Please see the What’s on page for recent posts about church life.
VICAR’S MESSAGES
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CLERGY APPOINTMENTS
Advertisements for the Team Rector & Vicar of St Mary’s and for the Vicar of St John’s, Broadbridge Heath, have appeared in the “Church Times” and on the appropriate websites. Interviews will be held around the middle of September. Please remember the candidates and the selection teams in your prayers, that the right people may be found.
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NEWCOMERS’ TEA
If you have joined St. Leonard’s in the last year, you are invited to a Newcomers Tea on Sunday 18th August 3pm at St. Leonard’s Vicarage. Please take an invitation and RSVP, or pass one on to someone who may be interested.
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CHRISTIANITY EXPLORED
Starting on Wednesday 11th September for 7 sessions – details on the diary page.
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LOOKING AHEAD
WHOLE PARISH AND WIDER EVENTS
MESSY HARVEST – SUNDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 12 NOON-4PM
Would you like to be involved with Horsham Churches Together’s Messy Harvest which will be taking place on Sunday 1st September in central Horsham? Could you join the planning team – one or two meetings between now and 1st September? Could you volunteer to set up Messy Harvest and help with the first session from 11.30am-2pm or 2pm-4.30pm including a bit of clearing up? You may prefer to help for a shorter time. Please contact Rosemary Couchman, HCT’s Development Co-ordinator, details in the newsletter, to offer your help.
Saturday 14th September
Scoot and stroll family event – See the Diary Page for more details.
FISH AND CHIP SUPPERS
It is planned to resume these on Friday 20th September. See the Diary Page for more details.
Sunday 22nd September at 3.00pm
ST LEONARD’S 80th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION – details on the Diary page.
GOOD FRIDAY 2020
Horsham is taking part in One Good Friday in 2020 where we, as part of Horsham Churches Together, will be joining other towns and cities across the UK in presenting an outdoor passion play. There will be no service in St. Leonard’s that day and there will be jobs for everyone to do. This is a huge and exciting project. Application forms are now available.
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BIRTHDAY BOOK
If your name is not in our birthday book you won’t get a card – because we won’t know about it! Please speak to Val if you would like to be included – no need to reveal your age!
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CLERGY TRAINING
I am very pleased to be able to announce that I have become the Training Incumbent for Deacon Rebecca Tuck who is St. Mary’s Curate. This (and the vacancies in two of the Team Churches) will mean some considerable flexibility is required. I will be doing many more services at St. Mary’s, but we will also be able to welcome Rebecca here which is such a joy. Alan Mayer will be covering St. Leonard’s from time to time when I need to take the 9.30am at St. Mary’s. This will probably be once a month. Please remember that church doesn’t just happen on a Sunday, and there are plenty of other opportunities during the week where we can see one another, and do not hesitate to make contact by phone or email if I’m absent on Sunday and you need to speak to me.
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THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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BEATS
BEATS GREETINGS CARDS
Some of you will remember the cards Sandra used to make and sell in aid of BEATS. Her friend, Sheila, now makes these for us and there is usually a selection on the Hall table on Sundays. However, sales have dropped off so PLEASE go and have another look! If you don’t see anything suitable on the table feel free to look in the bag/box underneath. The cards are still as good – dare I say some are better; they are still cheap at £1 or 50p each (depending on size) and they support one of our charities – BEATS – helping tsunami and earthquake victims in Indonesia. After all the earthquakes and tsunamis of 2018 they still desperately need our help to rebuild their lives. 100% of your donation will go to help those in need.
Prayer for Sarah and Rob Page’s BEATS Trip to
Indonesia and the Philippines
We ask for your prayers for our trip to South East Asia (Sarah leaves the UK on 4th July, Rob on 13th July and return together on 8th August). This trip will be longer than usual in order to include visiting two new projects. After spending time at the two children’s homes that BEATS have supported for many years (YACAN and YASAH) we will then visit Sulawesi, where a severe tsunami occurred at the end of September 2018. BEATS partners are currently completing stage two of help, enabling villagers to be self-sufficient, by means of providing animals and seeds/plants. Please pray for discernment about future help and also compassion and protection/good health. The trip will end with a (probably one-off) visit to the Philippines, for the opening ceremony of a new Baptist church, funds provided by BEATS (including from Brighton Road Baptist Church PMA, Horsham), following the destruction of the previous one in the October 2013 earthquake. Please pray for good relationships, useful discussions and safety in travel at all 5 destinations (including a visit to our original project in Aceh, devastated from the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami). Please pray that we will be a blessing to all we meet and will have the stamina required. Thank you so much.
Sarah and Rob Page http://www.beatschaity.co.uk
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ENERGY USE AND ECO CHURCH
The parish is seeking a volunteer to take over the monitoring of energy use in its buildings, to advise on energy contracts and to lead us towards an Eco Church award https://ecochurch.arocha.org.uk. If you think that you, perhaps working with a friend, might be interested in this, please speak to one of your church’s PCC members.
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CLEANING ROTA
We are in the fortunate position of having a lovely Church building which can be used by our community, and as you know, due to the heavy usage of the hall we pay a cleaner to come in and keep things under control! However, because of rising costs, the DCC has decided that we will need to start cleaning the church and the Peter Apted room ourselves (keeping the cleaner for the Hall, toilets and kitchen only.) This will not be an arduous job, and if we have enough people no one will have to do it very often. It’ll be just having a tidy, hoovering the sanctuary and Peter Apted room, and dusting around. Please sign the list by the door if you can help. Many thanks.
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CHICHESTER DIOCESAN SAFEGUARDING WEBSITE
Please have a look at this – it gives a lot of useful information
www.Safeguarding.chichester.anglican.org
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HORSHAM REPAIR CAFÉ – Refill, Renew, Refresh and Repair
Held on the 1st Saturday of every month at the Friends Meeting House in Worthing Road from 10.00am – 1pm and 1.30 to 4.30. See the website www.horshamrepaircafe.org.uk for more details.
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GREETINGS CARDS FOR BEATS
A friend of Sandra’s, Sheila Whibley, has kindly said she will continue to make cards which we can sell for BEATS so please look out for birthday and Easter cards on the table as usual. She is also happy to collect your old cards for recycling – just leave them on the table.
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