Weekly Update – 1st December
Update for Sunday 1st December 2024
Morning Prayer is held every weekday morning 8.30am in our Chapel
Sunday 1st December – 1st Sunday of Advent
The readings this week are Jeremiah 33: 14-16, 1 Thessalonians 3: 9-end and Luke 21: 25-36
At 8am we gather for a traditional BCP Communion Service Revd. Emma will lead and Revd. Buffy will preach.
At 10am we gather for a Holy Communion with groups for Kids and Youth at Ten. Revd. Emma will lead, and Revd. Buffy will preach. This service will be live streamed. All are welcome to stay for refreshments served in our church hall after.
Sunday 8th December – 2nd Sunday of Advent
The readings this week are Philippians 1: 3-11 and Luke 3: 1-6
At 8am we gather for a traditional BCP Communion Service Canon David Lindsay will lead and preach.
At 10am we gather for our annual Together Gift Service. Revd. Emma and Amanda Hillyard will take the service in aid of the Stop Domestic Abuse, which works with families affected by domestic abuse. All are welcome to stay for refreshments served in our church hall after.
At 6pm we gather for Evensong. Revd. Emma will lead and Peter Mitchell, our Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) will preach. All are very welcome.
Gifts for the Gift Service 10am Sunday 8th December
At 10am we will hold our annual Gift Service in aid of the Stop Domestic Abuse, which works with families affected by domestic abuse. This year Stop Domestic Abuse would particularly like help with gifts for teenage boys, and gifts for mums.
So, if you could purchase a gift suitable for a teenage boy, maybe a book, or something sport related, Lego, gadgets, or toiletries like Lynx etc. Please wrap these gifts, and label for a teenage boy.
Or a gift for a woman, e.g. perfume, toiletries, pyjamas, slippers, scarf – anything that will be a real indulgence for a mum to receive just for herself. Please wrap these gifts, and label for a Mum.
Alternatively, Gift Cards can be given, allowing families to buy exactly what they need. Ideally, they want gifts cards for Tesco, Asda, Boots, or Superdrug, to the value of £5 - £10. They will also happily receive the gifts cards for ONE4ALL.
Please remember, gifts must be brand new, unopened and in pristine condition – nothing second-hand: we want to treat the families as though they were our own – and give them the very best.
Gifts and cards can be dropped off to the Parish Office (open Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri 9am - 1pm) prior to the service, or you can bring them to church on the day at 10am. With thanks. Revd. Emma
Traidcraft /Transform Trade Christmas cards
These popular cards have arrived and are on sale after the main 8am and 10am Sunday services, throughout December. They will also be available in our welcome area in church and can be purchased by putting the money into the envelopes displayed with the cards (and putting into the wall safe behind the font) Thank you. Angela Herring
Mothers Union Advent service.
All are warmly welcome on Tuesday 10th December at 2.00pm, followed by tea/coffee and mince pies. We hope that non-members will come along and find out what the Mothers Union is all about, whilst spending time at this busy time of year to focus on the meaning of the season. Kim, Liz and Angela
HELP NEEDED – Mini Choir for Christmas singing at local Care Homes
We are looking for some extra tuneful voices to help sing Christmas Carols at our local care/residential homes. We need help on:
- Monday 16th December 3pm at Copper Beeches PO7 6YQ
- Tuesday 17th December 3pm at Denmead Grange PO7 6XP
- Monday 23rd December 3pm at Wellington Vale PO7 7TY
If you can help at one, two or all three sessions please let Karen Rose know.
On the day, please arrive 10 mins early at the home, sign in at reception and we’ll be there to meet you. With thanks, Revd. Emma and Revd Buffy
HELP NEEDED - Packing hampers for the Waterlooville Foodbank
On 19th and 20th December (9.30-12noon) we are hoping to take a small team of 5 people, across to the Waterlooville Foodbank, based in Wecock on Kite Close to help pack hampers ready to be distributed across the PO7 and PO8 communities. We will meet in our church car park at 9.15am where we can organise car shares over to the foodbank. We should be back around 12ish noon. If you can help with one, or both dates, please let Karen Rose know. With thanks, Revd. Emma
Waterlooville Food Bank Collection box
Thank you to all who place food items/toiletries in our collection box. As we approach Christmas can we ask that items donated have a festive feel. Items like Christmas crackers, Appletiser, Shloer and other fizzy non-alcoholic drinks, boxed cheese biscuits, chocolate yule log, boxes of chocolates, stuffing and gravy, children’s chocolate selection trays, cheese straws, mini chocolate rolls etc. Please remember the food bank asks that no alcohol is gifted.
HELP NEEDED – Scouts Carol Service
On Friday 20th December at 6pm the Scouts are holding their annual Community Carol Service in our church car park. As a church we will be serving refreshments (mulled wine/mince pies/chocolate treats) which we will be handing out in the car park. We would like a couple of people who could assist between 5.30pm and 7.00pm. If you think you can help, please let Karen Rose know. Thank you. Revd. Emma
Countdown to Christmas!
Starting this Sunday, we will be sharing a range of Advent and Christmas music on our Facebook page. (facebook.com/allsaintsdenmead)
Each day we'll post a link to an Advent/Christmas song, hymn or carol - each different in style, some new, some old - but all sharing the joy of knowing Jesus. Hope you enjoy!
You don’t need to be a member of Facebook; you can just log in and view each day.
Advent Books:
Advent begins this Sunday – here are two books recommended by Peter Mitchell our Licensed Lay Minister (Reader).
'Do Not Be Afraid' by Rachel Mann. Reflections, prayers and questions for each day of Advent and for Christmas Day.
Throughout this book, Rachel uses her gifts as a poet, priest and theologian to write about something we all experience - waiting. She explores the frustration, irritation, inconvenience, disappointment and discomfort we associate with waiting; inviting us to sense the richness and promise of God in the midst of these everyday experiences. Rachel dwells deeply on the many modes of waiting and speaks of the spiritual seam of expectant waiting in the Bible and the Christian tradition which always ties this to hope and a hunger for justice and love. Her meditations tell stories of God waiting with us when we're in fear or distress; relieving our loneliness, surprising us with joy, and reminding us that Jesus Christ comes into the world as one long waited for, the servant who waits on others and the one for and on whom we are called to wait, especially during this season of Advent.
'Women of the Nativity' by Paula Gooder. Nine imagined stories from the perspective of women, looking at well-known passages from the Bible, taking us through Advent to the glorious celebration of Jesus' birth and onwards into the Christmas season.
Paula uses her extensive biblical expertise to reflect on the incarnation and its consequences and asks us to consider what it might have felt like to be a woman who observed these world-changing events. Some of the women are mentioned in the Bible, some are known to have existed from other sources, and others are fictional but represent the sorts of women who might well have been present at the time. Many of these women were shunned by contemporary society and this presents a degree of bleakness which we are not used to seeing in the Christmas story, but the reality of their lives was illuminated by the light of Christ. Themes include those traditionally associated with the four Sundays of Advent: patriarchs, prophets, John the Baptist and Mary, plus those associated with the key feasts commemorated in the Church's calendar from Christmas Day through Epiphany to The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas). The stories are supplemented with Bible passages and questions to prompt reflection and conversation and are vividly illustrated by priest-artist Ally Barrett.
Both books retail for £10.99 at bookshops and are also available on-line.
Christian Gifts and Craft Stall – welcome area in church
The table is proving popular, with a collection of cards, including ones for birthdays and other celebrations, calendars, other gift ideas and some Christmas tree items too. The table is helping us to raise funds to support our mission. Do take a look!
Christmas Services at All Saints:
And into 2025…
Saturday February 22nd - Quiet Day
Quiet Days are a wonderful time to reflect, pray and just be. All are welcome to come to All Saints Quiet Day at Wisdom House, Romsey.
The day will start at 10.00am and run until 16.30pm. Canon David Lindsay will lead us. The cost this year is £31.50, this includes a simple lunch, with tea, coffee and biscuits available throughout the day and tea and cake will be served before we leave. If you would like to attend, please contact Karen in the Parish Office to be added to the list, Karen will also be collecting the money, but payment by bank transfer is available. Parking is limited at Wisdom House, so we will car share.
If anyone would like to know more, maybe you are not sure what a Quiet Day entails, please contact Kim Markham 9224 0150 or email kim@markhams.me.uk We need to know numbers and have payment by Monday 6th January, please.
Contacts
Karen Rose Parish Administrator. 023 9226 8757 parish.admin@allsaintsdenmead.org.uk
Revd. Emma Racklyeft Vicar. 023 9226 2647 vicar@allsaintsdenmead.org.uk
Revd. Buffy Langdown Curate. 07747 819918 curate@allsaintsdenmead.org.uk
Lewis Jones Youth & Families Community Leader. 07780 981235 youth@allsaintsdenmead.org.uk
Peter Mitchell Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) peter.mitchell@allsaintsdenmead.org.uk
Amanda Hillyard Churchwarden. 07808 198827
Mike Gaskin Churchwarden. 07734 325284