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Church notice sheet - 31 January 2010

Readings

9:00am - 1 Samuel 24:18-25 and Mark 12:35-44
11:00am - 1 Samuel 24:18-25 and Mark 12:35-44

Humanitarian Crisis in Haiti

The news from Haiti seems to get worse by the day as the enormous scale of the devastation caused by the earthquake becomes more apparent. It is now estimated that over 200,000 people have lost their lives with more than 2 million injured and/or homeless. The aid agencies continue to struggle to get help to where it's needed against huge odds.

The British people have responded generously to the appeal for donations made by the Charities. At St. John's, we have had retiring offerings on the last two Sundays and donations so far have totalled £747. At the PCC meeting on Monday, PCC decided to add £1,000 to your donation from General Mission funds, making £1,747 in all.

If you would like to give, please put your donation in an envelope marked 'Haiti' and give it to our Treasurer, Andrew, or to one of the Churchwardens. Cheques should be made payable to St. John's PCC.

JAM in deep water

JAM is happening on Saturday May 8th and Sunday May 9th. Tony and Caroline Garrett are collecting the following items to be used in the craft sections of this event:

Please start saving these if you can and bring them into church.

Jars of Grace

Have you still got your Jar of Grace at home? It's not too late to bring it back! So far we have received 84 Jars/gifts and the total is £2,431 including the Christmas Offerings and tax refunds to come on Gift-Aided Jars and donations. This means we are £160 below last year's record total of £2,591. If you didn't use a Jar of Grace at mealtimes, you can still give to the appeal! Cheques should be made payable to St. John's PCC.

Praying for others

At St. John's we have two Prayer Circles which come into operation when anyone in our congregation needs prayer or finds themselves in a distressing or anxious situation. Anyone can ask for prayer at any time by contacting the Prayer Circle Co-ordinator, Jean Dean. If you would like to pray for others by being part of the Prayer Circle, please contact Jean who will be happy to tell you how it works and to answer your questions.

Women's World Day of Prayer

The Womwon's World Day or Prayer is taking place at 2:00pm on Friday, 5th March 2010 at Emmanuel Church, Haydon Wick. The speaker is Mrs G. Hempstock. The service is prepared by the Christian women of Cameroon and it is an opportunity for us to join in this twenty four hour time of prayer with others around the world. All are welcome - men, women and young people.

The church electoral roll

The church electoral roll is being revised between the dates of Sunday 21st February and Sunday 28th March. If you are a regular worshipper at St John's then you should be included on the roll. Please see Sharon Mortimer for an application form and further information. If you have changed your address or phone number in the last year please let Sharon know so that she can keep the electoral roll up to date.

Filling station

The next Filling Station provision is Thursday 4th February. Would you please collect your notices from the foyer table today. If you are no longer able to provide food for the homeless, please will you let Mary Southgate know as soon as possible so that she can make alternative arrangements.

Swindon Pregnancy Crisis Centre

SPCC is running a new training course for women and men. It will follow the Care Confidential training approved by the Association of Christian Counsellors, and will run during February and March. They are looking for mature Christians with a sensitive appreciation of the difficulties of those facing crisis pregnancy, abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth. If you are interested, please contact Deb Donohoe or Pam Fletcher.

Highlights from the PCC meeting of Monday, 25th January

Legal matters: PCC's first meeting of the year is always taken up with legalities. PCC approved the Trustees' Report and Accounts for the year 2009 and thanked our treasurer for another outstanding year of service. The accounts for 2009 showed that St John's finished the year about £1,700 in the black.

North Swindon: The Rev Mike Haslam has moved, and North Swindon is now vacant. Raymond has had an initial meeting with the diocesan vacancy committee to discuss the future possibilities for North Swindon.

Legacy: Andrew announced that one of his relatives, Dr Norah Clarke, had left a legacy to St John's Church to be spent first on the ROCK project, and, if any money was left over from that, on another project area. In other words, it must not be spent on our day-to-day needs. Although some legal matters remain to be settled, we can look forward to receiving that legacy sometime in the future. We thank God for his goodness, and Dr Clarke for her kindness in remembering us.

Leadership Ministry Team: There will be commissioning service for all seven members at the APCM.

Uganda: Chris Hawkes reported that St John's was sending a total of £3450 to Uganda. The main beneficiaries will be William (the blind car maker), the Rev William Kiwanuka, the Blind Centre at Balitta, the Bishop Asili health centre, and the school we have built at Bwasiba. The Blind Centre has taken an extra five children for 2010, and our gifts will mean they are able to be supported for the year. When Raymond and Chris were in Uganda they discovered that The Bishop Asili health centre was in desperate need of a fridge to store blood. Enough money has been sent to enable them to do that.

Visit to Uganda: PCC will discuss the possibility of a church trip to Uganda in the relatively near future.

Houseparty 2010: We are delighted to say that the houseparty is now full to capacity, and that we really cannot squeeze anybody else in. All those who are going will receive an information leaflet from Rod. That will include the timetable for the weekend and other useful information about the facilities at Lindors.

Parish Lunch: We also decided to concentrate on the idea of mission on a Sunday this summer. As the new kitchen will be in place by then, we intend to have a South American lunch to celebrate our links with Paraguay. We also thought it would be good to bring both services together at 10:30am that morning, so that we can have lunch as a church family.

Update on ROCK

Building work is about halfway through. The new rooms are taking shape. Would you please continue to remember the contractors and the progression of the project in your prayers?

Parish Office

The Parish Office is open on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 9am to 1pm. Please provide all items for the bulletin in writing first thing on Wednesday please!

Do you buy on line?

If so, please consider buying through http://www.buy.at/StjohnsHW. The church receives commission from 2% to 12% on anything you purchase.

There are over 100 retailers involved (including M&S, Amazon, John Lewis, Comet) some of which offer exclusive discounts and promotions - and best of all ... there is no extra cost to the purchaser!

Tape Ministry

If you or someone you know would like a recording of the service, please contact Nigel Crowhurst, our Tape Co-ordinator.

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