Stewardship Update 13th January

We have had open PCC meetings with James Emmerson, the Diocesan Stewardship Officer, and will be launching a parish-wide Stewardship Campaign on Sunday 10th March, the first Sunday in Lent.

The standing committee have already done some work on the “Time and Talents” section of the campaign, and in the table below are the ideas we’ve come up with so far.

We’ll be discussing this further at St Thomas’ DCC at 7 pm on Monday 14th January and St Agnes’ Open Forum at 8 pm on Wednesday 16th January, and welcome your views on what we need to do to help our churches to flourish. The DCC and Open Forum meetings are open to everybody, so please do come along, have your say and tell us how you can help. 

If you can’t get to the meetings but still wish to contribute ideas, please message us so we can discuss at next week’s meetings before taking forward to PCC on Monday 21st January.

Newsletter 6th January

Newsletter & Dates – 6th January 2019 

Happy New Year to everyone! This Sunday we celebrate Epiphany, when the wise men arrived from the East bearing gifts for the new-born King. 

Our gifts collected over the Christmas period are now on the way to our chosen charities. We collected £65.44 at our Christingle and Nativity services for the Children’s Society, and £150 from our Carol singing for the Booth Centre. Well done and thank you to everyone who supported these events!

Your gifts of clothing, toiletries, food etc. are also ready for distribution, but we will be continuing to collect donations throughout the year so do please keep bringing things. The support which we give to charities helping people in need is much-needed and greatly appreciated.

Parish meetings start this week with standing committee on Monday, St Thomas’ DCC at 7 pm on Monday 14th January and St Agnes’ Open Forum at 8 pm on Wednesday 16th January. The DCC and Open Forum meetings are open to everybody, so please do come along, have your say and tell us how you can help. The PCC meets at St Thomas’, 7 pm on Monday 21st January. Part of what we will be discussing in this round of meetings is the launch of our Stewardship Campaign on Sunday 10th March, and your thoughts on how we want our churches to flourish and what we will do to make that happen will be really helpful in our preparations.

If you haven’t yet got your tickets for the Annual White Hart Dinner Dance on Friday 8th March, please contact Jacqueline or any of the retinue mums at St Agnes’. Tickets cost £35 each for a fantastic evening with a 5 course meal, entertainment and dancing.

Now is the time to renew your annual subscriptions for the parish magazine. The cost is £5 for 6 bi-monthly copies, and it’s best to order and pay in advance to be sure of getting one. We may need to increase the price of a single copy to £1 this year to cover printing costs, which is another good reason for ordering in advance!

Please send your articles for the next issue of “Voice” magazine to Paul (paulmdent@gmail.com) by the 13th January. Items for the newsletter, website and facebook pages to Liz (lizzy.dent@googlemail.com) whenever you want to send. Lots of lovely pictures please!

Book of Remembrance

St Thomas' Church is proud to have on display a very special Book of Remembrance, which is on loan to us from St Thomas' Leesfield School. 

The year 6 children who are members of the History Club have researched all of the soldiers from Leesfield who fell in World War 1, and their stories are told in this fascinating book. 

Please do drop in and take a look - as well as our usual service times we are open on Saturdays and Tuesdays from 10.30 am to 1 pm and everyone is welcome to visit. We'll put the kettle on, and there may still be a few (still in date!) mince pies left.