Lent begins.

Today is Shrove Tuesday, where traditionally all the rich foods were used up in the house before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It is a time of repentance, and used to be a time of fasting before Easter when our Lord was crucified. It is a time for reflection and prayer.

There will be Ash Wednesday services at 10.00am and 7.30pm at St Mary's Church with the imposition of ashes.  The evening service will contain hymns and a sermon.



Young People's Confirmation Class at the Rectory, Thursday, 23rd Feb at 5.30pm. If you are interested in being confirmed please contact the Rector.

This week:
Thursday 23rd, 2.00pm in the church - Games Afternoon.
Friday, 24th, 9.30-10.30am in the Hall - Mini Music for parents and toddlers.
Friday, 24th, 10.00-12noon in the church - Coffee Morning.
Sunday, 26th Feb. 9.30am - Encounters Service
11.00am - Parish Communion BCP Service.

Don't forget:
Monday 27th, 7.30pm - Jewellery Making Evening in church. Tickets £5.  Contact Cora on 07885 635374

Back to normal!

Last week's gas leak has now been repaired and the church is once again back to normal.  However, if you do smell gas please call Conrad Oatey, the churchwarden, Steven Barrow  or Graham Brown.  If you cannot reach any of these please call the National Grid, 1800 111 999.

Help in another area is needed too.  Protecting Innocence On-Line.
Too many children have access to inappropriate material on the Internet.
There is a new petition asking the Government to force Internet Service Providers to make pornography an adult-only opt in service. This will give adults the freedom to view such content but, more importantly, ensure our children our free to surf the web safe from harm.  For more information see the column on the right.

Please make you voice heard and sign the petition: www.SafetyNet.org.uk.

Coffee Mornings, Friday 10.00-12noon. We apologise that the Coffee Morning couldn't be held last Friday but it will be back this Friday as usual.

Coming up.

Jewellery Making Evening, Monday 27th April, 7.30pm in St Mary's Church. Come and try your hand at making your own jewellery.

Loughborough Band Concert, 10th March, 7.30pm in St Mary's Church. Tickets £6 are available NOW from Steven on 856202 or by contacting stmarys@eastleake.net.

BibleFresh, starting April 24th every Tuesday, 7.30pm in St Mary's Church.
It could change your world!
Weekly set of -
+ Bible verses to read at home
AND
+ Linked sermon
AND
+ BibleFresh group meeting to reflect on the verses.
 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly (Colossians 3, verse 16)

Services on Sunday 12th Feb to be in St Mary's Hall!

GAS LEAK!

The church has no heating at present due to a small gas leak. This will be repaired on Monday, therefore the 8.00am Holy Communion Service, 9.30am Worship Together and 6.00pm Holy Communion services tomorrow, Sunday 12th will take place in St Mary's Hall.

Church Closed. Work is also being undertaken in the church from Thursday, 9th-Monday 13th, so we apologise that the church has not been open during this time.

The Mothers' Union Meeting, Monday, 13th Feb. at 2.15pm will also be held in St Mary's Hall.

Fancy a coffee or tea break?

Each Friday, St Mary's holds a Coffee Morning in the church, 10.00am-12.00noon for anyone passing by to pop in.  However, this Friday, there is work going on in the church, so the next meeting will be on Friday 17th Feb. Contact Doris for this week's location. You'll be very welcome to join us.  We have visitors to the village, sometimes visiting clergy, visitors from other churches and shoppers call in for some refreshments, laughter and chat.

There were more refreshments at last Sunday's Messy Church for those with young children, in spite of the overnight snowy weather.
A note for your diary:
A Jewellery Making Evening has been arranged for Monday Feb. 27th at 7.30pm at St Mary's Church.  If you haven't tried it, come along and learn.

Candlemas

Time passes quickly and Epiphany ends as Feb 2nd starts with the Feast Day of Candlemas (Candle Mass) and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.  In the church we celebrate Candlemas, the mid point of winter when long ago the candles were brought into church and blessed, in a time when there was no electric light and light was important.

In America they celebrate Ground Hog Day on the 2nd too with a bit of fun -  trying to tell how long winter will last. 

Messy Church is back for 2012, starting this Sunday 5th at 4.00pm and will continue on the 1st Sunday of every month. Please come and join us for fun, crafts, food and a short informal worship at St Mary's.  The atmosphere is relaxed and you can stay for as long or as little as you like.  Everyone is welcome, but all children must come with an adult.

We have a thriving group of Uniformed Organisations meeting at St Mary's Hall from 2 groups of Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers.  However, the Rangers are needing a dynamic adult to take over a well run unit.  Please contact Pauline Hargraves on 559266 or Janine Luck on 820071 if you are interested.  It's a lot of fun!

Concert
After our successful concert on 21st January by the Radcliffe on Trent Male Voice Choir and their wonderful soloist, we have another special concert planned for your enjoyment.

Loughborough Concert Band, 10th March, 7.30pm.   £6 adult, $2.50 for accompanied children including light refreshments. Tickets are now available from Steven on 856202 or you can contact us on stmarys@eastleake.net.

St Mary's Mothers' Union change of venue for February 13th.
Please note that the meeting will be held at 2.15pm in ST MARY'S HALL.

And finally......
Everyone who attended Willersley Castle at the weekend had a wonderful time away of relaxation, singing, activities and worship, taken well care of by all the staff at Willersley as usual.  It takes a lot of planning and organisation. Thank you to all the volunteers from St Mary's who worked so hard to make it a success.