The Great Board Game Quiz will be on Zoom on Saturday, May 1, a change from its original April date. It’s a brilliant way to have fun and raise money for parish funds.
There will be quiz rounds inspired by board games and it will be suitable for all the family.
Get your teams together (or join on your own) and email admin@badshotleaandhale.org to be sent a link to join in.
This year’s Farnham Flower Festival will once more be held online over the weekend of May 15 and 16 here on the website with contributions from individuals, businesses, faith groups, charities, schools and other organisations, all celebrating the theme of hope and joy. Anyone who would like to is invited to send in photos or videos of flower arrangements or garden or wild flowers, or floral art to take part in the festival.
Pictures and videos should be sent to admin@badshotleaandhale.org to arrive by May 9th.
This is the third Farnham Flower Festival and the second one online, organised by the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale in north Farnham. Rev’d Lesley Crawley, rector of the parish, said: “Our flower festivals celebrate colour and new life and the joy of God’s creation, and this year it feels more important than ever to draw attention to the hope and joy that we can find in nature and in the knowledge that God is here in the world, sustaining us.
“Please do send in your photos and videos and celebrate with us.”
This year’s festival is being sponsored by the award-winning florist Florescence who operates from downstairs at St Mark’s. Find out more about the company here.
You can see last year’s festival here.
Pictured above is William Cobbett Lion Care Bubble’s 2020 Flower Festival entry.
We will be celebrating St George’s Day on Sunday, April 25, at both St John’s and St George’s, with visits from two mayors, the Army Cadets and members of Alder Valley Brass.
Cllr Alan Earwaker, Deputy Mayor of Farnham, and cadets from Surrey Army Cadet Force – Farnham Unit – will join the congregation at St George’s, at 10am for a family-friendly day service including drama and flags. One of the cadets will raise the flag in the churchyard and part of the service will be outside so that the congregation can sing and plant St George’s Day flags.
St John’s will be welcoming the Cllr Penny Marriott, Mayor of Waverley, and some Scouts, who will raise the flag, for a service at 9.30pm. Again this will be suitable for all ages and there will be singing outside and the planting of St George flags. Members of Alder Valley Brass will playing before the service and for the part of the service that will be outdoors.
Over at St Mark’s, the congregation will be celebrating St Mark’s Day from 11am with an emphasis on creativity. Bring along with you something to be creative with – your favourite pens and pencils, clay, paints – whatever you would like.
Everyone is welcome at the services which are Covid-secure. Masks must be worn in the churches.
What gifts do you have that you might use and which God might be calling you to use? Are you a great listener, a keen cook, someone who can transform a room with a bit of colour and style? Do you like to pray for people? Are you practical? Musical? Artistic? Can you sit alongside someone when they are having a hard time? Can you relate to all ages? All these, and many more, are gifts and it may be that God is calling you to use them.
Starting next Tuesday evening (20th), we are we are running a special five-week course on Zoom which will look at our spiritual gifts, passions and personal style, as it is out of these that our calling is likely to come.
The course will be at 7.30pm-9pm every Tuesday on Zoom from April 20 to May 18.
If you’d like the details contact admin@badshotleaandhale.org or 07842761919 or email Alan on revd.alan@badshotleaandhale.org
The first stage of restoring the murals at St Mark’s Church has begun.
The murals, which are of significant national importance in the development of 20th-century mural painting, are being stabilised and cleaned by the internationally renowned mural conservationists Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede. They were painted between 1911 and 1920 by local woman Eleanor Catherine Wallace Milroy (‘Kitty’) using other local people as models.
The murals blend influences from European Symbolist painting and the Arts and Crafts Movement and were featured in a recent talk by art historian, lecturer and author Olive Maggs for the Arts and Crafts Movement in Surrey. Comparisons have been made with pictures in The Watts Chapel and it is known that Mary Watts visited the area.
Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede will be in the church for the next 10 weeks in order to complete this stage of the restoration.
Following the death of His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on Friday morning (April 9), the three churches in the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale will all be open this week from Monday to Friday for people to come in and light a candle, pray or just sit quietly. There will also be black ribbons available to tie in the churchyards as a sign of mourning and reflection.
The churches are St George’s, Badshot Lea, GU9 9LD; St John’s, Hale Road, GU9 9RP (park in the layby near Daniele Sicilian Restaurant); and St Mark’s, Alma Lane, GU9 0LT.
Because of Covid-19 we are unable to have a physical Book of Condolence but if you wish to sign one, there is an online one here: https://www.churchofengland.org/remembering-his-royal-highness-prince-philip
You can also do so by scanning the QR code here:
A copy of the QR code will be available in the churches.
If you need support or further information, contact admin@badshotleaandhale.org or call 07842761919.
Picture of Prince Philip copyright: Press Association
Our sincere condolences and prayers are with Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Family, as they mourn the loss of His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh.
There will be services at all the churches this Sunday: 9.30am at St John’s, Hale Road; 10am at St George’s, Badshot Lea; and 11am at St Mark’s, Alma Lane.
There will be an opportunity to light a candle and tie a black ribbon in the churchyard afterwards.
The churches will also be open next week for private prayer and lighting candles.
Because of Covid-19 we are unable to have a physical Book of Condolence but if you wish to sign one, there is an online one here: https://www.churchofengland.org/remembering-his-royal-highness-prince-philip
You can also do so by scanning the QR code here:
If you need support or further information, contact admin@badshotleaandhale.org or call 07842761919.
Picture of Prince Philip copyright: The Press Association
If you haven’t yet seen the whole of our Easter drama, Company on the Road, written by Mary Gibson, here it is:
Our April magazine is out now, full of Easter hope, news, plans and offers by our wonderful, loyal advertisers.
Inside, along with the joy of Easter, you will find information on our plans for growth and how we want to serve our community better, you’ll find encouraging news about vaccinations, courses about faith, a ‘cycle ride’ from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money for the church and for research into dementia, a piece about Pamela who has led the choir at St John’s for the past decade, and much more. (Miaow! Don’t forget me – the Church Cat).
Please read, share, respond, contribute. Let’s tell more people about all that this parish has to offer. And if you’d like a printed copy, let us know.
You can find the magazine here:
The cover price of the magazine is £10 for the year which pays for the editorial costs. We would be grateful if those accessing it online would pay £1 an issue. You can pay by clicking on the button below:
In today’s meditation, Pilate knows he will live with regret and Barabbas celebrates strength and yet can’t look on the man who has taken his place and is now going to die. There are questions to meditate on: what we do for an easy life, how we forgive ourselves, what causes might be worth fighting for or even risking our lives for, what about pacifism?
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 