The Anglican / Methodist CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY Aylestone Park, Leicester JUNE NEWSLETTER 2020 CAVENDISH ROAD – RICHMOND ROAD CORNER – LE2 7PL If you need a Priest or Minister Rev Edson Dube, 70 Gartree Road, Leicester, LE2 2FW 0116 2706263 [email protected] Day off – Monday Rev Ivan Bennett, 102 Dumbleton Avenue, Rowley Fields, Leicester, LE3 2EH 0116 2239730 or 07772587232 [email protected] Day off – Tuesday & Wednesday Church 07821 436129 www.nativityleicester.org.uk www.facebook.com/nativityLeicester [email protected] Thank you everyone who contributed to this edition of the Newsletter. Editions of the newsletter can be viewed on Nativity’s website and on the Facebook page. Items for the July/August Newsletter should be given to Stephanie Eggleston not later than Sunday June 21st. Alternatively, you may email Stephanie: [email protected] - 2 - Rev Edson Dube writes… An encouragement to the Body of Christ Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ I rejoice with you in celebrating the Lord’s goodness and blessing to us as a church and thankful for your spiritual maturity. We praise God for the life and fellowship of our congregation and the witness we have been in our area. We have many connections by family and marriage who enjoyed fellowship and worship in the Church of the Nativity and are grateful for these ties that bind our hearts together in Christian love. The Covid19 pandemic has caused disruptions to our church activities as well as devastation and fear. We have reasons to be concerned and asked to take all the precautions. One thing we all have and always will have is the knowledge that God is Sovereign, that Jesus Christ has secured an eternal future for us, and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. It is at times like this that we should remind ourselves of Lamentation 3:22 ‘Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail’. We worship a risen Saviour, Jesus Christ our righteousness and redemption. Let us therefore pray for mercy and trust in his total care. He has conquered all and reigns over all. Psalm 92: 12 – 14 ‘The righteous will flourish like palm trees, They will grow like cedars of Lebanon. They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord, That flourish in the Temple of our God, That still bear fruit in old age and are always green and strong’. As this is my last contribution for this Church Newsletter, I would like to thank all our readers for the constructive feedbacks and prayers that I have received from you in the past few years, I will always be grateful for your love and care for me and my family during my ministry with you. May the Lord grant you peace, blessings and may he lead, guide and prosper you in the future. With Christian Greetings Rev’d Edson Dube - Minister for The Church of the Nativity - 3 - Birthday Celebration On Sunday 26th April a lady who lives opposite our house was 80 so her family asked the whole road to come out onto the front of the houses and sing happy birthday to her. Unfortunately, Trudy has MND and needs care at least 3 times a day and her family could not meet to celebrate her birthday because of the lock down situation so this was the next best thing they could do. The family put a letter through all of our doors on Friday so we knew it was happening and then on Sunday afternoon the 2 care workers went up and down the road knocking doors to ask people to come out. The family had put up decorations all over the front of the bungalow, balloons, bunting and a poster with a really good picture of Trudy on it. We did not realise so many people lived in our road and the atmosphere was great especially with the sun shining. Everyone was talking (at a safe distant) and sharing what we were all doing in lockdown. Trudy has an electric wheel chair and the carers took her up and down the middle of the road; we all clapped and sang happy birthday twice. The family had a collection for Loros which was well supported and raised £540. Peter and Margaret Midland Hotel A planning application has been submitted to Leicester City Council to change the former Midland Hotel Public House on the corner of Knighton and Saffron Lane to a community centre. For further details, please see the Leicester City Council’s planning website and quote planning application no. 20200252. Chris Garner - 4 - Keep calm and carry on gardening… For those of you who have gardens I expect many of you will have spent a lot of time during the lockdown tending your gardens or just sitting and enjoying the lovely weather and listening to the birds. Gardening is well known for being beneficial to our physical and mental well-being. So that seems even more relevant and important than ever during these unprecedented and challenging times. I class myself as a warm weather gardener and spend as much time as I can in my garden during the Spring and Summer, when the weather is good. The trouble with not gardening all year round is that it creates a lot of work in the Spring, digging, weeding, pruning etc, well worth it once it’s done. The rest of the time I ‘potter’, tidying up here and there, weeding and planting new plants. I don’t know about you, but I often buy plants without thinking where I’m going to put them or indeed whether there is a suitable spot to plant them. Most of them survive, but occasionally they don’t! it’s a case of trial and error! Many people open up their gardens through the National Garden Scheme or locally - 5 - organised Open Garden events and I thought what better than to do a fund raiser for Nativity by opening up our gardens, (which should be looking absolutely fantastic with all the time we’ve had at home ), to church members, friends and family and raising much needed funds for Nativity. Would you be willing to open your garden, perhaps just for a couple of hours sometime and share a cuppa and chat? Perhaps you have some plants or cakes you could sell too? We probably won’t be able to do it this year, but hopefully next year. Just a thought! I took these photos recently to show the colour in my garden; this time of the year seems to be the time when the garden is at its best. Well, I think so! The top one on this page is a tree lavatera and it’s huge now. My neighbour gave it to me from his garden a few years ago. It was a 12- inch stick with a few leaves then and I left it in its tiny pot until last year when I thought it was looking a bit sorry for itself and better plant it. Look how it’s turned out in 12 months! Just goes to show that a bit of loving care and attention makes all the difference! ‘The kiss of the sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer to God in a garden Than anywhere else on earth.’ Stephanie - 6 - Doing Time! Well it’s been a busy old time here on Rutland Avenue, anyone would think that there was not a lockdown. We have, for some years been negotiating (or pestering) a neighbour who wanted to keep bees in our garden. It has taken about 3 years before we have got the stage that we are the proud hosts of 2 very fine hives (no bees yet). Of course, we could not let 2 identical structures sit in our garden without names, hey the bees might forget which hive they belong too!! So, with firm agreement they have been named ‘Balmoral Castle’ and ‘Sandringham House’ (because a Queen will live in each), the signs have arrived and we just need to attach them. Another surprise for me was seeing a painting online of our garden by none other than Glenis Heath (this is where she will get a bit - 7 - embarrassed). What a delight to see 2 paintings both based on our garden in an online exhibition – http://www.leicestersocietyofartists.co.uk/events/2020/lsa-inspired-may- online-exhibition-2020.php Images 14 and 15 (image 16 is another of Glen’s Paintings). Both Mark and I were blown away by the painting of ‘The Seat – The Canal Garden’. Our grateful thanks to Glen for such amazing work from her many days sat in our garden. Both images are copyright reserved Every Sunday @ 1pm The residents of the Avenue have an Album to play that has been chosen by another resident with a reason why they chose it, this has proved to be very popular. So far we have had: Dusty Springfield – Dusty in Memphis, Bob Marley – Legend Mamma Mia! Here we go again So the music is very varied. Most Tuesdays you have to option to do “The Quiz” @ 7pm via Zoom. ON VE day we had planned to have an afternoon tea with each house baking a cake, putting on a table outside at 3pm for neighbours to help themselves. Our cake was based on Nigella’s Chocolate Guiness Cake baked by Mark (he likes to vary the recipe). Unfortunately, we had some drama where our Avenue was closed off after a nasty road collision between a 6-year-old and a car on Aylestone Road.