Join us to celebrate the risen Christ on Easter Sunday, April 9, at our Easter Day services and Easter egg hunts at our three churches.
The services will be at 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11am at St Mark’s. After the services there will be Easter egg hunts for all.
Join us as we travel through Holy Week, which runs from Palm Sunday, April 2, to Easter Eve, April 8, with a series of services and meditations across all three churches.
Palm Sunday recalls the story of Jesus as he entered Jerusalem, welcomed as a king but riding on a humble donkey, and there will be services at all three churches – St John’s at 9.30am, St George’s at 10am and St Mark’s at 11am – with palm crosses given out.
From Monday to Wednesday, April 3-5, there will be a series of short meditations for Holy Week each evening at St John’s at 7.30pm. These will be around 30 minutes long and will give time to reflect and pray.
On Wednesday, April 5 at noon, there will be a communion service at St Mark’s, and on Maundy Thursday, April 6 there will be communion services at St George’s and St John’s at 7.30pm, when the altar will be stripped and a vigil will be held. At St John’s there will also be foot-washing, recalling the act of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper before his death.
Maundy Thursday is so called because the name derives from the Latin world ‘mandatum’ which means ‘commandment’, and it recalls Jesus’ words at the Last Supper: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you.” So this is New Commandment Thursday.
Stripping the altar is an ancient custom whereby everything is removed from the altar and it reflects the way everything was stripped from Jesus on Good Friday – his clothes, his dignity, his life – and leaves the altar bare for the Good Friday liturgy the next day.
On Good Friday , April 7, there will be Good Friday Liturgy at St John’s at 9.30am. At the same time at St Mark’s there will be a craft session for children aged five to 11, from 9.30-11am, This will be followed by a service at 11am to which parents and carers are also invited, after which there will be hot cross buns for everyone.
You can also join in a Walk of Witness in central Farnham on Good Friday, by gathering in the Hart car park at 11.45am for a silent walk through central Farnham starting at noon, and ending up at St Andrew’s Church for a short service.
At 2pm there will be a ‘Good Friday Hour at the Cross‘ at St George’s, a time for prayer and reflection as we approach the time traditionally held to be the hour that Jesus died – 3pm.
On Saturday, April 8, several people from the parish are being confirmed at an Easter Eve service at Guildford Cathedral at 7.45pm. This is a special service with communion as well as baptism and confirmation, and is a lovely way to celebrate the coming of Easter. Please do join us.
Easter Day services can be found here.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
It’s Mothering Sunday – aka Mother’s Day – this weekend (Sunday 19th) and we will be celebrating at all three churches: St John’s, Hale (near the Six Bells roundabout) at 9.30am; St George’s, Badshot Lea (opposite the school) at 10am and St Mark’s, Alma Lane (next to Tesco) at 11am.
Come and join us as we give thanks for all those who care and protect us. Posies for all.
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).
We will be holding All Souls’ services at all three churches over the weekend of November 4-5th 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, November 4th at 4.30pm; at St Mark’s on Sunday, November 5th at 11am and at St George’s on Sunday, November 5th at 6pm. There will be refreshments served after each service.
All Souls’ Day is on Thursday, November 2nd, 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
If you would like the name of your loved one read out at a service please let Lesley know and say which church you would like this to be read out at.
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 