Author: Kevin Montgomery

11th June 2023

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 11 June 2023

Good Morning Church!

I wonder how many of you will have spotted something about yesterday (Friday 9th June)?

It’s not social media, or celebrity, or something particular in the news. Instead Friday 9th June is the day we remember St Columba, or as we call him in Ireland, Colum Cille (it means Dove of the Church). If you’re at church this Sunday or indeed watching online then do keep your eyes and ears open and I’m sure you’ll hear a mention of him!

St Columba was heavily involved in setting up the monastery in Iona and even through the ups and downs of the centuries we are still seeing the fruit of the spirituality of that community today as God is worshipped daily amongst the people who reside there still.

Why not stop in the stillness and the quiet and spend a moment with God, in amongst all the busyness of life, relax and refresh yourself in His presence. I pray that each of us will know that moment of peace each day as we dwell in that place of peace.

SUNDAY 11th JUNE 2023

10:30am Holy Communion – Join us this Sunday for our Holy Communion service as we come before God together. If you are unable to be there you can still be with us online; https://youtube.com/live/wx9eLhGNqEw?feature=share

3pm Teddy Bear’s Service at St Leonard, Rockingham. You don’t have to go down to the woods today to meet the Teddy Bears – just come along to St Leonard at 3pm and enjoy our service and making a Bear biscuit, bring a Teddy Bear if you have one and of course yourselves!

FELLOWSHIP GROUPS

Our fellowship groups return this Wednesday, in the morning at 10:30am and then in the evening at 7:30pm, do come along as we spend some time looking at God’s word together.

NEXT SUNDAY 18th JUNE 2023

10:30am Holy Communion – It’s Fathers Day and we come together in Holy Communion worshipping our Father God and celebrating those father figures we have in our lives.

STEVE’S PUZZLES AND OTHER STUFF

Steve has provided us with another edition and we’re up to 99, no flake in this one but plenty of fun puzzles and more! I also hear from him that there will be another Mini-SCaNS coming up soon.

Have a great week, may you know God’s blessing and strength in all that you do. May you know the peace of God in the moment of stillness and may His Spirit be with you.

Kevin

07512 822422

5th February 2023

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 11 February 2023

Hello everyone,

I was at the panto last night and it was a really good show so, if you have not yet booked your tickets, why not come along. There are seats available on Sunday at 3pm but I’m sure you could be squeezed in today, also at 3pm. Tickets cost £7 for adults and £5 for children with a family tickets (2 adults & 2 children) for £20. You can buy them on the door, or reserve them by contacting me.

PRAYER NEWS
James Robb is now out of hospital and at home with Jim & Debbie where he is progressing well although he still has a long way to go. The hardest part for him is managing his recently diagnosed diabetes with testing and injections. Debbie thanks everyone for their love and support.
Rosie has asked me to say that her operation on Thursday went well, she is recovering at home and is grateful for all the prayers and offers of help.
Roy Tosh is still in hospital but almost ready to be discharged. Please pray that the right residential home is found for him and that Jess is able to resist pressure for him to come home before a place is ready.
Pam Williams is still in hospital and had a setback in the week and was very poorly again, she is feeling a bit better now but still has a long way to go so please continue to pray for Pam.

SUNDAY’S SERVICE
Tomorrow at 10.30am at St Columba’s we have an ALL AGE SERVICE with contributions from children and young people, and, I hope, adults. Do come along to learn together and be inspired by our youngest members as well as by our wonderful God. All Age services probably don’t come across so well online, but for those who can’t be there in person the link to watch this week is: https://youtube.com/live/zwhnSe6S_5k

TRAIDCRAFT STALL
Years ago when C&A closed they had a slogan “Goodbye Good Buy”. Today we might change that to “Farewell Fair Trader” because, sadly, after 40 years supporting a fairer trade system in the world, Traidcraft has fallen victim to the recession and has ceased trading. Miriam will be ordering Fairtrade supplies for use in church from other suppliers so that we remain a Fairtrade Church. There will be a stall after church tomorrow selling food and household products, so do have a browse and see if you can make some final purchases. The Stall will be back before Christmas with cards and craft products that Miriam still has and she may be able to buy Advent Calendars and Christmas Cards to order. Do speak with Miriam if you would like to know more.

FELLOWSHIP GROUPS
These will be meeting again on Wednesday at 10.30am or 7.30pm. We had a good time this week in both groups and I do encourage you to come along and join in the discussion, as well as having fellowship with other people from church.

AFTERNOON TEA
The Ladies Afternoon Tea will be meeting again on Friday 10th February at 3pm in St Columba’s Church Hall. It is helpful for Sheila to know if you are coming along, but do feel free to simply turn up and enjoy some tea and sandwiches, cake and conversation.

MEN’S GROUP
Men’s Group will be meeting on Saturday 11th February from 9am to 11am in St Columba’s Church Hall for breakfast. All men are welcome, including any guests you would like to bring along with you.

NEXT SUNDAY 12th FEBRUARY
There are two services next week: HOLY COMMUNION at St Columba’s at 10.30am with ENERGIZE groups for children and young people, and a FAMILY SERVICE at Rockingham Village Hall at 3pm. Everyone is welcome to either or both of these services.

ADVANCE NOTICES
I advise details of two events coming up next month in Northampton:
A concert by Nat White’s band MID LIFE CRISIS at St Giles church Northampton on Saturday 11th March at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 (concessions £7) and details of how to buy them are on the poster. They are raising money for “Baby Basics, Northampton”.

The BISHOP’S BIBLE DAY at Northampton High School on Saturday 18th March from 9.30am to 4pm. This is a day for everyone to explore the Bible together, with a focus on the Psalms. The keynote speaker, Revd Dr Isabelle Hamley, will be looking at Psalms 23 and 137, and there are a range of workshops. You can book tickets (there is no charge for the day, which includes a cold lunch, but donations are welcome) and find details of all the workshops here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bishops-bible-day-tickets-503194848337

There should be a new print edition of SCANS in church tomorrow so do look out for that if you are there. As a result there are no Puzzles & Other Stuff on here.

May God bless you, and especially those people mentioned in the Prayer News above, in this coming week,

Ian

01536 400225
07903 644609

28th August 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 28 August 2022

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of a sunny Bank Holiday weekend. It was certainly good to be out in the sun at the end of our service last Sunday morning, singing God’s praise in the open air again. In addition to news of tomorrow’s services there is lots more news below so do have a good read.

SUNDAY 28th AUGUST
There are Communion services tomorrow at both St Leonard’s, Rockingham at 9am and St Columba’s, Corby at 10.30am. The St Columba’s service will include an activity for children led by David Bavin. For those who are unable to be in church there will be a livestream of the St Columba’s service by going to the following link from just before 10.30 on Sunday or any time after that: https://youtu.be/dvTF_aWzf_o

HEATING FUND
Thank you for the people who have contributed to the St Columba’s Heating Fund already. There is still opportunity to do so by placing an envelope marked “Heating Fund” in the offering basket. Tomorrow we will have a BOOK SALE with all contributions going to the HEATING FUND so please do bring some money along and have a browse at the books while having coffee after church. Thanks to Michael Cain’s daughter for donating these books to us.

PRAYER MEETING
Because it is Bank Holiday weekend we won’t be having a Prayer Meeting on 28th August but will meet again as usual at 6pm on Sunday 4th September.

PRAYER NEWS
I am pleased to report that Steve Scholes was looking somewhat brighter after being very poorly earlier in the week – thank you to those who prayed for Steve, and also Sue who was very tired after a week of worry and looking after Steve, and please do continue praying for a full recovery. Understandably there are no Puzzles etc this week.
Also please continue to pray for Sheila’s daughter Maria who is not recovering from her operation as well as hoped. She is still in pain and after a difficult week the only answer seems to be physio which has only just started and is a slow solution.
Do pray for children who have either just gone back to school or will be doing so in the next week or so, especially those starting in new schools.

AFTERNOON TEA
Following the success of the Ladies Afternoon Tea during Bishop John’s Weekend we are planning for these to be a regular event and look forward to the first of these on Friday 9th September at 3pm in the Church Hall. There is no need to book but if you know you will be there or would like a lift please let either Sheila Pender or me know (you can simply reply to this email)

RIDE AND STRIDE
If you would like to take part in this year’s RIDE & STRIDE on Saturday 10th September to raise money for the Northamptonshire Historic Churches Trust and your local church, either St Columba’s or St Leonard’s in our case, then please let me know. We will be cycling on a route still to be decided, but if you would like to join us let me know and I can give you a Sponsor Form. Alternatively you may like to sit in St Columba’s to welcome any cyclists who may turn up during the day and there is a sign up sheet in church for people who would like to do this, as well as a SPONSOR FORM for people to sponsor me – THANK YOU.

SONGS OF PRAISE
On Sunday 25th September we are going to have a SONGS OF PRAISE service in St Columba’s at 5pm. This will follow the format we have used before where we ask people to choose a favourite song or hymn and then to introduce it in the service by saying why that song is special to you. I am mentioning this now so you have plenty of time to think of your song and what you want to say, but also so that we can make sure that we have the music organised. Thank you to those of you who have already let me know your choices but we still need more so please let me know your song choices by replying to this email and no later than 11th September.

NEXT SUNDAY 4th September
We are looking forward to worshiping together next Sunday with a special ALL AGE service at 10.30am in St Columba’s. This will include a puppet presentation by the children who were at the Activity Morning last Monday – parents please remember we need children in church at 9.30 if possible to practice.

I hope you all enjoy the Bank Holiday whatever you are doing.

God bless you,

Ian

01536 400225
07903 644609

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15th May 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 21 May 2022

Hello everyone,

Another bumper email this week so do settle down to read about what is going on in the life of StColumba’s. 

SUNDAY’S SERVICE

We are looking forward to gathering in church tomorrow for a service of Morning Worship at 10.30am led by David Bavin and with my latest sermon from the book of Ezra. We will have ENERGIZE groups for children and young people as well. For those unable to be in church you can watch an online version above. I’m sorry there is no PDF of the service this week.

HOPE INTO ACTION PRAYER MEETING

We will be meeting on Sunday evening for an hour of prayer from 6pm. This is not limited to HIA so do come along if you have any prayer requests or thanksgivings you would like to share. There won’t be a Prayer Meeting on Sunday 22nd because of a special service in town, see below.

MISSION NEWS

Here is the latest news from HOPE FROM ABOVE in Australia. Don’t forget Tim & Carol Derbyshire, who work with Hope from Above, will be with us at St Columba’s on Sunday 12th June.  We have also received a letter from CMS this week thanking us for the donation we made in support of M&H who are working in North Africa. Their latest Prayer Letter is on display at the back of church – for security reasons we are unable to copy this or attach to an email, so please do look for it at the back of church. We look forward to welcoming M&H and their family to St Columba’s at the end of July. 

LODGE PARK SCHOOL INVITES YOU TO THEIR JUBILEE TEA – Wednesday 25th May

As some of you know I have been visiting Lodge Park School during their lunch break most weeks of this school year as well as making some short films that they have watched during their Tutor Time. They have asked me if I know anyone who would like to join them for an AFTERNOON TEA in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Wednesday 25th May. Please let me know if you would like to come along and I will book you in.

VOLUNTEERS

Thank you to all those people who signed up last week to help as welcomers or with refreshments or with our Jubilee Celebrations. There is still room for more people to offer their services and the sheets will be available at the back of church again tomorrow.

PUZZLES

Steve’s 76th edition of Puzzles & Other Stuff is attached. He warns that you will need a tissue handy for the story of Bob!

NEXT SUNDAY

There is a Communion service at Rockingham at 9am, and a Morning Worship service at St Columba’s at 10.30am with Energize groups. 

UNITED PRAYER FOR CORBY next Sunday at 6pm

The Corby churches are invited to join together to pray for our town during the visit of the Knife Angel. We will be gathering at the statue at 6pm to ask God to bless and protect the people of Corby. 

AND FINALLY

A couple of weeks ago in our All age Worship we considered which celebrities were likely to be or become Christians. Of course, we quickly learnt that anyone can become a Christian. However mostpeople thought the Kardashians would be on the “not likely” list, so I had to smile when Premier News produced an article titled “The Kardashians: The Christian faith of the world’s most famous family”! You can read the story here – and you could also use it as a conversations starter with anyone you know who is a fan! 

May God bless you all in the coming week

Ian

8th May 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 21 May 2022

Dear Friends,

Welcome to another Saturday email and an invitation to a rather special service tomorrow at 10.30am when we will be welcoming some of Agnes Dunn’s family to join us as we dedicate a new banner they have donated to the church in memory of Agnes.

We will also have what looks like a very interesting sermon from David Bavin and a celebration of Holy Communion, as well as ENERGIZE groups for our children and young people.

Following the PCC meeting last week it was decided that with the fall in Covid infections we should no longer ask people to wear face coverings at services, but encourage anyone who would like to wear one to do so. We have also put more chairs back in church so there is less social distancing, apart from the chairs closest to the walls – please leave these for people who would like to maintain some social distance. In Communion services we will continue to share bread and wine together for the time being. 
We also felt that now is the time to re-introduce a team of welcomers before the service and refreshments afterwards, but we can only do these things if we have VOLUNTEERS to do them, so please do sign up when you come into church, otherwise there will be no refreshments. 

For those who can’t be with us in a church tomorrow you can watch a version of the service on youtube
and here is a PDF of the service as well.

SPRING HARVEST NEWS

This week’s Songs of Praise was filmed at Spring Harvest in Minehead when some of us were there so do watch at 1.20pm on Sunday and see if you can spot any familiar faces. We have the first Spring Harvest stories in our service tomorrow as well. Those people who have signed up to Spring HarvestHOME may be interested to know that all the material will continue to be availabel until 22nd May so more time to catch up on things you missed.

The HOPE INTO ACTION Prayer Meeting will happen at 6pm tomorrow evening in church.

JUBILEE CELEBRATION Sunday 5th JuneWe need lots of VOLUNTEERS to help with this day of activities including people to:make cakes in advance, serve tea and cake on the day, welcome people to the service/lunch,supervise family fun games, help with the BIG LUNCH Please sign up on the sheets in church or by replying to this email.

There is a bumper edition of PUZZLES & OTHER STUFF from Steve here, complete with a new Colour by Numbers picture. A prize awaits the first person to complete this and send to me (by email would be fastest but you can hand to me in church if you prefer).

NEXT SUNDAY

We have a service of MORNING WORSHIP at St Columba’s at 10.30am with the latest sermon in the series on Ezra.

May God be with you all in the week ahead,
Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609

1st May 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 21 May 2022

Hello again everyone, 

Sorry this email is rather late coming out. Part of the reason is that I enjoyed a very good Men’s Group breakfast this morning, with good food, good company and good music! We have our next meeting at 7.30pm on Thursday 19th May to which all men are warmly invited. 

SUNDAY’S SERVICE

I hope you have all had a good week and are enjoying the sunny start to the Bank Holiday weekend. Tomorrow the weather does not promise to be as good, so what better way to start the day than in church for our ALL AGE WORSHIP at 10.30am. Younger children are invited to bring any ride on cars, bikes, scooters etc ready to parade in at the start of the service – all will be explained! For those who are not able to be in church you can watch a slightly less energetic version of the service. There is also an even less energetic PDF of the service here! 

PCC on WEDNESDAYOn Wednesday next week the PCC will be meeting and among other business will be discussing our ongoing Covid measures, face coverings and social distancing for example. If you have any views about these please do speak with me or any PCC member before Wednesday. We will also be discussing our plans for celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Sunday 5th June. More details will be available shortly but the outline for the day is as follows:11am Celebration Service, hopefully outside the church,12 noon BIG Community Lunch which we are providing for 200 people (this is a great opportunity to invite people to join us for worship and FREE food!), then in the afternoon we are planning a programme of entertainment, again mostly outside the church (weather permitting). This will be the last meeting of the PCC before our re-arranged Annual Meeting on Sunday 22nd May. 

THIS WEEKWe have our regular HOPE INTO ACTION Prayer Meeting on Sunday at 6pm – we pray about many other concerns as well as about our HIA house so do come along if you would like to spend some time in prayer. 

On Friday at 10.30am in church we have the funeral of Mandy Niemandt’s dad, Alfie, and it would be great if folk from church could come along and support Mandy and Riaan. 

Next Sunday we have a Communion service at 10.30am at St Columba’s, with ENERGIZE groups for children and young people. In the afternoon at 3pm there is a Family Service at Rockingham. 

Steve has said that this week’s puzzles will be delayed so I will send them out separately so as not to delay this message. 

May God bless you all in this coming week. 

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

24th April 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 24 April 2022

Hello again everyone, 

What a wonderful week it has been. It began with our gloriously joyful Easter celebrations last Sunday, continued for 27 of us with a trip to Minehead for Spring Harvest 2022 and included answers to at least three prayers for church members, two of which pinged onto my phone in one minute while I was waiting for a SH seminar to begin! Let us give thanks to our risen Lord Jesus who has shown, once again, that he is very much alive and at work within us and among us today. There will be stories about Spring Harvest in our services during May, as well as a continuing focus on prayer for the Jubilee Celebration on Sunday 5th June and Bishop John’s weekend from 1st to 3rd July. Those of you who were in church on Easter Day were given a mini egg to give away and I hope you have managed to do so – I gave mine away to a neighbour just this morning, and from his reaction I need to pray lots over the next month! 

SUNDAY SERVICES

Tomorrow we continue to reflect on the risen Lord in our services. There is a 9am Communion at Rockingham and 10.30am Morning Worship service at St Columba’s, both featuring a sermon from Linda Coleman. Energize will be meeting again tomorrow to prepare for our All Age Worship on Sunday 1st May. There is an online version of the St Columba’s service available to watch, PLEASE NOTE the link will not include the sermon until later this evening. There is no PDF here but I will forward it to anyone who requests a copy, but again that will not be until this evening. This is my way of carrying out a survey to find out if this is still serving a useful purpose, so please do reply even if you only sometimes make use of the PDF. 

HOPE INTO ACTION PRAYER MEETING

After an Easter break we are meeting again at 6pm tomorrow in church for our Prayer Meeting when we pray for HIA as well as other needs in our church family and the wider world. Please do consider joining us even if you have not been before.

MEN’S GROUP BREAKFAST

All men in the church family, and beyond, are invited to come along to our Men’s Breakfast on Saturday 30th April, 9am-11am in the Church Hall.Serving up friendship and fellowship with a hearty dose of hot and cold food plus drinks. Do feel free to invite friends along.If you have any special dietary requirements email Kevin – kfm@thedigitalchristian.com

NEXT SUNDAY

We are looking forward to our next ALL AGE WORSHIP at 10.30am with the first Spring Harvest stories. We are also looking forward to re-commencing some HOME GROUP style meetings in church soon. We hope to look at the subject of mission and how we can all be involved in it. And if your initial reaction was “that’s not for me” can I suggest that it might be just what you need! Sadly there are no Puzzles this week as Steve has been busy putting up a greenhouse!

I look forward to continuing to celebrate together the glorious news that Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

Best wishes, 

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

17th April 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 17 April 2022

He is Risen indeed. Alleluia!

I do warmly encourage you all to come along to one, or both, of our Easter Celebrations tomorrow morning. It is three years since we were able to gather in church on Easter Day and fully celebrate Christ’s resurrection, so let us do it in style tomorrow. 

We will certainly be starting our celebrations early with the SUNRISE SERVICE at St Leonard’s Rockingham at 5.30am. This service is a very moving way to start Easter celebrations, quite literally moving, because we start outside the church around a fire before moving inside and slowly moving towards Communion. The church can be accessed via the entrance to Rockingham Castle off the A6003. Drive up to the post with the intercom and the gates will open. Drive to the Castle Towers and you will see cars parked just off the road on the right going away from the Towers. You then have to walk down to the church. After the service there will be breakfast in Rockingham Village Hall. 

At St Columba’s we have a more leisurely start time of 10.30am for our ALL AGE EASTER CELEBRATION WITH COMMUNION, although we are asking children and young people to arrive by 10am for a run through of our Easter drama. The weather looks as if it will be fine so we will finish the service outside church singing “Thine be the glory”, as we did last year but then we were socially distanced, tomorrow we can gather together to sing out God’s praise! This service includes some aspects, like the drama, that could not be filmed in advance, so we don’t have a pre-recorded version of the service this week, but you will be able to watch a livestream tomorrow morning at 10.30 (or you can watch back later in the day)

There will be no HIA Prayer Meeting tomorrow evening because many of us will be packing for Spring Harvest (and wanting an early night after getting up for the Sunrise service!) On the subject of SPRING HARVEST don’t forget that you can watch at home (you may even be able to spot people from St Columba’s) by buying an online access ticket for £49 from: https://www.springharvest.org/events/news/spring-harvest-home-is-back-for-22

I am grateful to those who prepared Holy Week Reflections, and those who came along and joined in – we had quite a variety. Just before Easter you may like to make use of a final reflection prepared by David Bavin. This is a Passover Reflection for the evening of Easter Eve (today) and is basically three characters involved in the trial of Jesus looking back over the events from their point of view. It can be viewed in full or broken down into each character’s section and used for meditation. The reflections stop at the end of Passover before Easter dawns. You can watch via this link: https://youtu.be/Xp_cwzseHEU

Next Sunday, 24th April, there is a service of Holy Communion at St Leonard’s, Rockingham at 9am and of Morning Worship at St Columba’s at 10.30am. We will also be meeting again for our HIA Prayer Meeting at 6pm on Sunday 24th.

Here is an Easter Special mini SCANS from Steve, and at the back of church there is a Prayer Letter from our new CMS mission partners, working in North Africa. They will be visiting St Columba’s in the summer, so do have a read and get to know them and their situation. Due to sensitivities in the area where they are working we are not able to include this as an attachment, but if you would like a printed copy for your personal use do ask Ian.

Although Kevin and I will be at Spring Harvest this coming week we will have our mobiles with us (see below) so do call if you need us and we can contact people in Corby if necessary.

A very happy Easter to you all,

Ian

Ian – 07903 644609

Kevin – 07512 822422

10th April 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 10 April 2022

Good morning everyone, I am sending this email out early because of Margaret Singh’s MEMORIAL SERVICE in church this afternoon at 3pm to which everyone is most welcome. There is lots of news below about all our upcoming activities for HOLY WEEK and EASTER as well as PRAYER NEWS and, of course, information about our services tomorrow. But with Holy Week in mind I wanted to start with a mention for Steve’s Puzzles and Other Stuff which is here (this is a large file and if you have trouble opening it let me know as there is a compressed file available). It contains an article from the archives about celebrating a Passover Supper at St Columba’s (perhaps you remember it?) and as Steve suggests this is something we can do again, or, to paraphrase the words of the Passover “next year in…Corby”. SUNDAY’S SERVICEWe will be celebrating Palm Sunday in church tomorrow at 10.30am while the children and young people will go out to prepare for not one but two services in the coming week (Hot Cross Bun Feast on Good Friday and Easter Day – see below). Everyone in church will be given a Palm Cross, if you are not able to be in church and would like a Palm Cross please do let me know and I will deliver one to you. (Please note as I am sending this early the playlist is not yet complete but all will be in place later today ready for watching tomorrow). There is the usual PDF of the service here. UPCOMING EVENTSTomorrow eveninh we have our regular HIA PRAYER MEETING at 6pm in church. This will be a little different tomorrow as it will include a Reflection for Holy Week. This will be the first of a short series of HOLY WEEK REFLECTIONS taking place on Monday and Tuesday evening at 7.30pm and everyone is very welcome. On Thursday we have a MAUNDY THURSDAY COMMUNION remembering the Last Supper, also in church at 7.30pm. 

Then on GOOD FRIDAY there is lots going on:

• We have a HOT CROSS BUN FEAST for the first time since 2018 so let me explain what this is. Simply it is an activity based event for everyone, but especially children and families, to think about why we have a Cross on our Hot Cross Bun. Held in the Church HALL from 9.45 for a 10am start on Friday it will last for just over an hour and includes Hot Cross Buns to eat (other options are available) and coffee, tea or cold drinks. The children will be preparing for this in Energize tomorrow so do come along, bring your friends, and join in the fun.
• There is a gathering in the Town Centre, outside McDonald’s, at 1pm on Good Friday but no walk of witness this year.
• The timing of this is not ideal because we would also like to encourage people to attend a quieter HOUR BY THE CROSS at Rockingham church at 2pm on Good Friday. This is a quieter more reflective service. Access to the church is via the main Castle entrance off the A6003, drive up to the post where there is an intercom and the gates will open (if you drive beyond the post the gates won’t open), then drive through the Castle grounds to the tower gateway where you will see cars parked down the hill and then you have to walk to the church.

On Saturday 16th April at 11am we are going to gather with Alois, Nicole, Kye, wider family and friends for LINDA MATEYO’S MEMORIAL SERVICE in church. This will be a bi-lingual service with some songs sung in Shona and I hope many people will join us to remember and celebrate Linda’s life. EASTER DAY will begin very early with a SUNRISE SERVICE at Rockingham at 5.30am (yes that is right 5.30 in the morning, just before the sunrise). If you have never been to a Sunrise Service I do recommend it and encourage you to make that special effort on Easter morning, it will be worth it. Later we have our ALL AGE EASTER CELEBRATION with COMMUNION at 10.30am in St Columba’s, and weather permitting, I hope we might finish the service outside (as we did last year when we could not sing in church) for a rousing rendition of Thine be the glory. Again the children will be preparing for this in Energize tomorrow. SPRING HARVEST AT HOME 18th – 22nd AprilA group of us are going to Spring Harvest at Minehead but, due to popular demand, Spring Harvest Home is back for 2022. Taking place at the same time as Spring Harvest in Minehead, their streaming website will bring incredible worship, fun kids sessions and insightful teaching directly to you in your living room. Featuring a combination of live sessions and pre-recorded videos, you’ll experience the essence of Spring Harvest without having to leave your home. It promises to be an incredible time so if you can’t join us in Minehead why not join us online? Tickets are just £49 and are on sale NOW! 

Further details, speak to Miriam or go online to https://www.springharvest.org/events/news/spring-harvest-home-is-back-for-22

LOOKING AHEAD

After Easter and Spring Harvest we hope to start some new groups in church to continue the fellowship, Bible Study and Prayer from our Lent Groups. Look out for more details of these but I expect they will be on Tuesday mornings and Wednesday evenings like the Lent Groups.

And of course we have our PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATION on Sunday 5th June and BISHOP JOHN’S WEEKEND from 1st to 3rd July. We will have FIVE MINUTES OF PRAYER for these in our Sunday morning services, but why not start giving them five minutes of prayer every day at home?

PRAYER NEWS

I am pleased to say John Pender is recovering and hopes to be home from hospital soon. Please continue to pray for him as well as Maureen McCluskey as her recovery is taking rather longer. Sadly Mandy Niemandt’s father Alfie died on Monday last week, his funeral will be on Friday 6th May at 10.30am in church – please pray for Mandy and Riaan and their family. Also please pray for Cathy and Rachael Smith as Richard’s funeral takes place on Wednesday 13th April. Also that day Revd Nat White is being installed as minister of Grange Park Church in Northampton so please pray for Nat and Pete as they begin this new chapter in their ministry.

And finally, there is a Newsletter from HOPE FROM ABOVE in Australia with lots of news for prayer so do have a look and…pray.

May God bless you all in this coming Holy week,

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609

3rd April 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 3 April 2022

Hello again everyone,

Once again we have a lot of news in this week’s email so do grab yourself a cup of tea (and your diary or calendar) and sit down to take it all in.

PRAYER NEWS

It is with great sadness that I have to say that Richard Smith went to be with the Lord on Wednesday morning. Thank you for your prayers for him but please do continue to pray for Cathy and Rachael.Three people from our church family are in hospital at the moment and in need of prayer:John Pender has a number of issues that have delayed his treatment for leukaemia but the tests are coming back with encouraging results. He does need his blood sugar to stabilise and for an infection to clear up. He is no longer able to receive visitors because there is Covid on the next Ward.

Maureen McCluskey went in on Monday and had a procedure on Tuesday which she is slowly recovering from.

Mandy Niemandt’s father went in on Wednesday and was diagnosed with lung cancer and only given 6-12 months, so do pray for him and for Mandy and Riaan.

On a more positive note Margaret Freeland is recovering at home after a procedure last week. 

Do give thanks that Kevin and I spoke to about 1000 school children over the last week from four different schools. It is wonderful to have these opportunities to speak about Jesus in school.

THIS WEEK’S SERVICES

The service on Sunday morning at 10.30am is Holy Communion, and there will be ENERGIZE groups for children and young people. For those not able to attend church the service can be watched on youtube.

 Please note the online service will not be complete until later this evening (Saturday). There is a PDF of the service here. Also tomorrow we have a HEALING SERVICE at 5pm. Everyone is welcome to this, whether you have a need for healing yourself, or know someone who does, or simply want to join with others praying for the people mentioned above.

PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATION and BISHOP JOHN’S WEEKEND

We are introducing five minutes of prayer for these outreach events in our Morning Services from tomorrow. This will be led in different styles but it is a way of encouraging everyone at church to engage in the serious work of prayer to prepare for these opportunities to reach out to our community as well as our friends and family, neighbours and colleagues. Please consider spending five minutes a day at home praying for them as well. More details tomorrow morning.

THIS WEEK

Hope into Action Prayer Meeting will be happening at 6pm tomorrow or immediately after the Healing Service finishes. 

The final LENT GROUPS will take place on Tuesday at 10.30am and Wednesday at 7.30pm. We are looking at John’s gospel this week.

In church on Saturday 9th April at 3pm we have a MEMORIAL SERVICE for Margaret Singh. Everyone is welcome to join us for this and to join with Margaret’s family in remembering her.

Next Sunday we have a service of Morning Worship at 10.30am.

HOLY WEEK

We are going to have a series of Holy Week Reflections on the evenings in Holy Week. The first will be in the HIA Prayer Meeting at 6pm on Sunday 10th but then they will be each evening at 7.30pm in church.

On Maundy Thursday there will be Holy Communion at 7.30pm and then on Good Friday we have our HOT CROSS BUN FEAST at 10am in the Hall and an HOUR BY THE CROSS at 2pm in St Leonard’s, Rockingham. 

On Saturday 16th April we have a MEMORIAL SERVICE for Linda Mateyo at 11am in church. Please do come along and support Alois, Nicole and Kye at that service.

SPRING HARVEST AT HOME

18th – 22nd April

A group of us are going to Spring Harvest at Minehead but, due to popular demand, Spring Harvest Home is back for 2022. Taking place at the same time as Spring Harvest in Minehead, their streaming website will bring incredible worship, fun kids sessions and insightful teaching directly to you in your living room. Featuring a combination of live sessions and pre-recorded videos, you’ll experience the essence of Spring Harvest without having to leave your home. It promises to be an incredible time so if you can’t join us in Minehead why not join us online?

Tickets are just £49 and are on sale NOW!

Further details, speak to Miriam or go online to https://www.springharvest.org/events/news/spring-harvest-home-is-back-for-22

SCANS and PUZZLES AND OTHER STUFF

For those who are in church tomorrow there is a new printed edition of SCANS available free of charge. Steve has also produced another Puzzles and Other Stuff which is here. 

May God bless you all in this coming week,

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609