Join us in the car park at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, tonight at 6pm for a socially distanced carol service by torch and candlelight.
Wrap up warm and sing some old favourites. Badshot Lea Village Infant School will join us to sing Away in a Manger and there will be prayers and Bible readings too, including one by Farnham and Waverley councillor Mark Merryweather.
If you would like to download and print this card, you can find it here:
A wonderful evening of carols, readings and prayers in the churchyard at St John’s yesterday. Huge thanks to all who took part, including the Mayor of Farnham, Cllr Pat Evans; Farnham Heath End School; Waverley Singers; Farnham Brass Band; the St John’s Choir; and the Cogger family who provided the PA system.
Come along to St Mark’s, Alma Lane, Hale, tomorrow (Friday) and St George’s, Badshot Lea, on Sunday, both at 6pm, for more of the same.
Join us for some outdoor carol services in the grounds of all three of our churches:
Wednesday, December 16, 6pm: St John’s, Hale.
Friday, December 18, 6pm: St Mark’s, Upper Hale.
Sunday, December 20, 6pm: St George’s, Badshot Lea.
Wrap up warm and join us for socially distanced carol singing and readings for Christmas. There will be favourite carols – Once in Royal David’s City, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, Silent Night and others – and at St John’s we will be joined by members of Farnham Brass Band, Waverley Singers, and a choir from St John’s.
There will also prayers and Bible readings, and we are delighted to welcome some of our local representatives to help with the readings.
Cllr Pat Evans, Mayor of Farnham, will read at St John’s; Cllr Penny Marriot, Mayor of Waverley, will read at St Mark’s; and Cllr Mark Merryweather of both Farnham Town Council and Waverley Borough Council will read at St George’s.
Bring a mask and a torch as well as warm clothes and join us for some Christmas joy!
Advent is going to be a bit different this year. Normally the four services leading up to Christmas are a little bit solemn; the church is not decorated, no baptisms happen, the hymns are in a minor key. It is all about watching and waiting and hoping.
However, not this year! Let’s be honest, ever since March we have been watching and waiting and hoping – it has been the longest Advent ever. A number of people have said they have had enough of being miserable and they would like some joy in December instead. Also, as we are not having crib services or carol services in church this year, we want to invite everyone in throughout December to hear the story of Christmas.
Consequently, all the churches will have a series of family-friendly services including drama and opportunities for craft throughout December and we will be looking at characters in the Nativity:
Please let Lesley know if you are willing to take part by email revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org or phone 01252 820537. At each of the above services there are lots of roles for adults and children and young people to get stuck into:
It will be lovely to see you there.
Every blessing
Lesley
If you have heard the bells ringing every evening since the start of lockdown Mark Two, at St John’s, Hale, and St George’s, Badshot Lea, and have wondered what is going on, the answer is that this is part of a call to prayer.
The archbishops and bishops are calling on everyone to pray at 6pm every day throughout lockdown and churches each to ring a single bell at the same time.
The archbishops wrote: “Bearing in mind our primary vocation as the Church of Jesus Christ to pray and to serve we call upon the Church of England to make this month of lockdown a month of prayer. More than anything else, whatever the nation thinks, we know that we are in the faithful hands of the risen Christ who knows our weaknesses, tiredness and struggles and whose steadfast love endures for ever.
“Above all we recall people to some of the fundamental spiritual disciplines that shape our Christian life. How we do this is up to each congregation and clergy person. We will publish resources to support you… During the first lockdown we cheered for the NHS every Thursday. During this second lockdown we invite you to fast in a way appropriate to you as well as pray for our nation every Thursday, for its leaders, its health and essential services and all those who suffer.”
Resources can be found here and there is a printable prayer booklet available too.
St John’s is also open for private prayer on Thursdays and Sundays, and St George’s on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
During this second lockdown the churches are closed for services, though you will find our services online here. However two of our churches are open for private prayer:
St George’s, Badshot Lea, is open on a Tuesday and a Saturday, and St John’s is open on a Thursday and a Sunday. Both will be open 9am-4pm.
Details of where the churches are can be found here.
Every year at this time we hold services at which we remember those who have died. These are often known as All Souls services as they take place on, or around, November 2 when the church marks All Souls Day, a time of prayer and remembrance for the dead.
We call the services ‘Light a Candle for a Loved One’ as we encourage people to light candles in memory of those they have loved and lost.
This year’s services will take place at St John’s on Saturday, 31st October at 3pm; at St Mark’s on Sunday, 1st November at 11am as part of the usual service; and at St George’s on Sunday, 1st November at 3pm. Everyone is welcome.
If you wish to, please bring a piece of paper to the service with the name(s) of anyone you wish to remember. There will be an opportunity to offer this to God and to light a candle in memory of your loved one.
Everyone is welcome to celebrate Harvest with us this Sunday (October 4) – online and/or in church.
Our Harvest Festival services go online from 9am on Sunday; both a formal and an informal one, with the Mayor of Farnham taking part.
There will also be services in church at 9.30am in St John’s, Lower Hale; 10am in St George’s, Badshot Lea; and 11am in St Mark’s, Upper Hale. The churches will be decorated for the festival and there will be a collection of donated food in each. This will be given to Farnham Foodbank.
The Foodbank welcomes all donations but at the moment has a large stock of tea, breakfast cereal, baked beans, long-life milk and long-life juice so would prefer other items such as tinned vegetables, tinned fish and meat, rice, pasta, puddings and the like.
Come and join us in this celebration.
Pictured top is St George’s ready for Harvest.
This year’s Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) and Annual Meeting of Parishioners (when churchwardens are elected) will take place belatedly at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, on Sunday, October 11, at 3pm. This is subject to change if the government makes any more announcements which affect churches.
Given the circumstances and the fact that we are well into the new year this year’s APCM will be a minimal affair covering only those items which have to be covered. A number of reports were written before lockdown and these are available here. Those which were not written will not now be written. The agenda for both the APCM and Annual Meeting of Parishioners, along with the minutes of last year’s meetings are here
All items of AOB must be notified to the PCC Secretary Gemma Brown, email address – by Friday, October 9, at the latest to allow consideration by the clergy prior to the meeting.
Nominations for churchwardens, deputy churchwardens, PCC members and Deanery Synod representatives should be sent to the PCC secretary by email by Monday, October 5. If you wish to stand you must be a member of the Electoral Roll.
You will need to find a proposer and seconder who should likewise email the PCC secretary with their name, address and the name of the person they are supporting by Monday, October 5. They must be members of the Electoral Roll to do this.
Please contact Gemma Brown if you have any problem with this process for example if you don’t know who to ask to be your proposer or seconder. Co-option into roles is also possible in certain circumstances.
We have a huge task ahead running this parish so we need people who are enthusiastic and willing to take on their share of the workload.
We do hope you will consider helping Alan and Lesley in the tasks ahead by taking on some of the responsibility for the life of our Parish.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 