Dear JohnPaul Family
Moving towards Christmas
It has been a while since I have written as I seem to have been dealing with quite a few difficult issues in the life of the church. These have taken up an excessive amount of time and I am sorry that I might not have been as visible recently. If you ever need to catch up with me, do email or text me as I love to meet up for a brew!
Remembrance Day
Last weekend we remembered those who fought and died for us in war and conflict. I was asked to lead the service at Oak Hill Park and was encouraged by the turnout and the depth of feeling that the service evoked. I was also delighted to have the choir from St John’s school with me. The Ministry team were insistent that I do it and were able to cover the services I missed – so thank you to them!
Christmas and Advent
We have just finalised the leaflet for Christmas and it should be hitting letterboxes near you very soon. We have a small Communications team who made that happen, but there are always spaces for anyone who might want to develop in that area.
The highlight of the festivities will be a repeat of the Brass Band Carol Service from last year with the Haslingden and Helmshore Brass Band at St Paul’s. At St John’s we are reverting to a Midnight Holy Communion Service on Christmas Eve and we are re-introducing Christingles as well at Nativities owing to requests in both churches. The Children’s team at St John’s are also putting on another Christmas party for the whole JohnPaul Church family as they did last year – this will be a Jacob’s Join, so help with the food would be much appreciated.
Advent
I have ordered booklets for Advent devotions from the diocese as usual. However, I wondered whether anyone would enjoy joining with others to discuss the content each week during Advent. I could host it at the Vicarage on the wc 2nd, 9th, 16th December – we could try and find a slot to suit those who are interested – during the day or evening. Send me a text or an email if you would appreciate that.
Fundraising
Thank you to so many of you who have made a gift to our Harvest appeal this year, or increased your regular giving.
The Autumn Fair was also a great success raising more money that we have ever raised. It was also a lovely community event and I again want to thank so many of you who took part and gave up not only a good chunk of your Saturday, but time during the week to help set up.
I am so grateful for the funds raised because it really helps prove to our funders that we are serious about keeping our churches going. Our next bid goes in very soon to the Benefact Trust, so please pray that it will be successful.
Sadly, St John’s Baxenden have decided to stop using our lounge for Breakfast and After School clubs. They have been hoping to bring them in house for a while in order to help their own finances. Sadly, it will be a loss for us. We need to get our building at St John’s weather tight in order to attract new community users.
Wider Church of England News
You will have heard of the recent resignation of Justin Welby, our Archbishop of Canterbury. I was really sorry he had to resign, but I can see it was the right thing to do. He was a man who always seemed to consider carefully WWJD (What would Jesus Do). But like many leaders, with a lot on, he missed dealing with a significant area of concern. Our hearts go out to all those who have endured additional suffering due to the Church’s delay in dealing with this. On a personal note, I will miss his leadership on many things close to my heart – evangelism, prayer and social action. If anyone would like to talk further with me about this, I am happy to chat.
Last Words
As we move into more wintry weather, let’s remember those sleeping rough on our streets. Please also consider taking part in the ACT Foodbank’s reverse Advent Calendar. What you do is get a box and put in an item every day of November so that a family can have a Christmas box of goodies!
Sending you best wishes as we move towards Advent!
God bless,
Amanda