1) Wednesday Home Group, 7.00pm,

 

During Lent, we will be considering “Hard Questions”, picking up some of the issues raised in the Sunday Service (available on the Highley St Mary’s website). If you haven’t listened to the service, don’t worry, just come along and listen or join in with the discussion, as you want. This week, the question is, “What happened to the water from the flood and what did the big cats eat on the ark?” Mary Rayner has already given her answer in a sermon.

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

 

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

Password: 512607

 

 

 

2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

 

 

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

Password: 512607

 

3) Friday night prayer, 9.00pm

 

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

 

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

Password: 512607

 

 

 

4) Sunday Morning Prayer, 10.00am (Whilst lockdown lasts)

 

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86095045519?pwd=R2Iwa0hwYW5uRUE0dzc0WERnMnU2QT09

 

Meeting ID: 860 9504 5519

Passcode: 589249

 

More than giving up Chocolate

I’m still going on about Lent… I do that, because it is a period that, in the churches calendar, lasts for 6 weeks and so we are in the middle of it. I’m also going on about it because I think it says something important to us, perhaps particularly in this period of lock-down and lives on-hold.

 

Outside church circles, Lent is mainly associated with the idea of giving things up. Even within the church, it can be sold mainly for its health or environmental benefits; give up chocolate/sweets/alcohol for your health; embrace veganism/walking/cycling to save the planet. It’s true that changing our life style can bring benefits to ourselves and others, but that is rather to miss an important point; Lent is not just a 40 day fix and then back to where we were. The whole point of giving up material things is so that we can focus on the spiritual, however you understand that; the things that underlie us and really matter. In the Bible, Jesus went into the wilderness, a quiet and remote place in Lent to pray and think, not to diet. Lent reminds us that we can also set aside periods in our lives to do as Jesus did; to think and pray, or contemplate and reflect if that is language that you prefer. You may or may not wish to mark that by giving something material up like chocolate but that is secondary to thinking about the deepest issues around our lives and that determines what we will be when we exit the “desert”.  This year we are still in the wilderness of Covid, but we will come out of that in a few months, about the same time that Lent ends. We have the time now to decide what the “new normal” will look like for us when we get there.

 

Mrs W Lewis drew the numbers for the seventh draw of the 100 Club today. The first number out of the bag was 56 winning Mrs Y Garvey £60. Number 88 made its second appearance in two draws and number 43 was drawn again having been the winning number in January both winning £30 prizes for J Kirwin and J Dutton respectively.

Currently we have 60 subscriptions for numbers. The 100 Club has proved to be invaluable in supporting St Mary’s over the last 7 months. Without services and fund raising events being able to take place at the moment the 100 Club has secured the immediate future of the church. We thank everyone who is supporting the Club and urge anyone interested in joining to do so. In addition we hope that our existing supporters will renew their membership when it becomes due.

1) Wednesday Home Group, 7.00pm,

 

During Lent, we will be considering “Hard Questions”, picking up some of the issues raised in the Sunday Service (available on the Highley St Mary’s website). If you haven’t listened to the service, don’t worry, just come along and listen or join in with the discussion, as you want. This week, the question is, “If you had been born into another culture, would you still be a Christian. We are particularly pleased to welcome Bishop Richard, from Hereford, to our meeting.

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

 

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

Password: 512607

 

 

 

2) Friday Morning Prayer, 9.00am

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

 

 

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

Password: 512607

 

3) Friday night prayer, 9.00pm

 

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3592851895?pwd=cksyL0t5TlhFUURRenpxMG9yQTVhUT09

 

Meeting ID: 359 285 1895

Password: 512607

 

 

 

4) Sunday Morning Prayer, 10.00am (Whilst lockdown lasts)

 

 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86095045519?pwd=R2Iwa0hwYW5uRUE0dzc0WERnMnU2QT09

 

Meeting ID: 860 9504 5519

Passcode: 589249