Category Archives: Services

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

All God’s Creatures got a Place in the Choir

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There were barks, there was a lot of laughter, there may have been a couple of small accidents, and there was a lot of celebration and blessing at our three Pet Services on Sunday, October 3rd.

Thank you to everyone who came and brought their dogs, their pictures of pets and their cuddly toys, or even dressed in leopard print with a unicorn horn. There was a noticeable, but eminently sensible, lack of cats, but people brought photos of pets who really wouldn’t have dealt well with the dogs.

There was barking, wagging and a lot of enjoyment of pet treats and all the dogs, pictures and cuddly toys came forward for a blessing.

This was also a celebration of the blessings that pets can bring to us and an acknowledgement that God is the God of all – scaly, furry, smooth, two-, three-, four-, five-, six-, eight, 10-, many- and, yes, one-legged things. Snails are God’s creatures too!

As the hymn we sang says:
“All God’s creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low and some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on a telephone wire,
Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they’ve got now”.

Thanks again to Castle Vets for sponsoring the services.

Woof!

Giving and Fundraising, Harvest, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Harvest!

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Come and celebrate the fruits of the earth and share with others at our harvest festivals on Sunday, September 26.

The services are at St John’s, Hale, at 9.30am, St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am, and St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am. There will also be an online service here on the website and on Facebook available from 10am.

Please bring non-perishable food to church to share with Farnham Foodbank. Currently the Foodbank is in desperate need of tinned hot dog sausages, tinned stewed steak, tinned minced beef and fruit jam.

Rev’d Lesley Crawley says: “Harvest is a time when we not only celebrate the gifts of God’s earth, but think of others who are struggling to feed themselves and their families. This is a growing reality in Britain today, even though we are one of the most economically developed countries in the world. Obviously we want to give to help alleviate this need, but the church is also there to challenge and ask questions about why this should be the case and what we can do about it.”

Photo by Elaine Casap.

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

Bring your pets to church!

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We are holding a pet service at each of our three churches on Sunday, October 3.

Bring your dogs, rabbits, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, spiders, snakes or whatever other pet you own for a blessing at any of the services – 9.30am at St John’s, Hale, 10am at St George’s, Badshot Lea, and 11am at St Mark’s, Upper Hale. Cats are obviously welcome too but tend to be difficult to herd into anywhere, let alone a church where there are other animals. If you like you can bring a toy pet or photo of your pet and children are welcome to come dressed as animals too.

Castle Vets, which has a branch at 131 Upper Hale Road, just up the road from St Mark’s (and where the Church Cat receives her excellent care), is kindly sponsoring the publicity for the services. You can contact them on 01252 718128 or visit www.castlevetsltd.co.uk/

“We decided to hold the service on October 3rd as it is a day which celebrates St Francis of Assisi who was known for his love of and care for animals and is often depicted with them,” says Rev’d Lesley Crawley. “We want to celebrate the joy of our pets as part of God’s creation, and give thanks for what they give to us. For many people having a pet is an enormous comfort and can help our mental health by reducing stress and anxiety. They can also be great companions especially to people who are on their own.

“We expect the services to be chaotic and great fun, so please come along!”

So bring your pet, and celebrate. You may just find yourself singing ‘All God’s creatures got a place in the choir’!

Picture by Hannah Lim on Unsplash.

Coronavirus, Services

Sunday Service – 5th September

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Below is the Sunday service, 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.

Help make the Autumn Fayre a success

Can anyone spare a bit of time to help make the Autumn Fayre a great success?

The fayre itself will be on Saturday, September 4, between 12 and 3pm but we need a bit of help before then as well as on the day. At this stage we need people to provide bottles for the bottle tombola and items for the general tombola. We need people to offer to number and fold programmes sometime before the fayre; we need people to sell lots of raffle tickets and we need people to offer to make cakes and biscuits for refreshments. We also need help setting up on the day before and on the day itself, and help with the refreshment stalls, the bar and BBQ on the day.

Please leave donations at the back of the churches and speak to Pamela or any of the churchwardens or Stella to offer help.

Service

Art, Children and Youth, Craft, Events, Harvest, LGBTI+, magazine, Social Events, St John's Church

The September Magazine is Out

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Our September magazine has just been published full of plenty to read and discover for this coming month.

We kick off with the Autumn Fayre (on Saturday, September 4, at St John’s Church, 12-4pm) then take a look at our new monthly craft market, get ready for Harvest, meet our new Youth Minister, have a think about Living in Love and Faith, and look forward to the Confirmation service on September 19. There’s a message from Anne Young in Cornwall, a huge thank-you to Wendy Edwards who is retiring, some thoughts on the changes ahead from the Church Cat and lots more, including local businesses who advertise and support us in our work.

To read all about it, download your copy below, or if you would prefer a printed version email the editor, Stella Wiseman.

September 21Download
Coronavirus, Services

Sunday Service – 29th August

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Below is the Sunday service, 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.

Help make the Autumn Fayre a success

Can anyone spare a bit of time to help make the Autumn Fayre a great success?

The fayre itself will be on Saturday, September 4, between 12 and 3pm but we need a bit of help before then as well as on the day. At this stage we need people to provide bottles for the bottle tombola and items for the general tombola. We need people to offer to number and fold programmes sometime before the fayre; we need people to sell lots of raffle tickets and we need people to offer to make cakes and biscuits for refreshments. We also need help setting up on the day before and on the day itself, and help with the refreshment stalls, the bar and BBQ on the day.

Please leave donations at the back of the churches and speak to Pamela or any of the churchwardens or Stella to offer help.

Service