Come and explore the symbolism of the Christingle in our service at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, at 10am on Sunday, January 30.
Make a Christingle and find out what the orange, red ribbon, sweets, fruit and candle mean.
Suitable for all ages.
Remembrance Sunday is on November 14th this year and there will be services at each of the churches in the Parish – 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11.10am at St Mark’s. There will also be an Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial in Badshot Lea following the St George’s service. Anyone wishing to attend that who has not been at the service is asked to arrive for around 10.50am.
The St Mark’s service will follow the Act of Remembrance at the Hale War Memorial at 10.45am, where there will be a two-minute silence at 11am. This will be attended by Farnham Brass Band, the Scouts and Upper Hale councillor Cllr Pat Evans, and Cllr Evans and the Scouts will then continue on to St Mark’s for a service.
Lesley Crawley will also lead an Act of Remembrance at Weybourne Village Hall at 4pm.
Move over elves on shelves, have a gnome at home this Christmas – and a home-made one at that.
There will be a gnome-making workshop at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, Farnham, on Friday, November 12 at 7pm-9.30pm. Everything needed to make the gnomes will be provided, including instructions. The gnomes are then ideal for Christmas presents or decorations.
Bring drinks and nibbles if you wish. Tickets are £25 from Maxine.everitt@badshotleaandhale.org.
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!
Farnham Help for Refugees is holding a collection at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, on Friday, October 8, 2.30-7pm, to support refugees, in particular those who have fled Afghanistan following the take-over of the country by the Taliban.
They are asking for winter clothes for men, women, children and babies, along with shoes, toiletries, baby goods, cleaning supplies, tents, blankets, sleeping bags, mobile phones, laptops, tablets and supermarket vouchers. See below for a full list.
Financial donations are also welcome. To donate, please bring cash on the day or donate via https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/sponsoraboxfh4r
Picture by EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid on flickr.
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.
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.
This Sunday (August 8) we are celebrating Pride at all of our three churches and online, here on the website.
Like Pride Month, which takes place in June, it is an opportunity to celebrate LGBTQI+ people in their fullness, to look back on strides toward equality, and to imagine a world where celebration and full inclusion is the norm, not an exception.
Lesley Crawley explains some of the thinking behind this: “Christians have historically punished and ostracized LGBTQI+ people, scripture has been weaponized and the church has contributed to the political, relational and spiritual dehumanizing of LGBTQI+ people. This has resulted in deep pain, bullying and death and rightfully many people have been put off the church forever because of the cruel behaviour of Christians.
“As Christians, we give up a piece of our full humanity when we forgo compassion and treat people as objects worthy of scorn or violence. Pride gives us an opportunity to end oppressive practices and ideology while also becoming more fully human ourselves.
“In these services we repent of the past and we look with optimism to the future. We stand with people who identify as LGBTQI+ and proclaim loudly that all people are loved by God and all people are welcome here.
“We thank God for the immense diversity of human beings and the love God has for us all. We recognise the way stereotypes have limited us all in terms of being able to be truly ourselves. We celebrate love in all its forms and we thank the God of Love that we are all fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Please join us this Sunday. There is a service at St John’s Church, Lower Hale, at 9.30am, one at St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am, and one at St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am. And, of course, we are online too: https://badshotleaandhale.org/online-services/
We’re joining in national Thank You Day this Sunday, July 4. People around the country are gathering to show their gratitude to those who have helped us so much over the pandemic and we are holding Thank You services in each of the churches with special visitors from across Farnham.
Join us at St John’s at 9.30am, St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am.
Among those also joining us will be Alan Earwaker, Mayor of Farnham, and Catherine Powell, Surrey Councillor for North Farnham, who will all be at St John’s; Gemma Ball, head of Badshot Lea Village Infant School, Alex Hayhoe from the Hygiene Bank and Iain McCready from Farnham Town Council who will be at St George’s; and Cathy Burroughs, manager of Hale Community Centre, Daniel Gee, head of content for the Farnham Herald, Alastair Shanks from Right at Home care agency, and Pat Evans, former Mayor of Farnham, who will be at St Mark’s. They will be talking about the community in the past 18 months, the future as they see it and what they are thankful for.
There will be opportunities to express your own thanks and make thank-you cards.
Please join us and say thank you too.
For further information, call 07842761919 or email admin@badshotleaandhale.org
We are very excited to be able to host the Badshot Lea Community Fete on 3rd July at St. George’s from 12-4pm.
We will be having a barbecue and refreshments, including cream teas. Due to the restrictions still in place, everyone eating or drinking will need to be seated – so it is lucky we have lots of lawn. It should be a lovely atmosphere on the beautiful summer grass.
Sadly, the restrictions mean that the children of Badshot Lea Village School are unable to perform for us but hopefully this will not stop them coming along and enjoying everything on offer. We are delighted to have partnered with the Tice’s Meadow Birders group, who will have an exhibition, Badshot Bloomers, with their exciting news about a new Community Garden and the Community Association. The Sea Cadets will be present and letting people know what goes on in their organisation and the Working Men’s Club will also be represented. Nibbs Gin are producing flyers which will include interesting discounts.
As a new incentive this year, we have invited small businesses to hire a spot in the car park to sell their wares – so there will artists, wax melts, Usborne Books, bath bombs, hand and face creams, children’s bits and bobs, fudge, calligraphy, craft items, our very own ‘Home Produce’ and a good-as-new toy stall. We also have a children’s ‘Tea Cup’ ride.
Don’t forget our Summer Grand Draw with a first prize of £100; tickets are already on sale. We are also running a bottle tombola and a more general tombola. (Any donations gratefully received).
We are all looking forward to a great afternoon of eating, having fun in the sun and coming together as a community.
Looking forward to seeing you all.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 