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Justice, safeguarding, support

Church asks victims and survivors to speak

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Are you a survivor or victim of church-related abuse? Could you help the Diocese of Guildford to learn from the past and protect the future?

The Diocese of Guildford is currently reviewing all its records, across all 162 parishes, to ensure that all safeguarding concerns and allegations have been identified, reported, and appropriately actioned. Critical to this, is the voice of survivors and victims. The Diocese of Guildford wants to listen to and to learn from your experiences and ensure that your voices are heard throughout this review process.

Coming forward

Anybody who would like to give information or make disclosures about church-related abuse is asked to contact Diocesan Safeguarding Advisor, Jackie Broadfoot (jackie.broadfoot@cofeguildford.org.uk or 07918 559387).

Support is available

The Diocese recognises that coming forward may be extremely difficult and dedicated support has been set up for you. Two confidential listening services have been set up, for those people who have experienced church related abuse but who might want to talk through their experiences and feelings before taking any next step. To find out more about the support available visit www.dioceseofguildford.or.uk/about/safeguarding/past-cases-review-2-(pcr2)

Building the safest community we can

Bishop Andrew, Bishop of Guildford, said: “It is important we do everything we can to make our churches the safest places they can be. Safe means different things to different people but this review will help us to ensure that the concerns reported to our churches have been dealt with properly, and the care taken and the support given is of the high quality that people rightly deserve. We have learnt from a previous review that that survivors and victims’ voices are critical, and I would urge you to come forward.”

Art, Kitty Milroy, News Releases, St Mark's Church

Coffee, cake, Kitty and the Big Draw

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Fancy a cup of coffee with Kitty? Milroy that is. Join us at St Mark’s on Thursday, October 7, 10.30am-12.30pm, for coffee, cake and art and take part in The Big Draw.

Morning coffee and art will be resuming at St Mark’s, once a month, on the first Thursday of each month and the first one will coincide with The Big Draw Festival. Artist Philip Ryland will be dropping in to give us some guidance. Admission is free and you don’t have to book.

The Big Draw is a charity dedicated to raising the profile of drawing as a tool for wellbeing, thought, creativity, social and cultural engagement and runs The Big Draw Festival, the world’s biggest celebration of drawing.

While you are at St Mark’s spend some time admiring the Kitty Milroy murals in the church, our recently restored and nationally celebrated murals painted 100 years ago by local artist Kitty Milroy.

Giving and Fundraising, News Releases, St George's Church

Collection for Afghan Refugees

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Farnham Help for Refugees is holding a collection at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, on Friday, October 8, 2.30-7pm, to support refugees, in particular those who have fled Afghanistan following the take-over of the country by the Taliban.

They are asking for winter clothes for men, women, children and babies, along with shoes, toiletries, baby goods, cleaning supplies, tents, blankets, sleeping bags, mobile phones, laptops, tablets and supermarket vouchers. See below for a full list.

Financial donations are also welcome. To donate, please bring cash on the day or donate via https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/sponsoraboxfh4r

Picture by EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid on flickr.

Giving and Fundraising, Harvest, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Harvest!

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Come and celebrate the fruits of the earth and share with others at our harvest festivals on Sunday, September 26.

The services are at St John’s, Hale, at 9.30am, St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am, and St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am. There will also be an online service here on the website and on Facebook available from 10am.

Please bring non-perishable food to church to share with Farnham Foodbank. Currently the Foodbank is in desperate need of tinned hot dog sausages, tinned stewed steak, tinned minced beef and fruit jam.

Rev’d Lesley Crawley says: “Harvest is a time when we not only celebrate the gifts of God’s earth, but think of others who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. This is a growing reality in Britain today, even though we are one of the most economically developed countries in the world. Obviously we want to give to help alleviate this need, but the church is also there to challenge and ask questions about why this should be the case and what we can do about it.”

Photo by Elaine Casap.

Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Bring your pets to church!

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We are holding a pet service at each of our three churches on Sunday, October 3.

Bring your dogs, rabbits, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, spiders, snakes or whatever other pet you own for a blessing at any of the services – 9.30am at St John’s, Hale, 10am at St George’s, Badshot Lea, and 11am at St Mark’s, Upper Hale. Cats are obviously welcome too but tend to be difficult to herd into anywhere, let alone a church where there are other animals. If you like you can bring a toy pet or photo of your pet and children are welcome to come dressed as animals too.

Castle Vets, which has a branch at 131 Upper Hale Road, just up the road from St Mark’s (and where the Church Cat receives her excellent care), is kindly sponsoring the publicity for the services. You can contact them on 01252 718128 or visit www.castlevetsltd.co.uk/

“We decided to hold the service on October 3rd as it is a day which celebrates St Francis of Assisi who was known for his love of and care for animals and is often depicted with them,” says Rev’d Lesley Crawley. “We want to celebrate the joy of our pets as part of God’s creation, and give thanks for what they give to us. For many people having a pet is an enormous comfort and can help our mental health by reducing stress and anxiety. They can also be great companions especially to people who are on their own.

“We expect the services to be chaotic and great fun, so please come along!”

So bring your pet, and celebrate. You may just find yourself singing ‘All God’s creatures got a place in the choir’!

Picture by Hannah Lim on Unsplash.

Events, Giving and Fundraising, St John's Church

Hale Fayre hailed as great success

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The Hale Autumn Fayre was a great success.

Jeremy Hunt opened the fayre at St John’s Church, Hale, on Saturday, September 4th. He also led the singing as we wished the Head Girl from Farnham Heath End School a happy birthday. Along with her fellow students she was selling programmes.

Entertainment was provided by the  Farnborough U3A Ukulele band, Terry Owens singing songs of the 70s, and our church musicians, singing and playing a medley of songs and pieces. There was brisk trade at the many stalls and all parts of our community took part – Hale WI, Hale Derby and Joan, Parkinson’s UK, Usborne Book, Humblebee Gifts, by aspen crafts, Lizzie Marks and many more. There were plenty of takers for the tea and cakes, the barbecue and the beer.

Among the revellers was Cllr Sally Dickson, Councillor for Hale and Heath End, who drew the raffle, and the total raised by the afternoon was around £3,000.

Lesley Crawley said: “It was a wonderful event for the whole community with all ages taking part and enjoying themselves. The money we raised will go not just to maintain the churches in the parish, but to support community groups such as the toddler group and Connections, our fortnightly get-together for older people who might otherwise find themselves isolated. Our thanks to everyone who came and everyone who worked so hard to make it such a success.”

Here is a snapshot of what went on:

Belief, Bible, St John's Church

Joyful confirmation at St John’s

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There was a joyful atmosphere at St John’s Church on Sunday evening when we hosted a confirmation service at which the Bishop of Dorking, the Right Rev’d Jo Bailey Wells, confirmed 11 people from four parishes, including five from the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale.

Freddie Brown, Ollie Beckett and Tracy Boyce from St George’s, Richard Myers from St Mark’s and Simon Alexander from St John’s were all confirmed in a service which also involved a baptism, renewal of baptismal vows and a lot of splashing of the congregation by Bishop Jo as a reminder of our baptismal vows.

In a sermon which reminded us of the importance of simplicity and rootedness, Bishop Jo preached on verses from Psalm 1 –
‘They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper’ and Mark 9 –
 ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me’.

Each of those being confirmed had arrived at the decision following their own path with their own stories, stories which Bishop Jo encouraged then to share over refreshments afterwards, refreshments which had been provided by a team from St John’s led by Sylvie Burrows.

If anyone would like details of confirmation or about exploring faith, contact Lesley Crawley. There will also be a new Questioning Faith’ series starting on Zoom on October 26, and running for six weeks. Again, contact Lesley.

Craft, Events, St Mark's Church

Come to the Craft Market

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This Saturday (September 18th) we are holding the third of our monthly craft markets at St Mark’s, Alma Lane, Hale, GU9 0LT, from 10am.

We will be busier than ever this month, with stalls ranging from crochet to dried flowers, jewellery to upcycled garden items, pottery to glass, Brazilian sweets to preserves, ceramics to cards, floral designs to silks, and plenty more besides.

Come and browse, come and support local creatives, come and enjoy tasty rolls and cakes, come and listen to live music, come and see the Kitty Milroy murals! It opens at 10am and runs until 2pm. Everyone is welcome.

Children and Youth

New Youth Minister in the Parish

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We have a new Youth Minister—Michelle Chapman.

Michelle will be a familiar face to the St George’s congregation, to those who attend Bible Book Club, or watch the Toddler services. She joined the parish just before lockdown and has become a key member already. Now she is stepping up her involvement by taking on the role of volunteer Youth Minister.

Over to Michelle for more:

My role as a youth minister

Having worked most of my adult life with children and youth why stop?

I love being a part of the lives of all children and young people. The work is challenging at times, but everyday is different and learning for me never stops. I am constantly learning new vocabulary and I have had my share of explaining some new words to some very elderly ladies, thinking ‘arrrgh, just how do I explain that one?’. One in particular sticks in my mind; do ask me when you see me. If you embarrass easily, then think beforehand!

I am very excited to be appointed as Youth Minister and have already enjoyed leading (with the help of many volunteers over the weeks; thank you to all) the communion-before-confirmation classes and confirmation classes. It great to see our young people develop their faith and discuss the big questions even though we don’t have the answers. It’s a privilege to see our young people progress onto the next part of their Christian journey.

My role will also involve developing the church school links, finding out what the church can do for the schools in the parish. It is a great opportunity to make a difference to the lives of young people within the parish.

The Youth Minister role cannot work without volunteers, so please do get involved where you can. We will be re-starting Messy Church in October and there is an exciting plan in the pipeline for a school-church link which will also involve volunteers during the school day. If you would like to get involved and make a difference to the young people within the parish, please do make contact and keep an eye open on the newssheet.

Every so often I will send out a plea, and even though this is my first write up, today is no exception: Please can you wash and save your single portion yoghurt pots and any glass jars big enough for a battery operated tealight.

Many thanks

Michelle Chapman

To contact Michelle, email michelle.chapman@ntlworld.com or call 07876115458.

Art, Children and Youth, Craft, Events, Harvest, LGBTI+, magazine, Social Events, St John's Church

The September Magazine is Out

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Our September magazine has just been published full of plenty to read and discover for this coming month.

We kick off with the Autumn Fayre (on Saturday, September 4, at St John’s Church, 12-4pm) then take a look at our new monthly craft market, get ready for Harvest, meet our new Youth Minister, have a think about Living in Love and Faith, and look forward to the Confirmation service on September 19. There’s a message from Anne Young in Cornwall, a huge thank-you to Wendy Edwards who is retiring, some thoughts on the changes ahead from the Church Cat and lots more, including local businesses who advertise and support us in our work.

To read all about it, download your copy below, or if you would prefer a printed version email the editor, Stella Wiseman.

September 21Download