A good time was had by all.

Those who were at the belated New Year's party on Saturday night at Thrumpton Village Hall enjoyed themselves, the pantomime, games and the good food. We enjoyed the hospitality of those from Thrumpton and send our thanks. We are awaiting some photos of the event at present and hope to bring them to you soon.

On Sunday the majority of the regular congregation enjoyed a Sunday dinner together at the Three Horseshoes pub and thank the staff for coping with us all at once.

This weekend many of the St Marys congregation will be at Willersley Castle in Derbyshire for another get-together and sharing.

Please note that there will only be one service at 8.00am on Sunday morning at St Mary's.

Other changes are as follows for Sunday, 31st January.

Parish Communion will be at 10.00am at Costock Church led by Revd John Moore.

A Sankey style Songs of Praise at West Leake at 6.00pm, led by Sue Waterston.

Cluster News. You may be aware that the St Lawrence church in Gotham is now undergoing Re-ordering as St Mary's did two years ago. Work began in January and you can view photos on the website set up for their progress. http://www.stlawrencereordering.co.uk/ .

Getting to know one another.

This Saturday, 23rd January (postponed due to the bad weather) there will be the New Year Party at Thrumpton Village Hall at 6.30pm for all those churches in the South Notts. Cluster of parishes. There will be a pantomime, written by Revd Glynis, consisting of members of the congregations taking part in 'The Amazing Baked Bean Tree' which should create lots of laughter. (Photo taken from a previous Panto).

Following the pantomime will be lots of good party food to enjoy, unless you're still full from Christmas!

This week has been the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and the Churches Together service will be held at the Catholic Church, East Leake on Sunday 24th Jan. at 6.00pm.

Also on Sunday, 24th Jan. the St Mary's congregation will be meeting at the Three Horseshoes Pub after our 9.30am service at 12.45pm for Sunday Lunch. If you would like to go and have not signed the list, please contact Cora a.s.a.p. on 0788 5635374.

Christingle was a lively affair and was attended by a good number of children with their parents, grandparents or carers on Sunday afternoon with the 'Three Kings' telling their story of how they came to find Jesus. We were pleased to see so many Brownies attending too, who read the prayers in the service. The Children's Choir had worked very hard and sang for us beautifully at the beginning of the service. We wish to thank everyone involved in making Christingle such a success: the planners, the musicians, those who took part, those who provided the refreshments, the helpers making the Christingles and of course everyone who came along. We were also very busy welcoming many of Cora's friends from Warwick to her Commissioning Service on Saturday afternoon, followed by the Bring and Share Lunch. It was lovely to see so many people there to welcome Cora to St Mary's, as our Outreach Worker - or maybe her title should be Ambassador!

Earthquake in Haiti. They need our help.

AN URGENT APPEAL FOR HELP FOR HAITI.

We are supporting an appeal for everyone to make a donation to the earthquake victims in Haiti. As you can see on your TV or in the newspapers they are truly suffering, having lost everything, their family, their homes and their way of life. We can't all physically go out and help these people, but we can give our money to enable others better equipped to do so.

There will be a special Offertory plate in our church services to use if you wish, otherwise you can make a donation direct through any of the following recommended agencies - Disasters Emergency Committee, Christian Aid, Tear Fund or Worldshare.

You can also Gift Aid your donation.

The links are below.

http://www.dec.org.uk/item/200

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/

http://www.tearfund.org/

http://www.worldshare.org.uk/

You are welcome and join us for morning prayer on Tuesday 19th at 8.30am-9.30am and to light a candle to remember the people of Haiti. God DOES answer prayer!

Visiting Speaker from the Leprosy Mission

On Sunday, 17th Jan. we shall have a guest speaker at our 9.30am Parish Communion service. She is Pamela Levens of The Leprosy Mission. We hope to see a full church as we look forward to welcoming Pamela and to hearing about the excellent work carried out by this charity. Don't forget that Christingle is also on that afternoon starting at 2.45pm. Bring the children along to have fun making their Christingles followed by the service. Sunday Sanctuary will also have their first session at 5.00pm, which was postponed last week due to the bad weather.

Welcome to Cora

This Saturday, 16th Jan. at 12.00noon we are having a Commissioning Service at St Mary's Church for Cora Fryer, our new Outreach Worker. If you would like to meet and welcome her, plus get to know what an Outreach Worker does please come along. She will be meeting folks in East Leake and getting to know you, especially those with families. Everyone is bringing a Bring and Share Lunch for after the Service. Sunday, 17th Jan. will be a very busy day too, after our 8.00am and 9.30am services. Christingle for the children, will be held in the church at 2.45pm, so come along and make your Christingles and enjoy the time together. After Christingle, Sunday Sanctuary for young people 11-18yrs will be starting at 5.00pm with Lydia Todd. Hopefully, our weather will continue to thaw after all the snow and ice, but if you have any concerns, please contact us to see if there have been cancellations.

Mothers' Union Meeting, Monday, 11th Jan.

Please note: The Meeting of the Mothers' Union has been cancelled for Monday, 11th Jan. at 2.15pm in St Mary's Church, due to the bad travelling conditions.

Need to cancel an event in St Mary's Church or Hall and want to notify your groups?

If you need to cancel due to the snowy and icy weather or illness, please contact 01509 820094 to place it on the blog and website. It will also be noted on the on-line calendars. See the links on the right side of the blog or on the website.

Sunday Sanctuary Cancelled for this week.

Please note: Sunday Sanctuary at St Mary's Church is cancelled for tomorrow, Sunday, 10th Jan. due to bad weather conditions.

Sunday Sanctuary is for all young people each Sunday, 5.00pm at St Mary's Church. Please contact Lydia for further details on 0770 2815532.

Cluster New Year Party - POSTPONED!

Please note: The New Year Party for the Cluster has been postponed due to the bad weather until January 23rd at Thrumpton Village Hall. Would you please let everyone know who is not on-line? Thank you.

Cancellation notice & Bookings for 2010

Please note: Sunday 6pm Evensong at St. Helena's West Leake is cancelled. Other services in the Benefice will continue to go ahead. St Mary's Hall is available for booking for family parties, meetings or concerts. Many of the evenings in the week are regularly booked by the Uniformed Organisations e.g. Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Rangers.

Other groups using the Hall are:

East Leake and District Historical Society

Slimming World

The Sharon Wood School of Dance and Drama.

St Mary's Women's Group and other church groups also use the Hall.

If you would like more details of charges and availability, please check St Mary's Hall on our website and hall on-line calendar.

Following the Re-ordering of St Mary's Church, it is also available for booking for appropriate groups for concerts and meetings.

Again, availability can be found on the church on-line calendar.

Another cancellation! Twinkle Tots.

Twinkle Tots Mother and Toddler group has been cancelled today due to illness. Please contact the leader of your groups meeting either in the hall or the church for further information or you can contact the Booking Secretary: Pat Brown 01509 820094.

The blog will update with any further cancellations when notified.

Currently in spite of the bad weather, all church events on the website will go ahead this week, including the Cluster New Year Party at Thrumpton Village Hall on Saturday, 9th Jan. at 6.30pm. There will be Bring and Share Party Food as well as a pantomime called 'The Amazing Baked Bean Tree'.

Please watch for further updates.

Bad Weather cancellation!

Please note: The Crafts Class due to start again on Friday 8th January at 9.15am in St Mary's Hall has been cancelled due to the ice and snowy bad weather. Classes will start next week on the 15th January.

This week children will be back at school and our user groups will be back in St Mary's Hall unless there are any further notifications of cancellations. Please check with your leader or watch the blog for further updates.

A Very Happy New Year to you all.

On this, the first day of 2010, we wish you all a very Happy New Year. God wants us to have lives filled with abundance, so put your trust in Jesus who was sent to save us all. Let God bless you as he has blessed us. From your friends at St Mary's Church, East Leake.