Newsletter 29th September 2019

Newsletter – 29th September 2019

This afternoon our new Harvest Queen Annie will be crowned at St Thomas’ Church. There will be a procession with a band through Lees at 2.30 pm before the service at 3 pm. Following the service Annie and her retinue invite you to join them in the school hall for stalls, face-painting and refreshments – so do please come and join the fun.

Tomorrow evening at 7 pm sees the first Choir Practice at St Thomas’ for many years. This is a great opportunity to practice some new hymns with our organist Warren, and enthusiastic singers of all ages are welcome to come along.

Bellringing is also making a bit of a comeback at St Thomas’, with 4 new trainees and the return of some former members of the team. We practice every Tuesday from 7-8 pm and welcome everybody aged 9 to 90 (children must be accompanied by an adult). If you would like to find out more about ringing please see Liz. 

Last Thursday’s “Worship for all Generations” was a lovely service and enjoyed by all. If you couldn’t make it why not come along next week - you’re most welcome!

The next Ladies of Leesfield Coffee Morning will be hosted by Brenda in the Community Room at 10.30 am on Saturday 5th October. There’s plenty of space there, so you’ll be able to bring a friend or neighbour along with you to enjoy our company.

Next Sunday, the 6th October, we celebrate Harvest with a Parish Eucharist, 10 am at St Thomas’ (there will be no service at St Agnes’ on that day). Donations of non-perishable food and drink items will be gratefully received, and this year they will go to Impact Community Church, Hollinwood and the Booth Centre for homeless people in Manchester.

After the service the Ladies of Leesfield will be serving a Harvest Brunch of bacon or sausage muffins and a drink in the Community Room. Tickets cost £4 per adult or £2 per child and are on sale now. If brunch isn’t your thing you are most welcome to join us for coffee and a chat at the back of church.

The new planned giving envelopes for the coming year are now available in both churches. If you are not already a member of the planned giving scheme and want to know more please see Philip at St Agnes’ or Liz at St Thomas’. From next week we will resume passing the collection plate during the service at St Thomas’.

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 – 22nd September 2019

St Agnes’ Rose Queen Freya and her retinue would love to invite you to their “At Home” on Sunday 22nd September at 2 pm. Please do come and join them as they welcome Queens from other churches for an afternoon of fun and fundraising.

There will be lots of stalls including tombolas, lucky lollipop, name the bear and a fruit pie stall, together with a raffle with fantastic family prizes. Refreshments will be on sale in the café including afternoon tea with freshly baked scones, jam and cream, tea, coffee and Prosecco. Everyone is welcome!

The PCC meets tomorrow evening at 7 pm at St Thomas’. 

Following Neil Crook’s commissioning at Manchester Cathedral this afternoon he will be a fully-fledged ALM. 

Neil’s role will be leading worship, and we are really pleased to announce that this will start at 6.30 pm this Thursday, the 26th September, with a new weekly service “Worship for all Generations”. The shorter services are non-eucharistic and are intended to supplement rather than replace our Sunday morning services and Sunday School, and we are looking forward to welcoming old and new parishioners of “all generations”.

Neil will be asking for volunteers to help with music, readings and other participation so if this is something you would like to do please let him know.  

Also on Thursday the Ladies of Leesfield have their monthly meeting in the Community Room at 7.30 pm. The guest speaker will be Dr Pam Joyce, who will be telling us about her work in Africa. All are welcome to come along.

Next Sunday our new Harvest Queen Annie will be crowned at St Thomas’ Church. The afternoon will start with a procession through Lees at 2.30 pm before the service at 3 pm. Following the service Annie and her retinue invite you to join them in the school hall for stalls, face-painting and refreshments – so come and join the fun.

Annie needs bottles, chocolate and tombola prizes, so if you are able to donate any items please see Karen.

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 15th September

News & Dates – 15th September 2019 

St Thomas’ DCC is at 7 pm on Monday 16th September in the community room and St Agnes’ Open Forum will take place at 8 pm on Wednesday 18th. Both of these meetings are open to anyone who is interested in what’s going on in the parish, and you are most welcome to come along and join the conversation.

On Friday 20th September from 9 am to 12 noon, St Thomas’ in conjunction with LSG Business Hub are hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning in St Thomas’ Community Room. Please do come and join the fun, along with raising funds for this brilliant charity. If you are able to bring cake please let Karen know.

The Ladies of Leesfield have Tea and Toast from 10.30 am to 12 noon on Saturday 21st September in the Community Room. All are welcome so do bring a friend - £3 including a raffle.

Also on Saturday, as part of Oldham’s Heritage and Histories Festival, St Thomas’ Church will be open from 10 am to 4 pm. There is a full schedule of events, with child-friendly activities throughout the day - please see the picture for full details. 

As well as welcoming visitors from the community into our church, this is a great opportunity for our regular worshippers to have a good look around. The recent Quinquennial Inspection highlighted a number of significant defects which we need to make everyone aware of, so we will have a copy of this available on the day so that you can see what the problems are. There will be a buildings tour at 10 am and a windows tour at 1 pm, and everyone is welcome.

St Agnes’ Rose Queen Freya and her retinue will be “At Home” on Sunday 22nd September at 2 pm. Please do come and join them as they welcome Queens from other churches for an afternoon of fun and fundraising. 

On Sunday 22nd September at 2.30 pm Neil Crook will be licenced as ALM at Manchester Cathedral. All are welcome to come and support him.

Neil’s role will be leading worship, and we are really pleased to announce that this will start at 6.30 pm on Thursday 26th September with a new weekly service “Worship for all Generations”. The services will last around 30 minutes and will include Bible Reading, Songs, a Talk, and some participation from the congregation. Do come along and enjoy!

Please could any articles for the next issue of “Voice” magazine be handed in today or emailed to Paul (paulmdent@gmail.com). 

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