Newsletter 9th December

Leesfield Parish – 9th December 2018 

This afternoon at 4 pm, there will be a Taize Service at St Thomas’. This is a short, quiet and reflective service, with no teaching or preaching, just prayer and music intertwined. Everyone is welcome to come along as we take a little time out from the busyness of our everyday lives to join together in peaceful worship.

During Advent the collection plate will not be passed around for a trial period. Instead there will be a plate or collection box at the back of each church, along with donation envelopes, gift-aid forms and details of how to give to church directly from your bank account. Please do have a look at the information, and think about what may be the best way for you to donate towards the work of the church. There will be people around at both churches to help you with anything you want to know.

On Thursday 13th December at 7.30 pm, in place of their regular monthly meeting, the Ladies of Leesfield are having an evening of Prayers, Carols and Mince Pies at Audrey’s home, 52 Spring Lane, Lees. All are invited to come and join them.

Our traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols will take place at St Thomas’ Church, 6.30 pm next Sunday the 16th December. This is a very special service for all the parish, with readings, carols and musical items, and refreshments afterwards in the community room.

Please do come along – children are welcome too as it’s not a late service. If you would like to take a more active part in the service by reading one of the lessons please see Edith.  

During that week we will be singing even more Christmas Carols. We meet at 6 pm on Monday the 17th to sing around the village, which is a brilliant way of taking Christmas out to people who may not be able to get to church, and then at 1 pm on Saturday the 22nd to sing at Lees Co-op. Families are especially welcome to join us, as the older people especially love to hear the children sing – and they are far better at collecting money too!

All of the money which we collect from our carol singing goes to the Booth Centre, which provides essential support for homeless people in Manchester. We also take your generous gifts of socks, hats, scarves, gloves, food and toiletries there to support their Christmas appeal, so please do buy a little extra Christmas present to help them.

To find out about the Church of England Christmas campaign #FollowTheStar, please click on the following link -   www.churchofengland.org/followthestar

Items for the newsletter, website and facebook pages to Liz (lizzy.dent@googlemail.com) whenever you want to send. Lots of lovely pictures please! There are so many really wonderful events happening at this time of year, and it would be great to share them with everyone.

Newsletter 2nd Decembet

Leesfield Parish – 2nd December 2018 

Today is Advent Sunday, and this afternoon at 3 pm there is a special Christingle Service for the children at St Thomas’. They will make their Christingles (please bring your own orange), learn what they represent, light the candles and sing in candlelight. Donations from this service will go to the Children’s Society, which supports vulnerable children and young people throughout England and Wales. 

During Advent the collection plate will not be passed around for a trial period. Instead there will be a plate or collection box at the back of each church, along with donation envelopes, gift-aid forms and details of how to give to church directly from your bank account. Please do have a look at the information, and think about what may be the best way for you to donate towards the work of the church. There will be people around at both churches to help you with anything you want to know.

On Wednesday 5th December from 7-9 pm the Diocese is delivering Safeguarding Training at St Barnabas’ Church, Clarksfield. The training is for Sunday School teachers and all who have safeguarding responsibilities. Booking is required to ensure that there are sufficient handouts, certificates etc. are available, and can be made by visiting bookings@manchester.anglican.org . 

Next Sunday, the 9th December, at the usual service times at both churches, will be the Toy Service. If you can, please bring a toy in good condition, which will be passed on to children who may not receive any toys at all this Christmas.

Also next Sunday, at 4 pm, there will be a Taize Service at St Thomas’. This is a short, quiet and reflective service, with no teaching or preaching, just prayer and music intertwined. Everyone is welcome to come along as we take a little time out from the busyness of our everyday lives to join together in peaceful worship.

The annual White Hart Dinner Dance is on Friday 8th March, and tickets are now on sale. We need to get numbers and deposits by the end of December to secure our booking, so please see Jacqueline or any of the retinue mums at St Agnes’ for more details. This is a great social evening for all the parish, and also one to invite our friends to.

Thank you so much to everyone who has already donated items for sharing with organisations helping homeless people and others in need. Please keep your gifts coming, especially during the cold winter weather. Underwear and socks should be new, but other warm clothing will be great as long as it’s clean. Toiletries are a big help to those organisations which are able to offer showering facilities, and moisturisers, lip balm etc. are essential for people who spend so much time outdoors. So whilst you’re shopping for Christmas presents please think about whether you can afford to buy a little extra one.

Newsletter 25th November

Leesfield Parish – 25th November 2018

This afternoon at 3 pm, Churches Together in Lees and District will be joining together at St Thomas’ for a special service “Advent hymns”. This is an opportunity to sing some of our favourite Advent hymns, and learn a little bit about them on the Sunday before Advent begins.

A further Open PCC meeting has been arranged for tomorrow at 7 pm in St Thomas’ Community Room. We will be discussing how we can all use our time, talents and money to serve God in this parish and beyond, and everyone is warmly invited to join the conversation. The last meeting was really well attended, with lots of ideas about how we can reach out to the wider community. Light refreshments will be available before the meeting.

On Saturday at 2 pm we will be Dressing the little Christmas Trees at St Thomas’. This is a fun event for all the family, with refreshments, mince pies and mulled wine served by the Ladies of Leesfield. If you would like sponsor a tree please see Karen or any of the Harvest Queen mums. From 4 pm the church bells will be ringing, and you can make your way over to the village centre (near Milan Bar) for the switch-on of the Lees Christmas Lights at 4.30. And a very special visitor may be there!  

Next Sunday is Advent Sunday, and in addition to our normal services there is a special Christingle Service for the children, 3 pm at St Thomas’. They will make their Christingles (please bring your own orange), learn what they represent, light the candles and sing in candlelight. Donations from this service will go to the Children’s Society, which supports vulnerable children and young people throughout England and Wales. 

During Advent we will be trying out different ways in which we can encourage our congregation members to support the work of the church. Many people these days don’t carry cash, so instead of the collection plate being passed around it will be at the back of church, along with information about planned giving, gift-aid, standing orders and other cashless methods of donating towards our work.

On Wednesday 5th December from 7-9 pm the Diocese is delivering Safeguarding Training at St Barnabas’ Church, Clarksfield. The training is for Sunday School teachers and all who have safeguarding responsibilities. Booking is required to ensure that there are sufficient handouts, certificates etc. are available, and can be made by visiting bookings@manchester.anglican.org . 

The cold nights are definitely here now, and the organisations helping homeless people and others in need which we support are increasingly busy. Donations of warm clothing, food and toiletries are most welcome, but there is very little which we can’t find a use for. If you’re unsure about what to bring please see Paul and Liz at St Thomas’ or Frank and Philip at St Agnes’. 

Items for the newsletter, website and facebook pages to Liz (lizzy.dent@googlemail.com) whenever you want to send. Lots of lovely pictures please!