Join us for a service of Pancakes and Temptations at St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am, or at St Mark’s at 11am on Sunday, February 19th, with freshly cooked pancakes to tempt us all!
We will also be looking forward to Lent and thinking about what might draw us away from God.
Come to the free Barn Dance at St George’s on Saturday, February 25 at 7pm.
There will be dances suitable for all with clear instructions from caller Kris Lawrence and music by Cajun Boogaloo, and a guest appearance by Jackstraws Morris.
No charge, just come along and have fun. Bring your own drinks and snacks. There will also be a raffle and an opportunity to donate to church funds.
See you there!
We’ve not seen much of the snow, but you can still create a snowman or two at our Snowman Drive at St George’s on January 14th, 6pm-9pm.
This is a seasonal variation on a beetle drive and is a fun way to cheer up a dark winter evening. Create your snowman by rolling a die, then move move from table to table.
Bring your own snacks and drinks. If you want a fish and chip supper this will be available for £10 but you must book ahead for this. Please also let us know if you are coming even if you don’t want supper as this will help us judge numbers. Contact Maxine on maxine.everitt@badshotleaandhale.org or 01252 318135.
Picture by Adriaan Greyling on Pexels.com
Here are all our Christmas services over the next few weeks. Please do join us whenever you can.
If you are not familiar with church services, don’t worry. There are easy-to-follow service booklets or the words are all on a screen (at St Mark’s), and please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions.
Please do make yourself known to the vicar and other members of the congregation and please be assured, you are most welcome, whatever your beliefs.
Come and join us at any of our Christmas services.
Friday 9th Dec at 6pm – Carols by Candlelight
Sunday 11th Dec at 11am – Christingle Service
Wednesday 21st Dec at 6pm – Longest night (when Christmas hurts)
Saturday 24th Dec at 5.30pm – Crib Service (especially for youngsters, come dressed as your favourite nativity character)
Sunday 25th Dec at 11am – Christmas Communion Service for all ages
Sunday 4th Dec at 4pm – Seekers Carol Service (Family-friendly carol service)
Sunday 11th Dec at 6pm – Candlelight Carol Service
Saturday 24th Dec at 3pm – Crib Service (especially for youngsters, come dressed as your favourite nativity character)
Saturday 24th Dec at 11.30pm – Midnight Mass
Sunday 25th Dec at 9.30am – Christmas Communion Service for all ages
Sunday 18th Dec at 6pm – Candlelit Carol Service
Tuesday 20th Dec at 6pm – Carol Singing under the lit tree at St George’s (inside if wet)
Saturday 24th Dec at 3pm – Crib Service for Toddlers
Saturday 24th Dec at 5.30pm – Crib and Christingle Service for all ages
Saturday 24th Dec at 11.30pm – Midnight Mass
Sunday 25th Dec at 10am – Christmas Communion Service for all ages
This Advent, Craig Nobbs, an LLM in the parish, is running a series of Advent Reflections, starting with a Quiet Morning on Saturday, November 26th, from 9am until noon in the Sumner Room at St John’s, and continuing with drop-in sessions at St George’s on Thursdays in Advent from 6.30-8pm.
The Quiet Morning will start with a short act of morning prayer, followed by two or three short readings and reflections, plus time to stop and listen. You can slip in and out quietly if you can’t be there for the whole time.
On the Thursday evenings Craig will be in St George’s Church from 6.30-8pm and will offer an Advent Quiet Time interspersed with prayers and readings every 15 minutes or so. This makes it possible to come even if for a short time, and leave when you wish.
Craig says: “It’s healthy to take time out to stop and think about what Advent might reveal to us as individuals and potentially, as a church. Advent can be about listening and waiting for God to show something of himself to us, however brief. So, how do we wait for God? I’m providing some opportunities to help you take time out and hopefully rediscover how we begin to do so in what are busy times.”
If you want to know more, please email Craig llm.craig@badshotleaandhale.org.
St George’s in Badshot Lea will be open on Monday afternoons from 7th November from 2-6pm as a Warm Hub – one of a network of Warm Hubs across Surrey. You can pop inside and get warmed up with a cup of tea or coffee, some cake, and stay a while with a book, puzzle, game or magazine.
St George’s is one of a number of Warm Hubs in Surrey supported by Surrey County Council. To see the list, visit surreycc.gov.uk/warmhubs (please note the Surrey list says The Rectory, St George’s Road. It’s in fact in the church hall – entrance next to the Working Men’s Club).
This coming weekend (October 29-30) we will be holding All Souls’ services at all three churches, as a way of remembering those we love who have died, whether that loss is recent or long ago. The services are for anyone who wants to come, whether or not your loved one had a Church of England-led funeral.
The services are at St John’s on Saturday, October 29th at 4.30pm; at St Mark’s on Sunday, October 30th at 11am and at St George’s on Sunday, October 30th at 6pm. There will be refreshments served after each service.
All Souls’ Day is on Wednesday, November 2, so the churches are holding their services on the nearest weekend to enable more people to attend.
All Souls’ Day, also known as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed and the Day of the Dead, is a day of remembrance of people who have died, and the services are designed to honour them and bring comfort to the bereaved.
Rev’d Stella Wiseman, a minister in the parish, said: “Having a space to remember and honour those who have died is so important in the process that we all go through when we are bereaved. The services are there to bring comfort to those who are grieving and honour the memory of those who have died, and we welcome anyone who wishes to attend, regardless of what individual beliefs they hold.”
Anyone who would like to attend is welcome to do so and anyone who would like support following the death of a loved one is invited to contact Rev’d Lesley Crawley on 01252 820537 or revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org
We are continuing our Embodied Worship series over the next few weeks and this week are offering the chance try some Tai Chi, free of charge, at St Mark’s Church, on Wednesday, October 5, at 3pm. Tai Chi is a practice which involves a lot of focusing on the body and is calming and mindful.
The following day, Thursday, October 6, we will be in St George’s Church from 7pm, exploring prayer through a labyrinth. On October 13, we will bake bread together in St George’s (again 7pm) and on October 20 at 7pm, Michelle Chapman will lead us in some journaling.
Embodied worship reminds us that we are physical creatures and that everything we experience is through our bodies. Even our thoughts come through our bodies – our brains are physical parts of us. The rituals we use, our movements, the processes by which we respond to God, are all embodied and we worship an incarnate God, for God took flesh in an entirely radical way and was born in a human body.
For details, contact Stella Wiseman, revd.stella@badshotleaandhale.org, 07842 761919.
Picture by Monica Leonardi on Unsplash.
Because of The Queen’s death we have postponed our Harvest Festival services from Sunday, September 18th to Sunday, October 9th.
On October 9th there will be services at all three churches – 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 10am at St Mark’s where the celebrations will start with Apple Day (apple-pressing, apple snacks, apple juice and apple-y music) followed by the Harvest Service at around 11am.
There will be collections of non-perishable food for the local Foodbank so please think of this when you are shopping.
Little Bees is a small, friendly baby and toddler group (birth to just turned 3yrs) held in St. George’s Hall in the middle of Badshot Lea. There is a large car park and the light, airy hall is fully accessible.
Each session we have an art or craft activity and like to end with a song or two. We have a large range of lovely toys for the children to enjoy. A hot drink is provided for the adults, but we decided not to provide refreshments for the children, encouraging the parent to bring along exactly what they prefer their child to consume. Our fees are £2 for one adult and child, an extra 50p for any other members of the family. This pays for equipment, refreshments and a little towards the cost of the hall.
If you would like to come along for a visit, we would love to meet you. We do have a restriction on numbers but currently have some spaces, so just come along, or for more information contact Maxine.everitt@badshotleaandhale.com or find us on Facebook.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 