Category Archives: Prayer

Prayer

A Week of Accompanied Prayer

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There will be a Week of Accompanied Prayer at Guildford Cathedral from October 8-13, hosted by the Spiritual Directors Network.

This week is for anyone in whatever place they may be on the spiritual journey. If you sense a longing to deepen your life in God, a desire to make sense of your faith journey or wishing to find different ways to pray then this week may be for you.

Not many of us have the time nor the resources to stay at a retreat house, but this week brings the retreat to you in your everyday life. It starts with a gathering at the cathedral on Sunday, October 8 at 4pm for an initial introduction and then everyone will meet a prayer companion. Everyone will then commit to pray for half an hour a day for the week and to meet daily, at a mutually agreed time and in absolute confidence, with their companion to talk about their experience in the prayer and suggested scriptures.

On Friday, October 13, there is an informal service and refreshments at 7.30pm at a venue to be announced, with the opportunity to hear and share if you wish what the week has been like. If several people in our part of the diocese want to apply, then we can arrange for prayer companions to meet here rather than having to travel to Guildford.

Margaret Bowers, a member of St George’s Church, writes: “I’m very excited to introduce this to you since it was one such accompanied week that opened for me prayer and closeness with God in ways I hadn’t previously experienced nor been taught before. It also led to my training as a Spiritual Director or Companion as someone who journeys alongside others as they too discover a lived experience of God more and more in their everyday lives.

“Certainly, after such a week I felt affirmed in the unconditional love of God, encouraged, supported, surprised, and energised in my spiritual journey and learned a truth that still holds today, which is that when we intentionally set time aside to be with God then God delights in drawing close to us in unexpected and wonderful ways.”

Below you can download an application form to be sent to woapguildford@hotmail.com but if you wish to ask Margaret Bowers anything please contact her at margbowers@aol.com.

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Events, Giving and Fundraising, magazine, Prayer, Services, St Mark's Church

Your June magazine is here

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Your June magazine is out, packed full of news of our fete, craft market, ordinations, a talk on supporting people with autism, a barn dance to celebrate St Mark’s 140th birthday and much more.

You can pick up a paper copy in the churches or download it here to find out the latest news about upcoming events in the parish, along with reflections on what has already happened, prayer, poetry, situations vacant and adverts from tradespeople in the parish.

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You can also have the magazine sent straight to your inbox. Email editor@badshotleaandhale.org to find out more.

We don’t put up a paywall but if you are reading online we would be grateful for payment. You can pay yearly (£10) or whenever you download the magazine (£1). To pay either click here or make a payment to: Badshot Lea & Hale PCC, Sort Code 40-52-40, Account No. 00025717.

Thank you.

Children and Youth, Prayer, Services

Coronation services

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On the Sunday of the Coronation weekend, we will be celebrating at all the churches on May 7th.

The service at St John’s will be at 9.30am, followed by cake and Prosecco; the service at St George’s will be at 10am, followed by a cream tea; and the service at St Mark’s will be at 11am, followed by a bring-and-share lunch.

At 4pm on Sunday 7th, our regular, monthly Family Service will take place at St John’s with more Coronation celebrations, along with sandwiches and cake!

All are welcome at all or any of our services.

You can now sign up to receive daily Coronation reflections via email here.

Prayers will be available across the Diocese social media channels – feel free to share your prayers and thoughts using the hashtag #CoronationPrayers until Coronation Day on May 6th.

Easter, magazine, Prayer, Services

Your April magazine is here!

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Your April magazine is out now, full of information, news and views, including what is happening this Holy Week as we approach Easter. There are details about Holy Week meditations, Good Friday and Easter services and a Good Friday Walk of Witness, as well as events after Easter. Did you know we are organising a Gin Evening with local distiller Nibbs Gin? And we have a quiz evening coming up too, plus a plant sale, a Christian Aid concert and much more!

You can also read the winning poems in the Farnham Poetry Competition, hear about Open the Book, and find out what groups like the WI are doing. There is prayer and some thoughts from the Ministry Team and the Church Cat!

You can find the magazine here:

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Children and Youth, Craft, Easter, Prayer, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Holy Week

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Join us as we travel through Holy Week, which runs from Palm Sunday, April 2, to Easter Eve, April 8, with a series of services and meditations across all three churches.

Palm Sunday recalls the story of Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, welcomed as a king but riding on a humble donkey, and there will be services at all three churches – St John’s at 9.30am, St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am – with palm crosses given out.

Services and meditations in Holy Week

From Monday to Wednesday, April 3-5, there will be a series of short meditations for Holy Week each evening at St John’s at 7.30pm. These will be around 30 minutes long and will give time to reflect and pray.

On Wednesday, April 5 at noon, there will be a communion service at St Mark’s, and on Maundy Thursday, April 6 there will be communion services at St George’s and St John’s at 7.30pm, when the altar will be stripped and a vigil will be held. At St John’s there will also be foot-washing, recalling the act of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper before his death.

Maundy Thursday is so called because the name derives from the Latin world ‘mandatum’ which means ‘commandment’, and it recalls Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  So this is New Commandment Thursday.

Stripping the altar is an ancient custom whereby everything is removed from the altar and it reflects the way everything was stripped from Jesus on Good Friday – his clothes, his dignity, his life – and leaves the altar bare for the Good Friday liturgy the next day.

On Good Friday , April 7, there will be Good Friday Liturgy at St John’s at 9.30am. At the same time at St Mark’s there will be a craft session for children aged five to 11, from 9.30-11am, This will be followed by a service at 11am to which parents and carers are also invited, after which there will be hot cross buns for everyone.

You can also join in a Walk of Witness in central Farnham on Good Friday, by gathering in the Hart car park at 11.45am for a silent walk through central Farnham starting at noon, and ending up at St Andrew’s Church for a short service.

At 2pm there will be a ‘Good Friday Hour at the Cross‘ at St George’s, a time for prayer and reflection as we approach the time traditionally held to be the hour that Jesus died – 3pm.

On Saturday, April 8, several people from the parish are being confirmed at an Easter Eve service at Guildford Cathedral at 7.45pm. This is a special service with communion as well as baptism and confirmation, and is a lovely way to celebrate the coming of Easter. Please do join us.

Easter Day services can be found here.


Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Events, Lent, magazine, Prayer

Your March magazine is here

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The March parish magazine is here filled with plenty of news about the parish, including the Lent groups, the Seekers service, an encouragement to ‘Pray for 5’, the Literary Festival, groups and events, and the new Badshot Leader. The Badshot Leader was first produced 46 years ago and has been relaunched by the Badshot Lea Community Association in conjunction with the parish. It will appear in the magazine every two months and it can also be received directly from the Association – see page 19 of the magazine.

There are lots of advertisers too – please use them and tell them that you saw them in the magazine.

Enjoy!

Pictured above is a scene from The Chosen which we are discussing for Lent. Picture courtesy of The Chosen, Angel Studios.

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Events, Farnham Literary Festival, Inclusion, LGBTI+, magazine, Prayer, Services

Your February magazine is here

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It’s February, the month of Valentine’s love, pancakes and the first signs of Spring. It’s also a month when lots starts happening in the parish – well, does it ever stop? But here we are coming into Lent, with Lent courses which this year focus on the TV series The Chosen, a Questioning Faith course which will lead to confirmation in the Cathedral on Easter Eve, Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, with services of ashing, and our Pancakes and Temptations service. Then there is a barn dance on February 25th, and an invitation to enter the Farnham Poetry Competition – this year the theme is hope.

Take a look inside the magazine for more details where you will also find a response to the bishops’ proposals on equal marriage, the Church Cat, prayer, thoughts on faith, events and reports from local groups.

You can find it here:

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Happy reading!

Advent, Christmas, Prayer

Advent Reflections

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We are approaching the end of Advent and the time is drawing near when we will greet God in human form – Jesus, born into poverty in an occupied land, part of a family forced to flee as refugees into another country, a baby who grew up to offer us the light of God’s love then, now and through all time.

Craig Nobbs, Licensed Lay Minister in the parish, has created a series of Advent Reflections which you can listen to here.

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Advent, Christmas, magazine, Prayer, Services

Your Christmas and New Year magazine is here

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The December and January magazine is out now, bringing you up-to-date with news and events in the parish, plus seasonal reflections and prayer, sources of help over the winter, and information on local groups and businesses.

There is a list of services over Christmas – please do join us – the background to Epiphany, Christingles, a Snowman Drive, events and lots more. Click on the link to download it below.

And don’t forget to let us have your news and articles. This is your magazine!

Wishing you a joyful Christmas and a blessed 2023.

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