St James The Great
Old Milverton, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Our Building Plans: copies of the architect’s drawings are in church for you to look at. If you have questions, come and ask one of the Steering Group members (Jane, Michael, Sue, Chris Vincett, Ali Foster and Allison Wiggin)
May we remind all our Sunday morning Lesson Readers and Intercessors to stand at the lectern so that the microphone picks up your voice. Even if you are someone who can be heard without it, it is essential for those in the congregation with hearing aids if they are to access the loop system. Thank you.
Coffee Rota: our Sunday morning coffee time is an important part of our morning worship, offering a welcome to visitors and giving us all time to share God’s love with one another. Please think about whether you might offer to take a turn at serving coffee and sign up on the rota at the back of church. If bringing the water is a problem for you, we are happy to arrange that, leaving you just to bring milk and biscuits.
Muddy Church: If you know of any young folk who might enjoy our Muddy Church events, do please encourage them to come along. It’s good fun and there is always some delicious to eat before we go home.
Dates for this year are:
- March 29th
- June 14th
- October 11th
All on a Sunday afternoon starting at 3.00pm
Our first Coffee & Chat of the year will start at 11.00am on Wednesday 18th February, following the 10.00am Ash Wednesday service in church. The rest of our gatherings will start at 10.30am as usual.
The dates for 2026 are
- February 18th (11.00am)
- April 1st
- May 27th
- July 22nd
- August 26th
- October 28th
- December 30th
Dates for the coming year
I’m sure you all have beautiful, pristine 2026 diaries just waiting to filled! Here are just some of the church events taking place this coming year for you to look forward to: put them in your diaries now to make sure you don’t double-book yourselves.
February 18th Ash Wednesday Holy Communion 10.00am
March 28th Lent Lunch
April 5th Easter Day Holy Communion 10.30am
April 26th Morning Worship and Annual Church Meeting
July 26th Patronal Service
October 4th Harvest Festival and Lunch
November 1st All Souls Service
December 20th Carols in the Churchyard 4.00pm
December 22nd Carol Service 7.00pm
Thought for the month:
Thank you God
With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:16-17
The thirteenth century mystic Meister Eckhart said: ‘if the only prayer you ever said in your whole life was “Thank you”, that would suffice’. That got me thinking about what my prayers consist of and I rapidly came to the conclusion that, certainly over the past year, my prayers have been more about ‘please would you…’ than about giving thanks.
I think we all do it. Christ promises us hope, meaning, peace, purpose and joy but that doesn’t make us immune from the worries and challenges of daily life and my first instinct when I stop to talk to God is to ask about all the things that are bothering me rather than remembering to be thankful for the many blessings that he has given me.
The Bible is full of examples of people who found it possible to give thanks to God even through the tough times – many of the psalms include verses of thanks to God for his goodness whilst still recognising that life was hard and difficult; in his letters, Paul gives thanks so often for the signs of Christ alive and at work amongst the church communities he is writing to.
‘Thank you God for this fine day’ says the children’s hymn. Whilst I’m not suggesting that we all turn into ‘Pollyannas’, with an exaggeratedly optimistic outlook on life, as I look forward into 2026, I am going to try to include more ‘thank yous’ in my conversations with God.
After all, a life shaped on thankfulness is a beautiful gift: what is there in your life right now for you to be thankful for?
With love,
Sue x
Sovereign God,
your greatness fills the heavens,
your power sustains the universe,
your love supports all creation
and your purpose extends to all times and all people,
yet you have time for the very least of us – time for all!
For that most awesome of truths,
we give you our thanks and praise.
Nick Fawcett
Clergy
Revd. William Smith 316475 wms.smith@btinternet.com
Revd. Sue Fairhurst 735254 suefairhurst0@gmail.com
Reader
Geoff Wiggin 07585 336471 geogeoff@live.co.uk
Safeguarding Officer
Penny Hawkins 07833 978522
Churchwardens
Michael Rayner 831522
Jane Marshall 831680
Website & email
www.stjamesoldmilverton.co.uk churchwardenstjames@outlook.com
Parish News
Ali Foster © 2013