1st October 2023
By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 7 October 2023
Hello everyone,
I hope you are looking forward to our Harvest Festival on Sunday with an All Age service at St Columba’s at 10.30am followed by Lunch. All the details are below so do keep reading.
I do however have some other exciting news. The new Bishop of Peterborough was announced this week, Rt Revd Debbie Sellin, currently Bishop of Southampton, will be installed at a service in Peterborough Cathedral in early 2024. There are more details about Bishop Debbie in the new print edition of SCaNS (out tomorrow – see below for more details) or you can read a longer article by going to this link:
https://peterboroughdiocese.cmail19.com/t/y-e-pukhuc-dlhrthxhy-p/
where you can also watch an interview with her.
I do not know her but from what I can tell it seems Bishop Debbie is from an evangelical church background and will therefore be a good supporter of churches like St Columba’s. We look forward to getting to know her in the years to come.
HARVEST FESTIVAL
As mentioned above our Harvest All Age service is at 10.30am on Sunday, but please could all children and young people aim to be in church for 10.15 so we can make sure you are ready for the part you have to play in the service. It is good if everyone can be in church at this time to join in the opening worship, which is a good opportunity to focus your mind on God, sing God’s praise and learn new songs.
For those who are not able to join us the service can be watched on youtube by going to this link: https://youtube.com/live/661CYjnciYs?feature=share
Thank you to those people who provided Bible verses about God’s provision for the service, if anyone else has a verse please email ianpullinger@btinternet.com giving me the details, thank you.
If you are able to bring a donation for the FOOD BANK that would be wonderful. We will collect these during the service so please don’t put them at the back of church as you normally do. The items most needed at the moment are: SOUP, TINNED MEAT, TINNED FISH, TINNED FRUIT, RICE PUDDING, CUSTARD, BISCUITS, LONG GRAIN RICE, COFFEE, LONG LIFE JUICE, REGULAR TAMPONS, SHOWER GEL, and TOOTHPASTE – Thank you.
If you have brought an apple pie or crumble for the lunch please drop that off in the Hall before the service. After the service do stay in church for coffee and then move over to the Hall between 12 and 12.15 ready for lunch. Thanks to our Events Team for organising and cooking the lunch.
PRAYER MEETING
We will be meeting at 6pm on Sunday evening in St Columba’s for prayer and everyone is welcome to join us.
PCC
St Columba’s PCC will be meeting on Tuesday to consider the church’s Charitable Giving for this year. If you have any suggestions about deserving local causes or Christian charities working nationally or internationally please do let me or another PCC member know. We will also be finalising a survey of church members that will be going out in October with this year’s Stewardship Review.
HOME GROUPS
Some of our NEW Home Groups will be starting this week, on Wednesday morning, Thursday afternoon and evening, other groups will be starting in the next couple of weeks on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. I think I have spoken with almost everyone about the groups, but if you have not heard which group you are in please do get in touch with me.
NEXT SUNDAY
On Sunday 8th October we have two services as follows:
10.30am HOLY COMMUNION at St Columba’s with ENERGIZE groups for children and young people.
3pm HARVEST FAMILY SERVICE at St Leonard’s, Rockingham.
AFTERNOON TEA
The next Ladies Afternoon Tea will be on Friday 13th October at 3pm in the Church Hall. Do make a note of the date and plan to come along.
MURDER MYSTERY EVENING
On Friday 13th October at 7.30pm in the Church Hall we have another Murder Mystery Evening. This will include a meal and tickets are available for £12 each from James or Louisa. This is suitable for adults and teenage children but probably not younger children. It is also a good opportunity to invite friends along.
SCaNS
As mentioned above there is a new print edition of SCaNS available in church on Sunday. Steve tells me this includes a summary of the news about the new bishop as well as photos from Kevin’s induction. The lead article is an amusing/challenging article by a lady coping with her husband’s dementia. It’s rather good – a mixture of laughs and tears, with lessons for us all.
Steve has also produced (or should that be re-produced) an A4 sheet “My Personal Prayer Diary” where you can record your prayers and God’s answers. This is something I mentioned in my sermon the other week as we often forget to thank God for His answers to our prayers, this is a way to remember. The sheets are available to pick up at the back of church.
May God bless us all as we celebrate Harvest this weekend,
Ian
01536 400225
07903 64460