Bible

A new and joyful way to read the Bible

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Have you ever wanted to read more of the Bible but feel a little daunted? Do you want some fresh insights? Would you like Bible-reading to be…. wait for it…. fun and full of joy?

All of this is possible with the Bible Book Club which meets on Zoom every Wednesday at 7.30pm. Each week we read a book of the Bible – or shortened highlights if we don’t have time for the whole, long book, then talk about it, using questions posed by the Bible Society. The questions give us a vague structure but we often go off on interesting tangents – though I still can’t remember how we ended up talking about husky dog sledding.

We discuss a lot, we learn a lot and we laugh a lot. In fact, Wednesday evenings are now a highlight of my week and I have a pretty busy and interesting life.

Next Wednesday (5th), we will be talking about Proverbs. If you want to know more about the course, click here.

Please join us. Contact me (Stella) for details of the Zoom meeting.

Art, Inclusion, LGBTI+, music, News Releases, Prayer, Services, St George's Church

Celebrate Pride and God’s Love

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Join us to celebrate Pride on Saturday, August 8, here online from 10am.

August 8 should have been marked by a Surrey Pride march and celebrations on the street but these had to be cancelled because of Covid-19. However, we are celebrating the LGBTI+ community and God’s wonderful, inclusive love with an online service.

There will be music, art, photography, prayers, poetry, Bible readings and reflections from individuals including a former curate of St George’s whom some of you may remember – Rev’d Paul Holt – along with Sara Gillingham, a leading intersex campaigner and great friend of the parish; Jayne Ozanne who runs the Ozanne Foundation which works with religious organisations to eliminate discrimination based on sexuality or gender; and Dr Ash Brockwell, a transgender man and educator who has contributed both a poem and hymn to the service.

There is a moving reflection on growing up as a gay man from James Muller, a Farnham photographer whose work features regularly in Vogue Italia, and who has kindly contributed many of his beautiful photographs; there is art from local people, including paintings by members of Farnham Heath End School’s LGBT+ group, and stones painted with rainbow messages to indicate God’s love for everyone.

Stella Wiseman, who leads inclusion work in the parish, explains the thinking behind the service: “The church as a whole doesn’t have a great track record in welcoming people who do not fit into a heterosexual, cis-gender box, and indeed has caused great harm to many LGBTI+ people. This is something we need to repent of and make amends for. We have no right to limit God’s love and welcome like this and to damage and destroy people in the name of God is appalling.

“Thankfully, things are changing and many churches, such as those in this parish, are more welcoming and inclusive now. Some of us would have been walking under the Christians at Pride banner in Woking on August 8th but Covid-19 has put paid to that. So instead we are organizing this lovely, colourful service online and we are delighted that members of the local church are taking part along with friends from other churches. We are really grateful to them for giving up their time to share with us their experience of God’s love and welcome and grateful too for the art, photography and music.

“Pride in Surrey is taking a Pride-themed vehicle around the county that weekend too and will be live-streaming and the parish has just been asked to send a contribution to the online Pride. The Pride vehicle will be making its way to Farnham on Sunday 9th at 10am so watch out for that too. You can find out more on prideinsurrey.org/ontheroad.”

Everyone is invited to join the service online here on Saturday, August 8 , from 10am and on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/badshotleaandhale

Environment, Events

Have your say on Farnham’s future

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What do you want for Farnham? Have your voice heard! Sign up for the launch of the Farnham Local Liaison Forum which will be held on Zoom next Wednesday evening (August 5) from 6-8pm to discuss plans for spending £250m on infrastructure in the town.

In the first hour of the forum you will hear from local MP Jeremy Hunt; Cllr Tim Oliver, Leader of Surrey County Council; and representatives from Waverley Borough Council (Cllr John Ward) and FarnhamTown Council (Cllr John Neale). They will lay out the objectives for the town. The second hour will be a chance to ask questions about plans for how the money will be spent.

There will be further consultations later this year, with members of the public taking part more directly in the discussions. There will also be opportunities for people who are not online to participate.

To find out more or book to take part, visit www.farnham.gov.uk/LLF

Church Buildings, Coronavirus, Inclusion, News Releases, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Churches reopen for services

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Come on in! We are excited to announce that our churches will be open again for services this Sunday, after more than four months of being closed thanks to Covid-19.

There will be simple Communion services at each of the three churches from this Sunday: St John’s at 9.30am, St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am. We will also hold a service at noon on Wednesday at St Mark’s, replacing the old Friday service.

We are also going to continue to offer online services as we know that not everyone will feel able to come to the church buildings themselves. You can find our online services here.

If you are familiar with the services you will notice some differences, as Lesley Crawley explains: “We are absolutely delighted that we can return to the church buildings to worship together in person. However there will be changes to the services designed to reduce the risk of Covid-19.  For instance we cannot have any singing, we cannot sit close to each other and we cannot share the Communion cup of wine. We will, however, be able to receive the Communion bread. Please come along and be a part of our services if you are able to, everyone is welcome.”

We have installed hand sanitizers and put up notices to remind everyone about social distancing and where it is safe to sit. Everyone attending will be asked for contact details so that if someone tests positive for Covid-19 it will be possible to get in touch with others who attended church at the same time. Those coming to church are strongly advised to wear masks but this is not compulsory.

There will be services available online from 9am on Sunday. “Holding services online means that more people can access them,” says Lesley. “Some people may feel particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 and therefore not want to come to church, and there are also others who cannot come to church perhaps because of mobility issues or illness, or because of work or family commitments. We should have thought about online services long ago but Covid concentrated our minds rather and has enabled us to be creative and reach more people.”

We are also very aware that the Covid pandemic has accentuated the divide between those who have access to modern technology and those who do not. Many of those who are not online are also older and have been increasingly isolated during lockdown. The parish, along with other groups in Farnham, has been supporting those who are isolated and is looking at how to increase this support in the future.

Services

Sunday Worship – 26th July

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Below are the services, and four sermons.  First here are the notices:

Notices

Services in Church
From 2nd August there will be simple Sunday services in all three churches:
  • 9:30am at St John’s
  • 10:00am at St George’s
  • 11:00am at St Mark’s
There will also be a midweek service each Wednesday at noon from 5th August. Please bring a mask. There will be no singing but there will be Communion (only the bread though). The online services will continue
Giving
Please Give to our Ministry This church relies on donations to provide care and support to everyone in this community. Now more than ever, please consider giving generously to support our mission and ministry by clicking the button above. Thank you for your support.

Services

All-Age:
More Traditional:

Sermons

Craig’s Sermon:
Lesley’s Sermon
John Innes’s Friday Service Sermon
Bishop Jo’s Sermon:
Inclusion, LGBTI+, Services

Painting a rainbow

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We are holding a Pride Service online on Saturday, August 8, in celebration of the LGBTI+ community and God’s love for us all.

We’d like people to paint rocks in rainbow colours, with pictures, designs or messages of love and inclusion on them. We plan to have the painted rocks at St Mark’s like the one in the picture below, painted by Aly Buckle. Or how about some other art to celebrate inclusion, like the ones above which were painted by members of the LGBT+ group at Farnham Heath End School?

We will tell you when to bring your rocks and other art and take a video of people bringing them to the church and include the video in our Pride service. If you can’t come yourself send Stella a photo of the rocks/pictures you have painted.

More on the Pride Service shortly.

Services

Sunday Worship – 19th July

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Below are the services, and three sermons.  First here are the notices:

Notices

Giving
Please Give to our Ministry This church relies on donations to provide care and support to everyone in this community. Now more than ever, please consider giving generously to support our mission and ministry by clicking the button above. Thank you for your support.

Services

All-Age:
More Traditional:

Sermons

Maxine’s Sermon:
Lesley Shatwell’s Sermon
John Innes’s Friday Service Sermon

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