William and Catherine's wedding

We wish Prince William and Catherine Middleton, now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge every happiness following their marriage yesterday at Westminster Abbey, as viewed by most of the country.  God bless them both.

Vacancy for an Admin. Assistant to the Rector.

Job Vacancy - Administrative Assistant to the Rector
St Mary’s Church, East Leake, wishes to appoint an administrative assistant to Revd. Glynis Hetherington Rector of the East Leake Benefice of five churches, who is the line manager.

The job is part time, 8 hours per week at East Leake Rectory, on a day/days to be arranged with the Rector.

The successful applicant would take over from the current assistant after a short period of familiarisation.

The first 6 months of the employment will be a probationary period. On successful completion of that period, the appointment becomes a permanent post.

An applicant must be in sympathy with the Church of England, but need not necessarily be a member of St Mary’s church.

Please speak to Revd. Glynis (852228) if you are interested in the job and need more details.

St George's Day to be observed on Monday May 2nd!



Please note!     While the country in general is celebrating St George's Day today, 23rd April, the Church of England and the Catholic Church will be observing it on Monday, May 2nd, as this year it falls in Holy Week which takes precedence over other events for the church.

Therefore, those who have noticed that the flag is not flying at St Mary's church, this is the reason and it will be flown on Monday, May 2nd instead.  It will also be flown for the Royal Wedding on Friday, 29th April.

Easter Services - absolutely everyone is welcome!

Maundy Thursday Service of Holy Communion, 10.00pm. The children from 'Champions Challenge' will be showing and telling us what they've been doing this week too.
Seder Meal and Holy Communion, 7.00pm - please contact the Rector if you have not put your name down, so we can accommodate the numbers.

Good Friday Family Service, 10.00am at East Leake OR
Good Friday Walk starting at 9.15am from West Leake church, stopping at the churches in the Benefice for very brief services.  Don't forget to take your packed lunch!

 2.00pm An Hour at the Cross at East Leake.

8.00pm Churches Together Service at Baptist Church

Easter Sunday
8.00am Holy Communion
9.30am Parish Communion

Please feel free to come and join us at any or all of the services.  You will be very welcome.

Welcome to the new look blog!

No doubt you have had a little surprise when checking in to the blog today.  Yes, we're trying a little something different.  We are trying to keep the blog fresh and of interest, as well as bringing you the latest from St Mary's.

It's Spring, the cherry blossom is out and all things become new.  Soon it will be Easter and we remember that our Lord Jesus rose again. Throughout Lent we have been re-evaluating ourselves, our lives and becoming new through Him. Praise Him for all the good things He gives us.

Champions Challenge, the children's Easter Club started really well today with lots of excited youngsters coming to St Mary's for crafts, games, quizzes, stories, songs and fun.  They have been busy making fudge, origami, flags and name badges today too.

Palm Sunday.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday when we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, welcomed by the crowds waving palm branches.  Come along to one of our services at St Mary's at 8.00am or 9.30am.  Or come along to Stanford on Soar church at 3.00pm and follow the donkey, (yes, a real one!) from the gate to the church for the short service there.

The donkey will be coming from Manor Farm Donkey Sanctuary in East Leake.  And bring your camera if you like!

Changes to our young people's events!

Please note that Easter Children's Club, 'Champions Challenge' is full. 
We are sorry if you have not already registered and wanted to come, but there will be a Summer Club in August if you would like to come then.

Acorns
The fortnightly meetings of Acorns for Mothers and Toddlers finished this week, but has been replaced by our Friday morning 'Mini Music' for them at 9.15-11.00am.  All parents or carers with their little ones are welcome to St Mary's Hall.  There is a weekly charge of £1 per family to cover costs of refreshments and supplies.

Annual Church Meeting Tonight. Your Church Needs YOU!

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting is tonight, Monday 11th April at 7.30pm in church. 
New officers will be elected to the Parochial Church Committee for the next year or longer.  If you are a member of St Mary's, you can vote in the selecting process.
There are still some posts available, so consider putting yourself forward please to help your church.
Those who have already served are ready to support the new members, so don't worry if you don't know what's involved.  Help is at hand.

This afternoon, the Mothers' Union will be meeting in church at 2.15pm when the theme will be 'Easter'.

Tuesday, 12th April is the last of the Churches Together Lent Reflective Services and will be held at St Mary's Church at 7.30pm.

Next Sunday will be Palm Sunday and there will be services at 8.00am and 9.30am at St Mary's as usual, plus an afternoon service at Stanford church at 3.00pm with a procession led by the donkey from Manor Farm Donkey Sanctuary. 
This is always a popular praise event, so come along and join in.  Let us re-enact Christ's journey into Jerusalem on the donkey. 

In the evening, there will be a United Benefice Service at West Leake at 6.00pm, based on music from Stainer's Crucifixion.

Calling all young people! 
Champion's Challenge Holiday Club starts on Monday 18th-20th April, 9.15am - 12.15pm. If you haven't signed up yet, there is still time on Monday morning, but come early.  There is a limited to the numbers.

This is Holy Week when there will also be Compline Services each evening at St Mary's, Monday to Wednesday at 8.00pm. The Womens Group kindly provide Hot Cross Buns after the service on Monday evening too.

Maundy Thursday, 21st April.
10.00am Holy Communion
7.00pm Seder Meal - a Christian interpretation of the Passover, including a simple meal, readings and prayers, as we try to gain a deeper understanding of what took place at the Last Supper.

A Special weekend

This weekend was a special one not just for all those celebrating Mothering Sunday, but also two of our very special members of our congregation, Ken and Daphne Wayne who celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary.  They were presented with a card  and a basket of fruit from the congregation by the Churchwardens, Steven Barrow and Graham Brown.  We wish them many more happy years together.

All the ladies in the congregation received a small posy of daffodils handed out by all the children for Mothering Sunday.

Saturday night proved to be a winner too, as the Nottingham Concert Band gave a wonderful 'Spring Fever' concert to the packed church to start off celebrating their 20th Anniversary Year.  Many of those attending may have remembered their Conductor, Robert Parker from his time spent teaching in East Leake. 

If you missed the concert there are still other opportunities to hear them as they will be at:

West Bridgford 'Proms in the Park on Sat. 25th June
Ruddington, Anniversary Concert on Sat. 16th July and
Loughborough, Bandstand concert on Sunday 24th July.

Litter Pickers. A small group of volunteers from St Mary's turned up at the Parish Office to join the village Litter Pick Day on Saturday.  We hope to increase the numbers next year when more can be done, but preferably there will be less to pick up.