Environment, St George's Church

Swifts at St George’s?

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The Garden is very soggy at time of writing and little work has been done but moving Swiftly on….

At the last group meeting it was suggested that we explore the possibility of having Swift boxes put up on the church. The organisations to speak to were found to be The Blackwater Valley Countryside Trust and Tices Meadow Nature Reserve.

I met their representatives at the church for a site meeting. Firstly they gave me the background as to why Swifts need our help.

Swifts are in trouble. Their numbers are declining and have more than halved nationally since 1995. They nest in eaves and because old buildings are being demolished and the methods of new building their nesting sites are disappearing.  We are fortunate in our area as there is a fairly healthy population but they could still do with our help.

The eaves of St. Georges Church are ideal for creating a nesting site and because of the way they “stick out” from the wall we are able to provide an hotel rather than individual boxes which means more room for more lodgers!

The “hotel” will be fitted to the eaves of the west wall, from the southeast corner to the first buttress. It will be constructed with wood and screwed to the eaves with no drilling into the church wall. It will be virtually invisible to the casual observer. There is no cost to us as the people who make and install them are specialist volunteers who provide their expertise and materials.

Now, I expect that some of you might be thinking, “what about the mess?”. I am assured that Swifts do not deposit their guano down the walls of their nest sites but jettison it whilst in flight. Sou`westers anyone!!

The “hotel” will be installed by May this year before the Swifts return from migration. The conservationists will install, temporarily, some sound equipment which will broadcast recordings of the screeching call of Swifts. Hopefully this will encourage them to explore the site and take up residence.

We will be joining The Kilns in Badshot Lea and The Roman Catholic Cathedral in Aldershot who have also agreed to boxes or hotels on their buildings.

I hope they like us!

Bill Thomas

 

 

 

Social Events, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Love your Church Sunday – 11th Feb

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This year we are combining Valentine’s Day with a celebration of being church on 11th February. There will be balloons and cake, and during the service there will be a bit of fun with a quiz and during the sermon slot we will have a “Ask the Vicar anything you like” opportunity.

We will have envelopes for everyone who comes along to church with information about your church and your parish that you might not know! Lots of opportunities to find out more and ask the questions you always wanted answered! So please come along on 11th February and pick up your envelope.

We would love everyone to get involved – if you would like to decorate the churches or create a quiz about your church or make some cakes or anything else you are very welcome!

Lesley Crawley

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St George's Church

Family Praise becomes ‘Worship For All’!

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Family Praise is changing! From January, Family Praise is being renamed ‘Worship for All’. Keep an eye out for our colourful new banner and flyers. During January and February, the weekly services will focus on the stories of Jesus as he grew up from his flight to Egypt to his teaching in the temple as a teenager. Following this, during Lent we will exploring the ‘Fruits of the Spirit’.

We are introducing a ‘Café style’ church on the second Sunday of each month and Communion will continue to be offered on the fourth Sunday of each month.

The reason for renaming of Family Praise to ‘Worship for All’ is to reflect the development of the 11.30am congregation of St George’s. This service is not just for people with children but a welcoming, informal service suitable for everyone regardless of age.

Do come along and join the ‘Worship for All’ congregation as we explore some interesting themes, praise and worship together.

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

We are an Inclusive Church

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The three churches in the Parish – St George’s, St John’s and St Mark’s – are now, officially inclusive. We belong to Inclusive Church.

For those who are unfamiliar with this – as I certainly was a couple of years ago – it means that we as churches have signed up to the following statement of faith:
“We believe in Inclusive Church – church which does not discriminate, on any level, on grounds of economic power, gender, mental health, physical ability, race or sexuality. We believe in Church which welcomes and serves all people in the name of Jesus Christ; which is scripturally faithful; which seeks to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation; and which, in the power of the Holy Spirit, allows all people to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Jesus Christ.”

It means we appear on a website https://inclusive-church.org directing people to churches where they may feel welcome whoever they are.

But isn’t that all of us? Aren’t we all welcoming and inclusive? We hope so, but the more I have thought about true inclusion, the more I have seen it as something we often fail at. I am a prime example. I’m great at coming up with ideas of how we can make ‘those people over there’ feel welcome. Great, I want to include them, it’s just that by my attitude I am dividing ‘them’ from ‘us’, forgetting that we are all the body of Christ. It’s not a case of ‘us’ being a body and ‘them’ being another body. We are the body. You can read more of my thoughts on this here.

Inclusive church is about finding out who might want to come to church but feels unable to. It may be something physical such as access or not being able to follow the service easily. It may be because someone is struggling financially and feels embarrassed about not being able to contribute. It may be because someone is bisexual and has picked up the idea that they are wrong in God’s and society’s sight. I can remember how as a new and totally overwhelmed mother I felt unable to be part of a local church – it was just too much.

There can be a host of reasons why we may feel unwelcome in a church and often Christians are as insensitive, prejudiced and downright judgemental as anyone else, so excluding people from a place where they should feel welcome and safe.

However, we can try, we can learn – and I am planning to run some Inclusive Church events in the next year to help us with this – we can listen to others, we can pray and we can listen to God. Then we may realise that we are one body. Then we may grow in faith and love.

Stella Wiseman

 

 

Serving the Villages North of Farnham: Badshot Lea, Hale, Heath End & Weybourne