There’s another chance to sing carols under the stars on Monday, December 22, at 6pm, in the grounds at St George’s Church. Join us to sing your favourite carols. Bring a torch, wrap up warm and don’t worry, we’ll go inside if it is wet!
Photo by Skip Linkler on Pexels
St George’s was sparkling with both lights and creatity over the first weekend of December when the parish’s inaugural Christmas Tree Festival took place, also raising around £4,000 for charity.
An estimated 2,000 visitors came to see the 48 trees entered by individuals and organisations, most of whom had taken a imaginative approach to the invitation to create a tree reflecting something about them. The results ranged from a tepee to a tutu, from living flowers to cans of soup, copper pipes to industrial bearings and seemingly everything in between.
Visitors voted for their favourite trees and the overall winner was announced at the carol service on Sunday, December 7. when the raffle was also drawn. The winner was the Tice’s Meadow tree which was made entirely of materials found in the nature reserve with decorations created by children from Hawley Woods School.
There was a café all weekend, and on the Saturday there were craft stalls, live music and a visit from Father Christmas. Overall, the festival raised around £4,000 which has been divided between the parish and Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care.
There were many stand-out moments over the weekend. Among the favourites for Kris Lawrence were: “Children dancing in the aisles in the Carol Service. At the end of set up on Thursday when it was just the organisers, we switched off all the church lights and just soaked up the atmosphere. Similarly the choir singing Oh Holy Night at the end of the carol service with all the church lights switched off was a special moment.”
Rev’d Lexi Russell added: ‘In all my years of going to church this has to be the best event hosted by a parish. The community spirit throughout the festival has been amazing, with lots of people coming together to make each tree so individual and unique. It was clear to see the time, effort and creativity that had gone into each tree and it was a reflection of what can happen when a community comes together for a great cause.
“Of course, with a festival of this scale there has been a team of dedicated volunteers, who have been planning this for months, as well as though who came to lend a hand throughout the weekend – from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Without them, none of this would have been possible. And of course, I must thank those who gave their time to provide entertainment throughout the festival too.
“I’m so proud to have been part of such a brilliant event and I’m looking forward to see how what may happen next year!”
Plans are already in place for another festival next year. Meanwhile, here is a glimpse of this year’s one:
Bubble Church is beginning in January.
If you’re scratching your head and saying ‘What?’ then read on.
Rev’d Lexi Russell writes:
“I’ve had lots of people ask me, what is Bubble Church? Well, here you go: ‘Bubble Church is a Sunday church service especially for babies, toddlers, and young families. It’s a puppet-packed, Jesus-centred, coffee-and-food-fuelled, 30-minute kids’ and families’ adventure.’
“I am so excited we are going to be launching our very own Bubble Church here in the parish. It’s starting at 9.30am on January 11th at St George’s running every second and fourth Sunday of the month.
“We cannot wait to welcome some new families to church, to share God’s love and explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus together.
“Please tell as many people as you can about Bubble Church. Everyone is
welcome to come along and see what it’s all about. Feel free to contact me with any questions: rev.lexi@badshotleaandhale.org.”
Get lost in a forest of sparkling, colourful trees at the Christmas Tree Festival on December 5-7 at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea.
There will be 50 trees from individuals, charities, schools and other organisations, and not all the trees will be traditional. According to festival organiser Christine Brown, there will be a tree made entirely from copper pipe, and one constructed as a teepee so that children can go inside. Tice’s Meadow has promised a tree which “celebrates the beauty of nature and is crafted from materials gathered on site’”, while John Martin from the Badshot Lea Community Garden is planning one made of flowers. “I’ll have to construct it there on the day,” he said.
Everyone will be able to vote for their favourite tree by making a donation, and half of all the money given will go to Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice while the other half will go to support the work of church in the community.
Trees are not the only attractions that weekend. Father Christmas will be flying in for an hour at 10.30am on Saturday and children can tour the trees with him and bring their letters to be taken to the North Pole. His security will bring the Naughty and Nice lists and Father Christmas will review these with the children at the end of his visit.
On Saturday there will also be craft stalls and entertainment from Duke’s Uke’s, Jackstraw Morris Dancing, Brodie Mauluka, Cajun Boogaloo, Vivaldi Singers and the church choir. There will be café all weekend and a raffle with prizes including Christmas hampers.
The festival will close with a carol service at 6pm on Sunday at the end of which the public’s favourite tree will be announced and the raffle drawn.
The festival will run on Friday, 1-6pm; Saturday 10-6pm; Sunday 12-4pm.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas with lots going on in the parish, starting with our fabulous Christmas Tree Festival over the weekend of December 5-7 at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea; carols in the Hale Chapel Gardens (Hale cemetery) on December 5, followed by hot chocolate and mulled wine in St Mark’s Church; and a carol service at St George’s on Sunday, December 7 at 6pm.
The carol service will mark the end of the Christmas Tree Festival and the public’s favourite tree will be announced at the end of the service.
There will be a carol service at St John’s Church, Hale, on Sunday, December 14 at 6pm, and more outdoor carol singing on Monday, December 22, also at 6pm, at St George’s Church (inside if wet).
On Christmas Eve there will be crib services at both St George’s and St Mark’s, starting at 3pm with a crib service especially for toddlers at St George’s. This will be followed by an interactive crib service at 5.30pm. At St Mark’s there will be an all-age interactive crib service at 5pm on Christmas Eve.
There will be one Midnight Mass in the parish: at St John’s, starting at 11.30pm and on Christmas morning there will be a family communion at St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am. Both of these will tell the Christmas story using chocolates and sweets!
Please join us at any or all of these. Everyone is welcome.
It’s never to early to think about decorating your Christmas tree!
That’s the message from the parish as we are calling for entries for the Christmas Tree Festival which will run at St George’s over the weekend of December 5th-7th, in aid of Phyllis Tuckwell, Hospice Care.
Individuals, organisations, schools, charities, businesses, anyone is welcome to enter, and it is totally free to enter. Any size is welcome – large or tiny or anything in the middle, but please let us know dimensions to help our planning. It doesn’t have to be a traditional tree and the only restriction is that the base is no wider than 4ft. It can have lights – battery or mains, but not musical – and let us know when you reserve your space which type you will be using so we can organise a socket for you.
On the Saturday morning, both the Town Cryer and Father Christmas will visit to inspect the trees and encourage donations. There will also be live music, refreshments, Morris dancing and craft stalls.
It’s being organised by Christine Brown who said: “This should be a lovely community event for all and we are planning for 40 trees, but please sign up quickly as those spaces are going fast.
“There will be donation boxes next to every tree so that people can put money into the boxes of their favourite trees. There will be a prize for the tree with the highest amount donated and half of all the money raised from the donations will go to Phyllis Tuckwell to support the wonderful work they do for our community.”
The prize will be awarded at St George’s Christmas carol service on Sunday, December 7th at 6pm. Rev’d Lexi Russell, will not only present a trophy but also announce the amount raised during the festival.
Entry forms are available from Christine Brown, and should be returned by November 14th, though once all the spaces are filled entries will be closed.
Come along to our new informal, contemporary service on the first and third Sunday of the month at 3pm at St George’s, Badshot Lea.
This will be a space where everyone is welcome to come and explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus, look at the Bible, pray and worship together. We can’t wait to see you there.
Contact Rev’d Lexi for more details. 07792233477.
Come to our Pride Services this Sunday – 7th – at all three churches. Celebrate the wonderful diversity of humans, loved by God just as we are.
Services times are St John’s: 9.30am; St George’s: 10am; and St Mark’s: 11am.
All are welcome.
St George’s will resound to the music of the 60s on the afternoon of Saturday, September 27th, when the band Out of the Shadows will give a concert to raise funds to repair St John’s tower which is crumbling and in urgent need of repair.
Out Of The Shadows are sixties covers band who enjoy putting on fundraising concerts in the Farnham area. This one will start at 2pm and will involve tea and cake! There will also be a cash raffle.
Tickets are £10 on the door or ahead of time – to guarantee entry – from Sue Lampard on 07596953138.
Come along and enjoy the music, tea and cake and raise money for the tower repairs.
On the afternoon of Saturday, August 23, a group of pilgrims from St George’s Church, Wash Common, Newbury, will arrive at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, as part of a pilgrimage from Newbury to Guildford Cathedral.
They will be greeted by members of St George’s, St John’s and St Mark’s who are putting on a Top 10 Summer Hymns event to celebrate, and will be firing up the barbecue so that everyone can enjoy a meal together.
The pilgrimage is a regular event for the group. Peter Wright, the pilgrimage organiser, said: “St George’s has been undertaking a walking pilgrimage each year for the last 30 years. The current format is to walk for four days (40 to 50 miles) each August. We have never visited Guildford Cathedral, which is why we opted for Winchester to Guildford (starting at St Swithun-upon-Kingsgate) and using the St Swithun’s Way footpath.”
The pilgrims expect to arrive about 4pm for tea and cake and the barbecue will be at 6.30pm, followed by everyone singing the ‘Top Ten Summer Hymns’. The hymns will be chosen by votes which cost £1 a go. Votes are being collected by Kris Lawrence and need to be in by Sunday, August 17. There are voting slips and more details in all the churches or Kris can be contacted on warden.stgeorges@badshotleaandhale.org .
The barbecue will be £5 a head to cover costs and Kris will need numbers by August 17. Please contact her on the email above.
The pilgrims will stay overnight in St George’s before leaving for the cathedral in the morning.
Peter Wright continued: “The pilgrimage started off as a youth pilgrimage led by the then vicar in the early 1990s, but the adults soon wanted a pilgrimage of their own. Typically, we walk 40 to 50 miles over four days, staying in church or village halls and ending at a cathedral or abbey. In the last few years we have travelled Sherborne to Bristol Cathedral, Whitchurch to Christchurch Priory and Stratford on Avon to Lichfield Cathedral. Some of the pilgrims are from other churches in the diocese.”
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 