Thursday 26 November 2020

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Today our American friends celebrate Thanksgiving. Those of us from other nations may not have such a day in our calendars, but it is good for all of us to express our thankfulness for the gifts of life and for all we receive from God and from one another. You might appreciate the poem below by Malcolm Guite, who wrote it for his American friends to mark Thanksgiving.

Thankgiving
Thanksgiving starts with thanks for mere survival,
Just to have made it through another year
With everyone still breathing. But we share
So much beyond the outer roads we travel;
Our interweavings on a deeper level,
The modes of life that souls alone can share,
The unguessed blessings of our being here,
The warp and weft that noone can unravel.

So I give thanks for our deep coinherence
Inwoven in the web of God's own grace,
Pulling us through the gate and grave of death.
I thank him for the truth behind appearance,
I thank him for his light in every face,
I thank him for you all, with every breath.

Online Christmas Bazaar
In usual times we would be holding our Christmas Bazaar this Friday and Saturday. But, of course, these are not usual times. However, although we are not holding a live event this year, the Bazaar is far from cancelled! The events team have worked tremendously hard to put together all the food, decorations, gifts, and goodies for you to order. We have taken 105 orders! Some of these will be delivered, but if you are picking up your orders on Saturday, please do come along at the time you have been allocated. (This is to make sure that we never have more than 15 people in the church at once.) I am sure you will want to join me in expressing a huge thank you to the team of helpers who have made all this possible.

Book Stall
As part of our Christmas Bazaar, the book stall will be open in the lower hall but the numbers will be restricted to only 6 people at any one time. The book stall will be open on Saturday 28th, 10am - 1pm. But this is ONLY for those picking up orders that day. For everyone else, the stall will be open on Friday 4th December and Saturday 5th December, 10am - 1pm. Again only 6 people will be allowed in at a time, so please be advised you may have to wait.
Please enter the lower hall by the back entrance directly into the hall.

Advent Sunday
This Sunday we begin the wonderful season of Advent. Please do join us through the online service. The service will be up on the website by Saturday evening. As always, a huge thank you to Hector, Martin and Art for their hard work in putting this together.

Men's Group
Also on Sunday, the Men's Bible study group will be meeting online at 10.45am. Zoom details are available from David or Helen.

Advent Day of Prayer and Fasting
On Wednesday 9th December, I invite you to join me for a day of prayer and fasting as we pray for ourselves, our church and our needy world. I know a couple of people who are keen to do this but we would welcome others to join us too. I will suggest some short readings and prayers to use during the day, and those participating will also be encouraged to meet, via zoom, for brief prayers and sharing together at three points during the day. Let me know if you would like to join in with this, or would like to know more. Fasting may not be advisable if you have diabetes or any other serious health problems.

Advent Reflection
One of the themes of Advent is waiting.

'I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.'
  Psalm 130: 5-6

With love in Christ,
Helen