16th August 2026
By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 21 August 2026
Hello everyone,
I am pleased to say that John Lynch and Rosie Hughes are both improving but not out of the woods. John has been discharged from hospital and has care at home while waiting to see if his spine heals naturally or if he will need an operation, please pray that it is the former. Rosie has had further tests and is able to get out and about, but not drive, please continue to pray for a clear diagnosis and for complete healing. John and Rosie are both grateful to everyone for their prayers.
I must also say congratulations to Dereck and Tadiwa who both passed A levels and are able to go to University in the autumn. This is both a great achievement by them and an answer to our prayers for them earlier in the year.
I am sorry for the problems with last Sunday’s livestream, but was pleased to be able to upload the recording to YouTube during the week. The link for that service is https://youtu.be/3BdFyAMVATw
Please keep reading for details of all the events coming up over the next few weeks, including our Sunday services and Quiz Night as well as our I Will Hear Clearly Then Appeal and Charity of the Week.
SUNDAY 16th AUGUST
10.30am Holy Communion at St Columba’s with a sermon looking at Psalm 103. There will be children’s activities at the back of church, but children will need to be supervised by parents. The livestream of the service will be available here: https://youtube.com/live/57OjEm8Zi7o?feature=share
SUNDAY 23rd AUGUST
9am HOLY COMMUNION at St Leonard’s, Rockingham – everyone welcome.
10.30am MORNING WORSHIP at St Columba’s with a sermon looking at Psalm 116. There will be children’s activities at the back of church, but children will need to be supervised by parents.
SUNDAY 30th AUGUST
10.30am All Age Communion at St Columba’s with a Back to School flavour. All children and young people are especially welcome as we seek to equip them for another year at school. Is there someone you could invite to this service?
I WILL HEAR CLEARLY THEN APPEAL
I am delighted to say that work has begun on installing new sound equipment at church. The immediate result is a much clearer sound, but I must warn people that there may well be some teething problems over the next couple of weeks as we adjust to the new system – please bear with us. Thank you so much to Kev Speirs who has designed the new system and is installing it, and to everyone who has contributed to the I WILL HEAR CLEARLY THEN appeal to enable everyone in church, including those watching online and the Worship Group, to hear clearly. It is not too late if you would like to donate, either by cash or cheque in the wooden box at the back of church, or on the Card Reader (please ask Justin or myself to switch to the appeal from General Funds) or direct to the bank account using the reference: HEARING APPEAL. If you can GIFT AID your donation, making it worth 25% more, please use the Gift Aid declaration by the wooden box, or simply email ianpullinger@btinternet.com and we can arrange the paperwork. If the appeal raises more money than we need for the sound system we will use the extra towards the cost of replacing the church heating. THANK YOU.
QUIZ NIGHT
The next St Columba’s Quiz will be on Saturday 19th September at 7pm in the Church Hall. Please do book the date, invite your friends, especially those who might be able to help you answer quiz questions, and come along.
CHARITY OF THE WEEK: Children’s Society
Children’s Society is another charity we often think of at Christmas, when the collection at the Christingle service goes to them. They work all year round, and at the moment are campaigning for young people not to lose access to the support they rely on during term time when schools close for the summer. At a time when families are already struggling to make ends meet, this can leave children and teenagers without the help they need. You can find out more about this campaign by watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FbM6jDVQvIM
Children’s Society are also asking people to support their campaign, calling the Government to:
- Align eligibility for the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme with the expanded Free School Meals criteria from September 2026 so more children can access holiday support.
- Invest in safe, affordable spaces for teenagers to build community year-round.
- Strengthen HAF requirements for secondary-age provision so teenagers are not left behind.
Please pray for the success of this campaign and, if you would like to support it, you can do so here:
https://act.childrenssociety.org.uk/page/193372/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=website
God bless you all,
Ian
01536 400225
07903 644609