St James The Great
Old Milverton, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
Thank you to everyone who contributed items for the foodbank at our Harvest service last month. We collect items for the foodbank throughout the year, in the box at the back of church. At the moment, they are most in need of squash, long-life milk, small jars of coffee, deodorants, shower gel, shaving foam/gel, washing up liquid, tinned vegetables, tinned fruit, tinned meat or fish, ketchup, mayonnaise and instant mash potatoes.
And don’t forget that we continue to collect medical supplies for Ukraine – anything you could buy over the counter at a chemist’s is welcome (painkillers, antiseptic wipes, dressings, etc)
Remembrance Sunday: please remember that the start time for this service is 10.45am. We will go out to the memorial so do come suitably wrapped up against the weather.
Readers, Intercessors and Stewards
Geoff will be working on the rota for the new year during the coming month: if you can let him or a churchwarden know of any dates when you will not be available for the January to April rota it would be very helpful.
Fund-raising for African Vision Malawi: Hamper Raffle
Our annual Christmas Hamper Raffle and cake sale will take place in the Parish Room on Sunday 7th December after the morning service. This is our main fund-raising activity for the year. Raffle tickets will cost £1 each and will be on sale on Sunday mornings from 16th November. If you are able to bake a cake to bring along on the day or provide an item to go into the hampers we would be very grateful: there will be a box at the back of church to collect your hamper items from the beginning of November.
Looking ahead to Christmas
Christmas is always a great time at St James. Put these dates in your diaries and come and join us.
Dec. 16th (Tue) 7.00pm Carol Service
Dec. 21st (Sun) 4.00pm Carols in the Churchyard (bring a torch)
Dec. 22nd (Mon) 4.00 – 6.00pm Light a Candle Evening
Christmas Eve (Wed) 10.30am Nativity Service
11.00pm Holy Communion for Christmas Night
Christmas Day 10.30 Holy Communion for all the family
Christmas Shopping
Stuck for ideas? Don’t forget that we have a selection of St James’ gifts that make great stocking fillers:
Tea towels £7.00
Jot-a-notes £4.00
Note Cards £5.00 for pack of 10
All available at the back of church.
The final churchyard clearing morning of the year will be on Saturday 13th December – come along and help to clear leaves from the churchyard.
Thought for the month: the challenge of waiting
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37.7)
November is one of those months that I’m really not sure I like very much. The clocks have gone back, so it’s dark much earlier in the evenings; my garden looks messy and I rarely feel very inspired to get out there and tidy up; the lights of December and Christmas that cheer things up are still a way off. And this year in particular, the news isn’t helping either: there’s an uncertainty all around our world these days, and it feels as though we are almost holding our breath as we wait to see what happens next. As autumn moves inexorably into winter, the situations I struggle with are all ones that I can do very little about and, all in all, I find it rather unsettling, testing my ability to ‘wait patiently’ for the Lord as the psalm tells us to.
It's made me think about the challenge of waiting – and I’m fairly confident that we are all waiting for something a lot of the time. It might be as simple as better weather and longer days. It might be for more than just a very fragile peace in the world around us. It might be for better health or peace of mind, for us or for someone we love. It might be a decision we are wrestling with but aren’t sure what to do for the best. Whatever we wait for, it will often involve some kind of emotion: impatience, anxiety, stoicism, for example, and we will all deal with it differently. We might share our concerns with friends – and that often helps – but what I often forget to do is to share that waiting with God.
So often, Jesus told his followers not to be afraid or to worry because he was with them ‘until the end of time’. Whatever happened he was there to turn to for support and reassurance. In the sermon on the mount we find this very familiar verse:
‘Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.’ (Matthew 6.34)
It reminds us that each and every day God stands alongside us, whatever the situation we find ourselves in and for however long we need him, so we can wait in the knowledge that no matter what the day brings, his love is there to surround and uphold us.
This November, I am going to try to ‘rest in the Lord’ as I wait for the coming of the Advent promise of Christ’s return to our world, to be patient with the things I cannot change today, and to remember that if I ask God to walk beside me through the day, then whatever happens, I will not be dealing with the challenges alone.
With love, Sue.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
Clergy
Revd. William Smith 316475 wms.smith@btinternet.com
Revd. Sue Fairhurst 735254 suefairhurst0@gmail.com
Reader
Geoff Wiggin 07585 336471
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