St. Faith and St. Laurence Harborne

The Gridiron Club AGM
We have established a tradition in the Gridiron Club of “sweetening the
pill” of an AGM by following the meeting with a buffet supper, thus ensuring a
good attendance!
The meeting began with a prayer, giving thanks for the opportunity to
meet in friendship and dedicating ourselves to facing the future in faith and
fellowship.
In her review of the year’s activities our Chairman ( yes, we are oldfashioned enough to have a Chairman rather than a Chair) commented that our
40-strong membership remains steady and our monthly meetings are wellattended, enjoying talks by 6 speakers during 2014. She also made two
important points. (a) We are a group which is involved in all aspects of the
social life of the Church, offering practical help with events such as “Tea at the
Ritz” the Flower Festival and the St Nicholas Fair, actively supporting Abigail’s
Concert and hosting the St George’s Day Dinner and the Wassail Evening.
(b) Through these and other efforts we help raise money, in 2014 raising
£500.00 for our Church and other charities. This is as it should be, for we are a
part of the St Faith & St Laurence community.
She stressed that we are an open group, which welcomes newcomers
and those who wish to attend an occasional meeting. We invite anyone who is
a friend of St Faith & St Laurence Church to come along and join us. Copies of
the Programme are available from Brenda Stott or Thelma Kettle.
The Treasurer reported a healthy Bank Balance, so the annual
membership fee remains £10.00, a bargain in today’s straitened times.
St. Faith and St. Laurence
Harborne
......And then, business concluded, we enjoyed supper with our friends.
Brenda Stott
Easter poem
Tell me:
What came first
Easter or the egg?
Crucifixion or daffodils?
Three days in a tomb or four days
in Paris? (returning
Bank Holiday Monday).
When is a door
not a door?
When it is rolled away.
When is a body
not a body?
When it is risen.
19
HE IS RISEN!
APRIL 2015
Choir Notes
Please join us for some major choral events on Good Friday and Easter Day:
Good Friday at 7.30 pm (Friday 3 April)
Requiem by Gabriel Fauré
Dear Friends,
In the Hebrew Scripture Moses on the mountain is allowed only to see God’s back
’ Moses said, ‘Show me your glory, I pray.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my
goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before
you the name, “The Lord”; and I will be gracious to
whom I
will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will
show mercy. But’, he said, ‘you cannot see my face; for
no one shall see me and live.’ And the Lord continued,
‘See, there is a place by me where you shall stand on
the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put you in
a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand
until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand,
and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be
seen.’ Exodus 33.18-23
I took this picture in Kingsbury Water Park during the
eclipse.
You can’t see the effect of the eclipse itself but you can
see
the beauty and brightness of the sun reflected in the
water.
Simon Palmer - conductor David Friel - organist
at St Peter’s Parish Church, Harborne
Sung by the Choirs of
St Peter’s, Harborne, St Faith and St Laurence, Harborne with invited friends
No charge for entry.
Easter Day at 6.30 pm (Sunday 5 April)
Choral Evensong sung by the choir of St Faith and St Laurence
Canticles by Brewer in D
We know it is dangerous to look directly at the sun because
its brightness would damage our eyes, we have to use filters,
pinholes, smoked glass in order to look.
I wonder if here we have a helpful clue for our understanding of God. Jesus offers
us a way in which it is possible to look at God directly without fear, without danger.
In Jesus we see God in action. And supremely in these first days of April as we
celebrate Holy Week and Easter we see the brightness and the darkness of God’s
loving grace. We see the lengths to which God will go, making Godself into
darkness and pain in order that light might shine again.
This Easter, let us remember especially that sun, the Son, cannot be blotted
out, that the darkness and cold can only be temporary, that Jesus demonstrates
the absolute way in which God is for us and that love can never be quenched.
'Blessed be the God and Father' by S.S.Wesley
Priscilla
1
18
And the woman who Matthew calls ‘the other Mary’ - who was she? Not
Jesus’ mother, or Matthew would surely have said. Perhaps Mary, the sister of
Martha and Lazarus, who had once anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped
his feet with her hair and to whom Jesus revealed his resurrection power when
he raised Lazarus from the dead. It is perhaps more likely that ‘the other Mary’ is
the one Matthew earlier mentions being with Mary Magdalene at the foot of the
cross when Jesus died, and at the tomb when they placed his body there - ‘Mary
the mother of James and Joseph’.
We know nothing else about this Mary - except that she was clearly part
of the first group of those who had embraced Jesus’ teachings about the
kingdom of God, grasped its significance and felt its power in their lives. A
morning person, for it had dawned on her that in Christ she was a new person not constrained by the laws which radically diminished the role of women in that
society, but raised to the same level as all the other believers. This Mary, like all
the other women in Jesus’ company, and all the other outsiders and ordinary
folk he embraced, experienced the new reality of God’s kingdom which Paul
later expressed to the Galatians: that in Christ ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile,
neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ
Jesus.’
The good news of Easter is that, like Mary Magdalene and the other Mary,
we can be morning people - full of fear and great joy at the news of the
resurrection, embracing the way of God’s kingdom.
The world needs these sort of morning people today: the sort of people
who when they step out of bed each day, have one foot in the kingdom of this
earth, in the society in which they live and work, and one foot in the kingdom of
God whose resurrection power they have embraced and whose ways they seek
to follow. For them, eternal life has already come, it’s for their future but it is
also for here and now, in the way they live their lives to and for others.
They are the ones equipped to shake the world out of its destructive
patterns of tribalism and misplaced desire, to help humanity to find new ways of
being together. These are the Desmond Tutu’s and the Pope Francis’s of the
world.
Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is
risen. Go ahead and look for him. You will find him.
This is the good news of Easter: we too can be morning people. Hallelujah!
Peter Stokes
Aspects of life at St Faith and St Laurence
Morning prayer – is normally said Monday to Thursday and Saturday at
8.15 am in the Lady Chapel. We use Common Worship Daily Prayer, all are welcome to come and join in.
Reflections A chance to meet together over a cuppa and reflect on the Gospel reading for the previous Sunday. A group meets on Mondays from 1.45-3pm
Venues are listed in the Programme of the month.
Task Groups – The church has a number of task groups enabling areas of
church life. These are listed in the magazine with the contact details of the chairs.
If you would like to be a part of a groups please contact the relevant chair or
Priscilla. All are welcome to join.
Stay and Play meets on Thursday between 9.30 and 11am in the Hall to give
a chance for people with young children to meet and the children to play. All are
welcome. Cost £1.50 per family.
Sunday Club meets on the first and third Sundays of each month except
during the holidays. We hold an extra Sunday Club on days when there is a baptism.
All are welcome to join in hearing and experiencing a Bible Story and
learning together about what it means for our daily lives.
Messy Church takes place twice a term. A chance for children and parents/
carers to have an informal time of worship, and discovering about a Bible story
through song, craft, listening, cooking and so much more. Dates are published in
advance and all are welcome to come along.
Planned Giving helps people make giving regular. You decide how much
you can afford to give. You can join the envelope scheme weekly or monthly or
pay by Standing Order or annually by cheque. Income tax payers are asked to
Gift Aid their giving, so the Church can reclaim the tax on their donations at no
extra cost to the donors. For details, contact Jackie Taylor or Brenda Stott
Call in for Coffee time together over a cuppa on a Wednesday morning from
10.30 -12.00. if needed we can arrange for someone to collect you and then take
you home. Please ring Pauline Sitford (427 7005). If you are passing, do call in,
or bring a friend, all are welcome.
We support Recycling. We have boxes at the back of the church where you can
leave batteries and printer ink cartridges to be recycled. We have a special collection on the first Sunday of every month when we collect ALUMINIUM cans and
foil which can be sold and the money raised is donated to our Mission Partners in
Chile (through USPG) We also have envelopes for recycling mobile phones
again supporting USPG. Pauline Sitford (427 7005).
17
2
Home Communion We have a team of lay people trained and able to bring
Home Communion usually on a monthly basis. This is for those who are unable
to come to church long term. If the situation is more temporary for example after
an operation you can also receive communion, usually from Priscilla. In either
case please contact Priscilla.
Traidcraft - Ruth Jeavons
Traidcraft sell a range of Fair-Trade food, beverages, chocolate and greetings
cards. Traidcraft also sells a wide range of clothes, jewellery, and accessories
through their catalogue. We have a number of Traidcraft catalogues and
members of the congregation are invited to use these to make personal orders
which will be managed through the church.
Gridiron Club is a friendship group for men and women. It meets monthly,
usually on the third Tuesday, at 7.30 pm in the Committee Room. There are
talks, outings and social events which are open to all.
Women’s Fellowship meets on the first Monday of the month from March
to December. Meetings are held in the Committee Room 7.30 for 8pm. We have
talks on a variety of subjects. See Programme of the Month for details.
Prayer Ministry Team
Prayer ministry is offered during the 10am Communion on Sundays. People can
receive prayer for themselves or for any situation that is important to them. It
takes place in the Lady Chapel during the distribution of communion.
Praying Together is a small group that meets approximately monthly at
7.30pm in the Lady Chapel, usually on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
evening (dates advertised in the Magazine and in the weekly Pew Sheet).
Foodbank
We collect food for the Quinton and Oldbury Foodbank. There is a box in church
and food can be placed there at any time. The list of things that are needed is in
church and in the hall. Food is distributed from St Boniface Church on
Wednesdays and Paul and Barney's place on Fridays. Vouchers are required to
receive food.
Choir and Music.
Choir Practice takes place weekly, normally on Thursdays 6-7pm. Anyone
interested in singing in the choir should contact Simon Palmer, Organist &
Choirmaster. (Contact details on page cover) We also like to encourage
instrumentalists to perform in church, either in services or in concerts. If you
think you could do this, please see Simon.
3
The Morning People
Are you a morning person? Mary Magdelene and the other Mary must
have been morning people, for they rose before dawn on the first day of the
week to go and see the tomb where they had laid Jesus to rest two days before.
They were morning people - but what sort of morning people? Either the sort
who get up early simply because they can’t sleep - for anxiety, sickness of the
heart or mind? Or the sort who can’t stay in bed because they are so keen to
grasp the potential of a bright new day - lovers of life, longing to get out and
embrace it?
They could have been either sorts of morning people, these two Marys restless throughout the Sabbath, recalling the terrible events of the day before,
sleepless for fear of what may have happened to Jesus’ body. Or, believing what
they had heard Jesus tell them - that he would rise on the third day - and not
wanting to waste a moment to go and discover whether this joyful event had
occurred.
It’s quite possible that they might have been all these things combined for as you and I know, our inner life seldom runs smoothly, and especially at
times of crisis we fluctuate between hopelessness and hopefulness, anxiety and
assuredness, joyfulness and fear. No doubt that Mary Magdalene, the other
Mary and all the disciples who shared in the revelation of the risen Jesus, would
continue to feel a combination of these things that day. Indeed Matthew tells us
that after the angel had given them the resurrection message, ‘They left the
tomb quickly with fear and great joy’.
There’s a deeper sense in which we can say that these two women were
morning people. They were morning people because they had embraced the
good news of God’s kingdom in their lives; they had seen its power at work
personally and in the new community of believers to which they belonged; and
that morning they had seen its power at work more clearly than ever resurrection power, the power to overcome death.
Mary Magdalene first embraced the good news of God’s kingdom and
seen his resurrection power at work, when Jesus cleansed her of "seven
demons". It was some form of mental or physical illness she was suffering - an
illness which would have caused her to be excluded from the rest of society,
ostracised because in her madness or sickness they would have dubbed her
‘unclean’. When Jesus healed her he revealed the nature of the kingdom of God
- that it was a way of life in which the excluded ones were now included. When
Jesus healed her she felt the power of the resurrection change her life - she was
whole in body and mind - and in status too, fully restored to society - and in that
moment her life began again.
16
April Wind
The wind was cold one April morning,
And the sun was hid in heaven.
They took a man one April morning,
And while he said goodbye,
Blew the wind in April.
They took a man one April morning,
And the sun was hid in heaven,
They drove the nails into his fingers,
And while he said goodbye,
Blew the wind in April.
They murdered love one April morning,
And the sun was hid in heaven,
The sky grew black, the rain came falling,
And while he said goodbye,
Blew the wind in April.
They laid his body in a garden,
And the sun was hid in heaven,
They went away till Sunday morning,
And while they said goodbye,
Blew the wind in April.
The sun shone high on Sunday morning,
Yes, the sun shone high in heaven,
He said goodbye, goodbye to sleeping,
And while he said goodbye,
Blew the wind in April.
And there he stood one April morning,
And the sun shone high in heaven,
He stood and smiled one April morning,
And when he smiled again,
Blew the wind in April.
Damian Lundy
15
Confirmation
This year the cluster confirmation takes place at St Faith and St Laurence on
June 14th at 6.30pm.. Preparation groups will start after Easter and details will be
available soon. Meanwhile I would like to encourage anyone who is interested in
taking part to have a word with me. It would be really good if we could have several
people from this church participating on a number of levels.
Preparations will be as follows:There will be two groups for adults
Sunday 4pm starting the 3rd May in the Garden Room at St Peter’s Church Hall
Thursdays 8pm probably on the following dates at St George’s Vicarage
April 23rd, 30th, May 21st, 28th June 4th,
And a group for children and young people
Sunday 4pm in the Committee Room at St Faith and St Laurence.
The rehearsal will be on June 11th at 7.30pm at St Faith and St Laurence
Please let me know if you would like to attend any of these. Children and Young
people year 6 and above.
Annual Parochial Church Meeting
The Annual meeting will take place on April 14th at 7.30pm in Church. In
order to facilitate this various things need to be done.
The electoral Roll has been revised and a copy is displayed in church. Forms
of nomination for churchwardens and PCC members are now up. We are electing 5
PCC members, four for a full three year term and one for a two year term to cover
a vacancy. Please consider whether you can be a part of the PCC and bring your
gifts and vision to the benefit of the whole.
Finally your attendance at this meeting is highly valued. Although it can seem
to be a bit of a formality it is a chance to review and thank, to envision and develop.
All people whose names are on the electoral roll are entitled to attend.
The service with no name
After Rae’s really good session on Celtic Spirituality we have decided to try a
new venture on the first Wednesday of the Month at 7.30pm. This is a service
which will vary from month to month and include aspects of Celtic Spirituality, or
other influences such as Taize., prayer stations or compline. The time will usually
include some element of opening the bible together and will last for no more than
an hour
At the moment the service has no name. Suggestions will be welcome!
The first three will be on May 6th, June 3rd and July 1st.
Please do come along. It was clear from Rae’s session that there is a thirst for
something a little different and this is a way forward of seeking to give space for
this.
4
No Resurrection?
Report from the PCC
The main issues covered in the March PCC were the Growing Younger
bid for a Children and Families Missioner, developments to our online presence
through the website and Facebook and looking at the Accounts for 2014 in
preparation for the APCM in April.
The Church is bidding for funding for a Children and Families Missioner as
part of the Growing Younger initiative. The bid needs to be in by 27th March and
decisions will be taken after that as to which parishes will receive funding. The
diocese will be placing adverts and matching parishes and people once
decisions are made.
The decision was taken to add the magazine and the pewsheet (with
personal prayer requests removed ) to the website to give a wider circulation to
these aspects of our life. Both will continue to be produced in paper form as well.
Growing Younger
We have just put in a bid for funding for a Children and Families Missioner
under the diocesan “Growing Younger” strategy. If we are successful this will
give us a worker for 20 hours a week, initially for three years, to work with us to
develop and grow our work with children and young people. Please do pray for
this bid, for its outcome and for the whole process throughout the diocese.
There are leaflets available at the back of church about the strategy or you can
read more online at http://www.cofebirmingham.com/documents/view/growingyounger-booklet/
Hustings
You may have noticed that there is going to be a General Election on May
7th! As such Churches Together in Harborne were keen to offer a Hustings for
election candidates and the date set is April 20th at 7pm at St Faith and St
Laurence. This will be an opportunity to hear the candidates as they respond to
questions collected from the floor. There will also be a chance to meet them over
coffee afterwards. Please do spread the word about this.
We shall also need volunteers to help with refreshments and stewarding.
If you can help please see Priscilla. Ruth Jeavons or Helen Hayward.
They were afraid.' Probably not the best ending for a story headed 'The
Good News', or is it? But so ends the earliest versions of Mark's Gospel. There is
the empty tomb and a 'young man, dressed in a white robe' telling the women
who had come to anoint their Lord to tell his disciples that Jesus had been raised,
but there are no encounters on the road or by the lakeside as in the other
gospels, just of group of frightened women.
During the early centuries of Christian history, this way of ending the
earliest Gospel, was regarded as unsatisfactory. Two different endings were
conjectured. There is the 'shorter ending': a verse telling us that the women did
indeed inform Peter of what they had seen and that the risen Christ 'sent out,
through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of
eternal salvation'. Hardly the kind of language we are used to from the writer of
Mark's Gospel.
There is a 'longer ending', compiling a number of elements from the other
gospels: Jesus appearing to the women and to the disciples sending them out to
proclaim the Gospel and a brief account of the Ascension. This is not found in the
most dependable manuscripts and in others is marked with an asterisk as
secondary.
But what if Mark did want to end his Gospel with the notion of great fear
among the women? Perhaps we need to look back and read the rest of the text
again: throughout the Gospel we hear about the disciples struggling to
understand who Jesus is and Jesus telling them not to tell anyone. Now we hear
the opposite: go and tell the world. Perhaps the incomplete, open, ending of
Mark's Gospel struck a chord with its first hearers. They too were afraid,
frightened to share the Good News, terrified of rejection and persecution. And
perhaps they too were then compelled to go back to the beginning, to hear again
the challenge of Jesus to follow him.
Christians are called to be 'Easter people', who respond to the promise that
Jesus is risen and that the message of his life, death and resurrection is indeed
Good News for the whole world. What will our response be?
Natalie K. Watson
5
14
Prayer of the month
Birmingham has much to boast about, encourages Archbishop
A comment I heard recently when someone answered the question. “Are you a
Good Friday person or an Easter person?” “You can’t have one without the other.
Of course we know that is true. Easter resurrection means nothing without the pain,
loss and suffering of Good Friday. But without the Easter joy Good Friday is
meaningless. Each lives in the shade of the other, each interprets and explains the
other.
So this prayer which plaits them together and offers a way to see them.
More than 150 people from many of Birmingham's faith communities filled
the banqueting suite in the city's Council House recently as the Archbishop of
Canterbury delivered a lecture on the local impact of geo-politics.
The lecture was the Archbishop's last speaking engagement of a four day
visit to the city and region during which time he has visited Broad Street with City
Pastors, joined guests at a winter night shelter for breakfast, engaged with young
people from the churches, visited schools and industry, led services and spoken at
a conference and prayer breakfast.
Archbishop Justin introduced the lecture by reminding the audience that the
average Anglican was an African woman in her thirties who was earning $3-$4 a
day, was likely to be living in a conflict or post-conflict situation and probably being
persecuted for her faith. "Normal life is poverty, hard-work, fear, oppression and
war," he explained.
Speaking about the recent pastoral letter that has been sent to the church
leaders by the House of Bishops he said the fundamental question it posed was
whether we are a society of strangers or a community of communities.
After outlining a brief history of events in the Middle East, the Archbishop
said that there was no such thing as a simple conflict. "Religion is the simple hook
on which to hang complexity. The problem is, when it is hanging there for long
enough the hook become the reality," he said.
But Birmingham has much to boast about - "One of Birmingham's strengths
is that you are attacking ignorance by bringing people together. By attacking
ignorance you are attacking fear, " he explained.
He also praised the city for the progress that had been made in community
relations, the model of interfaith relations that it had developed and its capacity to
be outward-looking and creative.
"Birmingham can be infected by fear or it can draw on its resources of
wealth generation, its history of good local government, its strong identity and its
effective diversity - it has the capacity to be the laboratory where global issues are
explored and the cure is shared with the rest of the world."
After the lecture, the Archbishop joined the fourth of six 'Birmingham
Conversations' which are hosted by the Bishop of Birmingham, the Rt Revd David
Urquhart and aim to encourage people of different faiths together to talk about
difficult issues.
13
God of the purple robe,
Of the traitor’s cross;
God of the torn curtain,
Of the wounds of time.
Lead us to Easter Day,
Your joy day,
Turn about time.
You are the dance in our eyes,
The smile in our hearts,
The blossom of our spring.
You are our wounds and our laughter,
Light that splits open the sky,
Love that astonishes.
Judy Dinnen
Taken from Fire and Bread, resources for Easter day to Trinity Sunday ed Ruth
Burgess (Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, 2006)
Priscilla
Intercessions
We would like to introduce the opportunity for people from the congregation
to lead intercessions at the 8am and 6.30pm services at least on an occasional
basis. If you would like to take part in this, or if you would like to be added to the
group who do intercessions at 10am please see Priscilla.
Training will be given, and resources can be provided.
6
HOLY WEEK and EASTER at St. Faith and St. Laurence
March
Mon 30
7.30 pm
Tue 31
7.30 pm
April
Wed 1
10.30 am
11.00 am
7.30 pm
Night Prayer
Mark 14.12-16 “The owner of the Upper Room”
Night Prayer
Mark 15.16-22 “Simon of Cyrene”
Call in for Coffee
Holy Communion
Isaiah 50.4-9a; John 13.21-32
Night Prayer
Mark 15.43-46 “Joseph of Arimathea”
MAUNDY THURSDAY
9.30 am Stay and Play
7.30 pm Communion and Vigil
GOOD FRIDAY
10.30 am
12.30 pm
2.00 pm
7.30 pm
HOLY SATURDAY
9.30 am
10.30 am
2.00 pm
7.30 pm
CTH worship on Harborne High Street
Good Friday Story for children and their families
followed by soup and hot-cross buns in the Hall
The Last Hour at the Cross
‘Requiem’ by Gabriel Fauré at St. Peter’s Church,
with joint choirs of St. Peter’s, St. Faith and St.
Laurence and members of Quinborne Choir and
Midlands Hospitals Choir and friends.
Decoration of the church for Easter
Messy Church
Wedding of Edward Cheel and Elizabeth Payne
Easter Vigil
EASTER DAY - ALLELUIA!
The 8 am and 10 am services will begin in the church garden for those who are
able to join this part.
8.00 am Holy Communion
Acts 10.34-43; John 20.1-18 (split)
10.00 am Family Communion
Readings as at 8 am
6.30 pm Choral Evensong Psalm 105;
Ezekiel 37.1-14; Luke 24.13-35
7
fraid, alone, in pain
Be the answer to Loko’s prayer this Christian Aid Week.
This Christian Aid Week, you can help transform the lives of women like
Loko.From 10-16 May, churches the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland
will come together to pray, campaign and raise money to improve the lives of
people like Loko. Every year, 100,000 volunteers demonstrate God’s love for
the poor by taking part in house-to-house collections for Christian Aid. This
fantastic witness is a chance to take the mission of the church into your
community.
Loko’s choice in life is simple: ‘If I can’t collect firewood, my children
will die.’ Four times a week, in a remote corner of Ethiopia, Loko makes a
back-breaking eight-hour trip to gather wood. It’s a task she dreads, but
she steels herself to do it because if she doesn’t her children will starve.
She prays to God as she walks. ‘I ask him to change my life and lead us out of
this,’ she says.
Just £5 could give Loko a loan to start her own business buying and selling
tea and coffee, freeing her from her desperate task and allowing her to
spend more time caring for her family.
Dates for your diary:
Sunday 3rd May: Collection Rounds available in Church
Sunday 10th May: Start of Christian Aid Week
Sunday 17th May: Return of envelopes / monies to Church
Tuesday 26th May: Counting of monies collected.
Please note that new collectors are needed for this very valuable work.
Your support for collecting and counting will be much appreciated.
Contact Judith or Geoff Bennett either in Church or phone 0121 427 8154
or email juditheileen.bennett@sky.com
12
Sun 19
Mon 20
Mon 20
The Third Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Holy Communion Acts 3.12-19;
1 John 3.1-7; Luke 24.36b-48
10.00 am Family Communion and Sunday Club
Readings as at 8 am
6.30 pm Evensong Psalm 142; Deuteronomy 7.7-13;
Revelation 2.1-11
1.45 pm
8.00 pm
Wed 22
10.30 am
11,00 am
Thu 23
9.30
6.00
8.00
6.15
Sat
25
Sun 26
Mon 27
Tue 28
Wed 29
Thu 30
am
pm
pm
pm
Reflections
143 Balden Road
HUSTINGS
Doors open at 6.30 pm
Call in for Coffee
Holy Communion
Acts 8.1b-8; John 6.35-40
Stay and Play
Choir practice
Team meeting
Gridiron St. George’s Day Dinner
Church
pm
pm
pm
am
am
9.30 am
6.00 pm
Hall
Church
Hall
Reflections
143 Balden Road
William Lench Court service
Churches Together in Harborne meeting
Call in for Coffee
Committee Room
Holy Communion
Lady Chapel
Acts 12.24-13.15; John 12.44-end
Stay and Play
Hall
Choir practice
Church
11
Reaffirmation of Marriage vows
March 14th
Stephen and Gabriela Trewartha
FACTS AND FIGURES
Week
Beginning
Communicants
Loose
Plate
Planned
Giving
Gift Aid
£
£
£
Committee Room
Lady Chapel
The Fourth Sunday of Easter
I am the Good Shepherd
8.00 am Holy Communion Acts 4.5-12;
1 John 3.16-24; John 10.11-18
10.00 am Family Communion
Readings as at 8 am
6.30 pm Evensong Psalm 81.8-16;
Exodus 16.4-15; Revelation 2.12-17
1.45
2.00
7.30
10.30
11.00
Funeral at the Crematorium
March 26th
David Dilloway
Feb 15
89
42.56
320.39
Feb 22
127
63.47
534.34
15.00
March 1
91
44.55
577.00
22.00
March 8
34
64.56
478.50
30.00
March 15
82
64.77
205.80
Standing
Orders
1205.00
21.42
Cathedral to go floral
BIRMINGHAM Cathedral is to feature in a display at Chelsea Flower
Show this spring, as part of the cathedral's 300th anniversary celebrations.
The design, by Birmingham City Council's parks staff, shows a floral
representation of the cathedral's tower and bells, with cascades of flowers
around a wicker angel.
The whole display will be edged by 265 back-lit stained-glass windows,
featuring a design by the Dean, the Very Revd Catherine Ogle.
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PROGRAMME FOR APRIL
COFFEE MORNING AND PLANT SALE
SATURDAY 9TH MAY
10.00 AM
IN THE CHURCH HALL AND GARDEN
Come and find that special plant for your garden or a
planted up hanging basket and at the same time, enjoy delicious
coffee and tea cake!
If you are splitting up your perennials or sowing
seeds, we should be very pleased to receive anything you can offer for the stall.
All proceeds for the Community Garden
Helen, Diana, Wendy, Lesley and Celia
From the family of Eugene Ball
ANGELA J. FRANKLIN
95 Nursery Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham 815 3JU
Telephone: 0121 456 5183
Email: angelajoyfranklin@gmail.com
26th February 2015
HOLY WEEK
Wed 1
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
2
3
4
5
10.30 am
11.00 am
Call in for Coffee
Committee Room
Holy Communion
Lady Chapel
Isaiah 50.4-9a; John 13.21-32
7.30 pm Night Prayer
Lady Chapel
Mark 15.43-46 “Joseph of Arimathea
MAUNDY THURSDAY
GOOD FRIDAY
HOLY SATURDAY
EASTER DAY
Wed 8
10.30 am
11.00 am
Thu 9
9.30 am
Sun 12
The Second Sunday of Easter
8.00 am Holy Communion Acts 4.32-35;
1 John 1 - 2.2; John 20.19-31
10.00 am Morning Praise
6.30 pm Sung Eucharist with Laying on of Hands and Anointing
Readings as at 8 am
Mon 13
1.45 pm
7.45 pm
Tue 14
10.30
7.30
10.30
11.00
The St Faith's and St. Lawrence coffee morning group
Dear Wednesday morning coffee drinkers,
Gene
On behalf of all of Gene's family I'm writing to thank you all for your help
and support during the time Gene joined your weekly get-together. The original
reason he discovered you all was to get him walking again after a bout of illness
around his 90th birthday in 2011. The walking became too much for him after a
couple of years, but his get-togethers with you all certainly lifted his spirits
enormously. He was becoming more isolated in his bungalow and finding such a
friendly, welcoming group greatly enhanced his life.
Special thanks to those of you who acted as chauffeur to Gene in more
recent times and to those of you who came to his funeral. Donations to his
chosen charity were given anonymously but our thanks, too, for any donations
which you may have made.
I wish you all many happy years of Wednesday coffee mornings.
For full details of the programme for Holy Week, please see
separate panel on page 7
Wed 15
Thu 16
am
pm
am
am
9.30 am
6.00 pm
Call in for Coffee
Holy Communion
Acts 3.1-10; Luke 24.13-35
Stay and Play
Hall
Reflections
143 Balden Road
Women’s Fellowship “Jewels and
Committee Room
Precious Stones” a talk by Alan Hill
Queen Mother Gardens service
Annual Parochial Church Meeting in Church
Call in for Coffee
Committee Room
Holy Communion
Lady Chapel
Acts 5.17-26; John 3.16-21
Stay and Play
Hall
Choir practice
Church
Very best wishes,
Angela J. Franklin
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Committee Room
Lady Chapel
10