St Andrews December 2023 Newsletter

St ANDREWS AND St NINIAN’S NEWSLEttER DECEMBER 2023 

Church Services December 2023 / January 2024. 

ST NINIAN’S  

Sundays December 3rd, 17th, 31st 10 am Holy Communion.  

Sundays January 14th, 28th 10 am Holy Communion.  

Friday December 15th St Ninian’s @ 1pm Harlow Green School Carol Concert.  Monday December 25th St Ninian’s @ 10 am Christmas Morning Eucharist. 

ST ANDREW’S 

Every Wednesday St Andrew’s 10.45am Holy Communion with short Bible study.  

Sundays December 10th, 24th 10am Holy Communion.  

Sundays January 7th, 21st 10am Holy Communion.  

Sunday December 17th St Andrew’s 2pm Traditional Carol Service.  Tuesday December 19th St Andrew’s 10.30am Marquisway Carol Service.  All welcome including those with special needs.  

Sunday December 24th St Andrew’s 2pm Blessing the Crib Service.  An informal service for children and their families.  

Sunday December 24th St Andrew’s 11.30pm First Eucharist of Christmas.  Midnight Mass to welcome the Christ child.  

Everyone is warmly welcome to any of our church services. 

GORIFYING GOD’S CREATION 

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before others, so that they may see your good  works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 

Glorifying God means feeling and thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness.  We approach Christmas which can be described as the season of goodwill. When we  do good things, it is not about making ourselves feel good but to show God’s goodness.  When we give to charity, give time to help someone else, give food to a person in need,  we are showing God’s love. When we are patient with someone being difficult, we are displaying God’s patience. Our goal should be making God’s goodness visible to the  world and that begins where we are.  

AUTUMN FAYRE A big thank you to everyone who helped with the Autumn  Fayre in November. The bakers, jam makers, book sellers, those organising, making, and collecting items for the many stalls and the ladies running the popular café. It was  a successful day and we really appreciate the support we received from our local  community. Once again, we must thank the students from Cardinal Hume Academy  who did a great job setting up tables and sorting stock ready for the big day.   

St ANDREWS AND St NINIAN’S NEWSLEttER DECEMBER 2023 

MAR THOMA 

On the 2nd Saturday of each month the Mar Thoma Church worship at St Andrew’s. The Mar  Thoma Church is believed to have been established in AD52 and takes its name from Thomas  one of Jesus 12 disciples. Orthodox in origin since 1974 it has been in full communion with  the Anglican Communion. The 2nd Saturday of October was a special day at St Andrew’s  when four youngsters, Rebecca, Abel, Liana, and Nathan received Holy Communion for the  first time. It was also a special day for their priest the Reva Abu Cherian as it was the first  time he had prepared and given youngsters Holy Communion. The wonderful red cope he  wore for the service was a gift from their families. Following the service, celebrations  continued with a traditional Indian meal also provided by their families. Photographs from  the occasion can be seen on the church notice board. 

ECO CHURCH  

St Andrew’s are very pleased to have been awarded a bronze award for our work with Eco  Church. Bethan Still the Diocesan Environment Officer presented the award to Joan  Alexanders during the Sunday service on November 26th. We now begin working towards  silver and will be encouraging everyone to help. 

GARDENING GROUP 

We are very grateful to have received a grant from Costain to purchase gardening  equipment for work in the graveyard. Our little group has already made good progress in the  south end of the graveyard. A lot of ivy has been carefully removed from some of the headstones and some of the overgrowth cut back. If anyone would like to join us, please  contact Joan mobile 07957 871375, we meet at the church on the third Monday and last  Wednesday in the month at 1pm. Our last meeting for 2023 will be Wednesday 29th November.  

KIBBLESWORTH ACADEMY 

Year 6 students from Kibblesworth  Academy walked down to St Andrew’s  church to take part in a remembrance  service on Thursday the 9th November.  They enjoyed asking Major Towers lots  of questions about life in the Army  Reserves and what it was like to be sent  to war, the depth of their knowledge and  understanding of past conflicts was a  credit to them all. Many children had  stories of their own families involved in  previous wars. They then visited the  graveyard and placed a poppy on each of  the Commonwealth War Graves. 

LITTER PICKING DATES 

Our next litter picking dates are Thursday  14th December and Thursday 11th January meeting in the car park outside St  

Andrew’s church at 10.15 am. Please  note that these dates are subject to  weather conditions on the day. If you are  registered with our group, you will be  informed of any changes.

WE WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY  CHRISTMAS AND PEACEFUL  NEW YEAR FROM BOTH OF OUR  CHURCHES.