Newsletter 31st March

Newsletter – 31st March 2019

This Sunday is Mothering Sunday – traditionally the 4th Sunday in Lent was the day on which everybody returned to their “Mother Church”, but more recently has become a day on which we celebrate all mothers and give presents. The services at both churches will be “all-age” services, so do come along and join us (and don't forget that the clocks go forward on Saturday night).

The Churches Together Lent lunchtime meetings continue on Tuesdays weekly, 12 noon at Zion Methodist Church. This year’s theme is Art in its Widest Sense, and after the meetings we have a simple lunch of soup and bread. Please do come along and enjoy this wonderful opportunity to socialise with our fellow Christians from around the area. 

The Electoral roll must close by Saturday 13th April, so if you haven’t completed and returned your form yet please could you do so as soon as possible, and encourage your friends to complete theirs too. Amongst other things, the number of people we have on our electoral roll determines how many representatives we may have on Deanery Synod, which has significant input into decisions made about the future of our churches. 

By now you should all have received a “Play your Part” information pack. Please do read the information and respond, whether you are involved in parish life already or not. There are so any ways in which we can all help to develop our Christian presence within the community and ensure the sustainability of our churches into the future.

Each year we have a Confirmation service in the parish. This year it will be at St Thomas’ on Sunday July 7th at 11am. This is a joyful whole parish service led by Bishop Mark.

Over the past few years we have emphasised this is where a person makes an adult decision to declare their faith by being confirmed. It was the custom to confirm large numbers of 11 year olds, though in most cases this is far too young. We now admit children to communion before confirmation and encourage most to delay confirmation until they are really ready. There is no upper age limit for confirmation!

There are quite a few adults who regularly attend our churches but have not been confirmed. If this include you please do think about taking this step. Let me know if you are considering this, and we can talk about it. Any children from year 6 upwards who feel this is the time to make this commitment should also let me know and we can discuss it.

Edith

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

stewardship

Stewardship Campaign

Last Sunday we launched a parish-wide campaign to get lots of people more involved in the work of the church in Leesfield Parish.

Firstly we want to thank everyone for all the time, energy, skills and financial support which you already give. There is so much happening in our parish, and you can find out more by browsing the pages of this website. 

The PCC has held open meetings with the Diocesan Stewardship Officer, looking at where we are now and what we want to do in the future. Lots of good ideas have been suggested at these meetings for growing our churches and reaching out to others in the parish, and from these ideas we've come up with our vision.

This is quite challenging, and we will need your help to make it happen. Many of the people we rely upon to keep our churches thriving are getting older, and although they may have the time, some of them don't have quite as much energy as they used to. Also, in this changing world, some new skills and talents are required to help us to move forward.

We've made a list of things which we need help with - some of them have been happening in our churches for years, and some are newer initiatives to help us to engage with the wider community. Please do have a look at the list and consider how you might like to be involved - you may even have some ideas of your own that we haven't thought of.

There are so many demands on your time these days, and we appreciate that everybody's really busy balancing work and family life, so we've included some activities which you may be able to do from home. What would be a huge task for one person could be broken down into smaller components, and if more people are involved each of them would not need to commit a great amount of time.

Children and young people are also encouraged to play their part in parish life. Several of the activities listed above are suitable for (and could be of interest to) young people and families, such as "Eco-Church", gardening, music, reading the lessons and bellringing. Our young people probably have their own ideas as well - and we would love to hear them!

And finally, we have to think about how we finance the work we want to do. A summary of the main items of income and expenditure for 2018 is pictured to the left, showing that we spent £1,000 more than we received last year.

That's just to do what we're already doing, and it's clear from the open meetings that you all think we should be doing more to engage with the wider community.

Our spending on repairs and maintenance to both of our church buildings last year was only a fraction of what is needed to preserve and improve them, and to ensure that they are in good shape to welcome future generations. Making our church buildings accessible to everyone is high on our list of priorities, and because of the layout of our historic buildings this is likely to be quite costly.

We rely on the giving of members of our congregations to provide everything we need for our services and outreach in this parish. Everyone is invited to pray and reflect upon how we respond to what God has generously given to us. 

Information packs have been handed out in our churches last Sunday, and will be available throughout Lent. Please do pick up your pack, read it, and complete and return the response forms as soon as possible, but by Easter Sunday, 21st April at the latest. If there's anything more you need to know you can email us at leesfieldparish@gmail.com

Newsletter 3rd March

Newsletter – 3rd March 2019

We've had a lovely thank-you from the Booth Centre for the money we collected from our Carol Singing before Christmas, and all your kind donations of warm clothes and toiletries. Well done everybody!

The next round of parish meetings starts tomorrow afternoon at 1.30 pm with Standing Committee. Next week St Thomas’ DCC meets at 7 pm on Monday the 11th, and St Agnes’ Open Forum at 8 pm on Wednesday the 13th. The DCC and Open Forum meetings are open to everyone, so please do come along and join the conversation.

Following the Shrove Tuesday 10 am service, the ladies will be making pancakes, so if you haven’t been to a Tuesday morning service before, this may be a good week to start!

Ash Wednesday is on the 6th March, and our service is 7.30 pm at St Thomas’ Church. Light refreshments will be served by the Ladies of Leesfield in the Community Room afterwards.

The Churches Together Lent lunchtime meetings start at 12 noon on Tuesday 12th March at Zion Methodist Church, and continue there weekly throughout Lent, except for the final one on the 9th April which will be at Springhead Congregational Church. This year’s theme is Art in its Widest Sense, and for anyone who hasn’t been before these are really interesting meetings. After the meetings we gather for a simple lunch of soup and bread, giving us the opportunity to socialise with our fellow Christians from around the area. 

The deadline for the next edition of “Voice” magazine is Sunday 17th March. Please send your articles to Paul at paulmdent@gmail.com or hand them in at church.

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