Category Archives: St Mark’s Church

Easter, Lent, Prayer, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

A journey through Holy Week

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Join us online and in person as we travel through Holy Week, from Palm Sunday, which recalls Jesus entering Jerusalem in triumph yet riding on a donkey, through the events which led to his crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Palm Sunday

There will be Palm Sunday services in all of the churches tomorrow (March 28):
St John’s, Hale, at 9.30am;
St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am;
St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am.

Services in church in Holy Week

From Monday to Good Friday we will have the following services in church:
March 29, 7.30pm: Holy Monday Meditation – St John’s;
March 30, 7.30pm: Holy Tuesday Meditation – St John’s;
March 31, 12pm: Holy Wednesday Service – St Mark’s;
March 31, 7.30pm: Holy Wednesday Meditation – St John’s;
April 1, 7.30pm: Maundy Thursday Service – St John’s;
April 1, 7.30pm: Maundy Thursday Service – St George’s;
April 2, 9.30am: Good Friday Liturgy – St John’s;
April 2, 11am: Good Friday All-age Service – St Mark’s;
April 2, 2pm: Good Friday Hour at the Cross – St George’s.

Online services

The following online services will be available on Facebook and the website:
April 1, 7.30pm: Maundy Thursday;
April 2, 9.30am: Good Friday;
April 3, 8pm: Holy Saturday;
April 4, 10.30am: Easter Day.
For the services, click here.

Easter Sunday in church

Please also join us for Easter Sunday services in the churches followed by socially distanced Easter Egg hunts:
St John’s, Sunday, April 4, at 9.30am;
St George’s, Sunday, April 4, at 10am;
St Mark’s, Sunday, April 4, at 11am.

Each day there will also be extracts from our online Easter drama, Company on the Road, on YouTube and Facebook.

May you feel blessed as you journey through this week.

Picture by Duncan Sanchez on Unsplash.

Coronavirus, Pastoral Care, Prayer, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Yellow ribbons and prayer for National Day of Reflection

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A National Day of Reflection is taking place on March 23, the anniversary of the start of the first lockdown. The parish is marking the day by offering special services on the Sunday before – March 21.

At the services there will be a chance to reflect on the year and in particular to remember those who have died during the past 12 months. There will be prayers and yellow ribbons for people to tie in the churchyards in memory of those who have died. Many who have lost a friend or family member will not have been able to attend the funeral service, making the process of grieving more difficult.

Lesley Crawley said: “On March 23 it will be a year since the start of the first lockdown. We had no idea then how tough it would be or that a year on we would be in our third national lockdown.

“It has been a time of great anxiety and for many great grief as they have lost family and friends and may not even have been able to attend their funerals. The church is there to offer support and one way is through our services which we hold both in person in the churches – we have Covid regulations in place – and online. You don’t have to believe in God to come in and seek peace and comfort – the church is for everyone.”

The church services on March 21 will be 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 a service on the website from 9am.

Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Mothering Sunday

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Everyone is welcome at our Mothering Sunday services this Sunday – March 14.

There will be services in each of the churches – and daffodils for mothers and other special women in our lives – as well as online.

The services in the churches are at 9.30am at St John’s, Hale; 10am at St George’s, Badshot Lea; and 11am at St Mark’s. The services are Covid secure, but please follow all guidelines.

An online service will be here from 9am and on Facebook from 10am.

Mothering Sunday is not just about mothers but about the love of God too, as Lesley Crawley explains: “Mothering Sunday is a chance to say a special thank-you to mothers, grandmothers and other important women in our lives who have given us love and support. It also reminds us that we have a loving God who cares for us more deeply than we can ever begin to imagine.”

Art, St Mark's Church

Art at St Mark’s – Unlimited

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For this period, we have been illustrating our responses to the Song of Simeon and we are delighted to share our Gallery with you.
(Everyone is welcome to submit art for our Gallery and the next theme is “Easter”; more details to follow)
Thank you to all the artists who have submitted work this time.

The Song of Simeon

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

Picture by Hugo Buckle
Picture by Carol Gunner
Picture by Aly Buckle
Picture by Alison Ridgeon
Picture by Hallie Buckle
Picture by Lesley Shatwell. I took both the photos I used, one is poppies in my garden, the other is of Les Drus in the Alps.
I wanted to show God’s creation with two images which bring me joy. They remind me that God creates all things great and small.
Picture by Derek Buckle
Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Candlemas

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Candlemas coming up. This is the annual Christian festival which takes place 40 days after Christmas and commemorates the time Jesus was presented in the Temple in Jerusalem. The story is told in Luke 2:22–38.

The official day is February 2, and some people leave their Christmas decorations up until then, but we are celebrating it on the Sunday before – January 31.

At St George’s there will be a Christingle – see here – and at St John’s and St Mark’s we shall be lighting candles which will be ready for you at the services. You can pick up a cardboard drip-shield at the churches this weekend, and we would like you to decorate it and bring it with you on January 31.

On the day, Lesley Shatwell will be preaching at both St John’s and St Mark’s and there will be pencils and a sheet of paper on seats ready for you to use. She says: “There will definitely be creative, congregational participation – and it may be good to remember that ‘Creativity is intelligence having fun’ as Albert Einstein said, because we are going to have fun and everyone’s intelligent”.

We are celebrating Candlemas here online too, looking at how we can share the light of Jesus with others. Please bring your own candle and you can make a drip shield using a paper plate or other white card. You can bring battery-operated candle if you prefer. There will be craft at the end where you can make a candle to remember Candlemas and its meaning.

How to make a drip shield

Cut the card into a circle, or a square, depending on your preference, then make two small slits in the shape of a cross in the middle of the card. One cross should be enough but you can make another cross at a 45 degree angle to the first one, as in the picture below.

As you push your candle through the hole that these make, the card should just grip the candle gently. You can see an example of this here: https://youtu.be/DGTYIJv2peM

Decorate your drip-shield and you are ready to go.

Why Candlemas?

Finally, why candles and why Candlemas? Candles are a symbol of light and hope and the festival comes half-way through the period between the Winter Solstice (December 21/22) and the Spring Equinox (around March 21), so heading towards spring but not yet there. In pre-Christian times there was a ‘festival of lights’ then and the church combined this with celebrating the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, using candles at the service and blessing candles for use in the year ahead.

Picture by PhotographyCourse.net on Unsplash

Top picture by Nicola Fioravanti on Unsplash.

Church Buildings, Coronavirus, Services, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Lockdown update

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We are back into lockdown with schools closed to most children; restrictions on leaving our homes; all but essential shops closed; and other rules which are now law which you can find here.

However, churches can remain open for worship as long as they follow strict precautions such as social distancing, hand sanitizing, no mingling between households/bubbles, everyone of 11 and over wearing masks (unless exempt), and the parish is continuing to monitor the situation. We have increased the space between chairs where possible, have moved the altar at St Mark’s back to create more space and at St Mark’s will be bringing communion to people rather than expecting them to move around to take communion so that there is enough room for everyone.

However, no-one who feels uncomfortable about coming to church should feel any obligation to come and there are online services every week here.

Lesley explains the thinking behind this: “Churches offer comfort and support which is particularly important at a time when our mental health is under such strain. Moreover, the risk of catching Covid has been shown to be very low in UK churches and we have gone out or our way to ensure that we have mitigated any risks. We will continue to follow the guidelines and to ask our congregations to do the same.

“We also want churches to remain open for funerals. For many families, church funerals are important and we are also able to accommodate larger numbers than many crematoria – we can have up to 30 people – so enabling more people to experience this important aspect of grieving.

“Of course many of our congregations may not wish to come to church at the moment. We are continuing our services online as well as in church so those who have internet can join in. However, we are acutely aware of those people who do not have internet and cannot come to church and we are doing what we can to ensure that they are not isolated. We even have people ringing others up and playing the service through the phone as well as just having a general chat.”

Our services are at 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11am at St Mark’s, and online services are here.

Environment, Events, St George's Church, St Mark's Church

Have your voice heard over the future of Farnham

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Join the online public meeting on January 6 at 6.30pm to discuss the Farnham Infrastructure Programme which aims to improve traffic and transport across the town and make Farnham a better and safer place to live.

It is very important that north Farnham residents have their say so that all parts of the town are improved. For instance, if the centre of Farnham is pedestrianised, what impact would that have on north Farnham?

There are details of some of the issues in a leaflet here:

North Farnham Voice leaflet Issue 1 FinalDownload

If you are on Facebook please join the North Farnham Voice group (click here) and please sign up for the Zoom meeting on Wednesday – click here to do so.

There will also be Zoom hubs available. Contact Hale Community Centre or St Mark’s Church/St George’s Church.

Anyone who doesn’t want to or cannot participate via Zoom can email Catherine Powell, founder of North Farnham Voice, with ideas and/or solutions or can contact their local councillor – details of councillors can be found here.

Please join us and have your voice heard.

Christmas, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Epiphany

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Come to any of our three churches this Sunday – January 3 – to celebrate Epiphany.

We will be holding all-age services for Epiphany at 9.30am at St John’s, 10am at St George’s and 11am at St Mark’s. Everyone is welcome – we have done everything that we can to keep congregations safe from Covid. Please wear a mask unless you are exempt.

Epiphany recalls the visit by the Magi – also known as the Wise Men – to the infant Jesus as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew. They came from eastern lands and were therefore not Jewish so they signify the way that Jesus is for all nations, Jews and non-Jews alike.

Because the story speaks of them bringing three gifts to Jesus – gold, frankincense and myrrh – the Western church has tended to talk of three Magi but the Eastern church suggests there were 12.

Come and join us and celebrate.

Christmas, Coronavirus, Inclusion, LGBTI+, St George's Church, St John's Church, St Mark's Church

Christmas services

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Join us in person and online this Christmas. We have services for all ages where you will be welcome.

We have done everything we can to ensure that you will feel safe from Covid in our churches. Please wear a mask if you are able – we appreciate that not everyone can – follow the directions in the church and stay within your own ‘bubble’.

If you are not able or comfortable about coming to church, please join us online here. We will also be streaming Midnight Mass for you.

Everyone is welcome in our churches. As members of Inclusive Church we want to reiterate that, whatever your background, gender identity, sexuality, ethnicity or economic status, you are welcome. If you are neurodiverse, you are welcome; if you have mental health challenges, or a learning or physical disability, you are welcome. Whoever and however you are, you are welcome. Please ask if you need any assistance.