Praycation - HTSCF · Touch featured in clay modelling, ... Vonita Newell, Barbara Smith 16th Ada...
Transcript of Praycation - HTSCF · Touch featured in clay modelling, ... Vonita Newell, Barbara Smith 16th Ada...
1
ST. COLUMBA INFORMER
March 2015
Praycation How do you tend to pray? Do you
like to sit in a particular chair, or
perhaps it’s part of your morning or
evening routine. Our Praycation
event was a great opportunity to
discover new ways to pray, and it
involved all of the senses.
Around fifty of us from St Columba,
Holy Trinity and St John’s churches
met at St John’s on February 7th. As
a group of churches, we often enjoy
a parishes weekend away in
Bournemouth. This year we
decided to share a “staycation”, a
holiday at home, instead; we chose
prayer as our focus and Praycation
was born!
Praying through movement, using the Lord’s Prayer and the Magnificat, was about expressing our thoughts to God in a combination of dance and drama, using our whole selves. We learned too how to use Tai Chi and Japanese
walking prayer to calm ourselves to
listen to God. Visual ways of praying
included using icons to focus our
thoughts, and meditating using a
small natural object. There were
also prayer bags, with surprise
objects to lead us into praying for
ourselves and the world.
Touch featured in clay modelling,
linked closely with Biblical passages
of God as the potter and us as the
clay. There was prayerful unknotting
of tangled lengths of string –
incredibly satisfying! We used our
hearing as we listened to natural
sounds and imagined being on the
seaside or in woodland; we then
allowed God to speak to us through
the experience. Another workshop
encouraged us to sing in a spirit-filled
way, raising our voices in harmony
and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide
us.
An active grace at lunchtime
brought in our senses of smell and
taste. We prayed and savoured
foods from around the world
while holding farmers in our
thoughts and praying for their
welfare. A multisensory tent was
the perfect place to be miles away
from everywhere, surrounded by
soft cushions, incense, lava lamps
and gentle music.
Fizzy forgiveness made us think
about what it means to accept
God’s forgiveness and for him to
take away our shame completely.
It was surprisingly powerful to
watch a fizzy tablet dissolving in
water! Prayer for the community
were added to paper dolls which
we have each taken back to our
churches – perhaps you spotted
them on our altar at St Columba.
And writing words in sand helped
us to think through the words that
God has for us compared with
words that have been hurtful or
damaging.
There was much more in the day
than this brief report can describe!
So much that some of us wanted
another chance to take it all in.
We hope to run some of the
prayer stations again, either as
part of our worship or as a repeat
event for our churches. If you
would be interested in coming
along, or in helping in any way,
please let me know.
Perhaps hearing about the
Praycation has encouraged you to
think about prayer as talking and
listening to God in many different
ways. Prayer really can infuse
every part of our day, and doesn’t
have to be about sitting still with
our eyes closed. In our deanery,
there will be a week of
accompanied prayer this June –
more details in next month’s
Informer. Revd Ruth
The Long Road to
Heaven…
Our course, based on the film ‘The Way’,
exploring Christian understanding of ‘salvation’ continues…
Week 2: What are we saved for? Week 3: Who can be saved?
Week 4: What do we have to do to be saved? Week 5: How are we saved?
‘The Way’ stars Martin Sheen as a newly bereaved father,
who rather unwillingly joins a group of pilgrims walking The
Way of St James to Santiago de Campostella.
We highly recommend that you purchase the book to accompany this course, entitled ‘The Long Road to Heaven’ by Tim Heaton. Available from Rachel Abbey.
Tuesday evenings - at Holy Trinity Parish Centre. Time 7.30-9pm
Week 2 Tues 3rd March Week 4 Tues 17th March
Week 3 Tues 10th March Week 5 Tues 24th March
Thursday evenings - at The Highlands Hub, Highlands Road, Fareham.
Time 7.30pm-9pm.
Week 2 Thur 5th March Week 4 Thur 19th March
Week 3 Thur 12th March Week 5 Thur 26th March
Friday Mornings at St Columba Church, Hillson Drive, Fareham.
Time 10-11.30am. (*Week 5: 2 – 3.30pm)
Week 2 Fri 6th March Week 4 Fri 20th March
Week 3 Fri 13th March Week 5 Fri 27th March*
Early Birds Breakfast Club
Early Birds Breakfast Club at St
Columba Academy, was started
by a group from St Columba
Church in June 2013. The aim of
the club was to help ensure that
children arrived at school in
plenty of time for the start of the
school day and that they had a
good, nutritious breakfast to
prepare them for lessons.
The club initially met once a
fortnight, on a Friday. Children
would arrive at 7.45am for
cereals, toast and preserves, fruit
and fruit juices. Reverend Ruth
and I worked with a great team
of volunteers to provide
breakfast and we particularly
enjoyed eating with the children
and chatting to them about what
they were doing at school and
their plans for the weekend
ahead. After breakfast, there
was time to play board games or
do jigsaws. The children also
enjoyed colouring, word search
puzzles and designing and
testing their own paper
aeroplanes.
After a few months, the club
became a weekly Friday morning
event attended by approximately
12 children. During the school
holidays we also ran Early Birds
holiday sessions which included
a number of craft activities as
well as the usual games and
breakfast.
In recent weeks, St Columba
Academy has taken over the
running of the breakfast club and
it is now held every school day.
However, members of St
Columba Church still go along to
help and to keep up the good
relationships that have been
established with staff and
children. There is an opportunity
for more people to join in with
this ministry and if you would
like to be part of the breakfast
club team, please speak to Revd
Ruth. Kate Macfarlane
Year’s Mind for March 1st Robert Manktelow
2nd Carole Gladding, Ellen Hyde, Olwen Kirkby, Ronald Levey
3rd Frank Croucher, Lesley Pond, Desmond Smith
4th Florence Espin
5th Dorothy Bowyer, Fredrick Millard
6th Richard Budd
7th Clementina Finch, John Hucker, Arthur King
8th Freda Herring, Maurice Reading, Walter Robinson, Cyril Wheeler
9th
10th
11th Eileen Davies, Ernest Shand, John Woodcock
12th Sid Adams, Margaret Arnett
13th
14th Joyce Barnes, Bill Sweasey
15th Richard Grey, Vonita Newell, Barbara Smith
16th Ada Saunders
17th Hilda Budd, Vincent Butcher
18th Doris Peachey, Rose Wright
19th Bob Heys, Penelope Iredale, Florrie Stokes
20th Laurie Craft, George Short, Doris Yeldon
21st Royston Cobb, Harry Hindess, David Mondey
22nd
23rd Win Chilvers, Eileen Mondey
24th
25th Harry Gair, Wilfred Hicks, Joyce Severn
26th
27th Betty Benge, John Moss, Dennys Stevens,
28th
29th Penny Daniels, Chris Ward
30th William Brenton
31st Frederick Brown, James Muncaster, Ronald Robinson
Services at St Columba during March Prayer during the week – Tues & Thurs at the Hub – 9.15am 1st March – Lent 2
8am - Said Communion; 10am - All Age Morning Worship 6.30pm – Iona Service
8th March – Lent 3
8am - Said Communion 10am - Family Communion with Columba Kids
15th March – Mothering Sunday 8am - Said Communion 10am – Morning Worship with Columba Kids
22nd March – Lent 5 (Passion Sunday) 8am - Said Communion 10am – Family Communion with Columba Kids
29th March – Palm Sunday 8am - Said Communion 10am – Family Communion with Columba Kids
Services during Holy Week
30th March Monday of Holy Week 7.30pm Holy Communion with Meditation – St Columba 31st March Tuesday of Holy Week 9.15am Morning Prayer at Highlands Hub
7.30pm Holy Communion with Meditation – St Columba
1st April Wednesday of Holy Week 7.30pm Holy Communion with Meditation – St Columba 2nd April Maundy Thursday 9.15am Morning Prayer at Highlands Hub
7.30pm Holy Communion with Commemoration of the Last Supper – at Holy Trinity
3rd April Good Friday
9.00am Ecumenical service of hymns and readings – at Hill Park Baptist Church, followed by hot cross buns at the Highlands Hub
2pm Reflection for Good Friday 4th April Easter Day
6.00am Easter Vigil
10am Family Communion – with Easter Egg hunt
Holy Reading
Saturday 21st March
10am-3.30pm at
Portsmouth Cathedral, led
by Canon John Draper. A
day exploring the use of
Holy Reading or ‘Lectio
Divina’ as a way of
deepening our
relationship with God,
based on quiet or silent
meditation on a piece of
scripture. Cost: Donations
on the day to the Bishop’s
Lent Appeal.
The Costly Discipleship of Dietrich Bonhoeffer – led by Bob Thomas.
Saturday 18th April 10am – 3.30pm. A day of prayer and reflection drawing on
Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life of Christian discipleship in the face of personal
danger and public evil in Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Cost: £8.50
Time to be Me – led by Gary Nicholls. Sat 16th May, 10am-3.30pm. Busy minds, busy bodies – this is a day for being busy, being still! There will be opportunities to practice strategies which can help our minds be still & relaxed; & not thinking about the everyday preoccupations we seem to fill our minds with each day – & sometimes at night! Cost: £8.50
The Food of Love – Led by Sue Hyland
Saturday 13th June. 10am – 3.30pm.
‘Music’s measure’ provides rich food for
our spiritual journeys; by listening to music
both sacred & secular, traditional &
contemporary, the day will provide an
opportunity to explore music’s healing
qualities, how it can bring inspiration,
peace, comfort & harmony, & lead us into
contemplative silence. Cost £8.50
Book via pamphlets in the foyer or contact Kay Lancaster Tel: 023 9289
9656 e-mail: [email protected]
Cathedral Spirituality Days
Let go and let God – Led by Rachel and Jeremy Hicks. Saturday 25th July 10am
– 3.30pm. Many of us lead extremely busy lives and often find ourselves
longing for a better balance. We all accumulate baggage as we go along &
wonder what we can shed. During the day there will be some input & sharing
as well as time for personal exercises, reflection and exploration. Cost £8.50
Acorn Christian Healing Foundation’s ‘Listening for Life’ course is a good
practical course to help you become aware of and develop your listening
skills. The course is taking place at Holy Trinity Church, Gosport on the
16th, 23rd, 30th April & 7th May from 7.30-10pm. The course covers
‘Listening to others’, ‘Listening to ourselves’, ‘Listening to God’, and costs
£10. Bookings close on 2nd April - leaflets are in the foyer.
Come and Sing…..Sunday 8th March 6-7pm - Holy Trinity Church Come, sing and reflect.
The start of a new monthly time of informal
worship where we can sing praise to God and see
where the Spirit leads us.
The focus will be on singing songs/hymns including
some space for prayerful listening and reflection.
If you have something you would like to sing then
contact Revd Garry, Revd Sally or Pete & Sue Hall.
Our aim is eventually to take requests “on the
day”, as the mood takes us. So … come and see ...
come and sing!
From St Columba Academy…..A Big “Thank You” to everyone who ordered from the Webb Ivory 2014
Christmas catalogue. A massive £350 was raised for Friends of St
Columba Academy (FoSCA) Funds. A meeting of “Friends” took place at
the beginning of February when we discussed how the money could be
spent. It was suggested that we arrange an Easter Egg Hunt for the school
children. Easter Eggs would also be supplied to each child. For further
information, please contact Rosemary Brewerton or June Haye at St
Columba Church.
Introducing ‘Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land’ – The Old Testament reading for the first Sunday in Lent was Genesis 9:8-17, in which God promises to never flood the earth again, and sets the rainbow in the sky as a sign of this promise.
What comes across particularly strongly in the text is the repeated emphasis on the fact that God’s covenant is with not only humans, but with ‘every living creature… the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth…’ As such, the creatures with whom we share this earth could perhaps be treated a little more respect as equal recipients of God’s grace.
Former air stewardess, Lucy Fensome, set up ‘Safe Haven for Donkeys in the Holy Land’ (SHADH) fifteen years ago in response to her experience working with the Jerusalem Society for the Protection of Animals, & it is one of the charities that has received a small share of this year’s parish charitable giving.
The humble donkey is one of the animals mentioned most often in the Bible. They were an essential part of life, and regarded as a symbol of industry and peace - and they still form an important part of life in modern day Israel and the West Bank, enabling harvesting of crops and transporting of goods to and from market. Sadly, in a land riven by fighting and de-sensitised to suffering of all sorts they have also been put to rather more extreme uses – in some cases used as unwitting ‘suicide bombers’ in the on-going conflict.
Many of the people who rely on donkeys, mules and horses for everyday transport are subsistence farmers - those who live on the edge of poverty, and they are therefore least able to afford veterinary care for the animals on which they rely. Ill-fitting and broken harnesses are a major cause of injury to donkeys – and an injured donkey is less capable of working effectively for the owners who reply on it, especially where wounds are left untreated through ignorance, or lack of access to affordable veterinary care.
Spotlight on World Concerns
SHADH works from two clinical centres - Nablus (Israel) and Qalqilya (Gaza) – and whilst they do take in donkeys that have been mistreated or abandoned, the greater part of their work is running mobile clinics which travel to more than twenty towns & villages on both sides of the Palestinian/Israeli border. These provide simple, basic veterinary care for the donkeys – hoof trimming, teeth rasping, worming, treatment of simple injuries, - and repairs to harnesses & carts. Some four hundred donkeys, mules & horses are treated by the various clinics each week.
SHADH also runs an extensive education programme with the intention of improving the overall working conditions for donkeys – a happy and well cared for donkey is more able to help the family that relies on it to put food on their table! Some aspects of care are cheap, simple and effective – for example putting a soft cover over a metal noseband prevents chafing - which can otherwise lead to open and infected wounds.
Simple ‘rest stops’ are also provided – with water & hay for working equines, & coffee for their owners – which help ensure the charity builds good relationships with people as well as donkeys! So, as we approach Palm Sunday I hope Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey might remind you to stop and say a prayer for the work of SHADH in the midst of a very turbulent and unpredictable part of the world. RA
Oasis Tea and Chat - Our friendly and
informal bereavement team work to support those who have suffered from the effects of losing a loved one. ‘The Oasis’ Tea and Chat Club has been formed to help with this support and meets between 2- 4pm for a cup of tea, homemade cake and a chat. The next dates are: Monday 2nd March at the Highlands Hub, Highlands Road Shopping Precinct; and Wednesday 18th March at Holy Trinity Church lounge, West Street. Come and join us, we would love to see you, with or without a friend. Contact June Haye on 01329 231449 if you would like to know more.
Parish Office: Holy Trinity Church, West Street, Fareham. PO16 0EL Opening Times: 9am-12 noon Monday – Friday Tel: 01329 232688 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.htscf.org.uk.
Team Vicar at St Columba: Revd Ruth Schofield – Tel: 01329 842300 E-mail: [email protected]
Rector: Revd Sally Davenport Tel: 07500 775926 E-mail: [email protected]
Asst Curate: Revd Keith Wickert Tel: 07717 312426 E-mail: [email protected]
Asst Curate: Revd Garry Roberts Tel: 07554 142729 E-mail: [email protected]
St. Columba Leadership Team Area of Oversight Member’s Name Contact Tel. Number
Worship & Prayer Revd Ruth Schofield
01329 842300 / 07738 858909 Discipleship
Pastoral Care Mike King 01329 238194
Fabric & Finance Jane Whiteley 01329 668388
Fellowship Margaret Handley 01329 608817
Outreach Jim Palmer 01329 289568
Administration Rachel Abbey 01329 318690
Thank you to our contributors this month. We love to hear from you – want to reply? Want to share something that’s struck you, or tell us about something you’re involved with? Articles for the next edition of the Informer (available 5th April) are very welcome – 500 words or less. Please forward them to Rachel Abbey - hard copy deadline Mon 30th March, electronic copy Tuesday 31st March to [email protected].
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