Hello everyone,

I hope you have all coped with the hot weather this week. This does remind me to say that, if at any time you are in need of some practical help, please do get in touch. There is someone in our church family who will be able to help with all those little tasks (shopping, travel to appointments, completing online forms, and more) that can become difficult in the heat, or when you are not feeling well, or experience restricted mobility, or when age catches up with you. Please contact me using the phone numbers below if we can help in any way.

Please make a note of all the dates below, including the new Wednesday Course starting on 3rd June, an extra children’s rehearsal on Saturday 6th at 4pm before the All Age Worship, Special Service on Sunday 7th at St Leonard’s, Rockingham with the Bishop of Peterborough, Ladies Afternoon Tea on 12th June and the Vicarage Tea Party on Sunday 14th. Details of all these events and more are as follows:

SATURDAY 30th MAY
10.30am – ALPHA in the Church.

SUNDAY 31st MAY
10.30am – MORNING WORSHIP at St Columba’s with ENERGIZE groups for children. The service will be available to watch on YouTube here:
https://youtube.com/live/hJeUBDlMgKc?feature=share
6pm PRAYER MEETING at St Columba’s. After a break we gather once more for an hour of prayer – everyone is welcome.

MONDAY 1st JUNE 7.30pm – St Columba’s P.C.C. meeting in church. Agenda to follow.

WEDNESDAY 3rd JUNE 10.30am and 7.30pm
Join our new Course each Wednesday, either morning or evening, looking at Andrew Ollerton’s latest work “God’s Book: An Honest look at the Bible’s 7 toughest topics”. The first week is an Introduction, and then we will look at Creation & Science, Exodus & Slavery, Conquest & Violence, Exile & Suffering, Gospels & Miracles, Letters & Sex, Revelation & Judgement – so plenty there to get us thinking. Everyone is invited to come along to share in fellowship, bible study and prayer.

SATURDAY 6th JUNE
10.30am – ALPHA in the Church.
4pm – REHEARSAL in the Church for Sunday’s All Age Worship. All children are welcome, especially those who were involved in the first practice on Sunday 24th, but we will need more so don’t stay away!

SUNDAY 7th JUNE
10.30am – ALL AGE WORSHIP with BAPTISMS at St Columba’s
5pm CELEBRATION SERVICE, CONFIRMATION and COMMUNION with the Bishop of Peterborough at St Leonard’s, Rockingham.
This service is to celebrate the formal partnership between St Columba’s and St Leonard’s, known as a joint benefice, will also include Confirmations, so an extra reason to come along to support the candidates, and Communion. It is also an opportunity to meet the Bishop and it will be followed by refreshments in the Castle.
There will be a SIGN UP SHEET at St Columba’s for people to say if they are going and either need or can offer a lift. Please note there will still be a walk when you arrive, down quite a steep hill when you arrive and back up the hill after the service.

WEDNESDAY 10th JUNE 10.30am and 7.30pm
Our new Course looking at the Bible’s 7 Toughest Topics continues.

FRIDAY 12th JUNE 3pm – LADIES AFTERNOON TEA
All ladies are welcome to the Afternoon Tea in the Church Hall, with hot drinks (and cold drinks if the temperatures are anything like this week!), sandwiches, cakes and good conversation.

SATURDAY 13th JUNE 10.30am – ALPHA in the Church.

SUNDAY 14th JUNE
10.30am – HOLY COMMUNION at St Columba’s with ENERGIZE groups for children. We welcome Tim & Carol Derbyshire to this service who will be updating us on the launch of a new charity in the UK, Hope Beyond Borders, to complement the work of Hope From Above in Australia.
3pm VICARAGE TEA PARTY everyone is invited to join us in the Vicarage Garden for our annual tea party, with plenty of tea & cake as well as garden games and lots of opportunity to chat. Tim & Carol will be there and at the end we will have our PRAYER MEETING in the garden, possibly before the usual time of 6pm.

CHARITY OF THE WEEK: CMS mission partners M & H
This week we are praying for mission partners M&H who visited last summer. Please do pick up a copy of their prayer letter from the back of church, take it home, have a read and then pray for them, not once but regularly. We will also be praying for M&H at our Prayer Meeting on 31st May.

God bless you all,

Ian

01536 400225
07903 644609