Sunday Service

Category: Sunday Service

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

27th March 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 27 March 2022

Hello everyone, 

Tomorrow is Mothering Sunday and we are looking forward to celebrating together in church for the first time since 2019! Do come along and share in the joy of this special day. The service in St Columba’s begins at 10.30am (although we would ask any children to try and arrive by 10.15 so they can practice their parts in the service!). This week the service will be available as a livestream, so please go to the following link just before 10.30am on Sunday, or afterwards, and you will be able to watch the service in church. There is a PDF of the service here, although this does not contain everything that will be included in the service in church. For those who prefer a quieter service there will be a Communion service at Rockingham at 9am tomorrow. 

HOPE INTO ACTION NEWS

I am delighted to be able to report that a tenant moved in to our HIA house on Friday, after much hard work by many people on both the admin and practical side. The tenant is a single mum with a young daughter who did not know about their new home and as she went round the house finding all the new bits and bobs put in place for her there were shrieks of delight from each room she went into! This is a reward for all the work and many hours of prayer that have been poured into the house. Do come along and celebrate this moment at the HIA Prayer Meeting on Sunday evening at 6pm in church.

LENT GROUPS 

Our Lent Groups continue this week on Tuesday morning (10.30am) and Wednesday evening (7.30pm). This week we will be looking at Luke’s gospel and you would be most welcome even if you have not been to any of the previous talks.

NEXT SUNDAY

On Sunday 3rd April we have a HOLY COMMUNION service at 10.30am and a HEALING SERVICE at 5pm. This is the first healing service we have had for many months so do please come along, either if you need prayer or if you would like us to pray for someone you know.

MEMORIAL SERVICES

MARGARET SINGH left instructions with her daughters that her funeral, at the Crematorium, should be very small and they are following that request. However they have also asked if we could hold a Memorial Service for Margaret to which everyone is welcome. This will be on Saturday 9th April at 3pm in St Columba’s so do please come along to remember Margaret and give thanks for her life.

I am also pleased to say that we are holding a Memorial Service for LINDA MATEYO the following Saturday, 16th April, at 11am in St Columba’s. Linda sadly passed away during the pandemic when there were limits on the number of people who could attend a funeral so this is the first opportunity many people will have had to gather and remember her. After the service there will be an opportunity to visit her grave, where a new headstone is now in place, before refreshments in the Church Hall.

PRAYER NEWS

Please pray for John Pender who has spent most of the last week in hospital, but Sheila is cautiously optimistic that he is making progress. Also pray for John & Sheila’s son-in-law Graham who has Covid, as well as anyone else you know who is infected at the moment. Please also pray for Sue Scholes’ kidney function to improve so she does not need dialysis. Finally do remember Richard Smith in prayer, he is now in a hospice with only a few weeks to live, he is sleeping a lot but is comfortable. Do continue to pray for Richard, Cathy and Rachael.

PUZZLES

Here is the latest edition of Puzzles and Other Stuff.

Do look out for a printed edition of SCANS out next week. 

May God be with you all, 

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

20th March 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 20 March 2022

Hello everyone,

I am pleased to say that I am feeling well in spite of a series of positive Covid tests that have kept me isolating all week. Thank you for all your prayers. I am looking forward to being able to be with you all in church tomorrow. My recent experience, and others in church who have Covid (see Prayer News below) reminds us that the rate of infection is very high and while most people (myself included) have a very mild case there is still a risk, especially for those who are more vulnerable. As a result I think that we should maintain our care for one another and continue to wear face coverings in church for the time being. I look forward to the time when this is not necessary, but, in spite of what is happening elsewhere in society, maybe because of what is happening elsewhere, we do need to remain careful and caring.

SERVICES TOMORROW

We have a choice of service in church tomorrow with HOLY COMMUNION services at 10.30 and 5pm. They will be similar services but with different sermons and different people leading intercessions. There will be less people at 5pm so if you are anxious about Covid and mixing with larger groups that is the service to attend. The 10.30 service will include ENERGIZE groups who will be preparing for next week’s MOTHERING SUNDAY service. For those who are unable to attend in person, like me last week, the service is available on youtube. This was filmed at home because I was isolating. There is also a PDF of the service here.

HOPE INTO ACTION PRAYER MEETING

We will be having our regular HIA Prayer Meeting at 6pm tomorrow, or immediately after the end of the 5pm service. As well as praying for the HIA house, which is nearly ready for the first tenant to move in, we will pray for other needs in our church (see below) and the wider world.

PRAYER NEWS

I am pleased to say that Michael Cain (our church member, not the actor) is home from hospital, thank you for your prayers.Please pray for all those with Covid at this time including: Barbara Bradshaw, her husband George and Carole Speirs dad Billy. Do continue to pray for Kevin and Kate and their family. Kate is waiting for more tests and their eldest daughter, Hannah, is moving to Corby next week. 

LENT GROUPS

We have had two meetings of our Lent Groups and three to go. I should say that the talks stand alone, so even if you have not been before, or have missed a talk, do come along and join in the fellowship – it is simply wonderful to be meeting together again. The groups will this week be looking at Mark’s gospel and meet in St Columba’s on TUESDAY at 10.30am and WEDNESDAY at 7.30pm.

EXTRAS

The latest HOPE FROM ABOVE Bulletin is here, as are the latest PUZZLES AND OTHER STUFF from Steve.

NEXT SUNDAY

Steve’s Puzzles does have an amusing picture to remind us that next week the CLOCKS GO FORWARD so we miss an hour in bed. This is especially tough on Mums who will not be able to enjoy quite so much of a MOTHERING SUNDAY lie in while breakfast in bed is prepared! Our service will be a special celebration for MOTHERING SUNDAY so we look forward to seeing you there. There is also a Communion service at Rockingham at 9am next week.

May God be with you all, and do get in touch of there is anything we can help you with.

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609

13th March 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 13 March 2022

Dear St Columba Church family

We’re looking at Chapter three of the Book of Ezra this week, and in the first verse it contains the phrase ‘the people assembled together as one’, how amazing to think of people all those many years ago meeting together to come before God and worship Him just as we are still coming together today.

SUNDAY SERVICE

Over the last couple of years we have seen a lot of disruption to that coming together, and have had to meet in different ways physically and online and we are reminded this week that Covid has by no means disappeared from our lives as Ian came down positive for coronavirus earlier this week, please do be praying for him, Miriam and Jo. 

Due to this we’ve got a reduced online service this week but thankfully still have Ian’s sermon as part of his series on Ezra. 

Our Sunday service was due to have the Annual Meeting as part of it but with Ian being in isolation we are postponing that for the moment and will let you know the new date when it’s been arranged. Instead we have a Morning Worship Service and big thanks to Rosie and William for stepping up to do this service.

COMING UP

 
Our lent groups started well last week and will be carrying on this week, looking forward to those. For all of our men, we have postponed the men’s meeting for this month and are encouraging people to attend the Lent Groups instead. However gents, do put the 16th April in your diary – which is Easter Saturday, we will be having a men’s breakfast in the morning – more details to come.

EXTRAS

We do have another great Mini-SCaNS available from Steve to keep you occupied and the latest update from Tim and Carol Derbyshire.

COMMUNITY

You may have already seen the news of proposed funding cuts to Pen Green Children’s Centre here in Corby, whilst we have to appreciate funding issues within the new North Northants Unitary Authority this seems to me at least to be a serious inequity and I would encourage you to have a read here; https://www.change.org/p/save-pen-green-s-core-funding and if you feel able to sign the accompanying petition. At the same time do be praying for all those in authority; for them to serve the people they are looking after well and for wisdom as they seek to lead.

Our Hope into Action house is getting increasingly close to being ready for its first tenant and a big thanks to all those involved in getting it ready, particularly John Lynch who has done a fantastic job in getting the house ready.

PRAYER

We are called as a people of prayer, and we do still have our Hope into Action prayer meeting at 6pm this Sunday, it would be great to see you there.

I’m aware that we had a number of prayer requests last week, which I would encourage you to continue praying for and please do continue in prayer for Ukraine and the situation there and all those affected by it as well as all those trying to help.

It is with sadness that my only update so far from last weeks prayer news is of Margaret Singh who after suffering a stroke last week passed away on Wednesday, eternal rest grant to her O Lord, may perpetual light shine upon her, may she rest in peace and rise in glory. I am sure she will be much missed. Please do be praying for the family at this time and for God’s comfort to be with them. We have no information on the funeral as yet, but will let you know when we do.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Kevin Montgomery

Curate, St Columba

01536 647727

07512 822422

6th March 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 6 March 2022

Hello again everyone,

As well as the dreadful news coming out of Ukraine there are some serious prayer requests from closer to home in this email so do keep reading and praying. On the subject of Ukraine can I say that tomorrow’s service will not be saying much about the situation there, but we will be praying for Ukraine in the HIA Prayer Meeting at 6pm tomorrow evening, so please do join us for that if you would like to. This week’s Steve’s Puzzles and Other Stuff (the 70th!) also includes details of the DEC Appeal for Ukraine, so do make use of that if you would like to support those in greatest need. I have to say it has been heart warming to see the pictures of people in Poland, Germany and other countries taking Ukrainian refugees into their homes – it is a shame that there is not a similar opportunity here.

SUMMER 2022 at ST COLUMBA’S

We are very much looking forward to this summer, not because it should be free from Covid worries but because there are two exciting events in which we hope to share the good news of Jesus beyond our church walls and into the local community, and to your family and friends, neighbours and colleagues. The first is a BIG JUBILEE LUNCH on Sunday 5th June when, as well as inviting members of the local community to join us for lunch,  we are planning a day filled with activity. The second is a weekend with Bishop John at the beginning of July when he will be speaking about his faith and inviting others to share that faith in a series of events. More details will follow but please start praying, and thinking who you might invite, now.

THIS WEEK’S SERVICE

The service in St Columba’s tomorrow at 10.30am is All Age Worship, with significant contributions from our children and young people. Everyone is welcome to attend in person, or you can watch the online version on youtube. There is a PDF version of the service here, but an interactive service like this does not reproduce so well in this format.

LENT GROUPS AT ST COLUMBA’S

I am looking forward to the start of our Lent Groups this week. They will both be meeting in St Columba’s, one on Tuesday morning at 10.30am (until about 12noon) and one on Wednesday evening at 7.30pm until about 9pm. There is also an option to join the Wednesday evening group by Zoom, but please let me know if you would like to do that so we can make sure you have the link. As well as listening to Bishop Donald’s talks on the Four Gospels we will spend some time discussing the points raised and also praying, especially for the exciting plans we have for the summer – see above. 

NEXT SUNDAY (13th March)Our service next Sunday will include our Annual Meeting with reports, prayers, sung worship and the latest sermon looking at the book of Ezra (chapter 3). Please do make every effort to be at the service to hear how God has blessed us in what was another difficult year. We will also have to elect churchwardens (I am pleased to say that Janet Taylor and John Lynch are both standing again) and four representatives for the PCC (details of nominations will be out next week). There will be activities for children during the service, but everyone will be together for the elections and reports. 

REVD NAT WHITE

I know some of you are aware that Nat is moving to a new post at Grange Park in Northampton, hoping to start before Easter. This post feels like it is a really good match for Nat’s skills and we pray that God will bless her and Pete in this new chapter of their lives. PRAYER NEWSAs mentioned above there are a number of people in need of our prayers at this time, in no particular order:

• Margaret Singh has suffered a really bad stroke and at the time of writing is unconscious in Northampton Hospital.
• Kate Montgomery has not fully recovered after having Covid and with her underlying condition would value our prayers.
• Paul Millen has had an especially stressful time at work and also has responsibilities for our HIA house.
• Trevor and Kath Wade are both in need of our prayers and God’s wisdom for medics caring for them.
• Carole Speirs friend Trish, who we have prayed for before, had a liver transplant on Monday and is recovering.
• More positively Sue Scholes coped with her appointments this week and there were encouraging results.
• I am also aware of a number of folk suffering with heavy colds, and Donna & Brad from Rockingham both have Covid.

Please pray for all the above. I hope to see many of you at church tomorrow, at the Lent Groups in the week and at our Annual Meeting in next Sunday’s service.

May God be with you,

Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609

27th February 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 27 February 2022

Dear St Columba’s Family,
I am sure you were all as shocked as me at the events in Ukraine this week. It is one of those situations when we must truly say that the only thing we can do is pray, and so pray we must. I was pleased to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury on Radio 4 on Thursday morning, concluding his message with these words:
“Right at the end of his life, Jesus Christ, on the eve of his crucifixion, spoke to his disciples and he said something very memorable. ‘In the world you will have trouble, but do not be afraid, I have overcome the world.’For me and for many of faith, the great certainty in the world, the only certainty, is that we know that God does not change. Let us find our resolution, our peace, our certainty not by screwing up our courage, but in the knowledge of the eternal arms that hold us.
May God be with those who suffer today.”

Let us hold on to our faith and turn to the God who does not change, and in whose eternal arms we are held. And let us pray for peace in Ukraine today, and in our world tomorrow.

THIS WEEK’S SERVICE

There are Communion services on Sunday 27th February in St Leonard’s church Rockingham at 9am and in St Columba’s at 10.30am. William is preaching in both services which will be led by Kevin while I am with the children and young people preparing for next Sunday’s All Age Worship.For those who can’t make it to church tomorrow the service can be watched on youtube. There is also a PDF version of the service here.

LENT

This week sees the start of Lent and so I hope you will enjoy some pancakes on Tuesday! Lent is the season in which we are encouraged to make small sacrifices in order to devote more time to God. This may be by attending the Lent Course (see below) or reading more of the Bible, or reading a Christian book (there is a great selection in the library at the back of church so do have a look on your way in or out of church – there are no rules just take a book, read it, bring it back and take another…). 
I hope many of you will be able to join us at the very beginning of Lent for one of our Ash Wednesday Communion services. These will be at 10.30am in St Columba’s and 7.30pm in St Leonard’s in Rockingham. Please contact me if you would like to go the service at Rockingham but don’t have transport or know how to get there. 

LENT GROUPS

These will start on TUESDAY 8th March at 10.30am OR WEDNESDAY 9th MArch at 7.30pm in St Columba’s. These will be looking at Bishop Donald’s series of talks on the FOUR GOSPELS, one talk on each gospel with an introduction. It will also be possible to access the evening group by ZOOM but only if you ask in advance. Just to help with planning can you SIGN UP on the lists in church for either Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening or on Zoom – although you are most welcome in church even if you have not signed up.

SUNDAY 6th MARCH

Next Sunday’s service at 10.30am will be an ALL AGE SERVICE with input from our children and young people. Do come along and support them as they contribute to our worship.

PRAYER NEWS

Do join us for the HIA Prayer Meeting on Sunday evening at 6pm in church. We will, of course, be praying for the situation in Ukraine as well as hearing the latest news about our HIA house. Here is the latest Prayer Bulletin from Hope From Above in Australia.Please can you pray for Sue Scholes who has two hospital appointments on Monday and Tuesday this week.

AND FINALLY

There are no Puzzles etc this week but the latest edition of SPRING HARVEST NEWS is available and copies can be picked up in church, but we only have a small supply I’m afraid.
May God bless you all in these troubled times,

Ian

01536 400225

07903 644609 

20th February 2022

By Kevin Montgomery in Sunday Service on 20 February 2022

Hello everyone,

 I hope you all survived Storm Eunice. The church managed to avoid any damage which is good news. There is lots of news in this email about what’s coming up in Lent, including our Annual Meeting next month, so do keep reading. 

SCANS UPDATE

Big thanks to Steve for producing both an online puzzles and printed SCANS last week. There were a couple of mistakes in the printed SCANS so do have a look at “SCaNS 148 Corrections” for details of these (including the missing set of “down” questions for the crossword). Copies of this magazine can still be found in church and there is a NEW Online Puzzles and Other Stuff here. This includes a fun and challenging Hymn Quiz so do open it up and have a go!

SUNDAY’S SERVICES

We have two services in St Columba’s tomorrow, with MORNING WORSHIP at 10.30am and HOLY COMMUNION at 5pm. They will both include a sermon from Linda looking at the creation account from Genesis 2. Everyone is welcome to either or both. The 5pm service will have less people so is ideal for anyone who is still anxious about mixing with larger numbers. For those who can’t make it to church the service can be watched on youtube and there is a PDF version here.

HOPE INTO ACTION NEWS

Our Hope into Action house has been offered some really good quality furniture and white goods for free! This is an amazing gift, thank you Lord! All we have to do is go and pick it up from Oundle on the 25th February and bring it back to the house. We’ve been offered free use of a van for that day, so if you could be available next Friday at 10am to help us that would be great. It should only take a couple of hours to sort – have a chat with Ann Rigby, John Lynch or Kevin Montgomery. Kevin is happy to provide bacon/sausage baps to anyone who gets involved! The Prayer Meeting will happen at 6pm tomorrow, or immediately after the 5pm service if that has not quite finished at 6pm. If you come to the service you won’t have to wait!

NEXT SUNDAY

There is a Communion service at Rockingham at 9am and at St Columba’s at 10.30am. Our children and young people will be preparing for the next All Age service on 6th March, and following their wonderful efforts this month we look forward to what they will share with us then.. 

ASH WEDNESDAY (2nd March)

We have two services to mark the beginning of Lent. They will be identical except that the one in the morning at 10.30am will be in St Columba’s and the one in the evening at 7.30pm will be at Rockingham. Do try and come along to one or other of these to mark the beginning of this special season in the church year. 

LENT GROUPS

The following week we are going to start LENT GROUPS in St Columba’s on either TUESDAY morning (10.30) or WEDNESDAY evening (7.30). These will be looking at Bishop Donald’s series of talks on the FOUR GOSPELS, one talk on each gospel with an introduction. It will also be possible to access the evening group by ZOOM but only if you ask in advance. Just to help with planning can you SIGN UP on the lists in church for either Tuesday morning, Wednesday evening or online. (PCC members please note the days are the opposite way round from what was discussed at our last meeting) 

ANNUAL PAROCHIAL CHURCH MEETING

We are going to hold our Annual Meeting in the Morning Service on Sunday 13th March. Please can I ask that anyone who has a report about what they did in 2021, and I realise this is a lot less than we would normally have because of the pandemic, can send that report to me by Sunday 6th March. We also have four people whose term on the PCC has come to an end (I will be asking them if they would like to stand again) and we would also welcome anyone else wanting to serve the church in this way. If that is you please ask me for a Nomination Form. Names can also be added to the Electoral Roll, but all those who are already on the Roll don’t have to take any action. After all those notices I hope you all have a good week. 

God bless, Ian 

01536 400225

07903 644609