Newsletter 30th September

Leesfield Parish – 30^th September 2018

The Parish Harvest Service is at 10 am on Sunday 7th October at St Thomas’ Church. Your harvest gifts this year are going to Impact Community Church, Oldham Street Angels and the Booth Centre, Manchester, so please be as generous as you can. Items needed are tea, coffee, sugar, soft drinks, packets of crisps, biscuits and cakes, tinned goods, pasta, rice and noodles, cook-in sauces and condiments.

After the service you are all invited to join the Ladies of Leesfield for a Harvest Brunch, with bacon or sausage barms or beans on toast, and tea or coffee. There will also be a Home Bake stall and a raffle. Tickets are £5 each and are on sale now, or you can pay on the day.

The Ladies of Leesfield Coffee Morning will be from 10.30 am to 12 noon on Saturday 6th October at 2 Hopkin View, Lees.

Audrey and Roy are organising a coach trip to visit Llandudno for the Christmas Markets on Saturday 17th November. All are welcome to come along, and there is a list in the community room for you to add your name.

The proposed programme for the Deanery Day “We are all Disciples”, on Saturday 20th October at St John’s Church, Hey, is shown below. There will be several breaks and opportunities to chat to people from other churches in between the structured sessions. Refreshments will be provided, but you will need to bring a packed lunch. To make planning the event easier please put your name on the lists in both churches.

10 am	Coffee
10.30 am	Introduction & Worship
11 am	Bishop Mark “Understanding St Luke’s Gospel better”
12 noon	Jamie Mackenzie “Be More Comfortable as Disciples”
12.45 pm	Lunch
1.30 pm	Group and Plenary Sessions
2.45 pm	Closing Worship

The Leesfield Parish Boundary Walk will start from the car park at the end of Station Road, Grotton at 10 am on Saturday 13th October. The whole walk is just under 9 miles over varied terrain and takes over 4 hours, but is split into stages with the easiest sections at the beginning, so people of all ages and walking abilities can join us and leave before the tough parts. Whatever the weather, we will be walking, but the exact route may be varied accordingly. Sponsor forms are available, but by no means essential, as the main aim is to see all of our parish in the company of friends. For more information or to register for the walk please see Liz or Kingsley.

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

Newsletter 23rd September

Leesfield Parish – 23rd September 2018

It’s not too late to join the Emmaus Group meetings in St Thomas’ Community Room. There are flyers available in both churches giving more details, so please do come along. The second meetings in the series will take place on Wednesday 26th September at 7 pm, and Monday 1st October at 1.30 pm.

Next Friday, 28th September, there will be a Macmillan Coffee Morning in the Community Room from 9 am to 12 noon. Come and join us for coffee and cake, and raise money for this really worthwhile cause. If you are able to help by baking something for this event please see Karen.

The Parish Harvest Service is at 10 am on Sunday 7th October at St Thomas’ Church. After the service you are all invited to join the Ladies of Leesfield for a Harvest Brunch, with bacon or sausage barms or beans on toast, and tea or coffee. There will also be a Home Bake stall and a raffle. Tickets are £5 each and are on sale now, or you can pay on the day.

On Saturday 13th October we will again be walking the Parish Boundary. For anyone who hasn’t been before, this is a great day of walking and companionship, where you can see the whole of our parish from viewpoints you may not have been to before. More information next week.

We are all Disciples - The Vocations Group of Oldham East Deanery Mission & Pastoral Committee has been considering how we can help people to understand their role as Christians and how they can be resourced and set free to act out their faith every day. We are making a start with a Deanery Day on Saturday, 20th October at St John’s Church entitled “We are all Disciples”.

The day starts with coffee at 10 am, followed by a programme of worship and talks that will finish at 3 pm, with a break for lunch. More information can be found on the poster and flyers in both churches. If you are able to come along, there is a list in each church for you to add your name.

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

Newsletter 16th September

Leesfield Parish – 16th September 2018

The Emmaus Group meetings start this week in St Thomas’ Community Room. There are flyers available in both churches giving more details, so please do come along. It would be helpful – but not necessary – for anyone coming to the first session on either Monday at 1.30 pm or Wednesday at 7 pm this week to bring along a favourite prayer.

Everyone is invited to come along to an important special open meeting of the PCC on Monday 17th September at 7 pm. 

The meeting will last no more than 1 hour, and there will be a guest speaker, and tea, coffee and cake. 

If you have children please feel free to bring them with you – we can arrange to keep them occupied whilst we meet.

On Thursday 20th September at 7.30 pm, the Ladies of Leesfield have a special guest speaker, Carol Talbot, who will present a slideshow and talk about our local suffragette, Annie Kenney. 

Annie lived in Springhead, and worked at Leesbrook Mill, where the plaque shown here is displayed. Alongside Christabel Pankhurst, Annie was the first to be imprisoned for direct action in the fight for votes for women. 

This promises to be a really interesting evening, with refreshments and a raffle, so do come and join the ladies.

The crowning of St Thomas’ new Harvest Queen, Evie Randall, will take place in St Thomas’ Church on Saturday 22nd September at 2 pm.

Please come along to support our new Harvest Queen and thank Ella and her retinue for all their work during the past year.

Next Friday, 28th September, there will be a Macmillan Coffee Morning in the Community Room from 9 am to 12 noon. Come and join us for coffee and cake, and raise money for this really worthwhile cause.

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

Newsletter 2nd September 2018

Leesfield Parish – 2nd September 2018

Welcome back after the holidays. There’s been plenty going on so why not share your stories and photos with us all by writing something for the next issue of “Voice” magazine. Please send your articles to Paul at paulmdent@gmail.com by Sunday 16th September.

Oliver and Charlie from St Agnes’ are taking part in the Mini Tough Mudder Challenge on Saturday 8th September as part of the Rose Queen fundraising. 

You can sponsor them on line by visiting their page https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/olivercharlie , or do it the old-fashioned way by filling in the sponsorship forms available at each church.

Please take a look at the brochures in church for the events taking place in Oldham over the next month. 

St Thomas’ Church will be open as part of this on Saturday 15th September, and the Ladies of Leesfield have their Tea and Toast that morning.

Other dates to watch out for can be found by clicking on the calendar, including the special PCC Open Meeting to which everyone is invited. 

Please also note the change of date to the 22nd September for St Thomas’ Harvest Queen Crowning.

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