5th June 2022

By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 10 June 2022

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are all having a good weekend, celebrating both the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the Pole Fair. For me the best bit of the Fair were the people we bumped into while walking round, and the best bit of the Jubilee, so far, was the Archbishop of York’s sermon in the Thanksgiving Service on Friday. If you only saw that reported on the News I would recommend watching the full sermon on iPlayer, because while he did mention horses it was only as an illustration and most of the time he was talking about faith and Jesus!

I say the best bit of the Jubilee so far because our JUBILEE CELEBRATION is still to come tomorrow. It is a great shame that the weather forecast has changed from fine to heavy rain, but at least we know where we stand and will move everything INSIDE. However we do still want to put up a gazebo and some decorations outside to let people know there is something happening, so if you are on the set up team please do still come at 9am. We won’t need to close the whole car park, but if you are able to park further away and leave space for our guests that would be wonderful. Everyone needs to register for lunch, ideally before the service. If you are receiving this email direct you won’t need to complete a registration form as we already have your details, but you do need to register.

Just to remind you the programme is as follows:
10.45 Registration opens

11am Celebration Service

12 noon (approx) Lunch, with opportunity to register those people who arrived after the service started. This will be served in the Hall and includes a cold drink. Immediately after lunch the tea tent will be open serving hot drinks and cakes. We will start the games as soon as we have space to do so, and from about 1pm the displays will begin.

Please don’t forget to stay on at the end of the day, about 3pm, to pack away – this should be easier as we won’t have to move chairs inside.

FUNERALS

There is no date for Tracy Ward’s funeral as yet but please do keep Chris in your prayers. Shelia O’Shea’s funeral will be on Tuesday 21st June in church. It would be good if as many people as possible could come and support Mickey on that difficult occasion. And please do pray for Mickey as he adjusts to life without Sheila and as decisions are made about his ongoing care needs.

NEXT SUNDAY

We look forward to welcoming Tim & Carol Derbyshire from Hope From Above (HFA) in Australia to our HOLY COMMUNION service next Sunday morning, at 10.30am. They will be telling us more about their work and giving us lots to think and pray about. Our children and young people in Energize will be preparing for the Fathers Day Service the following week.

HOPE INTO ACTION (HIA)

There won’t be a Prayer Meeting tomorrow evening, but we will be meeting again next Sunday (12th June) at 6pm.

I look forward to seeing you at our Jubilee Celebration tomorrow.

Ian

29th May 2022

By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 2 June 2022

Hello everyone,

Lots of news in this week’s email again, beginning with the sad news that Tracy Ward passed away last Sunday evening. Tracy had not been well for some time and had declined since Christmas but her passing was still sudden, although as Chris said: “she’s in a much better place now and I take some comfort that I was there for her in our safe place (home) and she didn’t suffer.” Please pray for Chris and their children and wider family and friends. There is no news as yet about when Tracy’s funeral will be.

A good time was had by all at the Jubilee Afternoon Tea at Lodge Park on Wednesday. Here is a photo of the day to get you in the mood for our

JUBILEE CELEBRATION next Sunday, 5th June. Thank you to all those who volunteered to help next Sunday, you will be contacted in the next couple of days with details of exactly what you will be asked to do, and when. If anyone else would like to help please do contact me.

Do remember that although our service, held outside weather permitting, won’t start until 11am you will need to register for lunch before that (although registration will open again after the service until we reach the 200 limit). Parking may be more difficult as the church car park will be closed, but there is space on a Sunday behind the vicarage in the Nursery Car Park. Don’t forget to come dressed up ready to have your photo taken with the Queen!

After the service Lunch will be served in the Hall. We encourage people to sit outside, but there will be a few tables and chairs in the Hall for those who will find that helpful. The Tea Tent will be open after lunch serving tea and cakes. We will begin our programme of entertainment from about 1pm until about 3.30pm.

THIS SUNDAY’S SERVICES

There will be Communion services at St Columba’s tomorrow, 29th May, at 10.30am and 5pm. There will be different sermons in the two services, so no reason not to come to both, and stay on for the HOPE INTO ACTION Prayer Meeting at 6pm. For those who are not able to be in church there will once again be a live stream of the 10.30 service available to watch at that time, or later in the day, via this link: https://youtu.be/EurDR7gTK6A

SPRING HARVEST 2023

I know we have only just come home from this year’s Spring Harvest but it is nearly time to book for next year. There is a short film about Spring Harvest for anyone who has not been before which we will show in church tomorrow or you can watch here: https://youtu.be/0zLPgMFkjlY

Next year we are planning to go to Skegness from Easter Monday 10th to Friday 14th April which is in most school holidays. We hope to be able to book apartment accommodation that costs £219 per person, where you will be sharing with others from the church family, but if you prefer just a room with bathroom then it will be £185 per person. If you want to be catered for in the church group it will cost about £10 per person extra, if you choose Butlin’s catering the costs per adult are £91 for Food Court or £119.80 for Premium. The bookings open on Wednesday 8th June so we need to know who would like to come by next Sunday 5th June and then to receive a deposit from everyone of £35 per adult and £20 per child aged between 2 – 14.

For any further details please speak to Miriam.

100 NOT OUT

Over the months since Covid started Steve has produced a magnificent 100 online publications (77 “Puzzles & Stuff” and 23 “mini SCANS”) for our instruction, entertainment, and, occasionally, frustration when we can’t solve the puzzles. This week’s offering includes background information on Philippi where our Bible readings last week and this are set, as well as puzzles and notices about upcoming events. Why not get in touch with Steve to congratulate him on his faithful service: scansmag@aol.com

SMALL ADS

We don’t usually have a small ads column in these emails, but my neighbour asked if I could advertise the following and, as I am hoping he will come to the Jubilee Celebration and to hear Bishop John, I said “Yes, of course”:

Washing Machine for Sale – BRAND NEW

Indesit 7kg white £140 o.n.o.

call 07496 037515

PCC
Following our APCM last Sunday the PCC will be meeting on Tuesday 31st May at 7.30pm. Here is a copy of the APCM minutes. There are printed copies of the accounts available in church.

With best wishes

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609

22nd May 2022

By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 28 May 2022

Hello again,

I start this week with an apology and a correction. Apologies for confusion caused over the day of the Men’s Group meeting – a good time was had by all on Thursday (very sorry to anyone who came on Wednesday) and the next date is Thursday 16th June for a country walk – to a pub! Full details from Kevin or Riaan.

And the correction concerns the UNITED PRAYER FOR CORBY event which is happening tomorrow (Sunday 22nd) at the knife angel but starts at 6pm (not 6.30 as given in last week’s email). The Corbychurches are joining together to pray for our town during the visit of the knife angel and asking God to bless and protect the people of Corby.

SUNDAY’S SERVICES

There is a Communion service at 9am in St Leonard’s Rockingham and Morning Worship at 10.30am in St Columba’s, Corby, together with Energize groups for children and young people. This service will be available as a live stream at 10.30am tomorrow or later:

Because of the United Prayer event in Town there is no HIA Prayer Meeting in church tomorrow.

LIZ & NOEL’S FUNDRAISING

Liz and Noel are raising money for two charities, SPECTRUM GAMING and YOUTH WORKS NORTHAMPTONSHIRE that have really helped them as a family over the last year. They would be really grateful for any donations which can be made by going to this link:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lizandnoelharding?utm_term=8krNBJ3ee

TRAIDCRAFT

If anyone who took a Traidcraft catalogue last Sunday would like to place an order through Miriam (saving on P&P) please let her know, she will be placing an order next week. Please give Miriam details tomorrow or reply to this email. Thank you.

MINI SCANS

This week we have a mini SCANS from Steve with another tear jerking story for you.

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

There is still space if anyone would like to go to Lodge Park Academy for an AFTERNOON TEA in celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Wednesday 25th May at 2pm. Please let me know if you would like to come along and I will book you in. .

ASCENSION DAY

This Thursday is Ascension Day and there will be a service of Holy Communion at St Michael’s Great Oakley at 7.30pm to which everyone is very welcome. Please let me know if you would like a lift.

NEXT SUNDAY

We have Communion services at 10.30am and 5pm next Sunday, with different sermons, so no reason not to come to both. The HIA Prayer Meeting will be happening again as well.

JUBILEE CELEBRATION

It is two weeks to our PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATION on Sunday 5th June. We start with a service outside on the grass (weather permitting) at 11am, a slightly later start to give time to set up and to move neatly to the BIG LUNCH at 12 noon. We are providing a FREE lunch to the first 200 people who register from 10.45 onwards, so if you are coming or inviting people make sure to come to the service and register for lunch. Then in the afternoon there is Entertainment & Family Fun with various Community Groups. A big thank you to the people who have volunteered to help. Please do plan to come along and invite friends and family to join us for this very special occasion.

AND FINALLY

Those people who are in church tomorrow will be given a booklet of daily Bible studies by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be used in the days between Ascension Day (Thursday) and Pentecost (Sunday 5th June). This is also to encourage you to pray for five people during these days, people you might be inviting to the Jubilee Celebration or to Bishop John’s Weekend in July. If you are not in church and would like a copy please do get in touch and we can deliver one to you.

With best wishes,

Ian

01536 400225

07903 944609

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