16th March 2025

By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 22 March 2025

Hello everyone,

I hope you are looking forward to St Columba’s Annual Meeting on Sunday, and to the Lunch afterwards. It is always good to reflect on what God has been doing in the church over the last year and to look forward to what He will do in the next year. It is also great to have fellowship together over a hot lunch, and big thank you to the Events Team for organising that, as well as the Quiz Night at the beginning of next month, details of that below. Also next month a group of over 30 from the church are going to Spring Harvest and there is lots of information about Spring Harvest below. I hope the children are looking forward to SHOWSTOPPERS, our EASTER HOLIDAY CLUB, and there are details about that below, including a meeting for all leaders.

SUNDAY 16th MARCH
We have just one service on Sunday but lots more going on, as follows:
10.30am HOLY COMMUNION at St Columba’s with ENERGIZE groups for children and young people. This service will be available on Youtube at this link: https://youtube.com/live/1gQgcSQiDEY?feature=share
The service is followed at about 12noon by the ANNUAL MEETING in the Church Hall, to which we hope everyone will be able to stay. After the meeting do stay for a HOT LUNCH. After lunch there will be a short PCC meeting to elect officers for the coming year, and to conduct any other necessary business.
And at 6pm we have the PRAYER MEETING in St Columba’s.

LENT 2025
We had a great start to our LENT GROUPS last Wednesday and these continue this coming Wednesday at 10.30am and 7.30pm in church. We are watching a video by Jeff Lucas “There are no strong people” based on the story of Samson. Everyone is welcome to these groups, so do come along, even if you were not able to be there last week. We hope these will lead to further Fellowship Groups gathering after Easter.

Also on the subject of Lent, the children’s Lent Countdown Calendar continues and this week’s theme for children is school, so they are encouraged to give for every day they go to school. Obviously that won’t work for most of us, so can I suggest we decide on an amount to give every time we shop! This includes online shopping as well as going to shops, and we should think in the broadest terms, so petrol stations, coffee shops, etc are all included. At the end of the week you multiply the amount you have decided to give (perhaps £1) by the number of times you went shopping, so five shops means you give £5 to your chosen charity (the church or one of the charities we support for example).

FILM AT THE SAVOY: Bonhoeffer (certificate 12A running time 132 minutes)
I went to see this film on Monday and would definitely recommend it, there was no question that Bonhoeffer’s faith informed all that he did. At times the film is a difficult watch, not least because it seems to me that the world in which we live is more like that of 1930’s Germany than at any time since the end of the second world war. On the same day I saw the film, in which Christian symbols were replaced in churches, I read of how some churches in China have been forced to replace Christian symbols with Communist texts or photos.
The film is being shown several days this next week at the Savoy, including the Silver Screen showing on Wednesday morning at 11.30am. The full list of days and times is:
Today, Saturday 15th March and tomorrow, Sunday 16th March, 20.15
Monday 17th, Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th March 14.20
and Wednesday 19th March 11.30

SPRING HARVEST 2025
There are FOUR pieces of information about Spring Harvest so please read carefully and take note of the relevant sections.
The first is for everyone, the second for those who are booked in, the third for those who would like to visit for a day, and the fourth for those who would like to watch online (although please note this is NOT the week we are at Skegness but the following week from Minehead).

1. CHARITY OF THE WEEK – Spring Harvest Bursary Fund
We have a group going to Spring Harvest again this year and many of us have attended over the years and been encouraged by the experience. People in our group have benefited from the Bursary Fund which contributes to the cost of people going to Spring Harvest and many others across the country are also blessed in this way. Please give thanks for the Fund, and for the generosity of people giving to it that makes these grants possible. Please also pray that everyone who is planning to attend Spring Harvest, especially those who have been helped by the Bursary Fund, will be able to go, and that no last minute problems stop anyone from attending. Also pray for the Spring Harvest Leadership Team and Speakers as they make decisions about the programme and teaching, and that Rick Warren is able to speak online – we heard earlier in the year that health concerns mean he is not able to travel to be with us in person.

2. MEETING FOR ALL THOSE GOING TO SPRING HARVEST
We have a meeting for all those going to Spring Harvest this year on THURSDAY 20th MARCH at 7.30pm in church. Please try to be there as we prepare for our time away. If anyone is thinking of going for a day, or two and staying off site, (see point 3 below) please come along as there will be useful information for you as well.

3. DAY VISITOR TICKETS for Skegness Tuesday 8th, Wednesday 9th or Thursday 10th April
You are strongly recommend to book these in advance as numbers are limited. If there are tickets available you can buy them at the gate but they may cost more than if you buy them in advance and purchases at the gate must be by card, not cash. Parking is Free and on site. It may not be possible to book your children into their programme if you do not buy tickets and register them in advance. If you are thinking of coming along for a day please do join us for the meeting on Thursday (see point 2 above)
Ticket prices for one day (8.30am – 11pm) are: Adults £50, Children 5-14 £38, Children 2-4 £30 and Under 2 Free.
To book tickets go to: https://ecevents.uk/sh25/days/Site/Register

4. SPRING HARVEST HOME
If you are not able to join us at Skegness then the next best thing is to watch Spring Harvest from Minehead ONLINE from Monday 14th to Friday 18th April (with recordings available to watch until 17th May). Tickets cost £24.95 until 7th April then go up in price to £29.95, they are available here:
https://ecevents.uk/shhome25/reg/Site/Register
Once you’ve bought your ticket, you’ll be sent the link to join with your unique code. Spring Harvest Home can be watched anywhere with WI-FI, in any browser, or cast to (some) TV’s.

SUNDAY 23rd MARCH
We have two services next Sunday, as follows:
9am HOLY COMMUNION at St Leonard’s, Rockingham. This will actually be the last 9am service as we are going to begin a trial after Easter of moving this service to 3pm, with the hope that we may attract some visitors to the Castle.
10.30am MORNING WORSHIP at St Columba’s with ENERGIZE groups for children and young people who will be preparing for the Mothering Sunday All Age Service the following week.
Finally at 6pm we have the PRAYER MEETING in St Columba’s.

QUIZ NIGHT
The Events Group have arranged a QUIZ NIGHT for FRIDAY 4th APRIL at 7pm in the church hall. This was the most popular choice from the survey so it would be really good if it was well supported. Please book the date now and plan to be there. Bring your own snacks and drinks. Everyone is welcome, whether you come on your own or with a team.

CHILDREN’S EASTER HOLIDAY CLUB – Showstoppers!
We are holding an Easter Holiday Club from Monday 14th to Friday 18th April in church from 10am to 12 noon each day. This will be for Primary School children (Reception to Year 6) so if you know any children of that age do pass this on. There will be lots of different activities including music & drama, fun & games, art & craft, Bible stories and food! Every child who attends will need to be registered in advance by completing the Permission Form and returning it either by emailing it to ianpullinger@btinternet.com or at church and as there is a limited number of places please do this as soon as possible.

Please note that we will have a special launch service on Sunday 13th April so it would be great if all the children from church who are coming to the Club could be there. Then on Good Friday 18th April we are welcoming all parents, family and friends to the final hour from 11am when we will have a show and tell of all we have done during the week. And finally, on Easter Day, 20th April, there will be an opportunity for the children to conclude their week by learning that Jesus is alive!

All Holiday Club helpers are invited to a preparation meeting on Thursday 27th March at 9.30am in church.

May God bless you all in this coming week,

Ian

01536 400225
07903 644609