Sunday Service

Category: Sunday Service

21st November 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 21 November 2021

Hello again everyone,

I begin with the sad news that Barry Britten, husband of Evelyn, father to Julie and grandfather to Ashleigh and Cameron died suddenly on Monday. Please remember Evelyn and all her family in your prayers. Please also pray for Tim Derbyshire who has flown home from Australia to visit his father who is nearing the end of his life, for Kevin who is feeling fairly rough and spent most of yesterday in bed, and also for Patience who is being confirmed at St Michael’s, Great Oakley at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.

Tearfund BIG QUIZ is tonight at 7pmIf you are planning to come, we look forward to seeing you later. Don’t forget to bring some snacks and drinks, and some money to buy raffle tickets and donate to Tearfund. Donations can be made in advance, and even if you are not coming to the Quiz you can donate using the JustGiving page here:https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/stcolumba-corby?utm_source=Sharethis&utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=stcolumba-corby&utm_campaign=pfp-email&utm_term=4a7f9407c65241b0b3efe8996bb26acf.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to Tearfund, so it’s the most efficient way to give – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

We do encourage people to wear a face covering when moving around in the Hall, but you don’t have to wear them while sitting down.

Sunday Service

This week’s service includes a sermon from Linda as we celebrate Christ the King. Everyone is welcome to join us in church at 10.30am on Sunday for the service, or you can watch online. There is also a PDF version of the service available. Don’t forget that ENERGIZE has started again so children and young people will be going out during the service to make plans for our Nativity next month.

SCANS

In church this week there will be a new printed edition of SCANS which is available to everyone FREE of charge. For those who can’t get to church there is a mini-SCANS here. Steve has been extra busy this week because they are different!

Shoeboxes

Thank you to everyone who helped with the shoebox collection over the last week . Don’t forget that tomorrow is the last Sunday you can bring boxes back to church, but we will be open again on Monday morning from 9am to 1pm for any last minute contributions!

Christmas Fayre

Next Saturday 27th November is our Christmas Fayre. Contributions of Raffle Prizes or Homemade Cakes are welcome from 9am next Saturday. Please do plan to come along and encourage friends and family to join you. There will be Bacon Rolls as usual and many of the regular stalls, but NO bric-a-brac stall this year, so please don’t bring anything of that nature. 

Hope into Action

Our regular HIA Prayer Meeting will be happening on Sunday evening at 6pm and don’t forget that the TRAINING DAY is on Saturday 4th December. This is for anyone who is at all interested in being involved with the house once the tenants move in. Coming to the Training Day does not commit you to anything and not everyone who does the training will be able to be involved with our first tenants. More details from Ann Rigby, Paul Millen or John Lynch.

And finally I must thank you all once again for your prayers for my family following my Dad’s death earlier this month. His funeral will be on Friday in Bedford, where he was born and spent almost all of his life.

May God bless you all in this coming week,

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609

14th November 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 14 November 2021

Hello everyone, First of all can I thank you for your kind messages of condolence following my Dad’s death. It is so good to know that you are praying for us all. We have heard some lovely stories about him, including as a youngster playing with his cousins and as a trusted colleague at work who was turned to in time of need. These are insights we could not have known and they are such a consolation. I must also thank you for celebrating my installation as a Canon – and for the cake we enjoyed after church last Sunday, thank you Sheila.

If you are in church tomorrow you will see that William and I have decided to robe as it is Remembrance Sunday, as I robed for the Act of Remembrance at Lodge Park School at 11am on Thursday, and you will see the Canon’s badges on my scarf! 

Everyone is very welcome to the service in church tomorrow at 10.30am, with the two minutes silence at as close to 11am as we can make it. Can I remind parents that ENERGIZE, our groups for children and young people, will be meeting during the service tomorrow so do please come along . If you are not able to be in church the service is available online. If you start watching at 10.30am you should reach the silence at 11am.

The service is also available as a PDF which is available here. 

We still need volunteers to sit in church for an hour or so between 9am and 1pm every day over this coming week to receive shoebox donations. Please either sign up on the list in church or reply to this email if you can help – even one hour on one day will be a help. 

Our BIG QUIZ NIGHT is going to happen in just one week’s time on Saturday 20th November at 7pm in the Church Hall. Thank you for all those who have signed up, but is is not too late. Once again use either the sign up sheet in church or reply to this email. And don’t forget to bring along your own drinks and snacks as well as some means of donating to Tearfund. Thank you for those people who have signed up to help with the FAYRE on Saturday 27th November from 10am – but there is still space for more, again either sign up in church or reply to this email. 

And don’t forget HOPE INTO ACTION. The Prayer Meeting is happening as usual at 6pm on Sunday and there is still time to sign up for the training Day on Saturday 4th December.

Also available are the latest online Puzzles and Other Stuff from Steve, with a great story fro Remembrance Sunday. And look out for a new edition of print SCANS coming soon. Don’t forget to contact Kevin as I won’t be available some of the this coming week. He can be contacted at: 01536 647727 / 07512 822422 or email kfm@thedigitalchristian.com 

And finally, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who sponsored Jo as she BRAVED THE SHAVE to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. You can see before and after photos below With best wishes Ian

7th November 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 7 November 2021

Dear Friends at St Columba’s,

I know that word has reached some people but probably not everyone so I must tell you that my father died on Wednesday. He was 93 and his body and mind had been declining for the last couple of years, but it was only in the last 10 days that he became confined to bed. A number of friends and family members were able to visit him in those 10 days, and my brother and I spent a special evening together with him the day before he died. He had a strong faith and was able to receive Communion, which I am sure was a comfort to him. Thank you so much to all those who have been praying for him, and for me and my family, over these last couple of weeks. Please continue to hold us in your prayers as we await his funeral.

I am trying to lighten my load over the next couple of weeks, so it may be a better option to contact Kevin (01536 647727 / 07512 822422 or email kfm@thedigitalchristian.com) if you need to speak with someone from church. The other change that you will notice is that there is no youtube version of Sunday’s service available today, but there will be livestreams available of both our services tomorrow, see the details below. This is probably a better way for people at home to  share in a service of All Age Worship in any event.

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE 10.30am

This week we have a service of All Age Worship looking at the very topical issue of Climate Change. Everyone is welcome to attend this service in church, and it would be especially good to see some children, young people and families as there is lots of interactivity included. As I mentioned above this will be available as a livestream direct from church tomorrow morning at 10.30 (you will be able to watch later in the day as well). There is a PDF version of the service available as well.

 
MEMORIAL SERVICE 4pm

Tomorrow afternoon we have our Memorial Service in which we especially remember those who have passed away over the last two years and we are looking forward to welcoming many visitors to the service. There is still plenty of room for any of you who would like to come to the service, either to remember someone who has recently passed away or someone you may have lost many years ago. This service will also be available to watch as a livestream by going to this link (which will be live from 4pm tomorrow):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYwJfQMbYpk

HOPE INTO ACTION

Our regular Hope into Action Prayer Meeting will be back at the usual time of 6pm tomorrow. Don’t forget that there is still opportunity to sign up to help with the decorating and maintenance of the house, as well as to join the Friendship & Support team. We have a training day on Saturday 4th December for anyone who may be interested in that – attending the training does not commit you to being on the team. Please sign up on the sheet in church or reply to this email if you are interested.
We have a number of other events coming up so do make a note of the following:

ST COLUMBA MEN’S MEETING

All men in our church are invited to a meal to launch our Men’s Ministry THIS Friday, 12th November, at 7pm in the Church Hall. For catering purposes we need to know who will be joining us for this meal so please RSVP to Kevin: 01536 647727 / 07512 822422 or email kfm@thedigitalchristian.com or you can sign the sheet in church tomorrow.

TEARFUND BIG QUIZWe are looking forward to holding a scaled down version of this on SATURDAY 20th NOVEMBER at 7pm. Please sign up to let us know you are coming, either on the sheet in church or by replying to this email. Because of Covid we are asking people to bring their own drinks and snacks and as a result we won’t charge to come along but will take donations on the door and after we have watched the film about Tearfund’s work during the interval. We hope to have a raffle as well to raise a little more money for Tearfund. You can watch a film about the Quiz here: https://vimeo.com/585835694/cc01acd62b

CHRISTMAS FAYRE

This will be happening on SATURDAY 27th NOVEMBER from 10am. If you are available to help with the day, or before or after, please again sign up on the sheet in church or by replying to this email. Also if you, or someone you know, would like a table at the Fayre please do get in touch.

SHOEBOXES

Please note that the time for returning Shoeboxes is drawing near, not just for us but for lots of other people who will be dropping their boxes off at St Columba’s. James would be delighted if anyone could volunteer to be in church to receive boxes during the week beginning 15th November. We will be open every morning 9 till 1 during that week and there is a rota in hourly blocks available for people to sign up. And don’t forget to return your shoeboxes by Sunday 21st November.

Extra Info
Please find available the latest Prayer Letter from Tim & Carol Derbyshire working with Hope from Above in Australia as well as Steve’s latest “Puzzles and Other Stuff” which includes lots of dates for your diaries, not just the ones mentioned above.

AND FINALLY

Our daughter Jo is about to BRAVE THE SHAVE to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support. She will do this on Wednesday, the same day her aunt has her second round of chemotherapy. She is also donating her hair to the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for children and young people. You can find out more, and donate, by going to: https://bravetheshave.macmillan.org.uk/shavers/joanna-pullingerAnd as Jo says, thank you so much.

Don’t forget next Sunday is Remembrance Sunday, and our service will include the traditional two minutes silence at 11am

. 
May God be with you all,

Ian

31st October 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 31 October 2021

Hello everyone, First let me remind you all that we have an extra hour in bed tonight as the clocks go back. That’s the good news, the less good news is that sunset is at 4.30 something on Sunday, and the dark evenings will truly be upon us. To help compensate we have a lot going on at church over the next month, so do read all the details below. Of course, all these activities are subject to Covid, and with that in mind I do encourage people to continue to wear your face covering in church, unless your were exempt from doing so. This is a simple precaution we can take to protect others and to make sure that our church is, and remains, open as a safe place to worship our God. 

SUNDAY SERVICE 

This week’s service is HOLY COMMUNION and everyone is welcome to join us in church at 10.30am. If you aren’t able to join us in church then you have two options for worshipping at home, and if you do that don’t forget to have some bread and wine (or fruit juice) available. You can watch the service or you can read the service here. 

LIGHT PARTY

Tomorrow is, as anyone who has been in a shop recently will know, Halloween. As Christians we believe in celebrating the light rather than the dark, so as an alternative to all the usual activities of this evening we are inviting all children and families to join us for our LIGHT PARTY DISCO in church from 5pm to 6.30pm tomorrow evening. The flyer asks encourages everyone to wear something bright and to enjoy glowsticks, neon balloons, photo booth, sensory area and more. If you need any more details do contact Kevin on 07512 822422. 

HOPE INTO ACTION

Because of the Light Party our regular HIA PRAYER MEETING will be at 7pm tomorrow. It was great that so many people came to hear Matt Morton from HIA at last week’s meeting and I do encourage them, and anyone else who may be interested, even a little interested, to sign up for the FREE training day on Saturday 4th December – this is for anyone who wants to be part of the Friendship & Support Group. We also need volunteers to help with the practical tasks of decorating the house before the tenants move in, and maintaining both the house and garden afterwards. Please use the sign up sheet at the back of church.

SUNDAY 7th NOVEMBER 

Next Sunday we have two services. At 10.30am we will have an ALL AGE service looking at climate change, so if that is an issue you care about – come along, and if it is not an issue you care about – come along, and find out why, as Christians, we should! Then at 4pm in the afternoon we have our MEMORIAL SERVICE when we remember those people who have passed away, especially in the two years since we last had such a service. But grief is something that never goes away so everyone is welcome to join us and light a candle as a way of remembering those we love but see no longer.

SUNDAY 14th NOVEMBER This is REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY when our 10.30 service will include the traditional two minute silence to remember all those who have died in the service of their country. As well as remembering those involved in military service we will also have a special focus this year on those who have served their country so well over the months of the Covid pandemic.

SATURDAY 20th NOVEMBER at 7pm This is the date for our TEARFUND BIG QUIZ and you can see a promotional film about it here: https://vimeo.com/585835694/cc01acd62b The quiz will be simplified this year because of Covid, so we won’t be providing food or drink, but you are welcome to bring your own drinks and snacks. As a result we won’t charge to come along but will take donations on the door and after we have watched the film about Tearfund’s work during the interval. We hope to have a raffle as well to raise a little more money for Tearfund.

SATURDAY 27th NOVEMBER 10am – CHRISTMAS FAYRE If you, or someone you know, would like a table please do get in touch. We hope to have all the usual stalls and to be able to welcome the community to join us for all the fun of the Fayre, BUT we need your help so please do get in touch, or sign up on the list in church, if you are able to help.

ENERGIZE 

This week’s ENERGIZE resources are here with a story to celebrate the resurrection. This is the last week we will include these as we are starting to provide children’s activities in church again from 7th November (ALL AGE SERVICE) and then ENERGIZE again from 14th NOVEMBER. AND FINALLY Steve’s latest collection of “Puzzles and Other Stuff” (the sixtieth – thank you Steve for keeping us all amused, entertained and informed) is here. 

God bless you all in this coming week, 

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

24th October 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 24 October 2021

Hello again everyone and welcome to a packed email! 

I begin with some good news of an answer to prayer. Patience contacted me on Monday to say that her youngest son Ethan was in hospital and on oxygen. I asked some people to pray and within 90 minutes he was off oxygen and the following day was discharged from hospital. Praise God. 

SERVICES THIS WEEK 

This week’s service is for Bible Sunday and has been prepared by David with a sermon by William. You are all welcome to attend the service in church at 10.30am on Sunday in church  or watch online. There is also a PDF version available. 

For anyone who would like a quieter or earlier service, or indeed a Communion service, we have Communion at Rockingham at 9am tomorrow, with William preaching the same sermon. 

HOPE INTO ACTION

This Sunday, 24th October, we welcome Matt Morton from Hope Into Action to our HIA Prayer Meeting at 6pm in church. Matt will be explaining the vision behind Hope into Action houses, and the vital role played by the Friendship and Support Group. If you come to this meeting it does not commit you to anything but it is the best way of finding out what is, and is not, involved. If you are interested but can’t get out at 6pm on Sunday you can watch Matt via Zoom by going to this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83597475228?pwd=VytUK0FvcFpNRzFqeVY4YjFyaWZMUT09 

Please note that, as well as volunteers to serve on the Friendship and Support Group, we also need people to help decorate the house in Stevenson Way. If you can help in either way there is a sign up sheet at the back of church or you can contact me.Please note that next week’s HIA Prayer Meeting will be from 7pm to 8pm because of the: 

LIGHT PARTY 

Next Sunday, 31st October, we are pleased to be holding a LIGHT PARTY for children and families in the church from 5pm to 6.30pm. More details are on the the poster, which you can also forward to anyone who you think might be interested. This promises to be an exciting time and a great alternative to Halloween. If you have any questions please contact Kevin on 07512 822422 

ENERGIZE There are some new children’s resources here, looking at the story of the Cross this week and then the Resurrection next week. After that we are looking forward to re-starting our children’s work in church, beginning with a genuinely ALL AGE service on Sunday 7th November and then ENERGIZE groups will meet again on 14th November.

MINI SCANS Steve has produced another mini SCANS for us this week which is here. This includes a short article by Bishop John, together with a prayer, for the COP 26 Climate Change conference in Glasgow starting next Sunday – I do encourage you to pray for this conference, both in this week before the Conference and while it is happening.

STEWARDSHIP LETTERS

Our Treasurer James Ireland has written to all church members and these letters will be in church for people to collect on Sunday. I would like to echo James’ words of thanks for everyone’s generosity over the last 18 months. Now is the time to prayerfully and thoughtfully review our giving to St Columba’s, which for some may mean a reduction, which is not a problem because we trust that others in our church family will be able to increase their giving. You can watch my sermon from 12th September, when I spoke about giving, here: 

MEMORIAL SERVICE

On Sunday 7th November at 4pm we will be holding our Memorial Service to remember those who we love but see no longer. Those who have been bereaved over the last two years will receive an invitation but everyone is welcome whenever you were bereaved. There will be opportunity to light a candle in memory of those you are remembering. Please do share this information with anyone you know who might find this service helpful. I finish with an announcement from the Bishop:”The Revd Ian Pullinger has been appointed honorary Canon of Peterborough Cathedral. This is in addition to Ian’s current roles and responsibilities. He will be installed in the Cathedral in November” The important part of that announcement is that it is “in addition”, I’m not going anywhere, and as an Honorary position is not demanding in terms of time, but a recognition of any contribution I have made to the life of the Diocese. I’m pleased that our churchwardens, John and Janet, will be able to join me in the Cathedral for the installation. Unfortunately because of restrictions on numbers I can’t extend the invitation to you all. May God bless you all in this coming week,

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609

17th October 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 17 October 2021

Hello again everyone, 

This has been a busy week for me with, unusually, two trips away from Corby, including an overnight stay at Launde Abbey. This was for a meeting with the Bishops, Archdeacons and Rural Deans, where we met Revd Alison Booker who will be taking over as our Archdeacon in the New Year, following the retirement of Gordon Steele at the end of this month. 

THIS WEEK’S SERVICES

Everyone is welcome to our services in church tomorrow at either 10.30am or 5pm. They are both Communion services with Rosie preaching the final sermon in our series looking at the book of James. For those who can’t make it to church there are the usual options, you can read the service here or you can watch the service on youtube. Don’t forget to have some bread and wine available for Communion. 

HOPE INTO ACTION

We have our usual HIA Prayer Meeting in church after the 5pm service on Sunday and then next Sunday, 24th October, we look forward to welcoming Matt Morton from HIA to the Prayer Meeting. Matt will be telling us all about the Friendship and Support Group which is so important to the success of the house. As we don’t yet know who the tenants will be, or anything about them, even if they will be men or women, we would like a good number of people to come along to this meeting so we can then select those who are most suitable to work with our first tenants.Please note the Prayer Meeting on 31st October will be at 7pm for one week only. 

LIGHT PARTY

The reason for a later start for the Prayer Meeting is because we are hoping to hold a children’s LIGHT PARTY on 31st October. Susan Fleming has been contacting families about this, but if you are reading this and would like to know more please do get in touch with Susan, Kevin or myself. More details will be available next week. 

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD

You can watch a film about the annual shoebox distribution project, which is sure to inspire you to get involved, by watching this video

Those of you who are coming to church on Sunday will have the opportunity to collect an empty Christmas Shoebox for you to fill for children around the world who will not receive much in the way of presents this Christmas. Do make sure you also pick up a leaflet that says what can, and importantly what cannot, go in the shoebox. If you are not in church and would like an empty shoebox to fill do get in touch and we can arrange to deliver one to you. ALL SHOEBOXES NEED TO BE RETURNED TO CHURCH BY SUNDAY 15th NOVEMBER.

ENERGIZE

There are some new ENERGIZE resources here for this week looking at the story of Jesus calming the storm. 

PUZZLES

We have another great set of Steve’s puzzles available here. 

NEXT MONTH

On Sunday 7th November at 4pm we will be holding our service to remember those who we love but see no longer. This service will involve invitations for all those who have been bereaved during the Covid pandemic, including people who were not able to hold services in church, but , as ever, everyone is welcome whenever you were bereaved. There will be opportunity to light a candle in memory of those you are remembering. Please do share this information with anyone you know who might find this service helpful. May God be with you all in this coming week. 

Ian 

01536 400225

10th October 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 10 October 2021

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Good afternoon everyone and welcome to another Saturday email.I am pleased to say that the Montgomery household is returning to normal after Ciaran’s 10 days of Covid isolation, shared by Kate and Kevin as a precaution. We look forward to Kevin preaching at our service tomorrow, in a service led by Rosie and featuring prayers by Sheila and a Bible Reading from Louisa, all of which can be viewed online, read here or in person at St Columba’s on Sunday morning at 10.30am. NEXT SUNDAY ‘s SERVICES On Sunday 17th October, for one week only at the moment, we are going to have services at 10.30am and 5pm. These will be identical services but the 5pm is designed for those who find it difficult to attend at 10.30 or who want to avoid being with too many people. Having said that there is plenty of room so if you enjoyed coming to church at 5pm, or just fancy a change, why not join us at that time next week. 

HOPE INTO ACTION (HIA) 

The 5pm service does flow into the HIA Prayer Meeting at 6pm in church. As I mentioned last week, now we have completed the purchase of the HIA house we need to prepare a Friendship and Support Group ready for when the tenants move in. With this in mind Matt Morton from HIA will be joining our Prayer Meeting on Sunday 24th October at 6pm – so if you are at all interested, or just want to find out more do come along that evening. There will also be a TRAINING DAY on Saturday 4th December for those who would like to pursue this further.Our usual PRAYER MEETING will be happening this Sunday, 10th October, at 6pm in church. 

PCC NEWS

Our PCC met in person for the first time since March 2020 this week, although some people were still able to join the meeting by Zoom. We heard of plans for a weekend visit by Bishop John sometime after Easter next year and also began to think how we might celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June. We heard encouraging reports from our Churchwardens, Treasurer, Safeguarding Officer, and about Hope into Action. The most significant item on the agenda was the allocation of most of St Columba’s charitable giving for the year, with significant amounts being given to HOPE FROM ABOVE where Tim & Carol Derbyshire work in Australia and to CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY. We are on the look out for someone to be our church contact with our new CMS mission partners in North Africa, and if you think that might interest you, please do speak with me (it would be helpful if our contact was comfortable using Zoom). There were smaller donations to a number of different causes, some local and some overseas. The full list is:Toilet Twinning, Christians Against Poverty, Tearfund, Word for Today, Waverley Abbey, World Vision, Corby Deanery Youth Project, Rooted in Jesus, Hope into Action, Penn Green, Home Start, Children’s Society, Safe Spaces, Barnabas Fund, Operation Christmas Child, and Scripture Union for “It’s Your Move” books for children moving to secondary school. 

Finally we pencilled in some dates for social events later this year and early next:

Saturday 20th November – Tearfund’s BIG QUIZ NIGHT

Saturday 27th November – CHRISTMAS FAYRE

28th and 29th January 2022 – PANTO: “Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood” 

Do ask if you would like to know more about any of these, especially if you can help at the FAYRE. They are, of course, all dependent on there being no change in the COVID rules. When they have been prepared the PCC minutes will be displayed on the Notice Board at the back of church, or you can ask me for a copy by email. 

PUZZLES

Please find here the latest Puzzles from Steve (sorry about not attaching them last week).

On page 4 there is a list of the other groups that meet at St Columba’s. There are a couple of changes I will pass on to Steve for the next edition, but just to clarify the Romanian and Zimbabwean churches have not yet started meeting again (although I did see Pastor Gabriel in the week so the latter may start again soon). 

ENERGIZE

The latest ENERGIZE resources for children are available here. 

May God bless you all in the week ahead. 

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

3rd October 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 9 October 2021

Harvest greetings to you all. This harvest time we should be especially mindful not just of farmers who grow our food, but also haulage drivers who move it from farm to shop. We have all seen the effect of not having enough drivers with the empty petrol forecourts, so let us be sure to give thanks to God for all those who are involved in our increasingly complex supply chains. HARVEST SERVICEOur service tomorrow is at 10.30am and everyone is welcome. Don’t forget that we will be collecting for FOOD BANK, especially donations of tinned fish, fruit, custard and rice pudding, as well as coffee, squash and long life fruit juice.Kevin has prepared the service, but unfortunately Ciarán has tested positive for Covid (although he is “not too bad” according to Kevin) so Kevin is isolating at home and William will lead the service in church using Kevin’s material. Online you can watch Kevin leading the service as planned from his home. There is a PDF of the service available here.
 PRAYER REQUESTSIn addition to praying for Ciarán, and that the rest of the Montgomery family do not get infected, please could you pray for the following:

• the family and friends of Martin Steed who died this week from Covid, especially his mum Jackie and aunt Val Berridge.
• the Tafuma family because Patience’s husband Derrick now has Covid although Angel has recovered.
• Joan Dyche who is still in pain with her arm in a sling following her fall last Saturday.
• and also pray for the PCC as they meet on Wednesday to decide where we should give our Charitable Giving for the year.

HOPE INTO ACTION (HIA)I am very pleased to say that the purchase of the house in Stevenson Way was completed last week. This house will become a home for people who would otherwise have nowhere to live. There now needs to be some work carried out to turn the house into a home – so look out for requests for help with this (but not second hand furniture of equipment as HIA insist on having new things to show the tenants they are loved. We also need to prepare a Friendship and Support Group ready for when the tenants move in. With this in mind Matt Morton from HIA will be joining our Prayer Meeting on Sunday 24th October at 6pm – so if you are at all interested, or just want to find out more do come along that evening. There will be a TRAINING DAY on Saturday 4th December for those who would like to pursue this further.Our usual PRAYER MEETING will be happening on Sunday evening this week at 6pm in church – and it should have a celebratory feel as our prayers for the house have now been answered. HOPE FROM ABOVE (HFA)There are two updates this week from HFA in Australia. The first is the usual monthly Prayer Update, the second is a letter setting out a change in leadership as Hans Kummer, who Miriam and I met in 2019, steps down as CEO and moves to a new ambassadorial role while handing over to Robert Lister, the new CEO. ENERGIZEAs it is Harvest we are re-issuing the resources we made available last year. These are in three age groups: 3-6, 7-11, 11-14. They make reference to the film “Joseph King of Dreams” which you can download, or the “good harvest” sequence can be watched here:

or there is a full film “Joseph: Beloved Son, Rejected Slave, Exalted Ruler” available here: 

SCANS and more There will be a full colour print edition of SCANS available in church from Sunday so do take a copy of that if you are there. Also available are the latest Puzzles and Other Stuff, which includes a Harvest Scavenger Hunt! And finally just to say that Miriam and I will be in London on Sunday, supporting Ruth who is running the London Marathon for Cancer Research. 

With best wishes to all, 

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

26th September 2021

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 26 September 2021

Good afternoon everyone, I hope most of you have had a good week. I say “most” because two of Patience Tafuma’s children, Angel and Ethan, have Covid, and Joan Dyche fell and dislocated her shoulder this morning. Fortunately Angel is feeling better, Ethan doesn’t seem to be suffering and Joan was able to get to hospital and home again before lunch. Please do remember them all in your prayers. You may also like to spare a thought for Alois on Sunday as he is running a half marathon in Northampton!

HARVEST NEXT WEEK

On Sunday 3rd October we look forward to celebrating Harvest with a service in church once again at 10.30am. As usual we will be collecting for the Corby FOOD BANK and they have advised that they are in need of the following items: tins of fish, fruit, rice pudding and custard as well as coffee, squash and long life fruit juice. They have plenty of the following items at the present time: cereal, rice, pasta and tea. Thank you in advance for your donations, and for those that have come in all through this most difficult of years.

SUNDAY’S SERVICE

This week’s service is Holy Communion. You are welcome to join us at 10.30am in church, where, as well as singing and hearing the sermon and prayers in person, we will receive bread dipped in non-alcoholic wine. Alternatively you can watch the online version of the service, in which case you will need to provide your own bread and wine (or fruit juice). There is also a PDF version of the service available.

After the service tomorrow we will have some cakes from Sheila’s MACMILLAN COFFEE MORNING. These will be freely available but if you like to bring a donation to this very worthy cause then Sheila will add it to the money she raised on Friday. We will be able to enjoy the cakes outside church in what may be the last of these lovely late summer days.

ATTACHMENTS

Thank you once again to Steve for producing this week’s puzzles. Steve says that he and Sue struggled to find 50 items beginning with C in the picture – why not have a go. Also available are this week’s ENERGIZE resources looking at the story of Saul meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

AND FINALLY

Do take a look at our new website, still with the same address: www.stcolumbascorby.org.uk This is in fact a temporary website, but is already better than the one we had before, with pictures of some of us and the ability to scroll down so it is much more user friendly on all devices. A big THANK YOU to Kevin for his work on this. Bearing in mind it is temporary, if you have any comments about the website please do speak to Kevin.

May God be with you in this coming week.

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609