The First Week of Advent

The church celebrates the first week of Advent when we remember the Patriarchs. The first candle on the Advent wreath was lit yesterday to remember the Old Testament Ancestors of Jesus. It has been called the Prophesy candle remembering that the coming of Jesus was prophesied hundreds of years before He was born. The candle is the royal colour of purple to depict His royalty as King of Kings.

We have been asked to use the following prayer as we prepare ourselves for His coming:

Heavenly Father,

In this season of Advent, as we watch and wait and pray for the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ, the Light of the world, and for his coming again in glory, please shine your light upon us.

Show us those things for which we need to seek your forgiveness, and give us a renewed vision for all that you want to do among us.

Help us to work with you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to nurture and encourage each member of our Church family, to minister to those in need, and to reach out into our community in the love of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

Please refer to this prayer as we progress through Advent.

N.B. Metal Theft. Please be aware that many metal items are being stolen in the East Midlands at present, not just the lead from St Mary's. This could even be your metal garden furniture. The Police are gathering all information to catch these thieves and have asked us to to dial 999 if we see anything or anyone suspicious.

Sunday Advent Service at 10.00am!

This Sunday, 29th Nov. is the First Sunday in Advent.

Please note! There will be a United Benefice Service at St Mary's Church at 10.00am not 9.30am.

Other services that day will be: 8.00am Holy Communion at St Mary's

6.00pm United Benefice Advent Carols at Stanford on Soar Church.

Alert! Lead thieves are about again.

Unfortunately, St Mary's Church was once again targeted by lead thieves late last Thursday night.

Churches in the area have been alerted and we would ask everyone to report anything unusual happening around the church to the police, particularly late at night or early morning.

This theft comes at a difficult time when church finances are already struggling and there many other things to be done with the approach of Advent and Christmas. Your help would be much appreciated.

On a brighter note, please check out the forthcoming events on the right hand side of the blog, or you can find more details on our website. See the link on the right.

A time of giving

We have just given of our time, our thoughts and our money to help those who have suffered as a result of war and their families. Now we move toward Advent, which means the coming or arrival of something or someone important. To all Christians everywhere it means the arrival of the most important person in our lives - our Lord Jesus Christ, who was God on earth in the form of man.

As God gave us His gift, Jesus, his most precious Son, so we continue to give in love to others -our time, our money and our gifts. In this financial crisis when people need help, who do most people call on? God. The church is suffering too, so please consider giving a gift to your church to continue His work working with YOU. It's REALLY important.

Our Ministry team and congregation are working very hard to organise all the special services and events during Advent and Christmas when we will be welcoming hundreds of people to St Mary's to participate in the happy celebrations. All of this work is done voluntarily and with a good heart for our Lord. We look forward to seeing you and hope that you will support St Mary's Church.

Help! Where do I start?

You will have noticed that the blog has been quiet for a while. This is because there is SO MUCH to tell you with the run up to Advent and Christmas. Currently, the website is being updated with all the services and events for not only St Mary's but the Benefice churches too. Our On-Line Calendar for the Church and the Hall are also being updated for a quick check to see what's going on and when.

There is a new page on the website just for all the Advent and Christmas events, but the blog will try and give you all the latest news and updates as usual. Please keep checking as more things are added.

If there is anyone out there who would like to assist in updating either the blog or the website, please contact Pat on 820094. Training will be given if needed, but be assured, it's very easy. All you need is a computer and time.

Thank you to all those who attended the Remembrance Day Service on the 8th November at the East Leake Memorial, who will know that the weather behaved itself, being dry and sunny. It's so important that we remember those who have lost their lives in the fight to keep us free. We also remember the families left behind who are also suffering.

The Charity Christmas Card & Coffee Morning raised over £200 for church funds. There are still some Christmas cards available from Chris, plus the Book of Poems with contents written by local people. It's well worth a read at £3.50 and raises funds for the Children's Society.

The Emmaus Course on Monday evenings is now about half way through and has been going well, even though there are some weeks which people are unable to attend due to other commitments. If you'd like to meet others informally to discuss what Christianity is all about and ask your questions (anonymously, if you prefer), why not sign up for the next one? We can all learn something from sharing with each other.