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News Releases, Services, St John's Church, Virtual Choir

Farnham Festival of Remembrance returns

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The Farnham Festival of Remembrance returns this year but will be online, here on the website, on Saturday, November 7, from 6pm.

Covid restrictions mean that it has been impossible to hold the festival in its home in St John’s, but, nothing daunted, we’ve gone online, with participants recording themselves separately and the whole being put together to create a moving event which pays tribute to all those who have served in times of conflict and peace. This year the festival also commemorates the 75th anniversary of both VE and VJ Day which marked the end of World War Two.

Jeremy Hunt, MP, will open the festival and he will be followed by an assortment of readings, reflections, prayers, poems, songs and hymns and the National Anthem played by Farnham Brass Band.

Simon Alexander has been working seemingly non-stop to organise the event and says: “Each November as a community and a nation we take a moment to pay tribute to the service men and women of our Armed Forces in an act of Remembrance.

“Living in Farnham, the presence of military service is all around us: Farnham, the home of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment; neighbouring Aldershot, the home of the British Army; nearby Odiham, one of the bases of our Royal Air Force; and Sandhurst, the home of our world-renowned Military Officers Academy to name just a few.

“Remembrance is a time for us to pay tribute to these brave men and women who serve so selflessly to protect and defend our nation and our freedom.

“War comes in many forms and, as such, the public service of our Armed Forces comes in many forms too. This year we have leant on the help of our military again in our time of need here at home to help us deliver essential services during the pandemic. Dedicated, agile and responsive as ever, the men and women of our Armed Forces have responded to our nation’s call.

“As we embark on our annual national commemorations of remembrance please join us online along with the Royal British Legion; Princess of Wales Royal Regiment; Sea, Army and Air Cadets; Jeremy Hunt MP; the Mayor of Farnham; Farnham Brass Band; local schools and a range of readers, soloists and performers for the Farnham Festival of Remembrance 2020, whom we thank for their time and skill in contributing, and let us together not forget our service men and women, past, present and future.”

Join us online for this year’s Farnham Festival of Remembrance.

Pictured: The Combined Forces at last year’s Farnham Festival of Remembrance in St John’s Church.

Giving and Fundraising

Aly’s chop aims for the heart of the matter

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Aly Buckle (pictured above), who goes to St Mark’s, has had the chop. Her lovely long hair is now a bob, and the hair that her husband Derek (also pictured) cut off with his garden shears and wallpaper scissors (or that was the threat!) has been donated to Little Princess Trust to make wigs for children who have lost their hair because of cancer.

But not only is she donating her hair, Aly is also raising money for the British Heart Foundation. Derek, as Aly explains, has been a heart patient for many years having had multiple heart heart attacks in his forties resulting in cardiac arrest. He was resuscitated and, as she says “is in his seventies and still beating! We are so blessed and grateful for all the treatment he has received.”

Aly has set up a fundraising page for the British Heart Foundation in gratitude for the help Derek has received. You can find it here. Please give generously.

Environment, St John's Church

Looking forward to spring

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The grass near St John’s Church and the layby where we park for church is going to be a joy to see next spring, thanks to the efforts of Farnham in Bloom.

John Ely and friends were out planting bulbs this morning, ready for spring blooms. Autumn may be here and a difficult winter is looming, but new life will be forming in the cold earth.

For more on Farnham in Bloom, click here.

Bible, Giving and Fundraising

October: the season to be generous

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Tough times, and 2020 certainly falls into this category, can bring out the best as well as the worst in people, and this year we have seen acts of huge kindness and generosity with communities coming together to support each other with acts of service.

The theme of generosity has inspired an initiative by the Diocese of Guildford called Transforming Generosity which can help us gain a deeper understanding of God’s abundant generosity, to reflect on generous giving as part of our discipleship and worship, and to respond by continuing to build generous churches.

We will be focusing on this theme in our church services through the lens of the Gospel of Luke, but there is more that we can do as individuals. Every day this month there is a short daily audio reflection, each one looking at different passages in the Gospel of  Luke and written by different contributors from across the diocese.

The reflections are available at www.cofeguildford.org.uk/generosity and will continue to be available beyond the end of the month. You can also sign up to receive a daily email link to the podcast reflections.

Art, Events, Giving and Fundraising, News Releases

Calling All crafters, artists and small creative businesses

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Have you been crafting over lockdown? Are you an artist? Do you knit/sew/paint/sculpt/make cards/work in glass/take photographs/carve/crochet/make jewellery/weave/generally create things of beauty which you would like to sell? Do you have a small, creative business?

We’re holding an online art and craft fair in the first two weeks of November and you are invited to take part. If you would be interested in hiring a space to show off your creations, please contact Maxine Everitt: maxine.everitt@badshotleaandhale.org

There’s a cost of just £10 a ‘table’ and for this you will be featured on our website with pictures of your products and a link through to your website or contact details of where to buy. We’ll be promoting the fair on social media, through the magazine, our newsletter and in the press. And in church of course!

Or, if you would like to donate some of your creations, the parish is having a table – all profits going to the work of our churches here in north Farnham.

So help us all kickstart our Christmas shopping and join our online art and craft fair!

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

Celebrating harvest

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Everyone is welcome to celebrate Harvest with us this Sunday (October 4) – online and/or in church.

Our Harvest Festival services go online from 9am on Sunday; both a formal and an informal one, with the Mayor of Farnham taking part.

There will also be services in church at 9.30am in St John’s, Lower Hale; 10am in St George’s, Badshot Lea; and 11am in St Mark’s, Upper Hale. The churches will be decorated for the festival and there will be a collection of donated food in each. This will be given to Farnham Foodbank.

The Foodbank welcomes all donations but at the moment has a large stock of tea, breakfast cereal, baked beans, long-life milk and long-life juice so would prefer other items such as tinned vegetables, tinned fish and meat, rice, pasta, puddings and the like.

Come and join us in this celebration.

Pictured top is St George’s ready for Harvest.

Bible, Coronavirus, Environment, Events, Giving and Fundraising, magazine, Prayer

Parish magazine is online

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The October issue of our parish magazine is now online with lots inside. Download it by clicking on the green button here:

october-20-1Download

Among this month’s contents are:

Do your bit for the environment
The Fridge and Cupboard – food for all
The Church and Covid
Generosity
The APCM
John and Sue Innes
Prayer
Behind the verses – the background to one of Paul’s letters
The Church Cat
Registers

And much more…

If you have an article or news item for the magazine, let us know. The next deadline is Sunday, October 4. Contact Stella Wiseman, the editor, on 07842761919 or editor@badshotleaandhale.org

Publishing online means we reach far more people than just in print. This means advertisers can reach more people too. If you would like to advertise, contact Stella on 07842761919 or editor@badshotleaandhale.org

If you would like a printed copy of the magazine, again, contact Stella using the details above.

Enjoy!

Events, St George's Church

Annual Parochial Church Meeting

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This year’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and Annual Meeting of Parishioners (when churchwardens are elected) will take place belatedly at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, on Sunday, October 11, at 3pm. This is subject to change if the government makes any more announcements which affect churches.

Given the circumstances and the fact that we are well into the new year this year’s APCM will be a minimal affair covering only those items which have to be covered. A number of reports were written before lockdown and these are available here. Those which were not written will not now be written. The agenda for both the APCM and Annual Meeting of Parishioners, along with the minutes of last year’s meetings are here

APCM agendaDownload
Annual Meeting of ParishionersDownload
Minutes of the 2019 APCMDownload
Minutes of the 2019 Annual Meeting of ParishionersDownload

All items of AOB must be notified to the PCC Secretary Gemma Brown, email address – by Friday, October 9, at the latest to allow consideration by the clergy prior to the meeting.

Nominations for churchwardens, deputy churchwardens, PCC members and Deanery Synod representatives should be sent to the PCC secretary by email by Monday, October 5. If you wish to stand you must be a member of the Electoral Roll.

You will need to find a proposer and seconder who should likewise email the PCC secretary with their name, address and the name of the person they are supporting by Monday, October 5. They must be members of the Electoral Roll to do this.

Please contact Gemma Brown if you have any problem with this process for example if you don’t know who to ask to be your proposer or seconder. Co-option into roles is also possible in certain circumstances.

We have a huge task ahead running this parish so we need people who are enthusiastic and willing to take on their share of the workload.

We do hope you will consider helping Alan and Lesley in the tasks ahead by taking on some of the responsibility for the life of our Parish.

Harvest

Giving thanks and food this harvest

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What are you thankful for? Can you tell us?

This year, Harvest Festival will still go ahead but will be celebrated in a slightly different way. We can’t have a Harvest Supper or an Apple Day with apple pressing and apple pancakes, but we can still celebrate in church and also online.

As part of the online celebrations we would like you to take a video of something you are thankful for, whether it is the fruit in your garden, the beautiful world around us, a pet, something you have learned, a gift you have received, anything that you feel blesses you and for which you would like to give thanks. Send your video to Alan by September 18. If it is a large video, you can use Filemail.com to send it.

On October 4 there will be Harvest services online here as well as physical ones in the churches too – in St John’s at 9.30am, St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am. We will be collecting packet and tinned goods for the Farnham Foodbank. The Foodbank welcomes all donations but at the moment has a large stock of tea, breakfast cereal, baked beans, long-life milk and long-life juice so would prefer other items such as tinned vegetables, tinned fish and meat, rice, pasta, puddings and the like.

Please bring your donations to any of the churches. They will be left for three days to ensure that there is no risk of Covid contamination and then will be passed on to the Foodbank.

Picture by Priscilla du Preez on Unsplash.