Thursday 12 January 2017

February 2017 News & Notes

It's not too late to join Café Church Alpha
10.00am in Church Rooms, Preston on third Sundays. This is part of Learning Church, and the course works as well for for those who know little about Christianity, as for regular Church members wishing to refresh their understanding.

Weekday prayers
There is truth in the saying 'seven days without prayer makes one weak', so to encourage our collective strength we have many opportunities on weekdays. This year we added three new ones:
 • Morning Prayer, normally led by Brian Ellis, 9.30am on second Mondays in Osmington Church.

 • Evening Prayer, normally led by Philip Elliott, 7.30pm on second Wednesdays in Bincombe Church.
 • Evening Prayer, normally led by Philip Elliott, 7.30pm on fourth Wednesdays in Buckland Ripers
Church.

Record tree for St Osmund
Dr Warwick has kindly donated a Christmas tree to the Church each year. This one beat the record for height, and only just fitted in the north aisle. Congratulations to those who decorated it ~ no mean feat. The Christmas congregation certainly appreciated their efforts.

Thanks for the extras
A huge amount goes on behind the scenes at Christmas. Many thanks to highly skilled decorators, musicians, and busy ministers supported by admin wizards. 

Fairtrade fortnight starts 27 Feb
We have an excellent team running Fairtrade stalls in the team. Our thanks to them. Here's an opportunity to encourage the movement, which makes a real practical difference to millions of producers.

Our first Annual Parish Meeting
St Andrew's APM will be within Café Church on Sunday 12 March. The Team Rector attends all these meetings, and this year we will sign the new constitution which sets out how we work together.

Canon Andrew Gough at Holy Trinity
I'm delighted to report that Andrew will be licensed by Bishop Nicholas on 3 April. We warmly welcome his appointment, and I'm grateful to colleagues for picking up extra services so we could help cover the vacancy.

30 Apr, 6.30pm Confirmation with Bishop Karen

Anyone interested should get in touch with their minister. Those who have completed a year at All Stage, Tuesday Candlelights, or Café Church are already trained.