The Grapevine
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Hankerton Church Services February - April 2013 Feb 3rd 9:30 am Holy Communion The Grapevine 4 pm Young Church (activities) Issue 99 th Lent Courses will be advertised Please send articles to: 13 Ash Wednesday in the porch, we will be having Frances Dalton 7:30 pm Group Service Minety them at each church. 19th 11 am Morning Prayer The Grapevine Applecroft, Chapel Lane My thanks goes to all of you who March 3rd 9:30 am Holy Communion Hankerton SN16 9LG came and decorated the church. Eds. Brian Dalton, Frances Dalton, David Pynn February 2013 4 pm Young Church Sarah Wyman Phone: 01666577671 th Email [email protected] 9 12-1:30 Lent lunch 10th 4 pm Mothers Day Service – everyone welcome Editorial with “Grapevine” in the Next Newsletter to be 17th 11 am Morning Prayer As we are still surviving, it seems the people who believe in the Mayan calendar were wrong heading published in April copy to 28th Maundy Thursday Thank you to all those who supported the various yet again! The world did not come to an end, but it was one of the wettest years on record. Frances Dalton, Service followed by an meal services in December. There were good attendances With the fields still waterlogged and ditches full, we were fortunate in Hankerton not to have Applecroft, Chapel Lane 6:30 pm Hankerton for the Carol Service ( well done to Ollie Moulder had any more flooding when the recent snows melted. by 10th March please. 29th Good Friday service of Devotion on the clarinet). The Christmas Day Service ( thank There is very little “fall” between Hankerton and the Swill Brook at Eastcourt, which is All opinions 2 pm Oaksey you to Penny Hall for playing the organ) and the where most of our water drains too, so the best way to help prevent flooding in Hankerton is expressed will be solely 31st Easter Sunday Group service, when we were joined by other nearby those of the correspondent 9:30 am Holy Communion villagers. As in previous years, Nick Durnford to ensure all water courses are as clear as possible. As the water levels drop, (ever hopeful) April 7th 9:30 am Holy Communion kindly donated a large Christmas tree, which looked could we encourage any villagers with watercourses on their property to check that they are 4 pm Young Church splendid in the North Aisle and was decorated by clear of silt and any other debris and are running as freely as possible. MRS HAZEL RUSSELL th many of the Hankerton children. Finally welcome back home to Joan and Sydney Roxam, who had to leave their house after Dogs in Church 18 7:30 Holy Cross ACPM Mrs Hazel Russell sadly died st 21 11 am Morning Prayer it flooded towards the end of last year, we hope the refurbishing of your house will be suddenly just before Christmas. Philip Carter, Churchwarden A misunderstanding has Hazel taught for many years at completed soon. occurred and the PCC would draws us more closely into relationship with God, has an impact on the world and energises our Crudwell School up to her early Prayer like to clarify the position retirement. Christian lives. Yet many of us find it a challenge. Bishop Lee encourages us to join together in this life North Aisle Community Area of dogs in church. So many children from Hankerton, giving discipline. Coffee Mornings 2013 At regular coffee mornings, now grown up many with children How would you describe your prayer life at the moment? Is it deep, intense and vital or perhaps superficial, Thank you to all the volunteers who helped out on Saturday mornings in 2012. dogs are welcome but must be of their own, passed through her cool and perfunctory? Put this way it sounds a rather intimate and private question! Over the past few years many people have enjoyed the company and coffee/tea in the North Aisle on a on a lead and under control. classroom. We know that prayer is fundamental to Christian discipleship yet many of us recognise that our personal Saturday morning and we hope many more will come along to experience the friendly However at special events She will be remembered with great prayer lives are frequently not what they might be. This is especially true of our corporate prayer life. atmosphere in 2013. when food is being served or affection for her care and Generally speaking prayer gatherings in our churches are thinly attended unless a particular event or tragedy guidance. The mornings, which have been run cheerfully for many years by Pat Manning, now have a number of sold; then please leave the dog Chris Betts has galvanised people. volunteers who provide the same service. outside the church because of At the heart of prayer is a living engagement with God and his purposes for the whole of life, sharing with Can you spare a couple of hours once in a while? hygiene regulations. the Father what matters to us and looking for what matters to him. Articulating our own hopes, desires and frustrations as well as being made We are looking for volunteers for 2013 – conscious of God’s. either sign up on the list in the church porch, or ring Anne Brown 577160 Concerns about dog-fouling of public Prayer draws us into a dynamic relationship with the Son and the Father through the work of the Holy Spirit. We may not know what we You will be asked to provide milk and biscuits (if you would like to be remunerated for footpaths were raised at the last Parish Council ought to pray for, as the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, but God’s Spirit comes alongside and prays with us (Romans 8: 26-7). this, meeting : on some paths it is impossible to In this relationship of prayer, what we want and value counts and indeed influences how God acts and what is accomplished. please contact Pat Manning) on ‘your’ day as well as be the host. walk more than a few yards without Yet through prayer our wills and values are also realigned with God, as Jesus illustrated in his openness to the Father’s purposes in This is a pleasant way to do something that is much appreciated by all who come along encountering dog waste. Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 39). and a good way to get to know people in the village. Would all dog-owners please respect bye-laws Prayer is not given to us as a burdensome task of discerning what God wants to happen and then praying accordingly. If you have any ideas about uses for the North Aisle Community Area please contact a and ensure that their dog waste is cleared up Prayer is a gift before it is a task or discipline. As we give ourselves in prayer for the sake of others, God’s own response is to give himself member of the committee – this is a village resource for village use. and disposed of correctly. afresh to us. The North Aisle Committee:- Thank you. The Parish Council In the summer of this year, Bishop Mike and I will be visiting deaneries to lead afternoons and evenings of prayer as an aspect of our Christine Betts, Anne Brown, Philip Carter, Valerie Durnford, Susan Mockler, Claudine Pynn Diocesan aims of growing in partnership, influence, commitment and numbers. These days will be opportunities to gather before God with one another, to give thanks for the signs of God’s presence and actions in the world Carol Singing and, most significantly, to encounter afresh the One who is able to accomplish immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3: On 20 December the usual stalwarts, somewhat reduced in number due to ill-health 20-21). and trips away, gathered for our annual perambulation round the village. Fortu- Sam Cavender nately the weather was fine and reasonably mild. It took us rather longer than usual as we didn’t have the volume of previous years but we did recruit two very wel- THE OPENING 24/7 Prayer come new members along the way. Let’s hope they’ll come again from the start in Are you willing to follow Our Lord? Over the last decade, the idea of 24/7 prayer – churches organising future. His example you’ll find in His Word continual prayer for a period of time for the sake of God’s Due to everyone’s generosity we raised the incredible sum of £280 which Clothe yourself in His humility, spread His Love around Kingdom – has been spreading amongst churches in the UK. has been shared equally between:- Through your thoughts and actions in your heart, He is found A parish in north Bristol, Bishopston & St Andrews, organised The Motor Neurone Disease Association and Macmillan Cancer Support. You have to learn to serve in the way He did with Love three 24/7 Prayer Weeks over the autumn period in 2012. Many thanks to everyone for their contributions to a very successful eve- To those who find their days are hard, just living they find tough The parish has three churches and set aside a room with aids to They need a helping hand, encouragement, relief ning whether it was in the form of cash, refreshments, voice or bonhomie. prayer in one of the churches. Church members signed up for an Christine Betts & Claudine Pynn Spread the Word so they can find new life-blood through belief hour (or more!) through the day and night. Jesus loves us, knows us, through and through “It has been really encouraging to hear stories of how people have Lane’s Cleaner Windows He understands our struggles with sin, He faced temptation too encountered God in new ways for the first time through being part Pure Water Window Cleaning Technology And still He loves us, He accepts us as we are of 24/7 Prayer,” says Bev Charles, a Licensed Lay Minister who Don’t hold back, knock at His door, you’ll find it stands ajar oversees the parish’s commitment to prayer.