Enjoy a musical afternoon and raise money for the St John’s tower repair fund
St George’s will resound to the music of the 60s on the afternoon of Saturday, September 27th, when the band Out of the Shadows will give a concert to raise funds to repair St John’s tower which is crumbling and in urgent need of repair.
Out Of The Shadows are sixties covers band who enjoy putting on fundraising concerts in the Farnham area. This one will start at 2pm and will involve tea and cake! There will also be a cash raffle.
Tickets are £10 on the door or ahead of time – to guarantee entry – from Sue Lampard on 07596953138.
Come along and enjoy the music, tea and cake and raise money for the tower repairs.
As we move towards Christmas we celebrate with carols sung both in church and outside, and on Christmas Eve we hold crib services at all three churches (two crib services at St George’s!) and then Midnight Mass beginning at 11.30pm in St George’s and St John’s.
We then celebrate the wonderful news of the incarnation of God on Christmas morning in all three churches.
Here are the special services in December:
Carols
Sunday, December 8th, 6pm at St John’s. Sunday, December 15th, 6pm at St George’s. Friday, December 20th, 6pm at Hale Chapels (cemetery, Alma Lane), followed by refreshments at St Mark’s. Monday, December 23rd, 6pm around the tree at St George’s.
Crib Services
All Tuesday, December 24th. Come dressed as your favourite Nativity character.
3pm: St John’s. 3pm: St George’s especially for toddlers. 5pm: St Mark’s. 5.30pm: St George’s.
Midnight Mass
Tuesday, December 24th, 11.30pm, at St John’s and St George’s.
Christmas morning
9.30am, St John’s. 10am, St George’s. 11am, St Mark’s.
On Friday, June 21st we are holding a Music Extravaganza at St Mark’s in Upper Hale —an evening of music, dance and singing, all in support of Christian Aid, a charity which works with some of the most marginalized communities across the world.
Doors open at 6.30pm and the concert starts at 7pm.
Among the performers are: John Bush
A multi-talented musician who performs both contemporary and classical music along with fellow musicians. A fun performance can be expected, with lots of audience participation.
Church Choir
The resident choir of St George’s, St Mark’s and St John’s combines to sing a mixture of popular hymns and songs.
In Accord
A Guildford-based ladies a cappella group performing a mixture of songs from sea shanties to Beatles and more.
Kerala Girls
A group of young ladies with traditional dress performing dances from the Kerala area of India. They rehearse at St George’s Church on Fridays.
Olivia Jasper
A young soloist who was brought up in Farnham and is a member of the church. She is returning to support the concert with some beautiful solo singing.
Paris School of Dance Tap dancers from a well established dance school which rehearses at St George’s every Thursday.
Tickets (£10) are available on the door or from Sue Lampard on 07596953138. Under 12s free. There will be drinks and nibbles available and a raffle on the evening.
There have been carols galore across the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale this Christmas, with more to come in the next few days.
So far, there have been three carols services, one at each church, and two outside gatherings at which carols were sung with gusto. One was on Monday, 18th, in the grounds of St George’s, under the lit trees, and the second in the new Hale Chapels Garden in the cemetery opposite St Mark’s.
The garden was opened in July this year and blessed by Bishop Christopher Herbert, and has been created using stone and many original features from the old chapels of rest in the cemetery which had fallen into disrepair. The flower beds have been planted with varieties of trees and plants which appear in the Bible and the end result is a peaceful garden which invites reflection and calm.
It was less peaceful on Wednesday, 20th, as around 70 people from across the community, including the Mayor and others from the council, sang with gusto as Rev’d Lesley Crawley led the singing, accompanied by Bob and Lesley Shatwell on violin and recorder, and Margaret Emberson on keyboard. Those three also played at St George’s on Monday.
Afterwards most people headed for St Mark’s for mulled wine, hot chocolate and mince pies provided by Jeanne Sanders.
It was agreed that, like the St George’s outside carol evening, this should become a regular event.
The next chance to sing carols will be at our crib services at all three churches on Christmas Eve: 3pm at St John’s; 5.30pm at St George’s; 5.30pm at St Mark’s; Plus a special Toddler Crib Service at 3pm at St George’s.
There will then be Midnight Mass at St John’s and St George’s at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve, and Christmas morning communion services at all three churches: 9.30am at St John’s; 10am at St George’s; 11am at St Mark’s.
Everyone is welcome at our free Family Fun Day with a free lunch which will take place on October 27, 10.30am-1pm at St Mark’s Church.
There will be crafts, music, games, table tennis and a lunch with vegetarian and meat options. There will also be a quiet area for those who prefer this and an adviser to talk to families about special needs if required. Free of charge, donations welcome. For more information email Michelle.
Media outlets have a new rival – the Roman Broadcasting Company (RBC) whose reporter has been recording virtual interviews, trying to uncover the truth behind strange events taking place in Jerusalem almost 2,000 years ago. The interviews will be broadcast on this website on Sunday, May 31, in a Pentecost service which will be online from 9am.
The RBC will be investigating stories of ordinary people being transformed from scared individuals into confident and joyful women and men who started telling everyone about Jesus, a man from nearby Galilee who had been killed by crucifixion but had risen again and was offering a new way of living and coming close to God.
The story, of course, is the one recalled in chapter two of the book of Acts, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit and began a new ministry which saw the beginning of what became the Christian church. This story will be celebrated on Sunday, May 31, in three services – a formal one and an informal one available in the morning, and an all-sung service in the evening, available from 6pm. The informal service will include a dramatised version of the story involving the RBC interviewing witnesses of the events. You may also want to have a candle, a pot of bubbles and also cake to help you take part!
Here’s what Lesley Crawley has to say about it: “A few days before the events we celebrate at Pentecost, the risen Jesus had ascended to heaven and had promised that the disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came down on them, enabling them to be brave and follow Jesus in loving service to others. This is what we are reflecting on here. And of course, the Holy Spirit wasn’t just for those early disciples but is available to all of us and is in us as we work to help others and love others, trying to be the hands and arms and heart of Jesus today.
“So come and join us online on Sunday, May 31, at our formal or informal services in the morning or our all-sung service in the evening from 6pm. Even the sermon is being sung! It’s all on https://badshotleaandhale.org/ and everyone is welcome!”
Pentecost also marks the end of The Kingdom Come, the period from Ascension Day which each year is dedicated to prayer. We are celebrating Thy Kingdom Come with a different version of the Lord’s Prayer each day at noon and sharing resources from the Thy Kingdom Come organisers.
Next Thursday (May 21), we will be celebrating Ascension Day online with a special service for all ages which will be available on this website from 7.30pm.
Ascension Day is a Christian festival which takes place 40 days after Easter Sunday, and which celebrates the story of Jesus ascending to heaven as told in the Bible in the book of Acts, Chapter 1.
The service will incorporate many of the elements which will be familiar to followers of the parish – hymns on fiddle, double bass and keyboard, photos of members of the church looking up to the sky (they may even be wearing tea towels on their heads in time-honoured fashion), prayers, a story about the impact of Jesus on the life of his disciples and a talk about the impact he still has. There will be contributions from people from all across the parish.
We do still need a bit of help though. Can you pop a tea towel or scarf on your own head and transport yourself back 2,000 years to the time just after Jesus died and rose again? Imagine you are one of the disciples and you are with Jesus when he ascends to heaven. Look up to the sky and take a selfie.
Maxine Everitt, who is organising the service along with Kris Lawrence, explains a bit more: “We would like you to imagine what it would have been like to watch Jesus ascend into heaven; the tea towel or scarf is to help you get into character.
“What would you be thinking? Can you capture that in an expression? Individuals, couples and families including youngsters would be great too – Please!”
Once you have taken your selfie, send it to Alan, then join us here on Thursday, May 21, from 7.30pm or on Facebook.
We will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE Day this Sunday (May 10) with an online service of music and memories of wide appeal for all, and on the website from 9.30am.
Led by Wendy Edwards, Licensed Lay Minister, the gathering includes a Gospel reading by Lance Corporal Bibbings of The Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment, Farnham; music from wartime by members of TS Swiftsure, Badshot Lea; and a thought-provoking World War II evacuation memory from Hazel Edwards, Wendy’s mother-in-law. Wendy makes comparisons between World War II and the coronavirus emergency. She draws hope, comfort and and wisdom from both these times of enormous personal and national challenge and ends the short service with prayers for peace.
Lesley Crawley reflects on the service: “It is 75 years since the end of World War II in Europe and it is fitting to remember the sacrifices made by so many people in defence of freedom. Obviously, our celebrations this year are rather different from what we might expect and perhaps the memory of those sacrifices is made all the more poignant by taking place in these difficult times. Do join us online from 9.30am on Sunday.”
The service of thanksgiving and prayer for the NHS and other frontline workers has been hugely welcomed and reflected the gratitude and creativity of our community as well as the importance of prayer for many of us (online searches for information about prayer have skyrocketed since the outbreak of Coronavirus began).
Our thanks to the masses of people who were involved in the service which Alan and Lesley put together: Farnham Heath End School; the Scouts; people across the community who sent in beautiful rainbows and other works; keyworkers who allowed themselves to be photographed and the pictures shown as Olivia Jasper sang Amazing Grace; church members; the Mayor of Farnham, Pat Evans; and local MP, Jeremy Hunt.
Lesley Crawley reflected on the service: “I have been bowled over by the gratitude of others for this service and I hope it is enabling others to take their thoughts and anxieties and feelings of gratitude and turn them into prayers. For me, I find prayer always helps; it always makes me feel more peaceful and bit by bit it makes me a better version of myself. In the case of a nation praying it gives us a helpful and even hopeful way of expressing our concerns and worries and also a way of focussing on the good and being grateful for that.”
Our thanks to those who have sent images and thoughts for this Easter weekend. Please keep them coming.
We would usually have an Easter Garden at the churches but as we can’t visit them at the moment, people have been creating them in their own gardens.. Here are ones by Sorrel, Maxine and Kris. We also have embroidery from Margaret Emberson, poetry from Richard Myers, photos from Wendy-Rae Mitchell, Kris Lawrence and Alison Ridgeon, a reminder of how much we love our churches in some art from St Mark’s, and of course Emily Tarrant’s poem which you can read here.
There’s also music every Sunday from Margaret Emberson which you can find here.
Outside the World, by Richard Myers
Serving the Villages North of Farnham: Badshot Lea, Hale, Heath End & Weybourne
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 