Preparations for the Crib Service began a couple of weeks beforehand with a gathering of ladies who cut out a great many card crowns, donkeys, sheep and stars, whilst being plied with cups of tea and mince pies by our hostess. Each shape then had a hole punched into it for Christmas ribbon to be threaded through so they could be hung on a Christmas tree later. As people arrived for the service they were given a little battery candle, together with the shapes which they...
2016 was a busy and productive year for Sunbeams and Junior Church Fundraising. Our Cake Stall in July raised £171.71 for Christian Aid, which was a great total. The ‘pennies’ the children bring in each week for our Sunbeams and Junior Church collections raised...
I saw one of Margaret’s daughters the other week, and I felt I must share the news on Margaret. When she was clearing paperwork from Margaret’s desk, she found an invitation to a Buckingham Palace garden party; she thought it was for the work Margaret had done weekly at the Multiple System Atrophy Trust at Ronald McDonald House, Guy’s and St Thomas’. The house is going to be renamed Margaret House. What a lovely memorial to Margaret.
Pam Cahill
...'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.' Revelation 3:14
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20
I don't know about you but I sometimes go through patches in my life when everything feels very flat and dreary. It's not depression but more a lack of sparkle to everything around me. I turn to my hobbies and they don't feel as full of purpose as they...
Jesus teaches us to be persistent in prayer. Perhaps the prayer that we use most persistently is The Lord’s Prayer, said each time we come together to worship and used by many of us in our daily prayer times. This meditation focuses our attention on each phase of the prayer.
I cannot say OUR if my religion has no room for others and their needs.
I cannot say FATHER if I do not demonstrate this relationship in my daily living.
I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if all my interests...
“That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers.” (NIV)
My Bible reading notes have just started to look at some of the psalms for two weeks. Today it is Psalm 1 and the...
As the Parish Church in Hayes, St. Mary's congregation welcomes children with open arms and open hearts. I guess this is in line with the attitude of our Saviour Jesus Christ who said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them...' (Mark 10:14).
Baptism or thanksgiving services are special occasions when we love to see children in the church. In St. Mary's each year we baptise a considerable number of...
Ment4 provides one-to-one specialist mentoring for 12 to 17 year olds with emotional and behavioural difficulties. We help those vulnerable to crime and those on court orders. We also help long-term non-attendees, those excluded from schools and Pupil Referral Units, those judged as particularly vulnerable by social services, and direct referrals from families.
We run four to six month programmes where mentors meet two or three times a week with their assigned young people, one-on-one, working through problematic...
We had returned from a lovely walk and dinner was in capable hands so I had time to busy myself in the garden. At this time of year I was picking blackberries, harvesting yet more courgettes and encouraging the flowers in the hanging baskets and pots to keep flowering. When I stopped for some refreshment I was able to watch the once newly- fledged birds, now fending for themselves and I thought to myself what a joy it is to be able to...
