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Church notice sheet - 14 February 2010

Readings

9:00am - Psalm 2:1-end and Hebrews 1:1-end
11:00am - Genesis 29:1-20

Humanitarian Crisis in Haiti

We have now received £1,862 (including £1,000 from general Mission funds) for the Haiti Earthquake Appeal. Any further gifts can be passed to our Treasurer, Andrew, in envelopes marked 'Haiti'. 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

The total is now £2,462 from 88 Jars/gifts. So we are just £129 short of last year's record total. Please continue to bring your Jars back. And if you didn't use a Jar of Grace in the build up to Christmas, you can still make a gift. Cheques should be made payable to St. John's PCC.

Renewal of giving

Thank you so much if you have already returned your completed Promise Card for the St. John's Renewal of Giving 2010. We would like to have all the Promise Cards returned by Sunday, 28th February so that we have as much information as possible to plan the St. John's finances for 2010.

Letter of thanks to Swindon Food Bank

As a church we support Food Bank. It is one of our four local charities, along with Swindon Pregnancy Crisis Care, Willows counselling service and Swindon youth for Christ.

Raymond was passed a card this week which had been sent to the Food Bank by a mother and her young daughter who had benefited from it. It deserves to be printed in full, because it shows what kind of service for the bank provides, and how important it is to certain individuals:

"To everyone at the food bank. I walked in the food bank hall with my token and my young daughter. I stood there and felt like walking back out again, but then you came walking up to us and you were so friendly we even sat and had drinks. I felt so ashamed that I was in this situation. I felt like I was going to cry. You were all so nice and you give us enough food to last for weeks. I can't thank you all enough for all the work you are doing. If it wasn't for kind people who donated the food and you for getting it and giving it out, we would still be living on bread. Thank you so much. I will never forget."

Clearly, Food Bank touches people where they are in need.

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.

Swindon Food Bank Ball

The Food Bank Ball takes place on Friday 5th March. Tickets are £45 per person. For that there will be a 4-course meal, 16 piece swing band, & 'learn to dance' with a qualified dance teacher. Dress Code - Black Tie & Sparkle. From 7pm to 1am.

Swindon Youth for Christ

SYFC, in partnership with local church youth workers, are planning on running a 24/7 prayer event continuously from the 14th - 16th February starting at 7pm and finishing at 9pm at Upper Stratton Baptist Church, Green Road, SN2 7JA.

They feel a strong call to gather with all those who are passionate about young people and spending some intensive time praying. Prayer room is open to youngpeople at all hours, adults with younger children 9am - 12pm and adults every evening from 7pm.

For more details phone the SYFC Office on 01793 829795, e-mail to office@syfc.org.uk or visit SYFC on facebook at 'Swindon Youth for Christ'.

Organised by SYFC in partnership with local churches and youth workers.

New opportunities

Because of the current vacancy in North Swindon, Raymond has been asked to look after the baptisms. This is currently giving him numerous opportunities to talk about the Christian faith with a large number of parents. Sometimes he does this in the home of the parents, and sometimes it will be done in the Quiet Room.

Finding an opportunity to share your faith at work is not always easy. We live in a very secular society.

But here is an opportunity to learn how to share your faith with people who are at a point in their lives when they really want to talk about it. There is a wonderful CPAS DVD called First Steps which provides a basis for discussion. No one will ever get thrown in at the deep end; but you will certainly receive a real boost to your own faith, as you introduce Christ to other people, and it will give you much to pray about.

ROCK

The car park as you will see is in a very muddy state and we may have to re-seed with grass later in the year.  In the meantime could we please prevail upon you not to park beyond the church building to give that area an opportunity to recover from the heavy machinery that has been trundling over it for the past few weeks.

One again thank you for your patience.  It won't be long now before we will be able to re-commence with refreshments and all the children will be able to return to their normal classes/creche.

Discussion is currently underway with regard to the official opening of these rooms and a date will be advertised as soon as this has been arranged.

Any queries on this please contact Andrew Carpenter or Pauline Davis.

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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