The Parish of Burchetts Green
The Parish of Burchetts Green
Harvest Catch Up at St John's.
Dear All,
I have just popped into St John’s, with a bag of apples, to find Yvonne, Gail and Lyn busy decorating our village church ready for our Harvest Service this Sunday. It looks spectacular. We are so lucky to have Yvonne and her team on hand to make sure St John’s is always looking so splendid. So, it would be great if you are able to join us on Sunday at 9.15, and for you to bring your Harvest gifts to be left on the Chancel steps. As I mentioned last time, your gifts will be taken to Yeldall Manor and I know that as well as tinned and fresh food they really welcome toiletries, socks and other useful items for the young men who rehabilitate there. I will be dropping the gifts off on Monday.
To have some young ones with us, bringing their gifts, is always special.....It is our chance to thank God for the many gifts we have been given....especially at a time when so many have so little!
If you are not able to come to the service, could you drop off some gifts in the church porch? They really are appreciated.
Looking back to last Sunday, Tina prepared a really lovely All Age service. I know the amount of time Tina spent on preparing for this service. Unfortunately, little did we know that it clashed with the Littlewick Green Cricket Annual awards event on the Green. Never the less, thanks to Tina, and all those that did make it, especially little Oscar, celebrating his 3rd Birthday....gosh how time flies!
SUNDAY SCHOOL CLUB
Sally has done a poster which is attached. The Sunday Club starts on Sunday 3rd October.............
............. 16 Days and counting!
Hope to see you Sunday
God Bless
Richard.
St John's Catch-up and All Age and Harvest special!
Dear All,
With Fr John on his Hols, I am pleased to tell you that Tina will be doing the All Age Service on Sunday starting at 4pm. If the weather is good, I think Tina will do an outside service near the cabin. I know Tina will put a lot of her energy into the preparation for the service so I hope many of you will come along and join us.
Fr John will also be away in October and will miss the All Age on the 10th October. I have invited Rev Kevin Colyer to join us . Many of you will remember that Kevin has been with us for a couple of times at the 9.15. He has developed what he calls Minecraft Church. This is an exciting initiative to reach out to all all ages. He has offered to come along to the 4pm All Age service, so that we can see what it’s all about.. He has said that the very young will have lego to hand whilst the slightly older ones will be obsorbed in the Minecraft service!!!!!!
So, a date for your calender, I will of course, be reminding you all again, nearer the time. I am also going to chat to Kevin before October, so should be able to tell you a little more, nearer the time. For now, could you make a note of the date as we would like to give Kevin a good welcome to our 4pm service.
Sam, one of our Grandsons, is absolutly mad about Minecraft, he even sleeps in minecraft pajamas, and walks around the house in his minecraft dressing gown!!!!...oh and he’s 12!
Our Harvest thanksgiving will again be included in our 9.15 Family Eucharist on Sunday 19th September. I am sure Fr John will use some of your favourite Harvest Hymns? As you will remember, due to the Pandemic, we missed the normal Harvest Supper last year. We will again miss the supper, just to be on the safe side. However, Jenny and I will make sure that we revert to the normal plan and have a service in the afternoon followed by the supper, next year.
So, please bring along your gifts either during next week, leaving them in the church porch or, of course, bring them to the service. They will be collected up and I will take them to Yeldall Manor, the Christian rehabilitation centre as gifts from St John’s. Some items will also be donated to The Maidenhead Food Bank.
MAURICE HART.
The funeral of Maurice Hart took place last Saturday. It was a wonderful celebration of the life of Maurice and fitting, that his horse drawn hearse departed from his house, and was taken around the village green with the family and friends walking behind. By the time it reached the lych gate, quite a crowd had gathered. The coffin was carried by 6 friends from the village,through the churchyard to the church. It was a full church with over 130 people in attendance.. This was truly a village coming together, to both mourn and to celebrate Maurice. A lovely man who will be greatly missed.
That’s it for now, so hope to see you on Sunday for the All Age service at 4pm.
Thanks
Richard.
St John's Sunday School/Club and Catch Up
Dear All,
Well, we are nearly there! We started planning for a Sunday School nearly 4 years ago and we are so excited to confirm that the first session of The Sunday Club will be held on Sunday 3rd October. That’s just weeks away !! ( my last catch up did say 5th September so please note the change)
As I have reported many times, Helen and Sally are going to run the Sunday Club and it will be held during our 9.15am morning service on the first Sunday of each month.
Helen and Sally have written you a letter and this is attached. They have also attached a simple form that would help them to have a little information. Please do send this back to Helen, her email details are at the bottom of the letter. They do want to emphasis however, that this should not been seen as a commitment, but it will help them plan the first session. Also, all children attending on the first Sunday each month, will be welcomed to go to the cabin for the Sunday Club activities, whether a form has or has not been completed. By letting them have your details however, they can keep you informed of upcoming Sunday Club activities. They are aiming to cater for the ages of 3 – 10, although they do want to be inclusive for all children.
There has been much fun planning for the sessions and, the important word is FUN. They want the children to have fun so that they want to come again.
The plan, as Helen says, is for the children to leave their parents during the first hymn, returning to church for a blessing at the end of the service. If they have done any painting or drawing, Fr John will invite them to come up and show us all.
This is a major highlight in the life of our village church and I do hope you will give Helen and Sally all the support you can and encourage them as we grow our younger congregation. So, PLEASE PUT THE DATE IN YOUR DIARY. I will of course, remind everyone nearer the time.
We were recently visited by The Archdeacon and I enjoyed showing him around. He was very impressed, not least at our ideas for the new Sunday Club.
4pm ALL AGE SERVICE. Sunday 12th September,
Keeping to the theme of young people, I am pleased to tell you that Tina will be doing our all age service in September, as Fr John will be on holiday. If the weather is fine we may well have the service outside, if not then it will be in church with the Screen up. In either event, we are grateful to Tina for offering to do this service and I hope many of you will come and join in. This time, we will be able to sing again, the first time for the All Age in more than 18 Months!! Our September services are as follows:
Sunday 5th September 9.15am Family Eucharist with Fr John and Nigel playing for us.
Sunday 12th September 4pm. All Age with Tina .
Sunday 19th September 9.15am Family Eucharist with Fr John and Nigel.
Sunday 26th September NO SERVICE. WE ARE OPEN FOR PRIVATE PRAYER 11AM – 4PM.
Rowena Upcott mentioned to me yesterday, how nice it was to see the many changes in the way our services are run, now that some of the restrictions have been lifted, and I agree, not least having a small choir and all of us being able to sing again!
Sandra and I are away w/c 13th September, returning late on the Saturday, so during that week, Keith will be opening and closing and Jenny has promised to set up for the Sunday, so that we don’t have to be in too early !
UPDATE ON THE VACANCY.
Our advertisement will go out in the next week or so and we hope to consider a short list for interview on Tuesday 5th October. The interviews are planned to take place on Friday 15th October. I have been asked by the Archdeacon, to join the interview panel to represent the interests of St John’s. So, there will now be a representative from the three churches.
TRAIDCRAFT COFFEE MORNING.......A date for your diary.
Each year Sandra has a coffee morning to sell goods and gifts ready for Christmas and to raise much needed funds for Traidcraft. This year the dates will be Friday 12th November and Saturday 13th November, so please pop into your diary.
That’s it for now ..................................JUST 30 DAYS TO GO UNTIL OUR FIRST SUNDAY CLUB and counting!!!!
Take Care.
Richard.
St John's Catch Up
Dear All,
Well, what joy to hear singing again in St John’s. It was great to have a Choir again, thanks Jenny. With Nigel on his hols, we were lucky to have Jonathan to play for us. At the end of the service we noticed that we had been joined by one of our feathered friends.......NO not a song bird!! Actually, I had not seen the bird until I opened up on Monday and it came flying past. The red breast gave the game away. I left windows open and when I came in to lock up, it was gone.
So, looking forward to this coming Sunday, Nigel will be back...as will the choir, I hope. Please do come along and join in the singing. It would be lovely to have a few of our younger members with us, to help raise the roof.
SUNDAY CLUB ( Sunday School)
Sally and Helen tell me that plans for the Sunday Club are well advanced. They have already had the first families contact them to put the little ones down. As I have indicated before, we are planning the first Sunday Club for Sunday 5th September and then hold it on the first Sunday in each month. If you would like to reserve places or find out more, Please email Sally at davidcamerongray@hotmail.com or give her a ring on: 07842 161140. They are planning for ages between 3 and 10. Children will start in church and then be taken out to the cabin during the first hymn, returning for a blessing just before the end. It will be the first time in at least 20 years, that a Sunday club/school has been run at St John’s and we are getting quite excited! Helen and Sally have said that they will make sure it’s fun............... We are so grateful to Sally and Helen and hope they will have everyone’s support. Do please get involved.
Just as an aside, although the club has not started, we have already used the cabin for several Parish meetings... If you have a small church group that would like to meet, please let us know? It’s going to prove to be a real asset to St John’s.
INTERREGNUM.
We are just about to place new adverts for our Vicar in September and hope to be in a position to interview in the late Summer, early Autumn. It does seem ages since Keith left us but I am sure the wait will be worth it.
PCC SECRETARY.
You may have seen Fr John’s latest news letter in which he has indicated that we are looking for a new PCC Secretary. This involves attending around 6 meeting a year and taking notes in order to prepare minutes. One or two other duties occur once a year for the APCM . If you think you could help the Parish in this way, please get in touch with Fr John or myself and we will give you a few more details.
RECYCLING FOR GOOD CAUSES.
I have written several times, about Sandra’s mail order TRAIDCRAFT service and this is going from strength to strength. So if you would like a catalogue please give her a ring 822282. Just as an aside, when Sandra first started the Parish traidcraft service, we were invited to an open day and presentation in London.
I will always remember the story of the mother in India who scratched a living on a bare patch of ground and with just a few tea plants. Traidcraft Exchange, the linked charity, provided her with some training and more tea plants. Within a short time she had transformed her life and created a thriving business, selling tea to Traidcraft, successful enough to enable her to send her children to school!! Now that is what you support, whenever you buy goods, or offer items for Sandra’s recycling scheme. Just to remind you, Sandra collects the following items and sends them off for recycling. The money she raises goes to Traidcraft:
OLD CAMERAS AND EQUIPMENT, MOBILE PHONES, JEWELLERY AND WATCHES, GAME CONSOLES AND TABLETS. UK AND FOREIGN STAMPS AND OLD UK AND FOREIGN CURRENCY.
If you do have items to recycle please drop them into the church porch and I will collect them or if you prefer, drop them off at our house: Oakleigh, Green Lane Littlewick Green SL63 RH.
Of course, should you wish to make a donation , Sandra can make sure it gets to Traidcraft Exchange, the charity.
SERVICES FOR AUGUST.
Sunday 15th August 9.15.....a singing family Eucharist with Fr John and Nigel back from his Hols.
Sunday 22nd August.............No service but we are open for Private Prayer.
Sunday 29th August 9.15 A family Eucharist .
That’s all for now.
God Bless
Richard.
St John's Catch Up
Dear All,
Well, the sun has really shone these last few days and I hope you are loving the weather. Last Monday we heard the announcements concerning the lifting of the covid restrictions. This also lifted spirits with the prospects of life getting back to some form of normal.
With the government relaxing many of the restrictions, we have started to look at the way we will be able to worship in our church as we go through the next few months. At St John’s and indeed in our parish as a whole, we want to proceed with some caution. I am only too aware that many of you will still have concerns, so this gradual approach to the lifting of restrictions, will I hope, be welcome. So let me outline the way we propose to go forward.
From our next service on the 1st August, we will be able to sing again..Hooray....I hear. To sing hymns again will be wonderful.
Although face coverings will no longer be mandatory, we want those of you who do want to keep using masks to do so. Although, if you want to sing you can remove them,.....again if you feel comfortable.
If you are going up to receive communion or to be blessed, we will ask you to keep wearing a mask.
Although the Church of England has said that wine can be administered again, we in Burchetts Green are not yet ready to do so and will therefore offer the bread only for the time being.
As you know we have isolated every other pew and these will remain closed, again for the foreseeable future. For a typical service, the existing restrictions will not impact on numbers allowed in church. By the time we get to some of our Festival services, we should not have to restrict numbers. .
Our notice will remain in the porch and our Sanitizer points will also remain.
St John’s will remain open for private prayer each day and the back three pews will be available as they are now,. These will continue to be sanitized each night.
Again, for the time being, The Peace will continue to be offered from the pew.
We will keep these arrangements under review and when we judge it to be safe to do so, may amend them. I hope you understand our approach to the lifting of the restrictions and in particular, welcome singing again. I would appreciate having some feedback please as this helps us determine your wishes and concerns.
MUSIC.
I have mentioned that we can sing at our next service. However, Nigel will be on holiday so at the moment I am looking for someone to play the Piano...Eleanor who always steps in, is also on holiday. If you are able to help us please do let me know.
SERVICES FOR AUGUST.
1st August 9.15 Family Eucharist.
8th August......open for private prayer. The All Age service is on holiday returning on 12th September. We do have a Baptism in the afternoon..
15th August. 9.15 Family Eucharist. Nigel should be with us so much singing I hope!
22nd August . Open for private prayer.
29th August. 9.15. Family Eucharist.
ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING.
This Sunday 25th July at 12.00pm we will be holding our annual meeting in the Soltau Centre. The new PCC will be elected as will the Church Wardens for the coming year. Sue Harrington Hill and Paul Heelas have produced a wonderful book that contains reports from various groups in the parish. This will be placed on our web page after the meeting and will be a great read if you cannot make the meeting. Just go to https://www.burchettsgreenparish.org
SUNDAY CLUB.
Just a reminder that Helen and Sally intend to start the Sunday Club in September and would welcome hearing from parents who have not as yet indicated their interest. Please email Sally davidcamerongray@hotmail.com
REQUEST FOR HELP
As we come out of lock down we are looking at starting up our rota’s again and would like to encourage a few more volunteers . Viv runs the Coffee rota..we are able to have refreshments again, Sylvia runs the cleaning rota ...now this is close to my heart as Sandra and I have done this for the past 18 months!! John Johnson looks after the sides, intercessions and reader lists.
It must be said that we at St John’s are so lucky to have so much support but as always, we need to add to our rota lists, So if you think you could help us, why don’t you just ring me 822282 or email me and we can have a chat, before you have to make a decision.. You can of course, just contact Viv, Sylvia or John and have chat with them. If you spare Just a few hours a year, it will really help us?
Well, as I finish the sun is still shining and I am tempted to sit under the umbrella with a cool drink!
God Bless.
Richard.
St John's Catch Up
Dear All,
The illustration above reminds us that church life has always involved singing. Something we have not been able to do for the last 15 months! During our PCC meeting this week, we speculated on the changes to church life, that may occur after the 19th July. If the restrictions are lifted, we could be singing again..oh ..and coming to church without face masks. How good would that be? Not wanting to get ahead of myself, we are all too aware that we will still need to be cautious , we eagerly await further guidance from the Diocese after any announcement from the Government. Do I detect an air of optimism, or was that the football result on Tuesday!!!
VACANCY UPDATE.
I reported last time that the 25th was to be the interview date for candidates. We had a very interesting day but Sadly we were not able to find a suitable candidate to lead us forward. This is not unusual and we will now prepare to advertise again after the Summer. Pray with us that we will soon be able to attract a new Vicar who will lead our Parish.
In the mean time, we are very grateful to Fr John, who has contributed so much to our church and Parish over this last year and has been an enormous help in making sure we could offer services during the Pandemic.
I would also like to mention that during this lengthy interregnum, we are still able to offer Baptisms, Weddings and of course Funerals. Our web page www.burchettsgreenparish.org has the details for anyone wanting to enquire about any aspect of our church life.
JULY SERVICES.
4th July. 9.15. Family Eucharist. Led by Fr John and with Nigel on the organ.
11th July 4.00pm All Age service. We are opening the cabin again from 3.15, with refreshments .Although Sally and Helen are not able to be with us, you will have the chance to inspect the cabin and chat about the Sunday Club. If the weather is kind, we may also be able to hold another outdoor service! The Sunday Club will start in September so, if you would like to indicate your interest please email Sally on davidcamerongray@hotmail.com This will really help Sally and Helen as they plan for this start. I Hope we will see many of you on the 11th.
18th July 9.15. Family Eucharist with Fr John and Nigel playing.
25th July. No service and our church will be open for Private Prayer during the day 11 am to 4 pm.
ANNUAL PAROCIAL COUNCIL MEETING
Our APCM will be held on Sunday 25th July at the Soltau Centre, Stubbings, starting at 12.00. At the meeting we will elect the Church wardens and PCC members for the following year. If you would be interested in being elected for either of these positions, I have left nomination forms at the back of church. Please ring me if you want any further information on the role of either a church warden or a PCC member.
FOODBANK.
Just to remind you that we are still collecting for the Maidenhead food bank and any donations can be left in the church porch.
TRAIDCRAFT.
Sandra has the new catalogues now and if you would like a copy please ring Sandra on 01628 822282 and we will make sure you get a copy. Although we have not had a stall for some 15 months, Sandra has maintained a mail and telephone service, so sales have continued..... very important for the traders in the Third World!
QUINQUENNIAL REPAIRS.
I am pleased to report that I have placed an order, subject to receiving a Faculty, to cover for the stonework repairs highlighted as urgent in the Quinquennial Report. The cost of this work is £7,800. The work includes replacing 3 Coping stones and 2 Springing stones, all in Bath stone, to the South Gable, plus some re pointing. It is planned to have these repairs carried out between the Autumn and Spring.
That’s it for now,
God Bless.
Richard.
