A Covenant of Personal Life . . .
The apostle Paul wrote, "It is
no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me."
Galations 2:20a
Part of Christian Living is the conscious
and regular commitment to disciplines that help us become faithful
disciples. This includes managing oneself, one's inner life and
mind, as well as personal habits and relationships.
A commitment in this area might include personal
Bible reading and prayer, regular worship with the congregation,
participation in a church study group, better care for one's
own body and health, and development of other activities that
lead to the renewal and wholeness of life.
A Covenant of Community Life . . .
Christian faith is always personal but never
only private. We are called by Christ to a community where we
rejoice together, bear one another's burdens, share responsibility
for encouraging one another in the faith, and reach out together
to the world around us proclaiming the good news of God's love
in word and deed.
Faithfulness to the Gospel leads to the stewardship
of our community life in the church locally and globally. Christians
should make commitments to serve in the congregations and in
the local communities.
A Covenant of Public Life . . .
Stewardship is our joyful, grateful response
to God by which we accept responsibility for the kind of world
God is determined to make.
A Covenant of Financial Life . . .
Both the Old and New Testaments teach us that
all we have is a gift from God. As God's stewards and people
of faith, we are taught to bring to God the first fruits. For
many Christians, money is symbolic of the first fruits, and the
faithful use of it is a source of great blessing.
Money is important. It is the medium we use
to accomplish many of the church's goals, and it is through money
that we participate in aspects of the church's mission that would
otherwise be closed to us. Our generous financial support enables
the church's ministries of proclamation and justice seeking,
of service and compassion, locally, nationally and internationally.
Thus, a commitment of money as a spiritual discipline is a t
the heart of our Christian responsibility.
The Challenge Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, everything in heaven and
on earth is yours, and all things come from you. You shower us
with many blessings. Show us our responsibilities as stewards
of your bounty. Help us daily to respond with enthusiasm, generosity,
and love. We ask this in His Name. Amen
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A QUIET DAY
FOR LENT
The Desert Experience
Thursday 25 March 10.00am - 4.00pm
Time to take stock of
life before Easter.
Day led by Victoria Sturdy and Hazel Berry
Cost £10 to include
coffee, lunch, tea |
MAY FAYRE
3 May 2004 2-4.30pm
I am beginning to sound like a broken
record but May is only two turns of the calendar away and as
always we have loads to do. All
of which will be in vain if we don't get your support. As I mentioned
last month, we have Morris Men, dancers and many other attractions
to part the good people of Crowthorne from their hard earned
cash all in a good cause. I expect to see you all on the inflatable
assault course - and not just the children! So when you get home
after church, please mark the day in your diaries as booked and
come and join in all the fun of the Fayre!
Pledge your support
Pauline Williamson and Catherine Pandya are looking for people
to run stalls, so if you haven't made yourself available or been
approached yet, could you please do so even if it is for a short
time during the afternoon - every little helps. The ladies are
also collecting names for the setting up and cleaning up teams
on the day, so please sign up with your offers of support. Remember
the day starts at around 8am and we don't finish until about
6pm so any help will lighten the load for all.
Purge your life of all that clutter
. . .
As always we need your unwanted
belongings. You can begin to sort out all those things that you
haven't even looked at for the last few years. We will be making
a collection of items in the church before the vent but as Spring
is no doubt going to be going on soon, could you begin thinking
of our needs now. The items we are particularly looking for are:
Books; Tombola Prizes; White Elephant items; Toys.
WINTERSHALL 2004
Forty tickets have been purchased for this
year's production of 'The Life of Christ' at Wintershall on Saturday,
26 June. The play begins with the Nativity and ends with the
Ascension. It has a cast of over 200 in the beautiful grounds
of the Wintershall estate, just south of Guildford. The audience
moves with the action and the PA system ensures that every word
can be heard wherever the scene is taking place.
Last year 70 of us went and, as a result,
I was asked to book again for this year. Tickets are £12.50
for adults and £6.50 for children plus coach fare.
Please enquire early if you want tickets
to avoid disappointment.
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Drama
The Last Supper
On the night that he was betrayed,
Jesus took bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,
'Take eat, all of you. This is my body which is given for you:
do this in remembrance of me.'
Join Pathfinders on Palm Sunday,
6 April at 6.30pm at St John's church, for a re-enactment of
the most memorable meal in history. |
PATHFINDERS
Key dates for this term are:
Feb 29:
First rehearsal/read through for Last Supper (let us know if
you can't be there but would like a part. We need 13, preferably
14 actors, male and female.
March 7:
Last Supper read through
March 14: Costumed
rehearsal of Last Supper in front of Sunday School
March 21/28:
Pathfinders as usual with rehearsals/planning as necessary
April 4:
Palm Sunday evening: Performance of Last Supper
We are also in the early stages of planning
a pet service for May 16 (provisional date). Pathfinders is held
at 10.00am on Sundays, in the church entrance hall, and is open
to anyone of secondary school age. Just turn up.
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CTC ST Patrick's Market
Saturday 20 March 10-11.30 am
In aid of the Corrymeela Community
Please support this event
St John's will be running the
Toiletries stall. Please bring donations to the church. |
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CTC
Sunday Evenings in Lent
CTC is running Sunday evening services
with the theme Face to Face and following Luke Chapters 3 &
4. Each evening will consist of a time of Worship, a short talk
by one member of the clergy, then break for refreshments, followed
by Discussion time and Closing Worship. Everybody is welcome.
There will not be a 6.30pm service at St John's on these Sundays
29 Feb 6.30pm
7 Mar 6.30pm
14 Mar 6.30pm
21 Mar 6.30pm
28 Mar 6.30pm
4 Apr 6.30pm |
St James, Finchampstead
Lent Carol Service
Baptist Church
Theme: In whose image, Luke 3vv2-6
Rev Nick Nichols to lead and speak
Methodist Church
Theme: Belonging to What, Luke 3vv7-14
Rev Heather Noel-Smith to lead and Rev Brian Spence to speak
St John's
Theme: Who is Jesus, Luke 3vv15-22
Rev Brian Spence to lead, Rev Andrew Marsden to speak
St Sebastian's
Theme: Facing our own image, Luke 4vv1-13
Rev Andrew Marsden to lead, Rev Heather Noel-Smith to speak
Baptist Church
Theme: Hope - living the image, Luke 4vv14-30
Rev Nick Nichols to lead and speak |
Family Fun Afternoon
A very successful event was held on 7 February. Over 80 children
and parents enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon. Our thanks to the
Social Committee and Catherine Pandya for organising and to Steve
Pope for making the mulled wine.
Annual Parochial Church
Meeting
Sunday 25 April 2004 at 3.00pm
Please put this in your diaries
now.
If you are not already on the church electoral roll, now is the
time to fill in a registration form |
CALLING ALL GARDENERS
The plant stall at the Fayre is a major
fund raiser. Its success has been partly due to the support it
has received form green-fingered parishioners who sow seeds,
divide plants and take cuttings to sell alongside the commercially
grown bedding plants.
Please, please would you bear the plant
stall in mind as you get out your secateurs and dibbers. We would
appreciate your contributions.
ANNUAL SPRING CLEAN: HELP
NEEDED
YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU!
You sit on the seats so they
need to be clean
What an excellent easy to contribute
to the stewardship of the church
The annual Spring Clean will be on Saturday
3 April. Get the date in the calendars now! We undertake
a heavy clean and aim to have a sparkling church for our Easter
services. All offers of help gratefully accepted. Heavy work
in the morning, mostly by men, and final cleaning g in the afternoon,
mostly by the ladies. We shall be seeking volunteers.
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Mothering Sunday
21 March 10am Family Service
with Simnel Cake and Posies
A non-Communion service for all the family
Do invite your friends and neighbours |
PRAYING FOR STREETS
In March we continue our cycle of including
prayer request from each of the streets in the Parish in our
Sunday services (delivering leaflets during the preceding week
asking for these requests). In March will be:
Mar 7 Linkway and Coppice Gardens
Mar14 Parkway
Mar 28 Alderbrook Close, Wood End, Barwell Close
Confirmation 2004
Confirmation will be on Sunday 17 October
at 10.00am.
New confirmation groups will be starting
later this year. For young people (aged 10-14) there will be
a preliminary meeting to arrange times on Sunday 9 May at 3.30pm.
The new adult group will have an opening
evening meeting on Monday 6 September at 8pm in the vicarage.
Any queries or questions to the Vicar. |
